Never forget an ingredient again!

Growing up, I would be half finished with baking something and start wondering if I had added everything I was supposed to. My mom taught me a simple way to make sure you add everything on your recipe.

The answer is so simple! Set out ALL your ingredients before you begin and as you use an ingredient put it away in the cupboard or pantry. If you have something left on the table or counter when you think you are done then you forgot to add it.

This past weekend I made a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake for a fundraiser at church to help the girls in our youth program pay their camp fees this summer. (And yes, I know I used generic cocoa, not Hershey's. I cross my heart and promise to use the real deal next time!) 

I started with all the ingredients on the table (I live in an 85 year old house so there is limited counter space...)

Once all the dry ingredients had been added this is what the table looked like, with only the wet ingredients left.

A. The last thing that I added was boiling water, hopefully you can see the steam!. This may sound strange but some of my favorite baking recipes call for boiling water to be stirred in at the end.

B.  After everything has been added and ready to be poured in the pans

C.  Greased and floured 9" cake pans with with bake even strips around the edges.

The finished product!

My mom's tips have been lifesaving (or at least taken a load off my mind) over the years. What baking tips have come in handy for you?

I used this tutorial by mycakeschool.com as inspiration for this cake.

Easter

I haven't done a lot for Easter in the past but this year I decided, very last minute, to kick it up a notch. Abby is getting old enough to really enjoy it and Lilly is also old enough to enjoy some parts of it, mainly the candy and new little toys to play with.

So, after inviting over the family that lives close by (aka in the same state) I took the girls on a shopping trip to Winco (love that store) for supplies and I mentally prepared myself to make Easter dinner for the first time. In the four and a half years we have been married, we have always had Easter dinner at someone else's house. For some reason I have always been intimidated by cooking a ham. Feel free to laugh.... I know it's illogical, especially since I can cook a whole chicken and de-bone it, no problem.

We ended up trying out two new recipes and they were delicious! We had Baked bone-in-ham with dipping sauce, Funeral Potatoes, jello salad, rolls and chocolate Easter cupcakes. Everything turned out beautifully!

Dinner was followed by an Easter egg hunt in the backyard to compensate for the Easter egg hunt that I took the girls too at BYU on Saturday that was a total bust. Even the teenage boys had a good time!

The best part of the day was being able to spend time with family! My parents came, one of my many brothers and his wife and three teenage sons, and a sister-in-law and her daughter all came(we were sad that my brother, her husband, had to work and couldn't come with them, but happy that they came).  Abby was so excited to see everyone, it was like Christmas for her. Lilly was initially terrified with all these people that she isn't super familiar with but eventually she warmed up to them.

Waiting until after church to take pictures makes a for some cranky little girls who won't hold still.

Adorable Lilly

Lilly is stylin' her necklace for the Easter egg hunt

Abby getting some help from her Uncle, cousin, and grandma to reach the egg hidden on the roof of the garage.

 Abby is having a blast!

Banana Strawberry Freezer Jam

So, this is the jam I made the other day that y'all requested the results and recipe for. This recipe comes from the Ball Blue Book for canning and preserving.

Recipe:
3 large bananas
3 cups crushed strawberries(about 1 1/2 quarts)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pouch freezer jam pectin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place bananas on baking sheet; do not peel. Bake for 15 minutes at 400. Cool. Peel and crush bananas. Measure 1 cup crushed bananas. Combine bananas and strawberries in a medium bowl; set aside. Stir sugar and pectin together in a large bowl until well blended. Add fruit mixture to sugar mixture and stir 3 minutes. Ladle jam into plastic freezer jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Let jam stand 30 minutes to thicken. Lable and freeze.

Results: So, the jam TASTES great! The only thing that bothers me is that it froze solid. Most freezer jams maintain a semi liquid state so you can spoon out jam. With this jam I had to cut out a chunk from the freezer to defrost and try. If anyone has any suggestions they would be appreciated since I've never done freezer jam before! (The regular strawberry freezer jam recipe turned out fantastic!)

Recipes have become a new hobby of sorts for me. I enjoy trying out new recipes and Scott is always so supportive and eats everything I make! So, I thought I would occasionally post some of our favorites, especially the easy to make ones. This sunday we tried out a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup from a book called "Missionary Meals for 2".

Chicken Tortilla Soup:
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1/2 15 oz can of whole kernel corn
1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth
1/2 15 oz can black beans
1/2 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 4 oz can diced green chilies
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste

Garnish:
tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese


We didn't add any salt and instead of torilla chips and cheese we had tortillas and guacamole on the side and it was so wonderful! I tripled it, approximately and would recommend the same for anyone else making it.


A few weeks ago we also started having Hawaiian Sandwiches, the recipe is from another missionary cookbook of mine.

Hawaiian Sandwiches:
Toast 2 slices of bread
Layer sliced ham, sliced pineapple and cheese on top of toasted bread for an open faced sandwich and broil until cheese melts.

We like to use white bread and white cheese. I personally like to heat my pineapple in the microwave before I put it on the bread so it gets really hot and toasty but Scott doesn't mind either way!