Y1-2. Coloring Easter Eggs

Spring has just arrived here in Buffalo, even though it is still only 25 degrees outside. But it is still the time to rack in the spring and summer delicious meals! Spring has to be one of my favorite times of the year not only because of my birthday but because of all the Easter Eggs, candy baskets and Easter Sunday of course! Coloring Easter eggs is my one and only favorite thing to do right around Easter. It amazes how much one person can go in detail on some of their work, but it is also fun just do it with little siblings and family. To color Easter eggs you of course need eggs, boiling water, vinegar, and liquid food coloring. But if you choose to buy a kit it will come with coloring tabs and all sorts of stickers and designs to put on your egg. Now I am going to show you how to make them!


Boiling The Eggs

Step 1: hard boil as many eggs as you would like to.  One thing when you boil your eggs you want to make sure you keep them covered while boiling.  Then allow the eggs to simmer for at least 15 minutes to cool down.

Step 2: Then remove from the heat drain the water then rinse them with cooler water.

Coloring The Eggs

Step 1: Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to ½ cup of boiling water. Then add at least 20 drops of food coloring depending on how light and/or dark you would like your color to be.

Step 2: Now dip the hard-boiled egg into the water and the longer you keep it in the darker the color will turn out.

Step 3: Then after you color the eggs it is important to refrigerate them.
If there isn’t a color you have you could always mix colors together to make one, for example red and yellow will make orange.

Tie Dye Eggs

To make the tie dye eggs you dip one portion of the egg in a color, let it dry then cover that colored part with something, like tape for example, then dip it in another color and repeat. Also if you do end up using the tape method it can create multi tone colors on your egg.

Applying Designs

Say you want to put a flower on your egg or something cute that resembles your or spring, its super easy to do, even though it may sound complicated. There is just one simple step! All you have to do is simply take a white colored crayon and design whatever you want onto the egg as if you were coloring. This will remain white because the food coloring will resist away from the wax that is in the crayons.

Coloring Egg Kits

If you do end up going to buy a store bought coloring kit it comes with different and unique features that you can not do to your homemade colored Easter eggs. The store bought kit comes with stickers letters and other fun things you can put on your eggs. It also comes with a variety of different colored tabs that you place in the vinegar for it to dissolve to create the color.
You would be amazed at what some artist can do on easter eggs. Some of them are very elegant and very in depth with the details.

X2. Blonde Brownies

This next blog is a brownie based dessert but with a little mixture of something else. It is rich chewy blondies full of nuts and brown sugar, with chocolate chips coated on top. This recipe is a little more in depth than the last one containing more ingredients than the ice cream dessert. These blonde brownies will need all- purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chopped walnuts, melted, packed brown sugar, beaten egg, vanilla extract, and semisweet chocolate chips. It takes 30 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook and serves up to 6 people. Now let’s learn how to make these blonde brownies!

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 by 9 inch baking pan. 

Step 2: Now measure 1 cup of sifted flour and add ½ teaspoon of baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt. And sift again

.

Step 3: Then add ½ cup of chopped nuts and mix well and set aside. 

Step 4: Now stir 1 cup of the brown sugar into 1/3 cup of melted butter and mix well. Then let it cool and set aside.

Step 5: After that mix the beaten egg and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract into the brown sugar mixture. Then add the flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing just until combined.

Step 6: Now spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle ½ to1 cups of chocolate chips on top. Now bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

X1. Cookie Dough Ice Cream Dessert

I know the past few blogs that I have posted have been more international foods for so Chinese, Mexican, etc. but since today, March 20,2014 marks the first day of Spring I thought it would be great to start getting into the setting of spring and summer. And one of my favorite things to eat in the summer is ice cream cake. It is perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, or just good ole desserts. This recipe I’m about to tell you about is Cookie Dough Ice cream dessert. It has a layer of ice cream on a very delicious chocolate-chip crust that it super tasty! One thing that is also nice about this is that it only has 4 ingredients unlike the past few that I did. It also takes 15 minutes to prep but on the down fall it takes 2 hours and 5 minutes total. But it serves up to 12 people! For this you will need: Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough ice cream, cookie crisp cereal, and hot fudge topping. Now let’s learn how to make this!

Step 1: Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. And line a 13 by 9 inch pan with heavy-duty foil, making sure it extends the foil over the sides of the pan.

Step 2: Now in the pan break up the cookie dough, and with floured fingers, press the dough evenly in bottom of the pan to form the crust.

Step 3: Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Then cool completely for about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Meanwhile, remove the ice cream from the freezer; and place it in the refrigerator allowing it to soften.

Step 5: After the ice cream is softened spread it evenly over the cooled crust. Then top evenly with 2 cups of the cereal, while pressing lightly into the ice cream. 

Step 6: Place 2/3 cups of hot fudge topping in a small resalable food-storage plastic bag and partially seal it. Then cut a small hole in the bottom corner to drizzle the topping over the dessert. 

Step 7: Lastly freeze for at least one hour or until firm before serving it.  Make sure to use the foil to lift from the pan and cut into pieces.

W1,2. Fajiata's, Black Beans and Rice

I have possibly one last international food blog for you this week! This time it is going to be on fajitas with black beans and rice. This meal takes a total of 50 minutes to cook and prepare and super easy to make and serves up to 4 servings. To make this delicious meal you will need Mexican beer, chopped chipotle in adobo sauce, lime, fresh thyme, chili powder, vegetable, corn or olive oil, steak, flour tortillas, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, medium yellow-skinned Spanish onion, salt and pepper, garlic, jalapeno, while onion, black beans, ground cumin chopped cilantro, and sliced scallions. Let’s learn how to make it!

Step 1: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish  2/3 cup Mexican beer, ½ cup chopped chipotle, 1 lime, 2tbsp thyme, 1 ½ tbsp. chili powder, drizzle of the oil

Step 2: Turn the flank steak in marinade and let stand for about 15 minutes. The meat can be place in the marinade in the morning and allowed to marinate until dinner time if you prefer a strong spicy flavors

Step 3: To make the rice follow the packaging instructions which should take around 18 to 0 minutes.

Step 4: Heat a grill pan to high heat and sear the flank steak for 4 minutes on each side. Then reduce the heat and cook meat for 6 to 8 minutes longer, turning occasionally. 

Step 5: With a medium nonstick skillet over high heat, Blister 8(8-inch) flour tortillas on 30 seconds each on each side and stake them on a plate. 

Step 6: Then loosely wrap the tortillas with foil and place them on the dinner table.

Step 7: Next add 1 tbsp. of oil to a hot pan and sear sliced 1 large pepper. Then char the edges and stir- fry until the peppers and onions are just tender for about 2 to 3 minutes. 

Step 8: Now transfer to a platter and cover with loose foil to keep everything hot. Add another tbsp. of oil, garlic and 1 jalapeno and 1 medium chopped onion into thin strips and sauté for about 2 minutes.

Step 9: Then add the black beans and spices to the pan and heat for another 1 to 2 minutes

-          To make black beans: 1 tbsp. oil, 2 cloves garlic chopped, 1 jalapeno, small white onion, large can of black beans, ground cumin, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro and sliced scallions

Step 10: Then transfer the beans to a serving dish after done cooking, and top the beans with cilantro and scallions

Step 11: After all that remove the meat from the grill and let it rest for a good 5 minutes for the juices to distribute. Then transfer the peppers and onions to the grill to get a good sizzle effect going.

Step 12: Then slice the meat VERY thinly on an angle against the grain. And pile the meat on top of cooked peppers and onions and take the hot grill to the table, letting rest on trivets or a cool wire rack.

Step 13: Now stack the meat and veggies in warm tortillas and enjoy with a side of spicy black beans!!

One thing about this meal is that it can get a little tricky and/or bit confusing since there is so much going on with cooking the steaks, black beans and the rice. But in the end all of it pays off because you made a delicious meal for a family of four. An alternate to this recipe could be using chicken instead of steak which is also a great choice too!

V2. Swedish Meatballs

This next recipe is personally one of my favorite things to eat! I literally could eat meatballs all day long for every meal of the day. These are not ordinary meatballs though. They are Swedish meatballs. To make these delicious meatballs you need: finely chopped red onion, unsalted butter, ground chuck, ground pork, salt, black pepper, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, dried bread crumbs, whole milk, heavy cream, egg, beef stock, and red currant jelly. These meatballs take a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes to cook and prep together. I also suggest that a more experienced cook makes these because this recipe is a little more on the advanced side. And now let’s learn how to make them! 

Step 1: In a medium skillet over medium to high heat sauté 1 cup of onions in 1 1 .2 tbsp. of 4 ½ butter until soft and light golden brown. That’s for about 4 to 6 minutes.

Step 2: Now set that aside to cool, and add the onion to a medium mixing bowl along with 3/4 lb. ground chuck, ¾ lb. ground pork, 1 ½ tsp. of salt, ½ tsp. of pepper, ¼ tsp. of allspice, and 1/8 tsp. of nutmeg. 

Step 3: Then in a smaller mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of plain dried bread crumbs with ½ cup of whole milk and ¼ cup of heavy cream and allow that to sit until the bread crumbs are soft, for about 5 minutes.

Step 4: After that add the bread crumb mixture and the 1 beaten egg to the meat mixture and, using CLEAN HANDS, mix well to thoroughly combine.

Step 5: Now using a tablespoon measure as a guide, scoop the meat mixture into small meatball portions about a heaping teaspoon each. Using lightly damp clean hands roll the meatballs until they are smooth and round.

Step 6: Next is to transfer to a large plate or baking dish while you form the remaining meatballs.

Step 7: Now in a medium skillet, heat ½ teaspoon of the remaining butter until foamy. Then add 1/3 of the meatballs and cook. Turning frequently for about 6 to 8 minutes total.

Step 8: Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked meatballs to a Dutch oven or heavy large saucepan and repeat with the remaining meatballs, adding another ½ tbsp. of butter to the skillet before each batch.

Step 9: After that add the remaining 1 ½ tbsp. of butter and the remaining ½ cup onion to the skillet and cook until the onion is soft, for about 4 minutes. Add 4 tbsp. of flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.

Step 10: Whisk in the beef broth little by little and cook until the sauces are smooth and thick so for about 4 minutes. Now transfer the sauce to the Dutch oven or large saucepan and add the remaining ¼ tsp. salt, a pinch of black pepper, the remaining heavy cream and the currant jelly.

Step 11: Bring the contents of the Dutch oven or large saucepan to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat so that the sauce just simmers. Stir very gently to combine ingredients once the meatballs have cooked a bit; be careful not to break it up

Step 12: Now cook, uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour until the meatballs become very tender and the sauce is thick and flavorful.