Vodka pasta sauce

I had guests over last night for an evening of catching up, wine tasting,  full body massages (thank you Paula!!!), and great food. Honestly tho, I just wanted people to come over and help me eat the food that's in the fridge so I can make more. While my friend Patrick had his turn at a massage, I took the time to test out a pasta sauce that's has a bit of vodka in it.

Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

1/4 Cup Vodka

2 Cups Prepared Tomato Sauce (I used Prego)

1 Tbs Italian Seasonings

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

3 Tbs of Onion Powder (or use half an onion, finely chopped)

1 Tbs Olive Oil

Grated parmesan cheese

1 lb of pasta of choice, already cooked.

1. In a sauce pan, add tomato sauce, onion powder, Italian seasonings, olive oil, and vodka. Simmer for 5 mins. (If you're going to use the chopped onion, sautee with a little butter first.)
   
2. Slowly start adding cream while stirring. If you want a thicker sauce, add more cream, tsp at a time. (If you want to thicken w/o the added calories, use corn starch, tsp at a time.)
   
3. Turn heat off, then add cooked pasta. Stir gently.
4. Before serving pasta, sprinkle parmesan cheese.  

BON APPETIT!

*Picture will follow. I promise!

Fundraiser foods

Hey all!

Tomorrow I'm helping out at my roommate Becca's fundraiser, BOWLING FOR BECCA!!! It's to help Becca out with her medical bills due Colon Cancer. I was asked, and offered to make, a few things for the event. Here are some of the yummy goodies that I'm making that are quick, easy, and makes enough to feed an army.

Garlicious Vegetarian Hummus
5 unpeeled garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

* I acually tripled the measurements of the ingredients to make sure I had enough to feed an army. This can feed me and Becca alone!

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
   
2. Place unpeeled garlic cloves in the middle of a large square of aluminum foil. Drizzle cloves with 1 tablespoon of olive oil; wrap in foil. Roast in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool. When slightly cooled, squeeze roasted garlic out of peels.
3. Combine roasted garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, vegetable broth, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the work bowl of a food processor. Process until very creamy.

** If the hummus is too chunky for your liking, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of broth.

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups of buscuit baking mix
Sugar (for rolling dough balls)
1 jar of preferred jelly

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix sweetened condensed milk, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth. Add buscuit mix. Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
   
3. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll into sugar. Place them onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper 2 inches apart.
   
4. Press thumb in center of each bll of dough making a shallow well. Fill with teaspoon of desired jelly
5. bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.

ENJOY!!!

molten lava cookies

This is for the type of person that lurrrrrve's the ever so popular molten lava cake. I baked several dozen of these last year for the holidays.

Molten lava cookies

1 cup of butter (2 sticks), softened
2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/3 cup of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chopped (just not so fine) *
powdered sugar **

* You can use the chips instead of the chopped up bar, but it might have a harder time melting and getting consistancy of "molten lava."

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla; mix until combined.
2. Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Using your thumb, press a thumbprint into the center; fill with a 4 dark or semi sweet chocolate chips and fold dough over to cover chocolate.
4. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are firm and tops are soft. Remove cookies to a cooling rack.

* If you want to be extra fancy shmancy, sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. Then it looks like they came from a bakery :)

This cookie is awesome when it's warm! Heat up 2 or 3 (or 10) at a time in the microwave for 5 seconds.

(pictures will come later tonight or tomorrow!)