Summer Potato Salad

So the roommates and I had a family dinner on Sunday night, and this was my contribution! It was a big hit.

It is a little bit more “mashed” than I think potato salad is meant to be, but it still tasted really good. I think it’s because I cubed the potatoes really small. But, I was really proud of myself, I was able to multitask the boiling of the potatoes, boiling of the eggs, and making the sauce stuff. Boom.

The recipe says to refrigerate at least two hours. We did two and a half and I still would have liked it to be a little colder.

My recommendation? Make this the day before something and refrigerate it overnight. Also, this served 4-6 peopleish. So if you’re going to an event, double it.

But overall, this is a great recipe for your next barbecue!

Recipe: http://trickschefs.com/showthread.php?tid=1385

Shrimp Linguine

So, the first thing I have to say: Why is shrimp so fucking expensive? Seriously, I could buy two lobster tails cheaper than a pound of shrimp. Woof.

So, the recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of shrimp.  So, because I’m a cheap 20 something, I only bought a pound. Oh well.

Overall, this is a pretty solid recipe. The sauce is easy enough to make, but I would double it, or only use half the box of pasta. There wasn’t quite enough for me to fully cover all the pasta. Admittedly, this may be a personal preference, but that’s my suggestion.

So, even though the shrimp is expensive, I would definitely make this again, maybe for a special occasion!

Recipe: http://trickschefs.com/showthread.php?tid=964

Taco Pie

So, for starters, this came from an article entitled; “Easy Meals to Cook for Your Man.”

1. I’m cooking for myself thank you very much.
2. Why is the article writer only cooking for her man? Does she not like tacos?

Anyway.

This is a pretty simple casserole style dish. Layer everything on, throw it in the oven, ta-da.

I will say, I wrestled with the crescent rolls a bit. The recipe didn’t specify the size of the pan. I ended up using an 8 inch square pan. This was of course after trying that pan, thinking that was too small, switching to a longer 8×11 pan, which the crescent rolls didn’t cover the bottom, then going back to the original pan. All the while, the crescent rolls were not easy to work with. They were more stuck together than usual.

But I digress. From there, it’s just layering. I will say, the recipe says to crush an entire bag of tortilla chips. I crushed maybe 10-15 chips and I was good. In fact, if I make this again, I would probably omit the tortilla chips. They don’t go on a fork well, and I didn’t miss the crunchy texture, which is I assume what they are there for.

I also added avocado because I’m basic.

Anyway, give this one a shot! It’s a good one.

Recipe: http://madamenoire.com/34112/easy-meals-to-cook-for-your-man/8/

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler

So, I’ve never made a cobbler before, so this was an interesting new experience.

To start with, I think that there is a typo in the recipe. It calls for 2 quarts of Strawberries. I get to the store, and 1 carton of strawberries was 16 oz. There is 32 oz in a quart. So, I stood in the produce section for a solid five minutes contemplating whether I was about to buy 4 cartons of strawberries. Eventually I did because they were on sale for $.97 haha.

Side note. Look how huge these strawberries are. It’s like they’re on steroids or something.

Anyway, I get to the point of the recipe where I’m using them and…

Yup. 2 quarts my ass. That’s maybe a carton and a half right there. It would have maybe been two if it wasn’t for the giant strawberries.

So. Moral of the story. By 2 cartons. Not 2 quarts.

Anyway, rest of the recipe was pretty standard. Except for the cooking part. I put it in for 45 minutes, and it was not fully done. I could see the butter still pooling at the bottom. I would say it took about 15 more minutes and rotating the pan before it was at a place where I was happy with it. I put a little bit of ice cream with it (Ben and Jerry’s Tonight Dough to be exact). And it was pretty good! Maybe not the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted, but still pretty good.

Recipe: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/fruit-dessert/strawberry-cream-cheese-cobbler.html

Southwestern Avocado and Black Bean Salad

So salads are pretty easy to put together, which is exciting. And this one sounded pretty good. Well, I thought the ingredients sounded good, don’t know how I felt about the dressing (cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, and hot sauce). Spoiler, it’s not bad. Not the best thing I’ve ever had, but also not bad. I had to guesstimate with some of the ingredients. Like corn. It says 2 cups of corn. That’s 16oz, and there’s 15oz in a can, so I figured I would be good. But it also called for 2 cans of black beans, which are also 15oz. So, I decided to play it by ear. In the end, I thought the 1 can of corn was sufficient, and I only used 1 can of black beans, which was honestly a little too much. So. Guess it depends on the individual person I guess. I also added more cheese than was called for (when have I not).

Overall, this wasn’t bad. I will say the combo of the black bean juice (even after draining), the cut tomatoes, the drained corn, and the dressing made this salad a little soggy. Didn’t hate it, but would probably make some adjustments if I wanted to make it in the future.

Recipe: http://www.pauladeen.com/southwestern-avocado-and-black-bean-salad

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake

I have a week off in between closing one show and starting another, so of course I was going to take that opportunity to make something!

This seemed easy enough, just layering ingredients together. Crushing strawberries was an interesting experience. Maybe I didn’t crush them enough, because the amount of strawberries I had was not enough to cover a 9×13 pan. I had a slightly smaller one on hand so I used that one instead, and that was still a little bit of a stretch to get them to cover the whole pan.

After that, it was really simple. Sprinkle the jello, layer some marshmallows, pour the cake batter over the whole thing, ta da.

Now. I’ve never made upside down cake before. So I was terrified of flipping this over. My roommates were excited regardless-either they got cake or they got to watch a cooking fail.

Luckily, it all worked out! Once I cut off a piece, I was surprised to see that the jello and marshmallow baked into the cake. It makes the cake super moist and soft.

So, definitely give this one a shot!

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/188567/fresh-strawberry-upside-down-cake/?evt19=1

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Mash

So, for the current show I’m in, we have two show days on Saturdays, so we decided to throw a little potluck on our dinner break, and this is what I contributed!

It was pretty simple to make, but I found the proportions to be a little off.

It says use 1 lb of potatoes, I used 2. I did use the suggested amount of broccoli, Instead of 3/4 c of cheese, I used a solid 1 1/2 c (and even brought some more to the theatre). I used 3/4 c milk instead of 1/c. So, that took some playing around and testing, but the end result was pretty great!

Recipe: http://sweetandsavorytooth.com/vegetables/cheesy-broccoli-potato-mash/

Pizza Muffins

Last night, my roommates and I hosted an “Apps and ‘Sserts” NYE Party. For those of you who are Parks and Rec fans, you hopefully get the reference. But basically, we had a little potluck where everyone brought wither an appetizer or a dessert to share, so this was my contribution.

I didn’t find any cubed pepperoni at the store, so I just got the little guys and tore them into fourths, so that seemed like it worked. The original poster also suggested adding salt and red pepper flakes, which I did.

Side story: I was mixing everything together, and was curious as to what the batter tasted like. Turns out I didn’t mix well enough, and just got a nice old hunk of red pepper flakes. That was a fun 5 minutes of my life.

Anyway. This is a really simple one if you’re looking for something in a pinch. It’s a “throw everything into a bowl, mix it, and then throw in the oven” type of recipe. I don’t have a mini muffin pan, which is what’s suggested, so I used a normal sized one, which made 10 pizza muffins. I wish I had a mini muffin pan,  because those 10 were gone within a half hour. Not everyone had even arrived yet, and they were gone. So, that’s a testament to how good they were. I just wish I had made more!

Recipe: http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/annoying-habits.html

Cookies and Cream Fudge Balls

So fun fact about this recipe, it’s not supposed to be fudge balls. That part was me improvising. But I’ll get to that later. (It also explains as to why this is not my prettiest picture.)

To start at the beginning, I saw this recipe needed 3 cups of white chocolate chips. I remembered I had some leftover from a recipe in a ziploc bag. So, I said to myself “Ok, cool, I’ll just grab one bag at the store, because those are normally 2 cups, and then I’ll use the older ones for that last cup.”

I buy all my ingredients, get everything home, and get ready to start making these. I open the ziploc bag, and the old chocolate chips smelled…off. Not bad, but definitely not the way they should smell. Almost like a faint trace of sour milk. After making my roommate smell them too (as you do), I decided to play it safe and throw them out. My roommate then said I could borrow some of her spare chocolate chips she had. They weren’t white chocolate, but at least it would be something. Now, remember that I was a cup short on the chocolate chips. And also that I forgot about my roommate telling me to use hers. These are both important later.

I make the fudge everything is great, I put it in the foil in the pan and put it in the fridge to set. I test it before rehearsal. It’s not fully set. Weird. I put it in the freezer for 10 minutes, still not set. Put it back in the fridge, go to my 3 hour rehearsal, come back home, still not set, super sticky on the bottom. So, I tell myself I’ll get to it tomorrow. Not only did I not get to it until the next day, but probably a full 24 hours later. I worked until 5:30, didn’t get home until 7. And guess what? Still not fully set. So I gave up and determined to cut them up anyway. I wanted to bring them to a production meeting I had that night.

And then this happened:

I call it “Fudge-pocalypse 2016”

It was a fucking mess. It was so stuck to the foil I salvaged maybe half of it. That’s why I decided to turn them into fudge balls. I even had to pick a piece of stray foil out of one of them.

But, I brought them to my meeting, and the majority of everyone thought they were really good. Two people thought they were too sweet. Even I can only have one before I’m good.

So. Two questions arise from this one:

1. Can white chocolate chips go bad?
2. Did the fact that I never added that third cup of chocolate chips (see I told you that would come back) contributed to the fact that it was super sticky?

We may never know.

Recipe:

Cookies ‘N Cream Fudge – Crazy Cooking Challenge

Cream Cheese Nacho Dip

So, I’ve been INSANELY busy lately. It was to the point where all I had in my fridge was some butter, jelly, a yogurt, and coffee creamer.

Not exaggerating in the slightest.

I finally had two nights off in a row, so I used the first night to catch up on stuff, and the second to go grocery shopping and make this!

Also, my roommate got fired from his crappy temp job, (his boss had a serious vendetta against him) so when he came home, I said that this was his “sorry you got fired dip”

It was very easy to make, just layering. I do wish the cream cheese and sour cream could have combined a tad easier, but I was hand mixing and was too lazy to plug in the electric mixer. Oops. It also took a little longer than the recommended 30 minutes for it to really set.

But, the roommates all liked it! They liked how easily customizable it is. They noted this would be really good with some chicken and jalepenos. Maybe next time!

Recipe:

http://alittlenorthofcrazy.blogspot.com/2011/04/gone-in-blink-nacho-dip.html