Hazelnut Macaroon Sandwich Cookies: Cookie Carnival

The recipe for Cookie Carnival for the month of May, hosted by Kate at The Clean Plate Club, is Hazelnut Macaroon Sandwiches. I was undecided when I first saw this recipe. I love hazelnuts, they are one of my favorite nuts, but to be honest I was rather intimidated by the fact that these were macaroons.

Well I decided to take the plunge and I'm glad I did, but I don't think I'll be making macaroon sandwiches again any time soon LOL. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, absolutely chewy and wonderful with a rich delicious filling, but boy did I experience a comedy of errors in my kitchen that day...

First off I've never used a decorator bag before. I know! Sheesh. So that was interesting, and messy. 

Secondly, I ground the hazelnut in my miniature food processor. However, I didn't make sure that they were all ground up, so I ended up with some chunky nuts clogging up my decorator bag, causing massive blobs on the parchment paper.

Thirdly (is that a word?), I have never had to lift the parchment on a hot cookie sheet just removed from the oven and dribble it with water. Needless to say, I am glad water doesn't stain.

Anyway, I ended up with lots of different sized blobs of cookie dough, but all in all, after all the mishaps, I did end up with some very tasty cookies and now I can say that I have made macaroon sandwich cookies. :)

Oh, and I should mention that I used some roasted hazelnuts that I received from Oh! Nuts. I still have more in the bag and can't wait to find another use for them, that is, if I can resist sticking my hand in the bag and just eating them raw! YUM! 

Hazelnut Macaroon Sandwiches

4 egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup superfine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup toasted, skinned and ground hazelnuts

2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted

2/3 cup ganache filling, refrigerated until thick enough to spread (recipe below)

Line 2 rimless baking sheets with parchment paper. Have ready a third rimless baking sheet, unlined (I didn't need this as mine are insulated).

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until the whites begin to thicken. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat just until soft peaks form. Slowly add the superfine sugar and continue to beat until stiff, shiny peaks form. Beat in the vanilla until blended. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the hazelnuts and confectioners sugar until incorporated.

Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe mounds 1 1/2 inches in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the mounds 1 inch apart. With a damp fingertip, gently smooth any pointy tips. Let the cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 35 to 45 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, putting the cookie-filled baking sheet on top of the unlined baking sheet. (This insulates the top baking sheet so the cookie bottoms do not darken too much.) Bake until the tops and bottoms are firm and golden, 10 to 13 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven, carefully lift the parchment, one end at a time, and sprinkle about 2 Tbs. water under the paper. Be careful that the steam does not burn you and that water does not splash on the cookies. (The steam loosens the cookies from the paper.) After 3 minutes, slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet, peel the cookies from the paper and transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Turn half of the cookies bottom side up. Spread a thin layer of the ganache filling (about 1 rounded tsp.) over the cookie bottoms. Press a plain cookie, bottom side down, onto the ganache. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 24 cookies.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream just to a boil. Remove from the heat and immediately pour the cream over the chocolate and butter. Using a handheld whisk, stir the mixture until the chocolate and butter melt and are smooth. Let cool until spreadable.

Thrifty Thursday: Week #14

I am not a gardener. Don't get me wrong, I wish I was! I am trying this year to grow some tomatoes and peppers, I am just hoping I don't kill them. I've never really had a green thumb. 

However, much to my delight, I was standing on my deck the other day looking out toward my side yard where there's a cluster of trees growing. See we just bought this house about a year and a half ago, and last spring we had a new well put in. Therefore, in the spot I am gazing upon now, there were massive piles of mud, rock and dirt. Therefore, any perennials that might have been planted there had really no chance of surfacing.

Well this year, I spied with my little eye something that looked like rhubarb. And low and behold it was rhubarb! I'm not quite sure when it's "mature" so I will need to look it up, but I haven't had rhubarb since I was a kid. I was very excited to see this FREE vegetable growing in my yard. :) 

What did you do or discover this week that was thrifty?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below (NOT TO YOUR HOMEPAGE!) and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)

TWD: Chipster Topped Brownies

This week's recipe was chosen by Beth of Suppilicious. This is a brownie based dessert with a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough on top. These are very tasty, though my brownie bottom seemed a bit dry for my tastes. The cookie didn't seem to be completely baked in the middle but overall it was pretty well done. They taste good and were pretty easy to put together. 

UPDATE: I'm updating this post because I put this together rather hastily last night. I baked them yesterday and was exhausted after a long weekend at the camper. I neglected to mention that I didn't have enough bittersweet chocolate for the cookie dough, so I used half bittersweet chocolate and the other half I subbed in chocolate toffee chips. Also, I didn't use nuts in the brownies and THEN when I thought I was pouring in toffee chips into the cookie dough, I poured in walnuts! LOL DUH So I removed as many walnuts as I could, but the cookie part ended up with some in there. 

All in all, after sitting overnight, these brownies are truly delicious!

See what other TWDers had to say by visiting their sites on the right hand side of Tuesdays with Dorie.

Bananas Foster

Here I am at the "end" of posting the four recipes I promised from the wonderful book The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet. While many books with this kind of title require the use of convenience and prepackaged foods, this book does not. It's in my recipe collection forever. I've made these recipes I promised (three linked below and today's post) as well as two others which I plan to blog about next week. There hasn't been a single recipe I didn't enjoy!

With permission from the publisher, I've already posted three recipes from this book: Grilled Chicken Salad w/Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette, Sausage Jambalaya, and Pepper-Crusted Sirloin with Sangiovese-Mushroom Sauce. Every one of these were delicious. 

You can see my review of The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet cookbook here, I highly recommend picking up a copy, ordering one or checking it out from the library. You won't regret it.

Today I'm sharing a fast and mouth watering version of the New Orleans dessert Bananas Foster. Traditionally, this dessert requires cooking the sauce without the rum, then removing the bananas, adding the rum and lighting it (flambe). Then the sauce is ready. In this version, the flambe step is eliminated by cooking the rum in the sauce.

I am absolutely in love with this dessert. I served it over vanilla ice cream and the sauce is pure Heaven. I saved some extra sauce and poured it over ice cream the next night as well. This recipe is on page 287.



Bananas Foster
adapted from The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup dark rum

2 tbsp banana liqueur

3 firm, but ripe bananas, peeled and halved crosswise and lengthwise (I think next time I would just slice them)

2 cups premium vanilla ice cream

toasted pecans for garnish (I skipped this, but it would be delicious)

Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum, and banana liqueur in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 more minutes or until the mixture is thickened and syrupy.

Stir in the bananas; cook, gently stirring once or twice, for 2 minutes or until tender. 

Serve immediately, while warm, over ice cream, and garnish with pecans.

Thrifty Thursday: Week #13

When life gives you lemons, do you frown and get mad, or do you make lemonade? Well, whenever possible, I make lemonade. 

Last week I tried a recipe for Oatmeal Bread. Unfortunately it was awful, a big fat fail, almost no flavor. Not because of anything I did, I just think the recipe was bad, must be missing an ingredient or something. So instead of tossing it to the birds or in the garbage, I sliced it up, let it dry out and put it through my blender. I use breadcrumbs in my meatballs and on breaded meats, so no sense in letting it go to waste.

I think being thrifty or frugal isn't always about where you found a bargain or how little you paid for something, it's a mindset. Whenever given the opportunity, I try to think of how to reuse or recycle something. Thankfully my community does curbside recycling, so I don't have to worry too much about that, but especially with food, it's important to think like our mothers and grandmothers: "Waste not want not!" as they would say.

How were you thrifty this week?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below (NOT TO YOUR HOMEPAGE) and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)

Pepper-Crusted Sirloin with Sangiovese-Mushroom Sauce

As I mentioned last week, I recently received a cookbook called The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet. I also stated that books with titles like this tend to steer me away as I've found that many "quick" meals require the use of convenience and prepackaged foods. I'm quoting myself again: "This book is different, very different. Enough so that it has earned a permanent home in my cookbook collection. Instead of prepackaged preservative packed foods, these recipes use fresh ingredients and everything tastes wonderful."

As you know, with permission from the publisher, I've already posted two recipe from this book: Grilled Chicken Salad w/Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette and Sausage Jambalaya, both were absolutely delicious. This of course had me anxious to try more.

As I promised in my review of The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet cookbook, I have two more recipes to post. Today I'm sharing a wonderful steak entree that the book suggests cooking in the skillet, but you can also make this on the grill. Cooking it in the skillet keep the juices in the pan and the brown bits from the pan add to the flavor of the mushroom sauce. We had it for dinner last week and everyone enjoyed it. Of course, I was the only one who would eat the mushrooms. :)

This recipe shouts gourmet but it's really easy to put together and perfect if you have guests. I love mushrooms, but no one else does, so I didn't top the steak with the mushrooms, just served them on the side. This recipe is on page 200.


Pepper-Crusted Sirloin with Sangiovese-Mushroom Sauce
adapted from The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet

For the meat:

1 tbsp mixed whole peppercorns (such as black, pink and white), coarsely crushed
24 ounces (1" thick) boneless beef top sirloin, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter

For the sauce:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup onion, 1/4 inch slices
1 8 oz pkg sliced cremini mushrooms (couldn't find so I bought basic white mushrooms)
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp of dried thyme leaves
3/4 cup Sangiovese, or other medium bodied high acid red wine (couldn't find so substituted a basic red wine)
1 tsp cornstarch
salt to taste
coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish (optional) (skipped)

Press the crushed peppercorns into the top and bottom of the steaks; sprinkle with salt.

To cook the steaks, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks; cook, turning once, for 9-11 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Set the pan aside, do not rinse or wash.


While the steaks are cooking, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in another large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes or until mushrooms and onions are tender. Reduce the heat to medium.

Stir together the wine and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into the onions and mushrooms. Stir constantly for one minute, or until slightly thickened (mine took several minutes). pour the mushroom mixture into the steak drippings in the other skillet; stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen all the browned bits of meat. Season with salt.

Serve the steaks topped with the sauce and garnish with parsley (I served them on the side because of my mushroom hating family).




Here a great tip from the book about mushrooms:

Mushrooms keep best with good air circulation. if they are sealed in plastic wrap, remove the plastic and place the mushrooms in a paper bag before refrigerating. Do not wash before storing. Before using mushrooms, simply brush with a mushroom brush or wipe with a moist paper towel. If you rinse them, do it very quickly; because mushrooms are very absorbent, they should not be allowed to soak in water. They also should be cooked quickly,; because mushrooms are 90% water, they easily become overcooked and mushy.

TWD: Fresh Mango Banana Bread

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Fresh Mango Bread, was chosen by Kelly of Baking with the Boys. If you would like the recipe you can find it on Kelly's blog or on page 45 of Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

This recipe called for 2 cups of mango and suggested one mango would cover that. Unfortunately, even after choosing the largest one, I was only able to get one cup from it. Dorie mentioned that this recipe came from a woman she knew that had mango trees growing in her yard, she must have had huge fruit! Instead of running to the store, I substituted 2 ripe bananas for the other cup of mango. I probably shouldn't have because I'm sure the additional mango would have given a much different flavor, but all in all it worked out fine. I'm not a big fan of ginger, so I reduced the ginger by half a teaspoon and increased the cinnamon by the same amount. That worked out fine.

I also made a small pan of mini muffins from some of the batter and tossed in some dried strawberries I got from Oh! Nuts. I diced them up and stirred them in, worked out great. 

My loaf was only in the oven for 80 minutes, though the instructions said 90, and it still baked too long. There were some dark spots and it had that ever so slight burnt flavor. I watched the muffins more closely and they were a nice golden brown. 

This bread tastes quite good, though the stringy texture of the mango had family members freaking out thinking there was hair baked into the bread. LOL This is lovely with a slathering of butter with morning coffee :) 

Sausage Jambalaya

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently received a cookbook called The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet. I was skeptical because books with titles like this tend to be packed full of convenience and prepackaged foods. I'll reiterate what I said yesterday: "This book is different, very different. Enough so that it has earned a permanent home in my cookbook collection. Instead of prepackaged preservative packed foods, these recipes use fresh ingredients and everything tastes wonderful."

As you know, I posted a recipe yesterday called "Grilled Chicken Salad w/Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette that was absolutely delicious. A satisfying lunch or a wonderfully light dinner for a summer evening. 

As I promised in my review of The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet cookbook, I have three more recipes to post. Today I'm sharing another fabulous meal, another which my mother in law loved. We had it for dinner, we had it for lunch the next day, and she finished it off the day after that. :)

I love the ease of this recipe, coupled with, again, the fact that there's nothing prepackaged in the ingredient list. I used my favorite rice, Jasmine, and it was all too delicious. This recipe is on page 194.



Sausage Jambalaya
adapted from The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet

12 ounces smoked andouille sausage or other smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tsp minced garlic
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp cayenne, or to taste

Cook the sausage, bell pepper, onion and garlic in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally for 3 minutes or until the sausage is lightly browned but not thoroughly cooked.

Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes or until the liquid is just about absorbed.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette

Some time ago I received a cookbook called The Complete 15 Minute Gourmet. I'm often disappointed with books like this as they tend to use all types of prepared foods (condensed soups, prepackaged mac and cheese, etc). However, this book is different, very different. Enough so that it has earned a permanent home in my cookbook collection. Instead of prepackaged preservative packed foods, these recipes use fresh ingredients and everything tastes wonderful.

I've already made 4 different recipes from this book and have several others earmarked, 2 of which are on my dinner menu this week. I've written a review of this cookbook which is available on FamilyCorner.com, and will share all four of the fabulous recipes here that I have made and enjoyed. 

Today is Grilled Chicken Salad w/Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette which can be found on page 20. My mother in law was here for a visit and we were both hungry for a light but satisfying lunch. I thumbed through the book and found this. She and I both loved it and I will definitely make it again. 

I did substitute romaine lettuce for the spinach leaves as that is what I had on hand.

Grilled Chicken Salad w/Herbed Tomato Vinaigrette

adapted from The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet

For the Chicken:

16 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts

olive oil for brushing

dash of salt and pepper

For the Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil (I used 2 tsp dried)

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano (I used 1 tsp dried)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste

salt to taste

To complete the recipe:

10 cups spinach leaves, stems removed (this yields 4 cups after steaming) - (I used romaine lettuce, I did not wilt it)

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (I used canned)

1/2 cup (4-oz) chevre cheese, coarsely crumbled (I used garlic feta cheese)

Heat a stovetop grill pan over high heat. Lightly brush both sides of the chicken breasts with oil. Reduce the heat to medium-high; cook for 5 minutes per side or until lightly browned and thoroughly cooked. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

While the chicken is cooking, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl. 

Rinse the spinach in cool water. (I skipped the next section for wilting as I used romaine instead) Transfer to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cover and cook without additional water, except for the drops that cling to the leaves, for 2 minutes or until slightly wilted. Uncover and remove the pan from the heat. 

Slice the chicken into 1/2 inch diagonal strips. 

To assemble the salads, spread steamed spinach on each plate. Top with the chicken strips, corn, and chevre cheese. 

Stir the vinaigrette and drizzle it over the salads.

Coming up next: Sausage Jambalaya

Vanilla Bread Pudding

Recently I made a Chocolate Bread Pudding through the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group. I liked it quite a bit, but it wasn't the bread pudding that I have ordered and loved in restaurants. So I set off to find one and hit the jackpot. This Vanilla Bread Pudding from Recipezaar is delicious. I didn't get the chance to make a sauce to go with it, but the flavor of it was wonderful on its own.

Next week I will be featuring several recipes from a wonderful cookbook I discovered recently called The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet: Creative Cuisine Made Fast and Fresh
by Paulette Mitchell. I have made 4 recipes straight from the book and every one of them was delicious and they really were quick to prepare! I'll be posting the recipes and photos here and the book review on FamilyCorner.com

Vanilla Bread Pudding

7-10 ounces French bread or Italian bread, stale cut into 1-inch cubes (about enough to fill up a 13x9 pan 3/4 of the way)
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
4 cups milk, whole
1/2 cup raisins, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast bread cubes in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Place the toasted cubes of bread in an ungreased 3x9x2-inch pan.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs and egg yolks until frothy. In a small bowl or plastic bag combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend well.

In a medium sauce pan over low heat heat milk and butter till butter just melts (120 degrees F).
I like to chop the raisins in the food processor with a bit of the sugar/spice mixture as there's a lot of folks out there that love the taste of raisins, but don't like the texture. If desired add chopped raisins to the milk/butter mixture at this point.


Add sugar/spice mix and vanilla to milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Slowly pour about 1 cup of the warm milk over the eggs while stirring continuously. If you like whole raisins, sprinkle the raisins over the bread cubes at this point. Pour the milk mixture over the bread crumbs. Allow the bread to become thoroughly soaked, turn once or twice to speed up the process. Maybe 10 minutes.


Bake the soaked bread in the 350 F oven for 40-60 minutes, check every few minutes after the initial cooking period and remove from oven when desired degree of brownness is reached. Cool slightly. Serve.

Top with whip cream, ice cream and/or bourbon sauce.

Variations, add some roasted and chopped pecans, some white or milk chocolate chips, chopped dates.

Fried Potatoes Recipe

This week it's one word: Leftovers.

I am not a big leftover fan. I try to make the right portions so there aren't any, but there's always those nights that there's an abundant amount of something left on the table. This week I had 3 small baked potatoes leftover from dinner and stuck them in the fridge. There are several ways you can enjoy these a second time, I chose to fry them up with some butter, garlic, onion and seasoning. My mother in law and I enjoyed them immensely! ;)

Fried Potatoes

leftover baked potatoes, halved and sliced

butter

garlic

sliced onions

freshly ground pepper medley

sea salt

Put enough butter in a skillet to fry potatoes in, approximately one tablespoon per small baked potato. Melt butter over medium-high heat then add garlic and onions (however much you like, I used 1 large clove and half of a small onion) and saute until onions are tender. Add potato slices and grind some pepper over them, toss to coat. Let cook for several minutes, allowing the potatoes to brown. Flip over and cook on the other side. A few minutes before removing the potatoes, grind some seal salt over the top and toss. Enjoy.

Here are some other ideas for reheating leftover potatoes:

• Cut into cubes and fry as above with the addition of crumbled bacon for morning hashbrowns
  
• Cut into wedges, place on cookie sheet, season and bake
  
• Cut potato in half, smash each side, add butter and microwave
  
• Scoop out pulp, mash and fry for quick potato pancakes
  
• Cut into long halves, sprinkle with crumbled bacon, green onion slices and shredded cheddar cheese and bake on a cookie sheet

Your turn! What are your ideas for using up baked potatoes?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below (NOT TO YOUR HOMEPAGE) and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart

This week's Tuesday With Dorie recipe, chosen by Babette of Babette Feasts, is for the Tartest Lemon Tart which can be found on page 336 of Baking From My Home to Yours, or on Babette's blog. 

The tart is delicious and definitely lives up to its name. There was some discussion this week about how to cut the bitterness from the lemons as this recipe actually calls for using the entire lemon cut into pieces then run through a blender with sugar and several other ingredients. Many felt the the white of the lemon (the pith) was the culprit where the bitterness was concerned.

First off, the tart dough it fabulous, absolutely delicious. I mixed all my ingredients in the blender as directed and it looked beautiful. I poured the filling into the readied tart dough and baked as directed. The recipe called for 45-50 minutes total. After 45 minutes the filling had bubbled up quite a bit, which Dorie had said it would do, but it hadn't bubbled over, which Dorie had said it might. So I added 5 more minutes to the timer as the center still seemed a bit jiggly. I was very pleased with how perfect it looked in the oven. Until...

I opened the oven after 4 minutes and it had bubbled over like a volcano! Waaahh! :( 

However, I carried on and allowed it to cool, cleaned up the spillage and chilled it in the fridge a bit. I dusted it with powdered sugar and it was a success!

The flavor of this tart is wonderful. I did detect a hint of bitterness, but I think if you had some good quality lemons you wouldn't have this problem. I didn't want to remove the pith as Dorie didn't say to do that, and I really like to make her recipes as stated and try them out as she had. 

At any rate, it's a wonderful tart and I would like to try this again with some good quality lemons. See how the other TWD bakers faired by visiting their blogs!

If you missed my interview with Dorie last weekend, take a look here! :)

Muggies: 2 Minute Scrambled Eggs in a Mug

There are many hectic mornings when you're in a hurry and don't have time to pull out the skillet, whip up some eggs and sit down for breakfast. Muggies are a perfect solution. I know some people who do this in plastic zipper sandwich bags, but with all the hub-bub about chemicals in plastic, I feel it's much safer this way.

Muggies: Scrambled Eggs in a Mug in less than 2 minutes

cooking spray

coffee mug

2 eggs

splash of milk

salt and pepper

Spray the inside of a coffee mug with cooking spray. Drop in two eggs and a splash of milk. Use a fork to break up the eggs and whisk the eggs and milk together. 

Put it in the microwave for 1 minute. The eggs will begin to rise up over the lip of the cup. Remove the cup and flip the egg with your fork to see if there's any liquid left to cook. If so, put them back in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time until all the egg is cooked. This generally takes less than 2 minutes total. Season with salt and pepper.

Now walk out the door with your mug and your fork, then bring your dishes in when you get home :) 

Orange Zest

Have you ever bought fruit that you just weren't happy with? It's so hard to buy produce before its peak time, but my husband doesn't like a large variety, so I'm stuck buying oranges and grapes year round. The last batch of oranges I bought just weren't that sweet. He has to have them sweet or he just won't eat them. So there in my refrigerator sat 5 or 6 oranges just waiting to be used. I couldn't bear the thought of throwing them away or tossing them out for the raccoons, so I decided to:

• zest the rinds first
  
• juice the fruit next
  
• quarter them and send the remains down the garbage disposal

Zest

Always zest the skins of oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes before cutting or peeling, even when just eating the fruit! Place the zest into zipper sandwich bags and store in the freezer until needed.

Juice

Even though the oranges weren't the sweetest, the juice was a perfect addition to splash into my iced tea! You can freeze the juice in ice cube trays and use them in recipes or drop them into cold drinks. I chose to strain mine and just put it into a jar to use bit by bit.

Dispose

I quartered the remains of the juiced oranges. I recently saw a documentary on television and someone from a water treatment plant was encouraging people to send their food waste down the garbage disposal. They said that the water treatment plant turns that waste into usable energy!

I did use some of the zest and the juice in a recipe for my birthday cake. I turned 42 on Monday, so I baked myself a delicious cake from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook. I can't blog about it just yet as it hasn't been chosen through the Tuesdays with Dorie group, but I can tell you it was delicious! The recipe called for lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract and seedless raspberry jam. Instead I used orange zest, orange juice, orange extract, and instead of the jam I used lemon curd and sweet orange marmalade! It was yummy!

What did you do that was thrifty this week?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)