A little savory and a little sweet.

Today I had to show off my chicken and noodles.  I started out with every intention of making chicken pot pie, but realized halfway through that I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed to make it.  Haven't we all done that?  I had slow cooked two chickens overnight in the crock pot with lots of good seasonings.

I then shredded the chicken, and added it to noodles, along with peas, carrots, celery, and onion that I had sauteed before hand.  I also used lots of seasoning and chicken bullion for good hearty flavor.

For dinner we had a little something sweet, but pretty low calorie.  It's a very simple dish, but I find it delicious.  Depending on your mood, you can make it whatever flavor that you want.  It's jello cake.  Now, when I worked at the nursing home, jello cake was a cake with holes poked in it and then jello poured over it and set. 

That's not my version of jello cake.  This cake was something that my Grandma K and I absolutely LOVED the stuff.  Surprising, my family loves it too.  I can make one and it will be gone within a couple of days.  Jello cake around here is to make an angel food cake, let it cool, and then you rip it into a million pieces.  Then, you choose a kind of jello that you want.  Make it, and then you pour it over the ripped up cake pieces.  Make sure that everything is soaked, and stick it in the fridge until set.  Add a small dollop of sugar free whipped topping, and it's a bowlful of joy!  I've made it in just about every flavor of jello known to man.  I usually always also use sugar free jello.  It's a treat that I don't have to feel guilty about.  :)

Spray on is not just for tanning!!!!

I have discovered spray on coloring!  I had seen it before, but never ventured to buy any. Hubs changed my world a couple of weekends ago when he placed two cans of the fun stuff in my cart.  Being very into air brushing, Hubs thought this would be a fun way to give some life to my creations. The coolness factor of this stuff is unbelievable. 

I decided to put this coloring to work for the cupcakes that I was making for the boy's big Valentine's Day bashes at school.  One boy was getting cupcakes, and one boy was getting cookies.  I went with a simple vanilla cupcake and a buttercream icing.  Then after the icing crusted a bit, I shot it with the spray can.  It was really fun.  It doesn't add a taste to the cupcake, and it enables you to give shadows and light to the cupcake. Of course, you really can't tell much from these pictures, again they are from my cell phone.  You would THINK at some point I could put together the act of being at Walmart and buying batteries.    In fact, the cupcakes look kind of orange, but they were red.

Next were the sugar cookies.  I decided to do something different for each kiddo.  I used a new food coloring, one that was extremely bright.  I nearly burned out my retinas decorating these suckers!  I absolutely fell in love with the sugar cookie recipe.  Literally days later, the cookies were still soft and delicious.  Again, the icing was a simple butter icing.  I wasn't sure that my oh so manly little boys would be willing to take bright pink cookies and cupcakes to school, but they were cool about it.  I got good reports from teachers and students alike!

Banana Cake!

I know that I am quite possibly driving you all insane with the constant cooking and posting that I have been doing the last couple of days.  But, when I get a day off like this today, I take advantage of it.  It may be days before I have the opportunity again.  I just wish SO much that I had prepared myself with batteries for my camera.  Sigh!  Oh well, I will know next time, right?

I was going to make a butter pecan cake tonight, but noticed that I had bananas on the counter that were getting perfectly ripe for banana bread.  But, then I thought, I don't really want banana bread.  It's what I always make with my bananas.  So, I thought, aha!  Banana cake!  I'd never made one before.  I made a triple layer round banana cake with a banana cream cheese brown sugar icing that I came up with.  I couldn't find a recipe that had what I wanted in my mind. 

Here is the result.  I spread a very thin layer of the icing in between each layer of cake, and a thin layer of icing all around.  This is because the icing is extremely rich.  I need some testing to give me their thoughts on it.  If David makes it to work tomorrow, this will go with him.  My son J, actually got to eat this slice.  I DID take a bite for taste testing purposes. 

May I present:

A fudgy, creamy, yummy tasting brownie!!!!!  Sorry that the picture quality is not good.  I am not about to walk to town in TWELVE plus inches of snow for batteries for my camera, lol!

These were SOOO much better this time!  I actually had to bake them for about 30 minutes, instead of the 20.  I don't know if my oven is off in temps or what.  I need to find that out.  I've never been a baker who went on times, I usually go by sight and touch, but I wanted to do this exactly as the recipe said before I started going crazy with it.  This recipe tells you to cold water freeze bath it when they are baked ,but I don't like the way that it makes the bottom of the brownie.  The reason for using that technique is that it stops the cooking process in it's tracks, leaving the brownie at that fudgy stage.  I like the thought, but am not so sure about the result.  I need a blast freezer.  Ha!  Good luck with that one, right? 

Nevertheless, these are delicious.  Chocolately, not too sweet, fudgy, yum~Of course, I feel the need to keep testing them.  Would they be better thicker?  What flavors can I add to them?  A cream cheese brownie?  Raspberry?  How about a bit of that peach jam that I made from the delicious peaches of Pate's Orchard?  How would THAT be swirled in some cream cheese in one of these brownies???  *doing the Homer Simpson drool*

Although I do not look forward to David driving to work tomorrow, I also will be glad to send these things out for others to munch on.  If anyone needs some heat and good food, head to our house.  If you can get here!