It has been a while since I have written and i must apologize. I had a friends bachlorette party earlier this month and well you know how it goes--can't be baking sweet treats when you are going to to be chilling poolside in Vegas =P
Now with Orlando around the corner i still can't bake too much, but i did manage to try a couple new things this past weekend.
But first before i get into that let me just say... i am not perfect. I came home after working out starving totally forgetting that Vince had class tonight so i was left to fend for myself. I decided to reheat leftovers and make myself some tacos so i put some shells in the toaster oven to speed things along... 5-6 min later i smell smoke, then see flames, so i open the door and try to blow out the fire (you know like candles on a birthday cake). Terrible idea....the flames get bigger as the fire alarms all start going off. So i quickly run to the sink grab a cup and fill it with water and throw it at the flames. The end result: burnt soggy taco shells, pools of water on the counter and in the toaster oven, smoke everywhere, and some black scorch marks on the bottoms of my upper cabinet...at least the fire went out??
Now with Orlando around the corner i still can't bake too much, but i did manage to try a couple new things this past weekend.
But first before i get into that let me just say... i am not perfect. I came home after working out starving totally forgetting that Vince had class tonight so i was left to fend for myself. I decided to reheat leftovers and make myself some tacos so i put some shells in the toaster oven to speed things along... 5-6 min later i smell smoke, then see flames, so i open the door and try to blow out the fire (you know like candles on a birthday cake). Terrible idea....the flames get bigger as the fire alarms all start going off. So i quickly run to the sink grab a cup and fill it with water and throw it at the flames. The end result: burnt soggy taco shells, pools of water on the counter and in the toaster oven, smoke everywhere, and some black scorch marks on the bottoms of my upper cabinet...at least the fire went out??
I must say i think that was a huge disaster. averted! To look on the bright side at least my cooking during the weekend ended up a little bit better. I decided to try some new concoctions so i made lasagna for the first time using my mommy's meat sauce recipe and then i also made cheesecake flan for dessert.
For the dessert i had to make my own caramel...which also ended up disastrous but i was able to salvage what i could. Let me just say caramel is not easy to make especially when one does not have a pastry brush to keep brushing the sides of the pan. I took what i could and divided it among 10 ramekins and then i put the flan cheesecake mix in and baked in the oven. But before that I was so preoccupied with making the pasta sauce i forgot to take the cream cheese and eggs out of the fridge in advance to let them get down to room temperature. So my cheesecake flan wasn't as smooth as i would like but it still tasted ok. And the caramel was partially hard but the rest blended nicely with the cheesecake flan. So overall it was successful i think, the people who ate it said it was good... (though i guess they could of been lying...)
Now the lasagna on the other hand was absolutely delicious. It was the perfect blend of saucy, cheesy, and meaty! Granted i also overfilled my pan so during baking the sauce spilled over the sides and eventually the oven began to smoke... hahaha.. something about me and ovens. At least it happened at the end of the baking time so it turned out ok. The recipe called for parmigiana, cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs; but because i love cheese i also added ricotta. Perfecto! It was absolutely delightful. And vince loved every bite he took...even if he alone ate 2/3 of it.
For the dessert i had to make my own caramel...which also ended up disastrous but i was able to salvage what i could. Let me just say caramel is not easy to make especially when one does not have a pastry brush to keep brushing the sides of the pan. I took what i could and divided it among 10 ramekins and then i put the flan cheesecake mix in and baked in the oven. But before that I was so preoccupied with making the pasta sauce i forgot to take the cream cheese and eggs out of the fridge in advance to let them get down to room temperature. So my cheesecake flan wasn't as smooth as i would like but it still tasted ok. And the caramel was partially hard but the rest blended nicely with the cheesecake flan. So overall it was successful i think, the people who ate it said it was good... (though i guess they could of been lying...)
Now the lasagna on the other hand was absolutely delicious. It was the perfect blend of saucy, cheesy, and meaty! Granted i also overfilled my pan so during baking the sauce spilled over the sides and eventually the oven began to smoke... hahaha.. something about me and ovens. At least it happened at the end of the baking time so it turned out ok. The recipe called for parmigiana, cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs; but because i love cheese i also added ricotta. Perfecto! It was absolutely delightful. And vince loved every bite he took...even if he alone ate 2/3 of it.