Easter has passed, but the Leftovers Remain!

The Title of this Blog is very self-explanatory. Another great Easter with Spring in the air, being close with friends & family has passed, but the leftovers are still lingering! Besides Halloween, Easter is the second most popular holiday for CANDY. Instead of us stocking up on candy we decided to have some fun in the kitchen with cupcakes & of course, Easter Eggs!

There is only so many hours in the week, so we decided to make this a quick and efficient bake session and make some altercations! Yes, we did go the American way this time and use boxed cake batter for the cupcakes! We promise you we will mix up homemade cupcakes next time! But, like stated above, we changed the recipe on the box by replacing the measured water amount with buttermilk. By replacing the water with buttermilk made the cake batter much more moist, which always makes a cupcake even better! We did the replacement with the yellow cupcakes and the chocolate, but the chocolate did not rise as well as the yellow; the chocolate flattened out. If you are not going for 'looks' then continue with the buttermilk within the chocolate batter because they still tasted great!

We did make homemade icing which is very simple to make, the ingredients and measurements are as follows:

• One 8 Ounce container of Cream Cheese; Room Temperature
• 1 Stick of Butter; Room Temperature
• 3 Tablespoons of Milk
• 16 Ounces of Confectioners Sugar

All these ingredients can then be mixed together until smooth. This is a more creamy and soft frosting, so it would not be recommended to create designs and do other techniques. We used the gel style food colorings to get the perfect colors. After sharing these with co-workers, friends & boyfriends they were a hit!

After spending the entire evening on cupcakes we took the next evening to color eggs! This was just the traditional way we wanted to celebrate Easter! Who doesn't want to color Eggs for Easter? We added 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar to brighten the colors and we began the coloring!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and enjoy all the great food and friends as much as we did this year! And if everyone is like our families, we have enough extra food & desserts to feed a small army!

Greatest Past Time= Hot Dogs & Baseball

Just like Peanut Butter & Jelly coincide, baseball and hot dogs certainly go hand in hand! With the few and far in between warm & sunny days, we took advantage of another one of those days. Sunday consisted of the warm weather, baseball on the big screen and grilling out. One of the top ways to unwind and mentally prepare yourself for the dreaded Monday.

With baseball beginning and previously going to the local Minor League Home Opener we decide to create the ball park style dog. This consisted of the Skyline hot dog Chili sauce (Located in Local Groceries), topped with shredded cheese and onions. If this does not take you back to any baseball memories, then you need to come to us so we can show you the true American experience! Add some Sweet Potato Fries and Corn on the Cob on the grill and your Spring meal is ready to be enjoyed.

 Unfortunately we did not get a 'W' from our personal favorite baseball team on Sunday, but we got to enjoy the beautiful day eating and being with close friends which made up for the loss. Let us know what your favorite Spring/Summer meal on the grill is!

What goes better with Baseball than this?

Chocolate Chip Cookies "Gone Wrong" Experiment

We truley thought that it was absolutely impossible to mess up a basic chocolate chip cookie (Especially when following a recipe), until I came in contact with one in particular. Today, We were looking through our million and one baking books trying to get some ideas for the day, when we came across a recipe that clearly called for not enough flour and a 10-12 minute bake time. Absurd, we know. So we decided to "experiment." We followed the recipe perfectly for the first 12 cookies, and then tweaked it for the next 12. Without a doubt (In our neighbors mind), our tweaked cookie not only tasted better, but looked better. With this experiment we realized that baking is a true gift, small tweaks work wonders, and following recipes can leave you with some unpleasant cookies. It takes time and dedication to perfect a recipe, along with TONS of experience. So all you non bakers or recipe followers out there, BEWARE!

Ours is clearly on the left

Original Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 package semi sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

Baking directions: rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart for 10-12 minutes @ 375 degrees

The only possible "fix" was to add items because the mix was already made

Tweaked Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour  1 3/4-2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (6 oz) 1 1/2 cup at least!

Baking directions: rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart for 10-12 minutes @ 375 degrees

                                                              9 1/2 minutes. MAX

Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies

 First baking post = most basic cookie....the no bake. If your just starting to bake, this is hands down the "easiest" cookie to start with. It is also a very good way to determine if you should find a new hobby! If you have an obsession with peanut-butter (like me), they could very well be your favorite.

Essentials

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa (preferrably hershey's)

1 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal

waxed paper

Directions

1.In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. (I recomment putting the butter and milk in first to ensure the sugar won't stick to the bottom of the pan)

2. Let boil for 1 minute

3. Add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal.

4. Turn off burner, and stir until mixed completely

5. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Cooling & Hardening

Finished Concoction

When Mother Nature supports Sunday Funday.

If you are from Ohio, or anywhere in the midwest for that matter, you know that sunny 85 degree weather days are few and far between (esp. in April). It was only obvious that we would take full advantage of Mother Nature and her kindness. So, we decided to grill out....in our bathing suits! I don't know about you, but nothing screams warm weather like shish kabobs, corn on the cob and a major sun burn. Perfect idea turned out perfectly.

Veggies:

Mushrooms

Cherry Tomatoes

Green/red peppers

Onions

Zuccini

Meat:

Marinated Chicken

perfection at it's finest



Surely You'll Visit Surly Girl Saloon

"Eat. Drink. Rock. & Raise Hell" is the quote Surly Girl Saloon lives by. With the trendy, relaxed atmosphere and good friends, it easily becomes a great place to stop in to and enjoy one of their signature cocktails, organic wine, or even one of their 24 beers on draught to wind down. Not only do they have their signature drinks, but they have some amazing food creations that we certainly recommend tasting! 

Their popular dish; the Frito Pie, which is also well known from the show 'King of The Hill' involves your choice of their house-made meat lovers or  vegetarian style chili,  a three pepper mix that adds a kick, monterey jack cheeses, sour cream and of course, fritos! We had the chance to indulge in their Chips & Queso, which was made up of mexican cheeses and their chunky salsa and was very fulfilling and easy to polish off.

Chips, Fritos & Queso

Next on the list was to try their intriguing Pulled Pork Tacos and the Salad From Hell. The tacos has their slow roasted pork with a cilantro-citrus salsa including mandarines, and fresh slaw wrapped in soft shells. Tacos are not too difficult to mess up, but they nailed these on the head with the hint of spice and pepper and the sweet taste of the mandarines combined was excellent. These were very unique and worth trying, as well as the Salad From Hell; a bed of greens topped with jalepenos, roasted onions & peppers, chili pecans drizzled with a spicy chipotle ranch dressing with a side of mashed potatoes.

Pulled Pork Tacos

With a baroque chandelier, the bizarre yet interesting photos on the walls and the occasional live music, this is a great place to put on your list of restaurants to dine at! If one does get an opportunity to visit Surly Girl, attempt to arrive early, because reservations are not an option and there always seems to be a crowd. Be sure to try their 'Spring Fling' while waiting at the bar for a table! It is a refreshing cocktail with infused ginger vodka; you can't just have one!

Spring Fling!

Surly Girl Saloon
1126 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 294-4900
Hours: 11:00am-2:00am Daily
http://www.surlygirlsaloon.com
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