Baking Queen

So this is my second post on a weekend. Pretty good, right?

When I left you yesterday I was heading to do some baking and as the post’s title might indicate I became a baking queen.

Here’s my baking so far:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

This is my husbands favourite treats. I always end up baking a few batches of this throughout the holidays. They are definitely high in calories but because they are so dense you really only need one to enjoy.

This is also a super simple recipe that is bake-free.

• 2 cups of peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups of icing sugar
• 2 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a bowl mix together icing sugar and rice krispies.

Then melt together peanut butter and butter and a sauce pan.

Pour the peanut butter mixture over the icing sugar mixture and combine.

Once combined roll into balls about 1 inch in size and place on baking sheet.

Put baking sheet in fridge for a few hours (or if your like me and trying to please the husband as quickly as possible – freezer for about an hour).

Once firm melt chocolate and and dip balls in chocolate. Place back in fridge (or freezer) and another couple of hours and serve.

This delicious little beasts are always a hit around the holidays. I took them to a Christmas party last year and everyone raved about them. They are super easy and they last forever. Just make sure to store them in the fridge (or you can freeze them) as they melt very quickly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I took this recipe from Kelly at browniesandzucchini.com

I followed the recipe exactly but I’m just going to repost it here for convenience.

• 3/4 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 organic sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375.

In a small bowl mix dry ingredients minus the chocolate chips (flour, baking soda and salt).

Mix together butter, brown sugar, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

Then add eggs and beat.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ones then add in chocolate chips.

Add cookies in baking sheet and bake for 8-14 mins depending on size of cookies. My smaller ones took about 8-10 where my larger cookies took about 12-14 mins.

This recipe made so many cookies. I think in total it made about 20 large cookies and 20 smaller cookies.

They seemed to go on forever. I’ve already put most of them in the freezer for the holidays but not first without a taste test. They turned out perfect.

I’m now in the process of making a loaf of Chocolate Banana Gingerbread and then a batch of pumpkin granola bars.

I’ll give you a preview picture…

~ Katie :)

It's my birthday...

...celebration.


I wanted to start my first post with my eats for today but last night Matt took me out for dinner for lobster dinner so I thought I'd start with a quick review and some pictures of last night's dinner. I will try to include lots of pics in my posts (I know when I read blogs I love to see pics).


Yesterday Matt was planning on taking me out to dinner for my birthday. I had been bugging him about taking me out for Thai (Jamie posted about going out a few weeks ago and I've been thinking about it ever since) but then he suggested Lobster (my absolute favourite - which I usually get twice a year, once in the summer and once on Christmas Eve). Who could turn down Lobster so Lobster is was.


Last night we went out to the Waterfront Warehouse.  We have probably been here about 5 times in the past 3 years and it's always the place we go when eating Lobster at a restaurant. When we got there I knew what I was getting (lobster of course) but Matt's not a big lobster guy so he was going to get steak. When we got there and looked at the menu there was no steak. So he opted for the seafood linguine. He wasn't having much luck (they were all out) so he finally he decided on Fish and Chips. Our waitress was great and broke it to him gently about being out of the pasta.


After we ordered we got some bread: Multi-grain with flax seeds. A little too crunchy but still tasty. I had two of these pieces:

Then we split the bacon-wrapped scallops. They were very tasty. They were cooked in some spice and they had a little kick. Very good.

Finally the lobster came. I substituted the potato salad and coleslaw for a side caesar salad instead. The side caesar was huge and I gave some of it to Matt when I couldn't finish it. It was creamy and delicious. I don't think I would ever have anything bad to say about lobster so I'll just post some pics of our dinners.

We had a wonderful time there (like usual) and the service is excellent. We have never been to the Waterfront Warehouse and had poor service. Overall, I would defiantly recommend it for seafood. 

When we got home we curled up on the couch to watch Couple's Retreat. Very funny movie. During the movie I snacked on a couple of homemade Chocolate Chip cookies made by one of my best friends. I hadn't had her cookies in years so she made me a box for my birthday. Nom nom.

                              

This post is much longer then anticipated so I'll leave my daily eats for tomorrow.

~ Katie :)

Do you have a favourite restaurant that is a staple for a specific food? The Waterfront Warehouse is my go to Lobster restaurant.