Last Day of Summer Break Brunch

Today is my last day of freedom.  Thank goodness my good friend Megan suggested coming over for brunch instead of me wasting this day crying the blues about going back to the daily grind.

P.S. Thanks for putting up listening to me complain about going back to the daily grind.  Especially to those of you who haven't been able to take a break from it.  We teachers are spoiled beyond reason!

I wanted to make something either on the sweet savory side or a fruity muffin delight.  Since I had already made blueberry muffins this summer (I promise, I will post it....eventually) and though strawberry cupcakes looked tempting, I couldn't rationalize them as proper brunch food.  I went with Pioneer Woman's Pull Apart Bread.

Sometimes I completely forget that I am human and imagine that I can complete tasks at superhuman speed.  In other words, I really needed three and a half hours to completely make my bread, and I only had three.

This might seem like nothing to you, but it made my brain turn sideways and my eyes start to spin uncontrollably.  True story.

This pull apart bread was quite interesting.  It wasn't until I was hands deep in butter and cinnamon sugar that I realized I was basically making cinnamon rolls.  Pioneer Woman states at least once, but probably twice, in the recipe how it is simply her cinnamon roll recipe but just delivered a different way, but I refused to believe it.

Cinnamon rolls are complicated and this, I reasoned, was not.

Instead of rolling the butter and cinnamon sugar coated dough, you are supposed to cut it into eight strips.  The strips are then stacked on top of one another and sliced into squares.  The squares are placed in a buttered bread pan and then baked.

The problem I faced was that in her pictures she did not melt the butter, but she smeared it onto the dough.  The recipe, however, said to melt the butter.  So I, of course, followed the recipe.  This, and a very sticky dough, made it difficult to simply lift the squares up off the table, let alone stack them on top of one another.

Somehow I managed, but I concluded that pull apart bread was just as complicated as cinnamon rolls.

My bread still had twenty minutes to go once Megan had arrived.

She didn't want to be in the picture, but I insisted.

I love Megan.  When I taught third grade, she worked in my classroom during the first period of the day.  My students loved her, and I loved her being there.  I miss my daily dose of Megan.

As much as I love her, she also makes me feel old.  Because before she ever worked in my classroom, before we ever enjoyed delicious brunch together, I used to babysit her and her older sister, Emily.

Now Emily is married and Megan is in college and I want to cry.

Good thing I have this picture to take my mind off of that.  Pioneer Woman does recommend cutting the recipe in half, but of course I had already poured and combined my first three ingredients when I remembered that I meant to remind myself to cut everything in half.

Goodness.

Now I have a loaf of pull apart bread in my freezer, a loaf on the table, and Megan has half a loaf with her at home.

Megan brought breakfast squares.  These weren't any ordinary breakfast squares (though, I'm not sure if I've ever had a breakfast square to date).  They were sausage, egg, and cheese with croissant holding the entire thing together.  Here's what she did to make it extremely delectable: she cooked the sausage, then put it through the food processor.

Brilliant.  Here's my beef with sausage.  I don't like the crumbly texture of link sausage, and those sausage patties aren't much better.  But thrown through the food processor?  It's like a completely different animal.

She gave me the leftovers and I may or may not have already heated up a square to snack on.

Since I didn't make anything fruity, I decided to throw some fruit on the side to add a little color to our plates.

But these....these breakfast squares were where it's at.  I'm not exactly sure where that is, but it's a real happening place that everyone should go to.

While in Shoprite earlier this week I saw this and my ever compulsive need to try new things took over.  I knew it would be perfect for our brunch.

If you haven't seen this yet, run to your local grocery store and search for it today.  Though it could never be the real thing (fresh is fresh, am I right?), it was close enough.

Going back to work is tough, but sharing my last day off brunching with a friend like Megan makes it just a tad easier.

We'll see how I feel Monday morning....

I Cake Pop...and You Can Too!

Recipe: Cake Pops

Source: The Orange Strainer

Time: 3+ hours, it helps to break the process up across two days

Ease: 10

Taste: 10

Leftover Value: 10

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

This is a glorious sight.

Whenever I begin to make cake pops, music suddenly starts playing and I hear, "Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination..."

If you're a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fan, you'll appreciate that.

Cake pops are as hard to make as they are delicious.  Despite knowing that, I have made them three times so far this summer and after the third time, I know it must be love.

The steps are actually simple.  It is the time consuming-ness of the steps that makes making cake pops something that most women run from screaming until they have reached the safety of their mother's arms.

After looking up a wide variety of cake pop recipes, I realized the extent of the cake pop concept boils down to two things: cake and icing.

Start by baking a simple cake.  Don't get fancy here.  You'll need to reserve your strength for later.

This means, use a cake mix!  For the love of everything holy, use a cake mix!

Because after your beautiful cake is is baked, you will destroy it into tiny crumbles as pictured above.

Grab a container of store bought icing.

Yes, again, store bought!  Don't get fancy here.  You don't have the time!

Heat the icing up for 10-15 seconds.  (Make sure you've peeled off all the foil that lines the rim, or you might not be making cake pops but buying a new microwave instead).

Mix the icing in with the cake crumbs until the crumbs are moistened enough to be rolled into balls.  Every time I've made this I've used a different amount of icing.  With the cream cheese icing pictured above, I only used half the container.  The last time I made them, I used the entire container.

This is the consistency you want.

You can see my fist print pretty well here.  But I swear, I was happy when I was making these!

The ball should be able to be rolled with ease and not break apart.

This part of the process should remind you of making meatballs, except with this you can eat bits of the mixture as you go along...yum!

Part one of the waste of time that is cake pops: the rolled balls need to go into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.  The most recent time I made these, I put them in the freezer for an hour and I think they were much easier to work with that way.  But, if you're impatient like I usually am, 30 minutes will work too.

While they are in the freezer, begin to melt the chocolate that you plan to dip them in.  Any chocolate will do.  I've been using semi-sweet chocolate chips.  The best way to go about this is to use a small crock pot.  The chocolate stays warm while the whole dipping process occurs.  No need to worry about reheating as you go along.



This little guy is amazing.  I got him with a larger crock-pot that I received for my bridal shower two hundred years ago.  He is the perfect size for cake popping.

Pop some sticks in the cake balls.  The special variety 'cake pop sticks' are nice, but you certainly don't need to use them.  My first time I made cake pops hubby gave me some leftover craft sticks and they worked just fine.

Once your cake pops are assembled, put 8-10 of them on a separate plate and put the others back into the freezer to stay cold.

This chocolate is just about ready.

The dipping process is crazy.  I've never made chocolate dipped anything before I made cake pops, so it was quite a learning experience.  If I could have taken step by step pictures of this process to help you out, I would have.  But then my camera would be a chocolatized mess.

Here's how it basically went:

1. Dip top of cake pop into the warm chocolate.
2. Swirl cake pop around in the chocolate for a little, but not too long or else the ball will become loose from the stick.
3. Take the cake pop out of the chocolate with one hand, in the other hand hold a spoon with a little chocolate on it.  Gently roll the cake pop in the chocolate until completely covered.
4. Top with sprinkles.
5. Set aside to cool.

Well, that's how it went on a good try.

By my third round of cake pops, I was a pro at dipping them.  I still would have needed a third hand to be able to photograph the process.

The orange strainer, live and in living color!

Don't waste money buying Styrofoam blocks.  A strainer will work perfectly to let each pop individually cool.

To the left you will see I got a little adventurous and made marshmallow pops.  Yum!  Freeze marshmallows on sticks for about 10 minutes.  Dip in chocolate.  Top with crushed graham crackers.  You'll thank me later that you did.

After the cake pops are covered in chocolate goodness, do what you can to relocate them to the refrigerator.  The chocolate will harden much better there and within an hour or so you will be able to place them on a serving dish, or in my case, serving basket.

So far, the best cake pops I've made were a devil's food cake mix mixed with chocolate icing.  The thing to keep in mind is that one cake pop is, in most cases, more than enough.  They are moist, heavy, and rich, something those who haven't yet experienced cake pops won't expect at first.  While most people love the cake pop craze, don't be offended if it's not everybody's taste.*

*I add this note because, of all people, Hubby has a thing against cake pops.  This is my life people.

A Summer Must Have--Iced Coffee Concentrate

Recipe: Perfect Iced Coffee

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Time: 12-24 hours (yikes!)

Ease: 1

Taste: 10

Leftover Value: 10

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

Whenever I meet someone who doesn't drink coffee, I marvel at them as if they were a three legged monkey, wearing a tiny vest, and playing a bongo (Why that? I don't know....I haven't had my coffee yet today.  No wait, that's a lie.  Okay, I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet...).  

How on earth could anyone possibly live without coffee?!

I don't want to know, because it deeply saddens me.

Then there are those like my father who have been coffee drinkers forever, but can't get into the wonderful world that is iced coffee.

My heart cries for them as well.

When I learned how to make iced coffee concentrate, it revolutionized my life.  While I love going out for coffee, a regular old iced coffee is of such simplicity that if I can make it from home....I'm going to.

And it'll be the best darn iced coffee there is.

Cafe Bustelo helps to make that possible.  When making an iced coffee concentrate you want to pick a stronger coffee, and this variety fits the bill.

That pretty much sums it up.

This recipe is so simple, it should get a -1 for ease.

Put the coffee grinds (1 pound) into a large container.  In my case, that is a large stock pot.

Pour cold water (8 quarts) over the coffee grinds.

Mix the coffee grinds well into the water.  I've spared you the wild and crazy pictures of the liquid being stirred.  They were pretty trippy.

Throw a lid on it, and let it sit for 12-24 hours.  I always go for 24 hours just to bring out as much flavor and richness that I can from the coffee grinds.

*Note: This is the hardest part of this whole recipe and it merely relates to the amount of self-control you possess.

I also cover my pot with tin foil because I'm a little bit of a worry wort.  Not that the layer of tin foil is really protecting this pot any extra.  I just like to pretend that it does.

After you've waited patiently, put a fine mesh strainer on top of the pitcher you want the coffee to go in.

You can use cheesecloth, or I just use paper towels to catch the coffee grinds.

Take the lid off your coffee concentrate.

This must be how coffee got the name 'cup of mud'.  Trust me, it will be delicious even despite this picture and what is about to happen next.

If you make as much as the recipe calls for, you'll be doing this for a while.

And you may have to fill up more than one pitcher.

Most times I will cut the recipe in half.  However, I foresaw that I would need the full recipe since Hubby and I blew through a halved recipe by the middle of June.

The remaining dregs of coffee came out in a sort of sandy print.  I thought it was rather artistic, don't you think?

I also found a little humor in the looks of the paper towel wrapped coffee grinds.  Is it just me?

Yes?

Gosh, I hope not.

Let the iced coffee concentrate cool in the fridge.  It will last a few months there (that is, if you don't chug through it sooner).

Making an iced coffee with this is a science.  You can't just toss some ice and milk in and be done.

No.

Starbucks syrups are staples in my kitchen for my homemade coffees.

They make my life sweeter than sweet.
  

Pump in 2-4 pumps of your choice of syrup.  I usually choose 'Classic' but if I'm feeling a little daring I'll throw in 'Vanilla'.  If you like your coffee sweeter, do at least 4 pumps.  If you like a little jolt to your sips, stick with two, like I do.

Fill your cup about three quarters of the way with small chunks of ice.

Pour in your preferred milk just under the ice line.

If I'm being completely honest with you, like I always am, sometimes, just every so often, I will splash in a little half and half on top to make life a little more interesting.

I'm bad like that.

Top off the milk with iced coffee concentrate.  Fill to the top of the glass or until the mixture reaches your preferred coffee color.

There are tons of ways to mix this up.  Add a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk (totally fatty, but totally delicious).  Top with caramel.  Mix in chocolate syrup.  The possibilities are endless.