Saturday, December 17, 2011

Buttercream Frosting

It's nearly Christmas! My favorite time of the year.
It hasn't snowed yet, though, and it's really starting to weird me out. I honestly can't remember a Christmas without snow, and it's looking like that is going to happen.
Since there is no snow on the ground, and it's not even freezing cold, I'm not really sure I believe Christmas is only 6 days away.

I thought, to get myself in the Christmas spirit I would make some Christmas-y cupcakes for my awesome co-workers. They like when I bake, and I like when people tell me how awesome my treats are. ;-)

So I thought while showing off pictures of my creations, I'd throw in a recipe for the buttercream I always make. It's pretty stellar if I do say so myself.

Firstly, the picture I posted to Facebook entitled "My Saturday Night".
Looks fun, doesn't it?? I had an awful day at work, and working on these calmed me right down!

First I made some Christmas trees


Then I made a few santa's and added some swirled red and green.


Adorable!

So, to make buttercream.

2 sticks of butter
1 cup shortening
1 bag powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk (usually don't use all of it)
1 tsp vanilla or any other flavor you want to use
1 tsp salt

Cream together butter and shortening until mixed, add in powdered sugar a little at a time, cream until blended. Add in vanilla and salt. Slowly add milk until you get the desired consistency.

Voila. Simple as that.
Go bake something.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Hot Pockets

I really like hot pockets.
However, I've always wished I could change the ingredients to what I like, add more, or just customize them.
Then I had a brilliant idea.
Yes, this occasionally happens to even me.

Yesterday we had a little party with some friends. It wasn't really a party. It was a "Let's eat a bunch of food and attempt to play a game while Averna screams" (It's ok, Averna, we still love you)

I whipped these up as an appetizer. Which, honestly, kind of ruined the main course as we were mostly too full from snacks to eat the awesome burritos we had made.

So anyways. The ingredients involved were chicken, sauce, and dough sheets. That's all.

I boiled chicken for the first time... which was weird. Then I shred it up, placed it in 2 bowls, and poured sauce on top.



 Then I opened the dough sheets, and cut them into 4 long pieces. Place chicken in the middle (I really wish I had more) and fold it up. Place it seem side down on a GREASED pan.


Finally, bake them, and enjoy. These are SO customizable. Next I think I'll make pizza ones, or chicken cordon bleu ones, OR ANYTHING.

Recipe

2 tubes of Pillsbury dough sheets
3 chicken breasts
Barbeque sauce
Spicy wing sauce

 Preheat oven to 350.
If you don't have any leftover chicken laying around, poach chicken on the stove by placing chicken in the bottom of a large saucepan and covering with water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down, cooking until white through, about 8 minutes.

Shred the cooked chicken and cover with the sauce in separate bowls. Open the tubes of dough sheets and cut each roll into 4 pieces. Place chicken in the center of each strip and fold the top and bottom over, press the edges to seal.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until nice and golden brown.
Enjoy!