Mint Magic

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have some great food this holiday season, because besides the sleeping and being with family - that is the best part! So I started my holiday eating festivities a little early, but I promise I didn't go too crazy! This recipe is a great theme for this wonderful holiday season, it is warm and melty at the same time. I tried to use a classic recipe and then add in my little twist... and surprisingly, it worked! A lot of holiday season cookies call for peppermint extract or some sort of weird things that you can really only use once a year at max... my twist was something you can find year round and I know my family would eat even if it wasn't the holiday season.
Ingredients:
2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted/liquidy butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking power
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
a HUGE handful of chocolate chip (whichever kind you want, I happened to use semi-sweet)
a HUGE handful of mint M&M's
*you might need a little milk to make the dough a little firmer, but definitely eyeball how much you'll need - I used about 2 teaspoons*

Preheat your oven to 350F and while that is going, get your butter in a bowl and throw it in the microwave to melt it down a little. In a large bowl, add your two types of sugar and then slowly start to add in your butter. Add in the vanilla extract.. and first, take a second to smell the mixture because that is actually liquid gold - I wish you could just eat that smell. Then add in your baking soda, and baking powder. Mix all that together and then start adding in your flour. After adding about half of it, make a judgement call on whether or not you are going to need the milk or not. Then continue adding in the flour. Once its all added, make another judgement call whether you need milk - you do not want a runny dough - these are cookies not cupcakes. But you want a dough you can play with in your hands without it being rock hard.
Once everything is mixed in to your liking, add in the chocolate chips. Feel free to break up the m&ms whether you use a spoon to just mash them around or throw them in a food processor really quick. Throw them into the mix - before you start making your balls for your cookies make sure your cookie sheet is greased!!!! Grab a glob of dough and go to town, make them as big or as small as you want for these cookies... just make sure you have enough chocolate and mint in each one :)
Set them in your oven at 350, for about 8-10 minutes - make sure to check on them! If you want gooey cookies, pull them out at around 8-8 1/2 minutes.. for crispier ones, wait until the 9 minute mark and then leave them out on a rack to crisp up. 

American Desi

Happy fall! It is officially feeling like fall around Happy Valley; the trees are looking bare, the wind is picking up and the amount of girls wearing uggs holding Starbucks cups has risen significantly (no shame, I am one of those girls). A week ago as per a bonding activity with one of my e-board members - we decided to go a little crazy. A huge part of my life at Penn State is the South Asian Student Association. Not only have met some of my best friends through this organization, but I have received the most amount of requests for the link to my blog. Jason (shoutout!), is one of the events chairs on E-board with me this year and for our bonding date... we decided to get a little taste of both worlds.
After showing everyone in the board my rainbow cupcakes (sorry guys, those were before I had a blog), everyone was entranced. Jason and I decided we were gonna show everyone how a bonding date should really be - and make cupcakes for everyone. Little did we know, our rainbow cupcakes were going to turn into India cupcakes...just because Jason was very excited by the fact that the box of dye said that 52 drops of yellow and 4 drops of green made orange.
Although we took the easy way out and used a box mix... the pictures are definitely worth looking at!

Ingredients:
1 box mix of vanilla cake (you want white batter so you can dye it!)
-follow the instructions according to the box. If you are vegetarian (whaddup!), feel free to add yogurt, diet soda, or apple sauce instead of the eggs to keep the cuppycakes moist.

In order to dye the cupcakes, grab some food coloring at your local supermarket. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just your ordinary primary colors. Using plastic bowls or cups, anything that you don't mind throwing away - portion out the batter to however many colors you want to make. Go crazy. Add the dye, mix away and just see what colors you can come up with. 

a little dye crazy..showing off our India pride, in a delicious little cake.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Well hello hello everyone! I know my blogging has been terribly out of whack and I do apologize.. the amount of responsibilities I have taken on this semester at school is a little ridiculous, but so far I love every minute of it. My roommate and I decided to have a little girls afternoon after realizing how much we miss baking and just doing absolutely nothing. These cookies allow us to break neither one of us dietary restrictions since she is gluten-free and I am vegetarian. These cookies are just a product of that - although we only made enough for us to enjoy (about 6).. you can easily bump up the recipe for you to feed several more people! This warm, gooey cookie is just what you need after a stressful week of classes, exams, and people. The recipe is as follows:

3/4 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons of melted butter
3 tablespoons room temperature milk
2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
a handful of chocolate chips











Since we had rolled oats, we thought it might be easier to throw the sugar and oats in a blender and get them to a more powdery state. After that we just slowly added the melted butter and milk, just to make sure the mix wasn't too wet. Preheat the oven to 350F and make sure you grease your pan! The cookies were SUPER quick and only took about 6-7 minutes to be crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside (aka peerrfeccttt!!)

make sure you space them apart, no one wants conjoined cookies!

Stir Crazy

I might be one of the worst bloggers that the blogging world has ever seen. After finishing my summer at Penn State, I was home for a short but sweet - 13 days. I spent some fantastic days with my family and friends, celebrating some religious holidays as well as the most important day of the entire year - my birthday. After finally returning back to State College to kick off my sophomore year, moving into my first apartment and just everything - I have finally found the time to really sit down and blog. My roommate and I have done our fair share of cooking in the short weeks that we have been in this apartment. We've had our goods and our bads, and just 1 short circuit. (Note: usually using your microwave and your toaster at the same time... isn't a good idea)
But finally, here is my post. On a Thursday evening, we decided to do a clean house. Whatever veggies we had in our fridge that we deemed appropriate for the stir fry we were planning on making.


We used a whole lot of ingredients/ vegetables including:
green beans
squash
zuchini
corn
baby carrots
onions
garlic
yellow pepper







For the sauce:
seaseme oil
chilli sauce
soy sauce
chilli garlic sauce

Cut up these vegetables in whatever shape or size that you think is best. We just did whatever was quickest, we were actually starving. In a medium skillet, heat up some of the seaseme oil and add in your chopped garlic. Let it start to splish and splat before you had the onions. You want the garlic to really cook out and then add the garlic and sweat them out. Make sure the onions are caramelized and then add in whatever vegetables you want in whatever order. We added them in batches so that we could accordingly season the stir fry with salt, pepper, soy sauce and the black bean sauce. Its also a lot easier to toss around as well! After you have added everything in terms of the vegetables and the sauces, throw a lid on the pot and let everything cook. You want the vegetables to still have a bite but be soft so they seem to have absorbed the sauces and the flavors that are all hanging out in the pan itself.
Since we are savy college girls, we also have a rice cooker... so we followed the instructions to that and made some rice to add into our wonderful meal.

 Give it a try and let me know how it turns out! :)

Macaroni and Green

Happy Olympics! Happy Summer! Although the summer is sort of ending, I refuse to believe that until my birthday comes. (13 days and counting...) I was casually stalking taste spotting as per my usual routine. I found this cute recipe of something tasty, healthy and super quick that I think is definitely worth sharing.
The recipe incorporates some healthy ingredients including spinach and pecans (you expected pine nuts didn't you...) but also something a little tasty such as parmesan cheese. The procedure is super simple, I promise it won't take you very long!
Ingredients:
Macaroni - about 1 box
Baby Spinach leaves-2 cups
Pecans-1/4 cup
Extra Virgin Olive Oil-1/3 cup
Grated Parmesan Cheese-1/3 cup
Salt and Pepper

Procedure:
In a pot, boil the macaroni and follow the box instructions, make sure to add some oil so the maraconi doesn't stick to each other and some salt just for taste. For the pesto, toast some pecans in a pan with some oil, low and slow is the way to go. Make sure you turn off the burner and remove the pan from the burner and place it aside to cool. In a processor, take the spinach and the pecans and begin to pulse them. Slowly ad the olive oil while the machine is running, watching the consistency of the pesto overall. Once you finish that, empty the pesto out into a bowl and add the grated cheese. Make sure to taste before you add the salt, you might not need any! But definitely consider adding the pepper, it'll add an extra bite to the parmesan cheese. Add in the macaroni and toss around to make sure everything is coated! enjoy :)  

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

This entire post is inspired by this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTIGg3I5y8 and the amazing Cookie Monster himself. I realized that even though I am a vegetarian, I rarely to ever chose to use a vegan/vegetarian recipe - not really sure why... And since for the next month or so I will be blogging without a kitchen, I felt as though I should begin to expand the kinds of recipes I'm reading.
So upon my searching, I found this recipe that I thought was pretty cool!
In a lot of vegan recipes, you are asked to use ingredients that are expensive, usually never in your kitchen and annoying to find but I believe this recipe is actually worth it! This asks for ingredients you most likely have in your kitchen, and if not then ONE quick trip to the supermarket will have you ready to go.
The ingredients are... (for about 24 cookies)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup almond or soy milk (unsweetened)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 ounces chocolate chips

Preheat oven to  350°F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, white sugar, oil, and soy milk for several minutes until well incorporated. The resulting mixture will look like a smooth caramel sauce. Stir in the vanilla.
In a small mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. Gently add and mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in the larger mixing bowl. If the dough is not stiff enough to hold its shape, add more flour one tablespoon at a time, be very careful with how much you're adding because you still want moist cookies. Begin to fold in your chocolate chips!

Your cookies will need to bake for approximately 9 minutes, or until you think they are golden brown along the edges.

I hope your end product looks a little like this...

A Summer Treat

Happy Summer!! It is by far the best season of the year (excuse my bias, I'm a summer baby). These beautiful long days with sunshine and a light breeze are what make me love this time of the year so much. I'm back in Happy Valley, which makes me even more happy! This summer I will be blogging without a kitchen unfortunately, but nonetheless that still means plenty of posts! I was reading some random recipes on how people are beating the heat and fell in love with this fresh fruit popsicle that I thought was worth sharing.
In this gorgeous season, the amount of fruits that are readily available puts a smile on my face. Everyone should replace their afternoon snack with some watermelon, strawberries or pineapple according to me. I'm not a health freak, but I love me some fresh fruits. This recipe encompasses my love for fresh fruit and my desire to stay cool in this summatime heat!
Recipe:
4 cups fresh strawberries (pineapple works too! watermelon might not be as flavorful because they have a lot of water already in them.. hence the name!)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup water

This is probably the simplest procedure ever...
In a blender, throw in the strawberries and honey and lime juice. They them mix and mingle and become a sort of thick liquid, a little more runny than a smoothie though! Add in the water and continue to mix until they are fairly runny. Pour them into popsicle molds and put them into the freezer for some chilling. Wait as long as you can ( I know, it'll be hard) but you want to make sure they are completely set before you start to eat them! If you replace them with any fruit, let me know and tell me how it goes! :)

your final product should look a little something like this!

 

A Throwback Classic

Happy Fathers Day! To all those fathers, new and old - we wish you a day of relaxation! So for this lovely fathers day, I made my dad an early breakfast! Aren't I a good daughter? Well, I know he loves fruits and combining something light and fluffy and easy to make with some fruits seemed like the way to go. I chose to make simple blueberry pancakes; nothing too fancy added at all, I know my dad and he does not like when there are a lot of flavors - he wants the point and that is all. He's also the type that always wants some sort of spice in his food (yes including breakfast) so it took me a little while of listening to him say he wanted vegetable pancakes (didn't know those existed?) instead of these blueberry ones. But once I had them sizzling on the griddle, he was just as excited as I was.

The recipe is very simple:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of (room temperature) milk
2 handfuls blueberries - you can really eyeball this based off of your own blueberry appreciation
*zest of a lemon/1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice* optional but would be delicious with the blueberries
*1 teaspoon vanilla* just to flavor the pancakes more

In a bowl mix your dry ingredients and then slowly add the milk. Make sure you're mixing everything in between of adding the milk, it'll make it easier for you to make sure the consistency is correct. You want a consistency that is runnier than cake batter; The aim is for you to pick a spoonful and with a flick of your wrist - have the batter fall off your spoon gracefully. You don't want to be spooning and spooning more and more batter into your little pancake. Once you have reached the perfect consistency, add your blueberries! I used a griddle just because my household is fancy and has these types of appliances but in school I would probably just use a nonstick pan.


If you are using a griddle, heat it up to about 350F and if not, just place your nonstick pan ontop of the burner and let it heat up. With whatever you use make sure you use a cooking spray so that your pancakes don't stick! Spray it...generously. Drop a little drop of the batter to see whether the griddle or pan is hot enough, if you hear it sizzle and then simmer out - you're good to go. Drop about 2 quarter sized dollops of the batter and just let it spread! It'll take about 4 or 5 minutes on each side depending on how hot your griddle/pan is and how big your dollops were.

Let each side cook thoroughly, with a spatula randomly check the bottom by just sliding your spatula underneath each pancake and peaking at the color. You're aiming for a golden but not completely brown side. If you hear the pancake randomly sizzle and then stop, don't worry its because the blueberry has exploded inside your little cake and the juice is oozing into the entire thing. Sounds weird, but it is absolutely delicious. 

Look at all those blueberries! :) If you taste your blueberries before throwing them into the mix and realize they aren't as sweet as you'd like - add another tablespoon of sugar! And another half teaspoon of vanilla and these pancakes will be even better! Enjoy! :)




Note: Super sorry about the lack of posts from the India, I managed to forget my camera on my desk at home which makes it quite difficult to take pictures of all the delicious food I ate and even made! 
Hope everyone is enjoying their last week of spring and entrance into summer!

Super Sweet

Happy Mothers Day! I hope you all took the time today to thank and celebrate the mothers, grandmothers and aunts that are part of your life! Family is such an amazing thing and personally, my family means the world to me! This post is dedicated to all those mothers out there! :)
So the usual mothers day routine in my household is that I buy the card, my brother buys flowers and we plan a cute little brunch as a family. This year went a little differently due to my brother not being home, and my family having some other obligations this weekend. So I decided to spend the small free time I had on Saturday to think about the special kind of cake or treat I wanted to make for my mom. I know that she is a huge fan of lemon cakes, because they're so rare and have such distinct flavor. I'm leaving for India in a few days so we have a lack of ingredients in my house so I was forced to use a box mix, unfortunately. I knew that since I was using a boxed cake mix, I would have to add another touch to the cake to make it more special. I went with a 2 tier lemon cake with a strawberry vanilla frosting/sauce for the middle and top of the cake. My goal was to make the frosting/sauce thick because no one likes a soupy frosting, but thin enough so it falls from the top of the cake to the bottom when poured onto the top.

Ingredients
1 box mix of Lemon Cake
5-7 Strawberries
1 lemon (for juice and zest)
3 tablespoons ROOM TEMP butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 table spoons of ROOM TEMP MILK
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a small pinch of salt

Since I just followed the box recipe of the cake mix, things were a little easier. Make sure to follow whatever box mix you chose to use, or you can even use this recipe of lemon cake, if you have the time that I did not.


 While the cakes were in the oven,  I began to create my frosting/sauce mixture. In a bowl I put the butter and confectioners sugar together and mixed it quickly enough to create some fluff. After, I slowly added the milk making sure to mix after ever spoonful, then the vanilla extract and the small pinch of salt. A lot of people might wonder why you would be adding salt to a sweet treat, but the salt actually helps bring out some more of the sugars in whatever you're using. Continuing with this, I chopped up some fresh strawberries (YAY SPRING!), making sure they were small enough to not be chunky but big enough to not get lost. I threw this into the frosting mixture and also added about a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest. A trick to this is to roll your lemon a few times on the table or on your counter, it helps the skin come off a little easier and gives you a hella lot more juice! Mix in the juice and the zest and the strawberries carefully, you do not want to start mashing the strawberries nor do you want to have half the mixture on top of your clothes. Put this mixture in the refrigerator while the cakes are in the oven/they are cooling.

The decor in which I wanted the cakes to be was: cake, icing, cake, icing. So I placed one of the cooled cakes on a plate, and poured some of the frosting mixture on top of it. I sort of splish-splashed it around to act like a glue for the top cake and then placed the 2nd cake on top. I poured a little bit of the icing around the edges of the top cake, just so it wasn't completely empty.
My family isn't too traditional with what a real meal is so...we devoured the cake for breakfast! Hope you all are having a great weekend and a great mothers day!

UPDATE: my next few blog posts are going to be all the way from the motherland, India! I hope I can show you all the variety of food that my culture holds true too! Get excited!

Dirty Cupcakes

Happy summer! School is finally over and I refuse to believe it; Although I love being home and I love being able to shower in my own bathroom and not be wearing flip-flops, love being fed without either swiping my ID card for meal points or swiping my debit card... I miss Penn State. I miss the roar of the old CATA buses and the spaceship sleekness of the new ones, watching people run to catch the random ones that I am convinced run for no purpose (no but really, where is this so called waupelani drive aka the R bus). I miss whining about the terrible vegetarian selection at the dinning hall and wiggling my way into a friends apartment to cook a meal or three. This recipe is my way of being welcomed home to an endless supply of Oreo's and 0 motivation for the gym. It is also just another way of consuming one of the greatest things in the world: Oreo cookies in one of the greatest forms: cupcakes.
The end product of this recipe is an eye-pleaser, any child or even adult would be enticed by the whimsical cupcake that is formed after making such a simple batter. The the best part about this recipe is its as if you're making any other chocolate cupcake, the Oreo's are a surprise once you bite into the cookie! The recipe is as follows:
Batter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (can be omitted)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk (important to be exact!)*
3/4 cup hot water (important to be exact!)*
24 Oreos, plus more for crumbs

your basic dry mixture

The way you want to make these cupcakes is sort of specific:
Preheat your oven to about 350 degrees. After lining your cupcake tray, drop crumbled Oreo's into each of the cake tins, I love these cookies so I would do a whole cookie or maybe even more. Set that aside and move along with your dry ingredients; combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make sure you mix it all together! In another bowl mix the eggs (I would omit them since I'm vegetarian), oil, vanilla and milk and mix well. After this is well combined, add the hot water! It is whats going to get the Oreo's to float throughout the batter rather than just sink to the bottom. Combine your WET INTO DRY slowly, don't form lumps and keep mixing! Add this batter into the cupcake tins, don't worry if its super liquidy.. its supposed to be that way. Don't make your cupcake tins more than 3/4th of the way full.. BE CAREFUL ABOUT THAT! You don't want your cupcakes overflowing because the cake takes up a good amount of room and don't forget that you already have cookies at the bottom of the tin! Bake for about 16-18 minutes, check after 14 minutes to see how far the cupcakes have gotten.

 

My Fake Cookie Cake

Friday of Blue and White weekend gave State College some of the most beautiful weather of spring semester. It was the start of the weather gods giving us many gifts this past weekend...blue and white weekend with bare minimum rain just seemed unheard of until this weekend! In excitement of this beautiful weather, my friend and I hosted a family dinner for some of our friends. Along with a the generic fettuccine alfredo and chopped Greek salad, we got creative with our dessert.
Being on a college budget as well as only having rare groceries available to us - we decided to make something fancy but let no one realize how cheap it was!

Our ingredients list was very simple:
2 containers of Cool Whip
(unsweetened) Cocoa Powder <-- eyeball this based off of  your chocolate preferences
1 package of chocolate chip cookies
1 bowl of milk 

In order to make this delicious dessert in a bowl start to mix the cool whip and cocoa powder, don't overwhip it because your cool whip will begin to melt. In a cake pan or pie tin, paint a layer of the cool whip. You can add just as much cocoa powder as you'd like, we liked it chocolatey so we added a little more than what I have listed. After this you want to dip the chocolate cookies in the milk so they are submerged for about 2 seconds at max. You don't want them to be soggy because they're going to break before you set them into the cool whip. Make a layer of the cookies and MAKE SURE to put the cool whip into the freezer while you layer your cookies - the cooler the better! Keep adding layers until you run out of cool whip or even the cookies! Its best to let the cake sit in the fridge for at least two hours before you want to cut into it, it'll be firm in terms of setting but the cookies will be nice and soft from the milk and the layers of cool whip around it!
This is a cool treat that does not take very much time to make, let me know if you do anything different! You could even leave the cool whip plain and soak the cookies in chocolate milk! :) Let me know what you think!

Vegetarian Tailgate

Although it is not football season just yet (I'm secretly counting down...) a tradition at my college is an annual football game where the offense and defense split into two teams. Its a very meaningful game because it symbolizes the end of the spring semester, intro into finals, bittersweet memories for the seniors as this is their last tailgate and a reminder on how much my school loves football! The Blue and White game is something that people begin to talk about as early as February! Keeping this in mind, tailgating is a huge aspect of football season and my school holds nothing short of this. This weekend there will only be a few things you'll be smelling - the burning of charcoal as people start up their BBQ, the tartness of vinegar from some coleslaw for those bbq's, and a variety of beer... no tailgate is complete without beer!
In order to fulfill my desires of being fed a tailgate (it is unfortunately rare), I found a great recipe for a hearty vegetarian burger that no one would really think is that vegetarian. The classic beef patty can now be substituted for something a little healthier and a little less time consuming; this black bean burger is hearty, delicious and a great substitute for a regular burger patty!

The ingredients for the burger are as follows:

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

(2 jalapenos, optional, seeded)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

One can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 c. cooked green lentils (I used canned)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 eggs

1 c. bread crumbs

 Rinse the beans and the lentils with COLD water and make sure to drain completely. In a small pan heat up some olive oil and throw in the chopped onion and red peppers; add the garlic once the onion has started to lose a little bit of color. Once these 3 have cooked, turn off the heat and allow them to cool.In a food processor, pulse the onion pepper and garlic along with some cilantro and some jalapeno’s if you want that kick. Slowly add the beans the lentils and keep pulsing until you see a sort of pasty consistency. 

Once you’ve reached your ideal consistency, add some salt and pepper and the eggs (or more oil) as your binding agent. Afterwards, add some bread crumbs in the same process and keep combining. Make sure you’re stirring otherwise the food could be getting stuck in between the blades of the food processor. Keep adding bread crumbs until the mixture starts to stick together.

In a bowl, add some flour and make sure to have flour on your hands before you start to create the patties. You’d want to form about 1/2-3/4 inch thick patties.

 

In a well-greased skillet with about medium to medium-high heat, you want to gril for about 5-8 minutes on both sides. You want to add some oil in between sides just ot make sure you’re getting a great char on both sides. You want the interior to be soft with the outside being crunchy, it’ll be great on a toasted bun!

As for condiments, you can add whatever you want… avocado or salsa, peppers or continuing with the kick of jalapeno would be great too! Enjoy! 

Vanilla Chai Clouds

After spending a week at home, which was well deserved after such hectic exam schedules and THON exhaustion - I finally got some time to myself. This obviously meant cooking and baking periodically even though I've been on this new health kick (ha). I found this recipe in a magazine sitting in my kitchen and thought it was such a classic idea to combine such warm and earthy flavors into a light airy cupcake.
I knew these cupcakes would be a success in my household considering how much chai (tea) my parents actually drink on the daily.
There are 2 separate bowls you'd have to make for this cake - the chai mix and the batter. The mix is what goes into the batter as well as into the icing, if you're making a vanilla icing (I chose not too just because I know my family isn't the biggest fan)
The actual chai mix is as follows:
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

The cake mix is as follows:
For the cake:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs (not required)
1/2 quantity chai spice mix (recipe above)
 1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup buttermilk (or regular milk at ROOM TEMP)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Vanilla Chai Buttercream:
2 stick (1 cup) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 quantity chai spice mix
1-2 tablespoons cold milk, if needed

Preheat your oven to approximately 325 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine all of the chai ingredients, mix it up with a spoon so its well formed.  In a fairly larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for a few minutes, add the vanilla and your kitchen is going to start smelling so sweet, you're going to want to eat the air. Add half the quantity of your spice mix (this will be about 2 teaspoons) and stir until well combined. Add in the flour and buttermilk (or regular milk) alternately (starting and ending with flour). In a small bowl, mix together the baking soda and vinegar. It will bubble up and form a paste, then add it to the batter. Stir until just combined, then spoon into prepared cupcake pan until 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is creamy. This will take a few minutes! While the mixer is on low, add the vanilla and remaining spice mix (about 2 teaspoons). Carefully add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until you reach the desired sweetness and texture. If you think that the icing is too thick to be a proper icing, add some COLD milk and slowly mix together again to get rid of any air. 
Since I did not make icing, I added a regular store bought vanilla icing to the tops of my cupcakes just for a little more sweetness! hope you like them!

 

Sunny Swigs

Recently spring has made a daunting appearance, very much appreciated by the people on campus. So many smiling faces, so many cute spring outfits and hipster stylin' sunglasses! This beautiful weather makes me want to make fruity, tropical drinks and just sit outside with a book (unfortunately, it would be a textbook). I was reading an article about how studies have shown how important antioxidants are, and how a lot of people are underrating their goodness. This fresh, light and tangy drink will definitely put more of a smile on your face than the weather already has! Feel free to keep it virgin or add a twist to it! You could add rum or even vodka to add your twist!

6 to 8 lemons (2 cups of lemon juice), plus lemon slices
2 cups water
1 to 2 cups ice
1 cup simple syrup
1 pint of blackberries (replace with any fresh berry, raspberry or blueberry)

Prepare the simple syrup by bringing one cup of sugar and water to boil, stirring until dissolved. Let cool.

In a large pitcher, muddle the blackberries, make sure to smash them completely or it will be hard to sip the fruit through a straw. Stir in the 2 cup of lemon juice, and 2 cups water. Add the ice and lemon slices. Serve in a glass with extra lemon slices if desired.
This should make about 6 cups of lemonade! Hope you like it! :) Let me know if you use any other berries and of your successes!
 

Springing into Spring

Its sunny and warm - no need for UGG's, gloves or jackets or even looking like an Eskimo anymore! Its finally spring time! So with this well awaited weather, this recipe will make you smile with its simplicity yet cool and refreshing tastes! A simple combination of some noodles, and vegetables along with some Vietnamese flavors will remind you of how light a salad can and should be.

To start off you want to make the 'dressing' to this salad - in case you didnt know, I'm a vegetarian so this dressing can be made with fish oil instead of soy sauce but this is how I would make it:
Dressing:
3 table spoons lemon juice
3 table spoons soy sauce
3 table spoons chilli sauce
3 table spoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 table spoon sugar
-Whisk everything into a small bowl and make sure its a good enough consistency in order to become a dressing!

For the salad:
8 ounces (1 box) rice noodles
2 large carrots, grated
1/4 medium cabbage,(purple or green) shredded
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup thin-sliced scallions
**OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds**

Cook the noodles following the directions on the back of the box. It should be fairly simple, bringing some water to boil and adding the noodles...make sure to keep checking on them so they aren't overcooked! Rice noodles are more gentle than regular pasta so please keep stirring the pot so they don't stick to each other! Add all of the chopped vegetables to the pot about 2 or 3 minutes before the noodles are ready. Drain all the water and add the sauce in portions.. continue to toss around all the vegetables and the noodles while you add all the sauce!
Enjoy and Happy Spring!

A Little Green

My apologies about the lack of blogging! It has been a hectic February with everything I had going on in my schedule! My school proudly raised over $10.6 million dollars for children fighting pediatric cancer and that is basically where my entire month of February went. Considering how soon St. Patricks Day is, I found a spiked recipe that I think fits the day pretty well!
These delicious cookies are just a great way to continue the festivities on that very green Saturday! I hope you guys like them!
PS. You don't have to wait until St. Patricks day to make them! ;)
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1&1/2 cups sugar
1 egg**
1 egg yolk**
1teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Baileys

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
2. Add egg and egg yolk. (not necessarily if you add in some milk instead!)
3. Mix in vanilla extract.
4. Alternate adding in dries with Baileys till combined.
5. Wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours to over night.
6. Roll out dough & cut out cookies using a shamrock cookie cutter (festive and cute!)
7. Chill cookies at least 30 minutes before baking to keep their shape.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes rotating once halfway through.  Start checking them after 10 minutes.  As soon as they get a little blonde on the edges, they're done. 

If you want to make shamrock sandwiches here's a great filling:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
2 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys
 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

1. Cream butter and sugar, adding a little sugar at a time so you don't have a sugar shower.
2. Add extract and Baileys.
3. Fill cooled cookies.

Sophisticatedly South of the Border

A friend of mine told me how much he loved Mexican food, so I promised him I'd dedicate a post to him. After a lot of looking around I finally found a recipe that to me, puts forth a lot of the classic spices that are known to Mexican cooking but with a more formal approach. Being in college I get my fair share of Chipotle and Taco Bell and the unfortunate attempt at the dinning commons presenting their students with tacos, rice and beans and what they seem to think are churros. These Chilaquiles may sound extremely labor induced but I promise you - they are not! The direct translation of this word (go me for 11 years of Spanish!) means "greens in broth"
To me they seemed like a more dressed up version of nachos, with better flavors and a more detailed approach to these flavors.

Doesn't that look like a slice of spicy heaven?

 

 Here's the recipe:

20-30 chips (or depending on how many hungry mouths you're feeding and how big your chips are)
1 1/2 cup diced salsa
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth (just to make it a little more flavored)
1 cup cheddar or sharp cheddar shredded cheese
1/4-1/2 cup of beans, you can mash these up a little just so it helps with the consistency
sour cream (garnish)
cilantro (garnish)
diced onion (garnish)
Make sure to have the following spices on hand: olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and paprika.

Preheat your oven to about 350F and ontop of a baking sheet layer about 7-10 chips on whatever thickness you'd like. Make sure to drizzle some olive oil before you add any of the spices otherwise they aren't going to stick and your chips will be bland and boring :( After adding all the spices, send your chips into the oven for about 12 minutes, make sure to check them so they don't burn - you can add extra time if you think they aren't as golden as you'd like. While they are in the oven, mix your salsa with your broth to make it a bit more liquidy and better to lay on top of the chips
Once the chips are out of the oven alternate between each ingredient; starting with the salsa add some beans and then cheese, more chips beans and then cheese.
Throw these bad boys back into the oven COVERED with foil so that nothing starts spilling out - at the same temperature for about 15-17 minutes at the MAX! Again make sure to keep checking on them so that the cheese is not burnt!
Garnish your slice with some sour cream, cilantro (completely optional since I personally HATE it!) and onions.

Hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know of your thoughts and comments! :)

The Combination

I'm a student at The Pennsylvania State University and if you live in the states, you know that the past few months haven't really been easy for us Nittany Lions; from a child abuse scandal to the firing of many important administrators (including the university president) to riots and now, the passing of our legendary football coach, Joe Paterno. Amidst all of this emotional turmoil, I've been trying to pass some time by reading up on recipes and flipping through cooking websites hoping to find a recipe worth blogging about.
This recipe puts together two very unique sweet items into one delicious combination. These Tiramisu Pancakes are simple but so warm and welcoming, whether you chose to make them for dessert or breakfast - you can add your own touches to make them appropriate for the time of day. 

The recipe is as follows: (serving about 5 people)

For the pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar  -- you could also do 3 table spoons of dark brown sugar if you're going with the cinnamon/cardamom ingredients*
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, slightly rounded, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a generous pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cups sour cream
3 large eggs *since I'm vegetarian, this would be excluded if I were making these pancakes, excluding them isn't a big deal but just make sure to keep an eye on the consistency of the batter and add a little more milk if you need too*
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons instant coffee
*if you want to make these a little morning themed, rather than coffee - add in some cinnamon and cardamom, both will be great combinations with the cocoa powder and vanilla*

For the glaze (optional):
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
For the cream:
4 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions:
Start by preparing the cream and the glaze. For the cream, beat all ingredients together and whip until you have soft peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator. (Tip: this cream tastes amazing, and is what really makes these pancakes. If you like generous amounts of cream on your pancakes, you might want to make a double portion.) The glaze is optional, but very, very (and I mean very) good. Simply combine the ingredients well. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure the cocoa powder is well sifted, so that it will dissolve evenly.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk and sour cream until smooth (it helps to slowly dilute the sour cream with the milk while whisking, which reduces the chances of clumps). Add the instant coffee powder and mix well until dissolved. Whisk in the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing gently until you have a slightly lumpy batter but without any large clumps of flour. If batter is a little runny, add a tablespoon or two of flour. I like to transfer my batter to a measuring cup or something else with a spout, for easier cooking.
Let the batter sit while you preheat your griddle.

When griddle is hot, drop batter in portions desired (1/4 cup for regular-sized pancakes) onto the greased griddle. When bubbles come up and edges look cooked, gently flip to cook the other side. Once pancakes are cooked, transfer to a plate. Spread a small amount of the maple glaze over the top of the pancake so it soaks in while still hot. Continue with the remaining batter until done.
To serve, dollop a generous amount of the cream in between layers of pancakes. Top with more cream, and then top with shaved chocolate, or a light dusting of sifted cocoa powder.
Serve with extra cream and/or glaze on the side for dipping. A bonus: these pancakes taste amazing even when cold.

Let me know what you guys think! :) 

Hot Cocoa Cookies

After my first week back at school I realized how difficult it was going to be to continue making blog posts without a kitchen :( But no fear readers, I'm getting an apartment next year which will allow me to make my own recipes and posts - but for the next 4 months or so, we'll have to deal with me telling you about great recipes I've found.
I go to school in Pennsylvania, a VERY cold state! Its unfortunate since I hate winter and hate wearing layers but there are always some great things that are only really fit for winter - such as hot chocolate. This recipe incorporates hot chocolate into a cookie form, amazing isnt it? Mixed with some mini marshmallows, its like you're biting into a cup of hot chocolate whenever you want.

You can see the little marshmallows peaking out!

Aren't they cute? Here's the recipe! Hope you like them!

Eataly

During my last week of break at home, I went on a little adventure of my own. I live about 15 minutes from New York City (even that's a bit of a stretch) but I never visited the city as often as you would expect. I loved visiting it for all its beauties in the lookout of a tourist but never really took the time to get to know the true city. I spent a day in the city with some of my friends to just enjoy our time away from school and the struggles that are part of it. After a day of walking around aimlessly, my friend and I walked into a lovely little place called Eataly. Owned by the world famous chef, Mario Batali this beautiful location on 5th Ave, represents everything that is Italian cooking, delicacies and tradition. Although I was unable to eat anything due to a time constraint, the smells and smiles on people’s faces told me that this place was one in a million. 

Here are some amateur iPhone pictures to show you what the place looks like:

 

  There are multiple little sections dedicated to different types of foods including wine and cheese, seafood, breads, meat, pasta and desserts. There are an enormous amount of tables in each section so you can sit down or take your plate around and get a little taste of everything. I would think of it as many mini-restaurants in one giant restaurant! If you ever get a chance in NYC, make sure to check this place out!