Bits-N-Pieces

No fancy cakes or cookies in this post, but there are quite a few yummy foods present.  I've been cooking lately - not just baking!  It's a bit of a strange feeling, but I love to cook, so it's been really nice to have some time to do so.

Italian brunch torte I made a couple of weeks ago for Easter.  It was fabulous...but the springform pans I baked the tortes in took hours - HOURS, people - to clean up.  You may remember this and my affirmation to not make anything that causes that much clean-up a second time without phenomenal results.

This may well have earned a re-make.  Mind you, it's not something I will make for just an everyday meal, but for a special occasion, I'd roll out the recipe again.  If you want to give it a try yourself, you can find the recipe here.

I also made this amazing Layered Greek Ranch dip for Easter.  It went quickly - everyone really seemed to love it.  Stay tuned later in the week for the recipe!

You may remember me mentioning that I was on a quest to make cookies that were dairy, nut, and soy free. I came up with a couple of test recipes, but haven't heard back yet if they were suitable for the client or if they were suitable, if they even enjoyed them.  The coconut-oil shortbread cookies (left side of photo) were downright tasty, in my opinion, and the olive oil cookies (right side of photo) had a very distinctive, almost savory, taste profile.

Of course, I also made some traditional drop cookies while I was in cookie making mode.  There's plain sugar with sprinkles, peanut butter, and chocolate crinkle.

The peanut butter cookies didn't turn out nearly as well as they usually do.  I think it had something to do with the brand of PB I used - it wasn't my usual choice and next time I won't make the same mistake.

Another chocolate lovers' cake.  Simple, chocolate goodness.  Mmm...mmm...mmm.

Oh, and look!  I recently started to trying out some different styles of boxes for my cakes and cookies.

What do you think of the windowed version?  Add my label to the center of the window?  Pretty nifty, huh?  And being brown kraft, they aren't quite as common as the white bakery boxes you see so often.

And, one last dish to share with you.  This amazingly easy and delicious chicken fried rice from Iowa Girl Eats.  (Click the link for the recipe.)

My photo isn't nearly as pretty as hers, but the dish is delectable.  It's definitely going into my collection of "quick week-night options."  I used brown rice and canned chicken.  I know, I know, but I was being lazy and was curious how it would turn out.  Happy to report it worked just fine, though cooked chicken breast would just make it that much yummier!  And, bonus, it's healthier than take-out.

Talk to you soon!