Blue Apron: Shrimp & Pasta

Tonight's Blue Apron meal was Spicy Shrimp & Bucatini Pasta with kale.

This recipe required chopping, but not as much as the potato chowder.  Though finely chopping a full bunch of kale was a workout!

The steps were easy to follow.  Estimated cook time is 15-25 minutes plus 10 minutes of prep, but it took me closer to an hour.

The end result was good but it didn't knock my socks off.  There wasn't any sauce to it.  I added a little shredded Parmesan which added a lot of flavor and really improved the dish.

Based on the two meals I've made, Blue Apron seems to rely on heat to add flavor (cayenne and red pepper flakes) whereas I prefer to add flavor with other herbs and spices.  And cheese!

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but if I'm going to spend $20 on ingredients (to feed two people) and hustle in the kitchen for an hour, I want my socks knocked off!!

Blue Apron: Potato Chowder

A family member sent me a coupon for a free Blue Apron meal kit.  I've heard a lot about meal kits and how they're popular with working moms, so I was excited to try it.

Part of Blue Apron's mission is to encourage home chefs to try new ingredients and new cooking techniques.  That should tell you a lot about their recipes.

It took me a few weeks to order my box...I needed to wait for a week when I had time to cook, and when the meals were family-friendly.  I ordered a box with three meals that would each serve two people.

My first Blue Apron meal was Potato Chowder with cheddar cheese toasts.  The estimated time required for cooking is 35-45 minutes, plus prep time.

Blue Apron sends you all of the ingredients except salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.  They also send you a step-by-step recipe with photos.

The chowder required a lot of chopping -- Blue Apron sends a whole onion, potatoes, a carrot, celery stalks, etc.  The cooking steps were not difficult except for the fact that I was making the soup and the cheese sauce at the same time.

The chowder was good but not great.  I added some of my own shredded cheese which improved it quite a bit.  I actually thought the chowder was better the next day when it had had time to thicken.

The cheese toasts were a ciabatta-type bread with a homemade spicy cheese sauce.  They were delicious!!!  (cheese and carbs is a favorite combination of mine)

Blue Apron definitely eliminates the time spent on planning and shopping.  However, the prep and cooking time take a while.  It's definitely for people who love to cook and who are a bit adventurous in their eating.

Another meal kit like Hello Fresh would be a better fit for people who want simpler meals (kid-friendly and ready in 30 minutes or less).

I priced several meal kits and they run about $10 per person per meal.  You definitely pay a premium -- it's less expensive than eating a similar meal in a restaurant, but much more expensive than doing your own planning and shopping.

I was impressed that Blue Apron has instructions for recycling all of their packing.  Or you can ship your packaging back to Blue Apron and they'll recycle it for you.  Another benefit of Blue Apron is that they only send the amount of food you will need for the recipe, so there is no waste.

Bridal Shower Food

One of my very favorite girlfriends was married this fall.  She wanted something unique, so the host planned a "Pride & Prejudice and Zombies" bridal shower.  We decided to serve tea party food.

From my kitchen:

• Pioneer Woman's French breakfast puffs - mini size
• cheesecake stuffed strawberries
• cranberry scones with orange glaze

I'm not sure which I love more -- the French breakfast puffs that taste like a cinnamon sugar cake doughnut -- or the tender, buttery scones.  I will make both recipes again!

And of course strawberries and sweetened cream cheese are always a winning combination.

In keeping with the theme, we included hatchets, eyeballs and fake fingers.  The bride loved it!

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Peppermint bark is my favorite Christmas candy!  This year I decided to make a batch to give as gifts.

It was SO easy!  I followed this recipe that I found online.

I used one 12-oz bag of Ghirardelli dark melting wafers, one 12-oz bag of Ghirardelli white melting wafers, and crushed up candy canes (with red and green stripes) for the peppermint.

They made great gifts on their own and on treat platters.  I always stock up on Christmas gift tins at Joann's on Black Friday when they're 80% off.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Making a fresh pumpkin pie is something I've always wanted to try!  This year my son encouraged me to make one.

I bought a sugar pumpkin (also called a pie pumpkin) from Trader Joe's.  It was the perfect size for a pie.

I found a five-star recipe online.  It is not difficult but is a bit time consuming -- you remove the seeds from the pumpkin, roast it, scoop it out of the rind and puree it (I used my food processor).

I found that I needed to bake the pie longer than the recipe recommends.

Here is the result:

I really loved this pie!  The brown sugar carmelized and gave it a delicious flavor.  I may need to make one of these every year!  It was especially good with fresh whipped cream.

I couldn't wait a whole day to try the pie (as the recipe recommends) but fortunately I had leftovers.  I found that it really did taste better after a day or two.

Recipe Review: Pumpkin Pancakes

My junior baker has always loved pancakes.  Recently he decided he only wants pumpkin pancakes, not buttermilk pancakes.  I have always bought pumpkin pancake mix from Trader Joe's.  Of course this was the year I forgot to stock up while it was pumpkin season.

I found this awesome recipe online.  It requires a bit of measuring but it's so worth it.  Fortunately you can buy canned pumpkin year-round at the grocery store (although it's always on sale right after Thanksgiving so that's a good time to stock up!).

This recipe makes quite a few pancakes so we put the extras in the freezer for quick weekday breakfasts.

Spring and Summer Baking

I haven't been blogging, but that doesn't mean I haven't been baking.

Our favorite babysitter had a birthday in April and her favorite flavor is lemon, so we made white cupcakes and filled them with homemade lemon curd.  It was my first time to make lemon curd and while it requires a bit of prep and a lot of stirring, it was not too difficult.  I used a cupcake corer to remove the center of the cake (similar to this one).

I topped some with perfect cupcake frosting and colorful sprinkles.

And the rest with homemade whipped cream (whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla) and clear sugar sprinkles.

It's not baking, but I tried making a mini fruit bouquet for a friend's birthday.  I used mini cookie cutters to cut out the fruit.  I trimmed bamboo skewers to the right length and added the fruit.  Packaging is from Joann's.

And I was in the mood to make giant sugar cookie pops.  I used a large sunflower cookie cutter and thick cookie sticks.  I tinted cream cheese tub frosting yellow with oil-based food color, and topped with yellow sugar sprinkles.  Then I piped on chocolate tub frosting and added mini chocolate chips.  I put them in a pail from the dollar spot at Target.  (Next time I will have someone help me transport them so they don't fall off their sticks!)

A friend of mine returned from a vacation to Australia with an exciting announcement, so koala cake pops were in order.  Thank you to Bakerella for the idea.  I used my own technique for the ears -- I used a small circle cookie cutter to cut a Ghirardelli white chocolate melt into an ear shape.  Then I used a squeeze bottle to pipe gray chocolate around the white ear.  I chilled the chocolate in the refrigerator and then trimmed it with a paring knife.  The noses are dark chocolate covered blueberries from Sprouts.  Packaging is from Target.  My cake pop wrappers wouldn't fit over the ears, so I wrapped the whole thing in cellophane and tied it with a ribbon.

I decided to make my own birthday cake this year.  My whole family loves Nothing Bundt Cakes, so I tried this copycat recipe.  It was amazeballs!  The only thing I'll do differently next time is to chill the frosting a bit before piping.

St. Patrick's Day Treats

We love to make treats for our friends for the holidays.  This year we made sugar cookies and chocolate-mint suckers and packaged them for giving.  I hope they bring our friends good luck!

Recipe Review: All-butter Pie Crust

I decided it was time I learned how to make a good pie crust.  I asked my friend who pursued the pastry track at culinary school to recommend a recipe.

Here is the recipe she recommended.  It was a bit time consuming but yielded a crust that was both crisp and tender.  I even ate the crimping, which I usually leave on my plate because it tends to be tough.

Pie crust is a lot of work. I will probably still buy Pillsbury.  But now I have a recipe and the skills for those special occasions when I have the time and devotion to make my own crust.

Heart-shaped Lasagna

I was inspired by an ad that came in the mail and an online article about heart-shaped lasagna.  Even though two articles cautioned against trying this at home, I wanted to attempt it.

My large heart-shaped pan did not arrive in time for valentine's day.  So I decided to make individual lasagnas.

I used my own easy lasagna recipe.

The only trick to making heart-shaped lasagna is to cut the sheets of pasta to fit the pan.  I discovered that I had a heart-shaped cookie cutter just smaller than my pan.  That was a life saver!

I layered each one like a regular lasagna.

 

 

After baking the lasagnas, I topped them with cheese and put them under the broiler.  To get the cheese in a heart shape, I used the cookie cutter as a template.  I added sauce around the outside of the cookie cutter to keep the cheese from spreading.

I put the lasagna in the oven and crossed my fingers.

It was the perfect day to wear my new apron that was a gift from my in-laws.

Happy Day of Love and Friendship!

Individual Valentine Tarts

Every year I try to think of fun food to make for valentine's day.  This year a friend gave me a set of heart-shaped spring form pans, so that was my inspiration.

I made a half batch of my favorite sugar cookie dough recipe.  I baked it in the spring form pans until golden.  Since it's cookie dough, it puffed up.  Before it cooled I used a spoon to press down on the center to make a well for the filling.

I filled one with Trader Joe's lemon curd and topped it with blueberries.  The other one I filled with Nutella and topped with raspberries.  I'm not sure which is tastier!

With the extra dough, I made giant cookie pops.  I rolled the dough thick and inserted a cookie stick before I baked it.

They will make a sweet gift.

Valentine Pops

I made a big batch of chocolate suckers to give to my colleagues, my son's preschool classmates and teachers, and our favorite babysitter.  I like using a thinner chocolate for suckers so it settles nicely into the mold.  I used 2/3 Ghirardelli melts and 1/3 Wilton melts.

I found valentine buckets and shred at the One Spot at Target.  I found the milk bottle and ribbon at Joann's.  I think they turned out cute!

Recipe Review: Chicken Pot Pie with White Sauce

I was looking online for ideas for freezer meals, and a website suggested chicken pot pie.

I made this highly rated recipe from the Taste of Home website.  The recipe makes two pies, so I made one for our family and one for a friend.

To keep things easy, I used refrigerated Pillsbury pie crust and frozen mixed vegetables--I cut the green beans in half for a better size.  I cubed and boiled red potatoes with the skin on (2 cups is about 1-1/2 large red potatoes).  I purchased salt-free chicken stock instead of broth (stock has a richer flavor).  I followed the recipe and LOVED the white sauce that goes into the pie.

I appreciated that the recipe including instructions for freezing the pie and baking it later.

This is not low calorie -- it's definitely comfort food (lots of butter!).  But just a slice fills you up.  I want to try this again in the future using coconut milk for a dairy-free recipe.

Dirty Soft Drinks

I'm always looking for fun non-alcoholic drinks.

I was recently in Utah and tried Swig, a place that sells soft drinks and cookies.  They are famous for their Dirty Dr. Pepper (DP with coconut syrup).  I also tried their Raspberry Dream (Dr. Pepper with raspberry puree and coconut cream).

I had my girlfriends over for a girls' night in, so we made our own dirty drinks.  I bought most of the supplies at the grocery store (you can find coconut cream in the liquor aisle) and I found the Torani syrups at World Market -- they have a huge selection of flavors.  I made raspberry puree by putting raspberries and sugar in the food processor and I bought a bag of pebble ice at Sonic.

It was fun to try different combinations!  The Raspberry Dream is one of my favorites.

Giant Cake Pop, Ombre Cake Pops, Minnie Mouse Cake Pops

Two of my colleagues have birthdays coming up.

One of them once told me that she wanted a cake ball the size of a baseball.  I've been thinking about it ever since!  I made her a cake pop that is a little smaller than a tennis ball, but I think she'll like it.

I made it the same way I make regular sized cake pops, except I used a heaping 1/4 cup of the cake ball mix and I used a 6-inch "cookie stick" instead of a sucker stick.  I also needed a larger container for my melted chocolate.

I packaged it with a large treat bag and a wide ribbon.  I think it makes a fun gift!

My other colleague loves the color pink.  I saw an idea online for pink ombre cake pops.  I melted white chocolate and tinted it with pink oil-based food color.  After each cake pop, I added more food color.  The result is cake pops in five shades of pink.

I packaged them in a bucket from the One Spot at Target, with pink shred of course (I stocked up on multiple colors of shred when it was on clearance after Easter).

While I was at it, I made some Minnie Mouse cake pops.  I used slightly more than 1 tablespoon of mix for the cake ball.  I used Ghiradelli chocolate melts for the ears (I trimmed them a bit so they would stick better), and the bow is a Wilton icing decoration I found at the grocery store.  I attached the ears and the bow before the chocolate coating hardened.

My son saw an idea online for chocolate chip cake pops so I used a yellow cake mix, cream cheese frosting, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I love the look of the chocolate chips, but I found that mini chips worked better -- the regular size chips make it hard to roll the cake balls and difficult to insert the stick.  These are made from cake but taste like cookie dough!

Recipe Review: Raspberry Breakfast Bars

I needed to make an item for a brunch potluck at work, so I made one of my favorite recipes: raspberry breakfast bars from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

These are more like a cookie than breakfast, as they are full of butter and brown sugar.  The tartness of the raspberry and lemon is the perfect compliment to the sweetness of the crust.  I've made this recipe with blueberries and the result was too sweet for me, but I think that blackberries would be delicious.

You make the crust in a food processor.  Very easy.

Then you mix together the filling ingredients.  The hardest part is zesting and juicing the fresh lemon, but you can save that step by using bottled lemon juice and dried lemon peel (just use less).

These bars smell amazing as they're cooking, and they taste amazing too.

Reindeer Pancake

I often make special shaped pancakes for my little boy, so at Christmas time I made him a reindeer.  I used slightly less than 1/4 cup of batter for his face.  I poured a triangle shape from a measuring cup.  For the antlers, I used a spoon to pour the batter on the griddle.

I even included interchangeable noses -- one raspberry and eight blackberries.