Posts from — May 2014

Today’s post marks number 1,500. Fifteen hundred times that I’ve made an entry here!

It would seem appropriate to celebrate such a feat with a cake, cupcakes, or some sort of dessert. But no, instead we shall celebrate with a slow cooker chicken recipe. Not as exciting, but easier and healthier too.

You can use either frozen or raw chicken breasts for this recipe. I used frozen, as you’ll be able to see in the photos to follow.

Slow Cooker Honey-Soy Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Sriracha
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

Cooked quinoa or brown rice
Lettuce leaves

Place the chicken in a slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, tomato paste, garlic, Sriracha, sesame oil, and onion powder.

Pour over chicken and cook on LOW for 3 hours if using raw chicken and for 4 hours if using frozen chicken.

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… back in the day of newspapers. Remember what those were? When every wedding was “announced” … our kids and grandkids won’t know what that’s like.

Happy Anniversary, David. xoxo

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I found this cake on Pinterest. I made it for the first class of my three-week series of cooking classes at Les Gourmettes. It was a brunch menu and the cake was a hit.

The recipe makes one cake. In some of the photos, there are two cakes since I needed to make two for the class.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Cake
2 ¾ cups flour, divided
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup cold tap water
1 egg, room temperature
Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½  tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
Vanilla Maple Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake: Place 2 ¼ cups of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and blend together until combined.

Heat the milk and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted. Add the cold water and test the mixture to be sure it is not too hot but just warm to touch, test on your wrist as you would a baby bottle.  Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture.  Add the egg and just enough of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour to make a soft dough. The dough will be ready when it gently pulls away from the side of the bowl and has an elastic consistency.  On a clean surface that is just lightly dusted with flour, knead the dough for about 3 minutes.

Form a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes.

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Happy May Day

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