Mad About Mixing Bowl

Have you stumbled across MixingBowl.com yet? Did you know they also have a magazine?

I found the web site a few weeks back, but I didn't find a copy of the magazine until last weekend.

photo from my phone - apologies for the quality

Mixing Bowl is made by the same publishing group as Better Homes and Gardens. As a subscriber to many food magazines - Food Network Magazine, Cooking Light to name a few - I tend to gather lots of ideas... and then do nothing with them. You with me on that? But hey, I've got a lot of great ideas!

But MixingBowl.com is more than just a food web site. It's an entire community! And these people are amazing. Not only do they share recipes with each other (and with you), but they have forums and discussions and are so eager to help. I've asked a few questions, and within a few minutes, I've got tons of great help.

This great community spills over to the magazine, Mixing Bowl. So much of the material is member driven. For example, questions and answers from the Knowledge Bowl at MixingBowl.com end up in the magazine. Many of the features are inspired by groups on MixingBowl.com, and it looks like all the recipes come from members. Plus, they give great sidebar information. For example, with the chili feature, they give you a run-down of beans, what they're called, how to prepare them, what they're best with, etc. They do taste tests and let you know their favorite products -- in this magazine above, best salsas.

And none of it is intimidating to me -- unlike some others. I think I can genuinely cook everything in here, even things I've been scared to try like breads. Maybe that's because I know it's just people at home, making recipes, trying new things, and sharing their experiences -- just like me.

Kimberly's Kitchen Favs

As we're closing out Foodie February, I wanted to share a few of my new favorite kitchen gadgets. Sometimes (and I'm only slightly ashamed to admit this), I wander the gadget section at Bed, Bath & Beyond for hours. I want all those gadgets. I don't know what they do, but I want them. Do you ever get that way?

These are my new favorite kitchen toys.

1. Kuhn Rikon Nonstick Paring Knife

From a chef friend of mine - "It's great for quick salads or slicing veggies for a sandwich. It's very light weight, very sharp, holds its edge and hardly ever needs sharpening." Plus, it's pretty!

2. The Nuvem - or Round wire bread basket from Alessi

It's made of bundled - and then crushed - aluminum wire. And I can't get enough of it!

3. Remember my pot de créme experiment? I shared that I'm also slightly obsessed with making mini desserts (and well, mini dishes) of any kind, so of course you have to have ramekins. Loving this one...

Emile Henry Stackable Ramekin in Vert
It comes in Citron, Blanc, Nougat, Cerise, Figue, Sky, Azur, Black, Slate, and Sand. [Noticing a color fascination yet? :)]

4. Todd English Hard Anodized With Thermolon Frypans



Almost all my pans are from Todd English's HSN GreenPan Collection. They've never disappointed me. You can usually see them in my cooking photos. They're very sturdy, clean brilliantly and cook evenly. (My dad even cooks with these at their house, and he can ruin any pan. So far, these have lasted.)

5. Trivets or hot pads are a fun splash of color on my otherwise boring brown table. I really love these from Rebecca's Treasury.


So what are your favorite kitchen gadgets? What can you not live without when you're cooking or baking?

Lucky Me

A quick St. Patrick's Day banner I whipped up with my new Cricut!!!






I'm joining these blog parties.

Creativity Week

I'm guest blogging over at 733 today. Kim has a wonderful Creativity Week with lots of guest bloggers and giveaways going on. Head on over and look around her wonderful blog. Enter some of her giveaways!! And then follow her, because she's awesome.

Also - I've got a new craft over there. And I guarantee you have all the things you need to do it in your home right now. Well, almost guarantee. :)

I'm Dreaming of Cakes

Recently, I attended a cake-decorating class at a local cupcake shop/corner of heaven/my weakness, Dreamcakes. It happened to fall right before Valentine's and my mom's birthday, so with the Valentine's colors, I made my mom's birthday cake. It was an event -- that's for sure! I'm not quitting my day job, but I am buying icing tips and bags and seeing if I can get better. :)

Thank you to Jan and the sweet girls at Dreamcakes!

Here, cake decorating by a beginner...

Jan's cake

Jan explaining the process

Fully frosted now

The final product! Happy Birthday, mom!

Now for some of my friends...

Shaun and her adorable cake!

Sarah's lip-tastic cake!

The general theme of my life... :)

Our Snowy Weekend - A Bit Late

So this was our Valentine's weekend (a bit late). My friend Ross and I found ourselves trying to drive 100 miles to our hometown in the snow and ice. It might be no biggie for our northern neighbors, but in case you haven't heard, snow shuts us southern folk down.

But we lived! And of course... took pictures. :)

Heels in ice and snow? Of course!

Peanut Butter Bars

Do you ever look at the recipes on boxes? I'll admit I rarely do. I just empty the contents, make my food and move on. But I picked up a box of Krusteaz Bakery Style Peanut Butter Cookie Mix recently and found their recipe for Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bars.

Perfect, I thought! I have some extra chocolate chips and some extra peanut butter chips. I'll mix those. It'll be great. And then last Friday, I ran across the Foodie Friday First Anniversary post over at Designs by Gollum. Ahhh, well. She does do it better! :)


So here you go... Peanut Butter & Chocolate Bars

Ingredients
1 box Krusteaz Bakery Style Peanut Butter Cookie Mix
1 tbsp water
1 egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

What You'll Do
- In a large bowl, blend the water, egg, and vegetable oil. Add cookie mix and blend until dough forms. Hand kneading is necessary.

- Lightly spray a pan. They recommend a 9x9x2. I used a 11.5x7, I think. (Is that even a size? ha!) Press dough into the pan. I made a bit of a lip on the sides all the way around.


- Sprinkle the chocolate and peanut butter chips, pressing them into the dough.


- Bake 22 to 28 minutes.


I'll be looking at the recipes on the boxes from now on!

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Casserole

Let's have a quick heart-to-heart. How often do you walk into your kitchen, have zero planned for dinner, throw your hands up in disgust, and just order a pizza?

Guilty as charged. Very guilty as charged.

But not this time. No ma'am. I had things in my fridge and pantry that needed to be used and a quickly-dwindling back account that didn't.

So what did I come up with? Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Casserole.

The name needs some work, but the dish is delish!

Ingredients (all were in my fridge/pantry, and I bet they're in yours too!)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken
2 cans condensed broccoli and cheese soup
1 package frozen broccoli cuts, cooked and drained
1 12 ounce container sour cream
3 tbsp butter
1 pack butter crackers (about 30 crackers)

What You'll Do
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and cook in a skillet until done, about 5 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken).


In a large bowl, combine condensed soup, broccoli (that has been cooked and drained -- I love Steamfresh for this!), and sour cream. Add chicken and mix well.


Spray a casserole dish (I used a 2-quart pan) lightly with cooking spray. Pour chicken mixture into pan and spread out evenly.


In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Put butter crackers into a zip lock bag and crush. Mix butter and crackers and spoon out on top of the casserole.

Bake in the oven 35 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. I served this with a side of green beans (double the veggies) and mini roasted potatoes.




It makes great leftovers too!