In case you haven’t already heard, here in Vancouver we are experiencing a massssive heat wave. I mean Massive. I can barely sit and type this, because I’m melting away. With a Low! of 21 degrees, at night… you can just imagine. You can’t sleep it’s so hot, you can’t eat, and you can barely bake! But for you, I braved the heat! I just purchased a new crepe pan a week or so ago, and bought it without ever making a crepe. Like most people, the idea of making those perfect thin pancakes seems like a major feat. But to tell you the truth, it’s easier than it looks! And, they look more intricate and delicate than they are! So it doesn’t take much to impress someone with a homemade crepe because like I said, they are easier than it looks!

So if you follow these step by step instructions, I guarantee you can make these! You can fill them with any type of filling you like, you can make sweet or savory crepes as well.

Crepes can be made up to two days in advance, or made the night before, covered, and left in the refrigerator overnight. Just take out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking and allow to come to room temperature. To make savory crepes, omit the sugar and add a dash of salt.

Once you’ve cooked your crepe, fill on one side

Fill it up good

And give it a roll! Top with some more syrup and a dollop of whipped cream

Or, you can make them into a triangle! Place in one corner the filling. Then fold the bottom up. And fold over the other half forming a triangle, and drizzle with syrup and confectioners’ sugar!

This is the new crepe pan I bought!

Basic Crepes

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup lukewarm water
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Butter, Melted
• 3 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Yes, it’s that easy!

Cover with plastic wrap and let stand 30 minutes, or refrigerate over night, up to 2 days.

How to cook a crepe:

Prepare a crepe pan with a 1/2 tsp.  of butter, or very lightly spray it with Pam.

Heat on medium until butter begins to brown.

Take off of burner, and using a ladle pour batter onto the pan, enough batter to cover the entire bottom with a very thin coating. Tilt the pan to evenly cover it and return to heat and cook until the crepe bubbles and bottom is lightly browned, about 1 – 1 1/2 minutes. Turn crepes over with a spatula or with your fingers. To do this, remove it from the heat and carefully lift one edge of the crepe and then gently hold the edge to lift if off the pan and gently flip it over. Return to heat and cook the other side until browned, but not evenly. Slide the crepe onto a plate lined with wax paper.

Repeat with the rest of the batter. You can store the crepes with plastic wrap in the fridge for 24 hours. or wrap in plastic and foil to freeze for up to 1 month.

Fill with fruit, whipped cream and syrups and you can either roll it the traditional way, like a cigar, or you can make it into a triangle point.

I had an idea to make  home-made ice cream poppers, like a small scoop of ice cream covered in chocolate and frozen, sort of resembling a large version of those dippin’ dots or dibs ice cream. Then, I took it one step further. Why not make mini bite-sized banana and ice cream poppers – a tiny ice cream sunday bite!

These are super easy to make and de-licious! You can also make them plain without a banana, or add any other slice underneath like a strawberry, or even a cherry on top! You can cover em in sprinkles too if you like! or crushed nuts!

Two-Bite Ice Cream Sundaes – Recipe by Me!

You will need:

• A chilled cookie tray
• Tooth Picks
• Parchment / Wax paper / Aluminum foil

Ingredients:

• Ice cream – Any flavor you choose
• Bananas – 1 or 2, depending on how many you wish to make
• Good quality Chocolate – 4-5 baking squares, or about 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips ( again depending on how many you are making you will need more/less chocolate for dipping

Cut banana(s) into slices

Scoop ice cream

Place ice cream balls and banana slices into freezer to chill

cut up chocolate and melt over double broiler

Mmm..Melted Chocolate

place ice cream balls onto banana slices and place toothpick into center

dip into chocolate and place back into freezer to chill completely

Directions:

Place baking sheet lined with parchment paper into freezer to chill. I didn’t actually have any so I used aluminum foil, but either one works.

Cut the banana(s) into slices. Make sure they aren’t too thin. Place the slices, in a single layer, on one side of the chilled baking sheet and place back into the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Take the chilled cookie sheet out of the freezer.

Next, using a melon baller or a small ice cream scoop, scoop the ice cream to form a small ball about 1 inch round. You may want to have a glass of warm water to dip the ice cream scoop into so it is easier to form the ball.

Immediately place the ice cream balls onto the other side chilled cookie sheet. Working quickly make the rest of the ice cream balls, as many or as little as you like.

Once you have made all the ice cream balls you want, place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes until they are completely set and frozen.

Make sure you put the rest of the ice cream back into the freezer.

Take them out, and place the ice cream ball on top of a banana slice. Place a toothpick through it to keep them together. and place back into freezer for about another 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, in a double boiler melt the chocolate on low. If you don’t have a double boiler, use one larger pot and a smaller one placed on top so that the water is not touching the pan. Leave a small opening, you will want some of the steam to escape. Turn the burner on low so the water just starts to simmer. Melt the chocolate thoroughly, and remove from heat. Allow the chocolate to cool down until it is just warm. You can also pour some of the water into a bowl and rest another bowl on top of it with the chocolate in it to keep it warm until you are ready to dip so it doesn’t harden.

Take the frozen ice cream/banana ball out of the freezer and dip them into the chocolate until fully coated. Gently tap off the excess chocolate back into the bowl. Then stick them back onto the frozen cookie sheet. You may want to do a few at a time. You can also add chocolate sprinkles to it.

Repeat until all the ice cream and banana bites are coated and freeze for an additional 20 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, place on a chilled plate and eat immediately. Make sure you freeze any leftovers.

Enjoy!

First off – I love my cookie jar. that is all.

Now, As I’ve mentioned before, I have a slight, slight, peanut allergy. Meaning when I was 16 I went for allergy tests and they said I was allergic. Funny, as I had definitely consumed my fair share of peanuts and peanut butter in my 16 years and hadn’t experienced any type of reaction. So I quit it. Cold turkey.  No Pb&J sandwiches, no Reeses Peanut Butter cups, no Oh Henrys. Zilch. I was livin peanut free. Which was good I guess. But a girl can only go so long without peanut butter. So dare devil that I am, I decided It was about time I ate them again, seeing as how I’d lived 16 years with it. So now whenever I have a craving for peanut butter I go right ahead and eat it. In small quantities that is.

And I just purchased some new mixing bowls! I was getting mad the other day as somehow all the bowls seemed to have dissapeared. We moved two years ago, downsized, and I think half of our stuff is still packed up I swear! So I decided it was about time I bought some new ones. So I got a set of glass Pyrex ones. Their great!

Back to the story, yesterday as I was visiting some friends in town at their work, they had kindly requested, for the 1000th time, that I bring them baked goods. I decided this time I’d give in. The boys, as i’ll call them, work at a TV and Stereo store in town and spend the majority of their day “working” and taking time out of their busy day to talk to me whenever I stop by before work or on my break (as I work across the street.) So they requested the following types of cookies: Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Cookies (what are those?? he just likes vanilla), Sugar Cookies, Peanut butter (which I could make because the other guy who works with them who is actually deathly allergic to peanuts wouldn’t be there today.) So I thought of what I could make to satisfy them all. I thought of making a couple different types of cookies, but that takes too much time and quite frankly, I didn’t want to = ). So I thought I would satisfy them all with these Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Hopefully they’ll like em.

After looking for some recipes online I combined a few ideas and recipes to satisfy their cravings.

Ingredients – in nice little prep bowsl! (that’s a first!)

Mix it up good!

Roll em into ball and dip em in sugar!

Flatten with a fork – and put in oven!

Chunky-Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Cup Butter, Room Temperature
• 1 1/4 Cups Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
3. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder. Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the peanut butter. Beat on slow and add the sugars.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon, and on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
6. Mix in the chocolate chips.
7. *Optional* Pour 1/2 cup sugar (fine, granulated or large decorating sugar) into a small bowl. Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop dough and then roll the dough into small balls and then roll the ball into the small bowl of sugar, coating it evenly.
8. Place on the backing sheet. Using a fork, press it into the top of the cookie, to make the signature criss cross pattern on the cookie, flattening it just slightly.
9. Bake for 12 minutes, until slightly browned and just about set in the center.
10. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Make sure they are fully cooled before storing them.

    Note – You can make these in advance, and roll the cookie dough into the little balls, storing them in a container and freezing them until ready to use. When baking from frozen cookie, place them on the sheet and into the oven for a few minutes til they get soft, and then pull them out and make the criss cross pattern with the fork, and then stick em back in the oven to fully bake =) baking time may need to be increased by a minute or two since they are baking from frozen. You can also make these with smooth peanut butter, or if you want crunchy add peanuts to them.

Enjoy = )

I dunno about you, but whenever I bake something I have this same order I do things. First, get out all the ingredients. Second, read the directions, and get all the ingredients I forgot in previous step, & prepare the recipe. Then, while the recipe is chilling or baking I always go and write my blog post. I find this is the best time to do it, while you can smell the delicious thing you are baking in the oven! And when they take up to 30 or 40 minutes to bake you have some time on your hands. Today I had a long time between prep and chilling and baking time to write this post.

I had been craving a Lemon tart for some reason, and It’s probably because we’re in the middle of summer and a lemon tart just seems so refreshing and summery to me! I remember when my mom and I would go visit my grandma we would always take her out to lunch, usually chinese food, and afterwards we would get something sweet for dessert. Now my grandma was a diabetic so she really couldn’t, or shouldn’t, have been eating too many sweets. But whenever my mom (her favorite of 6 children as my mom always joked) visited her, she would spoil her and get her a little lemon tart from the IGA (grocery store.) She loved lemon tarts! When she was younger my grandma always made preserves and always canned things. She made the best canned fruits and my mom said she loved her bread pudding (something on my list of To-Do’s!) So in memory of my Grandma today I baked a Lemon tart. I’m sure she would have loved a slice! (more…)

Now that’s one jam packed muffin!! Oh and yes, I lived through my first ( and possibly last! I hope not!! ) Merritt Mountain Music Festival! Hopefully they keep the music going for next year, as this was the 17th annual one and they are possibly canceling it next year due to, what else, money. But I’ve heard that they may have found a sponsor for it which is great!

After a weekend of sitting in a river all day and listening to music all night I needed to come home and bake something! Also, a friend of mine, also named Alysha, is coming to visit tonight and I thought some muffins for tomorrow morning’s breakfast would be good, since I work at 9.

I have been away these past two weekends, last weekend in Merritt, and the weekend before I had gone to Osoyoos. When we were driving home from Osoyoos (With a FULL tank of gas.. oh yes there’s a story! note to self: do not almost run out of gas in the middle of the forest near Manning Park – with bears – driving to Osoyoos and have to pull over a park ranger to follow you to the next gas station just in case you don’t make it – Mom!) Where was I? Oh yes, on our way home from Osoyoos with lots of gas, we stopped in Keremeos, The Fruit Stand Capital Of Canada! We brought home a few zucchini’s, squash, cherries, potatoes, apricots, apples, raspberry syrup..mmm…so I’ve had these large zucchinis and cherries lying around and this morning I thought I would put them to use. Don’t they look good together?? (more…)

As everyone knows one of the greatest performers, and King of Pop has recently passed away. After yesterdays event, of his memorial ceremony I wanted to dedicate a post to him. I remember being in grade 7 and being absolutely in love with Michael Jackson! My friend Amanda and I were obsessed at 13 years old! We loved all of his music, and I remember after school we would go to each others house and listen to all of his music and have dance parties. We thought we were sooo cool listening to MJ. I remember for Amanda’s birthday I really wanted to get her something to do with Michael, so I went looking in town for a gift. The only music store in town was a small CD store that had old and new CD’s and music posters. I remember finding two, now thinking back I wish I had bought one for myself as well! I finally decided on one of them, it was a collage of pictures of MJ and I can still picture it today. Actually, I sorta wished I kept it! haha. But birthdays are about giving!..and not to yourself. But today I bought a People magazine to have a small memorial of him and his life. I loved all his music, and my friend and I would watch all his music videos on our old computer, waiting patiently for it to download! My mom actually saw him in concert, and now wishes she had kept her ticket stub! ( this is why I keep all of mine! You never know! )

So today while I was shopping I needed to pick up ingredients to make cookies for an upcoming trip! Tomorrow morning I’m heading up to Merritt for the Merritt Mountain Music Festival. For all you non-canadians, or even non-BC’ers it’s a four day event of country music in the interior of BC. Lots of concerts and cowboys!! Im super excited to go, and Im leaving tomorrow morning veryyy early with my friend Justine! She’s been before but I haven’t! So I’m looking forward to it! And I promised her baked goods!

While I was at the store I had Michael in mind and came up with the idea of black and white mini chocolate chip cookies. Because as Michael said “it don’t matter if you’re black or white” (more…)