Recipe: Cannoli Bites (and my attempt at home cheesemaking)

For my work team meetings, one member is responsible for bringing in a dairy product to share.  We taste the product and the person responsible has to say a few things about it or the company that makes it.  My turn comes up every eight months or so.  For the most part people bring in various types of cheeses.  Though I love cheese, it gets boring.  Last year around the holidays I brought in egg nog, even though I don't particularly like it.  I felt like it was a fitting product for the season.

This month I decided I didn't just want to bring in the product.  I wanted to make something with it.  So, I chose mascarpone cheese, a common ingredient in one off my favorite desserts; cannoli!  I opted to make the cannoli bites below because those would be easier to 'stuff 'on the spot.  During my research I also discovered that you can make mascarpone cheese at home pretty easily.  So, I decided to try it and see how it compared to the store bought kind.  My final consensus?  Though it was easy and cheaper to make it, I'd just buy it next time.  The cost savings isn't worth my time!  The cannoli bites were delicious though!

Here are some photos of my cheese making process:

Cooking

Pouring into cheesecloth

Draining

Finished product

Cannoli Bites 

Cups

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box                    

3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
                        

Heat oven to 425°F. On lightly floured work surface, unroll pie crusts. Sprinkle each crust with turbinado sugar and cinnamon. Lightly roll rolling pin over sugar and cinnamon to press into pastry. With 2 1/2- to 3-inch round cutter, cut out pastry rounds. Lightly press each pastry round into ungreased mini muffin cup.

Bake about 10 minutes or until pastry cups are golden brown. Cool completely in pans, about 15 minutes. Remove from muffin cups to cooling racks.

Cannoli Filling

12 oz whole milk Ricotta cheese, strained

8 oz Mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

In a mixing bowl, using a rubber or silicone spatula, blend together Ricotta and Mascarpone cheese while running and pressing mixture along bottom of bowl to remove any lumps. Fold in powdered sugar. Cover and chill 30 minutes (or until ready to use).

Remove cannoli filling from refrigerator, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a tip (or you can use a large resealable bag and cut the tip of the end). Pipe filling into cups and sprinkle with chocolate chips and dust with powdered sugar. For best results serve within 2 hours. Store in refrigerator.

For the last part, I just used a spoon.  I also threw some chocolate chips into the filling mixture.

2014 Winter Olympics - Sochi, Russia

As is tradition, Mike and I welcomed the start of the Olympics with a meal and snacks similar to that of what people of the host country would enjoy.  I'm very unfamiliar with Russian food and really didn't know what to have.  I wanted to make something we would actually want to eat, had to have access to the food, and it couldn't be too time consuming to make since weeknight dinnertime is a little crazy now that there is a baby living in our house.  I asked for ideas on Facebook and was told that beef stroganoff is a Russian dish and that my coworker would share a crock pot recipe that she liked.  Perfect!  Through some Internet searching I discovered that a traditional appetizer for the Russians is marinated herring.  Well, Ma Baensch's is a local supplier of such a delicacy (grossness!) so that would be easy to come by.  I also read that baked apples are a common dessert.  Easy enough!  While at the store I found a jar of Russian Borscht and picked that up.  Mike was in charge of purchasing the alcohol; we got a selection of Baltika beer and a bottle of Russian standard vodka.  We were all set!!

My thoughts?  The beef stroganoff was pretty good and I have shared the recipe below. I enjoyed the borscht (basically, it's a beet soup.) but Mike said he had to choke his down.  The herring?  It's always been a common thing in my parents' house around the holidays and I never really tried it.  I did this time.  Yeah, still don't like it!  The baked apples were okay.  I didn't have a specific recipe as they were all about the same so I just winged it.  For a dessert it was just too healthy, but for an apple it was pretty good!  The beer wasn't anything to write home about.  As of this writing I had only tried two different 'flavors' and didn't love either.  In fact, I don't think I finished either.  We did a shot of vodka and that wasn't too bad.  Vodka doesn't taste like much so I'm not sure how to tell if it was good or bad vodka.  The bottle is almost gone as Mike has been making White Russians for the last week so it must not be too bad.

I really do love our tradition but it's not as exciting when the foods are hard to come by or just not in our flavor palate.  I'm looking forward to the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but know that we will struggle with South Korea and Japan.  I'm not eating anything that is still alive!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

2  pounds beef stew meat 

1  cup chopped onion  

1  can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed golden mushroom soup 

1  can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of onion soup                 

1  jar (6 ounces) Green Giant® sliced mushrooms, drained                   

1/4  teaspoon pepper                  

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed                

1 container (8 ounces) sour cream                 

6 cups hot cooked noodles or rice 

 

Directions

• In 3 1/2- to 4 1/2-quart slow cooker, mix beef, onion, soups, mushrooms and pepper.
• Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until beef is very tender.
• Stir cream cheese into beef mixture until melted. Stir sour cream into beef mixture. Serve over noodles.                    

Projects 52 - January

I'm pretty happy with my participation so far in the three (THREE!) project 52's that I joined this year.  I successfully submitted photos each week for two of them.  The third I'm thinking might not last much longer.  It's a Facebook only project and I just don't care for that format for sharing photos or commenting on others photos. 

The project I'm enjoying the most is for mom's who want to document their children's lives.  That's just plain easy for me since I'm always taking pictures of Ben.  For the other project I try to attempt to take a photo that is not of Ben....but that doesn't always happen.

So, here are me submissions this month!

Facebook Group:

FB - Snow/outdoors
Ice 'growing' on our windows

FB - Self Portrait
Taken with my remote shutter release and tripod

My 4 Hens Group:

M4H - Reflection

M4H - Imperfection
Throw pillow that has been losing it's beading and sequence for a long time.

M4H - Inside
Inside of a lime

M4H - Joy
Baby eyelashes, noses, lips, and hands bring joy to so many.  Quiet, sleeping babies bring joy to everyone!

M4H - Noise
Twisted Sister and a grainy (noisy) photo

Live, Snap, Love Group:

LSL - Child in Bedroom
Ben watching his mobile in his crib

LSL - Something that reminds you of your child at this particular age
His hands won't be this tiny forever

LSL - Child and his favorite book
I'm not sure if it's his favorite book, but it's the only book he has the attention span for!

LSL - Child unaware that you are photographing them
I think Ben is mostly unaware still!  But I tried to imply he was even more unaware by stepping behind/to the side of him.

LSL - Photo of child and spouse

Recipe: Layered Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

I made this casserole over a year ago when looking for recipes to use up the massive zucchinis I grew in my garden.  I really liked it but haven't made it since because I didn't grow zucchini this summer and I forgot I could buy it in the grocery store.  I came across the recipe in my recipe box and figured we should give it a try again. I still think it's pretty good.  The Donkey Chips served as a side probably  help too!  It's vegetarian, but there is enough cheese in it that you (or the vegetable hating spouse or child in your life) will never know!

 

Layered Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil      

                                                                                       

2 cups diced zucchini                                                  

                       

1 cup chopped onion

                       

2 cups packed coarsely shredded fresh spinach

                       

1 cup frozen whole kernel corn

                       

1 (17.5 ounce) jar Pace® Enchilada Sauce

                       

12 corn tortillas (6 inch)

                       

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

                       

Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Heat oil in skillet. Add zucchini and onion and cook 5 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Add spinach and corn. Cook and stir until spinach wilts.
3.  Spread 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in 3-quart shallow baking dish. Place 6 tortillas, overlapping as needed to cover bottom of dish. Spread with half of remaining enchilada sauce. Top with vegetable mixture and half the cheese. Top with remaining tortillas and enchilada sauce.
4.  Bake 20 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Cut into 6 squares and garnish with cilantro.

Projects 52

After a year of little photo inspiration I decided to try a project 52 challenge again.  I like the idea of themes but was hoping to find something easier since I know my picture taking time is limited with having Ben around.  Though I did find a group with monthly themes and the rest being personal choices I opted not to join in favor of three (yes, three!) other groups.  All with weekly themes.  My goal is to post weekly in at least one group.  Yes, I'm going to pick and choose my themes!  One group is dedicated to photographing your children so I figured that would be easy for me this year.  Another is a Facebook group created by a friend of a friend.  The third is the group I joined last year.  So, we'll see how well I do this year!

Favorite Things: Donkey Chips

Two days after arriving home from the hospital with Ben our friend Jim stopped by for a visit.  He brought over some food including the most awesome tortilla chips on the planet.  Donkey Chips are da bomb!  They are crunchy with just the right amount of salt.  The perfect tortilla chip.  Not too big and not to small.  Small enough that you can almost fit a whole chip in your mouth and not have to worry about double dipping in the salsa!  I used to be a lover of another local tortilla chip.  It was my staple snack.  Not anymore.  Donkey Chips (still a Midwest product) have replaced them.  I think other people have discovered these super yummy snacks too because they are always out of stock at my local grocer.  Now when I see them I stock up!  Go get some today.  Just don't go to my grocery store!

What I did on my Maternity Leave

As my twelve week maternity leave comes to a close and I head back to work later this week I'd like the reminisce about my time off.  Mainly for my own remembrance.

Weeks 1-4 were spent in a blurry haze.  The stay in the hospital was hell.  I was recovering from a c-section that I did not want to have and hated that my mobility was limited.  Ben seemed to cry all the time and we didn't know what to do.  I got more rest at home but things didn't get any easier.  I was beginning to think I should buy stock in Kleenex or Puffs.  I cried all the time. Even during an episode of the comedic sitcom The Goldbergs. (Poor Mike - dealing with a crying baby and wife!) There were many visitors...all of who I was hesitant of having because of my self consciousness regarding breast feeding (will they come when he has to be fed??).  I spent way too much time on my favorite chair (which I was beginning to resent) feeding my baby when all I wanted to do was cook dinner (something I knew how to do...breastfeeding felt so foreign to me).  I didn't understand the 'bonding' experience at all.  Ben and I 'fought' with each other more than we bonded, that's for sure!  I dreaded Mondays when Mike went off to work and I was left alone all. day. long.  I longed to go to work too.

Weeks 5-8 got a little better in regards to feeding.  I switched to all formula and was so much happier.  They say breast is best but I was not enjoying it or my baby.  I hated it and thought the switch would save us money on tissues.  It did!  And I felt like myself again.  For us, formula has been best.  The baby?  He was still a pain in the butt.  At first, I was OK with attempting to get out of the house, but he quickly turned into a difficult little one.  Even a walk in the stroller had me and him coming home in tears.  I was going stir crazy.  The nights weren't any better.  In fact, Ben was a bigger whiner then.  (Again, poor Mike.  He only saw the crabby side of Ben)  I'm surprised I have any hair left!  He did sleep well overnight at least...once we got him to sleep.  I can't imagine dealing will all of this AND being majorly sleep deprived (from the start I only had to get up once during the night to feed him).  My C-section incision healed but I struggled with the feeling of having no abdominal muscles.  Even though I had lost most of the weight I gained while pregnant, I felt weak.  Rolling over in bed still made me feel 8 months pregnant.  I hated the fact that I had to have a C-section more, but later found out from my doctor that that's just what it's like after being pregnant and it would just take time to retrain those muscles again.  Very frustrating when I felt in tip top shape before I got pregnant.

Weeks 9-12 were much much better.  Ben began to nap more regularly and I started to figure him out.  He was actually happy when he was awake most of the time.  He was smiling and interacting more and actually seemed to like me!  I got stuff done while he napped.  I cleaned the blinds!  I cooked sometimes.  I decorated for the holidays, online shopped, and wrapped gifts.  I cleaned the bathroom every week!  I vacuumed twice a week.  I kept up with the dishes.  I did the laundry twice a week.  I went on lunch dates (thanks to my mom who came to babysit).  I packed up maternity clothes, newborn sized clothes, our wedding albums and such into Rubbermaid storage bins.  I updated Ben's baby book.   I updated my recipe box.  Ben and I had Christmas card photo shoots.  I occasionally did a workout video (and feel my abs returning!).  I dusted the baseboards of the built up dog hair.  These were the weeks where I enjoyed visitors as my contact with adults was so minimal for so long. Ben became more bearable when out and about and we went to the mall a few times. We visited Santa.  He started to go to bed at a decent hour.  The days were still long but by week ten I had the hang of things.  Without my own honey to do list I would have been majorly bored though. I'm still not used to being tied to the house.  And honestly, once he gets more active and mobile, I'm not so sure I would like it anymore.  Kids are exhausting!

And so, just as I'm getting used to the routine, I am headed back to work.  I'm ready to go back so I can (hopefully) relax and have conversations with adults! We will all have to readjust to a new schedule again (and probably a dirtier and less organized house).  I'm just hoping I don't have to stock up on Kleenex for this round.