Posted on 04 May 2011 by Kari Gibson
Did you wake up and watch the royal wedding or host a watch party? It was so fun celebrating William and Kate’s big day with Hannah. I have to admit it would have been amazing being there in the middle of the crowd, wearing a big crazy hat and screaming when they kissed on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. I thought it would be yummy to indulge our sweet tooth and share this chocolate biscuit cake, that was chosen as the groom’s cake for the wedding. I heard it has been one of Prince William’s favorite desserts since he was a child.
Chocolate Biscuit Cake
Yield: One 9-inch cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Chill Time: 3½ hours
1½ cups plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
30 ounces 60% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or substitute honey)
2 7½-ounce packages lightly toasted butter biscuits (like Le Petit Beurre), coarsely choppedFor Glaze:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1. Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Stir the butter and chocolate together in a large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Stir in the cream and golden syrup (or honey). Remove from the heat and mix in the chopped biscuit pieces to evenly incorporate. Pour the chocolate mixture into prepared pan; smooth top. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours or overnight.
2. To make the glaze, put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Let cool slightly, stirring occasionally, until the glaze is slightly thickened but still pourable.
3. Wrap a warm, damp kitchen towel around the cake pan. Remove the pan sides. Invert the cake onto a wire rack set on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Remove the cake pan bottom and peel off the parchment paper. Pour glaze over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides; spread as needed to cover the cake. Refrigerate until the glaze sets, about 30 minutes.
(Recipe adapted from Today Show)
Posted on 12 January 2011 by Kari Gibson
Lasagna Soup
This is one of my favorite WOW recipes, it never fails to impress! It’s easy to make so don’t let the long list of ingredients intimidate you.
- 1 cup diced or shredded carrots
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 6-8 cups beef broth
- 1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 can of condensed tomato soup
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 1/4 cups mafalda or other small pasta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- salt & pepper to taste
In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef or turkey and drain well. Add onions and carrots; saute 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to saute 3-5 minutes. Add beef broth, tomatoes, tomato soup, and Italian seasoning. Simmer over low heat 25-30 minutes to combine flavors. Add pasta and cook 6-8 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Stir in spinach and cook 1 minute.
To serve, place 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese in the bottom of bowl and ladle hot soup over the top. Garnish with the Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Garlic bread is a MUST with this soup!
I also like to serve it with Parmesan crisps. To make the Parmesan crisps spread 2 tbsp. of shredded Parmesan cheese thinly into a 4-5 inch circle on a preheated nonstick skillet. (it should look lacy) Cook 1-3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. To turn, lift an edge with a spatula, carefully grab with your fingers and turn over. Transfer to a paper towel to cool. These are SO easy to make but look and taste impressive!
You can also make these with cheddar cheese. Just make sure to keep the layer of cheese thin so they will be crispy. They are also yummy crumbled over a salad.
Posted on 10 November 2010 by Kari Gibson
Happy 17th Birthday Michael!!! I’m making your favorite dinner tonight- thanks for being the BEST son in the world!! We are so blessed to have you in our family… your spirit, laughter, courage, energy, heart and love for the Lord is a daily reminder of the gift God gave us 17 years ago!!
I’m one proud mom- watch my son LIVE on our local news- HS building a well in Ethiopia!!
This is hands down my family’s favorite Fall recipe. My son begs and pleads for Poppyseed Chicken on a weekly basis. I don’t know if it’s the combination of crunchy Ritz cracker crust and creamy chicken, but everything works together like magic.
Ingredients
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – diced
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cylinders Ritz crackers, crushed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions
- Preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Place the diced chicken breasts on the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl combine the soups and sour cream. Pour or spoon mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
- Mix the poppy seeds and crushed crackers and sprinkle mixture over the chicken, salt and pepper. Drizzle the melted butter or margarine over the cracker/poppyseed layer and bake covered in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes (take cover off for the last 5 minutes). Let stand a few minutes before servings.
Please share your favorite Fall recipes [Linky] so we can celebrate the chilly weather together in blog land.
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Posted on 29 September 2010 by Kari Gibson
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage or turkey sausage
- 3/4 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- In a large skillet, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Reviewed: Sep. 28, 2010 truly the best i have ever made. Usually there seems to not be enough sauce but this recipe prepared for a generous amount to keep the noodles covered. My children all raved about it!
www.allrecipes.com
Posted on 03 April 2010 by Kari Gibson
I love coloring eggs! But for some reason my boiling technique is not the best and my eggs always crack causing that white stuff to float to the top. It just doesn’t look festive. This year I googled How to make the perfect hard boiled egg and I followed the directions step by step. Honestly, I can’t believe it takes 8 steps, but what do you think? I want you to judge…
How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
Things You’ll Need:
- Clean filtered water
- Eggs
- Medium sauce pan
- Cooking timer
- Eggs
- Water
Step 1-
Place the eggs gently onto the bottom of a medium saucepan.
Step 2-
Fill the pan so the eggs are covered by at least one inch of water, though you can add more water if you wish.
Step 3-
Set the pan onto an appropriately-sized burner and turn the heat onto medium-high.
Step 4-
Start a kitchen timer for 12 minutes.
Step 5-
Let the water begin boiling, approximately two minutes; turn the heat down to medium and simmer the eggs for the rest of the time.
Step 6-
Once the timer has gone off, immediately pour out most of the hot water without letting any of the eggs drop out of the pan.
Step 7-
Run cold water over the eggs to shock them. This stops the cooking process and prevents the yolks from forming a grey-green ring around the outside of the yolk.
Step 8-
Put the eggs into the refrigerator to chill once the eggs have cooled to the point that they can be handled safely.
Finally, to the BEST crazy readers and followers in bloggy land – wishing you a Happy Easter!
Posted on 24 March 2010 by Kari Gibson
I’m soooo excited to introduce Sarah, my guest bloggy baker… a great friend of our family who has a crazy passion for orphans all over the world. She makes up recipes in her dreams- I’m serious. God gave her a passion for cooking & baking the most amazing treats I’ve ever tasted!
“This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes. The taste reminds me of summertime. It was one of the cookies that I made at Kamp Kauai for opening day. I took a basic sugar cookie recipe and altered it and figure out a way not to have to refrigerate the dough and added my favorite ingredient, lime! They taste so refreshing. My next idea is to somehow add cherry to them!” (Sarah Yocum)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 ½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoon lime zest
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons lime juice
Preheat oven to 375
Combine flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, lime zest and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Add lime juice, no more than 2 tablespoons.
Shape into 1 ounce balls and roll in sugar and place on pan. After the dough is on the pan, sprinkle more lime juice on top to taste.
Bake 9-12 minutes
Fresh Limeade
1 cups freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cups warms water
1 cups sugar
3 cups cold water
First mix warm water and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients.
*Lime can be substituted for lemon!
Sarah wearing Simply Love Orphans!!
