Beignets

Since yesterday was Fat Tuesday, I decided to make Cajun Pasta and Beignets. I made the mistake of making the Beignets early in the day, so they just sat there and looked enticing the entire day. The one thing I learned about Beignets after making them is that you can't eat just one... or two... or three. My husband learned this truth as well and he isn't even a huge fan of dessert! The true signs of a delicious dessert in my house are: 1. My husband eats it. 2. He can't stop eating it. I spent pretty much the entire day hearing from both my husband and daughter that "These are the best baguettes I have ever had!" and "These bayonet's are amazing!" After correcting them for the 100th time, I decided to just let them eat their bayonets. My daughter loved them so much that she even wrote about them in her journal for school. I believe this to be a pretty solid testimony to the delicousness of these Beignets.

Beignet Recipe:   |Print Recipe|


3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Gold Medal is the best!)
Oil (for frying)
powdered sugar (for dusting)


In a large bowl, add yeast, sugar and water. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes, until yeast becomes nice and foamy. 


Add egg and milk and butter and whisk. Add salt and half the flour and continue to whisk. Add the remaining flour, mixing well and turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 2-3 times.


Place in an oiled bowl covered with a towel in a warm place and allow to rise for about 2 hours.


Heat oil to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out in a rectangle to 1/4" thickness. Cut 1" square pieces.


Fry Beignets until one side is golden brown, flip, then fry until other side is golden brown. 


Allow Beignets to cool slightly, then dust with powdered sugar.

Jambalaya

If there's one thing in life that my husband could eat every single night, it's Jambalaya. When we were dating he would always order it and I had no idea what it was nor did I want to. The idea of chicken, pork and shrimp mixed together didn't sound very appealing to me until I tried it for the first time. I can now honestly say that this Jambalaya recipe is one of my absolute favorite dishes! The one thing I do differently is I don't add the rice or pasta right in the pot. You can add it in there if you'd like, but I personally like to serve it over white rice! With tomorrow being Mardi Gras, what better time is there to make a delicious cajun dish and have a little celebration?

Jambalaya Recipe:   |Print Recipe|


1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1" cubes)
1 pound andouille sausage (cajun sausage!)
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cup (chopped) celery
1 large bell pepper (chopped)
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp parsley
1 tbsp + 2 tsp cajun seasoning (divided)
1 tsp cayenne (or less, if you don't like too much heat!)
1/2 tsp thyme
1 pound shrimp (peeled & deveined)
Cooked pasta or white rice


Heat 1 tbsp oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with 1 tbsp cajun seasoning and set aside. 


Sautee sausage for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tbsp oil to pan and sautee chicken. Remove and set aside. 


Sautee onion, pepper, celery and garlic for about 6-8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and all seasonings (including 2 tsp cajun seasoning). Cook for one minute, then stir chicken and sausage back in. Cook for additional 10 minutes. 


Stir in chicken broth and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add shrimp during the last 5 minutes of cooking. 


Serve over pasta or white rice (I personally prefer serving it over white rice!)

Oscar Party Printables

With the Oscars only a week away, I thought I would share some Oscar Party Printables that can help make your Oscar Party just a little more special! I created two separate sheets of printables, one (larger one) that can be used as tags on treat bags, gifts, prizes or as cupcake toppers. The other sheet (smaller one) can be used as drink charms for your guests!

Print out on a nice card stock or other nice, thick paper. The cupcake toppers can be cut out with a 2.5" punch.

Click Here to Download the Larger size (tags/cupcake toppers)


Click Here to Download the Smaller size (drink charms)

Bread Machine White Bread

When my husband and I first moved in together he insisted that I buy a bread machine. He told me many stories about homemade bread and the magical qualities that it possesses, so I was really left with no choice in the matter. At first I simply bought the pre-made box mixes at my grocery store, followed the directions and was left with a delicious loaf of yummy bread. Only recently did I attempt to make a loaf from scratch and the end result was definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted! 

Bread Machine White Bread Recipe:   |Print Recipe|

• 1 cup warm water 
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast or 1 (.25 Ounce) package bread machine yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups flour (I used all purpose because that's what I had, but, you can also use Bread Flour!)

Mix the water, sugar and yeast in the bottom of your bread machine and allow yeast to dissolve for about 10 minutes. 

Once the yeast is bubbly, add in oil and flour and salt. 

Set bread machine to Basic or White setting, 1-1/2 pound loaf.

• 
  

St. Patrick's Day Printable Treat Tags

I got a little head start on St. Patrick's Day this year. Mostly because I was looking around on Pinterest and I kept seeing really cute treats that I want to make for this year! I designed some treat tags that can be printed and cut out and tied to your treat bags or any little gift that you may be giving out this year! I am thinking about using them on some treat bags for my daughter's Kindergarten class!

Size of tags is 2". Print on some nice cardstock or some other nice, thick paper. I created them to be hole-punched on the top, left corner. Enjoy! :)

Click Here to download.

Cake Pops Book Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of the Cake Pops Book is.....


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Congratulations Lani!! Please email me at diddlesanddumplings@hotmail.com with your information (within 24 hours!) and I will get your book to you!!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered!! There will be more giveaways coming up soon! :)

Printable "You Make My Heart Sizzle" Valentine

 I have been having so much fun making Valentine's Day Printables! I'm sure you've noticed :). Here is one I created with my husband in mind. It's easy to find cute, girly, frilly valentines, but it seems like it's difficult to come by a more "masculine" valentine! Here is my solution! Enjoy!

The Valentine is 4" x 4" and you can print it on some nice thick card stock or whatever nice printing paper you might have at home!

Click Here to Download!


 

Bird's Party Blog
today's creative blog
Craft-o-maniac

Pork Chops with Brandied Peaches and Apricot Glaze

This name of this recipe may take a very long time to say but it doesn't take a long time to devour! Okay, that was a little cheesy. But, seriously... this is an amazingly tasty dinner and I'm not even a huge fan of pork chops! I can't remember where, but I found this recipe a while back for my husband because he could eat pork chops every single night and I personally would rather have a huge bowl of Chicken Fettuccine! I ended up changing some of the ingredients around in the recipe, but after I tried it I changed my whole outlook on pork chops.  I now treat pork chops with a little more respect. Try this recipe and you too will respect the chops (if you don't already).

Pork Chops with Brandied Peaches and Apricot Glaze Recipe:   |Print Recipe|

6 (bone-in) loin pork chops
1 onion (thinly sliced)
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 cup brandy
1 bag frozen peaches (thawed)
1/3 cup apricot preserves
Oil
Salt
Pepper


Place a small amount of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Depending on the thickness of your pork chops, cook them for about 4-6 minutes on the first side and another 4 on the other side. Once cooked through, place pork chops aside.


Lower pan heat to medium and add in 3 tablespoons of butter. Throw in the sliced onions and thyme and sautee until translucent (about 4-5 minutes). Turn off the flame and add in the brandy. Turn the flame back on (still over medium heat) and use a a long match, candle or lighter to set the brandy/onion mixture on fire. Cook until there are no more flames. Once the flames are gone, add in the peaches and apricot preserves along with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until peaches are getting nice and soft.


Pour the onion/peach mixture over the pork chops and serve.


Today's creative blog