First off, Happy Mother’s Day! This day is quite important to me as I am pretty close to my Mother. Heck, I even named this blog after her! I may be a tad biased, but she is by far the best Mother in the entire world. I am not a Mother myself but I have a huge respect for those who are and the hard work that comes with the role. So to all you fabulous Mom’s out there – thank you for everything you do.

Now onto something absolutely delicious – Frozen Hot Chocolate! Last week I was on vacation in Las Vegas with two of my girlfriends. Lots of shopping and eating was had. I finally had the opportunity to dine at Serendipity 3 and taste their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate! I’ve attempted this at couple times in New York City, but failed to make it to the restaurant. It definitely lived up to it’s amazing reputation and $11 price tag.

Here it is above. Yeah – it was huge and so rich and chocolatey! And look at that whipped cream! I had to find a recipe and duplicate it immediately. It’s a pretty simple recipe. I would recommend using a darker chocolate to give it more of a rich chocolate flavour that is similar to the original.

You will need:

For the Frozen Hot Chocolate:
3.5 oz. very high quality chocolate (I recommend a darker chocolate)
2 tsp. high quality store-bought hot chocolate mix
1-1/2 tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 cups whole milk
3 cups ice cubes

For the Whipped Cream (optional if you want to make from scratch):
1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tbsp. light corn syrup

In a small bowl, combine hot chocolate mix and sugar. Set aside.

Break your chocolate up into small pieces.

Using the double boiler method, melt all your chocolate.

Stir in your hot chocolate and sugar mix.

Stir well until completely combined. Remove from heat.

Add 1/2 cup of whole milk to the chocolate mixture.

Mix well and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

Place all ice, the remaining 1 cup of whole milk and chocolate mixture into a blender.

Blend until completely smooth.

Pour into a large glass or sundae bowl.

Top with your whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

(Note: I didn’t take photos of the whipped cream steps but you simply add your cold whipped cream, vanilla and corn syrup in a large bowl and mix on high until stiff peaks form)

Serve immediately to some deserving family and friends.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Something Swanky

One evening a few months ago, this delectable rib dish greeting me when I came home from a long business trip. The house smelled absolutely amazing when I walked in. A rich, savoury warmth that lingered for a day after we dined on this meal. The meat was beyond tender. It literally slid off the bone. I was in shock – this recipe is so easy! Surely this had to be a joke? Lucky me (and you), it’s not!  I guarantee you will love this recipe. Even though I am not a huge meat eater, I still can’t stop thinking about these ribs.

You will need:

2 tbsp olive oil
4 thick-cut beef ribs (we used side ribs but you can use short ribs also)
1 large head of garlic, peeled and separated into individual cloves
1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
1 bottle your favourite red wine (750 ml)
1 litre beef stock
4 slices smoked bacon
250 grams small white mushrooms, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish

 Cut meat into rib sections.

Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Give them a little pat to ensure salt and pepper are sticking nicely to the meat.

Heat a deep dutch oven or roasting tray on medium heat and add olive oil.

Place ribs in oil and fry for 10–15 minutes to brown really well on all sides.

We couldn’t fit and fry all 4 ribs at once in the pot, so we did two at a time.

Remove ribs and place on plate.

Add the tomato purée and heat for a minute or two to cook it out.

Place all your browned ribs back in the pot.

Pour your entire bottle of delicious wine over the ribs.

Next add your garlic. Push with a spoon in between the ribs and down to the bottom of the pot.

Bring to the boil and cook for 10–15 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half.

Add your beef stock to nearly cover the ribs.

You may need less stock if your roasting tray isn’t very large.

Bring to the boil again.

Cover the pot or roasting tray with lid or foil and cook in the 325 degree fahrenheit oven for 3–4 hours.

 About 10 minutes before the ribs are ready to come out, fry your bacon in a skillet until crisp and golden.

Drain bacon to remove excess fat but leave some grease in the pan.

Add the mushrooms to the bacon grease and cook for 4–5 minutes until tender.

Drain off any excess fat.

When the short ribs are ready, remove from the oven and transfer to a plate.

Top the short ribs topped with the bacon and mushrooms.

Pour remaining sauce from the beef rib pot over top.

Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.

Your house is going to smell absolutely amazing!!

The meat literally falls off the bone – it’s that tender and juicy.

Your tummy will thank you for this delicious melt-in-your-mouth dinner.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course

My friend Carly and I came up with a crazy idea to take a TRX exercise class every Monday night. For those of you who don’t know what TRX workouts entail, here are a couple buzzwords I like to use to describe the exercises: absolute hell, pain, and regret. I’m only half kidding. The workouts consist of using your own body strength and weight to suspend yourself in a number of different exercises. It’s tough, but apparently gets better/easier the more you go. Carly and I only did 30 minutes of the workout yesterday and we both can barely function. I literally cannot walk up or DOWN the stairs. Next week is a full hour of training. No pain, no gain, right? Pray for us.

I didn’t want all the energy and effort of working out to go to waste. Therefore, I am trying to eat (and now feature) some healthier and delicious recipes. This salad recipe has been on my radar for a long time. I absolutely love the Santa Fe Chicken Salad recipe at Earls Restaurant and I adore this copycat recipe. It’s one of my “go to” orders every time I dine there. The spicy/smoky flavour of the chicken, richness of the black beans and dates, combined with the sweet and sour flavours of the lime and peanut vinaigrette makes this a delicious, guilt free dish.

You will need:

For the cajun chicken:
2 whole chicken breasts, cut in half
1-2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1-2 tbsp olive oil
For the peanut lime vinaigrette:
1/4 cup fresh peanuts
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime zest
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin
For the salad:
1/2 bag salad toppings tortilla strips or 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
1 cup dates, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces and soaked in hot water for 5 minutes
8 cups mixed greens and chopped romaine lettuce
3/4 cup corn kernels
14 oz can (398 ml) black beans, well rinsed and well drained
1 avocado, thinly sliced
3/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped, roasted peanuts

Let’s make some peanut lime vinaigrette!

Place all your ingredients in a small food processor. Pulse until almost smooth.

Should look like so.

There should be tiny chunks of peanut still remaining in the dressing.

Set aside.

Next, soak your dates in hot water for 5 minutes.

Drain and place on paper towel to absorb any extra water.

Chop into 1/4 inch pieces and set aside.

Now, rub chicken breasts all over with olive oil.

Sprinkle cajun spice on both sides (use as much or little spice as you like).

Grill over medium-high heat until done.

Slice diagonally into 1/4″ wide slices.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine your mixed greens and chopped romaine along with enough peanut lime vinaigrette to lightly coat.

Toss well.

Add corn, dates and black beans and half the feta cheese and tortilla pieces into lettuce.

Gently toss.

Place in salad bowls.

Top each salad with crumbled feta cheese, tortilla pieces, chicken pieces, thinly-sliced avocado and chopped peanuts, if desired.

 This recipe should make 4 large bowls.

Perfect for a healthy dinner.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Jennifer Ajram on Tastebook

I had to travel to Toronto last week for a work conference. Over the past 10 years Toronto has become one of my favourite places to visit. Not because I actually love the city (I’m still on the fence) but because Denise, my best friend in the whole wide world, lives there. Since I was a little late on sending her a birthday present (it was in February), I decided to bake her some delicious treats to give to her in person. Denise is one of my biggest baking supporters. Although the distance doesn’t really help her taste most of my baking, she continues to encourage me to create delicious treats in hopes she will one day try them. This past weekend was now her time to enjoy!

I was inspired to make these cookies after a visit to my local Starbucks. I was famished and needed a quick pick-me-up. I tried their Fruit & Oat Cookie, fell in love with it, and immediately needed to replicate it. As I have previously stated throughout this blog, I love baking with brown butter and I wanted to do the same with these cookies. They have great texture with the oats and a nice blend of sweetness with the dried cranberries, apricot and raisins. Most importantly, they are Denise approved. You can’t get a better endorsement than that.

You will need:

3/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 white sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins, apricots and dried cranberries (or any fruit mixture your heart desires – you could even add coconut or chocolate chips if you want to get really wild)

In a medium saucepan, bring your butter up to simmer over medium heat.

Continue to simmer until amber in colour – about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour through a sieve into a small bowl.

Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl, stir oats, flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt to combine.

Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter with brown sugar, sugar and egg until smooth.

Add in your vanilla.

Add oat mixture to butter mixture and blend.

Stir with spatula or wooden spoon until just combined.

Stir in your dried fruit into the batter.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 375 degree fahrenheit oven for 12 minutes or until browned.

Let cool for 5 minutes, then gently remove from tray onto a rack to cool completely.

Share with your friends – I did.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Anna Olson

This skillet cookie is dense and rich. The Mini Eggs are so delicious with the cookie base. I opted to use a 9-inch skillet for a thicker cookie, but this recipe can easily suit a 12-inch skillet as well. If you use a 9-inch skillet, just ensure you up your baking time by about 10 minutes. I highly recommend you make this recipe for Easter!

You will need:

1-3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1-1/2 cups Cadbury Mini Eggs, roughly chopped

 In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.

Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt 3/4 cup of your butter over medium heat.

 Continue stirring melted butter until brown/amber in colour and nutty in aroma.

Keep an eye on it, it browns fast and you don’t want it to burn.

Remove from heat.

Pour heated butter through a sieve into a large heat proof bowl.

Stir in remaining 1/4 cup butter until completely melted.

Next, add your brown and white sugar, vanilla and salt to the butter.

Whisk until combined.

Add egg and egg yolk, whisk until mixture is smooth and no sugar lumps remain – about 30 seconds.

Set aside to sit for 3 minutes.

After three minutes, whisk again for another 30 seconds.

Let it sit again for 3 minutes.

Repeat this step one more time. This allows for the mixture to become glossy and smooth.

Next, stir in flour until combined.

Finally, add in your roughly chopped/smashed Mini Eggs!

Press your batter into a lightly greased cast iron skillet.

Again, I used a 9-inch, but you can use anything up to a 12-inch skillet.

Bake in a  375 degree fahrenheit oven for 15 – 17 minutes for a 12-inch skillet, and up to 25 minutes for a 9-inch skillet, or until golden brown and still puffy.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut into wedges.

Remember to share with your friends!

You may not want to share and that’s okay – I won’t judge you.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Bakers Royale

Wow time sure does fly. I can’t believe it’s been over one month since my last post. Trust me though, I have a valid reason. Last week, I was finally able to escape our brutally cold winter and head to the sunny skies and warmth of Arizona to visit my parents. I had every intention to do some serious baking with Claudia since I hadn’t seen her in well over a month. Well, my plan sorta backfired. On the second day of my vacation, I got the stomach flu – bad. I spent the remainder of my time in Arizona sick and whining for Claudia to take care of me. Yes, I reverted to a 12 year old girl pretty darn quick. You would too if your Mother was so close to you – trust me.

In any case, I finally have my appetite back and realized I needed to blog ASAP. St. Patrick’s Day is only a couple days away and what better way to celebrate than bake with my two favourite things in the world – chocolate and beer! I have to admit this is by far the BEST chocolate cake I have ever made in my entire life. It is adapted from Deb, the lovely genius behind Smitten Kitchen, which happens to be one of my favourite blogs in the world. She is so brilliant that she just came out with a brand new cookbook which I have been buying for my foodie friends as gifts! This cake is decadent and rich. The chocolate coffee ganache is a perfect touch of velvety goodness. It’s also pretty darn simple to make. I decided to use a Young’s Double Chocolate Stout beer to add to the rich chocolate flavour, but you can use your favourite stout beer (like Guinness).

You will need:

1 cup of your favourite stout beer (I used a double chocolate stout)
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup full fat sour cream
6 oz good semisweet chocolate chips
6 tbsp whipping cream
3/4 tsp instant coffee (I used instant espresso)

In a large bowl, sift together your flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

One for you, one for me!

Bring your stout beer and butter up to a simmer in large saucepan over medium heat.

Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.

It will thicken considerably, which is exactly what you want.

Set aside to cool slightly.

Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream.

Next, add your cocoa stout mixture.

Beat until just combined. You don’t want to over mix this batter.

Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed.

Next, using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Pour batter into well-greased bundt pan.

Bake in 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

In order to ensure your cake comes out of the pan completely in tact, you need to allow the cake to cool completely on the counter in the pan.

While your cake is cooling, you can make your delicious ganache!

Place your chocolate chips, whipping cream and instant coffee in a medium-sized bowl over simmering water (double-boiler method).

Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth and silky.

Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

Doesn’t this look AMAZING?!

Cut up and serve to your lucky guests.

I didn’t have any St. Patrick’s Day paraphernalia, so I used green sprinkles as decoration.

Fudgy and delicious.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Smitten Kitchen

You will need:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
3 slices bacon, diced
1 cup of finely chopped yellow onion
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
3 cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
4 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 pound Penne

In a deep pot or skillet, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat.

Place bacon in skillet and cook until crisp.

Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and place on some paper towels.

Leave bacon grease in the pan (no more than 3 tbsp of grease – remove rest if you have more)

Add your onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes or so.

Next, add your red pepper flakes and garlic.

Saute for about 1 minute.

Next, melt 2 tbsp of butter.

Once the butter is melted, mix in your flour.

Your mixture should thicken slightly.

Slowly whisk in your whole milk.

Bring mixture up to a simmer.

Simmer until the mixture can coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.

Ensure you stir frequently so your milk does not burn.

Remove the mixuture from heat and add 2-1/4 cups of your sharp cheddar cheese, all your Parmesan cheese and all the cream cheese.

Add your bacon back to your delicious cheese sauce.

How amazing does this look?!

Cover the sauce to keep warm and cook your pasta.

Cook penne in boiling salted water until very al dente.

Drain and add to your cheese sauce.

Mix well.

Place your penne and cheese into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Top with your remaining sharp cheddar cheese.

In a non-stick pan, melt 3 tbsp of butter over medium heat.

Add your panko breadcrumbs and toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Keep stirring, you don’t want your breadcrumbs to burn.

Remove from heat and add all your chopped parsley.

Stir well to incorporate.

Top your mac and cheese mixture with the panko parsley breadcrumbs.

Bake in a 375 degree fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is bubbly and golden brown.

Remove from oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Cheesy, creamy and rich with the crunchy panko crumb top.

This recipe is so simple. Why would you ever do boxed mac and cheese again?

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Lottie + Doof

My favourite thing to do on Sunday’s is bake. Funny how I say that on Super Bowl Sunday. While I’ve heard so many people today state: “I can’t believe this is the last day of football for months”, I (secretly) smirk and think how happy I am to get my Sunday’s back and obtain full monopoly of the TV to catch up on my week of guilty pleasure shows.

Cookies are my favourite treat to snack on when watching my “stories”. I have been known to be a huge fan of Coronation Street and participate in marathons of Dateline NBC. These Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect compliment for going through the emotional viewer turmoil of solving murder mysteries and wondering if Tyrone will actually trick Kirsty into marrying him, only to kidnap their baby to get custody because, of course, his name was left off the birth certificate. I could not make this stuff up people! These cookies are on the sweet side. When I originally made them, I used half milk chocolate and half white chocolate chips. I would recommend using only milk or dark chocolate chips, as I found the white chocolate to be way too sweet. Regardless, these are chewy, fun and a great guilty pleasure treat.

You will need:

1-1/4 cup flour
1-1/4 cup yellow or white boxed cake mix
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1.5 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sprinkles

In a bowl, sift together your flour, baking soda, and cake mix.

Using an electric mixer, combine your brown sugar, white sugar and butter.

Mix together on medium speed until creamy.

Add your egg and vanilla and mix until completely combined.

Slowly add your dry ingredients and mix until JUST combined.

You want to be careful not to over mix the batter.

Your cookie batter should look like the picture above.

Mix in your sprinkles and chocolate chips.

Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least an hour. The dough is very sticky and this will allow for the dough to become easy to spoon out onto your baking sheets.

Scoop your chilled dough onto ungreased cookie pans.

You want to shape them taller like the image above so they don’t bake too flat.

Bake in a 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned.

Cool on a wire rack and serve to your lucky guests for guilty pleasure TV night.

Or any night, really.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Sally’s Baking Addiction

It’s been extremely cold here in Winnipeg over the past 4 days. Like, seriously cold. I’m talking -40 degrees celsius cold! We had our car not start and require boosting twice in two days. We might now be on a first name basis with Dr. Hook Towing (thanks guys!). I completely admire people who can continue to eat healthy when it’s freezing outside. I totally crave comfort food, such as soups, chilli and this amazing casserole. Okay, so I not only crave comfort food when the weather is terrible. I also crave it when I am sick – like last week when I hurt my back and managed to eat my body weight in chicken fingers and fries. Don’t judge me – you’ve totally done this too.

I completely fell in love with this casserole a couple years ago when my fiancé made it for me on one random weekend. It’s the best casserole in the entire world. At least, in my humble opinion it is. I convinced him to make it again, only this time for the purposes of teaching me (and my loyal blog followers) the secret to its deliciousness. Needless to say, I soon realized this recipe is extremely simple, which is perfect on days when all you want to do is hide under the covers and hibernate.

You will need:

2 cups Rotini pasta
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 tsp seasoning salt
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes (I use Rotel)
1 cup frozen peas
1 can french fried onions

Fill a large pot with water.

Season with enough salt so the water tastes like the ocean (in a good way!)

Bring water to a boil.

Add your Rotini pasta to the water. Cook until pasta is Al dente (slightly firm but not crunchy).

While your pasta is boiling, mix your diced tomatoes, mushroom soup and seasoning salt  in a large bowl.

Next, add your delicious shredded cheese.

Set aside.

In a frying pan, brown your ground beef.

When fully cooked, remove from heat and drain access liquid.

Add your drained ground beef to your cheese mixture.

Mix well.

Drain your pasta and add it to the large bowl with the ground beef mixture.

Finally, stir in your frozen peas.

Place your pasta mixture in a large greased casserole dish (I used a 2 quart dish).

Place your french fried onions in a plastic bag and crush into crumbs.

Sprinkle on top of your casserole.

Yummy!

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Serve this delectable casserole in bowls and dig in!

This is serious comfort food.

Soft pasta, sweet peas and tomatoes, topped with crunchy fried onions. You honestly cannot go wrong!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate

The storm and the hurt back taught me a very important lesson about myself: I really dislike being cooped up in the house for days on end. I guess it would have been okay if I was able to stand long enough to get my bake on. Sadly, I wasn’t able to until last night. I wanted to make sure my resurrection into the food blogging world was a good one for you. I think I hit it out of the ballpark with these Rolo Cheesecake Brownies! They are rich and super delicious. They have the perfect balance of sweetness with the salted caramel and dark chocolate. Not to mention the cream cheese and rolo candies! You will not be disappointed when you try this recipe. Best of all – it’s crazy easy!

You will need:

For the crust:
1-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup caramel sauce (Homemade is best but you can use store bought. I used the salted caramel recipe from my Rolo Brownie Trifles)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cup mini Rolos (If you can’t find mini Rolos, just cut regular sized Rolos in half)

Chocolate Layer:
10 oz. chocolate, 65% is recommended (I used 85% because I love intense dark chocolate)
2 tsp corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4-5 tbsp caramel sauce

 Start by lining an 8 inch x 8 inch pan with aluminum foil. Cover foil with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine your graham cracker crumbs and sugar.

Mix well.

Next, pour in your melted butter. Combine well.

Press crumbs into the bottom of your pan.

Bake at 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 7-10 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the cream cheese layer.

In a large bowl, combine your softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg and delicious caramel sauce.

Beat on medium speed until completely combined and smooth.

Next, fold in your mini Rolos!

Pour your mixture over the graham cracker crust.

Bake in a 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the cream cheese is set.

Set aside to cool while you make your chocolate ganache layer!

In a heat-proof bowl, melt your dark chocolate, butter and corn syrup over simmering water (double boiler).

I love dark chocolate.

Pour your melted chocolate over the cheesecake layer.

Place your caramel in a plastic bag and cut off one end.

Pipe lines onto the chocolate ganache.

Using a toothpick, draw lines in the opposite direction to create a nifty little pattern.

Cover with foil and refrigerate until chocolate is set. About an hour or so.

When ready to serve, lift the brownies out of the pan using the foil.

Store brownies in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Bakers Royale