Delicious {and Easy} Beer Bread

You will not be disappointed with this quick and easy bread, it is soo good! And there are so many things you can add to the mix (that you probably already have on hand) to make it exactly what you want.

Beer Bread
Recipe from Foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com

Makes One Loaf

Basic Beer Bread Mix:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh baking powder
1 tsp salt
14 ounces beer (or add 2 oz water to 12 oz beer)

Optional glaze: 1 egg & 2 teaspoons water, beaten (I omitted this and brushed melted butter on top after 35 minutes of baking, it softens the crust a little)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl (mix thoroughly). Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined. Batter will be thick! Spread in a greased 8-inch loaf pan , brush with egg glaze if desired, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Flavor Variations: (Add any additions to the mix before the beer)

Garlic & Herb: Add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, and 2 minced garlic cloves (or 1 teaspoon garlic flakes) to the basic mix. For fresh herbs, use 1 chopped Tablespoon of each.

Dill & Chive: Add 2 Tablespoons fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons dried dill) and 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives to the basic mix.

Italian: Add 1 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano (or 1 Tablespoon each chopped fresh basil and oregano), 2 minced cloves of garlic, and 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan or romano cheese to the basic mix.

Other Additions: Any dried or fresh herbs; 1/2 cup freshly grated asiago (or other hard cheese); 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped scallions; 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 whole wheat flour or 1/2 oats in place of 1/2 of the all-purpose flour. Or practically anything else you can think of--use your imagination.

Hope you will give this one a try! Have a good weekend,

Ash

A little inspiration

image via SheWhoEats.blogspot.com


image via Amy Butler Design.com


image via Chris Stott.com


image via Target.com


image via SheWhoEats.blogspot.com

Just some pretty pictures to share with you today. When I find photos/artwork that I love (for whatever reason), it helps to motivate me and seems to spark up some creativity!
Anyway, I am needing inspiration to get me going on some paintings that need finishing up. I'm ready to start a new series I'm excited about, but it would probably be a good idea to finish what I have started, huh?

Is anyone else out there like this... Starting projects and then having a hard time getting them completed...?

Well off I go, wish me luck!

-Ashley

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Oh yum! You have to try this delicious salsa; it's SO good and easy to make! I found the recipe on Lynda's Recipe Box. The big pieces of avocado are what drew me in :) She has lots of great recipes so you should stop by her blog for sure.

I brought this dip to my boyfriend's parent's house for a cookout and they all had seconds, even thirds! (I thought you didn't want to eat black beans and corn, Christopher??)

Anyway, give this one a try, you'll love it!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 1/2 cups fresh, frozen, grilled, or canned corn (drained)
4-5 Roma tomatoes, diced small
1 bunch green onions (scallions) sliced
some diced red onion, or vidallia onion
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced, or other pepper of choice
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 diced avocado (I used 2)
1 small can sliced, black olives, optional
about 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1Tbs. canola or olive oil (I omitted this)
1/2 cup diced cilantro, if desired

Dice up vegetables and combine in a large bowl. (I folded the avocado in last to keep it from getting too mushed). Add minced garlic, lime juice and oil and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. (Although I served mine right away!) You can make this salsa as hot or mild as you like. Serve with lots of tortilla or pita chips (bagel crisps would be good too)

Hope you like it as much as I did!

xox Ash

Cake Mix Cookies

I wanted to bake cookies yesterday but I had no flour or sugar on hand, (I know I know... who runs out of flour or sugar?) so anyway, I tried a recipe I had come across a while back: Betty Crocker's Cake Mix Cookies.
They are definitely different from your standard chocolate chip cookie, but they are really good! They have a soft, cakey texture and a buttery flavor. The idea on BettyCrocker.com was to use these cookies for ice-cream sandwiches because they are soft and won't freeze rock solid. I'll have to try that next time!

Cake Mix Cookies:

1 yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's Super Moist)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick cookie sheets). In large bowl, beat cake mix, butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, or mix with spoon. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
2. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by slightly less than tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.
3. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set (centers will be soft). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

*You can substitute 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in place of the butter (if you happen to be running low on the basics like me :)

Cookie Update

I want to share with you the wedding photos taken by DeEdra at Something New that include the cookies I made! She made them look so good and the happy bride and groom look so cute holding them :)
It definitely made it worth all the hard work when the bride's mom left me the nicest comment on the original post! You can view it here: UT and A&M Cookies.

Dog Portraits

Gizmo

Boomer

Molly

Nala

Hank

These portraits I drew last month are simply graphite sketches. Even so, they would be adorable as is after matting and framing! But for these dogs, my plan is to lightly draw them onto watercolor paper and add vibrant colors. (I'll show them finished in another post)

My goal is to capture the dog's character and enhance the most prominent features. There's nothing like a sweet reminder of your pet :)

Anyway, this is what I've got so far. I would love to know what you think!

-Ashley

Friday Flowers...

image via Nathiya on flickr


Unknown source

...and radishes too! I found this picture of radishes some time ago and fell in love with it. I've been thinking of painting it actually. I can't remember where I found it, but isn't it lovely?

Hope all is well!
xoxo Ashley

Why I need (want) a new camera:

image via Chockylit on Flickr


Howard Shooter Photography


image via Chockylit on Flickr


image via Chockylit on Flickr


Howard Shooter Photography


Image via Smitten Kitchen

These mouthwatering photos make me dream of the day when I will have a nice camera of my own!
Aren't these pictures just great???
I do the best I can with my little Kodak digital camera, but I NEEEEED one that will help me take close-ups like these!!!! Any suggestions or do you have a camera you love? Let me know!

Friday Flowers

Image - Sharnel Dollar 2009 My Life-My Loves

I have found that some of my favorite blogs post Friday Flowers: simple and pretty blooms to wish everyone a good weekend. I always look forward to these posts so I thought, why not do it myself & post the little things of beauty I come across?

Happy 4th of July!

I made cupcake pops for the first time, aren't they cute!? A little cupcake on a stick. . . of course it's cute :)
I got the idea from Bakerella, the only difference is, I used the peanut butter cup mold (like she uses for her cupcake bites) instead of molding the cake with little cookie cutters. I just put a hole in each candy cavity for the lollipop stick, filled it half way with chocolate, then secured my cake bite on top. Once dry, I pushed the stick with the cupcake bite on top out of the mold, and then dipped the top in candy melts. Finally, just top them off with sprinkles and your done!



And here they are all packaged up in cellophane bags and satin ribbon. They are off to a fourth of July BBQ!
Hope everyone has a good weekend :)

Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

I found a picture of cookie monster cupcakes online a few months back and saved it immediately! I knew the idea would be perfect for my sweet nephew Jake at his 2nd birthday party. He loves his "Cookie"...(that's what he calls his little cookie monster stuffed animal that he sleeps with :)


These are chocolate chip cupcakes with buttercream frosting. I used the piping tip # 233 (usually used to create "grass") and piped cookie monster's fur onto the cupcake. Then I used vanilla candy melts for the eyes, piping a little milk chocolate onto them for the center. And finally, I just crammed in a little cookie where his mouth goes!


And here's a candid shot of the birthday boy at his party! He was so excited to finally see his "blue cake" that he kept asking for. When I held him up to see them on the table he yelled, "COOKIE!" haha :)
I love you so much Jake, Happy 2nd Birthday!
love Aunt Ashy

Coconut Pecan Pralines

Looks kinda like the icing on the German Chocolate cake I just made, doesn't it? Well I used my leftover pecans, coconut and evaporated milk in this recipe and it turned out great! I just put it all together with a few other simple ingredients and there we have it, a quick & easy praline! It took no time at all (except for the hard part, waiting for them to harden on the wax paper!)


Here's the recipe, enjoy!
(I got it from recipezaar.com, I just added the coconut)

Coconut Pecan Pralines

Yields about 3 dozen

Ingredients

2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup light corn syrup
½ cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-2 ½ cups chopped pecans
2 ½ cups grated coconut

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except coconut, vanilla & pecans in large saucepan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil & boil for 3 minutes.
3. Remove from heat & add coconut, vanilla & nuts.
4. Stir by hand 3-4 minutes.
5. Drop by spoonful onto waxed paper and let harden.

Store pralines in an airtight container.

German Chocolate Cake

I found a delicious German Chocolate cake recipe in a book my mom bought. It's Trisha Yearwood's book called "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen." She has lots of really yummy and pretty easy recipes in here.


Apparently this is Garth Brook's favorite German Chocolate cake recipe, or so the book says :)
I made this cake, following her instructions exactly, and the only draw back to me was, it took 4 hours start to finish! Maybe it was just my experience, who knows.
Anyway, the cake flour and rich dark chocolate made it dense and delicious!
The only change I made was adding chocolate ganache to each of the layers to lock in the moisture (along with the coconut & pecan icing) and then to make it look less like a giant cheeseball, I piped the remaining ganache around the edges.

Here's a closer look at this delectable icing; evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, butter, chopped pecans, coconut and vanilla, mmm! Everyone really enjoyed it!

Flowers

This is an 8 x 10 sketch of some random flowers I did in graphite. Once I scanned my drawing into Photoshop, I posterized it with color for this effect.

Click on it to have a better look!

Cookie Dough Brownies

These chocolate ganache topped brownies are the best I have had in a long time! I got the recipe off of Bakerella's blog. So simple to make, yet SO rich. Have a glass of milk or some ice cream nearby.

I added some chopped walnuts to mine, but they would have been great without them too.
Thanks Bakerella :)

Mickey Mouse Cupcakes

Here are some of the Mickey themed cupcakes and cookies I made for a little boy on his 2nd birthday. Half were butter recipe and the other half chocolate fudge; all were topped with fresh vanilla buttercream. The polka dots and Mickey ears are fondant.

A Present Cake!

I finally got the chance to make a present cake. I've seen them everywhere! The pink, green and polka dots were picked by a mother for her daughter's birthday. The fondant bow was a first so it took some time to get it right. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though!

It's an 8 inch, double layer white cake with vanilla buttercream. I sliced each layer into 2 thinner layers to fill it with more buttercream. Mmmm!
Lastly, I made her a dozen carrot cake bites (carrot cake dipped into white chocolate). Then I just packaged them with ribbon that matches the cake.

I hope she enjoys them! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday William & Grace!

Two of the kids I keep had their birthday this week, William turned 3 and Grace turned 7!
They both love cake bites so that's what they got from me! Will's always playing football and baseball so I attempted to make some out of cake... except I realized too late that I had no red for the details on the baseballs so they didn't turn out :(
But here are the footballs!

And I'm sure he didn't mind eating the plain white cake bites that were supposed to be baseballs!
Gracie asked for blue cake bites with pink flowers on them... This is what I came up with:

I made the flowers out of melted white chocolate tinted pink. I just piped the flower on wax paper and once it was dry, put it on top of the cake bite with a dab of melted chocolate!
Happy Birthday Grace! You too Will! I love you both :)

Bachelorette Party!

My very best friend since 4th grade got married yesterday! She was so beautiful :)
I have been busy with that, finals, other baking orders, etc. so needless to say, I have neglected my blog a little...
I made 150 cupcakes for Midwestern's Mass Communication banquet but was so rushed that I didn't get any good photos... and I've been making cake bites for people like crazy. I'm telling you, everyone loves those things!

Anyway, here are a few pics from Jenna's bachelorette party the other weekend.

The photos aren't the best quality, but you get the idea! I made a chocolate ganache cake piped in hot pink and bra and panty sugar cookies. Oh, and of course I made cake bites too!




I love you Jenna LaRue Hobbs! (Jenna and myself)