Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

Baking has never been my forte, mainly because I don't have a sweet tooth and don't need to bring out my baking sweets skills.  The husband on the other hand has many sweet teeth, so I feel compelled to make him some treats. These tasted almost like mint chocolate chip ice cream, so soft, so chewy, so good! Enough of the talking, let's get down and minty.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• andes chocolates

Been loving the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack and its been a while since I thoroughly loved a soundtrack from beginning to end, go listen:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix them all up except for the chocolates
3. Dollop cookie dough with a spoon 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes
5. Place andes chocolate on top immediately after baking and spread around.
6. Serve!

So good. So easy. Happy eatings Everyone!

Fast and Easy Salmon

If there is one seafood that I crave more than any other it's salmon, beautiful pink and diverse salmon. I had de thawed a pound of salmon filets the night before but found I had very little time to actually prep a fancy meal, but sometimes beauty lies in simplicity and time can't hold me back from making simplicity delicious. So here is a short and quick recipe that turned out so good and only took 15 minutes!

Simplistic Salmon

Ingredients:

• 1 lb salmon filets
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prep salmon with all of the spices and spread your garlic evenly over your filets.
3. Usually cooking salmon in parchment paper and on a cookie sheet makes it look prettier but I had no parchment paper and both of my cookie sheets were on the dishwasher. So I used a glass dish.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. 
5. Serve!

Voila! Enjoy this quick and tasty dish! Happy Eatings Everyone! And enjoy some Neil Diamond, my cooking companion for the past two nights:

Thai Pizza

In a perfect world Thai food and Italian food walk hand in hand with almost anything. But alas this is an imperfect, twisted world that decides keeping the two apart is the best idea. The loop hole in all of this is of course pizza. One of the most easily manipulated foods on the planet, pizza doesn't contribute to the segregation of our favorite cuisines, instead it offers up the white flag and allows pretty much any cuisine flavors or influences onto it's doughy land. So here we are, an easy, delicious and perfectly fused Thai Pizza.

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1tbsp brown sugar
• 1tsp sesame seeds

Ingredients for Pizza:

• handful of basil
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup spinach
• handful of peanuts
• 1 cup of red bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pizza dough (pre-cooked)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large sauce pan heat up oil and sauté your spinach, basil, pepper and garlic.
3. Spread sauce on pizza dough and spread around your pan ingredients over the dough.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
5. Serve!

If there's one thing I love more than cooking, its Chet Baker. But the two go so well together so I won't compare my love for the two here. 

Your dough can be made at home or bought at the store, I made my own and pre baked it for about 15-20 minutes! Happy Eatings Everyone!

Berry Fizz Vodka Cocktail

One of the best things about summer time in the Pacific Northwest is the scattering of blackberry bushes all around us. They are literally everywhere and I am not complaining. You can make sauces, syrups, baked goods and my personal favorite, berry drinks. I made this recipe up because I usually can't stand super sweet cocktails (they always lead to headaches or sickness) to I wanted to try a very simple and very subtle cocktail. It was perfect. Refreshing and naturally sweet, this baby will help with winding down July and entering into the August heat.

This one is a shout out to when I was 19, it's perfect for enjoying the soft summer night air. Loved it then and love it now:

Ingredients (makes for 2):

• 3 tsps sugar
• 1/2 cup mixture of fresh blueberries and blackberries
• 4 shots vodka
• tonic water

Directions (we have a boston shaker):

1. In the tin muddle your berries well.
2. Add vodka and sugar. Shake.
3. Pour over a strainer into two glasses and add tonic water to taste.
4. Serve.

Happy Drinking Everyone!

Easy Potato Salad

I just looked at the calendar and it's almost August. Where does the time go? The summer months never last as long as you want them too, but pretty soon we'll be turning in our sandals and BBQ for soups and sweaters. I would be lying if I said summer was my favorite time of the year, but I still enjoy it while it's here. So today I am posting a simple rendition of a summer time classic and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Easy Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs yellow mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbs mayonaise 
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 3 green onion stalks green parts chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1 1/2 lb to 2 lbs baby potatoes 

Been listening to a lot of different things but today has been all jazz.

Enjoy this little diddy, the girl singing is Buddy Rich's daughter. Buddy Rich is one of the greatest drummers of all time, you should know that.

Directions:

1. Wash your potatoes and cut them in half.
2. Boil your potatoes in a large pot of water for roughly 20 minutes. Drain and set aside until cooled.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl mix all of your ingredients besides the potatoes.
4. Next add your potatoes to the mustard mixture and stir well until each potato is coated.
5. Add extra salt and pepper is desired. (I gave it an extra dash here and there of salt)
6. Serve!

Happy Eatings Everyone!

Simple Blueberry Cake

It's my birthday weekend and I just couldn't go without posting the little treat I made for myself. The husband took me to the farmers market and out to the comic book store, so I am a pretty happy girl, what with my new Swamp Thing and people coming over later for BBQ. I usually don't go for your typical birthday cake, the frosting is too sugary and it usually includes other sugary additives I can do without. I always went for  angel food cake with strawberry sauce or pineapple upside down cake growing up and this year was no different. This recipe is simple and to the point, tastes more like a scone but soft like a normal cake, and did I mention blueberries? Fresh from the farmers market to my belly. Bon a petit!

Simple Blueberry Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups of blueberries, washed
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• For the icing:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 - 5 tablespoons milk

A seriously great country musician of our time, it's how country should sound in my opinion:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium microwave save bowl, soften (but don't melt) butter and cream cheese. Then add the rest of your batter ingredients except for your blueberries.
3. When the batter is thoroughly mixed add your berries (save 1/2 cup for topping) and stir gently.
4. In a greased 9 inch cake pan spread the batter out evenly and add your 1/2 cup topping evenly over it.
5. Bake for 45 minutes.
6. For the icing, soften cream cheese and butter until easy to mix.
7. Combine all ingredients except for your milk.
8. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until you reach the consistency you desire. 
9. Once cake is done, set aside for 15-20 minutes to cool, then drizzle your icing on top.
10. Serve!

Happy Eatings Everyone!

Imitation Crab Mac and Cheese

I am back! The wedding came and the honeymoon passed and now I am ready to get back into sharing some yummy recipes with you. I have some yummy dishes planned for this month and I can't wait to get to them, but first things first. Mac and cheese. One of the most classic dishes, we tend to overlook the possibilities with this dish, the reality is that basic mac and cheese is just begging to be altered, twisted and experimented with. So let's get to this simple cheesy recipe.

Imitation Crab Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb macaroni pasta
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt to taste
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 lb imitation crab meat
• 2 tsp dry dill
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• olive oil
• 1 cup cheddar cheese for topping

I have been re-visiting a few albums and stumbled upon one I used to listen to a lot:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium pot, cook pasta as directed. Then drain and set aside.
3. In a small pan saute your garlic in the oil and set aside.
4. In the same pot combine your milk, butter, garlic and cheese. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and add the pasta back into the pot. Add salt until desired taste (mine took about 2 tsps).
5. Add your dill the pasta mixture.
6. Transfer over to a smal 9x9 baking dish. Put crab on top of your mac and cheese and sprinkle the rest of your cheddar on top. Bake for 5-8 minutes.
7. Serve!

Happy Eatings Everyone! Enjoy!