I realize that there’s really only so much you can learn about a person through their food blog – what kind of foods they like best, their general age, marital status, kids vs. no kids…basic stuff like that. But is that really enough? I guess it may be for some people, but I want my readers to know me a little better than that, ya know? We’ll have plenty of time along the way for all the details, so for now, let me just share with you a few things that make me happy. Really happy. I realize some of you are just here for the recipes, so by all means, scroll down to the bottom….you won’t hurt my feelings.

The King Arthur Flour website. Not only do I love digging through their recipes (which always turn out great), the site in general is just a fun place to be, in my opinion. Fun things to order, fun things to look at…it’s a happy place.

Pearls. I love pearls – they make me very happy. I wore pearls on my wedding day, I wear them with day-to-day outfits, and I always, always wear them when I’m auditioning (opera stuff).  And for good reason – they never go out of style, they’re ever-so-classy, and they always seem to make me feel happy. Which is why they’re on my happy list.

Izzy. Our sweet, hyper, and always entertaining Cairn Terrier/Schnauzer. Sure, she eats my Girl Scout cookies and occasionally waits until we’re gone then poops upstairs; but by golly, if she isn’t the sweetest, funniest, most lovable dog in the whole wide world. It’s been just about a year since we adopted her, and we both agree that we couldn’t have possibly found a more perfect dog.

Cheese. Any kind. Anywhere. Heck, I love the stuff so much, my (sweet, adorable) hubby put cheese in my stocking this Christmas! Imagine waking up to a big ‘ol hunk of Manchego under the tree! Perfection. Really.

My piano. When I was getting ready to graduate from college (and soon after, get married), my grandparents gave me some money as a gift. I took that money and bought myself a beautiful upright piano (second hand) – it was the very first piece of furniture I ever bought and I love it (even though my piano skills barely go beyond “chopsticks”…).

My Great-Grandmother’s Peach Cobbler. Very few things in life make me as happy. When my sister and I were little, one year for our birthdays (or possibly Christmas…I can’t quite remember), Baba, our Great-Grandmother, made us our very own dish of peach cobbler – an entire 9×9 dish ALL to myself!! I didn’t share with anybody, and it was blissful. I still have the dish she gave me and I use it all the time.

Funny socks. I can’t wear plain ‘ol white socks. I like colorful socks – ones with hearts or cupcakes or Santa Clause. In my opinion, one can never own too many funny socks. My personal favorites are my Nightmare Before Christmas Jack and Sally socks….perfect for Christmas or Halloween!

And finally….Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have made probably, 10 different recipes or more. Not just because I’ve been on a 3 year quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but because one of my very favorite things on the entire planet is a warm chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk. I ask you, is there anything better??? I’ll take just about any kind – I’m an equal opportunity chocolate chip cookie eater. Maybe even an addict, but hey, I can stop anytime I want, ok?

But here’s something big. I mean really big. Are you ready? I’ve found it. The perfect chocolate chip cookie. Yep. It does exist. In fact, it exists in a little plastic baggie in my kitchen right now. Beckoning me. Calling out to me. Sure, I’ve already had 17 ½, but when you’ve found the perfect chocolate chip cookie, all rules and etiquette go out the window. I bet you’re wondering which recipe it is…well, chances are, you won’t be a bit surprised. Yep, the NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last July, the New York Times published this recipe, and since then just about every food blogger on the planet has tried them and declared them to be the best. I’m officially joining the bandwagon. They make me very, very happy.

THE NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate chips (I threw in some milk chocolate chips too)
Sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

*I didn’t make huge cookies – I used a small cookie scoop and got somewhere around 40. I baked them for about 9 minutes and they were perfectly crisp on the edges and gooey and chewy in the center. Perfect, in my opinion.

So, there you have it. A few silly things that make me happy. And one step closer to getting to know a little more about the weird lady who’s blog you read. Thanks for humoring me! And obviously, my husband, Joel makes me extremely happy. The most happy I could ever hope to be. But I figured you all probably knew that, so I didn’t list him. Plus, I was trying to keep the list “non-human”.

Oh and by the way, if you’ll look over to your right (and up a ways), on my sidebar, you’ll notice now you have the option of “Becoming a Fan” of Sing For Your Supper on Facebook. Just a little fun thing those of you Facebookers can do if you want! Happy baking!

Super Bowl season is seriously one of my favorite times of year. Around New Year’s Eve I start craving football food- buffalo wings, dips, fried stuff, etc. I thought it might be helpful to some of you who might be preparing for a Super Bowl party if I posted a few of my favorite snack-type foods. Give you some ideas, maybe.

Starting with my favorite: I love buffalo sauce – I would seriously eat just about anything dipped in buffalo sauce! So naturally, my all-time favorite Super Bowl food is “Crack Dip” (click for recipe). Yeah, it’s fattening; it’s tacky; and let’s be honest- it sounds kinda gross; but you can’t argue with the fact that it’s down-right delicious. And yes, there are a few “snoots” out there who have a real problem with this recipe; to them, I say….bite me. Please. And thank you.

Number 2, my Chicken Enchilada Dip (click for recipe), which can also be rolled into tortillas and sliced, which make excellent finger foods for football parties! I make this stuff, ALL the time and we never get tired of it. It’s totally addicting!

Number 3, the best darn chili (click for recipe) I ever ate. Sure, it takes a lot of preparation, but if you have a big strong man handy to dice up your meat for you, the hard part’s over! And trust me, it’s worth every bit of the hard work – you won’t be sorry!

Number 4, Chewy Chex Mix (click for recipe). This makes a GINORMOUS batch, so it’s perfect for large crowds. Plus, it’s really hard to stop eating the stuff…so it’s good to have lots. It’s chewy, salty, not too sweet, and like I mentioned before- completely addictive!

Number 5: You’ll definitely need sweets at your Super Bowl party. Personally, I think cookies are the way to go – they’re portable, easy to eat, and really, who doesn’t love a cookie?? Really. My favorites – my winning Toasted Oatmeal Cookies, really, really good M&M Cookies, or everybody’s personal favorite, the BFCCCC’s (that’s Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies -click for recipe and scroll down a ways). I love a good, chewy chocolate chip cookie and these really fit the bill. Everyone absolutely loves them.

So there you have it; my personal favorite football-approved recipes. Nothing fancy or difficult; just really simple, really good recipes that I guarantee everyone will really love. Everybody ENJOY your Super Bowl festivities!! Go Saints!

You remember how I won that cookie contest back in November? And as my prize, my cookies were sold at a well-known bakery for a couple of weeks and the profits went to a local charity? Remember all that?? Well, turns out, the cookies were so successful the bakery couldn’t keep them on the shelves- they were selling out every single day! Wahooooo! And, they brought in over $1,200 for the charity! How awesome is that??!

So here’s the great news: the bakery owner (Catherine Ruehl, who was recently on the Food Network Cake Challenge) loved my cookies so much, they’re going to continue selling them the rest of the year and give the proceeds to charity! I’m beyond flattered… The best part is, they offer nation-wide shipping, so if you want to taste my cookies and decide for yourself if they really are “award-winning” or not you can have them delivered to your house! NEAT!! Or for those of you who live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, just waltz in and pick some up! Here’s the bakery info:

Sublime Bakery
Country Day Plaza
5512 Bellaire Dr. South
Fort Worth, Texas 76109
817-570-9630
www.sublimebakery.com

Anyway, I just wanted to share this cool piece of news with you all- I’m pretty excited! If any of you actually do get to try some of these, please let me know what you think – I’d love to hear from you (unless it’s negative…in which case, just feed them to your cat and keep it to yourself)

The word ‘parfait’ always reminds me of my good friend Michael. There’s a quote from the first Shrek movie about parfaits that we used to think was so funny; so naturally, we quoted it all the time (Michael does a really good ‘Donkey’ impression).

Anyway, hubby and I have started running every evening, getting healthy, etc; so naturally, we’ve altered our diet a little (chocolate chip cookies stay, though. There will never be a world in which I exist without chocolate chip cookies. Never.). We’ve been eating a lot of plain non-fat yogurt sweetened with honey in place of desserts, which is great; especially with some fresh fruit mixed in. So of course I was excited when I received a box of the new Special K Granola to try out and review. And what better treat to make with granola than parfaits!

A little yogurt/honey mixture, a little granola, some blueberries and bananas and presto! – delicious parfaits (I could’ve stacked each layer neatly in a pretty glass like real parfaits, but this was much easier)! The crunch of the granola is great mixed with the soft fruit and sweet yogurt- a great dessert, breakfast or snack.  I also received a box of Special K fruit crisps, which honestly, I didn’t really like, so I just won’t go there. But the granola really is good – it would be great in Dorie Greenspan’s Granola Grabbers, which are some of my favorite cookies.

Next time you need a healthy dessert or breakfast, try one of these parfaits – they really are satisfying and delicious! I won’t post a recipe, because really, you don’t need a recipe, you just pile stuff in a bowl and go wild. Enjoy!

This was such a fun giveaway for me…I love getting to do things that cater to my nerdiness! Thanks to everybody who entered! Here’s the winner:

I love this post. Happy Birthday WOlfgang!!!!! What a wonderful way to celebrate the birthday of a true musical icon, hero, legend, etc.:)

Comment by Jennifer — January 27, 2010 @ 11:59 AM

Yay, Jennifer!! Mozart chocolates comin’ your way! Thanks again, to everybody who entered! I promise I won’t make you wait too long for another fun giveaway!

Yes, it’s that time of year again; when I go from being your average opera-singing food blogger to the world’s biggest music nerd. Every January the 27th, my husband and I (and sometimes friends…if they don’t make fun of me too much) watch the movie Amadeus and celebrate the birth of the greatest musician the world has known. Yeah, sure it’s nerdy, but it’s a big part of who I am – Mozart is a HUGE part of my life and I love taking a day out of my schedule to pay homage to him. And this year, you even get something out of it!

(sorry for the crappy pictures- I’m in a hurry this morning!)

Mozart Kugeln!!! When I was in Germany and Austria, this stuff was everywhere. And for good reason – it’s delicious! Chocolate, pistachios, marzipan – YUM!! Lucky for me (and you), they also sell it at World Market, so I can enjoy it anytime I want! And what better way to celebrate Mozart’s 254th birthday, than by giving away some yummy Mozart Chocolate!

All you need do is comment on this post. U.S. residents only, please. I’ll choose a winner before tomorrow night (Thursday around, let’s say 10 pm Central Time). Good luck! And don’t forget to stop and sing a little happy birthday diddy to our old boy Mozart today!

This week’s TWD recipe, Coco-Nana Bread was chosen by Steph of Obsessed With Baking. I was toying with the idea of skipping this week, but I heard so many great things about this bread, I decided to give it a shot. Really glad I did; it eats almost like cake- really moist and tender, and the banana is barely noticeable. The best part, though, is how chocolaty it is – the chocolate chunks throughout the bread make it super moist and gooey. Yum!

This bread is pretty much more of a dessert than a breakfast food, but genius that she is, Dorie is trying her best to make all things chocolaty accepted as breakfast food. I vote yes. And I’m betting that this stuff will taste pretty darn good with your coffee in the morning. If you’d like the recipe, check out Steph’s blog – she’s got it posted.

Do you ever have one of those nights? The kind where absolutely nothing goes right, to the point of just having to laugh it off, lest you get really, really upset? Seems like we have those kind of nights a lot. The kind of nights where an entire tray of boiling hot soup and a HUGE glass of tea is dumped into my lap; my husband choking on the not-so-delicious, romantic Valentine’s Day meal I made for him, thus ruining everybody’s evening (and appetite!); or most recently (like, last night) our dog, Izzy eating the remainder of my beloved Girl Scout Caramel Delite cookies while we were out. My cookies! My precious, delicious only-come-once-a-year Girl Scout cookies!! She’s snickering at me right now from across the room…. *Sigh*

Anyway…that really has nothing whatsoever to do with Italian Cream Cake, but it feels better venting a little bit. Right, so, on with the post…

Months and months ago, my dad made a cake request for his birthday, which is 3 days after Christmas. Italian Cream Cake. That’s one of his favorites, so for the past few months I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe. Finally, I decided on one – Billie’s Italian Cream Cake, found on The Pioneer Woman. The instructions were really easy to follow and the end result was nothing short of amazing. Everyone agreed that it was the best Italian Cream Cake they’d ever tasted – success! The only change I made was adding a little lemon juice to the cream cheese frosting to bring out the tangy-ness in the cream cheese; à la Ms. Dorie Greenspan. I think we’d all agree that the frosting, by far, was the best part.

Billie’s Italian Cream Cake
-found on The Pioneer Woman

For the Cake:
1 stick Butter, at room temperature
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
5 whole Eggs (separated)
3 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup Coconut
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup Buttermilk

For the Frosting:
2 packages (8 Oz) Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 stick Butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 package 2 Lb Powdered Sugar
1 cup Chopped Walnuts (I used pecans)
1 cup Sweetened, Flaked Coconut
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice (optional, but highly recommended!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

For the Cake:
In a large bowl, cream together butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks, vanilla, and coconut.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

Alternate adding buttermilk and dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, then fold in egg whites.

Pour evenly into the three prepared pans, then sprinkle the top of each pan with 1 (at least) tablespoon sugar.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

For the Frosting:
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Stir in chopped nuts and coconut. (Here is where you would add the lemon juice, if using). Spread between layers and serve.
Note: cream cheese frosting will soften at room temperature, so refrigerate if you won’t use it right away.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the inside of the cake – I took these before my parents came over; but trust me, it was beautiful! I would highly recommend this cake to anybody; even those who think they don’t like coconut or nuts….I am one of those people, yet I gobbled up every bit of my (giant) slice! Make this cake! Make it TODAY!! I guarantee it’ll be gone before the weekend’s over!

Oh and by the way, Izzy is just fine after eating all those cookies – she was a little hyper last night, but she’s feeling just fine today!

Yikes! It’s been WAY too long since my last TWD post…I apologize to the TWD gods! But here I am, back on the wagon, ready to sing Dorie Greenspan’s praises once more! And these cookies are the perfect way to start. Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars (doesn’t that sound amazing?), chosen by Lillian of Confectiona’s Realm. Oh man, let me tell you..these were outstanding! They start with a layer of oatmeal-peanut cookie dough (delish on it’s own!), then you top it off with a chocolate-sweetened condensed milk-peanut layer and crumble a little more of the cookie dough over the top of that. Bake it off and you have sticky, crunchy, chewy cookie/candy bars! YUM!

Just look at that gooey chocolate center….oh man…. This was such a great recipe to get me back on the TWD wagon- a great treat! I can’t wait to take these babies to work with me sometime! If you’d like the recipe (trust me, you do), head on over to Lillian’s blog and she’ll have it posted for you.

It sort of seems like I tend to follow in my great-grandmother’s footsteps a lot (no, not Baba – this is Gammy, my other great-grandmother). I ended up going to the same college that she went to (only 89 years later), she was musical, just like me; and now I’m trying to follow her lead and learn to make candy like she did. During the Depression, Gammy made and sold candy to earn money for her family. She made all kinds of different candies, and kept her recipes written down in notebooks. I was lucky enough to inherit these wonderful books full of her hand-written candy recipes. A few weeks ago, I decided it was high time I learned how to make candy -it’s in my blood, after all! I wanted to make some peanut brittle for my family (especially for my Grandaddy- he loves peanuts!), so I found an easy sounding recipe and went to work, hoping Gammy’s candy-making skills would shine through me. Lucky for me, I ended up with a beautiful batch of homemade peanut brittle! Turns out, candy-making isn’t too hard; maybe one of these days I’ll get out Gammy’s old recipe books and try my luck at one of her special homemade candies! I’m just glad I found one more thing she and I have in common!

Peanut Brittle
-adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 cup unsalted cocktail peanuts
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lay out several sheets of greased foil to pour the hot peanut brittle onto.
In a large pot (I used my dutch oven) mix the sugar, syrup, and water together. Cook at a medium-high heat, stirring regularly. Heat until the mixture has a hard ball consistency. Heat to 250 to 265 degrees, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball. If you don’t own a candy thermometer, occasionally hold spoon above mixture, allowing it to drip off spoon. When mixture is at hard ball stage, it will ‘hair’ off the spoon when falling, looking like a clear spider web.
Once mixture is at hard ball consistency, add peanuts. (They might pop a little.) When mixture starts to turn a light clear-brown, remove from stove. Add butter, vanilla, and soda and stir. Mixture will foam up.
Pour out onto the greased foil and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour or so until brittle is completely cool and hard enough to break into bite-size pieces.
*I found that it’s probably more helpful to have a second person on hand to hold the pot while you scrape out the mixture – the pot will be heavy (and hot) and it’s incredibly hard to do it all by yourself!

Mine didn’t spread much, so I only needed about 3 sheets of foil – but do make sure you grease your foil very well; it will stick!