St. Patrick's Day Recap

Happy Wednesday everyone! I just wanted to post a little St. Patrick's Day recap. We played it pretty low key - just invited my parents over for a little corned beef and cabbage. I made the same recipe last year, but barely mentioned it so I figured I would give a full review this year. Here is the pin I had from last year:

Source: Food Network

Of course my version came out nothing like the photo, but it was still tasty. I rough chopped up some red potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery and dropped them in the bottom of the pot. Add 4lbs of corned beef, one tablespoon of pickling spices, a bottle of stout and enough water to cover everything.

 

Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Then remove the meat and veggies and toss in the cabbage for a half hour (with the temp on high). The results:



It is impossible to take a pic of corned beef and make it look appetising. But I swear, it was delicious.

Just like last year, it came out great. Not slimy like corned beef sometimes can be and not too dry. And the house smelled delicious all day. I should note that the cabbage took a little longer than the 30 minutes called out in the recipe.

JJ wasn't a fan of the beef (he is a picky eater, especially lately), but enjoyed some of the special cookie his Grandma brought him and some chocolate shavings off the dessert she brought too.

 

I'll end my post with a shot of the Irish Blessing I wrote out of the pantry chalkboard (if you follow us on instagram, @pinstersisters, you got a sneak peak):


...And may trouble avoid you wherever you go" - I ran out of room to finish it!

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
recipe from: Food Network.com
Ingredients

• 2 stalks celery, halved
• 4 carrots
• 1 medium onion, cut in 4 wedges
• 4 to 6 red potatoes, quartered
• 1 4-pound corned beef brisket
• 12-ounce bottle stout or dark ale
• 1 tablespoon corned beef spices or pickling spices (or spices that come with the brisket)
• 1 medium head cabbage, cut into 6 wedges

Directions

 

Place celery, carrots, onion and potatoes in the bottom of a large slow-cooker or crock pot. Rinse the corned beef brisket and place over vegetables. Add the bottle of stout, spices and enough water to just cover the meat. Cover and cook on LOW for eight to nine hours.

Remove the meat and vegetables from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Increase heat to high and cook cabbage until softened but still crispy, 20 to 30 minutes.

Slice brisket across the grain, serve with vegetables, mustard and horseradish sauce. Pass extra cooking liquid at the table.

Chocolate-Mint Thumbprints

Remember that bake sale I mentioned last week? Well in addition to the pinwheel cookies, I attempted to make chocolate-mint thumbprint cookies. They did not go well.

I got the recipe from Betty Crocker.

Doesn't Betty make them look delish?

I’m not sure where I went wrong. I started by whipping up the dough

And placed them on the cookie sheet as directed.

But they came out looking like this…

They looked NOTHING like Betty’s picture. Then to make matters worse, I overheated the chocolate so it came out lumpy and gross.

Not only did they look terrible, but they tasted terrible as well.

I have no idea how to improve these cookies because I’m not sure what went wrong (other then overheating the chocolate). I would never attempt these again! 

They're Always After Me Lucky Charms...

Joe, JJ, and I had an annual St Patrick's Day Party to attend this past weekend. It snowed on Friday, but the skies cleared and it was sunny, warm, and over 50 degrees for Saturday afternoon. Last year I made Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting but I didn't want to repeat the same thing. Luckily I had pinned these fun looking Lucky Charms Cupcakes a month or so ago:


Source: Just Call Me Maria

It doesn't look like Maria is actively blogging anymore, but she also posted about some mint bailey's brownie bites last year that also look tasty if you want to check them out.

I had limited time Saturday morning so I actually baked up the cupcakes Friday night. I started by crushing up 1/2 cup of the cereal pieces and pulling out the marshmallows:

I was definitely eating the marshmallow as I was going along - that little bowl needed to be refilled!

When I realized that 1/2 cup whole pieces does not equal 1/2 cup of crushed pieces, I had to do it all over again and crush up some more. Not really a big deal because the rest of the recipe is easy. I added the cake mix, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, milk, and oil to my mixer and had it going for about a minute.

Then I slowly started adding the green food coloring drops. I used about 20, but it could have used a bit more.

Once it was all mixed thoroughly, I folded in the cereal pieces and divided it into lined cupcake pans.

Gently folding in the crushed cereal pieces

 

Here they are fresh out of the oven

You can sort of see the cereal pieces in them.

I let them cool and stored them in an airtight container until I made the frosting Saturday afternoon. The frosting was pretty easy, just a little sticky and messy. Start by beating the butter, fluff, vanilla, and 2 cups of the powdered sugar:

mmmmm, butter

And then gradually add in the rest of the sugar at 1/2 cup intervals.

Once it was done, I piped it on the cupcakes, sprinkled on some green sugar, and right before we left I added the marshmallow pieces on top.

All ready for their sprinkles and marshmallow!

Here are a couple shots of the final product:

 

 

 I also typed up a quick label and taped it to the bottom of the cupcake holder - that way everyone would know what they were grabbing without having to hunt someone down and ask. It took maybe 3 minutes and I thought it would be helpful.

 

The Verdict: I have got to be honest, I never got a chance to actually taste a completed cupcake. I ate one of the cupcakes Friday night, and taste tested the frosting while making it, but I never ate an assembled version. By the time I was ready to grab one at the party, they were gone. Considering it was only a little more than an hour after we got there, I think that means they were a hit. The cake alone was tasty and light (I think the secret is the sour cream), but to be honest I didn't really taste the cereal pieces. The frosting was good, but very sweet (13oz of Fluff and 4.5 cups of powdered sugar is a lot!). I think the cake with it would have helped balance it out, but I can't say for sure.

 

Things to Consider: I have never worked with Fluff before. To be honest, I have never before even purchased a jar of it. I do not know why I was surprised, it is marshmallow afterall, but it was very very sticky. And because of all the Fluff and all of that powdered sugar, I thought the frosting wasn't going to work out. I thought there was too much dry and not enough wet ingredients, but it came together in the end. And I think the consistency of it was probably the best I have ever made in terms of piping ease. It wasn't too stiff that it would be too hard to squeeze out, but it wasn't too wet that it dripped all over the place. Also, for some reason, my cupcakes never really rose that much. I am not sure if I over or underfilled the cups or make some other error, but they were a little flat.

 

I will definitely have to try these again so I can get a taste. There were a lot of kids at the party (which is another reason I wanted to avoid a boozy baked good) and they all seemed to enjoy them. Before I leave, here's a little pic of me and my boy from the party. Please ignore the bruise on his head, he was running around like a wild man and not really watching his step. Happy (early) St. Patrick's Day Party everyone!

 



 

 

Lucky Charms Cupcakes

from Just Call Me Maria

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream

¾ cup milk

1/3 vegetable oil
½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup finely crushed Lucky Charms (cereal pieces only, no marshmallows)

~25 drops green food coloring

Marshmallow Buttercream

4 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 (13 oz) container marshmallow fluff

Optional: Green sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a large bowl blend cake mix, eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix in drops of green food coloring until desired color is achieved.
4. Mix in finely crushed Lucky Charms crumbs until combined.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Take cupcakes out and let cool completely.
7. In a medium bowl beat room temperature butter with an electric mixer.
8. Add two cups of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the marshmallow fluff and mix until smooth. Continue to add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
9. Pipe onto each cooled cupcake. Top with green sprinkles and a Lucky Charms marshmallow (do not top with Lucky Charm marshmallow until ready to eat*).

Tip: Marshmallow buttercream may become difficult to mix. If it becomes too stiff, stop adding powdered sugar and finish mixing by hand. *The Lucky Charms will get mushy and loose their crispness if they remain on top of the frosting too long before eating.


Chocolate Mint Pinwheel Cookies

Last week we had yet another bake sale at work. It seems like we have one every other day but at least it gives me an excuse to try out some new recipes!

The last bake sale I wrote about was around Valentine’s Day and I tried some themed treats. Since this bake sale was near St. Patrick’s Day, I figured I would try out something green. I saw this Chocolate Mint Pinwheel cookie on BettyCrocker.com and decided to give it a go.

Betty Crocker

First, combine sugar cookie mix, butter, and an egg. Once a dough forms, split it in half –placing in two different bowls. In one bowl- add flour, mint extract, & food color.

In the other bowl, add cocoa.

The doughs get balled up separately and placed between wax paper.

Then they get rolled into rectangles.

Once the dough is rolled out and approximately the same size, you place them on top of each other.

Then using the wax paper, roll the dough into a log and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Once the log of dough is frozen- slice it up and bake for 9-11 minutes. I experimented with the thickness of the slices. My first batch I made the slices really thick. The second and third batches, I made them a bit thinner.

Once you take them out of the oven, let the cookies set on the pan for 2 minutes.

Then enjoy!

The Verdict: They were okay. The peppermint is definitely the main flavor- but not too overwhelming. They are the type of cookie you can only have one or two of. I wouldn't be able to eat too many- I guess that’s a good thing!

Things to Note/Consider: If I were to make these cookies again, I would make three changes. 1) I would probably add a tad more cocoa -I could barely taste the chocolate. 2)I would be more careful when slicing the cookies. I ended up having a flat side from pressing down while slicing. 3) This is the biggest tip. Make sure to slice the cookies thickly. The cookies that I sliced thinly, turned out hard. 

Chocolate Mint Pinwheel Cookies

adapted from Betty Crocker

1 pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

½ cup butter, softened

1 egg

¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa

2 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

5-6 drops green food color

• In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, and egg until dough forms.
• Divide in half. Stir cocoa into one half. Stir flour, peppermint extract, and food color into other half.
• Place chocolate dough on 17x12-inch sheet waxed paper. Top dough with second sheet of waxed paper. Roll dough to form 12x7 inch rectangle. Repeat with green colored dough.
• Remove top sheet of waxed paper from both doughs. Using waxed paper to lift green dough, place the green dough on top of the chocolate dough. Gently press layered dough to 14x8-inch rectangle.
• Remove top sheet waxed paper. Use bottom sheet waxed paper to help roll doughs up together tightly, beginning at long side.
• Wrap tightly in waxed paper; freeze for at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap dough; cut into ¼-inch slices. Place slices about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 9-11 minutes or until set.

St Patrick's Day Recap

Hi there - its me, Grace. I am still alive. And I won't go saying "I will be posting more regularly", because obviously that's not working. I have this huge backlog of things to share, I just don't seem to get the time to type them up. Being a working mom is time consuming (and exhausting)!

But anyway, I found a couple minutes to recap my St. Patrick's Day (even if it was days ago). First up: my usual holiday themed printable:

source

It's another one from the ladies at Eighteen25. A quick trip out of the printer and popped into a frame and here it is:





Next up, we had a St. Patrick's Day Party to go to, so I scoured Pinterest and found some cute options. I wanted to try these Bailey's Irish Cream Cookies, but I don't have a shamrock cookie cutter. So I settled on these:

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting



The original pin came from Nook & Pantry - a site I will have to add to my google reader - lots of good stuff in there! Anyway, here's how mine came out:

Mixing up the batter

All baked up - they came out a little flat!

Knowing that there would be kids at the party, once I made the frosting I pulled out half before adding the Baileys. I colored this half green, so the kid's version would be easy to spot. I realize that the couple tablespoons of Bailey's would probably be fine, but I wasn't sure kids would like the taste.

The yummy adult frosting

Final product!

The Verdict on the Cupcakes: I thought they were delicious! I usually don't like how my cupcakes or cakes come out when I make them from scratch (I think I have the tendency to overmix, creating lead sinkers), but these came out great. I guess maybe the beer helps them stay light. They did come out a bit flat, but that didn't really bother me. I was told they were even great for breakfast the next day - hair of the dog?

Things to Consider: The original recipe says to make sure you bake them right away, so the beer still has some fizz. I did this and like I said above, I think that helps keep them light. I think I could have filled them a little less and gotten a couple more cupcakes (I think they might have risen a bit more), but I didn't have another pan or space in my oven.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting

From Nook & Pantry2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 C Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light or dark brown sugar
4 oz./1/2 C unsalted softened butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg
1/2 C sour cream
1 12 fl. oz. bottle/1 1/2 C Guinness or stout beer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or line with paper cups 2 12 count muffin tins.

In a large bowl briefly whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat until evenly mixed and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the mixer bowl once in a while. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and beat again until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in, then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the Guinness.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and slowly stir the batter until it is evenly mixed and there are no streaks of flour. Make sure to stop the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides and make sure to mix up any flour pockets hidden on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup, you’ll get about 20 – 24 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan should come out clean. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Set on a rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.

For layer cakes: baking 25 – 30 minutes, rotate the pans around halfway, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes should come out clean.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
1 4oz. stick of unsalted butter, softened
2 C confectioner’s sugar
4 – 6 Tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, add the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the Bailey’s, more or less depending on how boozey you want the frosting, and beat until completely incorporated into the frosting.

Lastly, on Sunday, I tried making corned beef for the first time. I have a love/hate relationship with it. It is sometimes slimy and too fatty, and I don't like it, but if cooked just right, I love it. I pinned this recipe:

Source



from Food Network and gave it a whirl. I didn't take any pics, but it came out pretty good. Joe loved it and I loved the non-fatty parts. The potatoes and veggies were super flavorful too. I will definitely use the same recipe next year.

So there's my recap on all things St. Patrick's Day in our house. Hopefully I get a couple more minutes this week to type up some more posts. I have a project from JJ's room that I can't wait to share!