A Query for My Readers

Alright, I've been a bit busy with the holidays and the like, so I haven't had time to finish up some posts that I've had sitting around. Don't worry, they'll be up in the new year, I promise!

Okay, so I have a question for you. What would *you* like to see on here? Be it recipes, how-to's, or whatever. Just lemme know. The reader is always right. Well...mostly right. I would love to hear your suggestions and comments!

Candy Cane Cookies

Another holiday treat which I'm trying for the first time this year. They didn't quite go as expected, which I'll explain under the My Take heading. They tasted really yummy, though.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
• Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix shortening, powdered sugar, egg, and flavoring extracts. Add flour and salt, and blend together. Divide dough in half. Add red food coloring to half. Roll a 4 inch strip from each half. Twist together and make a candy came. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 10 minutes.

My Take
Okay, as I mentioned above, these did not turn out well at all for me. If you follow me on Facebook, you'll probably remember my rantings on these cookies via my status updates. The dough tasted great and all, but trying to keep it together, well, that didn't go so well. I think part of my problem was that I accidentally doubled the recipe 'cause I didn't realize my mom's measuring cup for dry ingredients was for 2 cups instead of 1. So I had to go back and double the recipe which meant I had to add more shortening to my already floured dough. So, that might have had a hand in the annoyances of these cookies.

Because the dough was so dry, I had problems forming the candy canes. I could kind-of-sort-of twist the two colors of dough together, but when I tried to put the crook into it, they broke apart. My first couple of attempts kind of reminded me of a third-grader's clay project or something. I mean, these things were huge and, in my opinion, ugly. :-/

So, I came up with another idea to put them together which involved setting the two colors side-by-side and then rolling them together into a "snake" and then manipulating it into a candy cane. That worked much better, but it was so time consuming and it was getting close to 9 o'clock at night, that my mom and I decided to just throw the 2 colors together, make it look kinda marbled, roll the dough out, and cut them out with candy cane-shaped cookie cutters. That worked much better, but it was still kinda hard because of the dryness of the dough. We also added more peppermint 'cause we couldn't taste the peppermint. I still can't, but my mom said she could.

So, those are my adventures with these candy cane cookies. Next year, I'm just going to make a simple sugar cookie recipe and add peppermint extract and do the whole dough thing. I think/hope that'll turn out better.

Lemme know what you think and if you decide to try this. If you get it to work, lemme know what you did differently (you know, like not accidentally double the recipe.)

Egg Nog Cookies

Now, I personally don't like egg nog, but my mom, brother, and husband love it, so when I ran across this recipe, I knew I had to try it for the holiday season. Just got done baking and frosting them last night. Keep reading to see how they turned out!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter/margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup eggnog
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5 1/2 cups flour

Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter/margarine, softened
• 1/3 cup eggnog

Directions

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggnog, baking soda, and nutmeg; mix well. Gradually add flour, mixing well. Chill overnight. Roll out to 1/2" thick. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Frosting: Beat powdered sugar and butter until well blended. Gradually beat in eggnog until icing is smooth. Spread on cooled cookies. 

My Take
As mentioned before, I myself do not like eggnog, but I love these cookies! My mom and Dylan both said they taste like eggnog, so I guess that's good.

The cookies with the glaze (dozes and teddy bears)

The only thing I changed about this recipe, was that I didn't really feel like frosting the cookies, so I tried to make a glaze out of it. Putting butter in the frosting didn't help, so my mom and I made a glaze with powdered sugar, eggnog, and some milk. Couldn't tell you the exact proportions, and that seemed to work out well. Takes a lot less time than frosting the many cookies we had! These turned out *a lot* better than the candy cane cookies which I'll post about later (either later today or tomorrow).

So, those are the Egg Nog Cookies. Lemme know what you think and how yours turned out!

Quick and Easy Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

This is a "recipe" which my mom and brother made up. It makes for a great weekend meal for when you can't think of anything else to cook. I discussed this with one of my friends and she makes a yummy-sounding one as well, but it's more work and, since Dylan and I are extremely picky eaters, this one works well for us. Maybe Cassie will grace me with her prescence on my blog and give her recipe. ^^ Oh, and there aren't exact measurements (except for the chicken) as I do this all by sight.

Ingredients

• 2 (13 oz) canned chicken breast
• Shredded colby jack cheese
• Taco Seasoning
• Tortillas

Directions

• Drain the juice/water from the canned chicken breast. Then place the chicken in a bowl. With a spoon, "mash" the chicken until it has become shredded
• Add cheese to chicken. I do it all by sight. I like to have just over half-and-half. You kinda just have to experiment and see what you like the best. I think you need just a bit more cheese than chicken, otherwise, it won't melt shut right.
• Add taco seasoning to taste. I like to make sure that everything is lightly covered.
• Cook one side of a tortilla until it is barely brown. You don't want it crunchy, as then you won't be able to fold it over.
• Flip tortilla and put filling on half. Fold it over and cook both sides until lightly browned, making sure the filling is nice and melted. 
• Enjoy!

My Take

I loooove this recipe. Feel free to experiment, and if you want, measure how much cheese and taco seasoning you put in and lemme know. Like I said, I never measure with this, but I figured I would stick it up here anyway and let you guys have a go at it. Also, lemme know if you try it with any other fillings. 

Oh! And if you want, you can cook it like a grilled cheese sandwich, using 2 tortillas and not folding it. Then you can cut it into wedges and serve it at a party.

The filling also tastes great warmed over tortilla chips; kinda like chicken nachos. 

Okay, so lemme know what you think, and please, feel free to comment. I <3 comments. ^.^

Garlic-Herb Pot Roast

Alright, I've been meaning to post about this ever since I made it, and I've finally got some down-time where I can put my thoughts about it. First, I'll give the recipe, and then I'll give you my input. Ok? Okay!

Ingredients

• 4-lb beef chuck boneless arm, shoulder, or blade pot roast (Can't remember what I used. It said "Roast" on it, though)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 can (10.5 oz) condensed beef broth
• 8 small potatoes, cut in half
• 8 medium peeled carrots, cut into fourths
• 8 small onions, skins removed
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

In a 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium heat until brown on all sides. Sprinkle with marjoram, thyme leaves, oregano, and garlic. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, place potatoes, carrots and onions. Place beef on vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour beef broth into slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low setting 8 to 10 hours. Remove beef and vegetables to warm platter; keep warm.

Skim excess fat from broth. Add enough water to broth to measure 2 cups. In a tightly covered container, shake 1/2 cup cold water and \the flour; gradually stir into broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Serve gravy with beef and vegetables. 

My Take

This was my first time using a slow cooker, so I was excited as well as nervous. I mean, let the meal cook while I'm away at work? Yes please!

Alright, so I tweaked the recipe just a bit for my tastes. First, I didn't add the onions, I just used onion powder. Neither I or my husband, Dylan, like onions, so it seemed like a waste to cook the onions and throw them away. Now, I do like the flavor that onions add to a dish, so I used the onion powder. Genius, right? I concur. 

I did the browning of the meat the night before as I didn't feel like getting up at the crack of dawn to start this meal. I also peeled and cut the veggies that night as well. I put the potatoes in a bowl of cold water to keep them from browning over night. It worked!

After the pot roast was done cooking, I took the meat and veggies out. I made mashed potatoes with the potatoes (which gives the mashed potatoes a great taste after being cooked with the meat and carrots!). I didn't get them exactly right as they were a bit chunky for my tastes. Again, it was my first time making mashed potatoes, so I thought I did a pretty good job.

The gravy was kinda off as well. I don't think I mixed the water and flour good enough as there were chunks of flour in there. I was going to use this cool Tupperware thingy that I got as a wedding present, but I think Dylan put it in our basement storage and since he was at work, I had no idea where to look.

Overall, the meal was great. The meat was nice and tender and the veggies were amazing. Reminded me of a Sunday afternoon where my mom made pot roast. I'm planning on using the left overs in beef and noodles. I'll give you an update on that as well. 

Well, that does it for now! Comment to lemme know what you think. Lemme know if you plan on making it or whatever. Ta-ta!

What have I done...?

Alrighty, so this blog may not have many posts for the month of November as I decided to do NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month. Pretty much, the whole thing in a nutshell is that I have to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Right now, I'm soooo behind schedule, but when I'm having a brain lock, I may try writing an entry or two. I'm chomping at the bits to write about the roast I cooked the other night, and I also have a question of my own. So a quick post now and then may be all ya'll get for the next month.

Oh, and if you would like more information on NaNoWriMo, check out their official website by clicking here!

Booth or Table?

Hey there and welcome to Café Shiloh! I'm your host Shiloh and if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask. Mmkay?

First of all, allow me to share with you what this blog is going to be about. This is me sharing my favorite recipes and cooking methods with you all. I'll even share my kitchen adventures and maybe you can help me with problems I've had.

I haven't had any formal training cooking-wise. Everything I learned, I learned from my mom and a couple of my friends. I love to cook and bake, but I don't think I could do it as a full-time job with all the stresses that come with it, so I just cook for my friends and family.

Well, I think that's all for now, I do have one kitchen conundrum that I have to ask you guys about that's really been bothering me about for awhile, but that'll have to wait for a later post. Ta-ta for now!