Classic Carbonara

One of the best things that I ever ate while in Italy was their authentic Carbonara recipe. Lots of flavor even though it's a very simple recipe.

I cannot begin to express how delicious I find this dish and am unsure what else to add to this post to get that point adequately across. You want to make this. You probably need to make this. Now, today.

Cheesey, creamy, with the yum flavors of pancetta and then peas to pull everything together. If this is the Italian version of bacon and eggs, America simply pales in comparison.

Pasta alla Carbonara Recipe

-1 tsp olive oil

-8 oz pancetta cut into 1/4-inch cubes

-1 medium onion, 1/4-inch diced

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-3 whole eggs

-2 egg yolks

-1/2 – 3/4 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, or a combo of both

-1 pound dried linguine or spaghetti

-1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

-salt/pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add at least a tsp of salt. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often until it is well browned and crisp. Remove to a paper-towel covered plate. Lower heat to medium and add the diced onion and saute until caramelized, (5 minutes-ish). Add the garlic and saute til browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside. Cook the pasta. When the pasta is al dente, reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and cheese until well combined. Add 1/4 c of the hot pasta water to the bowl and whisk well to temper the eggs. Add the hot pasta and toss, adding more pasta water as needed to make a creamy sauce. Toss with the peas, onions, garlic, and cooked pancetta. Serve with a smile :)

Easy Peasy Ice Cream Cake

Ice cream!!

Summer is made by things like lemonade, sunshine, and basking in the long, slow days. And then there is ice cream which is just the creamy delicious ice cream on the perfect cake of a season.

That's completely illogical metaphor now. But come on, this ice cream cake is so good, it is allowed such ridiculous phrasing.

For the layering of this cake, you need to pick out 3 flavors of ice cream to use. I made mine with peanut butter (the middle), peanut butter cup, and then ben and jerry's version of peanut butter cup. All of them share a common theme- peanut butter cups :) !! I used the favored candy to garnish and also selected peanut butter ice cream sandwiches to make it completely over the top.

It's a peanut butter cup overdose.

But, I have made this cake several different ways! In the summer, fruit is also always refreshing. I have layered it before with stawberry, oreo cookie, and then strawberry again, topping the cake with strawberries. It was pretty delicious but, I am sure you can come up with even more fabulous flavors when you give it a go yourself :)

(Also! In this particular cake, I was a ditz and forgot to add milk to the oreo crust to hold it together. Thus why it's crumbly in the photos. Don't forget the milk! Or you too shall suffer the consequences...)

Layered Ice Cream Cake

-15 oreo cookies

-2 tablespoon milk

-6 to 9 ice cream sandwiches (depending on size of pan)

-3 pints of ice cream of various flavors

-Candy or whipped cream to garnish (optional)

Coat the bottom of a round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line side with wax paper, using nonstick spray to help adhere. Trim paper to the height of the pan. Finely crush the cookies, add the milk, and set aside. Unwrap ice cream sandwiches, working quickly, cutting them first in half, then quarters. Stack the sandwich strips in the pan, packing snugly together along the wax paper. Once they complete the outside, put the crushed oreo crust in the bottom of the pan, making sure it reaches the edges of the sandwiches. Layer your ice cream flavors one pint at a time, dumping ice cream and spreading before adding next layer and flavor. Garnish as you like and freeze overnight. To serve, remove the side of the pan an then the waxed paper. Should look lovely :)

Steak Marinated in Teriyaki Sauce & Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Ah, steak and potatoes. The epitome of the traditional meal. Delicious, comforting, and satisfying.

Working out of an apartment with no grill, I decided to make pan fried teriyaki steaks, baked garlic potatoes, and steamed snap peas with honey for the occasion of final meals in Apartment 431. Everything turned out to be delicious, particularly the potatoes which are a family favorite of mine and endlessly delicious.

The teriyaki marinade is also well used and loved in my family. I am typically one to shy away from ginger but, in this recipe it doesn't make itself known in an overpowering way.

The snap peas are just to be unfrozen as directed with a teaspoon of honey mixed in once they are finished steaming. Simple and simply delicious.

The marinade and potatoes are slightly more complicated but, still in keeping with the easy cooking theme. Make these two recipes together or not, either way both are a treasure. Make and enjoy :)

Teriyaki Marinade

-1 cup brown sugar

-2/3 cup ketchup

-2/3 cup vinegar

-1/2 cup soy sauce

-1/2 cup veg oil

-5 cloves chopped garlic

-2 teaspoons ground ginger

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients and mix well. Marinate steaks overnight.

Garlic Roasted Potato Wedges

-1 bag red potatoes

-1/4 cup butter

-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

-1 tsp. minced fresh garlic

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 425. Cut potatoes in half, length wise; cute each half into wedges. In saucepan, cover potatoes with enough cold water to cover. Bring to full boil. Cook until tender (8-12 min), drain. In 9x13 baking pan, melt the butter in oven. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add potatoe wedges, coat with both sides in butter mixture. Bake for 10 minutes and turn the potatoes. Continue baking 12-15 minutes or until browned.

Aunt Carol's Cheesecake Brownies

If you love cheesecake and also happen to be a fan of chocolate chip cookies, this recipe is going to blow your mind.

EXTREMELY RICH, but totally worth it, and these fit with the theme of the recipes posted so far in that they are painfully easy. Plus, with just 6 ingredients, these are pretty simple to just toss together if you have the dough/cream cheese. Not too much spending to make.

P.S. Sorry about the low quality 2nd picture. I didn't have my camera, just my cell phone, and it had to do in a pinch because they were quickly eaten after I snapped the image...

Cheesecake Brownies

-2 8oz cream cheese

-2 rolls chocolate chip cookie dough (I like Pillsbury for this recipe)

-2 eggs

-1 tbs vanilla

-1 tsp lemon juice

-1/2 cup sugar

Grease 9 by 13 pan, slice/press 1 roll cookie dough to cover bottom of pan. Set aside 2nd roll of dough. Mix ingredients, spoon over dough bottomed pan. Top with layer of other cookie roll. (I just try to lay out smaller flattened dough pieces, close together. Should bake and appear layered: cookie crust, cheesecake, cookie crust). Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let set/cool 15 minutes. Serve hot or cold, however you find you prefer.

Mr. P's Infamous Bruschetta

I got this recipe from a very lovable, very passionate, greek man who, while built like a 7 foot bear, has a true flair for cooking. This dish is PHENOMENAL.

BEYOND PHENOMENAL.

It's so good that it forces you to take a moment, close your eyes, and savor as you "mmmmmmm" and purr like a cat from the pleasure of all these flavors combining into ecstasy.

This dish makes me question how anyone could dislike tomato. Clearly, tomato is the secret to life happiness.

I made two large cookie sheets (this recipe yields a LOT but I doubt you'll waste anything) and my roommate and I ate them for dinner for the next two days. With some white wine and our patio door open to let the spring air in, I can't think of a better dinner ever had.

I hope you can make these with the same results. These are garlic heavy so, prepare to brush your teeth and down a few mints once you're through ;)

Bruschetta

-6 Roma tomatoes

-10 cloves garlic

-Fresh basil

-Dried oregano

-Dried basil

-Salt

-Pepper

-Olive Oil

-Balsamic

-Lemon Juice

-1 package crumbled feta

-1 loaf italian bread

-Butter

Dice your tomatoes and dump into bowl. Finely chop your fresh basil and add to the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. Chop your garlic as small as possible and then add it, and remaining spices, into your bowl. Everything is to taste here but, go for heavy flavors, after the garlic, it's pretty impossible to overpower. Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of the lemon juice to keep things fresh as possible and put into the fridge to let things combine into each other.

In the meantime, slice up your italian bread into about 1/2 inch thickness and then slice in half so you have decent size, not overwhelmingly sized, pieces of bread. Lay out on cookie sheets and spread with butter. Broil in oven about 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.

As with anything BROILED, watch like a hawk or it WILL burn.

Once fresh from the oven, let cool a bit and then spoon a hefty amount of the bruschetta over each slice. Top with the feta and serve.

Do NOT forget the feta. It is KEY. I have done a taste test with and without the cheese, not usually much of a feta person myself, and without it, the bruschetta is good, amazing even but not "ohmygosh, give me some time alone with this" good.

Ha, make and enjoy ;)

Pie Potstickers

Remember that Nutella Ravioli I threw together? Well, this is like that but, instead, it's made with pie filling. Delicious delicious pie filling. As SOON as I made the nutella raviolis, I knew i wanted to make that recipe again with fruit filling.

Snacky deliciousness. My cooking creative vibes were a buzzing and I knew I had to make these ASAP. And it was beyond worth it. I can't explain how A) fun they are as a snack and to plate up and B) how delicious. How very very delicious.

I made these with pre-made pie fillings because I have never made fruit pies before. I used blueberry and apple. The blueberry was overly sweet so, I drained some of the syrups and added a lot of lemon curd. It turned out perfect. I dusted them with powdered sugar to make them even more presentable. Take caution pressing the edges with the purple jam...

The apple filling was more difficult to work with from the can, however. It tasted like... apple baby food. It was sugar, apple mush. So, I needed to get that less gross, more delicious apple pie filling. I decided to cook it in a skillet with tequila and cinnamon...

As a college student, I suppose I just have an affection for tequila :)

With the frying and the cinnamon, it became an irresistible pie filling. Served warm over a scoop of icecream, these little treats are an adorable dessert. Served plain, a delicious snack.

Please make and enjoy :)

Nutella Lasagna

Another layering of the philo dough and attempt to use the groceries in my apartment. This time, instead of trying to get rid of the remaining bananas and raisins, I was trying to use the rest of my marshmellow fluff and nutella. Cutting the philo into strips, I spread with one, then added a strip, then spread with another, and stacked til I was finished. Baked at 350 once again, this time for about 20 minutes, and got this gooey, sticky, delicious mess.

There isn't much to say or go on about here. This is a case of not a real recipe...just you know, throwing things together in my clutzy cook mannerism. The delicious should speak for itself :)

Banana Philo Wraps

Having to move out of your apartment is difficult. Memories to package up, roommates and neighbors to say goodbye to, blank walls to have to stare at and remember. And then there are all the groceries you have that you need to use up before you leave. This particular recipe is a combination of leftover raisins, bananas, and philo dough. I layered the dough out with mushed up bananas, raisins, and cinnamon sugar. I rolled it up in a spiral, brushed it with egg whites, and then covered the whole thing in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Slice and serve :)

I liked it warm and with some vanilla ice cream. It was pretty much a great experiment.

Salami Pesto Wraps

As with several other recipes that are soon to be posted, these salami pesto wraps came into being due to my moving out of my apartment and needing to use all my groceries before that time. I had a bunch of salami, as well as some cream cheese, pesto, and a tube of crescent rolls and so, these lovely snacks were born.

My roomie, Em, loved them. I can't help but agree that they are pretty dang delicious. The combination of salami and cream cheese is always spectacular, for those of you who doubt me, try it yourself and be amazed. Absolutely divine.

Salami Pesto Wraps

-Salami Pieces, sliced thin (for a package of 8 rolls, you need 16 thin pieces, 8 thicker)

-Cream Cheese

-Pesto

-1 tube crescent rolls

Roll the dough from the tube out into 4 rectangles, pinching and ignoring the lines they give you to cut into triangles. Cut 4 rectangles into 8 squares (just halve them all). Spread each first with cream cheese and then layer with pesto. Don't be shy here, that's where a majority of the flavor lives! Fold the salami round into half, then half again. You should have what looks like 1/4 of the circle layered up. Place into your prepared crescents and fold the dough to cover the salami entirely. Bake as per directed on the crescent package, typically at 425 for 8-10 mins or until golden.

Snow Ball Cookies

To be honest, I'd never really found myself a big fan of the "Snowball" treat made by Hostess. I was always more of a "Ho-Ho" kind of girl. But I found myself craving the chocolatey-marshmellowy-coconuty-confection during my very hectic finals week and decided to give an improvisational dessert a whirl.

Basically, these are a variation and rendition of my carrot cake cookies. I used a chocolate cake mix instead though and completely changed the topping. I brought them in for a class, my last class in college actually, and everyone seemed to enjoy them! I had made about 50 so, the fact that only 5 remained at the end of the period was encouraging for the flavor approval.

As per me, these are extremely easy to make. You just need cake mix, an egg, oil, and then marshmallow fluff and coconut. I dyed mine pink for fun, my first time dying coconut!, and think it was worth the slight effort. Pretty much super easy and then the result is even more adorable.

In short, these are a fun, flavorful, cookie that will be easily made and enjoyed by all :)

Snowball Cookies

-1 devils food cake mix

-1 egg

-1/2 cup oil

-Marshmallow Fluff (Vanilla Icing would also work)

-Coconut Flakes

-Pink Food Dye (Optional)

Combine the mix, egg, and oil. Stir well, place on cookie sheet in small dollops. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes, allow to cool completely. Spread with fluff (or vanilla icing if you don't love the fluff) and then dip the cookie in coconut to coat the icing. Just dabbing the sticking icing/fluff into your coconut will make it stick. Serve and enjoy.

(I dyed my fluff pink by adding a few drops and stirring it up and my coconut by adding a few drops to the coconut in a gallon ziploc and then shaking it up. Once pink, I put it on a paper towel to dry a bit and then used it accordingly. Worked like a charm.)