Stephie | Eat Your Heart Out

Peach and Ricotta Crepes

March 20, 2013 by Stephie 22 Comments

Friends are for emailing when you’ve found the perfect color nail polish and just have to tell someone.

Friends are for sending rant-filled texts when your computer’s hard drive takes a nose-dive and you can’t seem to access your back-up files.

Friends are for taking you out for drinks to celebrate quitting a job you hated.

Friends are for loaning you every season of Sex and the City on DVD to help you heal after a breakup.

Friends are for helping you get over your lingering cooking fears and teaching you new skills. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: brunch, crepes, Dessert, Fruit, peaches, ricotta

Homemade Easter Egg Dye {and a Le Creuset giveaway!}

March 20, 2013 by Stephie 5 Comments

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail; Hippity-hoppity, Easter’s on it’s waaaaaay…

I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I am my mother’s child, after all.

Those of you who know both of us are shaking your heads in exhausted agreement right now.

I have an early Easter surprise for all of you: Today on Food Fanatic, I am sharing some recipes for homemade Easter egg dyes, free of mystery chemicals that we want to keep away from those precious little hands.

And guess what? In celebration of their gorgeous French oven colors, Le Creuset also developed three homemade Easter egg dyes to match their Caribbean blue, Cassis purple, and {new!} Soleil yellow. I recently received one of their 5 1/2-quart French ovens in the beautiful new Soleil, and let me tell you – it is gorgeous. Would it be wrong to set it on my coffee table and call it art?

And the best news! Le Creuset wants YOU to have one of their French ovens as well! They are giving three lucky readers the chance to win one of their 5 1/2-quart French ovens, one in each of the aforementioned colors. Head on over to Food Fanatic to find out how you can enter to win and to learn how to dye your own Easter eggs!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: Food Fanatic, Giveaway, Holidays

Apple Dumplings

March 17, 2013 by Stephie 5 Comments

When I get a recipe in my head, there’s no resting until I make it happen.

These apple dumplings came about in exactly that way: I found myself, somewhat out of the blue, with a craving for apple dumplings. And to top it off, I just knew I could do better than using canned biscuit dough or questionable soda in making them.

You’ve probably already guessed where this is going: I had to drop everything and make these dumplings a reality. Are they better than any recipe using canned biscuits and soda? You bet. Are they still just as easy? Absolutely.

These gorgeous dumplings will make a fantastic dessert (or even brunch item!) for your family this Easter.

Head on over to Food Fanatic for the recipe!

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Apples, Baked goods, Breakfast, Dessert, Food Fanatic, Fruit

Back to Basics: Ingredient Substitutions

March 13, 2013 by Stephie 11 Comments

There are few things in this world as annoying as being in the middle of a recipe and suddenly realizing…you are completely out of a key ingredient.

Some people might give you a lecture about being more diligent about actually having a grocery list and putting things on said list before you run out…but since I would mostly be lecturing my own self, I am instead going to give you a list of some common ingredient substitutions that can work in a pinch.

Now, some things to keep in mind about substitutions: There is a reason why recipe writers call for specific ingredients. It is because the ingredients listed in the recipe provide a specific flavor, texture, or other desired outcome in the final dish. Cooking – especially baking – is all about chemistry. Do you remember how in chemistry lab in high school, your teacher always told you to follow the directions exactly? This was because they knew that using different chemicals than those listed could result in vastly different outcomes than those desired – namely, accidentally blowing yourself to high heaven. And while substituting an ingredient in your recipe won’t cause a dangerous reaction like it would in chem lab, it does means that you run the risk of a slightly different outcome than what the recipe writer intended. Substituting nearly all of the ingredients guarantees an entirely different outcome – and likely not a positive one. So, our lesson is this: Substitute ingredients with caution, and keep in mind that once you deviate from the original recipe, you cannot be guaranteed the same outcome that the writer originally intended.

As always, the list below contains just some of the most common ingredients you may find yourself in need of, and what I consider to be the “easiest” substitutions for them. If you ever have any questions, or have any substitutions that you like to use, send me an email, Facebook message, or even a Tweet! I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can.

*Original Ingredient*	*Amount*	*Substitute*
Alcohol (in sweet recipes)	1 tablespoon	1 tablespoon fruit juice (such as orange or apple, depending on the recipe) OR In small quantities, it is often ok to omit the alcohol altogether, as it is usually just used as a flavoring component.
Baking powder	1 teaspoon	¼ teaspoon baking soda + ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Baking soda	½ teaspoon	2 teaspoons baking powder (replace acidic liquids in recipe with non-acidic liquids)
Bread flour	1 cup	1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 ½ teaspoons vital wheat gluten
Brown sugar	1 cup	1 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses (for light brown sugar; use 2 tablespoons for dark brown sugar)
Butter	1 cup	1 cup vegetable shortening OR 1 cup applesauce or mashed banana (for baking)
Buttermilk	1 cup	1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice + low fat milk to equal 1 cup OR 1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt or sour cream
Cake flour	1 cup	¾ cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Cornstarch	1 tablespoon	2 tablespoons flour
Cream of tartar	½ teaspoon	½ teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
Maple syrup	1 cup	1 cup honey
Mayonnaise	1 cup	1 cup plain yogurt
Molasses	1 cup	1 cup honey OR 1 cup maple syrup
Powdered sugar	1 cup	1 cup granulated sugar, ground (even more) finely in a blender
Self-rising flour	1 cup	1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder + ¼ teaspoon salt
Shortening	1 cup	1 cup butter
Sour cream	1 cup	1 cup plain yogurt
Vanilla bean	1 bean	1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Vegetable oil (for baking)	1 cup	1 cup applesauce or mashed banana
White wine (in savory recipes)	1 cup	1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

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Would you like to know more about how I use specific ingredients, or do you have a “Back to Basics” topic that you’d like to see me cover? Maybe you’d like to know how to properly cook rice, or the difference between baking powder and baking soda. Leave me a comment or shoot me an email and I will see what I can do!

Previous “Back to Basics” posts:

Reading Recipes {Part 1: The Ingredients}

Reading Recipes {Part 2: The Instructions}

Pantry Staples

Yeast

Sourdough

Filed Under: Back to Basics Tagged With: Back to basics, Kitchen tips

Coconut Rice Pudding

March 11, 2013 by Stephie 13 Comments

I have a confession to make: My new job is making me lazy.

Exhibit A: After being on my feet for 8 hours, I come home exhausted. Doing anything aside from collapsing in bed sounds like a monumental feat. And that’s if I haven’t gone to the gym after work. Phew.

Exhibit B: Due to where our store is located, we are required to wear hats. In case you couldn’t figure out where this is going…washing my hair has become a rarity. Forget two-day hair. We’re lookin’ at four-day hair. At least.

Exhibit C: I can’t tell you the last time I wore jeans. It’s either my uniform, workout clothes, or yoga pants (if any). I had to go to an event the other day around real people, thus requiring me to put on polite-company clothes. I dealt by wearing black pants that look cute and borderline dressy, but feel like leggings. Jeans were just too much to handle.

Basically, I am one cat and a mumbling-to-myself habit away from being that lady that mothers direct their small children away from at the grocery store.

[Read more...]