Baked and Shaked!

On Monday evening I said to my family, "On Wednesday I will be making dinner!" I got mixed answers, my brother said that he would have to find somewhere else to eat and my mom said, great. So, last night I made dinner! I made homemade chicken strips and jo-jo potato wedges. They were both really good and everyone liked them.

The recipes were pretty simple and quick but a but messy to make. Although it was so worth it! I got the recipes from All Recipes I like All Recipes because anyone can submit their favorite recipes for everyone to see. I made the recipe called Uncle Bill's Chicken Strips and the recipe called Jo-Jo Potato Wedges.

The whole meal was a success. It was delicious and everyone loved it! I would strongly recommend that you try out these recipes!

Bon Appetit! --Maggie Mae :-)

And the Winner is....

A couple of weeks ago I put out a poll, the question was: What's your favorite type of cake? The choices were Vanilla, Chocolate, Red Velvet, and Yellow. The winner was Vanilla! Vanilla cake is my favorite type of cake.

So here is a recipe for vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, yum yum yum!

Makes 24 servings.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds or until softened. Add granulated sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl frequently. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk on medium-low speed just until mixed. Pour into greased and floured 13x9-inch baking pan.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

4. For the Frosting, beat butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy. Frost top of cake with frosting.

Bon Appetit --Maggie Mae :-)

Cookbooks: I adore you.

It's hard to be a good at anything without solid directions. In baking, I've realized the

importance of reading the directions. I've made a couple of batches of chocolate chip cookies

without any eggs or with one less cups of flour. Normally when Im baking chocolate chip cookies, an ingredient gets forgotten, left in the cold, dark, lonely cupboard with no mixer to swirl around in. But, this post isn't about my issue with directions, it's about COOKBOOKS!

In this post I'm going to talk about... Cookbooks. Some of them I haven't ever used a recipe from they are just in my familys collection at home but others I may have used more then one recipe from! I just love cookbooks. I could read them all day, whether I was going to bake from

them or not.

500 Cupcakes: The Only Cupcake Compendium You Will Ever Need: I think this

cookbook is great I've never baked any of the recipes in it but I've read through the recipes a

number of times. It's all cupcakes and muffins. Some of them don't sound as good as others.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking: this is one of my favorite cookbooks simply because of the author; Julia Child. The cookbook itself is a classic. Most good chef's have a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking on their shelf. One of my favorite recipes from this cookbook is the chocolate mousse, I ate it at a friends house and it was so yummy!

Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, & Shakes: this cookbook may not involve baking but every recipe in it sounds so yummy! All of the pictures make all of the food look so tasty! My dad got this cookbook for Christmas and I think it's the best gift he's gotten! :-) The recipe that I think sounds best is the toasted coconut milkshake! Yum yum yum!

But the best "cookbook" is Epicurious! It's every single recipe from eac

h issue of Gourmet and Bon Appetit! On each recipe you can write a review of the food and rate it in 'forks'. You can select what you want in (and not in) all the recipes you find, and they have a new recipe of the day every day, like today's recipe (July 27, 2010) is the No-Bake Chocolate Raspberry Cream Pie! Yummy!

So buy some of these AWESOME cookbooks or read them if you have them at home! And check out the tasty recipes I recommended!

Bon Appetit! --Maggie Mae :-)