Plain Vanilla

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen, Uncategorized by Kristy Rhine

Vanilla is my signature flavor! In my family I am the only one who wants white cake and vanilla buttercream icing for their birthday. I secretly only want vanilla at Amy’s Ice-Cream or Lick Ice-Cream when there is obviously so many unique varieties and flavors to choose from.

Most people crave chocolate. I crave vanilla. Sometimes I just need a piece of white cake. The kind that you taste at your friend’s wedding. I love biting into a moist cake with the strong flavor of vanilla and just the right amount of icing. YUM!

Below is a picture of a white cake with vanilla buttercream icing. I found this recipe on Pinterest. I had to make it because it said it was “the best white cake recipe” ever!

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While this cake was good, it was not quite what I was looking for. So I will continue to bake-on and let you know when I have found and perfected that one and only “White Cake”!

7Mar2016

You can have your cake and eat it too!

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

I love making lemon cakes and cookies in the summer, but when I saw a recipe for Lemon Blueberry cake today, I just had to make it! It seems I am baking through Sally’s Baking Addiction Blog/Cookbook lately. I love all the details she gives not only in her actual recipe but in her photos as well. Even an amateur like me can follow along! If I can do it, you can do it!

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Find recipe here Lemon Blueberry Cake. This recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I added a little more lemon and lemon zest to give it a little extra flavor. This recipe will link you to her website as well for her full recipe. Enjoy!
Sally’s Baking Addiction: Irresistible Cookies, Cupcakes, and Desserts for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix

28Feb2016

What starts with the letter C?

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

Cookie starts with the letter C
Let’s think of other things that start with the letter C
Oh who cares about other things…C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me!
~Cookie Monster

I wanted to make something sweet for my girls at work on Friday. Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, so that was easy and I always have all the ingredients for these cookies in my kitchen. IMG_2503[1]

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When I find I also have the Ghirardelli white chocolate chips and dark molasses, it only makes sense to make these wonderful cookies as well! They were such a big hit last time I made them.

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You can find this recipe here. Click here for recipe They are called Soft Baked White Chocolate Chip/Molasses Cookies. I discovered these from Sally’s Baking Blog. I love her blog and her cookbooks! I use my cookbooks all the time and they always seem to find a way into the background of my pictures of cookies and cupcakes!

Sally’s Baking Addiction: Irresistible Cookies, Cupcakes, and Desserts for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix
Sally’s Candy Addiction: Tasty Truffles, Fudges & Treats for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix

15Feb2016

Follow your heart

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

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I have a few things I always make during February and sugar cookies are at the top of the IMG_2364[1] list. So with my heart shape cookie cutter Wilton Metal Heart Cutter
I set out to try a new sugar cookie recipe. I always, always, always make my moms recipe and it is, of course, the best! But I found one recipe and it had almond extract added, so I thought I would give it a try.

As I was making these I realized I had ran out of almond extract..so extra vanilla it was!

These cookies were very good and I even ate a couple without icing. But I think I will stick to my mom’s recipe from now on! It not only has a wonderful flavor and texture, it brings a heart full of memories with each batch! Thanks Mom!! And my hubby thanks you also!

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This icing is my Mom’s recipe that my sisters and I still use at Christmas. Okay, well not just Christmas, anytime the occasion calls for a sugar cookie! I have added the icing and the sugar cookie recipe on my website so you can try if you like. I hope you had a wonderful
Valentine’s Day!

Wilton Comfort Grip Heart Cutter

12Feb2016

Valentines’ Day=Red Velvet Cake

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

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I love Red Velvet Cake. However, it is hard to find a bakery that makes one just the way I like it. I am finding it is even harder to find a recipe I can make at home! I am on the hunt this Valentines for the perfect Red Velvet Cake!

So far I have found and tried two recipes. One recipe was for red velvet cake and one was red velvet cookies. The flavor was not as strong as I like in either one, but when I shared with friends, they all loved it and said both were delicious! My husband thought the cake was one of my best as far as texture and moistness goes..so that is something!

While it was not exactly what I was looking for, I think it turned out pretty well. The search will continue and I am certain I can find that Red Velvet Cake recipe that will be the one that I always go to! I will let you know. (recipe for both cookies and cake are under “something sweet”).

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12Feb2016

Sprinkles are for winners.

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

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It is getting close to Valentine’s Day so it is time for the pretzels, white chocolate and SPRINKLES! Sprinkles add a little something extra to everything! YUM!

Wilton 710-6245 Valentine Nonpareils Sprinkles, Multicolor

3Feb2016

If you give a girl a cookie…

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen, Uncategorized by Kristy Rhine

…she’s going to ask for a glass of milk!

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I LOVE milk and cookies. I heard milk “does a body good”, but does that mean in large quantities and served with a side of cookies? Even so…I do allow it on special occasions.

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These delicious M&M cookies were split between my husband’s office and mine! Yum! I love baking and sharing with others! It not only puts a smile on someone’s face, but hopefully keeps a few pounds off of mine!

This recipe is simply the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip recipe with M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. I am going to try to venture out next time and see what I come up with! Stay tuned 🙂

31Jan2016

Whoppers Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen, Uncategorized by Kristy Rhine

My family, like many of us, with the start of 2016, made a resolution to embrace a more healthy lifestyle. So far, so good.

In fact, even when I am choosing to make healthier choices, I can usually bake cakes or cookies and not sample the batter or eat the cookie dough. So when I decided to bake this wonderful “WHOPPER Chocolate Chip Cookies” recipe I found in my new cookbook, Sally’s Candy Addiction, I was not worried at all about blowing my healthy choices.

However, after I made these, the entire house smelled of warm, fresh from the oven, chocolate chip cookies. And then I opened my fridge and saw a cold container of milk. Needless to say, I did sample one, maybe two, but that was it! And yes, it was worth it! I set one aside for my husband and the rest went straight to work the next morning.

I received more compliments on these cookies than any other I have brought to work. By lunch they were all gone, except for one lonely cookie. No one wanted to be “that person” who took the last cookie. Finally, one brave soul grabbed it and I took my empty container home.

These really were a perfect blend of chocolate chips and Whoppers, not to soft, not to hard and had that little something extra that made them stand out from the original Toll-House chocolate chip cookies I usually bake.

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You can find the recipe here or order the cookbook Sally’s Candy Addiction. If you give these a try, let me know if you love them as much as I do. You can also send me a message on Instagram!

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Thanks again Sally for a wonderful recipe from your cookbook! at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/sallys-candy-addiction/

12Jan2016

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Posted in Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

…goodbye to cupcakes anyway, and hello healthy cookbooks!
Well, not until I make cupcakes for work first!

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Okay…I am good on sweets now. At least until February, when of course I have to bake plate after plate of Valentine treats! But for now my family and I are all making healthy choices!

I pulled out The Skinnytaste Cookbook again. I used this many times in 2015 but put away as October came around and I was in the baking/sweets/candy mode.

January always brings about a desire to make changes for the better. So instead of eating at my favorite Mexican restaurant (for the millionth time in last 2 months) I stayed home and made the Buttermilk Oven “Fried” Chicken. I made this a few times last year and my family really liked it. This time I followed the recipe in full (I usually take short cuts) and the chicken was so moist and was just enough with my sweet potato. Give this a try if you want great flavor, fewer calories, and don’t want to feel as if you are giving up on taste.

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Recipe for Chicken is here on my blog as well as cupcakes. Here are links to both.

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/09/20/white-wedding-cupcakes/print/
http://www.skinnytaste.com/p/cookbook.html

(My husband took this pic…teasing me that this is his new beer/food blog! He thinks he is so funny!) Not bad for a first try!! 🙂 IMG_1753[1]

6Jan2016

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!

Posted in 2015 Travel Adventures, Adventures in the Kitchen by Kristy Rhine

Time does fly! It is hard for me to believe over a year has gone by since I started my blog, PALATABLE ADVENTURES.

I looked over my goals in starting this blog…
This blog is to hold me accountable to teach myself and my girls cooking basics and two new recipes per month. Inspiration may come from
~places we have been
~recommendations from friends and family
~or from sources of interest like Pinterest or just good old fashioned cookbooks

As I look at my purpose in doing this, I see that it accomplished what I wanted and more. I learned many new recipes. I found my children in the kitchen with me, learning as well. I sampled various types of foods from places I have visited, and tried to recreate them at home. And my pictures, while still amateur, have improved from last January. I have actually loved these Palatable Adventures.

~Sweet Adventures