Sarah's Attempt: Chocolate Eclair Cake

Chocolate Eclair Cake from http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/06/chocolate-eclair-cake.html

 

My dad turned 50 on Monday so of course we had to make a dessert with his birthday supper. He loves Boston Creme Pie but since we were actually up in Boston on vacation last week and he had the real deal there, I figured going for something similar in taste but not quite the same would work. Now it is hard for me to give a definite answer on this recipe: lots of mishaps and the end result, although tasty, was not what we expected. It did taste like an eclair, but had the consistency of runny pudding once served although I followed the recipe exactly and made sure the filling was thick before filling the crust.  But you try for yourself and see! Here's the instructions from http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/06/chocolate-eclair-cake.html with my comments in bold. 

Chocolate Eclair Cake
by Debbie Mortensen

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
3 cup milk
1 8 oz. container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. I don't use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream
chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan. Make SURE you use a glass pan! Our glass 9"x13" was recently broken so we thought we'd use a coated dark pan...bad idea. The coating stuck to our crust, it was rather disgusting so we threw out the first crust and borrowed a glass pan from my Mamaw. That worked much better.

Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. (MIX with a hand beater, do not stir! Mixing made the mixture much easier to spread into the pan and on the edges of the pan) Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes...I agree here, 25 minutes tops) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).

Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream. Main problem: the filling, after poured into the cooled crust, was very runny and leaked out of the cake once it was cut. However, my Papaw, Dad, and brother loved it and there was no cake at all left after dessert.

Overall, this cake had a good taste but I was not pleased with its consistency, so:

RESULT: Not Pin!
  

Sarah's Attempt: Shrimp Pasta with Tomatoes, Lemon, and Spinach

http://bevcooks.com/2012/06/shrimp-pasta-with-tomatoes-lemon-and-spinach/

This recipe was very simple...but so delicious! Me and Austin (my brother) were in charge of supper...which means I have to tell Austin very specific directions or he loses interest quickly. This recipe is one with tasks that can be delegated such as harvesting and chopping the herbs, tomatoes, and spinach and preparing the pasta. It also is a dish that really displays the fresh flavors of herbs and veggies out of the garden!

Here's the ingredients and directions (with my comments in bold):

What it took for 2: (I made an error here..make sure you double the recipe for more people, especially the herbs!!)
* 1/2 pound extra large shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined
* 2 tsp lemon zest, divided
* 1 pinch crushed red pepper
* 1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped
* 1 sprig fresh oregano, leaves removed and chopped (unfortunately we did not have fresh oregano, but dried worked fine!)
* 2 basil leaves, torn
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
* 4 cups baby spinach
* 2 Tbs. lemon juice (or more!)
* 1/2 pound angel hair pasta (spaghetti noodles as a subsitute)
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

- On a plate, toss the shrimp with the crushed red pepper, half the lemon zest, chopped herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it sit while you start the rest.

- Heat the oil in a medium skillet (I would suggest a larger skillet) over medium-high. Add the garlic and bloom 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes along the remaining lemon zest. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and saute for 2 minutes.

- Add the shrimp in a single layer and sear on one side for 2 minutes (This is why you need a larger skillet...to keep the shrimp in a single layer). Flip and sear another minute, or until shrimp is cooked through. Keep tossing the tomatoes just a little bit.

- In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the angel hair until al dente, maybe 5 minutes. Drain all but about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and toss with the shrimp and tomato mixture, along with the spinach. Squeeze a lot of lemon juice right in. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Add as much pasta water as you want to create a thin, glorious sauce.

- Serve it with more lemon juice, crusty bread and for heaven’s sake, fresh parmesan cheese.

Result: PIN!!

Jen's Attempt: Lemon-Blueberry Bread

Website: http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/15/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-loaf/

     WOW! For my birthday, I had family over for breakfast and thought I should make something light and fruity for the summer. It also worked out well that blueberries were on sale at my local Farmer's Market for two dollars a pint! What a steal! This recipe has basic ingredients along with extras that are not costly at the supermarket. The recipe was also easy to follow and looked stunning when placed on the table! When I took a bite of this scrumptious bread, I knew it was a success! It was delicious!

For the Loaf:

• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used non-fat)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed

For the Lemon Syrup:

• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (use less if you do not want a strong lemon taste)
• 1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:

• 1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
5. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely.
7. To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, (I refrigerated overnight) before serving.

Result: PIN!

Sarah's Attempt #1: Linguine with Tomatoes, Baby Zucchini, and Herbs from Food & Wine

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/linguine-with-tomatoes-baby-zucchini-and-herbs

As I am living at home this summer before starting grad school in the fall, it usually falls to me to find something to scrounge up for supper or at least find a recipe that we have the ingredients for at the time (this is harder than it sounds).  Now as I'm sure many of you find, Pinterest recipes oftentimes call for a lot of ingredients you don't have lying around without making a special trip to the grocery store, which is rather difficult if you live in the middle of nowhere like we do. So--this recipe seemed to be rather simple and would incorporate items we had available, however we did make some small changes to suit our family and I have to say, we did GOOD!

Here's the recipe and then I'll elaborate on what we found:

1 pound tomatoes, cored and finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped basil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 small red chile, seeded and minced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces linguine
3 baby zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Directions:
- In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with the basil, parsley, garlic, salt, chile and olive oil.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguine until al dente; drain well. Add the linguine to the bowl along with the sliced zucchini and toss. Add the 1/4 cup of grated cheese, toss again and serve in bowls, passing more cheese at the table.


It's summer--that means most of our ingredients come from our garden, which means that this recipe with zucchini and tomatoes was perfect to try. We used tommytoe tomatoes (grape tomatoes) instead of regular ones, which worked perfectly since you really only needed to chop them in half.  We also decided to saute the sliced zucchini (which were regular sized) slightly in some olive oil before we added it to the linguine--I'm not really a fan of zucchini unless its a little soft, but hey whatever floats your boat. Make sure you use fresh basil and parsley too--it really adds the flavor. Now here comes the zinger: we added TUNA. If you do not like tuna, just prepare the dish as written, however, with my brother away on a mission trip and three people in the house that love tuna, we thought we'd add it for some protein. And it turned out FABULOUS--gave the dish a little more  moisture and a little tuna taste, but it was not overpowering, the herbs and veggies still carried the dish. Between my parents and I, we barely had leftovers. This is a GREAT summertime dish--light, healthy, simple, and delicious!


Result: PIN!!!

Jen's Recipe Attempt: Carrot Chips

Website: http://www.chow.com/recipes/29589-carrot-chips

     While looking on Pinterest, I came across this cool recipe that turns regular carrots into an easy side dish and waited for a chance to make them. This past week, my brother and his wife came for a visit and his wife mentioned how much she loves carrots and I thought it would be a perfect dish to add to our truly southern ribs and macaroni and cheese night. Overall, the dish was fine BUT I recommend baking the carrots for a longer time for a crunchier taste or thinner slices. I think I expected more pizazz from this dish and was a little disappointed and noticed no one reached for seconds at dinner. This recipe may not be the ultimate pin, but try it out for yourself and tell me what you think!

Ingredients:

2 large carrots (at least 1 inch in diameter), peeled (I cut mine into thin strips)

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine chopped carrots with olive oil and then salt and pepper.
3. Spread carrots out onto a baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes then toss and bake for another 6 minutes (I recommend longer)

Result: Not Pin!

Our Goal

     Hello! We are Sarah and Jen and we were roommates for two years in college. Now that school is over, Sarah has moved on to graduate school and I am a daycare teacher. We are finding it hard sometimes to stay in touch. However, we always find time to "pin" one another's ideas off of pinterest.com and rave about how much we love them! As a result, we decided to start a blog about those recipes you find off pinterest. They may look enticing and delicious but sometimes, you begin to make them and you quickly regret the pin. We shall be taking those yummy looking recipes and deciding whether we should pin or not to pin. We hope you enjoy!