Monday, August 13, 2012

raspberry breakfast bars with lemon juice galore

I was looking online for a granola bar recipe to make so that me and my boyfriend, James, had a homemade snack to bring to work. To me, work is always better with a delicious meal packed from home. The Smitten Kitchen had a raspberry breakfast bar recipe so I gave it a shot!

Here's how my bars turned out!
Here is the Smitten Kitchen's recipe:


For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the crust and crumb: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

Pulsed the crust in my KitchenAid

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. (Note: The book suggests you reserve one cup only. My gut told me that was too little, and I upped it. I wanted to make sure the top of the raspberries were mostly covered, at least for packing purposes, and was glad I had changed it.) Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hans or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Remember to set aside some crust dough for later

Make the raspberry filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars: Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan every 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

The delicious raspberry lemon-y filling

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares and serve. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

The only thing I did differently is that I used my KitchenAid mixer instead of a food processor and I doubled the amount of lemon juice. Worked for me!

Delightful when served with milk or coffee!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

sunday night homemade pizza

Although I am a Chicagoan and deep dish pizza is always my pizza of choice, it's nice to relax at home and make homemade pizza. Sundays are a big day of baking in my house, so why not add some pizza dough to the mixings?



Around 4:00 pm, my boyfriend, James, and I started making pizza dough:

1.25-2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 envelope of instant dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup water, warm
2 tsp olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and water and stir. Let sit for at least 10 minutes on a warm space (windowsill on a sunny day or on top of an oven on 200 degrees) while the yeast activates.
2. Combine bread floor, salt, and 1 tsp olive oil in the mixer bowl. Using the dough hook mixer attachment on your KitchenAid mixer, keep on speed 2, and mix. Slowly add the yeast mixture. Add a little bit of flour if your dough is too sticky. Add a little bit of water if dough it too dry.
3. Rub the other 1 tsp of olive oil around in a medium bowl. Put the dough into the bowl, knead out any air, then let sit for at least an hour. When the dough has doubled in size, it's ready to bake!



The pizza dough recipe above makes one 14 inch pizza. For 1 pizza, you will need:

1 ball of pizza dough
2-3 cups of crushed tomatoes (more if you like)
1 tbs oregano
1 pinch salt
1 large bag of mozzarella shredded cheese

Toppings optional:
1/4 onion, chopped fine
3/4 cup sausage cut into fourths

1. Optional: Sautée the onion in a fry pan in a little bit of olive oil- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. After 3-4 minutes, add the sausage. Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
2. Spread a little bit of cornmeal or olive oil onto the 14 inch baking sheet so that the pizza won't stick too much. Spread the pizza dough onto the baking sheet so that it is even all around.
3. Spread the crushed tomatoes evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle oregano evenly on the tomato sauce. Spread 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese on top the sauce. 
4. Optional: Add the sausage and onion onto 1/2 of the pizza. Then sprinkle more cheese on top.
5. Cook at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
6. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting the pizza. Then, enjoy!



I like to cut my pizza into big squares and enjoy it with a beer. I found it to be the perfect dinner to wrap up my weekend!

Monday, August 6, 2012

monday morning blueberry banana bread

Blueberry banana bread, cooling in the pan
I like to make banana bread once a week when my bananas are nice and ripe. There's not many people in my office who like to cook or bake, so I like to bring in a treat on Monday mornings that we can all enjoy. And of course, I always make a little extra for me and my boyfriend!

The recipe that I used was very easy, so long as you have a KitchenAid mixer! I found this particular recipe on allrecipes.com. Here it is:


  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

  • Directions

    1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Beat in bananas. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
    2. Pour into three greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

    The recipe said that it would make 3 loafs but I made one very full loaf and 4 medium sized muffins. The muffins I ate for breakfast with my boyfriend, James. And loaf came to work with me. Everyone loved it!

    Blueberry Banana Muffins

Sunday, August 5, 2012

first batch of cookies and a photo shoot



Here's how the photo-shoot turned out!

My boyfriend, James, and I love chocolate chip cookies. I don't ever try anything fancy when it comes to these cookies because the recipe on the package always comes out perfectly. Here's the one I follow from the Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips bag:


Mr. Mixer at work
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. Combine brown sugar, sugar, softened butter, and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat. Add dry ingredients and mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake!

I cannot even explain how much easier baking is with Mr. Mixer! I cut down a lot of time and arm pain and it was just plain fun! Because my grandma bought me Mr. Mixer, I wanted to send her an extra special thank you note. So James and I set up a photo-shoot of me and Mr. Mixer using Instagram. Then we sent it the photo on a postcard, using Postagram, which is now on it's way to my grandma in Georgia!



Saturday, August 4, 2012

bringing mr mixer home: no easy feat

My name is Britney Broccoli and I love to bake. Baking is a rather expensive hobby and some of the best recipes take all day to bake, so finding the time and funds for baking require careful thought in my life. This summer, I'm working full time in human resources for a not-for-profit company, downtown Chicago. In late August, I will be back to undergraduate, full-time classes at Roosevelt University, finishing my senior year and working part-time at the not-for-profit. But because I love baking, I make time for it.

That's why I ordered a KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus Mixer last weekend. This model is currently on clearance on many websites and stores because KitchenAid is discontinuing the 5 plus model. I ordered mine at Carson's, where it was the only model on clearance from $480 to $260. This is an amazing deal! I can barely find refurbished mixers this cheap.

On Thursday morning, I got an email from Carson's with my mixer's tracking number. The UPS tracking site allows you to see where and when your package checks into the various destinations. It went out at 2:00 am Thursday and by 8:00 am was in Chicago "on-route for delivery." I was so excited! My boyfriend, James, mentioned that he always used to see the UPS truck on our street between 4:00 and 5:00 pm before he started his full-time job. So he decided to leave work an hour early, at 4:00 pm, to try to catch the UPS man.

Our apartment is in Lakeview, a 20-30 minute commute north from downtown. When he got home, he saw that the UPS man attempted delivery at 4:00 pm, a mere 20 minutes before James got there. The note that the UPS man left had a number to call if you want to pick-up your package at the Chicago UPS location. James called and the employee at UPS told us we could pick-up my mixer between 8:00 and 9:15 pm. So James came back to the loop, met me when I got off work, and we ate up the time by visiting the brand new city Target on State Street.

Upon closer examination of the UPS store's address, we realize it isn't 1600 Jackson, where we wrongly assumed, thinking that it would be in the loop. It was 1600 Jefferson, which is not that far, but has no good route by which to travel when you rely on public transportation. But we already committed to this venture, so we had Panera Bread for dinner and made our transfers from the Orange line south to Roosevelt and then to the Roosevelt bus going west. 

From Roosevelt road, you can see the UPS trucks pulling into the long street made up of dozens of UPS buildings. And of course, the customer entrance is at the very end of the street, as far as the eye can see. Though it seemed like miles, I google mapped the place, and it was only about half a mile. 

We finally reach the right building and there are 2 entrances. The one to the left is a dark grey, beaten-up door with what looked like a hand written sign above it. The entrance to the right had 2 glass double doors with a handicap ramp. Since it had no sign, we went to the left door. Immediately, you could feel the heat of the tiny room. Almost every seat was filled and all eyes went towards James and me with a strange look. Before we could make it to the counter, the employee asked us for our zip code. I said, "60657." She said to go into the other entrance.

The other entrance led to a much larger room with windows and air conditioning. It was like some kind of old, segregated, "whites only" entrance, and it made James and I very uncomfortable. This room was only for the north side zipcodes. 

That aside, the employees were very nice. They originally tried to tell me that the package wouldn't be here today, but I told them that I spoke to someone on the phone. They double checked, and the employee changed his mind. The package would be there, today. It was 8:00 pm. We talked to a woman who lived on Southport and chatted about the hassles of shipping. She was waiting for shoes that she had to wear for a wedding, and her and her husband were leaving town the following day. Her husband was waiting in the car outside, after a long day of work, with a growing appetite. 

At 9:15 pm, our packages finally come out. The mixer is 30 pounds and big all over, and I beg James to get a taxi but he insists on making use of our 7 day unlimited CTA passes. I brace myself for the many transfers ahead of me.

About half way down the long UPS street, the woman with the shoes passes us and waves. After a couple more stop signs, the car stops for a few seconds. Then they U-turn and pull up the curb by us. They realize that they aren't going far from where we live and offer us a ride. At that moment, I was touched by the kindness of strangers. I was so very happy.

They drop us off at Clark and Belmont and we brought my mixer into our home for the first time. As James ripped through the boxes, unloaded the mixer and the attachments and the manuals, I thought how our long night had all been worth it. We gave my mixer the name Mr. Mixer, wiped him down, cleaned the bowl and attachments, tightened some parts, loosened others, and he was ready to go. We fell asleep almost immediately when we got into bed.

And that is how Mr. Mixer got to our home, which also has a name - the Broccoli Bungalow.