Icebox Cake

So it all started with the quest to find chocolate wafers. These elusive little chocolate cookies are very hard to find. I gave up and thought that I would never be able to make the legendary icebox cake. So when I was on spring vacation, I was happily shocked to find them in the food lion grocery store. I was so excited that I picked up like six boxes of them(not sure when I would ever get these cookies again) and put them in my moms shopping cart :D But then this week wile doing to weekly shopping, I found that my grocery store sells them too. Oops. Well thats ok, one can never have enough icebox cake! But oh my gosh was this cake good. Not just good, but crazy good. It was just so creamy and chocolaty and addicting. Even my dad (who hates chocolate) loved this cake. Say hello to the power of whipped cream and chocolate wafers! I have to say that It was actually fun making this cake. It was like assembling building blocks. Layer upon layer of goodness.Then you can top it off with some shaved chocolate. You have to let it chill in the fridge over night so that the cookies absorbe some of the whipped cream and get soft.I have never really been a cake lover, but this is the most amazing cake I have ever eaten. I like this cake better than cookies! Well this cake is technically made of cookies, but you get my point : ) My advice- Go make this cake...Now!!

Icebox cake

Smitten Kitchen

Magnolia bakery cookbook

3 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you could use different extracts to get a different flavor)

2 (9-ounce) packages chocolate wafer cookies

Unsweetened cocoa (or chocolate shavings)

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.
On a flat serving plate, arrange 7 cookies side by side in a circle, keeping 1 cookie in the center.
Spread with 1/2 cup whipped cream, making a 7-inch circle. Repeat with remaining cookies and cream, making 11 layers of cookies and ending with a layer of cream (there will be a few cookies left over). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
To serve, dust top lightly with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.

Ciabatta hates me

I just don't know why this bread hates me so much. Ciabatta was my first bread that I ever made from the bread bible. It turned out a horrible flat failure. Hard and flat, like a rock rather than "slipper". I vowed that with more experience, I would venture to conquer this bread. I failed. Again. But the worst part is that I don't know why. I followed the directions so carefully! Maybe it turned out right, but it just looks so wrong. And its hard. Really hard. I had a lethal weapon after I baked it. Anybody trying to break into my house will get a face full of ciabatta! I had to use a chain saw to cut it open ; ) But it was wierd, it had holes inside, but was wicked flat, and well, dissapointing. The pictures in the bread bible made it seem soft and spongey, the king of breads! Not. It tasted all well and good, as long as you have dental insurance. I had some searous deja vu wile cutting this open. Then I realized that it reminded me of making biscottis.

So what is your worst botch up in the kitchen? : )

Chinese take-out party!!

I got invited to partake in a Chinese take-out party hosted by Rita of mochachocolatarita! Her blog is totally awesome, and has great recipes. Her posts are also really fun to read! So when she invited me to make chinese food, I was really excited, but had no clue what to make. Having no experience with making chinese food, I just made a stir-fry recipe,but before that marinated chicken in some hoisen sauce, then cooked it before, and added it back in later. What is so great about making your own chinese food, is that you can make it healthy, and flavor it to your tastes! This was the first time that I had used fresh ginger. And wow is it strong stuff! But what really completed this chinese dinner was homemade fortune cookies!!!

Can you say *amazing*? I would have never thought that It were possible!!! And the crazy thing was that they were simple to make, and importantly, they actually tasted like fortune cookies!! What was really cool,was that me and my friend Liz made our own fortunes for the fortune cookies. We even looked up specific ones for each family member. It was really funny.

All in all, this dinner was a huge success! For the fortune cookie recipe, watch this on youtube. Have fun!

Stir fry chinese chicken and veggies
Food network/my brain

4 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
1/2 red onion, trimmed and cut into 4 wedges, layers separated trimmed,
1/4 pound Chinese broccoli, stems and leaves separated, each cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 pound Chinese long beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 scallions, trimmed, 5 cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces,
1 thinly sliced and reserved separately
2/3 cup good-quality chicken stock or broth, vegetable broth, or water, heated
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
As much chicken as you want
Hoisan sauce to marinate chicken.


Marinate chicken and set aside. After marinated, cook chicken in wok. Take out and reserve for later.
Heat a large wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. When the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, and chili flakes and stir-fry just until they are aromatic, about 30 seconds. Scoop out the aromatics and set them aside.
Add the remaining oil to the wok. When it is hot, add the onion pieces and stir-fry until they turn glossy and bright, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the bok choy and the Chinese broccoli stem pieces. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes more.
Add the long beans and the 1-inch scallion pieces. Continue stir-frying until they are bright green and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes more.
Add the Napa cabbage and the Chinese broccoli leaves, along with about 1/3 cup of the hot stock and the reserved aromatics. Continue stir-frying until the vegetables are all tender-crisp, about 2 minutes more. Add the remaining stock, soy sauce, and cornstarch mixture and stir-fry until the vegetables all look lightly glazed with sauce, about 1 minute more.
Add chicken back into the wok, and let re-heat.
Transfer the stir-fried vegetables and chicken to a heated serving dish. Garnish with the sliced scallions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.