Thursday, February 26, 2015




So I'm not sure where I saw this product at but I did and I had to go on their website and find out where I could get it and luckily Harris Teeter carries it in Maryland. Now people have asked why would I need to buy special cookie dough for eating, and one of the main reasons is a big warning that is normally on traditional cookie dough that tells you it is expressly not for eating raw. I'm pretty sure there are some other things in conventional store bought cookie dough you might not want to eat raw and a lot of people aren't going to make some expressly to eat, and apparently that is indeed a thing that people do.




It's not cheap, but it is pretty good, though you can tell something isn't quite there all of the way which is why you can't use this for baking. It is identical to any other cookie dough you're going to eat whether you make it yourself, by it from pillsbury, or get it in your ice cream. A good sweetness is in the dough as well as a little bit of salt to offset. This version I tried also had bits of Oreo cookies mixed in. Overall this is a cool little product and one that might be nice to eat with your ice cream as a treat to step things up a little bit.

Rating: 4.5/5

Monday, February 23, 2015


My wife loves breakfast, I mean she can eat it twice a week at night in addition to what I normally do for Sunday mornings. Me, I'm not as big of a fan by any means, I mean I can do pancakes and some french toast if it isn't completely soggy. The other thing is she sometimes asks for a casserole or something for her fellow teachers when they do a potluck. This one she thought looked simple enough to make and take.

This dish is a little more  difficult to 'set up' but in the end it's a pretty good dish. Not too heavy not too light and can easily be sliced up for a crowd. The main instructions can be found right here at Julies Eats and Treats. A couple of changes, I used Italian bread and not sourdough, although sourdough is probably pretty good and could offer up some different depth of flavor. I also used actual butter instead of the substitute but whichever you have could work easily. I topped it with some strawberries and some vanilla cream.


This is a really good recipe and would be great for upcoming holidays. This is one that will stay in the arsenal.

Rating: 5/5

Friday, February 20, 2015



In the interest of trying to do something different I have been all over pinterest and one recipe I found that seemed to be kind of simple yet different for our family is Shrimp Fried Rice. I took several recipes together but the mian one that I found was here on the blog Damn Delicious. I also looked at some other recipes and decided to use regular full size shrimp instead of the smaller ones that you normally get.




The shrimp I seasoned simply, and those aren't on the recipe I linked to above, but it was some salt, pepper, ginger, flour and a tiny bit of corn starch. Take the shrimp, peel and de-vein of course and  toss in the flour and seasoning and then remove so it can set up a little bit. It only takes a few minutes to cook the shrimp in a skillet with oil really quickly.

As for the fried rice, I made some white rice a little earlier and fried it but most recipes say to try and have it done earlier so that it can cool and have a slightly more 'fried' texture. It was pretty good but having rice done before hand would have saved a lot of time and probably improved this just so slightly. Overall this is a good recipe though.

Rating: 5/5

Thursday, February 19, 2015



So Valentine's day was around the corner and my wife doesn't care for chocolate covered strawberries unless it's white chocolate covered, and apparently it's ridiculously hard to get only those the week of valentine's day. I mean you can get them striped with regular chocolate or mixed with regular chocolate, but the simple white chocolate is a no-go for the most part. Even High end Wegman's at the godiva counter couldn't guarantee them so I had to improvise.

What I did was I had a recipe for chocolate mousse from Food Network Magazine All Access which I adapted using another recipe which I found in Sugar Rush: Master Tips, Techniques, and Recipes for Sweet Baking , which is a great book with a lot of good baking ideas. The mousse was really good and I topped it with some fresh strawberries which i topped with sugar and let sit for a while and a piece of puff pastry for texture. The recipe might be even better with a salted caramel perhaps, or a graham cracker layer to break up the texture, although the flavors with the berries and mousse are just perfect.

 First step was taking 9 ounces of white chocolate and melt it using the double boiler method. In my case I don't own a double boiler because using a bowl and a small pot works just fine.
 Melt the chocolate down until just melted and slightly above 95 degrees.
 Take 1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream and heat until just bubbled and warm then turn off. Mix into white chocolate a little bit at a time until completely mixed until it looks glossy.
 Take another 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and beat until it forms soft peaks. Once that is done, fold it into the white chocolate mixture carefully.
 Put into vessels and cool off in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
 While the mousse cools take out some puff pastry and follow the directions for it to allow it to thaw. Then use a cookie cutter or a knife and cut out your shapes and bake in the oven at 425 for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Slice some strawberries and sprinkle with sugar and put in the fridge until ready to put things together.
 Take some cut strawberries and puff pastry to top your mousse and serve. Enjoy.