Sweetie's Kitchen Adventures

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis I love cinnamon rolls, and hazelnuts and icing... but mostly, I love that this recipe starts with a loaf of frozen dough!! I love short cuts and things that make my life easier... in general. I'm submitting this to IHCC for Potluck week. Ingredients 3 tablespoons butter, melted 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 (1-pound) loaf purchased frozen white bread dough, thawed  3/4 cup powdered sugar 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese 1 tablespoon buttermilk Directions Brush 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. Mix the nuts, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a small bowl. Roll out the thawed dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush 1 tablespoon of butter over the dough. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inc...

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis Resolutions... My resolution is always to lose weight... Always! I find it very difficult because I am a self diagnosed Chocoholic with a huge sweet tooth and no self control! True diagnosis, I swear!! My favorite place is my kitchen, and I find cooking to be very calming, so while I can't resolve to stay out of the kichen I can chose healthier recipes to prepair... At least in January ;o)  The theme at IHCC this week is Resolutions so I decided to find a healthy recipe to make and I saw Giada make the parmesan crisps on a show once and it kind of stuck in my mind, so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. Perfect! Pretty, don'tcha think!! Ingredients: For the Parmesan Frico Cups: 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan For the Citrus Vinaigrette: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon orange juice 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 1/2 teaspoon orange zest 1 teaspoon honey 1/2 teaspoon...

Benvenuto Giada! I am so excited that Giada is the chef we will be cooking from for the next six months over at I Heart Cooking Clubs!!! She is my absolute favorite celebrity chef. Over the years I've made many of her recipes and can't wait to make more. After browsing through some of her recipes over at the Food Network web site I settled on a simple but oh so delicious recipe of fried ravioli. They were so good! And easy... and GOOD!! Mmmm, just looking at the picture makes me wish I has more. Ingredients: Olive oil, for frying 1 cup buttermilk 2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs 1 box store bought cheese ravioli 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Marinara sauce, heated, for dipping Directions: Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medioum heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees. While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat, al...

My husband is totally a Velveeta guy. He will choose processed american melty cheese over anything else. And I do mean anything… in addition to macaroni and cheese, he wants it on nachos, melted in scrambled eggs, and even Philly Cheese Steak! (Personally, Velveeta mac & cheese is my favorite too, but it's not the only cheese out there right!?!?) So… I knew he wasn’t going to be thrilled about this recipe, but I really wanted to give baked Macaroni and Cheese another shot. When I've tried to make it in the past it has been dry and not very flavorful and well…. dry. And the results were…      not bad! I dont think it will replace our beloved velveeta but it is a nice change. This is a Mark Bittman recipe and I am submitting this to IHCC Pot Luck. Ingredients: 21/2 cups milk 2 bay leaves 1 pound elbow, shell, ziti, or other cut pasta 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 11/2 cups grated cheddar 1/2 cup freshly grated...

I'm back!! I am submitting this to IHCC. I haven't participated in a while... in fact I haven't cooked anything new lately. But I needed a side dish to go with my Tilapia, and I new Mark Bittman would have something to fit the bill. The rice turned out so flavorful and he has a ton of different options. The recipe is very versitle! Ingredients 2 to 4 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1 chopped carrot 1 1/2 cups rice, preferably basmati Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 1/2 cups stock Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish Directions 1. Put 2 tablespoons of the butter or oil in a large, deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. 2. Add the rice all at once, turn the heat down to medium, and stir until the rice is glossy, completely coated with butter or oil, and starting to color lightly, about 5 minutes...

This week's theme at IHCC is Going Green... So my first though, of course, was how am I going to make green chocolate??? Well... just leave it to Nigella to have a recipe for Chocolate Lime Cheesecake!! You cant get any greener than a lime, right? Thank you Nigella!! Ingredients 7 ounces chocolate wafer cookies 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 pound cream cheese (recommended: Philadelphia) 1 cup sugar 4 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 4 limes, juiced or 3/4 cup Special equipment: spring form pan Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a large overlapping piece of aluminum foil over the bottom of the springform pan, and then insert pan ring over it. Fold the foil extra foil up and around the pan and place the whole thing on a second piece of foil, also folding it and pressing it securely around the pan, having a water tight covering. In a food processor, process cookies until they are crumb-like, add melted butter and continue to process. Pour crumb mixtu...

I'm so excited to finally get to participate in IHCC this week! It has been crazy busy around here, and I haven't had a chance to find a recipe, get to the store and make stuff in quite a while. The theme this week "Tea Time" and while I dont drink hot tea this recipe goes equally well with a good cup of coffee. I chose Nigella's Chocolate Croissants because well... I love chocolate... and I already had everything I needed. Ingredients 1 package butter puff pastry chocolate chips 1 egg beaten Directions Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Open the sheet of pastry and then cut it into 6 squares. Cut each square diagonally to give 2 triangles. Put the triangle with the wider part facing you and the point away from you. Sprinkle about half a teaspoon of chocolate chips on each triangle. Then carefully roll from that chocolate loaded end towards the point of the triangle. You should now have something resembling a straight croissant, seal it slig...

How do you say love in Italian because this recipe deserves that kind of description. The smooth creamy texture of the mascarpone cheese flavored with a good espresso and Irish Cream... and then topped with a decadent dark cocoa powder. It is good! I love Tiramisu. Let me confess my love for Tiramisu. (Gasp) oh I can't find the words. I love it so much; I order it every chance I get. But I can tell you that Nigella got it right!! Her recipe for Irish Cream Tiramisu is absolutely heavenly, and it is as good as any I've had. But, how can you go wrong with Irish Cream, right? I'm rather impatient so I made this a little earlier in the day and them enjoyed it after dinner rather than waiting overnight per the instructions... and then I enjoyed it the next day... and I think I'll finish it up tonight. Yes people, it's that good! INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups espresso coffee 1 cup Baileys cream liqueur, separated 2 x 200g packets Savoiardi (Italian lady finger) biscuits 2 ...