Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday, is there any other event where the hype is what it is for the Super Bowl? I had the endless hours of pregame coverage on, if nothing else as background noise while I was baking and doing laundry.

What's up with The Who as the halftime entertainment? Can you imagine how many people are watching saying "Who are The Who anyway?". The lightshow was awesome, the vocals...well what can I say?

Of course, there's the commercials. Amazing how many people watch for the commercials. What were your favorite commercials? I thought there were a lot of funny ones, no one in particular stood out.

A few that I liked were the Dog Collar Doritos, Mom's Date Doritos, Casual Friday Careeer Builder, Plane Crash Bud Light and Sock Monkey Kia.

Our Super Bowl snack....



Hooter's Buffalo Chicken Wings
Recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

1/4 c butter
1/4 c Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Sauce
1/2 c flour
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t salt
10 chicken wing pieces

On the side

Blue cheese dressing
Celery Stick

Combine flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt in a small bowl. Put the wings into a large bowl and sprinkle the flour mixture over them, coating wings evenly. Put the wings in the refrigerator for 60 - 90 minutes. This will help the breading to stick to the wings when fried.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Combine the butter, hot sauce and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until the butter is melted and all ingredients are well blended. Put the wings in the hot oil and fry for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the oil to a paper towel to drain. Quickly put the wings into a large bowl. Add the hot sauce and stir, coating all wings evenly.

Serve with blue cheese and celery sticks on the side.

Classic Red Velvet Cake - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

It's a good day. A week after returning from vacation, I feel like I am back in the groove. It's Sunday and I am baking Sweet Melissa Sunday's. Unlike a lot of bloggers, I tend to bake and post all in the same day. I always feel really together when I have a couple of posts waiting in my queque. Today, there's....ZERO!!

I decided to make cupcakes instead of a cake. That way, hubby or I or both can take them to work. I also cut the recipe in half. A while back I found the greatest site for decreasing or increasing recipes. Since I am not a math whiz and tend to cut a lot of baking recipes in half, this site is a lifesaver!!!

This recipe is a breeze to make. I frosted them with the cream cheese frosting and decorated with some Valentines Day themed sprinkles. I baked these for 25 minutes but should have pulled them out of the oven at 20 minutes. I read everyone's hints about how the baking soda turns red food coloring brown AFTER I'd baked these. Mine are definetely more brown than red. The flavor of these didn't wow me. They are good but not great.




This recipe was chosen by the talented baker, Rosy of Rosy Lip and Lavender. You can find the links to all the other bakers here. I am anxious to read everyone's posts and see if anyone's cake turned out red.

Scallops with Citrus and Quinoa

At least every couple of weeks, I try to spend an hour or two sufing the blogsphere. A few weeks ago, I came across Tomatoes on the Vine. Velva's recipes and photographs are lovely and definitely worth a look. I know I've added her blog to my daily reading list.

Earlier this week, I was thrilled to find her recipe for Scallops with Citrus and Quinoa. We had Citrus Glazed Scallops on the cruise. They were delicious and I wanted to find a recipe to try at home.

I've been trying to use Quinoa more often as a side dish. It's a nice change from rice or pasta. Plus it's so good for you. My husband came home tonight and said, "Oh we're having King Wah?". I guess to him it's named after some famous king.

I didn't have the oranges, tangerines or the coriander. I used clementines and omitted the coriander. I don't think it was as citrusy as it might have been but they were still delicious.



Scallops With Citrus And Quinoa
Serves 4
Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients:
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well
Kosher salt
3 oranges
4 tangerines
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1- 1/4 pounds sea scallops, tough foot muscles removed
Freshly ground pepper
1 teasppon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
1. Combine the quinoa, 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, ntil the water is absorbed, 12 to 14 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, grate 1 teaspoon orange zest, then juice all 3 oranges and the tangerines into a bowl. Sprinkle the sugar in a skillet and cook over medium-high heat until dark amber, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the vinegar, citrus juices, zest, and the coriander. Return to medium heat and boil until thick, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter; keep warm.

3. Season the scallops on one side with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the scallops seasoned-side down and sear until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook until golden on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more minutes.

4. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and divide among plates. Top with the scallops, drizzle with the citrus sauce and sprinkle with parsley.

What Motivates You?

Routine is such an important thing for me...at work and at home. On the other hand, I need a periodic break from the routine to rejuvinate myself. That break came for me last week with our much needed warm weather cruise. Much to my dismay that cruise also came with the stomach bug. Heading back to work on Monday seemed more difficult than normal after a vacation. I am sure that was because this vacation didn't turn out as I had hoped. It only took me a couple of days and I am back in the routine!!! I love my job, so going to work every day comes pretty easily. Considering I need to work OR we won't be taking those wonderful vacations. I guess that means my motivation for working is vacation (and paying the bills)!!

I love blogging and am envious of those of you who are retired and have more time than I do to blog. I have really challenged myself these past months to post at least twice each week. Prior to vacation, I was in the groove and doing a great job posting on a regular basis. Since vacation, I am having trouble finding the energy or the motivation to blog. Tonight I have the time but no motivation. What motivates me to blog is my love of cooking, those comments you guys leave and my family, co-workers and friends enjoying my creations. I so want to be back in the blogging groove this week. It's not that I don't have ideas, I have a great list of future blog posts. I will be back this weekend for sure! Please don't go away, stay tuned.

How do you stay motivated?

Back from Vacation - No Sweet Melissa Sunday's

Well we're back from our cruise. I'd hoped to be able to post pictures of some of the wonderful foods we ate while cruising. Unfortunately both my husband and I were bitten by the awful (and I mean awful) Norovirus. Tim got sick on Tuesday night, just before dinner. Eventhough I sprayed Lysol constantly, I still got the bug, Thursday afternoon for me. We spent the last two days of the cruise in our cabins. Fortunately, we did have a balcony, so we were able to step out for some fresh air and sunshine.

We ended up going to the medical center on the ship, which I must say is quite impressive. My questionaire asked where I thought I had contracted my illness. I filled in the blank with MY HUSBAND. :) Tim said sounds like there will be another cruise in our future.

No Sweet Melissa Sunday's for me this week. Jennifer of Maple n' Cornbread chose Butterscotch Pudding for this week's recipe. Maybe this will be a rewind post for me in the future.

Chocolate Pets De Nonne

Traveling home from our cruise today so my Chocolate With Francois post will be delayed!!

Pets De Nonne means nuns farts. Check out the blog of this month's hostess Maggie at The Other Side of 50, I am sure she has a hilarious story for us about her choice. You can find the links to the other Chocolate With Francois bloggers here.

Flourless Chocolate Mint Cake

As you read this we are enjoying a sea day aboard the Crown Princess. Sailing towards the Princess Cays, the ships private island in the Bahamas.

I love flourless chocolate cakes. They're so rich and decadent. And of course, they just scream chocolate! In keeping with my Use it Up theme, I had mint chips in the freezer. I checked out the Andes website and found this recipe.

The recipe says don't bake past 12 minutes. At the end of 12 minutes this cake was what I would call soup. I couldn't bring myself to take it out, fearing it wouldn't turn out. I left it in another 5 minutes. At the end of the 17 minutes, it was still very liquid in the center. I let it cool at room temp and it still was somewhat soft in the center. I was concerned if I removed the sides of the pan at this time it would crack and break, so I put it in the refrigerator. After three hours, I removed the sides. It did crack just a little and it was a little hard to get it off the bottom. I'd love to make this for a party but before I do I want to perfect getting it out of the pan.

We loved this cake, so rich and chocolately with a nice mint flavor. I can't wait to try this recipe with some different flavors, maybe peanut butter?



Flourless Chocolate Mint Cake

12 oz. dark chocolate (60% cocoa recommended)
2 cups (10 oz.) Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
3 1/2 sticks of butter
5 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup sugar

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325° degrees. Prepare a removable-bottomed cake pan, 9 inches in diameter, lined with parchment or wax paper and buttered.

In a 2-quart saucepan, over very low heat, gently melt butter, Andes Baking Chips and chocolate broken into small pieces. Stir occasionally until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until mixture becomes three times the original volume (about 3-5 minutes). Through a strainer, add 1/4 of the chocolate mixture into the bowl. Using a spatula, mix gently until thoroughly incorporated. Add remaining melted chocolate through strainer to catch any solid pieces and fold in gently until well mixed.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. The cake will be slightly soft to the touch, not firm. Don't be tempted to bake it for any longer than this. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan. When cool, cover pan and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Remove pan sides, invert cake onto large plate and remove pan bottom and peel away parchment paper. Invert cake again on another plate or serving platter. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.

Serves 16 -24