Fingerlickin' Chicken - Courtney's Hot Wings

Courtney's Hot Wings

1. fill deep fryer to max fill line with canola, vegetable or peanut oil and turn heat to 375 degree.  (Fry outside to avoid stinking up your house)
2. In a large bowl combine flour and seasoned salt
3. Add wings (40 count) and coat with flour or dredge
4. In a saucepan add 1/4 cup butter, 1 bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce and 2 Tbsp (or more) agave nectar or honey. Turn the heat to medium and stir until butter is melted and sauce is combined.  Turn heat to low to keep warm while wings are frying
5. When the oil it hot add wings (fry in shifts of 6-8 wings of similar size)
6. The wings are done when they float to the top and turn a golden brown color (anywhere from 4-7 or more min depending on size)
7. Remove wings and drain on a paper towel
8. Coat in sauce
9. Serve immediately with celery and ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken

**If you don’t have a deep fryer you can fry in a pan on the stove.

Ingredients

1-2 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast

About 1 cup dry pancake mix

Seasoned salt to taste

Jarred Orange sauce

Orange zest (optional)

Rice and vegetable of your choice

Frying oil

1.     Cook the rice

2.     Fill up your fryer to the max fill line and turn on to 375 degree.

3.     Cup chicken into bite size pieces and dry thoroughly

4.     Mix pancake mix, seasoned salt and water to a soupy consistency

5.     Add chicken and stir to coat

6.     Steam your broccoli (or vegetable of your choice)

7.     When the fryer is ready drop 6-8 pieces at a time in (don’t crowd the fryer)

8.     When the pieces float to the top and turn a golden brown color

9.     Remove pieces and place on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil

10. Place chicken in a bowl and add the orange sauce

11. Add broccoli and more sauce if needed and stir

Serve immediately with rice.

Now That's a Party! - My Little Pony Party

For Themed Party planning details and Formula:  see link here

I Have boy/girl twins who both love MLP. So I wanted to make their party as gender neutral as I could.  I got several ideas from Pinterest and I made up several of my own.

My Little Pony Party

The Formula

Step 1. My Little Pony Theme

Step 2. Small group of my twins Friends and Parents

Step 3. The Framework
We had the party at our house

I used a Facebook event for the Invitation

Step 4. The Inner workings

We had a great time! An absolutely fabulous was to celebrate a 4th birthday!

Now that's a Party!

To see all pictures and ideas click here

Pasta La Vista, Baby! Mac-n-cheese 3 ways

Who doesn't love Mac-n-cheese?  This is a great recipe that is smooth and creamy, with variations.  Sure to be a crowd pleaser. 

Creamy Classic

1. In a saucepan over medium heat melt 1/2 stick of butter. 

2. Add 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and stir until melted and gooey

3. Add 1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper.

4. Stir until creamy smooth and set aside

** This makes 2 small 8x8 pans or 1 large 9x13 (I freezes well, so you can save the other half for later)

5. Prepare your favorite pasta to al dente and place in you baking dish

6. Pour on the cheese mixture and stir well

7. Crush some cracker crumbs and sprinkle over the top, drizzle with melted butter 

8. Bake at 350 for 30 min. 

BBQ Chicken

1. Using a smoked whole chicken: remove skin, remove meat from bones and chop up. 

2. Place the meat in a bowl mix with your favorite BBQ sauce

3. Stir into the creamy classic recipe, top with cracker crumbs and butter and bake 

Seafood Medley

1. Prepare you seafood of choice (I used lobster tail and canned crab meat, but you could use shrimp or scallops or whatever you like)

2. In the cheese mixture I used gouda cheese instead of cheddar but that is optional

3. Mix together, top with cracker crumbs and butter and bake. 

Kids in the Kitchen: Baking

This is another video I did for Twiniversity Magazine.  The original article can be found at the link below. 

http://www.twiniversity.com/2015/07/kids-in-the-kitchen-baking-video-demo/

My kids have grown quite a bit since I made this video! 

I have great memories growing up being in the kitchen with my mom. I love to share that time with my kids as well. Being a former Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, I know the importance of teaching your kids to know their way around the kitchen. There are many skills that can be learned from cooking, such as reading, math skills, science principles, and so much more. Spending time with your kids is the best part, but there are also educational opportunities if you look for them. 

Russian Tea Cookies

1. In a mixing bowl, cream together ¾ cup shortening, ¼ cup brown sugar and ½ cup granulated sugar
2. Add 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and ¼ tsp almond extract and mix
3. Sift in 1 ¾ cup flour, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp baking powder and mix
4. Add ½ cup chopped pecans and mix again
5. Roll a small amount of dough into a ball and place a chocolate kiss in the middle. Form the dough around the kiss and place on a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 9-12 min in a 350 degree oven
7. Let cool completely, then roll in powdered sugar

S’mores Cookie Bars

1. Cream ½ cup of softened butter and ¾ cup granulated sugar
2. Add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix
3. Sift in 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt and mix
4. Crush a package of graham crackers into crumbs and add ¾ cup to the bowl and mix
5. Take ½ of the dough and flatten into the bottom of a greased 8×8 baking dish
6. Break apart 4 Hershey chocolate bars and place over the dough
7. Place a layer of marshmallows over the chocolate
8. Spread out some of the remaining graham cracker crumbs and roll out the remainder of the dough. Carefully place it on top of the marshmallows.
9. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 mins or until lightly brown. Let cool and cut into bars.

Sugar Cookie Pizza

1. Bake refrigerated sugar cookie dough according to the package instructions (or make your own)
2. Mix together 1 package of softened cream cheese and 1 container of marshmallow cream and spread over your cookies like frosting
3. Dice up a variety of fruits (bananas, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, mandarin oranges, etc.) and decorate your cookie pizzas with them

Now That's A Party - The formula for throwing an amazing themed Party

I'm starting a new subsection of my blog devoted to throwing an amazing party.  I love themed parties and I'm sharing my foolproof formula with you.  After this first introductory post, I'll be using the formula to show you specific themed party ideas, but for now here are the basics.

The Formula (see video above for details)

Step 1. Choosing a Theme

Step 2. Determining the Audience

Step 3. The Framework

Step 4. The Inner workings

Step 5. Capturing memories 

Take the Cake Tips and Tricks

See Kristi's Facebook page for ordering info

https://www.facebook.com/KristiBakesCakes/

And Follow her on Instagram @cakesbykristi_stl

Basic Buttercream Frosting

*Cut recipe in half for sugar cookies

*Make full recipe for cupcakes & cake

1 stick softened butter

4 cups powdered sugar

up to ¼ cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract, clear

food coloring

1.     Mix butter, vanilla and powdered sugar in mixer with whisk attachment

2.     Add small amounts of water until you reach desired consistency

3.     Add color and mix until dispersed

Chocolate Frosting 

1. Melt 1 stick butter and stir in 2/3 cup cocoa powder

2. Transfer to mixing bowl

3. Add 3 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla

4. Mix in up to 1/3 cup milk little bits at a time until you reach the desired 

texture. 

Marshmallow Fondant

1. Place 1 bag mini marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl with 1-2 tbsp water

2. Microwave for 30 sec. at time and stir until the marshmallows are mostly melted

3. With a spoon or your stand mixer and a dough hook beat in up to 1 lb of powdered sugar 

a cup at a time until it starts to come away from the sides of the bowl

4. Turn out onto counter and knead until smooth and springy, 

using powdered sugar if it starts to stick 

5. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside overnight

6. Knead in desired color and roll out to about 1/8 in thickness