"Pup"cakes

I don't know where the idea to make these even came from. Well, actually, I do. My sister decided she wanted to make a "dog themed craft", then suddenly emerged with the idea of "pupcakes". How she comes up with these things, I will never know.

Either way, these actually turned out really cute, and they were delicious too! They were fun to make and we got to use our amazing (can't you tell?) artistic skills. If you're a great cake decorator, I bet you could make these look amazing. Even with our sub-par cake artistry, these turned out pretty darn cute.

If you're looking for a fun cupcake idea, try these puppies out.

"Pup"cakes

Cupcake recipe adapted from Baking Bites

Makes 48 mini cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. white vinegar
• chocolate frosting
• Starburst candies
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips 
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 
• Peanut Butter M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with liners.

In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a seperate bowl, combine vegetable oil, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Pour into dry mix, and stir to combine. Divide mixture evenly between muffin tins.

Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate. Drop onto wax paper in small circular shapes, small enough to work as "eyes" for the puppies. Melt semi sweet chocolate and prop on top of white chocolate circles. Set aside to harden in fridge.

Next, unwrap pink Starbursts and put in microwave for about 10 seconds, just so they soften. Mould Starbursts into "tongue"shapes. Set aside.

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting and decorating (according to pictures).

*For the review of this recipe, visit my little sister's blog, teenietinybaker.blogspot.ca 

Grilled Peach Salad

Sooo...I'm kind of cheating you with this recipe today.

You might remember when I posted this recipe for strawberry feta salad a while back. Well, this is just a twist on that recipe. But remember how much I raved about that dressing? This one is just as good. You're going to love it. It's the perfect recipe for summer. 

I love peaches on the grill, and the dressing pairs perfectly with the salad because it has peach puree mixed right in. You don't even have to turn on your oven (well, okay, I guess the almonds are toasted, but you could do that ahead of time...or skip it all together), and it doesn't take too long to make. If you're looking for a great new salad, give this one a try, you won't be disappointed!

Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad
Adapted from this salad
Serves 4


For the salad:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 4 cups lettuce (I used romaine)

• 4 medium peaches

• 1/2 cup toasted almonds

• 3/4 cup crumbled feta

For the Dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup diced peaches

• 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

• 2 tsp. honey

• 1/4 tsp. salt

In a blender or food processor, whirl olive oil, peaches, vinegar, honey and salt until fully pureed.

Preheat BBQ to medium. Brush chicken with a little bit of the dressing, then season with salt and pepper. Grill chicken for 8 minutes, then flip and grill for another 8-10 minutes. Remove and let rest five minutes, then slice.

Divide lettuce among four plates and top with peaches, feta, almonds and chicken. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

Wow, I can't believe July is already over! I think my trip to France really made the month fly by. This month, I participated in my first ever Foodie Penpals. Have you heard of it? Basically, it's a program run by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. You send a "foodie" package to someone, and someone else sends one to you. If you want to find out more, click the button below:

I had a lot of fun with foodie penpals this month. I sent my package to Rebecca at Crunchy Can Feel Good. Head over to her blog if you want to check out what I sent!

I received my package from Alison. She's so nice, and her blog is super fun to read. She posts about lots of things, from her favourite recipes to the (many!) places in the world where she's travelled. She sent me a fantastic package, and now I'm very excited to share it with you!

When the package got here, I couldn't wait to rip into it! Sitting on top was a nice little letter that Alison wrote explaining about what she put in my package. She went shopping at a European supermarket near her because of my recent trip to France.

 

Here's a look at everything all together. 

First up are these rice chips. I'd never heard of tamari before, but my family loves rice chips so these were a perfect choice!

This is a package of instant oatmeal (European style - but I can't quite tell what language...). I haven't tried this one yet, but it will be perfect for one of those busy mornings once school starts again.

This one is a pear and balsamic jam/chutney. I love the combination of fruit with meat, so I can't wait to try this on lots of different things. We put it on our turkey-feta burgers, and it was great!

Next up, this yummy nut bar. Granola bars are one of my favourite snacks, so this one was a perfect choice for me. It almost tastes like pecan pie!

I haven't had a chance to try this one yet because it's been really warm here, but the honey-vanilla flavour sounds like it'll be yummy.

This star shaped pasta was so adorable! I wanted to dig in right when I opened my package, but I thought my little sister would really like this, so I waited. It's on the menu for dinner tonight with pesto and salmon.

See how cute they are?

This was another perfect choice for me because I love caramel. I actually saw these everywhere in France!

As much as I love caramel, I love chocolate even more, so this was another home run!

Thanks so much to Alison for sending me such a wonderful package! I had such a great time participating in Foodie Penpals this month, and I was lucky to get paired with such a great penpal!

  

Parmesan Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

I don't make a lot of yeast bread. When I do, it's usually on a day where I have nothing to do, what with all the rising and punching down and rising and...well, it's all just very time consuming.

When I do make bread, though, I like to make fun kinds, like cinnamon-raisin bread, or bagels. Or this lovely loaf of cheesy garlic pull-apart bread.

Variations of this recipe have been circling the internet for a while now (I can't wait to try the cinnamon sugar version!), and it looked like a fun recipe to try out. It looks tricky, but it's actually not hard at all! I made a half recipe in a mini loaf pan because we didn't need that much (and the mini loaf is really cute!), but it turns out great in a large loaf pan too.

Isn't it adorable? Also, it really reminds me of this, but maybe that's just me. I have pugs on the brain. What can I say, I'm obsessed. With both pugs and this bread.

Parmesan Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

Adapted from Pink Parsley

Makes one loaf

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 pkg. instant dry yeast
• 3 Tbsp. Sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tsp. dried basil, or an Italian herb blend

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for a few minutes to let the yeast activate. Add the first two cups of flour, and mix to combine. Add the third cup of flour, a little bit at a time, until dough forms. Knead 5-10 minutes, until dough is easy to work with and doesn't stick to the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and put it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a towel, and allow the dough to sit in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down on a lightly floured surface, and let sit for 5 minutes. During this time, you can melt the butter and grate the cheese for the filling.

Roll dough into a 12 x 20 inch rectangle. Brush with the butter, then sprinkle with cheese, herbs, salt and garlic. Cut the dough into six equal strips (cut so the strips are 12 inches long, not 20), and stack the strips on top of each other. Next, cut the strips into 6 equal squares. 

Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan well. Put the loaf pan on its small side so it is standing up, and stack the squares into pan, one on top of the other. Cover with a towel and let rise 30-45 minutes.

Bake for 35-45 minutes (until top is golden brown and bread is cooked through) in an oven heated to 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Cheesy Corn Dip

Corn on the cob is a food that, in my mind, goes hand in hand with summer. I eat it a lot in the summer, and have since I was old enough to eat it off the cob. For this dip, you shave the corn off of the cob, but it still has that fresh, summery flavour.

Shaving all that corn reminded me of the two long summers during which I had braces. For those of you who haven't had them, YOU CAN'T EAT CORN ON THE COB WITH BRACES. Those were hard days (okay, I'm a bit dramatic) as I watched my family eat corn while I sawed away at my cob with my butter knife, corn flying everywhere. 

Luckily, I can now eat corn again, and I thoroughly enjoy it every time I do. Like in this dip for instance. The corn in fresh and delicious, and covered in yummy cheddar cheese. I would recommend this dip to any other corn lover like me. Make this for yourself. Or, if you're nice, make it for somebody with braces. They will appreciate you for it. Trust me.




Cheesy Corn Dip
Adapted from How Sweet It Is and Emiril Lagasse
Makes one 8 x 8 dish of dip

• 3 1/2 cups corn (I used fresh)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup chopped purple onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter and sauté corn with salt and red pepper flakes until corn is golden brown and caramelized, about 8 minutes.

Transfer corn to bowl, then melt the other Tbsp. of butter and sauté onions, red pepper and garlic until onion is translucent and veggies are wilted. Add this mixture to bowl with corn. Stir in Greek yogurt and half a cup of each cheese.

Pour into 8 x 8 in. baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with tortilla chips or raw veggies.

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

Starbucks is a place that I visit a lot. I even have a gold customer loyalty card. When I go, I like so many of the drinks, but if I get food, I usually get either banana chocolate chip coffee cake or lemon poppyseed loaf. They're both super tasty (I recommend them!). Unfortunately, if you've ever looked at the nutritional information, you'll know that these are "special treat" kind of items, not to be eaten ALL the time. So, I decided to make my own!

This loaf is really good, and very lemon-y. It's different from the one at Starbucks, because it isn't topped with icing, but you could easily add some if you wanted. I think that it's delicious without it, and it makes it more of an afternoon snack than dessert. 

By the way, it's all wrapped up because it's my grandmother's favourite, and I gave it to her.

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

from Canadian Living

makes one loaf

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp poppyseeds
• 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup milk

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. grated lemon rind
• 1/3 cup lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until incorporated.

In a seperate bowl, whisk together flour, poppyseeds, lemon rind, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, and beginning and ending with flour.

Pour into a greased 8 x 4 in. loaf pan, and bake in center of oven for one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

To make syrup, combine sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice in a sauce pan or a microwavable bowl, and heat until sugar is dissolved. 

When loaf is taken out of oven and still warm, poke in 12 places with a skewer. Pour syrup over top and let loaf rest before cutting.

Turkey-Feta Burgers

I love burgers. They're so delicious, and in the summer, we usually barbecue them at least once a week for dinner. Sometimes, though, a plain beef burger week after hot summer week can get a bit...old. To solve this problem, I decided to make turkey burgers!

Some people think that turkey is dry, and doesn't have any flavour, but after one taste of these burgers, they will be proven wrong! The feta cheese mixed in gives the burgers some moisture, and a great salty taste. I enjoyed these burgers as a change of pace from the regular old beef burgers, so much that I'll have to try some other variations soon!

Turkey-Feta Burgers
Makes 4-6 burgers

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat BBQ to medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, oregano and breadcrumbs, and mix until combined. Add in the feta cheese, and mix gently (so that the cheese doesn't break into super tiny pieces).

Form into patties, and refrigerate for 10 minutes so burgers set a bit before they go on the grill.

Grill burgers until no longer pink in center, about 6-10 minutes a side.