Lovin' From the Oven

Archives for May 2013

Copycat Hotel Waffles with my Coffee

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I was recently asked by Folgers to create a post about my routine when I wake up and wanted to share with you how coffee and music work into my mornings. My morning time is very sacred to me. I need the extra half an hour/hour for “me” time. It may sound silly because I just woke up and have the whole day to myself, but that “me” time sets the mood for the rest of the day.

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Let’s be honest here. I hardly ever get out of bed the moment my alarm goes off. I’m more of a “snooze it for as long as you can” kinda gal. I cherish my time in bed to catch up on my laptop, read new emails, browse eBay, and look for work related news. As long as I have my morning jam going, I’m set to go. As for my morning drink, I like my coffee piping hot with extra cream and lots of sugar. I didn’t always drink coffee. I started when I became a flight attendant. I guess you could say that my magical discovery happened aboard an airplane. How many people can say that? Now, I savor every sip and look forward to the jolt almost every morning. Combine a good playlist with a tall cup of joe and I’m a happy camper. These waffles are an optional part of my morning routine. If I have time, I’ll whip up a batch for my DB and me to enjoy with our coffees. After all, a full stomach is a happy one. waffles-3

I remember when I was little, I always had the Folgers theme song stuck in my head. I didn’t even know what coffee really was because my parents rarely drank it. I just knew that the tune was catchy and I sang it all the time. Oh, and that coffee was a very very dark liquid. You know what I’m talking about… “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup!”

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Folgers has always supported musical creativity. I remember hearing their jingle sung by many various artists and at different tempos. That makes it even more catchy to me! Now that I’ve YouTubed old Folgers commercials, I have the tune stuck in my head for the night. Gosh, they’re good at what they do. Folgers is actually hosting a jingle contest as we speak! Here are the official rules. waffles-5

Be sure to Vote for the best Top 10 Finalist in Folgers’ Jingle Contest! Meet the Top 10! Take a look at Folgers® Jingle Contest Finalists, and listen to the tracks that earned them a spot in The Top 10. Cast your vote once every day through June 19th. You could win exciting prizes, like free Folgers Coffee, iTunes® gift cards, signed CDs from Gavin DeGraw, and even a $10,000 Grand Prize just for voting! Before you vote, follow the Road to the Jingle on Facebook to see how they traveled the U.S. to track down the Top 10 contestants! Remember, you can vote once a day through June 19th! Vote Now. Once again, here are the official rules.

 

As for these waffles, they’re definitely fluffy and reminiscent of those hotel waffles that you get in a continental breakfast. You know, the ones that get served piping hot to you right off of the waffle iron. The texture is spot on. This recipe comes from Yammie’s Noshery.

Print
Copycat Hotel Waffles

Yield: 6 waffles

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour (use cake flour for crispier waffles)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

Directions

  1. Preheat your waffle iron.
  2. Beat together the eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk into the wet ingredients until combined.
  3. Pour about 1/4 cup into your waffle iron and cook them according to your waffle iron's instructions.
https://lovintheoven.com/copycat-hotel-waffles/

A Kettle Brand Potato Chip Kind of Picnic

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The Real Kettle Brand Chips™ have been around for longer than I’ve been living. Only by five years, but they still have me beat. They’ve been cooking their chips, batch by batch, for thirty years in Willamette Valley, Oregon. Today, we’re taking them with us on a special picnic. I’ve always been a fan of picnics and may or may not be a secret hoarder when it comes to picnic baskets. Most of them look cute on the outside, but it’s what’s inside that matters… the food! What picnic is complete without chips?

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Since I’m a huge fan of dessert, I decided to take this salty snack and turn it into dessert. Say hello to potato chip chocolate chip cookies and chocolate dipped potato chips. Anything’s possible when you have a thick and crunchy chip. The Kettle Brand Chips are real chips made with real ingredients by real people. I love that. Each bag is handmade with a little bit of love from potato lovers. They also only use the finest all-natural, non-GMO ingredients. There are no trans fats, no MSG, no artificial colors or flavors, and best of all, no list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce. Gluten-free readers can also rejoice because these potato chips are safe to eat. Speaking of non-GMO, did you know that the Kettle Brand is the first potato chip to be verified using non-GMO ingredients by the non-GMO Project? They’re really looking out for your health over there: “Kettle Brand® has used natural, non-GMO ingredients since our founding in 1978. We have been working with the Non-GMO Project since 2009 to verify our products and give our consumers extra reassurance of the steps we take to ensure ingredients with integrity. We started selling the market’s first Non-GMO Project Verified potato chip earlier this year, and will soon have many verified products with the Non-GMO label prominently featured on front of their packages in the marketplace. We are working diligently to achieve verification on all of our products. ”

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The flavors that I chose to pack on my trip were: Sea Salt and Vinegar, Jalapeño, and Backyard Barbeque. I used the Sea Salt to make my dessert since they have the perfect amount of salt to balance out the sweet.

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Kettle Brand’s Sea Salt and Vinegar chips are unconventionally strong and tangy, just the way it should be. I love the way the vinegar leaves your tongue puckering for more. The Jalapeño chips are probably my favorite. The extra kick is like a fiesta in your mouth. There’s a spicy kick in every single chip– even those little broken pieces at the bottom of the bag when you’ve gone through everything else. The Backyard Barbeque instantly calls for summer. It’s the perfect chip for picnics and taking to the beach. It’s smoky, spicy, tangy, and sweet. How do they do that?

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As for the plain ol’ Sea Salt, they’re only made with three ingredients. Yes, you read that right, three: potatoes, oil, and sea salt. Kettle Brand keeps their ingredient list to a minimum while still creating an undeniable flavor and crunch.

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As you reach for that bag at the grocery store, just know that there is only one kettle style chip. The Real Kettle Chips have been inspiring knock-offs for thirty years, but none have yet or will ever reach their substance.

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Chocolate dipped potato chips are probably the easiest thing to make. Just take some melting chocolate, dip your chips in it, sprinkle with whatever you’d like, and let the chocolate completely dry on some wax paper.

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I used regular milk chocolate with heath bar pieces, coconut, and sprinkles for the toppings.

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As for the cookies, the sea salt provided all the salt that the cookie needed. They also gave the cookie a surprise and pleasant crunch in every bite.

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See if people can guess what’s inside the cookie before you tell them. I bet they’ll be shocked!

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What do you include in your picnic basket? Answer in the comments for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card!

Print
A Kettle Brand Potato Chip Kind of Picnic

Yield: just under 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup Kettle Brand Sea Salt Potato Chips (not yet crushed)
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream together the butter and both sugars. Add in the egg and vanilla.
  3. Stir in the flour and baking soda until just combined.
  4. Measure the potato chips to 1 cup, and then crush them in the measuring cup (it'll be less than 1 cup when crushed). Stir in the crushed chips and chocolate chips.
  5. Form the dough into two tablespoon sized balls and drop on baking sheet, at least two inches apart.
  6. Bake for 12 minutes.
https://lovintheoven.com/a-kettle-brandpotato-chip-kind-of-picnic/

 

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Fried Cube Steak

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I feel like whenever the weather gets hotter, the less willpower I have to blog. My slowest blogging months are definitely June, July, and August. Maybe the sun just makes me lethargic. Maybe it’s because my DB doesn’t have to study, so we don’t frequent coffee shops for hours in the summer. Maybe because it’s just too darn hot to bake/cook in southern California.

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Did I just say southern California? You betcha. My DB got a summer job at a firm in downtown LA, so we’ve moved back for the next ten weeks. Well, he’s moved back. I’ll be going back and forth between the bay area and LA for work. It’ll be a hectic ten weeks, but it’ll be fun.

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Cube steak is pretty much the poor man’s steak. It’s cheap, tasty, and filling. What more do you need from a meal?

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This recipes comes from The Pioneer Woman. She seriously makes the best recipes. If I could live in someone’s shoes for a day, it’d be her. To live life on a ranch, to cook in a kitchen with every appliance available, and to have all that space? I wouldn’t mind leaving California for a bit to do that. Note that I said a bit, not forever. California is where my heart is.

This meal would go great with any starch side: baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes… Just make sure that you pat the steaks dry with paper towels to absorb all the excess oil. Also note that cube steak is a bit chewier than normal steak.

Print
Fried Cube Steak

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Cube Steak (round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
  • 3 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper, Or To Taste Salt, For Seasoning Meat
  • 1/2 cup Canola Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.
  2. Mix together flour, seasoned salt, and pepper in a large shallow plate.
  3. Sprinkle both sides of the meat with salt and pepper.
  4. Dunk both sides of each piece of meat into the flour mixture, until well coated.
  5. Add butter to pan right before frying. Once melted, add the meat and cook. Flip when sides are deep golden brown and cook about 1 minute on the other side. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately.
https://lovintheoven.com/fried-cube-steak/

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