Lovin' From the Oven

Archives for September 2012

Ginger Bars

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Is it pathetic that I get excited over paper goods? Polka dot envelopes and embossed kraft paper are the keys to my heart.

With my new blog makeover, I was determined to get some fitting business cards to match the new and simplified layout. My previous business cards were freebies from vistaprint. They were perfect for me at the time, but I eventually outgrew them.

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I have zero skills in photoshop and template design, so I had someone else make a business card that I absolutely loved. With a couple of drafts back and forth changing the fonts, the final draft was finished and off to the printer it went.

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I got them in the mail yesterday and couldn’t be happier. If you’re following the FB fan page or my Instagram @kimberlywyn, then you’ve already seen them. But if not, here’s the final draft!:

Although with the filter, the lines and fonts look yellow, but they’re really white! What do you think?

These ginger bars make enough to bring to a party. They hold their shape, aren’t crumbly, and don’t fall apart easy. The ginger flavor isn’t as strong as I would have imagined, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I left the bars in for 45 minutes since they weren’t done at 30, but I definitely over baked them. Don’t leave them in for that long! The bars weren’t very sweet, so I added a little dusting of powdered sugar once the bars cooled. Recipe slightly adapted from AllRecipes.

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Ginger Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
  2. Cream together the brown sugar, butter, and molasses. Mix in the ginger, eggs, and vanilla.
  3. Slowly stir in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.
https://lovintheoven.com/ginger-bars/

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

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Man, Starbucks has been all kinds of disappointing as of late. I JUST got my gold member status and what do they do? Take away the best perks of having a Starbucks reward card: no more free syrups and no more free soy milk.

Starbucks tried to make it sound better in the email they sent out by saying that the program was going to give you “fastier, tastier rewards.” I don’t care about the free drink for every 12 stars instead of 15 (uh, do you know how long that takes me to drink 12 Starbucks?), just give me my free soy milk back!

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I spent all that time making sure to reload my gift cards and use it on every purchase so that I would get those dang stars. Now, it’s all gone to waste. I guess that’s what I get for supporting a huge corporation. Back to ma & pa coffee shops for me… where they have friendly service and 8 drink punch cards!

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You might mistaken these cookies for snickerdoodles. Nope, they’re just plain ol’ cinnamon sugar cookies. What’s the difference, you ask? They’re missing the key ingredient that would make them snickerdoodles: cream of tartar. Without that, you just have regular cookies.

Maybe the bar is set too high with my usual snickerdoodles, but these cookies were pretty plain. Don’t get me wrong, they were by no means bad. Perhaps they’re the perfect kind of plain to go with some tea or coffee. They have that wonderful crinkle on top and the nice crusty outer layer with a tender center. Recipe adapted (only in the directions part) from AllRecipes.

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Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Mix the 1/2 cup white sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter with the 1/4 cup of white sugar and brown sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
  3. Slowly stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and and form them into balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture, making sure to coat every side.
  6. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
https://lovintheoven.com/cinnamon-sugar-cookies/

Beer Chicken in a Crockpot

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Continuing my previous post… this is the chicken I served with my lemon garlic pasta:

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A lot of people cook with alcohol, whether it be beer or wine. I thought I’d give it a try since I had some beers in my fridge leftover from having friends over and I don’t drink. My initial impression was that regardless of the kind of alcohol I used, it would burn off and not leave any distinct taste. Boy, was I wrong… Even a crockpot cooking for 6 hours didn’t do the trick!

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Now, since I don’t drink beer, I’m the last person to know anything about beers. I posted a status on the Facebook fan page about my experience cooking with Pale Ale and luckily, Jennifer came to the rescue. According to her, Lagers and Belgian style beers cook up well, while German weisse beers are great for braising. Mentally noted, thanks Jennifer!

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Overall, it wasn’t bad. If you love beer, you’d love this chicken. It was juicy, fell apart at the touch of a fork, and had a very strong flavor. The taste was just a bit strong for me. When the chicken’s cooking throughout the day, your house smells like beer. Straight up beer. I don’t know if that’s a pleasant smell or not, but I’d much prefer the smell of pumpkin or baked apples.

Here’s to experimenting in the kitchen!

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Beer Chicken in a Crockpot

Ingredients

  • 3-4 frozen chicken breasts
  • 1 bottle of any kind of beer (read note above)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried onion
  • 1/4 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • pepper

Directions

  1. Put the chicken breasts in the crockpot.
  2. Throw the rest of the ingredients on top of the chicken and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8.
https://lovintheoven.com/beer-chicken-in-a-crockpot/

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