Monthly Archives: October 2011

Obsessions: Last Call for Pumpkin Pie Blizzard

Any loyal little cookie will know that I have an obsession with Dairy Queen. A love affair, if you will. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and nothing in this world gives me quite as much pleasure as a cool, creamy Blizzard. However, you also may know that I currently live nowhere near a DQ. Everyday is a struggle, especially when faced with commercials on TV broadcasting the latest Blizzard treat if for no other reason than to further drive the knife into my heart. My sister, who resides only a few minutes away from a Dairy Queen, likes to send me pictures on her phone whenever she stops in for a treat. She is heartless.

When October first began, a bittersweet excitement fell over me. You see, October means one thing in the world of Blizzard Fans: the return of the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. I love all Blizzards. I’ve never had one that wasn’t delicious, and there are many that vie for the top spot in my heart. French Silk Pie, classic Oreo, Cotton Candy…they’re all heavenly. But alas, there is one that stands above the rest, if only by a thin margin. And that, my little cookies, is the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard.

It literally tastes like they shoved a whole pumpkin pie into their creamy custard and blended it up.

Or, perhaps they created a Blizzard Morphing Machine that takes any food then converts all of its flavors and characteristics into creamy Blizzard form.

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Happy Halloween from The Smart Cookie Cook!

Here’s to hoping that your Halloweekend is filled will thrills & chills, tricks & treats, and ghoulish goodies. May your quest for  the best candy be fortuitous and may spooks and spirits find you on that night. In order to properly pep you up for the big event, I have compiled a list of all my best Halloween treats so that you may feed festively all weekend long!

Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini PIes

Treats:

Gnocchi w/ Butternut Squash & Kale

Festive Feasts:

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese: My Favorite

Every Fall, I patiently await the arrival of two things: pumpkin & butternut squash. I’ve been going pretty pumpkin-happy lately, but good ol’ butternut squash has been getting the cold shoulder. I knew it was time to turn my attention toward this slightly sweet squash. And what better way to do that than with one of my all-time favorite recipes?

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Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies

Trick-or-Treating is a really good idea in theory. You get to dress up however you please, portraying an entirely different person/creature/thing for one night, and frolic about the town collecting candies and confections aplenty. It’s a night full of jocular enjoyment, for sure. However, every year, you face that Day-After-Halloween Dilemma when you say, “What the heck am I gonna do with all this candy???” Sure, you can plow through a good portion of it during mindless snacking, but it’s almost inevitable that an unfortunate chunk will get discarded into the depths of the garbage can. That usually happens sometime around Christmas (or for some people, Easter) when you realize how long that candies has been chilling in your pantry and that you’re probably never going to eat it. The Day-After-Halloween Dilemma usually includes a premonition of that very moment.

And it’s not just trick-or-treaters who are susceptible to the Day-After-Halloween Dilemma. Adults everywhere fall victim when they fail to hand out all of the candy they bought for the trick-or-treaters. They have no clue what to do with the leftovers, and a quandary results.

So, how do you avoid this? Well, lucky for you little cookies, I’ve whipped up an easy and DELICIOUS solution! Cue the Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies. These little guys are not only ideal for using up leftover Halloween candies, they are also PERFECT for Halloween parties! You can make the crusts ahead of time then give everyone an assortment of candy to choose from. Your guests can pick out their favorites then fill their own personal mini pie with the candy and marshmallows! It’s fun, customizable, and so yummy!

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Judgement Time: Olive Garden’s Stuffed Rigatoni

I love Olive Garden. I don’t care if it’s not “authentic” Italian or if it’s laden with calories; it’s delicious. But I am very unfortunate, my little cookies, because my closest Olive Garden is 45 minutes away (no DQ, no Cheesecake Factory, no Wegman’s…how does anyone live here???). Luckily, when I make my monthly trek to the Wegman’s in Syracuse, I also make it a point to have a nice lunch with my mother. Where did we graze after we ventured to Weggie’s last weekend?

Olive Garden, of course!

You see, I just had to get to the Garden to try their new Cheese-Stuffed Rigatoni. They have 2 varieties: rigatoni with grilled chicken and a roasted garlic alfredo sauce or with sausage and a tomato-alfredo, plus an extra layer of melted cheese. I opted for the second, minus the sausage of course.

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3-Cheese Spinach & Tomato Melt

What’s easy, cheesy, and crazy delicious?

This 3-Cheese Spinach & Tomato Melt!

Is there anything better than mounds of gooey cheese sandwiched between golden brown, buttery bread? Probably not. But perhaps the typical American & white bread gets old for you from time to time. A classic, yes, but sometimes, you need a change! That’s when you whip up this baby. Packin’ triple the cheese & fresh veggies, it’s a toasty treat that’s sure to please.

When you’ve got three kinds of cheese stuffed into a sandwich (Mozarella, Cheddar, and Muenster), you know you’re in for something good. This trio works fantastically well together. It’s teamwork at its finest, like an elite team of Olympian cheeses, working together to win the gold medal of deliciousness.

Although the cheeses play a vital role in this sammy, we mustn’t forget the equally important veggies. You’ve got fresh spinach to give the sammy some bulk and add a nutritious advantage over the average grilled cheese. Then, you finish with that juicy tomato, adding a hint of sweetness that perfectly compliments the symphony of cheesy wonder. This melt is a prime example of great flavors working together in harmony to create something that’s simple but perfect.

Build this baby on a whole-wheat sandwich thin for an extra bit of healthiness and a slightly sweet flavor. It’s shape & size works perfectly for this melt. Then, add a touch of freshly ground pepper for kick and, you’ve got yourself a sammy.

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Halloween Popcorn Hands

Remember how awesome Halloween was in elementary school? Everyone got to dress up and wear their costumes to school, which was basically the coolest thing ever. We couldn’t wait to show off our awesome costumes to all our friends. There was a little parade where we proudly strutted around the school, flaunting our festive costumes like models in a fashion show (your costume was always way better than anyone else’s). My favorite part was the little classroom party, which always meant food. Those PTA moms would bring in cupcakes, cookies, and all kinds of fun Halloween treats. We kids feasted like pigs. I especially enjoyed these days because my mom was one of those moms who brought treats in. Her Halloween specialty was Popcorn Hands.

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Secret Ingredient Vegetarian Chili Topped w/ Caramelized Onions

Vegetarian recipes are tricky. For one to really be a success, it’s got to satisfy the vegetarians AND the meat-lovers out there. A true vegetarian recipe isn’t just delicious; it’s deceptive. It uses tasty tricks and alternative forms of protein to distract you from the missing meat. You see, with a good vegetarian dish, you forget it’s vegetarian at all. When you’re eating, you shouldn’t be concerning yourself with whether or not your food has meat in it; you should be focusing on how good it is.

Now, that being said, accomplishing a satisfying vegetarian chili ain’t easy. The good news is: this was a task I was willing to tackle. I knew the chili was going to need something special, something to make it so stand-out good & satisfying that the absence of meat mattered not. So what was it about this particular recipe that intrigued me?

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Seriously Cereal: Cascadian Farm’s Organic Cinnamon Crunch Cereal

Seriously Cereal is a new series to The Smart Cookie Cook. It explores all things cereal & is devoted to all you cerealists (cereal-enthusiasts) out there. We’ve got to stick together!

I’m sure that many cerealists like myself will agree when I say that General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch is one of the greatest cereals of all time. Those crunchy squares sprinkle my memories of childhood with sweet cinnamon-sugar bliss. Is it their pleasant crisp texture that made them so delightful? Is it their ribbed surfaces, all the more better for trapping sweet coating? No, as important as these components are, it is clearly that visible layer of cinnamon-sugar cradling each square that made them so darn tasty. What person, especially a child, doesn’t love pure sugary goodness?

Just because I’m technically an adult doesn’t mean I don’t still adore Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Age doesn’t affect deliciousness. I’m crazy about cereal, and I’ll still happily shovel in spoonfuls of the sweet stuff. However, if you’ve ever looked at the nutrition facts on Cinnamon Toast Crunch, then you know it’s pretty horrifying:

A teeny-tiny 3/4 cup serving has:

  • 130 calories
  • 3 grams of fat
  • 10 grams of sugar

Now, let’s consider the fact that most people are probably going to eat TWICE that. Then we’re looking at almost 300 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 20 grams of sugar, and that’s not even counting the milk. Moreover, the ingredient list contains many scary, unidentifiable words, which is never reassuring.

When you’re a kid, none of this matters. You can inhale a swimming pool of ice cream or gallons of soda and not receive the slightest consequence, or judgment for that matter. When you’re an adult, it’s different. According to cultural standards, you aren’t supposed to eat sugary, indulgent things for breakfast. Plus, your metabolism starts taking time off and you find yourself becoming more health conscious.

So what do you do when you need your crunchy, cinnamon-sugar cereal fix?

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Spooky Rice Krispie Treat Halloween Mask!

College poses many obstacles. It tells me, “Hey, write five in-depth, multiple-step essays in 90 minutes for your honors pysch midterm,” and, “Sit through a 3-hour night class where you learn how to use Microsoft Word, even though you learned that in middle school,” then, “Make a two-faced mask out of ‘found materials’ for Art class.”

Wondering what all of this has to do with Halloween or Rice Krispie Treats? Well, I may not be a psychology expert or physically capable of staying awake through three-hour night classes, but I am okay at art. Initially, when my art teacher asked us to make a mask, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Quickly, however, that feeling diminished as a light bulb illuminated approximately 2 inches above my head. I realized I had an opportunity here to do what I do best: work with food. Dread quickly turned into excitement.

I’ve never sculpted with Rice Krispie Treats nor worked with fondant before this, but I figured I could work it out easily enough using knowledge acquired from religiously watching Food Network (and Cake Boss on TLC). It really wasn’t all that bad. I whipped up some Rice Krispie treats, molded them while the marshmallows were still molten, let it set, frosted it, covered it in fondant, then decorated it. And there you have it: a 100% edible, two-faced Halloween mask!

The Jack-O-Lantern Side.

The Skull Side.

Although I wouldn’t recommend using this for your Halloween costume (unless sticking your face into Rice Krispies is your thing), it would make a welcomed addition to any Halloween party, as well as an awesome centerpiece to a Halloween-themed table-scape. Once you’re done admiring it, you can eat it!

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