pop-tarts are my JAM.

get it? well probably not yet, bc you have no idea what i am talking about at the moment. todays post is about homemade pop-tarts & homemade... wait for it.... JAM.  a little play on words action to get this sunday going.

i love a good pop-tart. blueberry pop-tarts to be exact. they remind me of simple times when i was getting ready for school & i would just grab a pop-tart- open that silver plastic & then magic. if i was feeling really crazy i would break up the pop-tart into pieces, put them into a bowl & then pour milk on top & eat it like cereal. #sugarproblems. i don't really keep things like that in my house anymore. i don't have chips. cookies. chocolate. none of it. i make everything homemade or try to at least.

i love fresh herbs & this week i scored big time at our kroger bc their herbs they put into those plastic containers were like 20 cents. so i take them home & hang them upside down & let them dry out. as i get older my taste buds have been finding their way to new flavors & i am happy about that.

can you believe all this was 40 cents? thank you kroger. 

so this dough recipe i found here

now usually i would use something that my mom has given me but they just moved & everything they own is basically in boxes so she couldn't find it, but HEY that just means i will need to make these again & again right?

dough:

2 cups AP flour
2 TB sugar
1 ts salt
1 1/2  sticks unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk + 1 TB divided

first step: combine all your dry ingredients. 

i used a cheese grater & grated my cold butter right on top of the flour mixture.

then using my hands i mixed it all together until it looked like this picture below. 

now in a separate bowl beat the egg & milk together & add to mixture. 

i had to add a TB or 2 of milk to get the dough to the right texture. 

now flour your surface- i have a stainless steel table in my kitchen that is perfect for all these recipes i have been trying lately. did i mention this was my first time making pop-tarts?

knead your dough on floured surface until it's the shape of a mound.

now divide the dough into 2 equal little balls. 

they looked so pretty i took 3 pictures. 

now wrap them with plastic & let them hang out in the fridge for an hour or so or even until the next morning which is what i did. this was very hard for me- all i could think about was how this recipe was going to turn out, or how good the smell coming from my kitchen would be. i am probably becoming impatient in my older age. anxious and impatient. 

when you are ready to assemble these, i literally rolled out of bed & headed straight to the kitchen, take your little dough balls out & we are going to work with them one at a time. 

flour your workspace & roll the ball into about 1/8 inch. now the directions said this but i have no idea about measuring this stuff. i literally just rolled it out until it felt right, whatever that means. 

now you have complete control over the shapes you want. the husband is really good about buying me cute little things for the kitchen or just cute things in general. if i say i am interested in something he is the first to invest in those interests. #blessed.

i did normal little rectangles. 

see that cute little tool. one of my interests he invested in.

now i swayed from the directions at this point & did my own things. 

i just made as many rectangles as i could with matching bottoms & tops. i did some small & some big ones. his & hers is what i am calling them. 

so when you have your bottoms you are going to brush them with your egg wash- 1 egg & a splash of milk.

now i spread the jam i made on top & then put the top on.

blueberry on the left. raspberry on the right. 

i used a fork for the edges & then poked some holes in the top to let the steam out. 

now this is where i made the mistake of not making sure they went all the way through so my pop-tarts were a little fluffy. next time i know. 

now put these in the fridge for about 25 minutes & then right before you put them in the oven brush the egg wash on top. 

bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. 

now for the JAM.

i had fresh local blueberries i got from the littler farmers market on the square her in carrollton & some blackberries i got from trader joes. 

for a thing of blueberries you will need.

1/2 cup sugar

your container of blueberries

2 TB cornstarch

4 TB water

1 tsp vanilla (haitian of course)

1 tsp mint- this is something i added at the last minute

a sprinkle of salt

in a medium sauce pan on medium heat put your blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, & water.

the little blueberries will start to bubble & burst & your entire house will smell like you could eat everything. the chairs. lamps. tables. sofa. everything is at risk.

after cooking for about 10 minutes i added my mint. my 40 cent mint from kroger. 

when it looks like this picture above i then put it through a strainer to make sure i didn't have any skins. i wanted everything smooth. 

i tasted this many times, which is why i had so much anxiety about waiting to make these for the next morning. i made the JAM yesterday & it was just sitting in my fridge begging to be put on something.

i used this same process with the blackberries too. 

these are easy to put in a container & cory can grab one on the way to work in the morning. zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds & you have yourself a warm homemade nostalgic breakfast. 

when my mom finds her recipe i will be sure to post it. 

hope you guys enjoy making these for your family like i did. 

-- mrs. estes

cinnamon rolls y'all.

lets get real. you can never eat just one. nope, you eat one & then one becomes two & then two becomes 3 until your body starts shutting down from a sugar overload, but you don't care. just drink some lemon water take a nap & then start all over again. right?

working with yeast is something that took me a minute to get use to. its kind of like me- impatient & unpredictable. you can't poke it too much or it gets really upset & will ruin everything. it literally has ruined my days before. #breadgonewrong #ruinedcinnamonrolls you get the point.

so for these rolls i found this recipe here

this is everything you will need- if you are like me you organize everything before you start making it. i cannot even cook without my kitchen being super clean.

stuff you need:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 large eggs
6 cups AP flour
1 TB canola oil
4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup butter softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 TB milk

sidenote: i did not have a lot of brown sugar- i had like 1 cup, so i used that & organic cane sugar & coconut sugar

i also used haitian vanilla
instead of using the canola oil for the bowl i used butter.

first things first- microwave your milk for 3 minutes
now add softened butter
add 1/2 cup sugar & yeast
stir a little, cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes.

now transfer this little bit of stuff to a bigger bowl & stir in your salt & eggs

now mix in 1 cup of flour at a time

knead for 5 minutes

make a ball with your dough pick it up & butter your bowl (this is where she used canola oil)

put the dough back in and flip one time

cover and let is rise for 1 hour

*this is always super fun when you go back in an hour & literally see how it has doubled in size. you literally squeal bc you know you nailed it. its all in those moments when you know if you got it right or not. 

now after the hour is done punch the dough down and let it sit for 10 minutes. 

now divide dough in 1/2 and roll each half into a rectangular shape

now for the filling you will mix together the brown sugar & cinnamon.

spread your melted butter over each half & let the sprinkling begin. 

make sure to get to the edges.

now roll them as tight as you can. pinch the edges closed when your finished rolling. 

divide them into whatever size you would like. you can make huge ones or little small ones. 

now i used a 9 x 14 dish and let some butter melt in the pan and sprinkled the bottom of the pan with my sugar mix. lay each little roll down on the pan and let them sit for 1 hour bc they will get bigger. 

plop them in the oven 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. 

when you pull them out you can start on the frosting. 

its really easy. 

mix together

1/2 cup butter softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

4 TB milk

if you want it thinner add more milk. 

then spread it over those bad boys. 

fix a plate & get down to business. 

hope you guys enjoy these as much as i did.

my sweet tooth has been fixed..... for now. 

-- E

PASTA!

who doesn't love pasta. i don't eat it a lot bc if i did i would be the size of my house, but every once & while i do & when i do it is a very, very good thing. today we talk about this dish. a lemony-garlic- white wine infused with spices pasta dish.

i love cooking with my husband. i am usually obsessing about he acts like we have a gas stove, shoving the pans around & why in the world is sauce everywhere, or i am like, i just cleaned the kitchen. for those of you who know cory, you know he is an amazing cook & when I'm obsessing he's like.. tough. you will be fine. get over it. our words to each other in the kitchen make the memories hilarious & i wouldn't trade a thing. i giggle when i think of him in his apron.

i have had these spinach egg noodles sitting around for a little bit & wanted to make something with them. something lite & not too heavy. i left cory with the task of figuring that one out & he killed it. this pasta was just the right amount of spice, the flavor was incredible & we will def. be making this again & again.... in moderation of course.

he found this recipe & as you can tell by our photos ours looks a lot different & i am sure it tasted better, bc  my sweet man can cook y'all.

so here we go. on a photo journey into the pasta world (most photos were taken by our friend dockery)

this is the spinach egg noodles i had (they are AMAZING)

make sure when you are boiling your pasta you salt the water. i am sure you guys know that but just in case. 

so first things first. 

 we rinsed off the shrimp & set them in a little ice bath

while we waited for them we started prepping. 

parsley- chop it up, you need 1/2 cup

we used yellow tail white wine- you need 1/3 cup--- or more... lol

i juiced the lemons & you need about 1/4 cup- i put the extra in a container for lemon water through the week. 

*  start boiling those noodles in the salted water

now for the good stuff.

put your garlic- 3 TB minced in a pan on medium heat

add your unsalted butter 1/4 cup

add your olive oil  1/4 cup

let all that mix together & then add shrimp- we used 2 lbs

add your white wine 1/3 cup

add your lemon juice 1/4 cup

add red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp

this is where we added things that are not on the recipe

we added 1/4 tsp saffron

1/4 tsp of paprika

doesn't this look delish??

this should all cook until the shrimp is no longer translucent so about 5 minutes- just watch it.

now add black pepper 1tsp

your parsley  1/2 cup

add lemon zest 1TB - i just eyed it. we love lemon

*your noodles should be done by now- so we put ours in a strainer in the sink

let them sit for a minute

we tossed them with some olive oil bc these noodles are a little different to work with. 

now add your noodles to the pan

yum. 

i did a side of bread. i cut it and broiled it until lightly brown

when its done i brushed each piece with olive oil & sprinkled with sea salt. 

now we are set. set to feed our faces with this. it was soooooo good. 

i even brought out cory's grandmas plates. 

this recipe was easy. we all ate until we were full & we had leftovers. 

i love spending time with people over a good meal. 

take a day & break bread with someone.

-- E