Please bare with me

Finally got a new laptop; and switched over to a mac (woohoo!!). My previous laptop was progressively getting worse and worse, and the screen was duct taped to the body (with pink tape of course). HOWEVER... a new laptop means I have to get used to a whole new operating system; and transferring over my pictures and editing them is taking forever.

At work yesterday I suffered a pretty gnarly cut on my thumb, so until this heals, I have to stay out of the kitchen :( for safety measures of course) Luckily, my amazing roommate got me these snazzy cupcake bandages. I have an additional pack, just enter a comment and you could be the lucky recipient of these. 

Hope to be back in the kitchen soon.

xoxoxo

Goulash; gulyás

It's no secret that I am of Eastern European descent. This recipe comes from my mom's side of the family, and it is an inspired Goulash stew (pronounced "goo yash"... say it right or my grandma will get the wooden spoon). You can add beef, but I used turkey pepperettes because I had a whole bunch in my fridge. I personally prefer sweet paprika, but you can always add heat with the hot variety. Enjoy

Ingredients:
8-10 Small Turkey Pepperettes
1 medium onion
3 tbls cooking oil
5-6 medium peeled and diced potatoes
salt and pepper
2 bay leaves
2.5 cups of water
2 tbls paprika

Directions:
1. Cut pepperettes into 1 cm rounds, and brown in oil on medium high heat.
2. Add onions, and cook until lightly browned.
3. Add paprika and bay leaves, and turn stove down to a simmer.
4. Add the potatoes, and season stew with salt and pepper.
5. Add water, cover and simmer until potatoes are done and meat is tender. A slow simmer is the key to making this stew really tasty.

Optional Dumplings:
- 1 egg
-6 Tbls flour
- 1/8 tsp salt

Add flour to unbeaten egg and salt. Mix well and let stand for 30 minutes for flour to mellow. Drop by teaspoonful into Goulash. Cover and simmer 10 minutes after dumplings rise to surface.

Serve hot with dollops of sour cream.
Serves 4.

Happy Belated Easter

Of course the day I make the best cupcakes in the world, my SD card decides it's a good time to stop working. These chicks are just three of the whole batch, but I had bunnies and Easter eggs too. I guess you'll just have to use your imagination:)

~

To make the chicky, you melt yellow candy melts, and spread evenly on parchment paper to 

cool. Right before it is fully hardened, you want to use a cookie cutter to press into the chocolate. Decorate with more chocolate, or candy sprinkles.

Happy Belated Easter

xoxo

Vegetable Cream Cheese Crisps

Spring Hors D'oeuvres

It's official; this is the easiest recipe EVER. Not only does it take about 20 minutes from start to finish, they taste sooooo good (and cute, right?) I made these little cuties for an Easter Potluck, and I think the vegetable cream cheese compliments the crispy shell very nicely! As you will notice, this recipe has so much freedom, and I encourage you to play around with cream cheese flavors and vegetable combinations. Stick around for Easter dessert:)

Ingredients:

- One pack of Siljans Crispy Shells (or similar)

- Half a pack of vegetable cream cheese (or similar)

- Red pepper; Yellow pepper

-Cucumber

- One green onion

Directions:

- Whip cream cheese with an electric mixer. This makes the cream cheese nice and fluffy, and makes it easier to pipe into the crispy shells

- Pipe cream cheese into crispy shells

- Garnish! I used the peppers to cut out little flowers; you can make this even simpler by cutting the green onion and placing on top.

- I placed these cute shells on top of cucumbers, not only cause they looked cute, but taste great. 

- THATTTSSSSSS IT! SOO EASY

Who says you can't play with your food?

Happy Holidays

xoxo

Spring Cleaning

I feel like I have been m.i.a from blogger for a while and that's due to this lingering cold (and endless exams). I start training for a new job tomorrow, and I don't want to reveal too much about it in case I jinx myself (yes, I'm superstitious). Staying true to Duh-Licious, I have some cute Easter recipes that I hope to post really soon; this cold is making things really difficult.

I also have some pretty big plans to expand Duh-Licious; In the next few months, the site will get a face-lift. I'm open to ideas, but I am thinking tabs and categories for recipes.

I am also starting to take orders for Spring and Summer with in the Greater Toronto Area. From experience, dates fill up really quickly, so book early to avoid disappointment:) I'm capable of some pretty amazing designs, so if you have an idea for an upcoming event; or you want to inquire about pricing and availability send an email to orders@duhlicious.com

This seasons flavors include:

Cookies:

- Chocolate Oatmeal Explosion ( chunks of chocolate and oatmeal)

- Chocolate Chip (traditional chocolate chip cookies)

- Oatmeal Raisin (plump raisins, in perfectly spiced oatmeal base)

- WCM (white chocolate macadamia nut cookies)

- (other?)

Cupcakes and Cakes:

- The one that started it all ( classic vanilla cake)

- La Chocolat ( classic chocolate cake)

- Lemon Meringue (lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue)

- Cookies and Cream ( vanilla chocolate chip )

- Orange You Glad? ( moist and orange zing cake)

- Pucker Up ( zesty lemon cake)

- Monkey Business ( banana cupcakes)

- (other?)

Toppings:

- Chocolate Ganache

- Vanilla Buttercream

- Chocolate Buttercream

- Cream cheese

- Fondant

- (other?)

I always love suggestions, so if you have a craving for something that isn't listed, just name it and I can whip it up:) 

Winners

Congrats to the winners:) I will be contacting you later this week for your prizes. Thanks to everyone who entered, the winners were chosen at random using Random.org 

xoxo

Cheesecake Minis

Just a little weekend treat:) These take almost no time to whip up, which is perfect since I want to spend as much time outside in this loveeellyyy Toronto spring weather. I must warn that these do take about three hours to set, so hands off until then. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 cup crushed graham crackers

1/4 cup melted butter

1 pkg.  (250 g) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese Spread, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

3 Tbsp.  sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 egg

Directions:

1. Mix crushed graham crackers with melted butter and press firmly on the bottom of cupcake liners (I used the flat end of coffee scoop)

2. In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch. Add egg and beat until well blended. 

3. Pipe the filling into the cupcake liners and bake for 30 minutes, or until centers are set. 

4. Allow the mini cheesecakes to cook in the refrigerator for 3 hours, until fully set. 

5. Top cheesecake with berry jam:)

easy as pie.. er.. I mean cheesecake. heh

(:slooɟ lıɹdɐ

ǝɥǝɥ ˙ǝlqnoɹʇ uı noʎ ʇǝƃ ʇɥƃıɯ ʇı ˙ʎɐpoʇ pǝlooɟ ʇǝƃ ʇ,uop

ɐuılɐpɐɯ-