Amazing sugar cookie bars

One of my all time favorite desserts is sugar cookies. Topped with spoonfuls of frosting, of course. I could eat frosting straight out of the bowl. Okay, let’s be honest…. I DO eat frosting straight from the bowl. ;) Mmm…

Okay back to sugar cookies. I believe there are two ingredients that make a good sugar cookie: sour cream and powdered sugar. Two things you would never think about… but trust me, those ingredients make all the difference. The sour cream keeps the dough moist and the powdered sugar makes the dough fluffy. These sugar cookie bars I’m sharing today turned out so good! Seriously! I had to give them away FAST, or else I would have devoured the whole pan. The nice thing about these sugar cookie bars is they are half the work and taste just as good. The frosting is also one of my favorites! Did I mention that part? ;) These really are perfect for any holiday treat.

Amazing sugar cookie bars

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup baking flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1 egg

Butter cream frosting:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter -softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 TB half and half
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/4 tsp orange extract
• Orange food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium. sized bowl. Set aside.
2. With a mixer combine butter, sugar and powder sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Pour in vanilla,eggs and sour cream and mix until combined. Then pour dry ingredients in this bowl and mix until combined.
3. Place mixture in a buttered 9x13 glass pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not over cook.
4. For frosting, combine ingredients in large bowl and beat with a mixer for 2 minutes, or until fluffy. :)

Super soft sugar cookies + baking tip

I’m excited to share with you a new sugar cookie recipe today. I’ve been using this recipe for several years, and these really are the best! They are a family favorite! They remind me of the Loft house cookies my mom used to buy for me as a kid. I have to tell you, I tried making a new version over the weekend and they did not turn out well. I came right back to this recipe. These ones always come out super soft and fluffy… just the way sugar cookies should be.

Soft sugar cookies

yield: 2 1/2 DOZEN (DEPENDING ON YOUR COOKIE CUTTER SIZE)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup margarine or butter, at room temp
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp lemon or almond extract
• 5 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Optional: I use 2 different frostings with these cookies. I'll give you both of them, because they are both super yummy!

Buttercream frosting:

•  3/4 cup of butter
• 3 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3-4 TB heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• food coloring and sprinkles

Cream cheese frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 stick of butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cookies:

1.In a large bowl mix together margarine and sugar. Beat until creamy. Add in eggs, vanilla, lemon extract and sour cream and mix together until combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix just until combined.

3. Split dough in two and place in saran wrap. Refrigerate dough for 1-2 hours.

4. Once dough has been chilled roll out dough on a bakers mat or parchment paper. Add another 1/4 - 1/2 cup flour if dough is still sticky. Cut with floured cookie cutter.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes.

Frosting:

1. For both the butter cream and cream cheese frosting combine all listed ingredients, mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Frost on cooled cookies and serve:)

Motorola Moto G Review

Easily one of the best smartphone values in the market right now, the Motorola Moto G caused quite a bit of excitement when it was announced a short while back. While the price and specs combo is definitely attractive,  will it be solid enough to satisfy your smartphone needs?

Design

At the price range it's selling at, we could easily forgive if the Moto G felt cheaply-built.  But, alas, it isn't.  In fact, both design and construction feel very similar to the more expensive Moto X.  Suffice to say, you're getting yourself a premium-looking phone at a budget price here.

Display

The 4.5-inch display is the first thing that should clue you in about the phone's more affordable standing.  The most telling: it sticks to a 720p resolution instead of 1080p, it's not extremely bright (you'll notice this when using outdoors), and contrast isn't exactly topnotch.  Still, there's enough crispness and vivid color quality to make for a satisfying experience, especially if you haven't been spoiled by the screens on modern high-end smartphones.

Camera

Now, this is where you really know the Moto G is a budget phone.  The 5.0 megapixel camera is quite a disappointment, harking back to a quality that's more suited to phones that came out 2 or 3 years ago.   Not only is the shutter slower than modern smartphone cameras, it's  also prone to producing photos with a lacking quality (blurry, soft details, and plenty of motion noise) both indoors and outdoors.  It uses the same camera app as the Moto X, though, so everything is good on that end.

Features

The biggest issue here is storage.  With no microSD card support, you're stuck with the 8GB or 16GB of onboard memory, regardless of which one you decide to get.  If you can look past that, then you'll get to enjoy near-stock Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box, with an upgrade to 4.4 KitKat  slated soon.   From the collection of updated Google apps to Google Now's advanced search, this is one of the few opportunities to enjoy the latest in Google's mobile platform right now.  Motorola did remove some of their more premium custom features, however, including Touchless Control and Active Notifications.

Performance

Core components are a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400, Adreno 305 graphics, and 1GB of RAM.  While obviously a far cry from the Moto X's X8, it's decent, although you will experience occasional lags if you try to push it with too many running apps, especially resource-intensive ones.

Call quality is good on my end, although mixed according to those on the other  -- near-perfect in many occasions, but slightly robotic in a few.  Speakerphone, again, was impeccable on my end with plenty of volume to boot, although the audio picked up plenty of ambient noise according to those I was conversing with.  Motorola claims 24 hours of mixed use life for the battery and it does appear somewhat capable of living up to that -- I used it from 8 in the morning to around 12 midnight and there was still over 30% of juice left.

Overall

Everybody loves a good bargain and the Motorola Moto G is one of the best smartphone deals there is with its $179 price, unlocked and with no contract.  Sure, it's flawed (poor camera, middling screen), but if you're on a budget, this could be the sweetest phone available.

MATCHA MINT ICED TEA

We’re about to get fresh around here… it’s spring and suddenly mint is taking over my yard. When I was first setting up this little “garden” area of mine, I was warned that mint would trail out of control. To me, this sounded like a delightful problem to have. I mean, is it even possible to have too much mint?! (I’ll have to answer that one for you later).

First up: this refreshingly simple mint matcha iced tea. This is obviously not a traditional way to use matcha, but I just love it. Instead of whisking your matcha, shake it up in a cocktail shaker (or in a jar with a tight lid), then add ice, mint and lime juice. I preferred mine unsweet, but you want more minty-sweetness, steep the mint into a simple syrup.

matcha mint iced tea

 

Print

Serves: serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 cups filtered water
• 2 teaspoons Aiya Cooking Grade Matcha
• 2 cups crushed ice
• 1 lime, sliced
• handfuls of mint
• optional: honey or cane sugar (or minty simple syrup, see notes)

Instructions

1. Using a cocktail shaker (or a large jar with a non-leaky lid) shake together the water and matcha until there are no lumps.
2. Add the ice, a squeeze of lime, handfuls of mint and shake it some more. (Add sweetener if you like).
3. Pour into glasses with extra lime slices and mint.

Notes

Minty Simple Syrup: Heat 1 part white sugar and 1 part water in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and drop in handfuls of mint and let it steep until it cools to room temp. Strain out the mint and chill until ready to use.

SWEET AND SALTY LIME SODA ~ NIMBU PANI

Summers in India put summers in the Midwest to shame.  The temperature soars to the 110s on a daily basis and often there is no respite from the heat.  Right before the monsoon is when the heat is the most unbearable–high 90s to 100s on a daily basis and 100% humidity.  These harsh conditions have taught Indians a thing or two about surviving in the heat.  People largely stay indoors during the peak hours of the sun.  Afternoon siestas are common, as are refreshing drinks such as this sweet and salty lime soda.

Perhaps you are wondering what makes a beverage such as this so special?  I ask you to allow me the opportunity to let the medical student in me come out:  When you sweat or exercise, you lose a good amount of salt and water.  If you rehydrate with just water, you won’t actually be able to retain all the water.  You need salt to help push water into the cells to actually help you rehydrate at a cellular level.  Potassium is also needed to ensure that any potassium that is lost by the kidney in the rehydration process is properly replenished.  That’s why this soda perfect!  It has water, salt, and potassium–25 mg of potassium in a half a lime.  It also has sugar to provide glucose for tired cells.  It’s a perfect replenishing drink, just like gatorade but actually all natural!

This soda is very refreshing and super delicious.  It’s perfect on a hot summer day or after a workout.  It’s also very adaptable.  Feel free to substitute the sparkling water for still water and the sugar for a sweetener of your choice–agave nectar, honey, calorie free sweetener, etc.  Enjoy!

Recipe:
per 8 oz. serving

Juice of 1/2 lime
2.5 tsp. sugar
1 pinch to 1/4 tsp salt
8 oz. sparkling or still water
Ice cubes
Lime slices for garnish

Combine the juice, salt, and sugar and stir until the salt and sugar are mostly dissolved.  Pour in the soda and stir to combine.  Add a couple ice cubes.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a lime slice.  Enjoy!

                                                                                                                                                                    

6 WAYS TO SPICE UP PIZZA NIGHT

Everyone from busy moms to college students knows the ease of grabbing a quick slice of pizza or a pie for the family. Most pizzerias have an array of classic options that never seem to get old, and all of that cheesy goodness never disappoints. While your favorite local joint’s pizza is probably hard to replicate, there are plenty of ways you can spice up pizza night from home. Read on for some out-of-the-box ideas like mini pizza muffins and warm pizza dip.

Pepperoni Pizza Pocket Recipe:-

The ultimate hand-held food becomes even more portable when you follow Jeff Mauro’s recipe for pizza pockets. Just load up premade dough rounds with pepperoni and cheese, and pop them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with Jeff’s slow-simmering sauce for an unforgettable weeknight treat.

 Mini Chicken Pizzas:-

Everything is more fun to eat when it’s mini, and Trisha Yearwood’s shrunken-down pizzas are no exception. They’re made with premade pizza crust, so they’re ready in a flash. Plus, they’re topped with two different kinds of cheese, plus chicken and bacon — what’s not to love?

Cheesy Muffin Pizzas:-

The possibilities are endless when it comes to uses for your muffin tins. Try making Giada De Laurentiis’ bite-size pizzas with chicken, mozzarella, spinach and creamy mascarpone. You can make them all the same or have your kids or guests add their own toppings.

English Muffin Breakfast Pizza:-

Not only is this recipe from Food Network Magazine a fun way to have breakfast for dinner, but it’s also ready in less time than it would take you to order and pick up a pizza. Served on a warm English muffin, it’s loaded with fresh tomato flavor, salty Canadian bacon and perfectly melted mozzarella cheese.

French Bread Pizzas:-

Ree Drummond knows it’s difficult to please everyone at a big dinner, so she’s offered up seven of her favorite topping combinations to choose from. Even with all of those choices, they make it from fridge to table in less than 30 minutes.

LOVER'S RECIPE: FRIED ICE CREAM PAKORA

Is your partner a whiz in the kitchen? Share his/her best recipe -- according to you -- with us.

Recently we invited you to share your partner's best recipes. Here Diksha Vishvakarma shares her husband Neeraj's Fried Ice cream pakora recipe.



Ingredients:

Ice Cream - 4 Scoops Cornflakes (Not The Sweetened Kind) -A Couple Of Cups Vegetable Oil - For Deep Frying Cinnamon Sugar - For Dusting

Method:

On a plate, spread out about half of the cornflakes, and working one at a time, roll each of the four scoops of ice cream in the cornflakes until they are well coated.Transfer the coated ice cream scoops to a clean plate and let them rest in the freezer for at least 2 hours to firm up the ice cream.After 2 hours, whisk your egg in a bowl, spread the remaining cornflakes on your cornflake plate and take your ice cream scoops out of the freezer.Gently transfer a single scoop to the egg bowl, and turn it until the scoop is completely coated in egg. Transfer the egg coated ice cream scoop to the cornflakes plate and roll it around to form a second layer of cornflakes over the ice cream. Roll it around well to ensure a solid and unbroken coating of cornflakes.Repeat with the remaining 3 scoops and then return the ice cream balls to the freezer for at least another 2 hours before frying. (These can be made up to a couple of days before hand and let in the freezer until needed.)When ready to serve, heat up 3 inches of vegetable oil in a deep fryer to a medium 350. You can also use a thermometer and a very stable heavy pot to deep fry if you don't have a fryer at home just be a little careful is all When the oil has pre-heated, gently drop a single coated ice cream scoop in and let it fry for about 30 seconds or until it has just coloured slightly. Roll it in cinnamon sugar and transfer to a dessert plate for serving.Repeat with the remaining ice cream scoops. (Don't try to do them all at once you will cool the oil too much and end up with greasy ice cream!) Top with a little whipped cream and enjoy!

5 SUPER HOT ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR WEDDING GUESTS

Activity ideas? What are those? Well, it started with the whole ‘Releasing sky lanterns ‘ into the air which your guests could do after your reception, but now there are a ton of other beautiful activity ideas on mehendi’s, receptions or more !
                                  

– Releasing love birds from a cage: This is something that the couple does . Say on their engagement or reception, the couple releases two small love birds from a cage into the night sky. You can get your close friends and family to do the same. Not only are you setting birds free, the whole gesture is pretty symbolic of love and a new life.
– Kite flying at your Mehendi: Whether your mehendi is on your terrace or in a sprawling lawn, kite flying is the new thing to do at mehendis. An instructor and a bunch of kites are kept on a side for your guests to enjoy.
                                                                                                                                                                                             

– Bubble Blowing: This one is SOOO fun. Give your guests bubble liquid and large bubble makers to bounce bubbles in the air. They could do this as you and your husband enter on the reception, or just while they sit around the feras.
– Cocktail Mixing: Having a destination wedding and want a fun event to teach your guests? Get a bartender to teach a mean bloody mary mix to the guests so they can make their own cocktails and have a cool ice breaker.
                     

– Incorporate Daflis on your Sangeet or pheras: So fun. Keep tamborines on each table for the guests to cheer you on as you perform on your sangeet. Even if you aren’t having stage performances, they can use these to create a ruckus ! You can even switch daflis with little bells to be kept on each seat for guests to ring around the pheras.

ROASTED MIXED MUSHROOM AND VEGGIES

Everyone knows that brightly coloured fruits and vegetables are good for you – but what about drab-looking mushrooms? Do they offer anything to the diet aside from flavour – and are they safe for baby to eat? 

The nutritional value of mushrooms

A mushroom is neither a fruit nor a vegetable – it’s actually an edible fungus!

In some parts of the world – and in Eastern cultures in particular – mushrooms are believed to have significant health benefits, whilst in the western world they have traditionally been viewed as being of little nutritional value.

However, a different story is slowly emerging, as their benefits are being more closely investigated.

Most species of mushroom contain B vitamins, vitamin C, protein, iron, potassium, selenium and other minerals. They are also particularly rich sources of compounds known as beta-glucans, which help support the immune system and protect the body from disease – plus an important antioxidant called ergothioneine.

Perhaps most interesting of all is the fact that mushrooms are the ONLY non-animal source of vitamin D, the ‘sunshine vitamin’ in which so many children are deficient. Mushrooms actually convert sunlight to vitamin D in the same way that we humans do in our skin. What’s more, the vitamin D content of mushrooms is stable, which means that it isn’t significantly reduced by cooking.

RECIPE:-

12 button mushrooms
4 shiitake mushrooms
2 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
2 fl oz (1/4 cup) chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 425 deg F (220 deg C).
Clean the mushrooms and remove the shiitake stems.
Peel the sweet potato and cut into slices. Roughly chop the onion and peel the garlic.
Toss all the ingredients in a bowl with the oil and rosemary, then empty into a roasting pan. Ensure that all the veggies and mushrooms are in a single layer.
Roast for around 30 minutes, until all the veggies are tender, giving the pan a shake from time to time.
Put the potato slices, onion and garlic into a blender and add the chicken stock. Blend until smooth.
Chop the mushrooms and stir into the richly flavoured pureed sweet potato – simply delicious!

Budget bites

BUDGET BITES

Didn't we say eating on a budget doesn't have to be boring? These Parmesan Garlic Pretzel Bites from diksha's recipe are here. Budget Bytes is one of the great ones. It's so great, in fact, the most crucial step of committing to cooking on a budget. Once you're prepared, it'll be easy to follow awesome recipes, like Budget Byte's Parsley Salad With Almonds And Apricots or Easy Sesame Chicken. In addition to a "kitchen basics" guide, Budget Bytes also has a very comprehensive list of principles for eating well on a budget, which explains strategies like "shopping wisely" and the "freezer is your friend." We love this blog because it not only has excellent recipes with great photos, but it's also very methodological. Every recipe includes the price of each ingredient, the price of the recipe as a whole and the price per serving. It's hard to do much better than that.