Charcuterie Board Favorites

       Charcuterie Boards are some of my favorite dinners. I mean a bunch of cheese and fruit and crackers, how can that be bad, let me tell you it can't. I love them so much that I have a Charcuterie Club with some of my friends just for  a monthly excuse to make a board. My family have been making these for years, but recently they have been growing in their popularity. With Christmas right around the corner I want to share my charcuterie favorites and some fun tips!

       First lets talk about different cheeses. I like to have a variety of cheese, and it's important too have a good mixture of soft and hard cheeses. 

                   One of my favorite cheese ever is is Manchego. Manchego is hard cheese that originates from Spain. It's made from sheep's milk so it has a nice buttery texture. This will come in a block that is thicker on one side than the other so it makes nice triangle shape already. I like to slice these into the triangles and then line them up so that the wide end it towards the smaller end. Not only does this look really really nice, but it also allows your guests to easily grab a piece oh cheese without touching all of the other slices. Manchego pairs really will is fresh or dry fruit and nuts like almonds or pistachios.  

                    Another one of my favorite all time cheeses is Triple Cream Brie. This is a really nice one to have on a board because its a nice contrast because it's so soft. It originated in France, duh, with lush amounts of cow's milk. This is good 'raw' on a cracker or apple, or if you are feeling a little more adventurous try it baked. All you need to do is wrap a wheel in Puff Pastry or Crescent rolls until completely the outside is golden brown and cooked. You could also spread a jam or preserve over your cheese before you wrap it in the dough. I love apricot jam or sour cherry the most. 

                        Those are my two staple cheese that are on almost every board. Then I love to mix and match what is in my fridge. Some great staples in our cheese draw are: white cheddar, smoked gouda, goat cheese, cheddar, and blue cheese. 

       Next let's talk about different fruits. On my boards I like to have a mixture of fresh fruit and dry I love to use what is in season. Some of my favorite fresh fruits are cuties, oranges, grapes, apples, pears, plums, and pomegranate seeds. All of these are delicious by themselves but also delicious paired with cheeses. As for dried fruits my favorites on a board are: craisins, dried pineapple, and dried apricots. 

       Then other things to dress up a board. I love small snacking pickles, I only like dill, but a mix of dill and sweet with make all guests happy. I love nuts on there my favorites are cashews, pistachios, and almonds, but candied nuts are also delicious on a board. You can also add slices of pruchito and salami for your non vegetarian friends. I also like to have a mix of different crackers. Some with seeds, some butter crackers, some with crispy cheese, really anything. Then I like to have a small bit of honey to drizzle over some of my cheeses. Then you can dress up the final look of your board with some fresh herbs. Thyme and rosemary look the best on a board in small bits scattered throughout. 

 

Easy-Peasy Pumpkin Squeezy No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

 Hello Everyone! Happy Fall! This recipe is incredibly easy and so delicious! It has such a nice pumpkin flavor and is so so rich!

                                                  

The first thing I did was make a crust. I used about 1 c of crushed pralines, I got mine from Costco and these are AMAZING! Then I added in a couple of pumpkin graham crackers and 1stick of melted butter. I put all of this in my food processor til combined. I pressed these into rectangle brownie pans, and put them in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes until it was sweet. 

Next, combine a stick of softened butter and an 8oz package of cream cheese. Then I added a can of pumpkin. Then you can add some pumpkin pie spice, I added all of the spice individually, about a 1tsp-1.5tsp each, and about 2 tsp of vanilla. After that was all completely incorporated, I folded in a package of cool whip. 

I then scooped all of the filling into the cooled crusts. I popped the pan in the freezer, and water til it was completely set. I topped mine with sprinkles and a homemade caramel cotton candy. 

Moscow Mules

 

New Drink Favorite!

 Hey Guys! Welcome back to yet another new kind of post! Every time I come across something new that I love, food, drink, gadget, restaurant, etc I will put them in 'My Favorites" so hopefully you can find them later and try them out yourself!

                                                                                 

First things first, this new drink mix is AMAZING! This is originally supposed to be made with different alcohols, but of course, I'm 17 and don't drink (duh). I mixed this drink mix with ice, ginger ale, and a sugar rim (mainly because I LOVE sugar rims) and this was amazing! It is made of all natural botanicals and tea. No artificial sweetener or flavors made this drink really pop. It had fantastic flavors and I can't wait to get more flavors! If you want to try this out too here's the link!

                                                    

Making my old favorite VEGETARIAN~Burgers

       Welcome back!!! We are shaking things up and going SAVORY!!! Believe it or not I had never made vegetarian burgers before. I buy these amazing veggie burgers from a local meat shop that are out of this world good! However, today I decided to mix it up and make my own burgers! These are so easy to make and so delicious! So, lets make some veggie black bean burgers. 

       Starting off take 1 can of black beans and pour them in a strainer; rinse theme under cold water until the water turns clear. Lay them on a sheet pan and put them in the 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.

       While your beans are roasting, get a large bowl and a spatula. In your large bowl, combine 1 package of vegetarian onion soup mix (1/2 oz), 1/3 cup panko, 1/2 cup feta cheese, 1 Tbs ketchup, 1 Tbs Worcester sauce, and 1 egg.

       Once your beans are slightly cooled add them to your bowl. I slightly crush the black beans into the bowl. I started mixing with a spatula and then switch to my hands to finish incorporating everything. After everything in evenly combined form your "dough" into burger patties. I suggest making them slightly thinner so it all gets nice and warm and crispy on the outside. 

       I put the patties on the grill and wait until they get a nice sear and are warm throughout. On top of my burger I have veggie "bacon" (which isn't as bad as it sounds), my papa's pickles, and onion! I serve mine with watermelon feta salad, potatoes au gratin, and corn. This dinner is easy, delicious and GREAT for a meatless Monday!!! Let me know if you try these and what you think!

Super Sweet, Summer Treat, No Heat Scotcha Blossoms

       Day 90275975 stuck in the house, I was scrolling Pinterest, as one does, and I found a recipe that sparked the inspiration for my Scotcha Blossoms.

       These are the quickest cookies you'll make. They are completely oven and mixer free, and so so good! The first step is to place about 1 cup of light corn syrup and 1 cup brown sugar in a saucepan. You want to heat this on medium heat until all the sugar is dissolved in the syrup, and it's at a rolling boil. You will see the texture go from grainy to smooth, that is super important to the texture that all the sugar dissolves.

       After you have a smooth sugar-syrup mixture take your small saucepan off the heat. At this point I added a HEAPING cup of peanut butter (if I'm being honest it was more like 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter) and about 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Stir this until it's all one mixture (I am totally not opposed to adding chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, marshmallows anything that will melt into the mixture and be delicious).

       In a separate bowl measure out about 4 cups of Rice Krispie cereal, then pour the liquid mixture into the cereal. Fold this in with a rubber spatula, this will keep the cereal from crushing and becoming dust. After carefully folding it all in you should have all the cereal completely coated in the liquid-ish mixture.

        Using a large spoon I spoon about about a tablespoon of the yummy cookie mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. After you've spooned it all out add a Hershey's kiss in the middle (you could totally add something different like: mini Reese's peanut butter cups, caramels, rolos, Twix, crushed salted peanuts, mini snickers, really the options are endless). These are so addictive, and you CANNOT go wrong. Let these set up for about 10 minutes and they are ready to go, you won't find an easier cookie to make!

       So there you go, my Super Sweet, Summer Treat, No Heat, Scotcha Blossoms, delicious, indulgent, and oh so yummy! Tell me what you guys think, and what combination you try out!

My Quarantine Dinner from Alinea!!!

       In these past months of quarantine, I have baked and cooked A LOT! Seriously, I think we are all going to come out of this with the Covid 19lbs. I've tried a ton of new recipes: my search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, I learned to roll my own sushi, plus I just taught myself how to make homemade canola from the shell to the ricotta filling all from scratch (post of those coming soon). Not only have I learned new recipes and techniques, but my mom and I have a quest to try restaurants we may not have had the opportunity to before. In April, we made the 2 1/2 hour trip to Chicago for the inaugural box of Stephanie Izard's goat-ceries (if you follow my instagram @mykookiekitchen you will see many of my food adventures). Plus we always make a stop at some of our standard favorite restaurants like Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Recently I was on a telemedicine call and my doctor in Chicago mentioned Alinea, a 3 Michelin star restaurant, had carryout. My mom and I just had to check it out! So yet again, we set forth to conquer another culinary feat, this one a 7 course molecular gastronomy feast at our own dining room table.

       Alinea was founded in Chicago in 2005 by Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. Their menus typically range from 18-22 courses, can you even imagine?!?! All of their food is inventive, new, and creative! They are known for how unconventional their meals are, and trust me their cost reflects their prestige. Their prices range from $285-$345 PER PERSON!!!! On top of that, if you can swing the cost reservations take months to get in! This is the prestige of prestige restaurants.

       Now I mentioned before that Alinea has 3 Michelin starts, what is that? Let me tell you all about it! The Michelin Guide first came out right about 1900 by a French industrialist Edouard Michelin, shocker I know. However, the first guide was about automotive because they wanted to create the demand for the tires that the Michelin company manufactured. It included information about the tires they manufactured; the bicycle was much more popular than the car at this point, with only about 300 cars in France. The guide included maps and information on tires, as well as lists of restaurants, gas stations, mechanics, lodging accommodations, and more. The first guide was even given out for free! The guided evolved with the world, and in 1926 the star rating began. However, it wasn't until 1931 that the Michelin start rating became the scale of today:
                          1 star- a very good restaurant in it's category
                          2 stars- excellent cooking, worth a detour
                          3 stars- exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

Over time it has built its prestige, similar to an actor winning an Oscar today. This isn't just a restaurant this is an experience, which might sound kinda cheesy but it is accurate.

       My parents, as well as my brother and I, were really ecstatic to get home and try this, and my sister was excited for the KFC she ordered (yeah....I know). My mom and I unloaded the food, got some of the food in the fridge to chill, and started to look at the mies en place (prep work) we needed to do. The first course was a Blis Char Roe. It was a melon bavarois, which was somewhere between a melon flavored mousse and melon jello. Next to the bavarois was the champagne gelee, essentially, as my mother put it, a champagne jello shot. On top of the bavarois was the was the char roe, which is a type of caviar. Garnished with herbs and an edible flower (which yes, we all ate). This dish was so different from anything I had ever eaten before. It was sweet but also very tart; it had a light and luscious texture, but also had a salty bite from the fish. With such a strong start we thought it would be hard to beat...boy were we wrong.

       The second course was absolutely mind blowing. It was a Chilled Carrot Soup, it reminded me of a gazpacho, but so different! Let me start this introduction by saying that the picture doesn't do it justice. You see, my mom and I aren't as precise at plating as the directions explain. In a bowl (you were supposed to be able to see the toppings but, again, Mom and I can't plate as well as Chef Achatz), we placed the cardamom cubes bathed in a coconut and honey cayenne jelly, carrot and pineapple chutney, and a mix of herbs and an edible flower in the bowl. Then we slowly poured in the carrot soup, but we assume our bowls were too deep so they didn't look so pretty. However, the soup tasted delicious!!! It was soft and delicate, but with such strong flavors. It was silky smooth, but also had a bite from the chutney. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but after I tasted it, oh my gosh I changed my mind really quick.

       The third course, might have been my favorite, Poached Atlantic Scallops. These were pre-cooked in a sauce with peas, ham, and fennel. What was super interesting about these was that in the oven, warming, they were warmed with a fragrant combination of salt and herbs. The fragrance was on the shelf below the scallops, they were able to absorb the flavor of the floral aroma mix. These were silky smooth and cooked like no scallop I had before. The sauce was sweet and the peas definitely added to the sweetness. I know that fennel isn't everyone's cup of tea but the fennel was very tender and paired so nicely with the seafood.

       The next course was a prime beef short rib. It was cooked in a gravy with roasted apple, celery root, and celery branch. The horseradish sauce was placed over top of the beef with herbs to garnish. I didn't eat these because, well I'm a pescatarian. However my family told me the short rib was tender and had great depth of flavor. My brother was particularly impressed with the gravy. He said it took hours for them to develop that depth of flavor.

       The midway point was a Sweet Garlic - Corn Orzo. By this point we are all getting full, and this is the heaviest dish of the meal. All we had to do for this was empty the prepared orzo into a pot and warm it up. This was so thick and delicious. I was so full at this point, but I was determined to get through all 7 courses. The corn was super sweet, as well as the sauce, but it had grape tomatoes that have a nice savory flavor to them. This was a fantastic dish, with amazing flavor.

       The next to last course was roasted mushrooms and zucchini. This was served at room temperature. It was zucchini and mushrooms in an olive-oil, herb, pistachio sauce. It was super interesting! It was sweet from the fresh spring zucchini, but also very savory from the vinaigrette.

       Finally, the big kahuna, DESSERT! I included a picture of what this was supposed to look like, but remember when I told you Mom and I couldn't plate, you're about to really believe me. The first thing you do is place food-grade acetate on your table, and then you gather your different components. You are supposed to delicately spoon sauces onto the acetate, but Mom and I pretty much had a small-grade food fight. Then you place the dark chocolate mousse cakes, sprinkled with chocolate shavings and crispies. Next to that you place what we think was a banana nut cake, a whipped cream concoction, and a bit of peanut butter fudge thing that we can't quite figure out. Around the sauces we so delicately flung, was some granola and mango pieces. This was FREAKING DELICIOUS! There were so many textures that all paired so nicely. Soft, smooth, crunchy, creamy, airy, dense. All of this in one bite, and on top of all that, it was FUN to prepare. We had to do minimal work, but it was a blast to do!

       Overall, this was a bucket list meal that we got to have for a fraction of the price. I miss going to restaurants but I am so glad that I got to have this experience. All of the courses were amazing, and everything was so different! I have decided to give it 3 Sophie Stars, not as prestigious but it'll get there ;). Let me know what course you think you would've enjoyed the most and do you like these posts? This is very different from anything I've ever done!

Starting a Garden!

       So, similar to many teens, I love plants. I have many in my room, around the house, and have a hydroponic garden in my family room. We have a nice flower garden in our backyard, but because my amazing mother has a black thumb, we've never really been able to do much with it. This year for 4H I decided that I wanted to start a garden in raised beds. After doing some research my dad thought he was going to be able to build me beds. I was telling my grandpa, who has an amazing green thumb, all about my plan, then HE GOT ME SOME RAISED BEDS!

       I've been keeping some starts on music stands in front of windows in my house, and just the other day I filled my boxes! I put compost, moist soil on the bottom of the beds, then some fertile black dirt on the top. After, I fully saturated the dirt, and let it sit overnight. Then I got up the next morning and saturated them again. I waited about two days after, for the boxes to fully settle and dry. If you can squeeze the dirt and make a mud ball it's still too wet, but if the dirt crumbles from your hand, it's time to plant.

       So flash forward a couple days and I PLANTED!!! I planted lettuce, cabbage, radishes, sweet onions, and broccoli in one raised bed. Then I planted, sweet peppers, basil, parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, potatoes, and peas in another! My grandpa, aka gardener extraordinaire, came up and helped me get it started! It all looked so nice and, if I'm being completely honest, it wasn't that hard of a process. The next couple of days it rained so I didn't really have to worry about making sure they had enough initial water.

        From today, It has now been a week since I planted (if you want to see videos of my process check out my tik tok @sophieschneblin)! My pea starts have been doing great!!! PLUS I have starts of radishes popping up!!! I did have some initial wilt in my cabbage and basil, primarily, but my papa did tell me that was going to happen so I have faith that they're going to come back strong! This process has been so exciting so far, and I can honestly say that I can't wait until everything is ready to harvest! I am so excited to take you guys on this journey with me. Please, please, please let me know in the comments if you guys like to see this kind of unconventional stuff on here, and what else you would like to see! I have a ton of ideas if you want to see them!

Don't Need a Reason because It's Technically Not Cake, Chocolate Chip Muffins

       I am down for ANY reason to eat dessert first thing in the morning. Seriously give me ANY occasion and I'll serve up pie at 7 am. With these amazing chocolate chip muffins you! (I mean it's pretty much cake for breakfast, that you'll want to make 1,000 times over).

       In a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, until completely combined. Then I tossed in about 1 cup of chocolate chips until they were completely coated in the flour mixture. This will help the chips to not sink down into the muffins when baking.

Next combine your wet ingredients, in a small bowl. 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 egg. I whisked this together until it was completely incorporated together. 

       I added this to my stand mixer until a batter was formed, and everything was mixed together. After that, I grabbed a cupcake pan from my cupboard and greased it, but you could also use cupcake liners. I scooped in my batter until each well was about 3/4 full. I lightly sprinkled on cinnamon sugar on the top of each of these before putting them in the oven. 

       I put these in a 400-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Or until they are golden brown. These are SO GOOD! I any even begin to describe. They are best warm, trust me on that. They have a crunch on the outside, but are soft on the in. The chocolate is all melty and delicious, and trust me, you don't need an occasion to make these. I hope you guys love my Don't Need a Reason because It's Technically Not Cake, Chocolate Chip Muffins.