Christy's Kitchen

Who needs corporate coffee??

2009-09-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I do :). I LOVE Starbucks! And it really annoys me when people put it down and say they don’t like it, or they only go to non-chain coffee houses. Come on get real… it’s the best out there!! If it were not as good as it is then they would not be as big as they are. Ok rant over... so what does this have to do with cooking you might ask. Well if you’re having a lazy Saturday like me and wont get your butt up off the couch to go and get your own Starbucks then you have to figure out how to make it at home.
I have been really into green tea lattes lately, and my favorite corporate coffee makes a mean one! So, like with everything I love I have to figure out how to make it for myself at home. And I have to admit that my do it yourself green tea latte is quite fantastic!!
Here is how I make it. I take a tall glass water glass and fill it with milk (I use non-fat). Leave about 1 inch of room from the top of the glass. Then I heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes. While the milk is heating I get out 3 green tea teabags. When the milk is done I submerge the teabags in the milk and place a small saucer over the top to cover it while it is steeping. I let it steep for a few minutes. The milk will not turn green, so taste it for strength. Then I take the teabags out and squeeze all the liquid from them into the cup. I heat the milk again for about 30 seconds. After that I just ad about 1-2 ounces of French vanilla creamer (the liquid kind that you would put in your coffee), and top with whip cream. Enjoy!!
xoxo christy

Doesn't get any fresher than this!

2009-09-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

I always thought it would be really hard to grow my own veggies. So last year I really wanted to try. What’s the worst that could happen… nothing would grow right… Well I planted a little herb garden. Everything grew fantastic!! I had so much basil that I was freezing batches of pesto. It felt so great to just step outside and pick fresh herbs for all my cooking. I think I grew about every herb you could think of. So this year I decided to try out the veggies. I got really inspired by one of my favorite chefs, Jamie Oliver, with his cooking show Jamie at home. He made it look so easy. Plus I could save lots of money by growing my own veg. Well I bought a lot of seeds and put them in the ground. I gave them some of my time and a little water. After a little while everything started growing. It is so exciting to see the little plants get bigger and bigger everyday!! I found out that lettuce and spinach grow like weeds! The cherry tomatoes are so sweet you would think they were candy. I don’t know if its because its so fresh and pesticide free or the fact that my heart and sole was in it but they are some of the best veggies I have had! If you have never tried to grow your own herb or veg before I highly recommend it!! The picture is of a couple carrots and arugula from my garden. xoxo christy

First post... cupcakes how appropriate ;)

2009-08-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hi I’m Christy and welcome to my kitchen : ) It seems like my whole life revolves around food. I want to share my knowledge with everyone. To me cooking and baking seems so easy… but I always have people asking me how to do something in the kitchen. I love to explain to my friends how to make things.
So why are cupcakes so appropriate for my first post..?? I ALWAYS get asked to make cupcakes if I get invited to a party! Don’t get me wrong… I love to make them and everyone always loves them. They usually get eaten before dinner is served. But I do know how to make other things ;) Every time people eat my cupcakes they always ask me how I make them so fluffy and good. They know by now that they are just from a box – no secret their- then I tell them I ‘make them with love’ …hehe. But then I tell them how to really make some great cupcakes from a box. Don’t I repeat DON’T over mix your batter!! I cannot stress that enough. If you over mix your batter your little cakes will become tough and dry. So how do you not over mix your cake batter? Do what I do… mix it by hand. Get out a good mixing bowl and a wire whisk and mix each ingredient one at a time until it each one is just mixed in. Cake batter can be a little lumpy, kind of like pancake batter, it should never be completely smooth.
The other thing I do is make them fun. I usually put sprinkles on them, but today I made little flowers out of royal icing… I needed to change things up ; ) Half of them are red velvet with cream cheese icing and the other half are yellow with mint chocolate frosting. So next time you make some cupcakes remember to make them with love!! xoxo Christy