Update

It's been like a year since I've updated.  I realized that I like cooking/eating food more than I like blogging about it.  If anyone wants a specific recipe, let me know, and I'll be happy to post it.  Otherwise, check out my new site for my musical career:
http://www.erikabinsley.com

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Remember those creamsicle popsicles we had as kids? This is those in cookie form.

**I have no idea if anyone is actually following this blog, but probably I won't be updating until late August due to travel and moving** 

Creamsicle Cookies
makes like 20ish
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything
Not gonna lie, her recipe is pretty much perfect, so I didn't actually modify the ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of two good-sized oranges
2 cups white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add egg and vanilla until well mixed.  Mix in flour mixture.  Stir in zest and chips.
3. Drop balls of dough on a parchment paper'd cookie sheet somewhat spaced out.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just lightly browned.

Candied Bacon and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yup.  These speak for themselves.  Though, it's worth mentioning that I ran out of chocolate chips, so I chopped up a bunch of fun size Hershey bars that were lying around and it was SO much better than chocolate chips.

Candied Bacon and Chocolate Chunk Cookies
makes around 50 cookies (I usually make a half recipe)
modified from the famous Toll House recipe

6 strips of bacon + more if you're prone to eating the ingredients ;)
brown sugar

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup tightly packed brown sugar
2 tsp maple syrup
2 large eggs
12 oz chocolate, chopped (chips work too)

1. Rub brown sugar in to the bacon until it is well-coated.  Place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and put in an oven set to 400 degrees for about 20 min, or until the bacon looks well cooked.  Let cool, and try not to eat it all.
2. Lower the oven temp to 375 degrees.  Mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix butter and the sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, and mix well.  Add flour mixture.
4. By now the bacon should be cool, so chop it into small pieces.  Add the delicious bacon and chocolate to the dough.
5. Place rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased or parchment paper'd cookie sheets.  Bake for 9-11 min.

Lemon Garlic Chicken Kabobs

This is one of my and my roommates' favorite entrees!

Lemon Garlic Chicken Kabobs
serves 4
Adapted from Annie's Eats

1 pound or so of chicken breasts or tenderloins
Zest from 1 lemon
3 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves of minced garlic (or more if you really like garlic!)
1 tsp minced parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. In a medium bowl, whisk all of the non-chicken ingredients.  Cut the chicken into large bite-sized pieces.  Add to bowl and coat well.  Cover and refrigerate for 2-8 hours.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees (although grilling them tastes better if you have a grill).  Thread chicken onto 4 metal skewers, and place on a cookie sheet.  Cook for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Turn once or twice during the 15 min.

Key Lime Pie

Um, yum!

Key Lime Pie
serves about 8-9
Adapted from Allrecipes and Allrecipes

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
6 Tb melted, unsalted butter

3 cups sweetened condensed milk (if you come up like 1/3 cup short, it's not a bit deal)
1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup key lime juice (if you juice them yourself, get a designated lime juicer)
1 Tb lime zest (sorry I can't give an exact number of limes)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix crumbs, sugar, and butter, and press into a 8-9 inch pie pan.  Bake for 7 minutes.
2. Lower oven temperature to 350.  Mix condensed milk, sour cream/yogurt, lime juice, and zest.  Pour into crust, and gently tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles.  Bake for 5-8 minutes, until tiny bubble form in the middle, but do not let the pie brown.
3. Let cool, then chill for several hours.  Serve with lime slices or whipped cream.

Restaurant Quality Burgers

This burger is so good, you'll want to eat it plain.

Flavorful Burgers and Buns
serves 4 (but I suggest serving with sweet potato fries sprinkled with chipotle chile powder)
Adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride and Little Miss Momma

Buns: (makes 8)
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbs canola oil
2 large eggs
3 Tbs sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)

1. In a medium bowl, let yeast and water sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add 1 egg, oil, and sugar.  Then add flour, salt, and cheese.  Mix until it forms a consistent dough.
3. Kneed on a floured surface, until it is no longer sticky.  Transfer to an oiled bowl.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
4. On a floured surface, form in to 8 balls.  Place on parchment paper'd cookie sheets on top of oven, flatten the balls slightly, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise for 20 minutes.
5. After the 20 minutes, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Allow the dough to rise some more.
6. Wisk one egg with 1 Tb water.  Brush onto the tops of the buns.  Bake for 20-30 min.
(more directions below)

Burger patties:
Around a pound of ground beef (90/10)
2 oz cheese of your choice grated (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
season salt
onion powder
ground black pepper

1. Mix everything and form into four balls.
2. Flatten them slightly, pressing in the center so that there is an indentation (this prevents the burgers from being to thick to fit your mouth around) Like this:

When the bread comes out of the oven to cool, fry up some bacon and put the patties on a grill.  Don't have a BBQ?  Not a problem!  A pan on medium heat will work well, but a panini maker or George Foreman grill will work better.
When the bacon is done, mop most of the grease off of the pan, and put the buns face-down on it, and cook until the insides are delicious, like this:  It will prevent the bread from getting soggy.  Yay!

Let the burgers cook for about 8 minutes, and then flip them.  Flipping them too early may cause them to fall apart.  Cook the other side for 8 minutes or so and serve.

Homemade White Cheddar Cheese-its

Yes, it's true.  You CAN make your own cheese-its at home!  They're way better than store-bought ones, and therefore disappear faster...
I had a giant block of free white cheddar cheese lying around from competing in the Grilled Cheese Invitational, so that's what I used for this.  Oh, and here was my sandwich that I entered:

It was called "A Cheesy Romance"

Anyway,

White Cheddar Cheese-its
makes about 2 cups
Adapted from A Golden Afternoon

8 oz white cheddar cheese (or really, most cheeses will work), shredded
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup flour
2 tbs cold water

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream together cheese, salt, and butter.  Add flour, and mix until it looks like crumbs.  Add water, and mix so that a dough is formed, adding more water if absolutely needed.
3. Roll out dough on a floured surface so that it's 1/8 inch thick.  Cut as desired.  I made boring squares because I know they wouldn't make it off the pan.  However, my artist roommate painstakingly made fancy ones (see below)
4. Put crackers on a cookie sheet (I used parchment paper, but maybe you don't need it?) and bake for 12 minutes.  Try not to burn your mouth on the hot crackers!

They're best on the day you bake them but they're still good for a few days (If they last that long!)

(Habanero cheddar flower-shaped cheese-its)