8050 Place: Pick a Recipe, Any Recipe

I feel as if I’m so far behind on all the things I want to share with you! So I’m going to combine a few recipes here that I’ve tried in the past month or so.

Let’s start with breakfast.

Besides just getting B a gift on Valentine’s Day I wanted to show him in other ways how special he is to me. So for breakfast I made homemade donuts. Typically I try and stay away from using yeast because it just makes me nervous. The water temperature has to be just right and I’m always afraid I’m going to mess it up and all my work will be in vain. But sometimes I have to just swallow my fear.

The recipe I used for the the donuts can be found here. Make sure you flour the surface really well. Notice that my donuts aren't perfect and at first that frustrated me but it did not affect the taste. Just go with it. Since it was Valentine's Day I decided not to ice them with chocolate but to make a pink glaze instead. I just mixed water and powdered sugar until it was the consistency I liked and dipped the doughnuts (once they were fully cooled). My glaze was not very thick because I wanted the glaze to drip down over the entire doughnut (or at least a lot of it). As you can see the glaze didn't show up as pink liked I had hoped but there was a pink tint. I also followed the recipe for the doughnut holes and they were equally delicious. If you're nervous about the water being the right temperature for the yeast just use a thermometer. I know, I know experienced bakers don't have to do this but whatever, I'm not an experienced baker I just want my food to taste good.

Don't you think that one looks like a heart? Maybe it's just me.

Next, stuffed zucchini.

I’m always looking for unique ways to include fresh fruits and veggies in our meals. This was a super tasty option for zucchini. Plus the “stuffing” could be altered about a million different ways to satisfy all taste buds. The recipe can be found here. I did alter a few things on this recipe. During the sauteing of onions and peppers I also added mushrooms. When I was mixing everything together I added about a cup (maybe a bit more) of cooked ground beef and a cup of cheese. Oh, I didn't have tomatoes so I didn't add those in either. Really I kind of just mixed up whatever I wanted or had in my fridge and pantry. They turned out delicious and will definitely be made again at 8050 place.

Finally, what is a meal without dessert?!

Part of B’s Valentine’s gift was a matching mug set (see below) so what better way to give them to him than filled with cake! You can find the recipe here. The only ingredient that is kind of funky is whole wheat pastry flour but if you notice you can substitute it for all purpose flour. Also, I did not double the recipe because our mugs were kind of small but I should have. It truly is a small amount so if you have two mugs double it!