Red Velvet Funnel Cake

Hello everyone!
 
I have had several people request this recipe from my church since I gave the recipe to our pastor’s wife.  So, I will be sharing it with everyone!  What is the recipe for you may ask?  Red Velvet Funnel Cake of course!  The reason for this being brought up in the area of where I come from is because at the county fair they had a food stand that was selling them.  I first found this recipe when I was in college and had completely forgotten that I had it until I was looking for another recipe in my recipe box.  The recipe box in question was the one that I had taken to college with me and since it was on a note card rather than my recipe cards is how I knew I came to acquire it while at college.  It was mixed in with my various recipes for red velvet cake.  So, without further ado.  On with the recipe for Red Velvet Funnel Cake!

Ingredients

·2 cups All Purpose Unbleached Flour

·1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder

·½ teaspoon Baking Powder

·½ teaspoon Salt

·1 ½ cups Milk

·1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

·2 Lightly Beaten Eggs

·1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

·½ teaspoon Baking Soda

·½ teaspoon Red Food Colouring

·2 quarts Vegetable Oil

Directions

·Pour the oil in a large pot and place over medium heat and heat the oil to heat up to 365⁰F.

·While the oil is heating in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt then set aside.

·In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, and eggs.

·Add to the flour mixture and whisk to together.

·In a separate small bowl, combine the apple cider vinegar and baking powder

·Add to the batter and whisk until smooth.

·Mix the red food colouring in.

·Place the batter in a large pastry bag or a Ziploc bag and seal.

· Carefully snip off a small tip, or corner of the bag.

· Pipe the batter into the hot oil in a swirl pattern for each funnel cake.

· Flip the funnel cake once the batter puffs up and has hardened a bit on the bottom. 

· The funnel cake is finished when both sides are puffy and slightly hardened on the outside.

There you have it!  I hope you enjoy it.  Hopefully, I will be able to find a recipe in my huge box/book of various recipes for the drizzle that they served on the ones at the fair.  Until then enjoy it with powdered sugar.  They are amazing!

Back to Church Sunday

Terve!

Today I am going to be posting about something that is near and dear to my heart.  As most of you already know, I am a Christian and I do go to church every Sunday and on Wednesday when I can.  In a couple of weeks, September 15, it is National Back to Church Sunday.  As such, this post is going to be religious in nature.  If you find that offensive then please feel free to skip over it.  If not, please enjoy it.  Either way, I do hope that you read this and that it inspires you even just a little bit.

If you were to ask me what denomination I am I would tell you that I am an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist.  No, I am not a part of the Westboro Baptist Church group!  Not all Independent Fundamentalist Baptists are.  That would be like saying all Muslims are Jihadist which is completely and total FALSE!  I have many friends that are of the Islamic faith and they are some of the nicest people that I know.  However, a great number of my friends from college describe me as more of a “Messianic Jew”.  Why is this?  Well, I do come from Jewish ancestry and I do acknowledge Jewish holidays.  I have been known to share in Jewish festivities and I find this important.  Why?  I feel that as a Christian it is important to understand Jewish traditions to better understand the Bible and the roots of the Christian religion.  Many people forget that Jesus was a Jew.  I have also been called a Calvinist.  Why is that?  That is also an easy question to answer.  My father’s family is full of Mennonites.  Either way, I am a Baptist through and through and am perfectly happy as such.

Since I go to church as often as I do, you are probably wondering about when I was saved and baptized.  I was saved when I was 9 during Sunday School at Central Baptist Church in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  I was baptized on Easter Sunday when I was 10.  I do not have a story where I hit rock bottom, discovered that I needed Jesus in my life, went to church, and then got saved.  I have been going to church since I was a little girl.  That was the way that I was raised.  It always made sense to me.  However, the older lady that was helping with my Sunday School class, Ms.  Georgina was the one that really deserves the credit on leading me to get saved.  She answered all my questions, and as a curious child I had a ton of them, and was very patient with me.  She was an amazing lady I dearly miss her.  I was baptized the next year by our churches wonderful Pastor, John Waterloo.  That is my story.  I know it isn’t very amazing or exciting, but there you have it. 

When I went off to college is another story though.  I first went to college at Cottey College, a private all women’s college, in Nevada, Missouri.  I went to the Baptist churches in that area and could not find one that suited me.  None of them were quite the same as my home church.  So, for the first year I just did not go.  I sat in my room and read my Bible on Sunday and listened to the recordings from Central Baptist.  However, my second year at Cottey I joined choir and our choir director invited me to her church where she led their choir.  So, I gave it a try.  This particular church was the First Presbyterian Church of Nevada, Missouri.  It was a nice church.  The minister was good and I knew some of the people that attended there.  I was pretty happy with it.  However, going to a Baptist church my whole life and then switching to a Presbyterian Church was a bit strange.  The beliefs are similar, but not the same and some of those really bothered me.  It was a relief to get back home to Central Baptist.  While I attended university at the University of Central Oklahoma I started attending Forest Hill Christian Church.  Once again, this was not a Baptist church and the beliefs were slightly odd to me.  I have friends that attend that church and I did enjoy the time that I went there.  The thing that was always a bit odd to me was that it was a bit too contemporary for my taste.  There were no pews in the sanctuary and they sang a good number of more Christian pop songs, but overall it was a nice church.  However, it was not my home church.  After graduating from UCO I got back to Central Baptist and love every moment I get in that church.

I feel like it is important to have a home church.  Why?  That is a simple question to answer.   To me the people at church are like an extension of my family.  I love each of them.  We help each other out and take care of each other like a family does.  I owe a lot to my church family.  They have helped me through some pretty hard times.  While I really came out of my shell and started being less shy at UCO, I will post more about that later, some of the people I at my church helped out with that recently.  My friends from UCO helped me learn that it is okay to be a geek and that there is a group of people that will love you and accept you for that.  The people at my church in a way helped me learn that it is okay to be myself around everyone.  In fact, I would not be quite as active at Central Baptist had it not been for me, being as shy as I am,  gathering up as much courage as I could and going up to our Minister of Music and asking him if I could join the choir.  So, José, if you are reading this, thank you.  Joining the choir at Central Baptist really helped me find my place at the church.  I have made some amazing friends at Central Baptist and I cannot imagine my life without those people.  Those people helped me become less shy around everyone, not just my friends.  Go out and find a home church!  It is the best thing I can think of to have in the world outside of a loving family.

On September 15 you should go to church.  Go to your home church if you have not gone in a while.  Try a church if you do not have a home church.  If you go to your home church faithfully, invite someone to go with you!  Ask your neighbour, ask your family, ask a co-worker, ask your classmates, ask a friend.  Just go out and ask someone!  The worst they can say is no.  Do not be pushy about it.  That does not give them a good impression about the religion.  Just ask.  Remember, not even the Apostle Paul could reach everyone.  He did his best.  You should too.  Need some more inspiration?  Have you ever heard of Penn Jillette?  You know from Penn and Teller.  Yeah, he is an Atheist.  Just watch this little video that I found on YouTube.

 

Well?  A little bit more inspired?  So go out and tell people about your faith!  Invite someone to church with you!  They may not go with you, but you at least invited them.

Share your faith!  Go tell people about what you believe in.  So what if they get offended by it.  It is there loss.  It does not matter what you believe in, if you truly believe in it why would you not want to let people know?  I believe in God and that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of all mankind.  I am grateful that he did so.  I would love it if everyone else believed the same as me.  I invite people to go to church with me whenever I can.  Just because you go to church does not mean you are obligated to join.  In fact, every church that I have been to have been very kind and welcoming even if I just visited them one time.  Even if you are from a different faith, visit a Christian church on September 15.  If nothing else, it might help you understand your Christian friends a bit better.  You are not committing yourself to that church or to the Christian faith by simply visiting.

Until next time my lovelies!  Stay lovely and blessed!

Sour Cream Coffee Cupcakes

Good Evening Everyone!

I have exciting news.  In addition to having my book published, I might be moving to London!  I have been super busy trying to get everything all situated.  I have been applying to jobs over there in management positions, some of them I was asked to apply for.  For those of you who do not know, some of my cousins live in England and some of my ancestors are from that area.  I would dearly love to be able to go visit family and see the places were my family once lived.  My family is a close knit family even though we live pretty much all over the globe.  I just got a package from my cousins in Canada the other day.  Where I live we cannot get the commemorative Royal Baby Carriage PANDORA charm.  My super amazing cousins were able to snag me one and shipped it to me.  I also went to visit my aunt last weekend and got my Miss Hedgehog charm.  This is another reason for my posts being delayed.  My aunt has not been in good health recently and we’ve been worried about her.  Also, I have had some dental work done and that has been a not so welcome treat.  I hope to be getting back on my posting schedule though.  Fingers crossed.

Anyways, today’s recipe that I am sharing with you is a Sour Cream Coffee Cupcakes.  It is quite delicious and incredibly moist!  I like it with chocolate frosting and I will post that soon!  No worries.  On with the recipe!

Ingredients

·         2 ½ cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
·         1 ¼ teaspoons of baking powder
·         1 ¼ teaspoons of baking soda
·         1 ¼  cup of vanilla sugar
·         ¾ cup of softened butter, NOT margarine
·         3 large eggs
·         1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, I have found that the artificial extract makes this recipe taste a little funny
·         1 ¼ cups of low fat sour cream

Directions

·         Preheat your oven to 350⁰F
·         Line your cupcake pan with the cupcake papers
·         In a small mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, and baking soda then set aside
·         In a large bowl beat the butter and vanilla sugar until it is fluffy and light
·         Add the eggs one at a time and mix well between each egg added
·         Add the vanilla and mix well
·         Mix in the flour mixture and sour cream alternating between the two until it is fully incorporated
·         Fill each of the cupcake papers until they are about ¾ of the way full
·         Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

I hope you all like this recipe and find it delicious!  Try mixing different types of frosting with this recipe for something a bit different.  As I said above I will be posting the recipe for chocolate frosting a little bit later.  Also, below is a link to my book if you all would like to purchase it.  For some reason when the book was formatted it caused some strange errors that were not there in the finished manuscript.  I apologize for that.  Hopefully when the second book in the series comes out and the new edition of this first one is released it will resolve itself.  Anyways, enjoy!

Fractured Bottles
Fractured Bottles for Kindle

Zucchini Muffins! Also a quick update on my novel!

Howdy everyone!

I do have a recipe for you all today and a quick little update on my novel.  If you prefer to read your books on a Kindle, it is now available for the Kindle! I will post the link to it below for you all. For now, on with the recipe!

Today's recipe is a old favorite of my family's: Zucchini Muffins! They taste sort of like banana nut muffins, but they do not have bananas or nuts. I do not know about where you all live, but right now Zucchini where I live are ready for harvest and ours just keep producing. We bake it, we fry it, we grill it, we freeze it, we bake with it and we still have a bunch left over. So, I will be sharing this recipe for Zucchini Muffins with all of you so that if you all have a bumper crop of Zucchini where you live you will have something else to do with it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2cups grated zucchini
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, & nutmeg.
• Set aside
• In a medium bowl, combine grated zucchini, eggs, vanilla, and oil.
• Stir well to combine, then gently stir into flour mixture.
• Fill lined muffin tins about ¾ of the way with the batter.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family does! Until next time.


Fractured Bottles on Kindle

Don't forget to Like the Book on Facebook!  

Update! How is My Book Publishg Going?

Hello everyone!

I have wonderful and exciting news to tell you all. If you have been following me for a while then you know that I have been working on a novel. In my last post I gave you all a sneak peak at the cover for the book. Tonite I am happy to tell you all that my book is published and on sale! Hurray! I am so excited. You can buy it here at amazon. In about a month you will be to go buy it in your local book stores.

So, about this book of mine. What kind of book is it? It’s a young adult fantasy book that introduces some philosophic ideas without them realizing it.  This basically means that it is a young adult fantasy book that can be enjoyed by adults as well.

As for the interesting names in the book, that will be explained on the website when it is all up and running; at the moment it only has the about the author part up and I will like the website below. I tried to give the characters names that fit with not only their ethnic background, but also with the story and had some meaning behind them.  For example, the main character’s name is usually not used as a name. Koowu is the word for strength in Arabic. While she is not physically strong, she has strength in other areas.

Will there be another book? Yes! Of course! It is already in the works. Fractured Bottles is the first in the “Bottles from Ozymandias” series. The second book does not have a name as of yet, but when it does have one you all will know.

You can also like the series on Facebook. Just click the like button down below!

Check it out! Have a read! Enjoy! It would mean a lot to me.

Love you all! Stay lovely and charming!

Sneak Peak!

Hallo Schöne Leser!

So, this isn't related to food, but I feel like sharing it with you all. In my last post I mentioned that I was in the process of finalizing the cover art for my novel that is coming out. Well, I have good news for you all! Since you all are such wonderful and amazing readers I figured that I would let you all have a little sneak peak at it.

 

Tada! There it is. I think it turned out well. Hopefully there will be a site up for it soon. The facebook page is in the works and I shall let you all know when it’s up and going. I will keep you all posted on how it is going. For now I will leave you all with this lovely description that is going to be up on the online stores for the book.

Enjoy!

Koowu has never been to school and her first experience is Ozymandias Boarding School. Much to the Djinn’s dismay she is to be roommates with a Rakshasi named Rajani who is her exact opposite, loud and hyper. Being they anti-social creature that she is does not lend itself well to making friends. However, she manages to become friends with not only her hyperactive roommate but also the Nephilim (Leopold), a Mujina (Kouti), and two Greek deities (Artemis and Apollon). Just in time too. Several important artifacts from the school have been stolen and the misfit group takes it upon themselves to try and figure out where they have gone. Will the group find the missing artifacts or will they end up disappearing as well?

4th of July Special! 3 Recipes for 1 Post!

Happy Independence Day Everyone!

So, it is the 4^th of July and that means Independence Day for us here in the United States. How am I celebrating? I am going to be finalizing the cover for my novel that will be in about a month or two. Huzzah! Anyways, I want to say a big Thank You to all of our troops have served our country and are currently serving! My father, numerous other relations, and friends of mine have served and several are currently serving and I appreciate all that they do and have done. Thanks guys and gals I love you and thank you for all I do. I love you all. <3

With it being 4^th of July and all I figured that I should post something that is red, white and blue. Even though it is after breakfast, you all will enjoy these recipes year round. Today I will be posting 3 recipes. One for each colour. Red will be Red velvet pancakes, white will be whipped cream, and blue will be blueberry glaze. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it. Let’s get started!

Red Velvet Pancakes

Ingredients

·         1 cup of unbleached or whole wheat flour
·         1 ½ tablespoon of cocoa powder
·         1 teaspoon of sea salt
·         3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
·         1 cup of buttermilk
·         1 tablespoon of vinegar
·         1 large egg
·         1 teaspoon of vanilla
·         1 teaspoon of red food colouring

Directions

·         Heat pan or griddle on medium heat
·         While it is heating mix all of your ingredients together in a medium to large bowl
·         Once the pan or griddle is hot either a bit of butter in the pan or spread it on the griddle, you can use cooking spray if you want and if you do I recommend Pam with Olive Oil
·         Pour your pancake batter into the heated pan and let them cook until the edges look firm and   dry and the top has stopped bubbling then flip to the other side and cook for 2 to 3 minutes

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

·         1 cup of heavy cream
·         1 cup of sour cream
·         ½ cup of powdered sugar
·         1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

·         Mix in a medium bowl on high until the mixture forms stiff peaks

Blueberry Glaze

Ingredients

·         ½ cup of vanilla sugar
·         ½ cup of water
·         2 teaspoons of cornstarch
·         1 tablespoon of lemon juice
·         2 cups of fresh blueberries
·         If you want the glaze to look more blue add a few drops of blue food colouring to the water before you start

Directions

·         Mix together in a sauce pan
·         Cook while stirring until the mixture thickens

Well, that’s it! You can use these together or separately. They are pretty easy to make. The blueberry glaze also tastes great on cheesecakes and deserts.

I hope you all enjoy these recipes. Have a happy and safe 4^th of July!