Welcome To My Blog!

For the past year, I've had the experience of being a part of the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club Cookbook Committee. Our committee is in the process of finishing our cookbook, A Stir In The Mist: Tastes and Traditions of Niagara Falls. It is a collection of recipes from the Niagara Falls community and local restaurants. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go directly to the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club. Just recently I have relocated to Ohio, but still wanted to be involved with the book. After watching the movie Julie and Julia, I was inspired to share the great recipes from our cookbook and the experience I had making each of them. I hope you will enjoy the journey I will take stirring my way through A Stir In The Mist!

Let the "stirring" begin!

Well I have started this venture through the cookbook. First things first, each recipe I do will only be a little story about the steps it took to get to the final product. There will be no ingredients given out and no steps to how I got every great tasting recipe to turn out so delicious. That is for you to find out when you purchase or when someone else purchases"A Stir in the Mist" for you!!

I will apologize now for any grammar or punctuation mistakes I may make. I know I am coming from a family of educators, therefore I should know better about these things, but I may make a few mistakes. Soo lets get started....

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Cherry Squares

 How could I not start this blog without my sweet tooth. Cherry squares are a family favorite. They have been around a long time and this was the very first time I have made them. I have enjoyed them so many times at family gatherings especially around the holidays, but I have never taken the time out to actually try the recipe myself until today.


 Well now that we have moved to Ohio our shopping is a little bit different than Niagara Falls. There is no Wegmans and there is no Tops! So my choices for the ingredients today were either Marcs or Giant Eagle. So I went to Marcs. Its a pretty neat store it has everything from socks and shoes to cherry pie filling and crisco. It is a great store for  prices that cannot be beat.







To make the cherry squares was very easy, and the time it took to make them was actually mind boggling that something so tasty and mouth watering could be so quick to bake.
The key to baking to me is to have everything available right in front of you from the actual ingredients to the measuring tools.








    Another tip I learned after mixing my ingredients together was that black was not the perfect color to wear. After adding my cup and a half of flour to the bowl I decided to add about a third of that cup to my pants. Oh well you live and you learn especially while in the kitchen.



The recipe is now done and is cooling down, before i cut them into squares. Marco has invited over his buddies and I am sure I will get the honest opinon. Word of advice when you are baking something delicious. Make sure your husband is out of the house until the recipe is all cooled down and ready to serve. He has asked me three times already if he can just break off a little corner.... NOOO!!




Hope you enjoy the cherry squares as much as my family has and when you do get your hands on this cookbook feel free to comment on how they came out!






          Natalie vs. Kitchen Aid Mixer:     This recipe was fun for me to make, especially because this was my first time ever using my Kitchen Aid mixer! I love it and it was so easy to use. Until I had to clean the mixer and could not figure out how to get the tool that I was mixing with OFF! So I did pull out the handbook. After every other language they give you recipes in I finally found the English section. Really? If they sell this Kitchen Aid mixer in the U.S. why does there have to be so many different options of language for directions. I know and everyone else who has this mixer knows that this product could never be bought here and brought to one of the other countries. It would need a ticket for a seat all on its own. That mixer is one of the heaviest household appliances I have ever seen. I moved it from front to back of the counter and I was struggling. In the end though it is still my new best friend.