Kissed Macaroons

I have a confession to make. Up until our trip to Jamaica last summer, I didn't like coconut (unless it was on a zinger!) After having a few mixed drinks with coconut flavoring throughout the week I started to acquire a taste for it. Then when we went to Hawaii in December, I really started to like it. We brought back quite a bit of goodies with Chocolate and coconut to share with my family and boy were they a hit. I even made a chocolate and coconut pie for Christmas. I haven't made any coconut treats since then, so when Christopher asked me to make a treat to take to his parents house I couldn't resist. My mom gave me a cookbook that is all about Chocolate and on the cover is a picture of these delicious cookies. I knew right away my taste buds wouldn't be happy until I made them. After a quick trip to the store for coconut and Hershey's kisses, I was set and ready to go. The book calls them "Kisses Macaroon Cookies", but I didn't like that name so I renamed them Kissed Macaroons. I didn't follow the recipe exactly as the book said, but they still tasted delicious. Here is the recipe.

Kissed Macaroons

1/3 cup butter (softened)
3 oz cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange juice
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 bag coconut flakes (divided)
1 bag Hershey's kisses

Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar in a kitchen aid mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and orange juice, beat well. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt, gradually add to the butter mixture. Stir in 2 1/2 cups of coconut. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour until firm enough to handle. (While the dough it chilling you can unwrap about 30 kisses.)

Heat oven to 350.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in remaining coconut flakes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes (or until lightly browned.) Immediately after removing from the oven press the kiss into the center of each cookie. Allow to cook for 1 minute on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack.

Grab a glass of milk and ENJOY!!

Mexican Pizza (with Cornmeal Crust)

I tend to to cook meals that are much to large for just two people to eat. I don't mind this since it means plenty of left overs and less work for me in the future. However, Christopher doesn't like eating the same thing too many times within a week, so I find I either have to freeze some for a later date or get creative. I had plenty of left overs from Taco's on Sunday, so I decided to turn it into a Mexican pizza.



This isn't the first time, I have made this, but it is the first time I made it with cornmeal pizza crust. I found this recipe at Cooks.com. I used only the recipe for the pizza crust itself. I followed the directions exactly, but then found the dough to be too wet so I added a little flour until it was more dough like, oh yeah, and I used my kitchen aid mixer instead of kneading by hand. Here are the directions for what I did.

Mexican Pizza (with Cornmeal Crust)

Cornmeal Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra if needed)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (I tried to forget this, but thank goodness I remembered at the last second)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal


Preheat oven to 425.

In the bowl to my kitchen aid mixer I added 3/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt, warm water and oil. I mixed using the paddle attachment for 30 seconds on "stir" and 1 minute on low. Then I added the cornmeal and remaining 3/4 cups flour. I mixed it (still with the paddle attachment) until combined. I then switched to the dough hook and began the kneading process. It was at this time I decided that the dough was just too wet and needed more flour, so I added more flour as needed. If I had to to guess I would say I added about a half a cup of flour, but really I just eyeballed it. I let it knead for about 5 minutes then covered and let rest for 10 (or about that since I do tend to get a little antsy when waiting)

Once the dough was ready I pressed it out into a rectangle on my cookie sheet (fitted with a Silpat) and baked it for 8 minutes. I then removed it from the oven and topped it with a layer of re-fried beans, shredded beef, salsa and cheese. (You could add any other toppings you like, but this was all I had on hand.) I then put it back in the oven and baked for about another 10 minutes or until the cheese was melted and crust was a golden brown color. For a final touch we added lettuce to our slices and then dug in!

Chris really loved the crust and even ate what was left on my plate. I enjoyed the crust too, even if it wasn't the exact flavor I was looking for. All in all I will definitely make this pizza again.

I'm back!!!

After a weekend with my family calling me out for not blogging in a year, I figured now is the time to start back up. Here is a brief recap of my life the last year, so you'll know why I haven't had much time to blog!

August (the last time I blogged) Chris and I took a trip to Jamaica. We spent 7 days resting and preparing for the craziness of his senior year ahead. We spent most days just laying on the beach and eating WAY to much. This picture pretty much sums up my trip. We had a great time and look forward to heading back someday.

September was the start of Chris' senior year at USC and so you know where you could find us every Saturday that fall. At the collisium or at home watching the football game. Though it was a lackluster season, we enjoyed the games and our time together.

We started winter off with another tropical escape. This time to Hawaii. We had some good friends from Dental school getting married there, so of course we had to be there for their big day. We stayed with another couple we know from USCSD and they were the best hosts! Every morning they would give us ideas of where to go, what to do and places to eat. We had a great trip and returned just in time to start our annual California road trip for the holidays.

January brought in the new year and many changes with it. Chris took his part 2 national boards (and passed,) left for a month to San Luis Obisbo and we confirmed that Baby Shamlian is set to arrive Fall of 2011. The later news, though expected brought many unexpected surprises with it. 3 months of sickness, extreme exhaustion and lots of time in bed. I still managed to take two trips up to SLO and fly to see my sister and her family in Oregon. I don't actually have a single picture of Chris and me, or even one of my sister and me, but do have one of Sunny and me. Sunny was a student of mine that graduated in 09. Chris worked with her for the month he was on his externship and she had us over for dinner one night

In March we went to the Doctor and got to see Baby Shamlian for the first time.

April was a big month, since it was our last full month in L.A. It was full of packing, school, work and many goodbyes. We tried to cram in as much as we could, but even now we look back and say "we should have" way more than we thought we would.


May was the craziest month of them all. Chris took his Clinical Exam (and passed) my coworkers threw me a baby shower/farewell party, Chris Graduated, we moved to Fresno, I took a trip home for the twins 1st birthday, and Chris flew to NY for his sisters Graduation! Even though typed up it doesn't sound like much, I'm exhausted just thinking back. It was the best month of my life and I have never been prouder of my Husband and all his accomplishments.

Chris only wanted one thing for his graduation. For me to make him a tooth cake. I, with the help of my mother, pulled it off and Chris loved it.

Although the cake was for Chris we had to get a picture of the 3 Dr. Shamlian D.D.S' in the family.

I also made the cupcakes for the twins 1st birthday. I even cut out all the wrappers, since I couldn't find any that I liked. They turned out super cute and the party was a great success.

June and July were full of more graduations/parties, traveling, time with family and friends as well as Chris starting work. August looks like it is going to be a calmer month as we really start to prepare for Baby Shamlian's arrival in October.

Here's hoping I have more time to blog in the coming year!