Experimenting in the Kitchen Along

[GlassKicker]

Yummy - think we'll be trying out that beef with broccoli on next week's menu!  Thanks for sharing.

[Smeddley]

I know better than to go off what pins (Pinterest) say. I know to check the link. I know to DOUBLE check when go to make the pin, because memory is a fickle thing. I KNOW all these things, but I did none of them. NONE. Though, amazingly, nothing ended up on fire or permanently stained, so I count myself lucky. And I WILL check and double-check next time. Probably.

There are now two versions of this pin floating around, but the one I pinned it from just had a simple line of instruction... "Use cinnamon rolls for a pie crust! Genius!" ...or some such. Yes, so self-explanatory, who really needed to check the pin? It was ALL RIGHT THERE! (...except the part where you are NOT supposed to use cinnamon roll dough because it puffs too much. Yeah, that part was... misrepresented just a wee bit. But we'll get to that.)



I smooshed the dough out, and at some point I must have gotten suspicious, not just because mine looked nothing like the picture - I figured they would have had to cut the rolls thinner, and not press as much, and I actually wondered how they'd cut them down. And maybe some part of me was working and thought... this can't be right. Something seems... off.

So I went and READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Which clearly state to NOT use cinnamon roll dough, because it's puffier. And would probably heave all of the filling out of the pie pan and into the bottom of the oven where it would smoulder like... uh, a burned smouldery thing (I'm tired, and have a headache, you're not going to get much in the way of witty prose, sorry). Which would have been impossible to scrape off.

So I baked the rolls just in the pie pan, according to the instructions on the rolls. And they turned out... kinda dense. And cinnamon-roll like. Surprise, surprise...



Not too puffy, actually, probably could have put the pie filling in. And, really, still could! I'd weenied out and bought a can of filling, that stuff's already cooked, I could just dump it in! And then cover it with the cinnamon roll frosting! Genius!



Mmmmm.... just need to let it finish cooling in the refrigerator...



AAAAAHHHHHH! Eeeeeeee... yuuuuck.  Who... er... um, I mean, the icing melted a bit. Not exactly as pretty as it was. Ah well.



That's okay if it tastes good! Which it... doesn't, really. It tastes like some crappy canned apple filling dumped over a not great cinnamon roll. Will I still eat it? Yes. Can't let sugar go to waste. Will I ever make it again? No.

Will I try the pin the right way? Probably not. I don't see the point in making all that extra work with the crust when you could just... add more cinnamon to the pie filling if that's the flavor you're going for.  Besides, there are more pins I need to try out!  And this time I'll read the directions!

[meleriffic]

Sorry your pie didn't work out. But good job on documenting the process. It sounds like it would be yummy in theory, but you never know until you try. And you're right, somethings aren't worth the extra work.

[alwaysinmyroom]

ha ha ha I love reading you guys' commentaries...the real truth!  I hate trying recipes because they never seem to look like the picture or taste like I think they will...my favorite way of cooking is to use recipes recommended by people I "know"...I will be trying the chicken marsala tika because hubs and I both love ethnic foods the best!

[meleriffic]

The great thing about the Masala is you just pop it all in the crockpot!

[cinnamon teal]

The other night I was craving something sweet but we were all out of chocolate. We did, however, have a bag of blueberries in the freezer. Internet in hand, I whipped up this Blueberry Crisp.



And it was delicious! The original recipe calls for mixed berries, but I only had blueberries. Also, I just made a half recipe cuz it's just me and the hubster and we really don't need a whole batch of desserts. Also, also, I drizzled a little cream over it because yum!

Pros:
Super yummy!
Super easy! The recipe calls for frozen berries so you don't have to defrost anything.
Common ingredients that lots of people already have on hand.

Cons:
None.

[Acadian Driftwood]

I have all the things for that berry crisp in my house right now!! I know what I'm doing tonight.

[yoopidou]

I made oven roasted tomato soup. I used to make tomato soup from canned tomatoes or boiled tomatoes but this is incredibly better. Big success with husband and kids.
Preheat oven to 400.
Put tomatoes sliced but with skin, onion, and garlic with oil on a baking sheet for 45 minutes.  Add some herbs(rosemary, basil...) and pepper.
Remove from oven, put in a pot with broth. Heat and mix in/with blender. Add salt if desired.

Before mixing.
Serve with croutons.
Pros:
easy
delicious

Cons:
takes about one hour
need a blender

I will make it again.

[hgddm]

The blueberry crisp and tomato soup look delicious! I know exactly how you feel about the cinnamon rolls, Smeddley! I had the same experience a few days later with a recipe I tried. It was a very simple one with puff pastry, strawberry jam, and mascarpone cheese (making little tarts). I couldn't find the recipe on my Pinterest board, and accidentally defrosted the puff pastry when it should have stayed frozen  I ended up making a HUGE mess. The tarts were tasty, but not worth the mess and the mental anguish The cookie trays are still soaking in the sink from all the burnt jam!

I have a couple more recipes to share that did work out, though! The first is for Sliced Baked Potatoes and it's a definite winner. I was in a potato mood that night so this was my dinner, but it would work just as well as a side dish.



Yum! I added some paprika to the recipe. I think when I make it again, I'll used minced garlic from a jar or garlic salt instead of fresh sliced garlic. It was too strong.

The next is what I just made for my lunch, Blueberry Pancakes in a Jar and it was DELICIOUS!!!! I love pancakes but never make them because I'm lazy. This was the easiest thing and I had all the ingredients. I could even lick the batter bowl because there were no eggs in the recipe!



SO good. I will definitely make this again. I halved the recipe and it was still more than enough. I could have used a smaller jar too. I also used frozen blueberries and they worked great. The only problem was that the batter on the bottom didn't get cooked as thoroughly as the batter on the top, but I just put the jar back in the microwave for another 90 seconds and it was fine. I also had to add more milk to the batter to make it a bit more liquidy. Yum! Yum!

[jexxican]

hgddm, I have to try both of those.

I've only been working with tried and true recipes from my box lately because whenever I get my list ready for shopping my PC has been off. It's been nice but aggravating at the same time. Maybe on Monday I'll be able to try new things in my shopping?