Keeping Up Cookbook

"Go-To" cupcakes!

2012-05-09T18:33:00.003-07:00

Our Favorite "Go-To" Chocolate Cake recipe (p 192) makes perfect chocolate cupcakes. Pictured here, they are frosted with Amy's Favorite Icing (p 225) made with a touch of mint extract. YUM! Perfect for your end-of-school parties!!

Artisan Sourdough makes beautiful artisan pizza!

2012-04-11T18:25:00.007-07:00

I don't know why we haven't thought to try it sooner! Our Amazing No-Knead Sourdough recipe (p 40) makes AMAZING pizza! Make the dough as directed, substituting all-purpose flour for the bread flour and adding an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup, depending on your climate's humidity. After dough has rested on counter for at least 18 hours, divide it into 3 portions. With floured hands, shape portions into balls and dust with flour. Cover with a dish towel and let rest for 1-2 hours.

Allow pizza stone to preheat in a 500 degree oven for at least 1/2 hour. For a true artisan crust, do not use a rolling pin (this will deflate all the beautiful air pockets!). Instead gently "push" each ball of dough out into a 10-12 inch round, using flour and/or cornmeal to prevent sticking. Top as desired (above = mozzarella + shaved brussel sprouts + fresh tomatoes + parmesan and gouda + carmelized onions + mushrooms) Bake until crust is crisp and cheese is golden, about 8 minutes. Enjoy!

Milk Chocolate Banana Muffins

2012-02-24T09:52:00.003-08:00

You just can't go wrong with these muffins (page 55)! They never cease to disappoint! Easy, lower in fat than many of their friends and bursting with milk chocolate goodness. Not to mention their amazing crunchy top. Perfect for Saturday morning breakfast. Happy Weekend!

California Dreaming!

2012-02-16T05:31:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year when many of us begin to dream about warm, sunny days. Transport yourself to California with our Santa Monica Greens (page 84). This recipe highlights all the citrus that is in season right now and is utterly beautiful on the plate. Truly a salad that looks (and tastes!) like a work of art - your guests will be so impressed!

Lemons are in season!

2012-01-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

It's not the time of year when we think of great produce, but citrus fruits are in season and our Lemony Arugula Salad (p 86) is a great winter salad to add a little freshness to your table. While arugula does prefer cooler temps and may be available at a grocer near you, don't worry if you can't find it or prefer other greens. This salad is just as delicious with other leaf lettuces, and all the ingredients are readily available this time of year. Make a pot of soup, a loaf of our No-Knead sourdough (p 40) and this salad, and you've got a winning dinner for everybody gathered around your table!

December 27th - Time for Vegetables!

2011-12-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year when we start to crave something healthy, after a long winter's night of holiday binging and sugar rushing. Our Roasted Vegetable Soup (p. 62) is just what the doctor ordered!

The recipe can be altered to fit whatever is in your fridge. Here is what my vegetable drawer had to offer this morning - carrots, sweet potatoes, peppers, a Japanese eggplant (leftover from my recent Thai green curry obsession) and tomatoes. Just roast them all up with some olive oil, salt and pepper, then blend them with chicken broth and you're there. Our recipe has cream or half and half added to give it some richness, but you won't miss it. So simple, delicious and nutritious. Happy Healthy New Year Eating!

Our Sourdough Love Affair Continues...

2011-12-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

Best Neighbor Gift ever! If you haven't made our Amazing No-Knead Sourdough bread yet (p. 40), YOU HAVE TO TRY IT, and while you're at it, make an extra loaf for your neighbor. It takes all of 30 seconds to mix together and the finished product is more delicious than anything you'll find at the grocery store! This time of year, when plate after plate of sweet treats and goodies come knocking at your front door, wouldn't you love to get a warm, crusty loaf of sourdough bread instead? I seriously would - because it would solve my issue of what's for dinner after a day of craziness :)

I am proud to say that in the past year or so, I successfully used an entire 50 pound bag of bread flour making this bread for my family and others. The flour cost me $13.49, and I figure I was able to make 75 loaves!!! Since the only other ingredients are yeast (only 1/4 teaspoon per loaf), water and salt, this bread costs less than 25 cents to make...and it is every bit as delicious as those $4 loaves of artisanal sourdough at Whole Foods. So when you need a break from the sweets, bake some up this holiday season! Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Curry Soup

2011-12-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year for warm, delicious comfort food - and what a bonus when amidst all the season's busyness, it is a super simple, quick recipe! You can throw our Pumpkin Curry Soup (p. 67) together in well under 30 minutes, and if you're having guests, they will think you slaved over the complex flavors. We love to spice it up with a little Sriracha or sweet chili sauce (we highly recommend Mae Ploy's Sweet Chili Sauce - available on many Asian aisles or Asian grocers). The recipe suggests toasted pumpkin seeds, but we've found it is equally delicious with a few sunflower kernels sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mini-Bundts!

2011-11-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year for hostess gifts, neighborly drop-off's, little tokens of gratitude for teachers and overall indulgence in all things yummy! Our popular recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins (page 54) makes adorable mini-bundt cakes. Dust them with powdered sugar, wrap them in cellophane and you've got a perfect gift for anybody's taste buds!

An Old FAVORITE - Chocolate Chip Cake!

2011-10-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

This was a college recipe of mine, made often by my sorority house mom (though many of my sorority sisters don't remember it because my roommate and I usually cleaned the pan before anyone else got there!) The recipe appeared in the very first edition of Favorites Cookbook, but was nixed in future editions because of confusion over the baking time. I have solved those issues in the recipe below and wanted to share it with you. It is still one of my favorite comfort snack cakes! Enjoy! - Amy

Chocolate Chip Cake

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Mix boiling water and oatmeal and let stand for 15 minutes.

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 package milk chocolate chips (this is one of the few times I DON'T recommend using the high-end, metallic-bagged chip - go for Hershey's preferably, or Toll House is ok too)

Cream butter with sugars. Add eggs, flour, soda, salt and cocoa (mixture will be thick). Add oatmeal mixture and mix to combine. Stir in 1/2 bag chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13" pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 40 minutes (NOTE: Baking time will vary by altitude. Here in Texas, it only takes 25 minutes - y'all up north will need a bit more time :) until center springs back to the touch. EAT WARM! (rewarm in microwave when needed)

Spring City Lemonade

2011-08-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

My (Amy's) family just returned from our annual summer trip to beautiful Spring City, Utah - a small artist community, brimming with quaint historic homes and that slow-paced, small-town charm that makes me want to pick up and move my family to the country. Fresh water springs run all over town and wild mint is everywhere, free for the picking. We always send the kids out to pick mint sprigs by the bushel and love using it in fresh lemonade (and homemade mint ice cream!). This year, we spiked our Spring City Lemonade (page 3) with fresh mint AND fresh lavender (adding a handful of each to the simple syrup you make at the beginning of the recipe) and it was downright delicious. Drink up the last weeks of summer!!!

Keeping Up with The Gourmet Girls

2011-07-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Grace hosted dinner last week for the writers of one of our favorite blogs, The Gourmet Girls. She cooked up a feast of recipes from both Keeping Up and Favorites cookbooks. Check out the spread HERE!

Cooking for a Crowd

2011-05-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here, which means graduations, family reunions, wedding receptions and summer entertaining. If you are cooking for a crowd this season, here are our 3 favorite recipes for feeding the masses:

Faux Fried Ice Cream (page 209)

Having made 500 of these fancy little balls in the past few weeks, I can testify that they are a fantastic way to impress a big crowd...and nobody will believe how easy they are to make. The recipe makes extra topping, so one batch will give you almost enough for a full gallon of ice cream - roughly 30 balls. (I was feeding 300 teenagers for Prom, so not only did I buy the cheapest vanilla ice cream I could find, but I also skipped toasting the almonds - something almost unforgivable in my book :) - and they were still absolutely delicious!)

Just scoop the ice cream, roll in topping, and freeze. Once they have frozen solid, you can pile them in Ziploc bags and pull them out whenever you need them. They can be made 2-3 days ahead of time, so they really are the perfect crowd-pleasing dessert!

Mini-Melts (page 178)

Whenever anyone wants a recipe suggestion for a large gathering, this is our go-to fave! These delicious little sandwiches are so easy to assemble in advance, then when you're ready to serve, just drizzle them with buttery-poppy-seed-deliciousness and warm them in the oven. An absolute winner!

Chipotle Cheddar Pasta Salad (page 101)

This recipe makes a huge batch of salad and is always a refreshing summer hit.

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

We Believe in Frosted Sugar Cookies!

2011-04-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that we seriously enjoy sugar cookies. I successfully used an entire 50 pound bag of Costco powdered sugar last year, if that gives you any idea :)

Recently, I accidentally made a DELICIOUS discovery that I thought I'd share. While making The One True Sugar Cookie on page 224, my 11-year-old daughter started on my (Amy's) Favorite Icing (page 225). While melting the butter, she accidentally let it cook too long and it started to brown. Browned butter has delicious flavor, so we decided to proceed with the recipe. I WILL NEVER GO BACK! Browning the butter gave the icing such a rich, delicious depth of flavor!

So next time you make sugar cookie icing, try browning your butter by just letting it simmer over medium heat until you see it darken in color. You won't be disappointed!!!

Make your everyday Banana Bread SPARKLE!

2011-04-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our recipe for Milk Chocolate Banana Muffins (p. 56) contains a great tip for making your everyday sweet breads even more delicious and professional looking. Sprinkle muffins and sweet bread loaves with turbinado sugar (the raw sugar found on your grocer's baking aisle) before baking. The tops will bake up with a crisp, sparkling crunch! Everyone will really be fighting over the muffin tops now!

Our Easter Table

2011-04-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here is what's on our Easter menu this year:

Honey Baked Ham with Granny Stohl's Mustard Sauce

(p. 133)

Gouda Potatoes

(p. 124)

Chilled Asparagus with Citrus Vinaigrette

(p. 109)

Melt-in-your-Mouth Oatmeal Rolls

(p. 45)

High Class Jello

(p. 106)

Orange-Iced Sugar Cookies

(p. 223)

Chocolate Lover's Favorite Mint Brownies

(Favorites, p. 251)

The Gouda Potatoes are TO DIE FOR!! Rich, creamy and perfectly browned on top.

The Melt-in-your-Mouth Oatmeal Rolls are perfect on their own or for making ham sandwiches. Short-cut by making them pull-apart style (instructions included in the recipe) to save yourself the trouble of having to form each individual roll.

No Easter table is complete without a hint of orange. If we're not making orange rolls, you better believe we're making orange cookies!

Happy Easter!!!!

Balsamic Strawberry Sundaes!

2011-03-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Strawberry season is one of our FAVORITE signs of Spring! Celebrate the season with this incredibly simple, but highly sophisticated recipe. Page 207!

A PINCH of Green for St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-06T18:06:00.001-08:00

After making (and consuming) dozens of dozens of frosted sugar cookies this past holiday and Valentine's season, I was ready for a quick frosted bar cookie to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Toni's Frosted Blondies (p. 229) are just the ticket. Toni recently made them for a baby shower, frosted in pink, and I was reminded how DELICIOUS they are. Chewy oatmeal bar, topped with gooey cream cheese frosting. YUM! Add a pinch of green food coloring to the frosting and nobody will be pinching you this St. Patty's Day!

Keeping Up with Shauna & Grace

2010-12-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

Keeping Up Cookbook author Grace Rock and KUTV news anchor Shauna Lake have a new cooking segment on KUTV's daytime show Fresh Living. Check out their latest cooking segment HERE !

It's Not Too Late!

2010-12-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

We can ship up to 6 books Priority Mail for just $10.80! There is still time to treat somebody you love to the gift of deliciousness this Christmas! Order HERE!

A Peppermint TWIST

2010-12-08T05:46:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, we wanted to give all our loyal customers a new holiday recipe to add to their Keeping Up collection. These peppermint-iced sugar cookies are a variation of the citrus-iced sugar cookies on pages 222 and 223. We love this cookie because the dough is so versatile and bakes into that perfect crisp/chewy combination. The cookies are great plain or sprinkled with colored sugar. They also make wonderful snicker doodles when rolled in cinnamon sugar. Of course, we love them lightly frosted with all flavors of icing. Enjoy this special holiday variation!

Sugar Cookies:

Prepare cookies as directed on page 222, baking at 350 degrees. Cool.

Peppermint Icing:

Prepare icing on page 222, omitting juice, zest and food coloring. Decrease powdered sugar to 2 cups. Add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract. If desired, add a drop of red food coloring. Lightly frost cookies with warm icing, then drizzle with melted dark chocolate as directed on page 223 (TIP: scoop melted chocolate into a small ziploc bag. Snip off a very small corner, then pipe chocolate over cookies.) Sprinkle cookies with crushed candy canes. Allow to set (I like to put them in the freezer for a few minutes). Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!!!

We made the holiday issue!

2010-12-07T14:13:00.001-08:00

Keeping Up is featured on page 6 of the BEAUTIFUL winter edition of Latter Day Woman Magazine. We happen to be on the same page as My Tree and Me, an amazing website we first saw in Martha Stewart Living years ago (and their cute, contemporary family trees just so happen to be Amy's favorite gift to give this year!) We are so honored to share a page with them! Check out the online version of LDW magazine HERE !

Keeping Up at Children's Hour!

2010-11-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays, Keeping Up Cookbook and Favorites Cookbook are now available at one of our favorite shops in Salt Lake City!

Children's Hour

898 South 900 East

801-359-4150

Keeping Up featured on KUTV News!

2010-11-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to be one of Shauna Lake's FAVORITE THINGS this year!! See it HERE !

FREE SHIPPING Holiday Special!

2010-11-17T07:04:00.001-08:00

Your order of 3 or more books ships for FREE!