tasty #2

yes, i cheated and posted this without any text, but its not really tatsy thursday if the post goes through after midnight is it?



it has been a weird day. i did get the job. yay. 
i know i should be ecstatic and probably use all caps and exclamation points, and i am happy. it will be a good thing for our little family, and a new routine for me. not to mention ill be able to get off of unemployment and make some $. these are all positive things. im even a tiny bit relieved that i can't think about IF for a while. i know its important for me to do a little healing before starting on a new path anyway. its just that i am a seriously impatient, curious person. i need to know whats going to happen. i have to have a plan. 


we learned a little over three months ago that plans don't always work out, so with a bit of a heavy heart, i give in. ill go to my new job and ill give it my everything. ill try everyday to drown out that little voice in the back of my head that's asking all the questions and shouting for answers.


todays recipe is yummy. i got it from a friend whose mom works in a middle school and was assisting in a home-ec class.
(further proof that this is not a food blog) 

it is a super duper easy cream puff.  you can do it. thank me later.

cream puffs

1 cup water

1/2 cup margarine or butter 

1 cup flour

4 eggs

filling

1 box instant pudding

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream  

 

preheat to 400

break eggs into a dish and have them ready. you will add them all at once later

on stovetop, heat water and butter to a rolling boil in a saucepan 
(2 qt or larger)

stir in flour and turn heat down to low 
(be careful pouring it into the hot liquid, i dumped mine in too forcefully at first and hot splash almost got me)

continue stirring over low heat for about a minute or until it looks like the mixture is forming a ball

remove from heat...turn off stovetop!!

dump in eggs

my recipe says continue beating mixture until it changes to a smooth texture. i say stir it for longer than you think you need to. the first time i made them, i decided it was  'smooth' and went ahead and baked the puffs. they were too dry. the second (third, eighteenth, etc...i made batches and batches for christmas) time i made them i kept stirring longer and really made sure my eggs were incorporated and it made all the difference.

you can make the puffs any size you like. the recipe suggests dropping scant 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. only use that much if you want big puffs.  i made things a lot easier for myself by scooping the dough up with a plastic spoon (its a sticky dough and is hard to get off a regular spoon) and tossing the spoonfuls into a (24 count) mini muffin pan. super easy and they came out beautifully. all eighteen batches of them :)
bake 25-40 minutes. depends on your oven. take em out when they are puffed and golden. cool and fill. the cream is simple and i have made all of mine by hand. 
i wasn't thinking clearly enough at christmas time to throw the filling together in the food processor which is what i would do if i was making them today. 
start with the pudding and milk and after that is mixed, add in the cream and process until it looks like whipped cream. ive used vanilla and chocolate pudding because im boring. i bet butterscotch would be divine. ill probably never find out because i am a creature of habit and hey, who wants to mess with a good thing?  you can cut the tops off, spoon filling in and replace or pipe it in with a pastry bag...depends on how fancy you are.

sprinkle with confectioners sugar if you please, or...

optional icing

i put this down here because the puffs are really good enough without an icing, but it was requested by my sis and i made a chocolate icing based off of this recipe. i just threw two tablespoons of cocoa in and it made the puffs into tiny eclairs. 

hope you enjoy!