Giada De Laurentiis Mushroom Parmesan

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the grill pan
• 4 to 6 portobello mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over both sides of the mushrooms. Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil on the grill to prevent the mushrooms from sticking. Grill until the mushrooms are heated through and tender, about 5 minutes per side.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Place the grilled mushrooms on top of the marinara sauce and top with the remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle with the cheeses and top with the butter pieces. Bake until the cheese melts and the top is golden, about 15 minutes. Serve.

By Giada De Laurentiis

Bear Buns

Ingredients

• Bread flour: 200g
• Sugar: 10g
• Salt: 3g
• Water: 60g
• Milk: 60g
• Butter: 10g
• Dry yeast: 2 teaspoons

Instructions

sift flour.

Heat milk until almost boiling and let cool (this encourages the gluten in the bread).

1. In a bowl, combine the bread flour and salt. Add the water (heated to about 32° C if you’re making this in winter), cooled milk, sugar, and dry yeast. Mix thoroughly. When it resembles one ball, place on a flat surface and knead until a smooth texture is achieved.
2. When smooth, knead in the butter bit-by-bit. Place the dough into a round bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place. Wait until the dough has risen to approximately twice its initial size. This is the first stage in letting the dough rise.It should look something like this after the first rising.Place the dough on a benchtop or chopping board and prepare the bears’ ears by cutting 20 1g pieces and rolling them into small balls. Cut the remaining dough into 10 equal portions and roll into balls. Place all pieces between a pair of damp cloths (e.g. wrung-out teatowels) for 15-20 minutes (use a timer). Squeeze each ball a bit to force out any gas pockets, and then re-roll into spheres. Take each large ball and firmly press two ears onto it. Place a damp cloth over them to prevent any drying-out. Gently placing all 10 assembled bears into damp “bread mats”, then put them in a warm place for the second rising stage. Make sure all the bears are oriented upwards (to not disturb their ears). Place a damp cloth over everything. Wait until the bears have roughly doubled again in size. if you don’t have any “bread mats”, take some oven trays and place them on the benchtop. Placing the bears on the trays, spray with a water atomiser. Take some drinking glasses and fill them with water, then place them in various locations around the tray. Cover the whole lot with plastic wrap, gently dropping the wrap on from above. Wait until the bears have roughly doubled again in size. For lightly browned bread, preheat your oven to 220 degrees, then bake the bears for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees. For a white finish, preheat to 190 degrees, bake at 160 degrees for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature to 130 degrees for a further 5-10 minutes. If they start to brown, immediately place an upside-down enamel bowl over them, or cover with aluminium foil. Keep an eye on the bears while baking, because oven temperatures vary and are not always accurate or comparable. you can decorate your bears with edible seaweed or a chocolate pen to draw the face!

Nana's Banana Sandwich

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• 2 tablespoon(s) I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread
• 1 tablespoon(s) firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 1 large banana, thinly sliced
• 4 slice(s) crusty whole grain bread

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Directions

1. Combine I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread, brown sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl. Arrange banana on 2 bread slices; top with remaining bread. Evenly spread outside of sandwiches with Spread mixture.
2. Cook sandwiches in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, turning once, 5 minutes or until golden brown.

A Very Berry Strawberry Sandwich

Ingredients

1 tablespoon reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel)
1/4 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
2 slices very thin whole-wheat sandwich bread
2 medium strawberries, sliced

Directions

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Spread bread with the cheese mixture. Place sliced strawberries on 1 piece of bread, top with the other.

Marshmallow Snowmen

That Vegetarian chick has added a new topic. Cute foods! I will be adding a new cute food, each

month. The first one is adorable marshmallow snow men.

You will need a food coloring pen, a black one and an orange one. 2 marshmallows

Directions: Take the top head and create the eyes with the black food coloring pen. And the carrot nose with the orange food coloring pen.Create two buttons on the body, with your black

food coloring pen. Attach the head and body with icing. If you want a melted snowman look, melt the bodies slight before attaching them to the head.