Author Archives: tearknee

About tearknee

My name is Tierney and I am a 20-something year old self-professed graphic designer, runner, artist, student, and geek. I love all things related to movies and TV, and have decided to issue a challenge to myself to conquer Academy Award Winning Movies, all the way from 1928.

Easy and (Mostly) Healthy Chicken Pot Pie

I have been feeling slightly sick lately which, for me, sends off signals in my brain to eat comfort food. My list of preferred comfort food is mercifully short: Kraft Dinner, Butter Chicken, Chicken Noodle Soup and Chicken Pot Pie. This recipe for Chicken Pot Pie is incredibly fast and yields delicious results. Hope you enjoy!

What You Need

  • 1 cup cut-up cooked chicken
  • 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
  • 1 can low- fat low-sodium cream of chicken soup
  • Tenderflake (or other brand) version of pie crust in a pan from the freezer section
  • 1/2 cup of skim milk
  • 1 egg for recipe, 1 egg for brushing top of pie

What you need to do:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Mix the cut-up chicken, vegetables and chicken soup together in a bowl.
  3. Stir remaining ingredients in with fork until well blended. Pour mixture into one pie crust.
  4. Take the second pre-made pie crust and place overtop of the first. Use your fork to press down along the rim to hold the two dough pieces together. Cut air-vents on the top (I chose to indulge myself and made a heart-shaped hole).
  5. Whisk an egg in a little bowl, and use a brush to lightly cover the top of your pie with it.
  6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top! (I put my pie onto a baking sheet, just incase there was any leaking).
That’s it! Super easy and fast ( and tasty).

Hosting a Tea Party: Part Two – Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

You might think that Biscotti is a bit unconventional for a High Tea (and so did I), but it ended up being the perfect fit. These are crunchy enough that you can savour eating it through an entire cup of tea, but small and light enough that it doesn’t stop you from enjoying all of the other miniature goodies. They are very fast and surprisingly easy to make, and also offer many opportunities for personal variations. Enjoy playing around with the recipe and eating these with a good cup of coffee or tea.

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Hosting a Tea Party: Part One – Easy, Delicious Cream Puffs


the tea party spread in all its glory

I am not a connoisseur of many things. The nuances and subtleties of wine, beer, fast cars are all lost on me. I am, however, a lover of all teas irregardless of colour or origin. It was finally suggested to me that I host a tea party for friends, and I was very much up to the challenge. In my usual manner, I went to great lengths to create everything from scratch. In the end, I had quite the spread: cupcakes, blueberry scones, chocolate chip scones, sugar cookies, shortbread cookies, chocolate walnut biscotti, chocolate-dipped strawberries, miniature tea sandwiches and, of course, a plethora of tea. My favourite dessert I made was the one I was initially most intimidated by- cream puffs. Surprisingly, these were the most fun and the easiest to make out of all of them. Curiously, they were also the first dessert to be finished by the guests- in a mere 15 minutes!

I will hopefully share a few of the recipes (and photos!) from this great party, and these wonderful cream puffs will start it all off. Enjoyyour friends with this simple delicacy!

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Best of Both Worlds: Chocolate Chip + Pudding Cookies

Combining your favourite desserts/ingredients to make a super-dessert is not always wise. It did not end well for the Bean Pie, nor for the Tuna Twinkie (yes, unfortunately, they’re real). Pudding and chocolate chip cookies, however, make a wonderful combination that will please even the toughest cookie critic in your life. These cookies are by far the easiest and most consistently loved dessert I have ever made, so I hope you enjoy them!

Tierney

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Fruit, Flax and Nut Scones

This recipe was a bit of an adventure for me. A local bakery makes absolutely out-of-this-world fruit and flax seed scones which I make a daily pilgrimage (albeit, a short one) to buy every day. I am obsessed. They are not like a typical scone – they are dense and brimming with healthy goodness (or, that is what I tell myself when I eat one every day without fail).

Regardless, this is my attempt to reverse-engineer (I’ve always wanted to say I was reverse-engineering something) these fantastic scones. Feel free to suggest any changes you make to it that work for you! I would love to evolve it further, but am pretty pleased with how these turned out for a first attempt. These have lots of energy-rich ingredients, and are great for a healthy, filling snack in the middle of the day. Enjoy with full-bodied black tea for best results 🙂

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The Best Low Fat Banana Bread You Will Ever Have

Mmmm. Best eaten warm.

The best banana bread ever? And low fat, to boot?

Yes, I know that is a tall claim. But I swear by this recipe. The only problem with it is my inability to stop myself from single-handedly eating both loaves within 24 hours (I fail every time). Interestingly, I actually hate bananas. I don’t like eating them on their own, but I am able to stand them if I add minimal amounts of it to bread. Therefore, my banana bread is light on the banana, but heavy on the bread. I always add a package of chopped walnuts, but whatever works best for you. I prefer to bake them in mini loafpans, because there is some forced portion control (not that it does any good in my case). But smaller is also just cuter. In any case, regardless of load size, enjoy! Continue reading


Christmas Snowy-Lava Cookies

Christmas with lava? This might seem a bit unconventional for most, but I have spent a good many years of my childhood Christmases in Hawaii. These wonderful lava cookies are soft and moist, like a great brownie. They are super simple and fast to make, but their appearance is unique and festive and make a great party-host present (which is what I made them for in this particular case).

This is going to be your best friend for this recipe. Don't be afraid to use it liberally.

You will need:

  • 1 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • a helluva lot of icing sugar, for rolling:) Continue reading

Mexican Dark Chocolate Espresso Truffles – Ole!


Sometimes I wish I drank more often.

No, really. I feel like if I did, I would have this wonderful pantry full of liqueur to use in my baking recipes.

This recipe calls for (an irritatingly small amount of) Kahlua, and it just didn’t seem worthwhile for me to buy some to only use 1 tablespoon of it. Why are these truffles Mexican? Not because they are spicy, but because I made them in honour of a Mexican friend of mine. They are a perfect sweet treat to have with an after-dinner cup of tea or coffee ( or, if you are so lucky, Kahlua?). Enjoy!

You will need:

12 ounces (or, 1.5 cups) of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1.5 tablespoons instant espresso powder

3/4 cup whipping cream

(optional: 1 tablespoon Kahlua)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

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