Sour Cream Biscotti

I love biscotti because of its versatility. You can have a few for breakfast or after dinner for dessert. It is also quite expensive to purchase at the store. The hubby and I were having a discussion this morning as I was getting ready to make some monkey bread out of biscuits. I was explaining to him that if I had to go to the store and buy that type of bread, it would be a lot more expensive than what I could make it for!  A popular brand, Nonni's, makes biscotti. It costs over $3.00 for eight. If I priced out the ingredients, I can say with almost 100% certainty that I can make a lot more than eight for $3.00!  I can't wait for Santa to come to our house Christmas Eve and "sample" some of the biscotti!! Hopefully, he will give it a 10 out of 10!  Maybe I'll make a few more for his reindeer :)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with a large spoon until smooth. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix well again. On a lightly floured board (about one tablespoon of flour), divide the dough in half and then shape each half into a loaf that is 12 inches long and 5 inches across. Place one half on each of the cookie sheets and bake for 25 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheets for 15 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut each loaf into 12 equal slices and place cut side down. Bake for another 10 minutes and then turn each slice over and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and then place on wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 24.

Monkey Bread

Given how much I love cinnamon and sugar, I can't believe I have never made "monkey bread" before! There are bunches of recipes out there that involve making your own dough from scratch and using yeast, but given the hubby bought three cans of Pillsbury Grands!  biscuits earlier in the week and we already had a can in the fridge, I figured I might as well use up a few of the cans we had.  If you can believe it, all four of the cans of biscuits were a different "style!" Good grief. I adapted a recipe I found on the Pillsbury website. There are dozens  of variations of "monkey bread" on their website, but I went with the one that had 809 people rate it! I figured it must be the best one. It takes no time at all to whip this up and the baking time is only a half hour. So, you could have this on your table for breakfast or brunch in about an hour :) An added benefit, when this is baking it will make your house smell AMAZING! My "cinnamon" boy, Dominic, was hesitant to try this when I told him it was "monkey bread." Once I explained to him that it was cinnamon rolls with "frosting," he gobbled it right down!!!! We moms always have a few "tricks" up our sleeves. Now, if I could just get him to try brussels sprouts, my favorite veggie! LOL.

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 can (16.3 ounces) Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle
  Buttermilk biscuits, refrigerated
1 can (16.3 ounces) Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle
  Southern Style Buttermilk biscuits, refrigerated
1 cup light brown sugar,
  firmly packed
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 12-cup fluted tube pan (also known as a "bundt" pan) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In gallon sized Ziploc-type bag, put the white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Open each can of biscuits (you should have 16 total). With a knife or a pair of kitchen shears, slice or cut each biscuit into four pieces for a total of 64 pieces. Put all the pieces into the Ziploc-type bag, close it up and shake until all of the pieces are covered with the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg mixture.  Arrange evenly in the prepared fluted tube pan.  In small bowl, put the brown sugar and the melted butter. Mix until smooth with small spoon and then pour over the biscuit pieces. Bake for 30 minutes or until the monkey bread is starting to brown. Let cool at least 10 minutes on wire rack and then turn pan upside down onto a serving plate. Serves 12.

Lemon Whippersnapper Cookies

My husband belongs to two gyms. One is across the street from the large university around here and the other is in a mall.  As you might imagine, the gym across the street from the university is mostly frequented by college students. Some people at that gym even call him, "sir."  Anyways, earlier this week, I was asking him, "so, have there been a lot of college students working out, since it's getting close to exam week?" He said, "yeah, I was showing those "whippersnappers" how it's done!" Well, okay then. I don't even know the last time I heard the word, "whippersnapper." Probably a LONG time ago. Just for the heck of it, I looked to see if there is such a thing as a "whippersnapper" cookie. Guess what? There is!  

I could picture my in-laws possibly using the word "whippersnapper" at some point in their lives, but my husband?!?! My mind immediately sped forward to the hubby and I sitting on our porch in rocking chairs, about 30 years from now, saying, "look at those young "whippersnappers" riding their bikes down the street!"  Try making up a batch of these festive looking cookies around the holidays. They are a welcome break from chocolate! Well, all righty then, I guess I better "skedaddle" now!! 

Ingredients

1 (15.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix

8 ounce container whipped topping,
  (like Cool-Whip), thawed

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup powdered sugar

In large bowl, put the cake mix, whipped topping and the egg. Mix well with large spoon and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for four hours. When ready to make, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  In small bowl, put the powdered sugar. Roll into 28 equal sized balls. This batter is really sticky, so put a little of the powdered sugar on the palms of your hands - it makes it easier to roll. Roll each ball into the powdered sugar until well coated. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cookies are set and just starting to turn light brown. Remove from oven and let sit five minutes before removing them to wire rack to continue cooling. 

Fudge Four O'Clocks

Ever since the beginning of September, I have been wanting to make this recipe. The problem was finding the "time." Get it?!?!?!?!?  Anyways, this past Sunday night, with the hubby and Dominic otherwise occupied, I finally got around to it!! Wow, all I can say is, if you love chocolate, then this recipe is for you.  I made a few variations here and there, a major one being that I didn't put walnuts into the batter before I baked them, because Lauren and Dominic don't eat walnuts. The hubby and I do like walnuts, so feel free to put some on top if you so desire, like I did! Lauren is coming home today from college to spend the Thanksgiving break with us and I can't wait for her to try a piece of this. Maybe we'll have some at four o'clock this afternoon with a cup of hot cocoa! 

Ingredients

1 cup white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons baking cocoa

2 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup water

1 cup white sugar

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover a jelly roll pan (11 inches x 17 inches) with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In large bowl, put all the ingredients in the order given and mix well by hand with large spoon. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. When completely cool, eat as is or top with your favorite frosting! I used Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting, because can you EVER have enough chocolate?!?!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Once again, we have too many bananas around here. Since Dominic and I just made cinnamon muffins yesterday, I went searching for a different way to use the bananas, other than making banana bread or muffins. I fished out my banana cookbook that an office mate from a LONG time ago gave me and started looking through it. Hmm, there are 56 banana recipes in the cookbook, such as banana scallops, banana cabbage salad, banana chicken salad, banana grape marlow, and banana caramel ice cream.  All those sound, ahem, interesting, but when I found a recipe for banana oatmeal cookies,  I knew I was on to something.  A bit of banana "trivia" - what is a group of bananas called? A hand! A single banana is a "finger." Today, both the hubby and Dominic each ate a "finger." The hubby had one in his lunch I made him and Dominic ate a "finger" with his cinnamon muffin for breakfast. LOL.  I was more than a bit concerned about how mashed bananas would turn out in a cookie - I had visions of the cookies spreading out across the cookie sheet as it baked and dripping onto the bottom of my oven!! Luckily, that didn't happen.  I made these around 11 this morning and had a few for a snack with the rest of my coffee before I went outside to shovel the snow!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
  (about two large)
1 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In large bowl, put the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, shortening, sugar and egg. Mix well with large spoon. In small bowl, mash the banana with a fork and then add to the ingredients in the large bowl. Add the oats, walnuts and chocolate chips and mix thoroughly by hand.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 18 minutes or until the cookies turn dark brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet about 2-3 minutes. Remove to wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 28 cookies.

Turkey Pot Pie

For months, okay, probably years, Lauren has asked me to make a chicken pot pie. Previous attempts did not end well, so I kept telling her, "I'm on the lookout for a good recipe!"  Well, I should have just asked my best friend. She gave me an awesome recipe, a handful of months back, which I made a few small changes here and there to. Chicken pot pie is great, but you can also use leftover turkey to make a turkey pot pie. Since the hubby had bought an eight pound turkey breast recently, I had TONS of that leftover!!  I watched my husband last night at dinner go back and forth to get more after he finished his first plate full. I finally said, "isn't that your FOURTH piece?!?!?!?!"

He looked at me and said, "who's counting?!?!?!?!" I guess I must have been! I have to admit, it was pretty tasty (I had seconds). I love making a homemade crust with shortening - it makes it so flaky! Remember, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and its a great way to use up some of that leftover turkey. I'm thinking as much as my husband and Lauren love turkey pot pie, I may need to make two!

Ingredients

Pastry:

2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus two tablespoons shortening
5 tablespoons cold water

Filling:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
14 ounce can chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 cups cooked turkey, chopped
16-ounce package peas and carrots, frozen

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In medium bowl, put the flour and salt. With two knives, "cut" in the shortening until it resembles small peas. Add the water and mix with a large spoon until a dough begins to form. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured board, roll each half into a 9 1/2 inch circle. Put half into a 9-inch ungreased pie pan and set the other half aside while you prepare the filling. In large stockpot, put the butter, flour, onion, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with large spoon, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the broth and milk. Heat mixture to boiling, stirring constantly and then boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat and add the chopped turkey and the frozen peas and carrots. Mix well and then pour into the pie pan. Place the reserved pastry on top and tuck the edges in. Cut a slit in the top to allow the steam to escape while it's baking. Cook uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is just beginning to brown. Let cool about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Confederate Coffee Cake

I am always on the lookout for different and unique quick breads. In my vast collection of over 100 cookbooks, I found a recipe for "Confederate Coffee Cake." I am not quite the history "buff" that Lauren and my hubby are, but anything to do with the Civil War, I find fascinating.  Growing up in Maryland, I have visited the Antietam National Battlefield and crossed over the Mason-Dixon Line many a time. Want to hear an interesting bit of history? On April 2, 1863, in Richmond, Virginia, a very large and angry mob of mostly women started protesting the high prices and shortages of food. It was called, "The Richmond Bread Riots." Evidently, it was the South's largest civil disturbance of the Civil War. A good thing that came out of the "Riots," was that within the week, the City Council approved a plan for a "relief program." As much as I love to bake and take care of my family, I can just picture myself if I lived in Richmond back then. I would have been at the front of those "Riots" leading the way!

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons margarine, cold
  (cut into small cubes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In large bowl, cream the margarine and white sugar together. Then, add the eggs, flour, baking powder, milk and cinnamon. Mix well with large spoon or with electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared loaf pan and set aside. In small bowl, put the topping ingredients. Mix well with small spoon and then sprinkle evenly over the top of the coffee cake batter. Bake for one hour and then test to see if it is done by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the loaf. If it comes out clean, it's done, if not keeping adding time in five minute intervals. When coffee cake is baked through, remove to wire rack and let cool for at least one hour before trying to remove it from the pan. Place on wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy!

Halloween "Dirt" Cake

When thinking of different ways to decorate this "dirt"cake, I challenged myself to see if I could actually make a cake without using any sprinkles!  It was tough, but I managed :) I have seen many, many recipes for this type of cake on the Internet, but about 90% of them used chocolate pudding and whipped topping. I decided to go in a different direction and make a devil's food cake in keeping with the Halloween "theme" and then spread orange frosting on the top.  The "dirt" is crushed Oreos.  I used a few Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies as the "grave" markers and some candy corn, marshmallow pumpkins and some gummy worms.  When I showed the hubby my finished "creation" he said, "wow!" Yesterday, when I was cutting the three of each a piece, I plucked one of the pumpkins out of the "patch" and popped it into my mouth. Dominic's eyes got as wide as saucers. I think he thought I was eating a real pumpkin!!! Poor guy, I reassured him it was candy!!!

Directions:

Prepare one box of  devil's food cake mix per the package instructions for a 9 x 13 inch cake - I used a 16.5 ounce box of Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix.  Let cake cool completely. Frost with your favorite frosting. I used a 15.6 ounce can of Funfetti Halloween frosting by Pillsbury. In a zippered gallon sized bag, put a dozen chocolate sandwich cookies, like Oreos, close it up and crush into small pieces. I used a meat mallet, since I don't own a food processor.  Press the different decorations gently into the frosting. I had a bag of Brach's Autumn Mix, which included two different kinds of candy corn and a handful of the marshmallow pumpkins. I also had a bag of Brach's Gummi Worms, so I put a half dozen of those on too!!  I melted some orange Wilton's Candy Melts to write the messages on the "graves." Decorator icing in a tube would work too.  Sprinkle the crushed cookie "dirt" around the decorations.  Serves 16. 

Turkey Veggie Chili

Growing up, I was a picky, picky eater.  Eating chili in any way, shape or form was definitely not on my "radar" screen at all.  Never in a million years could I have ever imagined that chili would become one of my favorite foods! I have made vegetarian chili, chili with ground meat, chili with ground turkey and chili with chuck roast. The hubby has been stocking up lately on those one-pound frozen "chubs" of ground turkey when it's been on sale.  I think we had at least six in our freezer at one point a few months ago! Yikes. Earlier this week, as I did an "inventory" of what veggies we had a lot of in the fridge, I spotted a pack of carrots. When the hubby asked what was for dinner that night, I told him turkey chili.  When we sat down at the table and he looked at his bowl, he said rather tentatively, "I've never seen carrots in turkey chili before." Since there weren't any leftovers, he kind of HAD to eat the chili for dinner. Guess what? He ended up going back for seconds! The next morning, he made a point of telling me that my chili was really good. Cool, guess that means he liked the "addition" of the carrots!

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey
2 cups carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup water
12 ounce bag 3-pepper and onion blend,
  frozen
15.5 ounce can light red kidney beans,
  rinsed and drained
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes in tomato sauce,
  undrained
15 ounce can tomato sauce
1.25 ounce package chili seasoning mix, any brand

In large stockpot, slowly brown the ground turkey. Drain the grease off and then add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well with large spoon, cover and then turn down to simmer. Cook for another one hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put on a "bed" of rice or elbow noodles. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, if desired. Makes 4-6 servings.  Note:  if you are on a low-salt diet like I am because of my heart "issues," try the chili seasoning mix from Mrs. Dash - it has zero sodium!!

Dutch Apple Pie

Not too much intimidates me, but for some reason, making a pie does. I guess, because I think they are really hard to make and I would rather stay in my "comfort zone" of making muffins :)  I normally don't have a frozen pie crust in the freezer or sour cream in my fridge, but since I did and this recipe that I found in my mother-in-law's "collection," had those two ingredients, I knew it was meant to be to make this apple pie!!  This recipe is actually pretty simple and quick to put together. You'll spend the most time peeling, coring and slicing the apples. I started out trying to layer the apple slices in a real pretty design, but then decided to just pile them up!  I was a little concerned, because I put 3 1/2 cups in and I thought the juice that was bubbling up around the apples might spill over and drip onto the bottom of the oven. I baked the pie on a cookie sheet to catch any "drippings."  It was interesting to watch this pie kind of "deflate" as it was cooling. I felt like I was watching a science experiment. When I cut the hubby a slice to "sample," he said, "this would taste good with vanilla ice cream!" I fished around in my purse, found a gift card to the Cold Stone Creamery and asked the hubby to go down the street and get us some ice cream. Yep, this pie is really good warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Great idea my hubby had, don't you think?!?!?!?!  The other night, I was telling my mom that I had made an apple pie. She gave me a good bit of advice. She said, "don't ever use Red Delicious apples in an apple pie, I learned the hard way!"  Okay, mom.  I ended up using Gala apples :)

Ingredients

9-inch frozen pie crust
3 tablespoons white flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
3 1/2 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced
  (about 5 medium)

Topping:

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pull pie crust out of the freezer and set aside. In large bowl, put flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and sour cream. Mix together with large spoon. Set aside. Peel, core and slice the apples.  Pour apples into the pie crust and then cover with the ingredients in the large bowl. In small bowl, put the cinnamon and white sugar. Combine together with a small spoon and then sprinkle evenly on top of the pie. Put pie on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees for another 45 minutes or until the apples are bubbly and the top of the pie is turning a golden brown. Remove to wire rack until cool enough to eat.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired. Store covered with a piece of plastic wrap or foil on top in the fridge.

Chocolate Brownies

Even though he doesn't talk about it very often, I know that my husband (being an only child), misses both of his parents.

I can't even imagine what that must be like for him, because I still have both of my parents and my two younger siblings. I was fortunate to have known both his mom and dad and though I was very close to his dad, I became very, very close to his mom during the final six months of her life. When I am missing my mother-in-law, I like to go through her big stack of newspaper clippings we found while cleaning out their house and see if I can find a recipe where I have all of the ingredients "on hand." When I found a chocolate brownie recipe, I knew that was one to try! When the hubby had one of these the other day and I told him where I found the recipe, he said, "I remember my mom making these!" Cool, I love when that happens :) The original recipe had 3/4 cup of chopped nuts, but I choose to use 1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of peanut butter chips instead.

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 squares (2 ounces) semi-sweet
  baking chocolate bar, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl, put the margarine and white sugar and cream together with a large spoon. In small bowl, melt two squares of the baking chocolate bar in the microwave. Pour the melted chocolate in with the margarine and white sugar and then add the eggs. Mix well and then add the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine well and then mix in the milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and the peanut butter chips. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies comes out clean. Remove to wire rack to cool. Serve with a little powdered sugar on top, leave plain, add your favorite frosting or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

While taking a stroll through the pumpkin muffin recipe "blogosphere," I came across several recipes for two-ingredient pumpkin muffins. The two "main" ingredients being a can of pumpkin and a box of spice cake mix. Since I was at the Kroger today doing my regular grocery shopping anyways, I decided to pick up a box of spice cake. Imagine my disappointment, when I got to the boxed cake aisle and they were completely out of any brand of spice cake!!  I guess I could have asked a clerk to help me, but I decided to grab a box of yellow cake mix instead. The more I thought about it, I would much rather come up with my own combination of spices. I love cinnamon and nutmeg together - to me, they are always the perfect "pair!" I was extremely skeptical that I could make muffins out of a cake mix. I thought if I didn't add the eggs, oil and water, like it says on the back of the cake box, that it would be a big disaster! I figured if it was, I had only spent $1.25 for the cake mix and a $1.00 for the can of pumpkin!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, when the pumpkin muffins got cool enough to "sample," I found them to be delicious and just the right amount of spice. Try whipping up a dozen for the family one morning and see if you don't agree with me!

Ingredients

16.5 ounce box yellow cake mix, any brand
   (I used Duncan Hines)
15 ounce can pumpkin, any brand
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put paper liners into a 12-muffin tin and set aside. In large bowl, put all the ingredients in the order given and beat for one minute on high with electric mixer or by hand with large spoon until all ingredients are well combined. Distribute batter evenly between the 12 paper liners and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool five minutes. Remove to wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

My favorite grocery store, Kroger, has started to put pumpkin on sale for just a buck a can!  When I told the hubby, he said, "you better stock up and get five or ten cans!" Little does he know, I'm going to get that many cans EVERY time I go shopping for about the next month. I learned my lesson big time a few years ago, when there was a pumpkin shortage and I couldn't find canned pumpkin ANYWHERE!!!!!!! Since my family loves pumpkin and also cinnamon rolls, how about putting them together?!!?!? I topped these when they were still warm with an easy three-ingredient icing. When Dominic came home from school today and wanted a snack, I asked him to point to the pumpkin cinnamon roll that he wanted. He pointed to the middle one. Yep, that comes as no surprise, because that is the one that always has the most icing!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups white flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold
1 1/4 cups packed pumpkin
1/3 cup milk

Filling:

3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Icing:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In large bowl, put the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, white sugar, salt and vanilla. With two knives or a pastry blender, "cut" in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the pumpkin and milk and mix by hand with large spoon. On a lightly floured board, press out dough to a rectangle about 12 inches long. In small bowl, put the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well with small spoon. Sprinkle the filling ingredients evenly, so it covers the entire rectangle. Roll dough tightly, like a jelly roll. Cut into eight slices and put into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes on a wire rack. In small bowl, put the powdered sugar, butter and milk. Mix with small spoon until thoroughly combined. Spread evenly on the cinnamon rolls with a dinner knife. Eat immediately. If you have any leftovers, store in fridge in a covered container. To reheat, put a cinnamon roll in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Yummy!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate and peanut butter are a "classic" combo that have been around for a long time. Did you know that the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was invented in 1928? Lauren and Dominic "inherited" their love of cinnamon from me and their love of peanut butter and chocolate from their dad! When I make the peanut butter crisscross cookies they barely last a few days.  How about if I added chocolate? They would probably last a few hours!!

Ingredients

2 cups white flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups white sugar + 1 tablespoon white sugar (reserved)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl, put all the ingredients in the order given (except the one tablespoon of reserved white sugar). Mix well with a large spoon by hand until combined. Roll into 36 equal sized balls with the palms of your hands and put a dozen balls at a time onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  On small plate,  put the reserved one tablespoon of white sugar. With a dinner fork, first dip in the white sugar and then crisscross the top of each ball to flatten.  Add sprinkles if desired. Bake for 12 minutes and then remove to wire rack immediately to finish cooling. Makes three dozen cookies.

Easy Homemade Biscuits

The other night, when Dominic and I made some homemade biscuits to go with our dinner, the hubby said, "are these homemade or store bought?" I said, "why?" He then said, "because these are really good!" Biscuits from scratch are easy to make and since this recipe uses an entire tablespoon of baking powder, they rise up high.

I love to split one of these open while they are still warm, put a small dab or two of butter on each half and then spread some apple butter on!! Talk about scrumptious! Speaking of apple butter, I found a recipe recently for apple butter pie that sounded really yummy.  Hmm, the sugar cookies Dominic and I made earlier in the week are almost gone and I have all the ingredients in the house for the pie, I think a little pie baking may be in order for this afternoon!

Ingredients

2 cups white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, put the flour, baking powder, salt and white sugar.  With two knives, "cut" in the shortening until it starts to resemble coarse crumbs. Pour in the milk and with a large spoon, mix well by hand until all ingredients are combined. On a lightly floured board, knead dough about 10 times and then press out to a rectangular shape about 1/2 inch thick. With a knife, cut into six equal-sized squares. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 14 minutes or until the biscuits start to turn a golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to continue cooling. Makes six biscuits.

Frozen Fruit Yogurt Bars

Dominic could probably eat his weight in strawberries. Blueberries and yogurt on the other hand, are two foods he flat out refuses to eat!  I decided to "sneak" in some blueberries and yogurt along with some strawberries into these bars to see if Dominic would notice. When he came home from school, since it's so warm here today, I thought it would be a perfect after school snack. I was curious if Dominic would want to eat them given they have blueberries and yogurt. Well, guess what? He didn't notice!  My little "experiment" was a success!!!!  The only comment Dominic made when he bit into one of these yummy bars was, "that's cold!"

Ingredients

Two 5.3 ounce containers Greek vanilla yogurt,
  any brand
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Put all ingredients into the blender and blend until thick and creamy. Pour evenly into eight ice pop molds and freeze for a minimum of six hours. FYI - The molds I used each held a little less than a 1/2 cup of the fruit and yogurt mixture.

Graham Cracker Cookies

Even though I clean out my pantry every few months, sometimes certain items get "lost." A few days ago, I "found" two packages of yellow Peeps from Easter and a package of cinnamon graham crackers, which are expiring this week! I'm not quite sure how Peeps cookies would taste (plus they don't expire until 2016), so I decided to try and make a cookie out of some of the graham crackers. Wow, these cookies are incredible, so yummy! I had the hubby try and guess the "mystery" ingredient. I told him it started with the letter "G."  He guessed granola and ginger and then said, "I give up!"  I also put a picture on my Facebook wall and had my family and friends try and guess. One of my friends guessed graham crackers! I told her she gets a gold star. She said she would rather have the cookies!!! LOL - too bad she lives 600 miles away! I also "found" some Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme in the pantry, so I put some in between two of the cookies, so it was like a s'more.

Wonder how a few Peeps would taste in between? They are marshmallows after all, aren't they?!?!?!

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups cinnamon graham crackers,
  finely crushed
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.  In large bowl, put the margarine and light brown sugar and with large spoon combine until creamy. Add the vanilla and egg. Mix well by hand. Hint: to finely crush the graham crackers, put them in a quart-sized bag, seal it up, take a metal meat mallet and then pound the heck out of the crackers :) Once the graham crackers are finely crushed, add them along with the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well again and then "fold" in the chocolate chips and oats.  Drop by tablespoonfuls on the cookie sheets - nine to each sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies become golden. Remove from oven, let cool on cookie sheets for five minutes. Remove to wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 18 cookies.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Treats

Anytime Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are brought into this house, I know they won't last long, since both Lauren and Dominic have inherited the chocolate and peanut butter "gene" from their dad! I was curious if I could make kind of a homemade version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups without using the oven or a candy thermometer. Well, I made some of these "treats" earlier in the week and guess how long they lasted? About 72 hours! Last night, I made another batch. Hmm, I wonder how long they'll last this time!?!?!?!?! If you like the fancy "look" of the ridges, try using a biscuit cutter, like I did - pretty cool, huh? You could also use a cookie cutter. A few years back, I bought a set of 100 cookie cutters from Wilton.  I think I got it on sale for about ten bucks. We have used them for biscuits, cookies, as stencils and when we play with Play-Doh. The set has the entire alphabet, holiday shapes, etc. and has more than paid for itself, for sure!

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  (also known as confectioners sugar)
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Spray a jelly roll pan (11-inches x 17-inches) with non-stick spray and set aside. In large saucepan or small stockpot, put the margarine, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, peanut butter and powdered sugar. On low to medium heat and using a large spoon, stir constantly until all ingredients are melted and combined together. Remove from heat and spread evenly in the jelly roll pan. In microwave or in a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips.  Pour over the mixture in the jelly roll pan and spread evenly.  Put into fridge for one hour. If you let the "treats" come almost to room temperature, they are easier to cut into bars, squares or whatever "shape" you want!  Store covered in the fridge.

Gingersnaps

A favorite in this house are my homemade sugar cookies. Gingersnaps, on the other hand, I have NEVER made. I guess that's because the only times I have ever eaten them in the past, they tasted like they had way too much ginger.  I decided to make my gingersnap cookies with just a "hint" of ginger. After a look through a bunch of my cookbooks and on-line, I found there was a wide variance of how much ginger was used in gingersnaps - anywhere from two teaspoons to THREE tablespoons!!!! Yikes. I got a kick out of the hubby this morning. Since I had never made gingersnaps before, I wasn't sure how long they would take to bake. When I told him I had set the timer for 12 minutes, and he heard it buzz, he said, "they're done!"  I told him, "just because the timer went off, it doesn't mean they're done."  He said, "it doesn't?!?!" I remarked to him, "you may be the "king" of the grill, but I'm the "queen" of baking!!! I found out Dominic was a big fan of these cookies when I went into the other room for a few minutes shortly after they cooled off enough to "sample."  The cookie I had taken a few bites of that was sitting on the kitchen table was gone (just a handful of crumbs remained), plus another four were missing from the wire cooling rack. After lunch, he was telling me he wanted more gingersnaps. I had to tell him, "I think you've had enough!!  

Ingredients

2 cups white flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white sugar + 1/4 cup white sugar

7 tablespoons margarine, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, put the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In large bowl, put the 3/4 of a cup of white sugar, margarine, brown sugar, honey, vanilla extract and egg. Beat by hand with large spoon until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir well. Roll dough into two dozen equal sized balls. On a small plate, put the remaining 1/4 cup white sugar. Roll each ball in the white sugar until totally covered and place a dozen balls at a time onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 14 minutes or until the cookies start turning a golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes. Transfer to wire rack.  Makes two dozen cookies.

Mary Ann's Chocolate Cake

Growing up, we had the most fabulous neighbors, Mary Ann and Harold. They lived right next door to us and since they had no children of their own, they kind of "adopted" my brother, sister and I. My mom and Mary Ann were best friends - they even shared the same birthday, July 10! Mary Ann was an amazing person inside and out and I was truly blessed to have known her.

Both Harold and Mary Ann have passed away, but Mary Ann's chocolate cake/frosting recipe lives on.

What's interesting about this particular chocolate cake recipe is that on my "Auntie's" side of the family, there was also a favorite chocolate cake/frosting recipe from my grandmother (this is her recipe card below) that was made frequently by both my cousin's wife, Sharon, and my "Auntie."

After much discussion about this chocolate cake/frosting recipe (Sharon and I have been talking about it since 2009), the three of us came to the conclusion that the recipes were very similar.  Do you know why?  It's the same recipe!!! Evidently, Mary Ann at some point had passed the recipe along to my grandmother!!! LOL. Mary Ann's cake recipe uses five tablespoons of cocoa powder and my grandmother's recipe uses four tablespoons. When I made it, I split the difference and used 4 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder! Please feel free to go "full strength" and use the five tablespoons!  I have made this cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, but never as cupcakes.  When I made this recipe a few weeks ago, Lauren wanted a cake and Dominic wanted cupcakes. To please both "kids," I ended up making an 8-inch square cake and a dozen cupcakes. Mary Ann's frosting recipe is outstanding and I whipped some up after I made the cake and cupcakes. Thank goodness, I had my grandmother's old recipe card, since I seemed to have misplaced the recipe card that came with Mary Ann's cake recipe!!!!!!!! Since it had been so long since I had made the frosting, I thought I did something wrong when I put it on six of the cupcakes and it slid right off. My family didn't care, they ate the cupcakes anyways! Sharon reassured me that the frosting does get hard eventually. Boy, was I glad to hear that! When I told her my family likes the cake better, she said her family likes the frosting better.  The frosting is yummy on it's own, it has the consistency of fudge. We topped our cake and the remaining six cupcakes with my homemade buttercream frosting.

This is definitely the best chocolate cake recipe ever! Try it for yourself and I'm sure you will agree :)

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup cold water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, put the sugar, flour, buttermilk (if you don't have any, you can add two teaspoons of distilled white vinegar to a 1/2 cup of white milk), vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and the eggs. Mix well with large spoon and set aside. In medium saucepan, put the margarine, canola oil, cold water and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add carefully to the ingredients in the large bowl. Mix well by hand or with electric mixer until smooth.  This recipe makes 24 cupcakes, two 8-inch cakes or a 9 x 13 inch cake. To make 24 cupcakes, pour evenly into paper liners and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. For one 8-inch pan, it will take about 25-30 minutes to bake, for a 9 x 13 inch pan it will take about 30-35 minutes to bake. Make sure to spray either the 8-inch or 9 x 13 inch pans with non-stick spray before you pour the batter in or else it will stick. When you remove the cake/cupcakes from the oven, transfer it to a wire rack to let it cool completely before frosting!

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

What if I told you that you could have homemade vanilla ice cream ready in five minutes without an ice cream machine? Would you believe me? Well, it's true!  We have made this ice cream twice in the past week. The first time we used regular white milk and made half of the recipe below. The four of us each had a "sampling" and when the hubby asked for "seconds" we had to tell him there wasn't any! Last night, we used half and half and made the full recipe. My husband said he preferred it with milk - Lauren, Dominic and I liked it better with the half and half. Sorry honey, majority rules in this house - especially when Lauren told me, "this is the best ice cream I have ever eaten in my life!"

Ingredients

8 cups ice cubes
1/2 cup table salt (I used iodized)
2 cups half and half or white milk (any brand)
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 quart size zipper top bag (like a Ziploc or Hefty brand bag)
1 gallon size zipper top bag (like a Ziploc or Hefty brand bag)

In the quart size bag put the half and half (or milk), sugar and vanilla extract.  Seal completely closed. In the gallon size bag, put the ice cubes and salt. Use large spoon to distribute salt evenly on the ice cubes.   Put the quart size bag inside the bag with the ice and salt mixture. Seal up the bag and shake for 5-8 minutes. The ingredients inside the quart size bag will harden up as you shake it and will "magically" turn into ice cream. Eat immediately or put into the freezer for a minimum of 20 minutes to let it firm up more. How about adding chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, butterscotch chips, caramel sauce, nuts, mini M&M's or sprinkles?  How about an Oreo or two that's been crushed up? It becomes cookies and cream ice cream!! Makes four servings.

Rhubarb Buckle

My hubby likes to go to our local farmer's market, because one of the vendors there has bakery items that remind him of Cleveland.  I've been bugging him to find me some rhubarb because I wanted to try and bake with it. I'm pretty sure that I have only baked with rhubarb one time in my entire life. That was about 20 years ago and it was because an office mate gave me a bunch of it for free!!  I ended up making rhubarb bread and I have absolutely no idea what recipe I used.  A few days ago, the hubby said, "when are you going to do something with that rhubarb?!?!" I finally decided to make a "buckle."

A buckle is actually a dessert with a cake type batter with fruit mixed in and a streusel topping that "buckles" up when it's baking. I think it's more like a coffee cake, so I would think of eating it more for breakfast or brunch. It most definitely could be a dessert, especially served warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping!  When I pulled the rhubarb out of the fridge this afternoon, I was wondering - should I shred it? dice it? slice it? I finally decided to dice it up in small pieces.  The texture of rhubarb reminds me of celery. I had visions of the rhubarb staying hard and the buckle ending up extremely crunchy.  I am pleased to report that the rhubarb got soft while it baked. When I sent an e-mail to the hubby this afternoon telling him I FINALLY did something with the rhubarb, he wrote back, "I'll look forward to sampling the rhubarb buckle." Since Lauren and I have already "sampled" it, we know that it is super yummy! I'm sure my husband will agree :)

Ingredients

Batter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 cups white flour
2 cups rhubarb, diced

Topping:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl, put the butter and sugar. Cream by hand or with mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, salt, sour cream, milk and flour. Mix well. "Fold" the rhubarb into the batter with a large spoon.  Pour into the pan and spread evenly.  In separate bowl, blend the butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon together with large spoon until it begins to resemble loose crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let pan cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Cocoa Drops

Yesterday afternoon, I sat on my dining room floor for about 30 minutes, looking through my vast cookbook collection for a good basic chocolate cookie recipe. I finally found a cookbook, aptly titled, "The Cookie Book" that was published in 1941 for the Culinary Arts Institute. It had 250 cookie recipes!  While looking through the cookbook, I found recipes such as "thrift" cookies (made with dry cookie or cake crumbs), "foundation" drop cookies (because it has three different variations), "crockets" (made with egg whites, mace, nuts and raisins) and "riches" (which have tons of butter). I had "Chef" Dominic anxiously waiting in the kitchen for me, so I knew I had better find one soon!!! Towards about the middle of the cookbook, I found six chocolate cookie recipes in a row. I finally settled on "cocoa drops" since I had all the ingredients on hand. I made a few adaptions here and there from the original recipe, one being I didn't add nuts. The first sheet of cookies looked like this.
 

I "taste tested" one and thought they were pretty good, but since they didn't spread too much, for the next sheet of cookies that went in, I used the bottom of a glass dipped in white sugar and pressed them down a little. When I showed the finished product to Dominic and asked him if he wanted one, he told me, "put some frosting on it!"  Once I did and also added some sprinkles, he ate two!!  If you want to get even more "gourmet," just gently push a lollipop stick about two-thirds of the way into a cookie right when they come out of the oven and then gently remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.  I actually had one of the cookies on a "stick" as I was writing up this blog post!

 

 Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (for baking)
1 tablespoon white sugar (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. In large bowl, put the butter and the light brown sugar and mix well with large spoon.  When well combined, add the egg, milk, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa and combine well.  Roll into balls with the palms of your hands a little smaller than a ping pong ball and put on the cookie sheet. If you like smaller cookies, bake as is. If you want them slightly bigger, then dip the bottom of a glass into the tablespoon of sugar first and then press down gently on the top of each cookie. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the cookies look done in the middle.  Remove to wire rack immediately to let them cool. When cooled, add frosting and sprinkles, if desired! Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

Watermelon Salad

I love this time of year when there is an abundance of summer fruits and veggies!  For July the 4th this year, I carved up a watermelon, cubed some and added some strawberries and blueberries. It was kind of cool, because once I scooped out all the watermelon, it became its own bowl.  Pretty neat if you take it to a picnic - you don't have to worry about tracking down a bowl, rinsing it out and then taking it back home!!

 
We ate up most of the fruit that day - it was yummy! I still have a good amount of watermelon left, so today,  I looked around to see what other veggies I had kicking around in the fridge and found some cucumbers, radishes and green peppers.  All the "fixins" for a salad! 

 

I had some of this around lunchtime, but Lauren wasn't interested in "sampling" some. Once I put it in the blender and added about 1/3 cup of chopped onions and a few dashes of my favorite Frank's RedHot Sweet Chili Sauce and called it a watermelon salsa, she took some on a tortilla chip and said, "it's pretty good, I didn't think I would like it, but I did!" Cool :)

Ingredients

3 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1 cup green pepper, membrane and seeds removed, chopped
1 cup cucumber, seeds removed, chopped
1 cup radishes, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In large bowl,  put the watermelon, green pepper, cucumber, radishes and cilantro. Mix well with large spoon and set aside. In small bowl, put the lemon juice, canola oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Combine well and pour over the ingredients in the large bowl.   Mix well with large spoon and cover with a piece of plastic wrap for one hour. When ready to serve, stir a few times with a large spoon and then drain any water out that has settled to the bottom. Given that a watermelon contains about 92% water, I guarantee there will be at least a little in the bottom of the bowl!  Makes 4-6 servings.

Red, White and Blue Muffins

Since my birthday is July the third, I am quite familiar with having a red, white and blue "theme" each year!  A favorite is making a cake with blueberries as the "stars" and strawberries as the "stripes."
 

We love just about any kind of fruit in this house and since I had some extra raspberries and blueberries in the fridge, I knew I wanted to make a muffin using those two fruits.
 

I have scoured through piles of cookbooks the past week, looking for a good recipe and finally decided to invent my own. The "white" in these red, white and blue muffins is sour cream. When I asked the hubby to "rate" these, he gave them a 10!  Good answer, honey!

Ingredients

2 cups white flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put paper liners into a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside. In small bowl, put the blueberries and raspberries.  Rinse, then pat dry and set aside. In large bowl, put the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, sour cream, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Mix until just blended with a large spoon.  Gently "fold" in the blueberries and raspberries. Distribute the batter into the muffin tin and sprinkle one teaspoon of white sugar (if desired) evenly on the tops of the 12 muffins. Bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins are starting to turn light brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean. Makes one dozen muffins.

Double Lemon No-Bake Pie

The hot and humid weather we have had the past few days here in the Midwest has definitely reminded me of the summers I grew up with in Maryland.  The hubby and I have very differing views of when to turn on the air conditioning in our house.  A few mornings ago, the hubby told me, "I think we need to turn on the air conditioning!" I told him, "let me write this down (since he doesn't like it on), you actually want it on?!?!?" When it's this warm, even with the "air" on, I don't like to turn on the oven to make a dessert, I would rather let my freezer do all the work! Making a no-bake pie is easy, especially if you use a prepared crust. I love the local Dollar Tree where I live. That is where I found my graham cracker crust and my lemon juice! 

Ingredients

9-inch ready-to-eat graham cracker crust
1/2 cup cold water
3 tablespoons powdered pink lemonade
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups whipped topping, thawed

In large bowl, put the cold water, powdered lemonade and lemon juice.  Stir with a large spoon until dissolved. Add the ice cream and beat with a mixer or large spoon until smooth.  Fold in the whipped topping and mix well. Pour into the graham cracker crust. Cover and put in the freezer for a minimum of four hours. Remove about five minutes before serving. Garnish with blueberries and strawberries if desired.

No-Bake Marshmallow and Pretzel Bars

I have been trying really hard lately to limit my chocolate "intake," but yesterday, I had a taste for something with chocolate, but didn't want cake, brownies or cookies.  I also didn't want to turn on the oven, because our house was already warm enough.  That means only one thing, right?  Time to whip up a no-bake "treat!" These bars were so incredibly easy to make and were ready for me to take a "sample" in less than 45 minutes.  Around lunchtime today, I asked the hubby if he wanted to try a bar and give them a "rating" of between 1-10.  He told me they were a "9."  I asked him why they weren't a "10."  His response back, "not everything you make can be a 10!" Really?!?!?! I think it is!


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups pretzels, broken into small pieces

Line a 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. In large saucepan or small stockpot, melt the butter slowly and then add the mini marshmallows. Stir with a large spoon on low heat until the marshmallows are completely melted. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and then add the pretzels.  Press the mixture evenly into the pan with the spoon and allow the bars to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into 12 squares.  Store covered at room temperature.

Frozen Fruit Smoothie Circles

Even though I found the smallest watermelon I could for Memorial Day weekend, we still had a lot left over. I was trying to figure out a way to use it all up and I wasn't coming up with any good ideas. Since I had just a handful of blueberries and raspberries also kicking around in the fridge, I thought, why not just throw all the fruit into a blender and make a smoothie? I wanted to take it a step further and freeze it, which was an awesome idea, but I couldn't locate my ice pop molds!!!! I was just about to give up, when I thought, how about using a 12-cup muffin tin for the "molds"? Lo and behold, it worked out great! Since Lauren is my smoothie "girl," she loved this recipe!  The hubby had a few of these "circles" after a long bike ride this afternoon and said, "I think you might be on to something!" If he only knew how easy this recipe was :)

2 cups chopped watermelon
1 cup blueberries, rinsed
1 cup raspberries, rinsed

Put all the fruit into a blender and blend until smooth. Distribute the mixture evenly between the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and put into the freezer for a minimum of four hours. When ready to eat, lightly loosen each "circle" with a dinner knife and remove.  Eat immediately!!

Slow Cooker Ratatouille

I can probably count on one hand how many times I have had eggplant in my life. I bought an eggplant at the store recently and then it sat for a few days on the kitchen counter. I knew I wanted to attempt to make ratatouille. Friday morning before the hubby left for work, I told him of my plans to make it in the slow cooker. To say he was a tad skeptical would be an understatement.  With a few clicks of a mouse on the computer, I found everything and anything I ever wanted to know about making this traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish. Last night, since we were planning on grilling salmon for dinner, I knew ratatouille would be an awesome side dish.  Both kids were around in the early evening and I wanted to spend time with them, so I took a few minutes to chop up the eggplant and zucchini and then tossed a bag of the Kroger brand frozen three-pepper and onion blend, a can of diced tomatoes, water, a can of tomato paste and some various spices into the slow cooker. After just two hours, it was done.  I had no idea how it would taste when I put a spoonful on the hubby's plate (I don't think he did either). Well, he gave it a 10 out of 10!! Yeah! FYI - if you can't find a 12-ounce bag of frozen three-pepper and onion blend, a 14-ounce bag would be fine too. Birdseye makes a "Recipe Ready" Tri Color Pepper and Onion blend that's really good - I've used it before :)

Ingredients

3 cups eggplant, skin on (cubed)
2 cups zucchini, skin on (cubed)
12-ounce bag frozen three-pepper and onion blend (any brand)
14.5 ounce can, diced and peeled tomatoes, no-salt, undrained (any brand)
6-ounce can tomato paste (any brand)
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram

On a cutting board, chop both the eggplant and zucchini into cubes. Put into a 2 1/2 quart slow cooker. Add the bag of frozen three-pepper and onion blend, tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Stir with a spoon until well combined. Add the garlic powder, black pepper, thyme, basil and marjoram. Stir well and then put the lid on. Turn on high for two hours. Stir before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

Waldorf Salad

Do you know that the Waldorf Salad originated at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City? It was not created by a chef, but by a dining room manager named Oscar Tschirky over 100 years ago! The original recipe had mayonnaise, celery and red-skinned apples. Evidently, the addition of walnuts came later. I decided to change it up a bit and use Greek yogurt instead of mayo and use a tart apple, like a Granny Smith. Just for kicks, I looked up how much a night at the Waldorf-Astoria costs and also how much a plate of Waldorf Salad was at the Peacock Alley (one of the restaurants located on-site). I just about fell on the floor when I saw. The most inexpensive room for one night that I could find on kayak.com was $529.00 and a plate of Waldorf Salad was $19.00!! Good grief.  I don't know about you, but when we travel, we usually stay at a Comfort Inn and eat at Burger King. If you want to make this Waldorf Salad more "elegant," you can toss in a handful of mini marshmallows. That's what I did yesterday!!

Ingredients

Two 5.3 ounce containers Greek Yogurt (any brand)
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups apples (like a Granny Smith), chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

In large bowl, put the yogurt.  Rinse and pat dry the celery and then chop into bite-sized pieces.  Remove the core and seeds of  2-3 small apples (leave the skin on), then chop into bite-sized pieces. Add the salt and walnuts. Stir well with large spoon and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour. Stir before serving. Sprinkle additional walnuts on top if desired. Makes 6 one-half cup servings.

Cream Cheese Cookies

When we would visit my in-laws in Cleveland, somehow I always managed to end up in their kitchen.

When they visited us, my mother-in-law ended up in our kitchen.
 

After every meal, my mother-in-law would bring out her tin of homemade goodies, usually kolache and chocolate chip cookies. She and my father-in-law called it, "bakery." I was recently looking through the many newspaper and magazine clippings of recipes that my mother-in-law had saved and found a cream cheese cookie recipe. I love cream cheese, so I thought it was worth making! In the directions it said, "this grand, adaptable dough can be dropped by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, put through a cookie press (if you're lucky enough to have one) or chilled until firm and then rolled with a rolling pin and cut with cookie cutters."  I love the part that talks about a cookie press and being lucky if you own one! When my "sous chef" saw me getting out the ingredients to make these last night, he came over to help me.  Since Dominic is still learning to crack an egg, I did the "separating" of the yolk from the white. I think he thought I was using some magic when I put just the yolk and not the white into one of the shells! Since I don't own a cookie press, we used the bottom of a drinking glass. Maybe I'll get "lucky" and the kids or the hubby will get me a cookie press for Mother's Day (hint, hint). These cookies are fine without frosting, but they are even better with it!

You can also make them a little bigger and add sprinkles - yummy!

 
Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups white flour

In large bowl, put the shortening and cream cheese. Mix well by hand with a large spoon or with electric mixer until fluffy. Next, add the sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix well again . Lastly, with a large spoon, add the flour, a half a cup at a time, until all the flour is well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and put into the fridge for about a half hour. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and set aside. Roll the dough into 2 1/2 dozen equal sized balls or if you prefer bigger cookies, then roll into 15 equal sized balls. Flatten with the bottom of  a drinking glass and sprinkle a little white sugar on top if desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges and the bottom of the cookies are starting to turn brown. Let them cool five minutes and the remove to wire rack to continue cooling.