Farmer's Market Gazpacho

Try and guess what the "mystery" ingredient is in this gazpacho.  It starts with the letter "w" and a lot of people eat it at summertime picnics.  Can you guess??  It's watermelon!  Do you have a bunch of it cut up in your fridge right now and you're wondering what to do with it?  Make it into this soup! I'm calling this "farmer's market" gazpacho, because most (if not all) of the ingredients can be found there.  This type of soup is traditionally served cold.  It is really refreshing on a hot day :)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups watermelon, cubed
2 cups tomatoes, chopped (seeds and membranes removed)
2 cups cucumbers, chopped (seeds and skin removed)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup red pepper, chopped  (seeds and membranes removed)
1 cup yellow squash, chopped (seeds and skin removed)
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

In large bowl, put the watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, red pepper, yellow squash and corn.  Sprinkle the salt, black pepper and garlic powder on top and with large spoon mix and combine thoroughly until the watermelon and all the veggies are coated.  Put the mixture, one cup at a time into a blender and keep blending until it gets to the consistency that you want.  Serve immediately or put into fridge for later. Serves four.

Frozen Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bites

All members of my household love peanut butter and chocolate mixed together.  Lately, I have been experimenting with different "no-bake" desserts.  In many parts of the country this summer, it has been pretty darn hot! The last thing you feel like doing is turning on the oven to cook or bake anything, right?? These "bites" firm up in the freezer in about two hours and they are delectable!!  This is a variation of my "buckeye candy" recipe, if the ingredients seem a bit familiar!  I came up with the idea of putting these into ice cube trays. That way they are all about the same size and your hands never have to touch the batter (an added bonus).

 

It doesn't matter if you get a little smidge of chocolate here and there on the ice cube trays (like I did).  Who says it has to be perfect? All that matters is how it tastes and they are heavenly!  A bit of a warning - these are pretty addictive, I keep catching the hubby going into the freezer and snitching a few!


Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

In large bowl, put the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract.  Mix until smooth with large spoon.  Distribute evenly between the two ice cube trays.  Melt the semi-sweet morsels, slowly either in the microwave or in a saucepan over the stove.  Pour the chocolate onto each peanut butter "bite" distributing evenly as best as you can between the 24 bites.  Place in the freezer for at least two hours. Note: these must be stored in the freezer!

Lemon Lime Soda Biscuits

Yes, you read the name of this recipe correctly.  If you can believe it, there is lemon lime soda in these biscuits! Since lemon lime soda typically doesn't have caffeine, you can serve them to your kids for breakfast and not feel guilty about giving them soda that early in the day. There is only 1/2 cup in the entire recipe :)  You can use 7up soda or do like I did and use the "house" brand of lemon lime soda from your favorite grocery store. These biscuits are fantastic warm with a touch of butter and a little honey. Strawberry jelly would be awesome too.  They are also yummy with dinner as we found out last night!  Did you know you can also use lemon lime soda to make a cake? I think I might have to try that next.  I'm always up for a good baking challenge!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup lemon lime soda (any brand), room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9 1/2-inch round pan with non-stick cooking spray (if you don't have that size pan, use a 8 or 9-inch round pan).  In large bowl, put flour, baking powder, salt and shortening. Mix well with large spoon.  When combined thoroughly, gently fold in sour cream and lemon lime soda.  On a lightly floured surface, take the dough and knead about 20-25 times with the palms of your hands to about a 1/2 inch thick.  I used a 3-inch round biscuit cutter and was able to get eleven biscuits out of the dough.  If you use a smaller biscuit cutter, you will get more :)  Bake 15-20 minutes or until they start turning a little brown on the top and a toothpick comes out clean when you put it in the middle of one of the biscuits.  Remove from oven and let them cool about 5 minutes.  Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Muffins

I am always thinking of different kinds of muffins to make. Lately, I have been tossing around the idea of making a muffin that tasted like a snickerdoodle cookie, given how much of a cinnamon gal that I am. Earlier in the week, Lauren made some snickerdoodle cookies that are EXTREMELY popular with Dominic.  I had to actually hide the bag of cookies from him, because he was sneaking into the kitchen and grabbing them when I wasn't looking!!! This is all that's left of the cookies that she made :)

Don't the muffins and the cookies sort of look the same??  They definitely taste similar!   The muffins smelled amazing when they were baking - they truly make your house smell so good.  Lauren loves, loves, loves my muffins. Hmm, do you think the kids have inherited my love of cinnamon?!?!?!?!?!

Ingredients:

2 cups white flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 large eggs

Topping:

1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place paper liners into a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.  In large bowl, put all the ingredients in the order given and mix well with large spoon.  Distribute batter evenly between paper liners.  In small bowl, mix the white sugar and cinnamon together with a small spoon and then sprinkle evenly over all 12 muffins.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.  Remove from oven, let cool five minutes and then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. 

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

In many parts of the country, it is super HOT right now!!  Even in the Midwest (where we live), it has been pretty darn toasty this week :)  If you are outside for any length of time, you will inevitably get thirsty. Don't the above drinks look good?  A certain fast food restaurant that starts with the letter "M" has this beverage on their menu.  Theirs is pretty good, but I like mine better.  An added bonus, you don't have to leave the comforts of your home to go get it!!! Shortly after I took this picture, Lauren drank one and I drank the other. Take it from the two of us,  it was refreshing and really hit the spot!


Ingredients:

2 cups frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cups pink lemonade
2 cups ice cubes

In a blender, put the frozen strawberries and the pink lemonade.  Add 1/2 cup ice cubes and blend.  Keep adding the ice cubes 1/2 cup at a time and blend until all the ice cubes have been incorporated.  I tried to add the ice cubes all at once and my blender let me know it wasn't too pleased!!  Blend until you get the consistency you want  - less blending for thicker, more for a thinner consistency. Serve immediately. 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

One of the regular "customers" at Cathy's Kitchen has been requesting that I make chocolate chip muffins for some time.  After two failed attempts, on the third try I finally got it right!!  How does that old saying go? Third time's the charm?!?!?! These are totally scrumptious, they get a little teeny crunchy on the top and the chocolate chips melt just a little. Your family will love them - our family sure did.  The dozen I made around 9 a.m. this morning, were almost half gone by 10 a.m. :)  Given the popularity of these muffins, I think they may need to become a permanent addition to the breakfast "menu!"

Ingredients:

2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a 12-cup muffin tin, put paper liners and set aside.  In large bowl, put all ingredients in the order given, except the morsels.  With large spoon, mix well (it's okay if the batter is slightly lumpy). Fold in the morsels and then distribute the batter evenly between the paper liners.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.  Remove from oven.  Let cool 15 minutes before removing to wire rack to continue cooling.

Fruity Marshmallow Treats

Most people have heard of Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats, but how about using Fruity Pebbles cereal instead of Rice Krispies cereal to make these fruity marshmallow treats?  Post Foods has a recipe for marshmallow crispy treats on their website, but they used about 8 1/2 cups of  Fruity Pebbles cereal. Yikes - that seemed like kind of a lot!  My taste tester for the day, Lauren, declared these to be "very good." I'm keeping her busy this summer, sampling all of my recipes :) I like these kinds of no-bake desserts, especially when it's really hot outside and you don't want to turn on the oven. 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons margarine
10.5 ounce package mini marshmallows (any brand)
6 cups Fruity Pebbles cereal

Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.  In a medium pot, melt the margarine slowly on the stove.  Add the marshmallows and continue to cook over low heat until all the marshmallows are melted, stirring constantly with a large spoon.  Remove from heat and add the cereal.  Combine thoroughly until well coated.  Press evenly into pan and let completely cool before cutting.