Butter Bell

If you're like me, when it comes time to serve fresh bread with.....well, anything, I like to have nice, soft, spreadable real butter on hand. Not margarine or a butter substitute. Real. Butter.

Not saying it needs to be done every day, but there are times. Considering that I usually serve homemade soup twice a week,

Loaded Cauliflower Bake

I love a good dish. An easy dish. A dish that the whole family will eat, and has vegetables in it. Now this one is almost healthy. Okay, not really when you consider the cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise, but it is delicious.

Cake Decorations On The Fly

Honesty first.....I am not a baker. My cakes aren't beautiful, they are never baked from scratch, they will be lopsided to some degree, but.... there's a big BUT here....they are always made with LOVE.

Missing In (Craft) Action

I know it's been a long time. Missing in action is what has happened. The "action" of every day life completely took over.

Caramel Apple Snickers Salad

Do you love caramel apples with peanuts? Oh, and a little chocolate? Oh, and some cool whippy pudding? Yes, yes, and yes? Great! This little concoction of a "salad" is very awesome, and very easy. This was the third super easy and simple recipe that I tried on Memorial Day. The other two were Feta Dip and Grilled Asparagus. Both were delicious. Today's bit of deliciousness is a dessert. A friend up north often makes a version of this for get togethers. The other day I found out why. It's super easy.

Again, no foodie pics were taken on Memorial Day, therefore the pics you see are not mine, but there is a link back to their original source. This recipe is from Lindsay at her Potpourri Mommy blog. Please show her some love for the amazing recipe. My notes are in blue text.

Caramel Apple Snickers Salad

Ingredients:

* 3 apples (I used four apples and a mixture of sweet and slightly tart)

* 12 fun size Snickers or 6 full size Snickers (I scoured the house for more…use more)

* 1 cup milk

* 1 large package vanilla instant pudding (not made)

* 1 16 oz. Cool Whip (I like a little less cool whip in mine) (it's a lot of whip, maybe that's why I added extra apples and snickers)

Directions:  

Mix milk and pudding in a large bowl.  Add cool whip.  Cut the Snickers and apples into small pieces and add to the mixture.  

This dessert is best if you make it close to when it is being served.  I wouldn't recommend making it the night before. (the apples add too much moisture to serve the following day. Definitely a make and eat the same day dish. A couple of hours ahead is good, as it gives the pudding and cool whip time to set a bit.)

I happened to have shaved chocolate on hand, so I use it as a garnish. Very pretty. The dessert is easy, quick, no-bake, and delicious. Another keeper.

Thanks for visiting. Now go tend to your garden.

Grilled Asparagus

It's that time of year. There is an abundance of fresh asparagus to be had. If you like asparagus, this probably makes you very happy. It makes me happy too.

Feta Dip

Morning all. I know it's been a while, but we've been busy, busy, busy. Hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day!! Mine? It was wonderful, but not so relaxing to begin with.  Hubby and I had lots of family and friends over for a BBQ/Cook out. And the difference between the 2 is what?………….Well, that was not a retorhical question, I was waiting for an answer. Oh well. That's what the Internet is for, information.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

You might want to put your diet on hold for a piece of this yumminess. You will want to eat it, and when you do....be warned this is not for the weak, you'll want another piece. However, you won't get another piece because everyone else will have already eaten it, leaving you with a mere crumb. Awwww, sorry, buddy. This is a great and extremely easy recipe. Even you say you're not a baker, this is easy. One of the mom's from my son's swim team shared this recipe, she doesn't use the almonds, to be careful of nut allergies (good thinking), and she drizzled the top with honey while it was still hot (again, good thinking.) I did happen to find this online as well, at Allrecipes.com.

The recipe follows and is for a 9 x 13 pan for the full recipe. I decided to try making a smaller pan, because I really don't need it sitting there tempting me for any longer than necessary. Instead, my pictures show that it is smaller pan (8 x 8), and that I have only used half of the ingredients. Therefore the pictures just show the steps.

Crescent Rolls, cream cheese, cinnamon, butter, honey, sugar, and vanilla. That's all you need.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.

Beat until smooth.

Roll out crescent rolls. One can is used for the top and one can is used for the bottom. (Since I was making half of the recipe, I used half of the can on top and the other half on the bottom.)

One can of crescent rolls pressed in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. I don't bother with using a rolling pin, just use the ol' fingers and press it right in the bottom of the pan, pinching the perforations together as well. Much quicker this way. (And one less item to wash afterwards.)

Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crescent roll dough.

Tip: When rolling out the second can of Crescent rolls for the top crust, lay a larger piece of plastic wrap on the counter top, then roll the dough on the plastic wrap. The dough sticks to the plastic wrap (just enough), making it easier to put the dough on top. And no, I don't use a rolling pin, I just use my fingers to pinch the perforated lines together and spread it out as I go, until it looks like it's the correct size. (Very precise of me, right?)

With the dough pressed into the desired size, on the plastic, pick up the plastic on the long side, you can even hold onto the corners of the dough a bit. Then lay it flat on top of the filling, with the plastic side up. Then remove the plastic. 

Now the plastic is removed and your top crust is in place. How easy was that?

Add the remaining sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar together.

Melt the butter in a small dish. I find that the recipe calls for a lot of butter, I reduce the amount that I use.

First drizzle the butter over the top of the dough, then sprinkle the sugar & cinnamon mixture over the buttered dough. Put it in the oven and let it bake. The smell coming from your oven will have your family salivating.

The recipe that I found online doesn't call for honey, but the person that gave the recipe added this little step and it is much better. Don't mind the fancy honey, it was leftover from a gift basket I received last Christmas. All of the regular, Meijer brand honey was gone, so I used this wonderful Hale brand.

This is the what the dessert looks like when it comes out of the oven. 

While it's still hot, drizzle honey all over the top. How much? It's up to you and your personal taste. Use a bit, it will soak in as it sits. Step back, look at it and admire, but you must wait for it to cool before you cut it. 3 hours. After cooling, I like to put it in the refrigerator for a while. I find it much better served a bit chilled. This is a great recipe to make ahead, the night or day before. 

After it's been refrigerated, I cut it into small pieces, it's very rich. For a 9 x 13 pan I cut it into 24 pieces.

Eat up!!!!

There you have it, one quick easy and delicious dessert. My family loves it, even my wonderful husband, TM, and he is not much of a sweets eater. It's a crowd pleaser.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Dessert

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 3 Hours Servings: 12 (cut them smaller - 24 pieces)

"Cream cheese, canned crescent rolls, cinnamon, and almonds create this delicious, Mexican-inspired dessert."

Ingredients:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 (8 ounce) cans crescent roll dough

1/2 cup melted butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional) Honey (added touch)

Directions:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Beat the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape the each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.
3.	Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake along with the almonds.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 minutes. (This is when I drizzle honey on top) Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares. (I cut them smaller)

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie makes me think of summer. I long for the lengthy, hot days of summer, with the smell of freshly cut grass lingering in the slightly, breezy air. Ummmm. The sunshine, with its golden light, pouring over every inch of the yard and deck, warming everything it touches. Okay, so that leaves out a large portion of our backyard, but it's still wonderful. Anyways, again I have taken off on a tangent that will take me to daydream land. Back to the Key Lime Pie!

Summer isn't quite here yet, but the pie is. Yes!!!!!!! This is possibly one of the simplest recipes. Ever. Pretty close to the infamous glass of ice water recipe. Seriously, who would have thought that so few ingredients could produce such a wonderful taste treat. What you need: a graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice. That's it!! For the lime juice, I use Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice. Great stuff, that is where I found this particular recipe, on the back of the bottle. I have used a different recipe in the past, a no bake recipe that did not contain eggs. It was good, and probably better (healthier) for you, but this one seems to be a better take on a key lime pie.

Nellie & Joe's Recipes from the Keys

Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Pie 9" graham cracker pie crust 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk 3 egg yolks (whites not used) ½ cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating. Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream, or meringue, and garnish with lime slices.

Key Lime Pie with freshly whipped cream. Yummy!!

Okay, so I don't usually garnish with the lime slices, but it would pretty if I were having people over to dinner, just for a regular night, not taking the time. I also like to use the Keebler Shortbread Crust as opposed to the Graham Cracker Crust. It has a really nice flavor. This time I actually made freshly whipped cream, but that is not my normal procedure. If we have canned whipped cream, or lite cool whip, or whatever we might have in the fridge, but I do always offer it with a topping. Great stuff!! It turned out wonderfully, again. It always does. You really can't mess this recipe up, unless you try really hard. Of course since it's such a simple and quick recipe, that leaves me more time to do what?

Go play in the dirt!!!!!

Individual Worm Bins for Dessert

Earth Day came and went, and I've been a little busy. However, I was nerdy enough to want to make an Earth Day dessert. I did it before and I did again. This year I made Individual Worm Bins. Yea. It sounds gross, but what fun, even for my teenagers! A few years ago I made a cake. Yum, but cake is cake, considering that I always use the boxed variety. One day I will bake a cake from scratch......it just sounds so scary.

Earth Day Cake 2010

Yep. You got it. I am a big chicken. This time I thought, well I've made worms in dirt, a few quick changes and you have individual worm bins. Chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo (type) cookies on top for the dirt, long pieces of red licorice (the laces would work great, but they only had cherry laces) to act as red leaf worms, white sprinkles for "egg shells", some green sprinkles for "vegetation" and there you have it, your own little individual worm bin. That's right, I couldn't think of anything quickly to use for "newspaper". Hey, my family would get the idea. What were they going to do? Not eat it? "Sorry, Mom. I'm not eating this, there's no fake newspaper on it." Right! They ate it, quickly.

Pudding, Twizzlers, Cookies, and Sprinkles

Chocolate Pudding divided into small dishes

Crush Oreo (type) cookies in a bag and sprinkle on top of the pudding.

Add pieces of licorice and sprinkles. Ta Daaaa!!

When Earth Day was approaching, my 16 year old son (GG) and I had a conversation about trying to be as energy conscious as we could for the day (and we do every day). We decided to cook using no electricity. That's not too hard considering how much we go camping. However, living in the city would pose a problem with the whole cooking over the fire pit and not having a Burn Permit for the season, thing. That's right, we would grill chicken. I never said we were vegetarians. However, we would have to break out both grills, this little gas grill that we got for Christmas (yuck) and the trusty, Mr. Big Daddy Weber Charcoal grill that is out year round (I love you, my little, slow things down a bit, and taste the yumminess of it all, black enameled, dome of wonderfulness). Now I'm not biased at all (chuckle, snicker, grin, and snort), I just think the whole process and taste of cooking on a charcoal grill, or over an open wood fire is, for lack of better words.....MIND BLOWING AND DELICIOUS. Okay, as my husband (TM) keeps reminding me, gas grills have some advantages. Yeah, they're quick. I really don't see the fun in that. Strictly my opinion. Not saying that it's correct, but it's all mine.

We would wrap potatoes in foil and cook those on the Weber charcoal grill, and we would soak the corn on the cob, still in the husks, in water and cooked those on the gas grill on low. The chicken, of course, was would have to be cooked on the Weber. Just thought of this, both grills are Weber grills. The chicken would cook on the charcoal Weber grill. We would have loved to eat out on the deck and use no indoor lighting, but it was in the low 50s and really windy. (Stop calling me Wendy.) Slight take-off on Airplane and Leslie Neilsen's, "Stop calling me Shirley". I miss that guy, he was funny!!!!

Anyways, not exactly how it turned out. We did grill the chicken on the charcoal grill, however, the corn and potatoes were cooked inside the house on the electric stove. We got it half right for the day. TM was very busy with his Leg Lamp project, a.k.a. the new shed and dinner was backed up quite a bit. Time was short and we compromised on the use of electricity for the day. But we keep trying to do our part to reduce our eco-footprint. It's a belated greeting, but, I hope your Earth Day was green. How green? Supah Green!

Go play in the dirt!!!