Making dinner with my Sister-in-Law

My sister-in-law, Heather, has been asking me to teach her cook for a little while now. She's gained an interest in learning but it was just a matter of us setting aside the time to do it. I see my sister-in-law all of the time, but extra time can be hard to come by somedays!

For her birthday I got her a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - Anyone Can Cook and since then she's wanted to get together even more. I asked her and her boyfriend Rob over Sunday and told her we should cook something from the book. So 2 nights prior we looked through the book, she'd picked out a Cheese-Stuffed Chicken recipe. (By the way, this book is fabulous, great pictures, great recipes, and lots of instructional information - like the differences in taste between yellow, white, and red onions, to what knives to use for what, and what different cuts of meat are, etc.).

We flipped through the book looking for side dishes when I asked her if she'd ever made mashed potatoes, the answer was no....that's something I wanted her to learn, pronto, so that settled one side. I was going to suggest a veggie of some sort when she asked if I'd teach her how to make a garlic bread I'd made once when we had her and Rob over for dinner. I said ok and decided not to push the veggie. I for one could live off of starches all my life - bread and potatoes ROCK - and secondly, I didn't want to overwhelm her with too much to learn in one day.

Sunday arrived and I decided we should get the apple crisp we agreed to make for dessert made and in the oven. So that was first. Then we went to the store to pick up what I didn't have in the house for dinner while we left my husband and Rob watched the Patriots came. When we got back to my house we immediately got to work on the chicken. Heather asked lots of questions all along which I thought was great - it showed how much she really wanted to learn. And of course we had a really fun time through it all. While we "slaved" in the kitchen, Greg & Rob smoked cigars on our deck....ahh...the life!

I would say our dinner was a raging success. The chicken came out fabulous. We made a few minor changes which is how the recipe will appear below. I also taught Heather the "fine art" of "winging it" (as I like to call it!) with the mashed potatoes (so no recipe below) and the garlic bread was absolutely awesome. The recipe that appears the below is my adjustment for cooking it in the oven rather than on the grill (which I did the first few times I made it), and also a few other changes to reflect our preferences.

I can't wait until we do this again. Heather was even so excited about how easy the apple crisp recipe is that she is going ot make it for Thanksgiving dessert! We had a blast overall on Sunday - as an only child I've been lucky to be blessed with such a great sister-in-law and, really, is there any better combination than cooking and/or baking with one of your favorite people in the world? I think not.



Cheese-Stuffed Chicken
(from BHG "Anyone Can Cook")




4 chicken breast halves (2 to 2 1/2 pounds total)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 slices of bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled
Salt & pepper
Paprika
Italian Seasoning


Preheat oven to 350F. Using a sharp knife, make a pocket in each breast half by cutting horizontally from side to side, cutting to but not through the opposite side and leaving the edges in tact.


In a medium bowl, combine mozzarella, feta, and bacon. Pack cheese mixture lightly into pockets. Place chicken in 3 quart rectangular baking dish. Light sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning.


Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken registers at 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer. Makes 4 servings.



Unbelievable Grilled Garlic Bread
(adapated from AllRecipes.com)

1 cup mayonnaise
6 teapsoons minced garlic
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, halved lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients except bread.

Place the French bread on baking pan, cut side up and put in preheated oven 5-7 minutes or until slightly toasted.
(The picture at the above right is garlic bread in process, see chicken picture for not-so-great picture of finished product)



NILLA Apple Crisp
(from KraftFoods.com)

4 large Granny Smith apples (2 lb.), peeled, thinly sliced (we used 5 apples)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold margarine
25 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers, crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)

Heat oven to 350°F. Toss apples with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch sq. baking dish.

Combine oats, remaining brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in wafer crumbs; sprinkle over apples.

Bake 30 to 35 min. or until apples are tender. Serve topped with COOL WHIP. (Or Vanilla Ice Cream in our case!







The two of us with our finished dinner product. I swear we only broke out our ridiculously highly filled glasses of wine once dinner was already in the oven!

Cookies that just scream FALL!

As much as I do love to cook, baking is one of my favorite things to do. I really consider myself more of a baker than a cook. I don't know why, but I just love filling the house up with the oven's warmth and the cozy smells of something fabulous brewing behind that oven door. There is just something so cozy and homey about baking. This is one of the biggest reasons I love the fall. After baking very little all summer due to not wanting to heat up the house, it's a relief for me when cooler weather comes and my baking adventures can resume.

Last week I did quite a bit of baking, for the reasons mentioned above and to a great extent to really keep some warmth in the house since we were holding off as long as possible trying not to turn our furnace on! Long story short, we turned it on last Wednesday but the baked goods were of course worth it. One of the things I baked last week was the Glazed Apple Cookie recipe below.

Apples are my favorite fruit. I love apple pie, apple crisp, apple bread, apple sauce - but a cookie? That's definitely "outside the box." My discovery with this recipe is that it is absolutely awesome to have apples in a cookie!!! These cookies are definitely staying on my list of favorites!

Glazed Apple Cookies

(from AllRecipes.com)

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and finely diced
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons half-and-half cream

Beat shortening and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts, apple and raisins, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.

Drop from tablespoon 1 1/2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove cookies to racks and while still warm, spread with glaze.

To make Glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and enough cream to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on warm cookies.

Apple-Pear Crumble Pie

I love fall for many reasons - leaves turning color on the trees, the sites, the smells, Halloween, Thanksgiving and of course for the pure reason that my favorite fruit - the apple - which is in its best season in our area.


In following my love of apples, I have tried out yet another apple pie type recipe - this time an Apple-Pear Crumble Pie from KratFoods.com. It was dessert for the other night when our parents came over dor dinner. It was certainly easy to make and of course incorporated apples so that's always a plus in my book.


Everyone said it was good. My verdict? It is just ok - not bad, but not spectacular. It's a good recipe to keep around but I probaby won't be running out to make it again anytime soon. Idid make it using Splenda & Splenda Brown Sugar blends as substitutes where possible so that may have affected the taste a bit.



Apple-Pear Crumble Pie
(from KraftFoods.com)


3/4 cup crushed NILLA Wafers (about 24 wafers)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 large baking apples, peeled, sliced
1 large fresh pear, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1-1/4 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping


Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mix wafer crumbs, brown sugar and butter until well blended; set aside.
Place pie crust in greased 9-inch pie plate. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with half of the crumb mixture. Set aside. Combine fruit in large bowl. Add granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon over crumb layer in pie crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
Bake 35 min. or until fruit is tender and crust is lightly browned, covering loosely with foil after 25 min. if necessary to prevent crust from overbrowning. Cool on wire rack. Serve topped with the whipped topping. Store any leftover pie in refrigerator.

Say....CHEESE....cake that is!!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband and I stayed in for a quiet night at home on his birthday rather than going out to eat. But since it was his birthday, I of course I had to make him a special dessert!

There are a few dessert elements I know are a hit with my husband at almost any given time:
- Peanut butter
- Mint
- Cheesecake
Obviously not all together though!

With that said, I decided to make a cheesecake, but to celebrate this wonderful fall season I decided on an apple cheesecake. It was delicious and easy...can't go wrong with that! I definitey would not hesitate to make this one again!

As usual I made a couple of changes which I've done below. Also even though the directions say to sprinkle cinnamon & sugar on teh apples after you place them on the cheesecake I actually tossed my apples in the cinnamon and sugar and then placed them on the top of the cheesecake. I thought this was an easier way to ensure an even coating on all of the apples.

Fall Apple Bavarian Cheesecake
(from KraftFoods.com)

1/3 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced (I had to use 2 medium-to-large sized apples to cover cheesecake)
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds (I omitted)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter and crumbs; press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.

Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Pour into crust; top with apple slices and almonds. Combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar; sprinkle over cheesecake.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Caramel Apple Pie

Yup, it's that time of year again - fall - and what does that mean? You got it - apples GALORE! I have not yet made it to an orchard for apple picking but I bought some nice looking Granny smith and MacIntosh apples at the store today. I have to make at least one apple pie per season! And that particular apple pie recipe that I wanted to try out this year was something I had bookmarked about a month ago in anticipation for an occassion just like this. The recipe comes from myrecipes.com but is sponsored by Argo Cornstarch.

The result was fabulously delicious! Lucky for us I have plenty of apples to make a second one later in the week! The only change I made was not using pumpkin pie spice (I don't like pumpkin pie, and neither does my hubby so it's not something I would have on hand) and rather substituted a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (noted below).

You know what else is great about this recipe? It calls for a prepared pie crust so I don't have to feel like a schmuck because I am too lazy to make my own from scratch...

Did I mention this was Deeeeeeelicious??


Caramel Apple Pie
(from myrecipes.com & Argo Cornstarch)




1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pumpkin Pie Spice*
1 tablespoon Argo® Corn Starch
5 to 6 McIntosh or Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rum or imitation rum flavoring
1 (9-inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons prepared caramel sauce
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Mix sugar, pumpkin pie spice and corn starch in a large bowl. Cut apples into 1/4-inch thick slices and place in a separate bowl. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice and rum; add to dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Place in pie crust. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Stir flour and brown sugar together in small bowl. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown (I needed only another 35 minutes to obtain a golden brown color). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings


*I substitued pumpkin pie spice with about 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and a pinch of ground ginger

Another wayward, pictureless recipe....

I think I may be losing my mind. I forgot to take a picture for one of the muffins in the previous entry and forgot to take a picture of the Strawberry Bread I made as well. I've decided to share the recipe nonetheless because it was tasty - not too sweet but just enough, and it was sure as heck easy to make. One of these (since the recipe makes 2 breads) made its way to my local nest board "secret baker" recipient as well.

Strawberry Bread
(from BettyCrocker.com)

1 bag (16 oz) frozen whole strawberries, thawed, drained
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt


Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of two 9x5- or 8x4-inch loaf pans with shortening; lightly flour.

Slightly mash strawberries; set aside. In large bowl, mix sugar and oil. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in strawberries until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans.

Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

TWD: Mixed Berry Cobbler

It's Tuesdays with Dorie time again! After a sad, 2 week hiatus I am back with avengance! Life just was too busy for me to make the attempt for the last two recipes - between showers, graduation parties, and upcoming weddings that I am in this summer (3 to be exact), I've just been flat out but I found time for this week's Mixed Berry Cobbler chosen by Beth of Our Sweet Life.

A lot of the P&Q's for this recipe said the biscuit topping was a bit bland. So, since I reduced the recipe a bit, I kept the same amount of sugar, added some cinnamon (about 1 tsp), and a little nutmet (about 1/4 tsp). I also baked this in an 8 inch casserole dish instead of a pie dish.

I was a bit surprised when I cut into the cobbler the next morning to bring some into work for my friend Denice who I was pretty sure would love it, and pretty sure her twins-to-be would too. (side note: My husband and I are not huge berry fans except for strawberries, of course Dorie warned not to use too many so this recipe wasn't 100% up our alley so I decided to share!) and I still found it to be watery despite not using many strawberries (I just used 2 frozen bags of mixed berries - including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries). It seemed tasty to me though (the one bite I had) and I got rave reviews from my boss and my friend Denice. Actually Denice gave it "5 stars."

So, I think I would make this again if I were expecting company who would like such a dessert - and just nix the strawberries altogether. I am curious to see what other TWDers did about the biscuit crust!

To see the entire recipe, check it out here.

Lemon Lime Daiquiri Dessert

So, as you can see, there has not been a ton of excitement in my kitchen lately. I have just been very busy the past couple of weeks so leftovers, meals from the freezer, and takeout pizza have taken over some of our meals as of late, and when I have been cooking it hasn't been much of anything new or exciting. I did bake on Thursday night - another batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes. So it's not like I haven't been doing anything, I just haven't had time to try something new. I hope to change that soon but for the meantime it is what it is!


This week I did try a bit of newness for my friends Cathy & Michelle who came over my house to do some super secret stuff which I will not mention here since I may have a nosey reader. I made us some Beer Can Chicken for dinner. But for dessert I wanted to have something for them that was cool and refreshing since it had been crazy hot early this week. Enter KraftFoods.com - they have some great, simple, and easy frozen desserts on there that I highly suggest you check out. I made some real hits from there last year so when I found the Lemon Lime Daiquiri Dessert I knew it would hit the spot. It sure did! My BFF Michelle said she may even make it herself this weekend for Father's Day. So, long story short, this was a great recipe and nice because you can play around with the lemon/lime ratios if you like one more than the other.

And don't lie...you just love my paper plate picture down there. I only bring out my best china when my girlfriends are over - HA!


Lemon Lime Daiquiri Dessert
(from KraftFoods.com)




2 cups lemon or lime sherbet, softened
8 oz cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice or lemon juice
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed (I used light)


Line 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil. Spoon sherbet into prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. Freeze 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese spread in large bowl with wire whisk until creamy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk and lime juice, beating until well blended. Stir in whipped topping; spread over sherbet layer in pan.

Freeze at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into 12 slices to serve. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

TWD: Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake

This week the chosen recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was for Madeleines, which call for a special baking pan so we were given the option of making one of the past recipes from the rotation instead. I almost bought a Madeleine pan then decided to save my money and go for the Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake. I had trouble deciding on this one as there have been so many great recipes that TWD has made in the past. I decided on this recipe, however, since we were having my parents and my in-laws over for dinner on Sunday night and I knew that this recipe would be a hit. Anything with apples is a hit in our family!


I had a pretty easy time of this recipe for the most part. I did not need the extra 1/4 cup of flour, my dough was definitely dough without it. I did have some trouble rolling it so patchworked it as Dorie suggests. I used Splenda for the apples since my father-in-law is diabetic and did sub half of the sugar in the dough for Splenda which could be one of the reasons my dough came out a little dry from the oven, however, it was certainly still very much edible and delicious! Another reason the cake part could have come out dry - I only baked this for 65 minutes and it did come out a bit browner on top than expected, next time I would definitely cut the baking time down to 60 minutes.

The only thing I wish I hadn't done was not use 10 apples, I used 2 large apples and 6 medium ones and it seemed like a lot of apples. While my filling was not lacking, after getting a taste of this I wanted more of them! Perhaps this was another reason it cooked up quicker than I expected. Next time though. Overall this was a great recipe and it may become a new fall favorite (since my husband and I have a habit of picking way too many apples each fall!)

Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake
(From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”)

For The Dough
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


For The Apples
10 medium apples, all one kind or a mix (I like to use Fuji, Golden Delicious and Ida Reds; my grandmother probably used dry baking apples like Cordland and Rome)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar, for dusting

To Make The Dough: Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the baking powder and salt and mix just to combine. Add the lemon juice - the dough will probably curdle, but don’t worry about it. Still working on low speed, slowly but steadily add 3 1/4 cups of the flour, mixing to incorporate it and scraping down the bowl as needed. The dough is meant to be soft, but if you think it looks more like a batter than a dough at this point, add the extra 1/4 cup flour. (The dough usually needs the extra flour.) When properly combined, the dough should almost clean the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or for up to 3 days. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost overnight in the refrigerator.)

To Make The Apples: Peel and core the apples and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; cut the slices in half crosswise if you want. Toss the slices in a bowl with a little lemon juice - even with the juice, the apples may turn brown, but that’s fine - and add the raisins. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the apples and stir to coat evenly. Taste an apple and add more sugar, cinnamon, and/or lemon juice if you like.

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9×12-inch baking pan (Pyrex is good) and place it on a baking shee tlined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Remove the dough from the fridge. If it is too hard to roll and it cracks, either let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin to get it moving. Once it’s a little more malleable, you’ve got a few choices. You can roll it on a well-floured work surface or roll it between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper. You can even press or roll out pieces of the dough and patch them together in the pan - because of the baking powder in the dough, it will puff and self-heal under the oven’s heat. Roll the dough out until it is just a little larger all around than your pan and about 1/4 inch thick - you don’t want the dough to be too thin, because you really want to taste it. Transfer the dough to the pan. If the dough comes up the sides of the pan, that’s fine; if it doesn’t that’s fine too.

Give the apples another toss in the bowl, then turn them into the pan and, using your hands, spread them evenely across the bottom.

Roll out the second piece of dough and position it over the apples. Cut the dough so you’ve got a 1/4 to 1/2 inch overhang and tuck the excess into the sides of the pan, as though you were making a bed. (If you don’t have that much overhang, just press what you’ve got against the sides of the pan.)

Brush the top of the dough lightly with water and sprinkle sugar over the dough. Using a small sharp knife, cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced slits in the dough.

Bake for 65 to 80 minutes, or until the dough is a nice golden brown and the juices from the apples are bubbling up through the slits. Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool to just warm or to room temperature. You’ll be tempted to taste it sooner, but I think the dough needs a little time to rest.

TWD: Florida Pie

It's Tuesdays with Dorie time again! Dianne from Dianne's Dishes chose this week's recipe for Florida Pie - i.e. Key Lime pie jazzed up with some coconut!

Until Sunday, I had never had Key Lime pie - ever. There is always room in my stomach to try something new, though! I decided to make it to bring to my parents' house for Mother's Day. All in all, it went well, except that I overbeat the meringue. I had never made meringue before Sunday and I honestly was a little frightened by it. It was goin gwell though. I checked my stand mixer and it looked good to me at some point. But the instructions said to beat it until it was room temperature and I still felt the whites were pretty hot, so I kept the beater going. I checked not a minute later and the meringue had flattened, a lot. Despite my meringue being a bit flat, the pie overall was pretty tasty, just wished I had gone with my gut and stopped beating the meringue when it looked right.

I'm a big fan of coconut and I thought it was a great combo with the lime. It was a nice slice of tropical heaven!

Florida Pie
(from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)



1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, seperated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

Sangria, baby!

This past Sunday I hosted a Brownie Swap inspired by the lovely Joelen (more to come about that in a later blog entry). There was a great turnout and some really wonderful brownies to be shared and a fun day had with my girlfriends.

But, what is a day of girl time without some fun drinks, right? I decided to make some sangria as the beverage du jour, and opted for these two, pretty darn easy, recipes. They were yummy and I served them in my cocktail glasses that I wish I got to use more. I will definitely make both of these recipes again!


Savignon-Blanc Peach Sangria
(from myrecipes.com)

3 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 lime, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 (750-ml) bottle Sauvignon Blanc


Put first 3 ingredients in a large pitcher, and add wine. Stir gently to dissolve sugar. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill 2 hours.

Stir mixture again. Pour through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a large bowl or another pitcher. Reserve 6 peach and 6 lime slices; discard the rest. Pour sangria into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with reserved peach and lime slices.


Shortcut Sangria
(from myrecipes.com)

1 cup vanilla-flavor syrup
2 oranges (about 6 oz. each), thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 cup orange juice
2 bottles (750 ml. each) dry red wine
Ice cubes
In a pitcher (at least 3-qt. size), combine syrup, orange slices, lime slices, and orange juice.

Add wine to pitcher; mix, and pour into ice-filled glasses.

A Banana Bread Bakeoff!

Last week while browsing Is My Blog Burning? for new events. I stumbled upon one hosted by Not Quite Nigella. NQN is hosting Banana Bread Bakeoff! The timing was perfect - I had a few bananas getting overly ripe from consumption and was hoping to use them soon by baking a banana bread.

I've had a recipe bookmarked for awhile on myrecipes.com for Chocolate-Marbled Banana Bread. It's from Cooking Light. I really love banana bread, I'll take any excuse to make it so it's really no surprise that I jumped at the opportunity to participate in this.

Oh...and...and I really, really love chocolate. Does it get any better than that combination?

Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread

(from Cooking Light via myrecipes.com)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray


Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.

Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 cup batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Easter Eats!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we hosted Easter brunch. This was our 2nd year so and I really enjoy hosting a brunch. It's a change in pace from the typical holiday-type dinner that we are all accustomed to, likewise Easter and brunch are a perfect fit.

Per usual when entertaining, in my haste to get everything out of the oven and served before it got cold, I neglected to take pictures of most of my meal. However, here is how the menu looked:
* Fruit & cheese kabobs
* Orange Cream Mimosas
* Broccoli, Chicken, and Mushroom Quiche
* Bacon, Onion, & Cheese Quiche
* Scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese in puff pastry pockets
* Corned Beef Hash
* Mashed Potato Hash Brown type casserole
* French Toast Souffle
* Blueberry Bread (confession: this came from a box mix!)

The Fruit & Cheese kabobs were a great little idea I had seen on KraftFoods.com. Strawberries, kiwi, and grapes on wooden skewers and alternated with cubes of Monterey Jack Cheese. I gave my husband the distinct honor of cutting and assembling these. I was quite impressed with the results - very nicely laid out - go Greg! I thought this was easier than making a huge fruit salad. These were easy and fun to eat! No good excuse to not have gotten a picture of these since they were done an hour before guests arrive, I just simply forgot!

Unfortunately I don't have a real recipe for the 2 quiches. I had decided on my fillings in advance and prepared them in their own containers so that on Easter morning I just had to beat the eggs, throw the fillings in, and pour everything in the pre-baked pie shells. I had a basic quiche recipe that I intended to use as a guide for the number of eggs to use, cooking time, etc. That plan went out the window. I added more eggs, half-and-half, etc. then the "guide" called for. To be honest I couldn't even tell you how many eggs I did in fact use, nevermind any other measurements. Trying to recreate my recipe here probably would only spell disaster. What I can tell you though is that they came out good!

The scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese pockets were a last minute inspiration. My friend Lindsay had mentioned something of the like to me a couple of weeks prior and it clicked with me this could be fun for Easter. Basically all I did was scramble eggs to the semi-runny state, and then laid out a little egg, a sprinkle of cheese, and some diced ham into a little puff pastry pocket. I got 3 pockets for each sheet of puff pastry (I used the fold lines as my divider). It worked out nicely and despite my fears the eggs weren't dried out at all.

There are 3 recipes I can provide you with though...

The first being is homemade Corned Beef Hash. I got this from one of my buddies, Pam, on my local Nest board for my Easter brunch last year. Since it was so popular last year, I didn't think twice about including it on this year's menu. I love how easy it is and how it's something I can prep and then not think about again! You'll never find something this good from a can!

The next recipe is for Paula Deen's Mashed Baked recipe. It's a cross between mashed potatoes and hash browns. I thought this might be a nice bridge between breakfast and lunch and hence fitting of brunch. It was delicious. I lightened it up a bit by using low fat cream cheese, low fat sour cream, and low fat cheese.

Lastly is a French Toast Souffle from myrecipes.com. I don't really know why they call it a souffle, because it's really not a souffle. I digress. It was good, but not great. I really enjoy Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole that I've used in the past (including last Easter) more. I'm sure that has something to do with this recipe being from Cooking Light and Paula's recipe...well...let's just say 2 sticks of butter can change everything!

Corned Beef Hash

3 Cups cooked corned beef
2 small chopped onion
3 potatoes, peeled and diced into small chunks
1/2 Teaspoons salt
1/2 Teaspoons black pepper
1 Cups beef broth

Run first three ingredients through food processor. Mix well with all the remaining ingredients. Press into well greased pot. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.

Mashed Baked
(from FoodNetwork.com)

4 cups frozen hash browns
1 (7.6-ounce) package butter and herb mashed potato mix
1 stick butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups boiling water
2 cups prepared French-fried onion rings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the hash browns. Cook for 5 minutes and drain.

In a large bowl, mix together the cooked hash browns, mashed potato mix, butter, cream cheese, jack cheese, sour cream, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Stir in the boiling water.

Place in a greased 2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle the onion rings over the casserole and bake for about 5 to 8 minutes longer until onions are golden brown.

French Toast Souffle
(from myrecipes.com)

10 cup (1-inch) cubed sturdy white bread (such as Pepperidge Farm Hearty White, about 16 (1-ounce) slices)
Cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat-cream cheese, softened
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup

Place bread cubes in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Beat cream cheese at medium speed of mixer until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add milk, half-and-half, 1/2 cup maple syrup, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over top of bread; cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Remove bread mixture from refrigerator; let stand on counter for 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until set. Sprinkle the souffle with powdered sugar, and serve with maple syrup.

Tasty Tools!

My husband and I hosted an Easter brunch on Sunday for 8 of us. Last year I served mimosas but this year I was looking for a little something different. Since I had fewer guests this year than last, I thought it wouldn't hurt to put a little extra time into the featured brunch beverage du jour. After some research, I found a great recipe from Tyler Florence on the Food Network website for Orange Cream Mimosas. It sounded like a fun, easy, and delicious twist on the standard mimosa and it was the perfect opportunity to take part in the Tasty Tools event that Joelen from Joelen's Culinary Adventures is hosting this month.

These two factors combined gave me the perfect excuse to buy the microplane grater I have pined after for so long. It's true, everytime I watched the Food Network and one of the chefs whips out his or her microplane grater, I turned green with envy. So it was an Easter present for myself! I was able to zest the orange for this recipe like a pro. I just love it! While my box grater is still a useful tool, I love the ease of the microplane grater, not to mention I find it neater. I definitely intend on using it often!

Let me just say, these mimosas were Stupendous, despite my horrible choice of where I took the picture. I was scrambling around the kitchen and as you will soon see, I didn't even take a picture of the rest of my Easter meal! (p.s. I love my Keurig Coffee maker!)

Anyway, I digress. They were Stupendous...yes, with a capital S. When we ran out of champagne and still had some of the frozen portion left we switched to ginger ale. Still Stupendous. I almost wished I had doubled the batch - in fact next year I will!

Orange Cream Mimosas
(from FoodNetwork.com)


2 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (5 to 6 oranges)
1 orange, zested
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup superfine sugar
1 bottle sparkling wine or Champagne*
Strawberries, for garnish
*Non-alcoholic sparkling wine, sparkling cider, or ginger ale can be substituted

Put orange juice, zest, half-and-half, and sugar into a blender and process until the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds. Pour this mixture into a shallow pan and freeze until hard, 4 hours or overnight.

Remove the frozen orange mixture from the freezer and let it sit to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. With a scoop or tablespoon, scrape out a small scoop and put it into a Champagne glass. Slowly fill the glass with Champagne and serve garnished with strawberries.

A turkey burger worth gobbling up....

....get it? The title of the post? Oh I crack me up!

Flipping through my new Rachael Ray "Just in Time" cookbook the other day I was inspired by her New England Chicken Patty Sammies recipe. I gave it a go with the turkey and a few other alterations to the original recipe and wow, what a great burger this was!

I'd like to apologize upfront for my picture. I was obviously too busy drooling over the site of the burgers to really focus on plating it properly with melty cheese hanging all over the plate....nevermind that one of the burger buns is upside down. I've got the bottom bun on top! Oh well, it was worth rushing through the picture taking step so I could down my burger that much faster!


New England Turkey Burger Sammies
(inspired by "Just in Time" by Rachael Ray)












1 package of ground turkey (usually around 1 - 1 1/3 lbs)
Celery salt
Pepper
Onion Powder
Paprika
4 tablespoons EVOO
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
4 rolls of your choice (or go with the English muffin option suggested by RR, I didn't have any on hand)
Sliced sharp cheddar cheese
3 tabelspoons honey mustard


Preheat your broiler.

In bowl, mix turkey with salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder to your desired taste levels. Form 4 thin patties (I did 3 bigger ones, but you could easily get 4 out of 1 package). Preheat one large and one medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of EVOO, twice around the pan, to each skillet. Place turkey patties in large skillet and cook for 5-8 minutes on each side (or until cooked through).

Slice buns in half, place on cookie sheet and into preheated broiler for about 2-3 minutes or until toasty. Take them out of the oven and put them aside.

Meanwhile, add apples and onions to second skillet, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender about 6-7 minutes.

Place a turkey burger on one half of each toasted roll and top them with some of the apple/onion mixture and then 2 slices of cheese. Spread the other half of the roll generously with honey mustard. Slide baking sheet back into the oven for another 1-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Montly Muffin Challenge: January

In the spirit of it being the first month of my new endeavor - the monthly muffin challenge, I made 2 different types this month - both from my Nigella Express cookbook - Banana Butterscotch Muffins and Pear & Ginger Muffins. I liked both which both went over well at the slumber party, but I perosnally was a bigger fan of the former which had a bolder taste in my opinion.

On a side note, I felt as those the kitchen gods had it out for me this weekend. While putting my muffin tin full of my first batch in the oven with just my right hand (mind you, my left one was still in some pain from the night before), I lost my grip on the pan and it then tilted off of the rack and went splat....upside down on my oven door. Batter, EVERYWHERE, oozing down in between the crack of my oven door and where it meets the oven...into the the drawer under the oven. Almost all of the pans I had under there had to make a trip to the dishwasher because of it. All was lost...and a mess.

Honestly if I had found it as humorous at the time that I do now (ok, I'll admit, I still don't find it particularly amusing), I probably would have snapped a picture of the debacle, however, needless to say I was one UNhappy camper. Luckily my husband did "damage control" since I was far too annoyed with myself to do much cleaning up. Also lucky for me, I had enough bananas to make another batch. Never a dull moment I tell ya.

Banana Butterscotch Muffins

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 400F and line a 12-cup mufin pan with paper liners.

Measure the oil into a large glass measuring cup and beat in eggs.

Combine all dry ingredients except for butterscotch chips in a large bowl. Then add in liquid ingredients followed by mashed bananas. Once combined, fold in butterscotch chips.

Divide equal quantities of batter into muffin pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.


Pear and Ginger Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 6 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup peeled and chopped pears, about 1/4 inch dice


Preheat oven to 400F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.

Measure into a bowl the flour, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and ground ginger.

In a large mesuring cup, whisk together wet ingredients. Then blend these ingredients into the dry ingredients. Lastly, mix in diced pairs and divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Sprinkle each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar before placing in oven. Bake for 18 minutes and remove to cooling rack once done. Best eaten warm.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp

Say this three times fast:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp

Ok, I couldn't even type that three times in a row accurately, nevermind say it!

Creative boredom and overly ripe bananas got the best of me on New Year's night. See, I really can't stand overly ripe bananas or normally ripe bananas for that matter, I like them, well, slightly greenish to be honest. So, I pondered what I could do with those bananas, with what I had in the house before they went bad. It just pains me to throw food away if it can be avoided.

I thought of two yummy combinations with banana - peanut butter and chocolate (hey, even Elvis liked that combo). So I dreamt this little diddy up and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp was born. My husband really loved which is good since I really made it for him. (No desserts for me for awhile since I'm trying to shed a few pounds). I call this a 2-3 person portion - it didn't make a ton - so expect to increase the amount of ingredients if you want to make it for several people.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Crisp


2 to 3 ripe bananas cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup quick cooking oats

2 heaping tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

2 -3 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces

"Handful" semi-sweet chocolate chips (very precise cooking measurement, huh?)

Preheat oven to 350 (or in my case your toaster oven). Spray small baking dish with cooking spray. Mix banana slices and peanut butter in small mixing bowl and place in cooking dish. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of banana mixture.

Combine oats, brown sugar, and flour. Cut in butter pieces until crumbly. Sprinkle oat mixture on top of bananas and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until bananas are soft and topping is "crisp-like" (yeah, that's another very precise and technical cooking term). Serve with whipped cream (or ice cream would be good too!).

Turkey Day!

I'm sitting here writing this blog in the last few minutes of Thanksgiving 2007. Why am I up you ask? Well, I dozed off on the couch tonight and when my husband woke me up to go to bed I was wide awake. Rather than toss and turn and keep him up (he has to work tomorrow, I don't) I'm up, doing this.

Anywho, I made this to bring to my husband's grandparents' house for dessert today and it went over quite well! I once again have to thank my friend Janine for this recipe. I swear she has the most butt kickin' recipes of anyone I know!

I have about a half of batch of gingerbread leftover - I think my bowl wasn't quite big enough but that may also be a result of using two 8oz containers of Cool Whip instead of one 12oz container (confession: I am a Cool Whip freak. I can't even keep it in the house unless it's for a particular recipe because I'll eat it right out of the container, frozen too!!). I used sugar free vanilla pudding and cut the brown sugar to just a tablespoon since I was out of my Splenda brown sugar blend (and my husband's family has a few diabetics in it). I figured this was safe since I found a similar recipe online that didn't call for brown sugar at all.

Either way....thank you so much for the recipe, Janine! You ROCK! (but I'm sure you already knew that hehe).

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

2 Packages 14 oz. each gingerbread mix

5 1/10 Ounce vanilla cook and serve pudding

30 Ounce can pumpkin pie mix

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1/3 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

12 Ounce container frozen cool whip

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool.

Stir the pumpkin pie filling, brown sugar sugar, and cardamom into the pudding.

Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large trifle bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Refrigerate overnight.

And on that note:

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!!!

Apple Pecan Cobbler (or Cobblah as we say here in RI)

Stop. Apple time.

Again....

I made this dessert on my husband's birthday a couple of weeks ago and we ate it for breakfast. Certainly not the breakfast of champions, but it was at least the breakfast of birthday celebrators... ;-)

I should note that the original recipe (found on allrecipes.com) called for standard granulated sugar, but since we were having my parents and in-laws over that night for dinner and my father-in-law is diabetic and cannot eat cake, I knew he'd be having a slice of this instead. I have to say it was still delish even with the Splenda. I always have Splenda - both the white sugar variety and the brown sugar blend in my cabinet because of him and you know what? Sometimes I even use it when I'm not making something for my father-in-law - it is a great way to save calories!! (Public service announcement over).

Apple Pecan Cobbler

4 cups thinly sliced apples
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a 2 quart baking dish.

Arrange apple slices in an even layer in the baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup Splenda, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup pecans. Sprinkle mixture over apples.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, 1 cup Splenda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, evaporated milk, and melted butter. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture all at once, and stir until smooth. Pour mixture over apples, and sprinkle top with 1/4 cup pecans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.

Apple Banana Bread

Back to apples....you see, I'm not trying to bore anyone too much by overunning you with apple recipes...contrary to what I said in a previous post about posting them all at once. Sorry if I played with your emotions like that, can you ever forgive me?

Ok, back to the topic at hand. I made this great recipe from my friend Janine after we went apple picking a few weeks back. It was SO good. I'm sure it helped that I REALLY love banana bread and I love apples. In fact, bananas and apples are my favorite fruits. So for me it couldn't get much better (in my opinion at least!).

Apple Banana Bread

1/2 Cups butter flavor shortening
1/2 Cups brown sugar
1/2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons sour cream
2 mashed bananas
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Cups flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cored & chopped apple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugars, and beat in eggs. Stir in sour cream, bananas and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and cinnamon. Gradually add to shortening mixture. Gently stir in apples and nuts. Spoon into greased bread pan and bake for almost an hour, checking on it after 30-40 minutes or so. Continuing baking and using the poke test...bread will be done when toothpick comes out clean.



No picture again....sorry!