Easter Sunday Dessert

A food stylist I am not, but here is our Easter Sunday Dessert:  

Lemon Blueberry Trifle

Such a healthy snack!

I saw this recipe for Avocado Hummus from The Lovely Cupboard the other day.  Since I like hummus and avocadoes, I was very interested!  This was so easy and it turned out very yummy!  The cayenne pepper gives it just the right amount of kick.  Mine didn't turn out quite as green as the picture on Heather's post, but I was also used a fairly small avocado, and I also had to cut a few bruised spots out of it.  Next time I will definitely use a large avocado.  Even the kids really liked it!

I will let you know how it keeps in the fridge.  I hope it doesn't turn brown like guacamole does.

Mini Desserts for Book Club

I hosted my book club on Tuesday night.  I had thought that I would just purchase a pre-made cake or cupcakes or something to serve for dessert.  But when I was browsing around at Joann's the day before, I happened to come across this little book:

 

It sounded like such fun to make these little desserts!  

Each recipe makes twelve miniature desserts; what a perfect idea when hosting a larger group!

I also purchased a set of Mini Flare Dessert Glasses that included the cute little spoons.  I went to Goodwill and picked out an assortment of small cordial glasses so that I would have a variety of little glasses.

It was very hard to decide which recipes to make, but I chose Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits,  Lemon Cloud, and Berry Cream Parfait.   I did cut each recipe in half so that I would have 6 of each.

 It was fun to make a little display right on my coffee table!

They were all yummy, but hands downs, the winner was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits!

I hope everyone liked them as much as I did. I will definitely make these again for another get-together.

P.S.  The book we discussed was Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle.  It was an excellent book!

 

Baking Boy

We are having our parish priest for dinner tomorrow night.

Boyson is making an apple pie for dessert!

Saturday morning . . .

Nothing quite says Saturday morning like a warm cinnamon roll!

Cookie Decorating Party

This year was our 8th year to host friends for the cookie decorating party.  This is where my big table really comes in handy!

I think everyone had a good time and went home with lots of sugar!  I don't generally do a lot of baking for gift-giving, so this has been a great way to still do some baking, and distribute it all to a few friends.

It always surprises me how much the older kids, and even the boys, still enjoy this event.

 

 

My Thanksgiving Menu

I am planning to brine and roast the  

Turkey 

using Pioneer Woman's recipes.

I also will make her 

Gravy

For those that don't like gravy, or prefer to have both, I will have homemade

Cranberry Sauce

I will also be preparing  

Smashed Mashed Red Skin Potatoes

as well as some homegrown

Green Beans

A new side dish I will be trying in the crock pot this year is

Orange Glazed Carrots

Our guests will be bringing

the  

Stuffing 

(provided by my sister-in-law)

and the  

Sweet Potatoes 

(provided by my mother-in-law)

and the

Salad & Rolls  

(provided by my brother-in-law and his girlfriend)

We will finish off with my dessert consisting of 

Pear Cranberry Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

and/or

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Topping 

(provided by my daughter)

 We will all be taking a nap around 4:30 p.m.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pudding Layer Dessert

This recipe has been in my family since I was a young girl.  I have made it for many occasions, including our homeschool group's dessert competition, of which it won two years in row!  It is always a requested favorite.  I decided to take it to our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at our parish tonight.  I am pretty sure that I will not be bringing any home!

Recently, I passed this recipe along to a friend who needed something to take to her Easter Sunday dinner with family.  She called me back the next day and told me that a couple of people wanted the recipe!  Like I said: always a hit!  So I thought I would share . . .

Pudding Layer Dessert

Bottom Layer:  

Combine: 

1 cup flour

1 stick of butter/margarine melted.

chopped walnuts (about 2 cups - I have never measured but I think it is probably somewhere around there!)

Press into a 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool completely.

Second Layer:

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese - softened.

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup Cool Whip

Mix and spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer:

1 - 4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding

1 - 4 oz. package chocolate instant pudding

Mix with 2 1/2 cups milk.

Pour over cream cheese layer and chill in fridge for 10 minutes.

Fourth Layer:

Spread Cool Whip over the top.  Serve cold and enjoy!

Candy Dish

I ran across this post awhile back and think that these candy/treat dishes are soooo cute, and the possibilities are endless.  I have been on the look out for plates to make a candy stand with.
I always marvel at the cute plates that everyone else finds at thrift stores or yard sales; those never seem to show up when I am looking.  But, yesterday was my day to finally find a plate!  

On my trip to Goodwill, I found the cutest plate ever!  I love the vintage look it has.

I also found a taper candle holder (these are in abundance at Goodwill) and with a little bit of hot glue . . .

 

Voila!  

Instant candy - cupcake - cake - treat - hors-d'oeuvres (can you spell that without looking?!) stand!

The Great Syrup Bottle Debate

For several weeks now, I have been indulging my kids in these waffles for breakfast (most mornings).  Boyson literally begs for them, and will eat about 10!

Anyways, I have also been preparing the delicious cinnamon syrup that goes with them.  After cooking the syrup, I have been pouring it into a glass measuring cup for use at the table (since I don't have a cute little syrup bottle).  Then I would cover the measuring cup with some plastic wrap (messy!) to put it in the fridge.   So I have been on the lookout for a syrup bottle.  I have checked a couple of antique stores and while I found some very cute pitchers, but none of them had a lid.  I found a syrup bottle (pictured below on the left) at our local Bi-Mart store yesterday, and then found another one (on the right) at Goodwill later that same day.

The one I found at Goodwill is definitely bigger and will hold an entire batch of syrup, and then some. A definite bonus.  I actually made up a batch of syrup just to see if it would fit.  I like it that it has a "Grandma's House" sort of a look to it.  The Bi-Mart one looks more institutional to me, and of course, it is smaller.  I don't think I could get an entire batch of syrup in there.  But the kids like the smaller one.  They like the shiny lid better and the cute little 'sliding door' spout.  The Goodwill bottle was $1.99 and the Bi-Mart bottle was $5- something.

Which syrup bottle do you like??

Glorious Morning Muffins

Tonight, this recipe on the back of my bag of Gold Medal flour caught my eye.  I love the name - and I had everything on the ingredient list to make them (well, sort of - see my notes below).  I was worried how the cranberries would go with the carrot, but they turned out very yummy!!

2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shredded peeled apple
1/2 cup coconut (I am not a fan of coconut, so I left this out)
1/2 cup raisins (I don't have any raisins, so I substituted 1/2 cup of dried cranberries)
3/4 cup sliced almonds (I like things with nuts, but my family does not, so I left these out)

1.  Heat oven to 350.  Place paper baking cup in each of 18 regular size muffin cups, or grease with shortening or cooking spray.

2.  In large bowl, beats eggs, oil, milk and vanilla with a wire whisk until well blended.  Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in carrots, apple, coconut, raisins and 1/2 cup of the almonds.

3.  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup almonds over batter.

4.  Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.

A day of trying . . .

We drove to a neighboring parish today to join the school kids for Stations of the Cross only to find out that there was no school, and thus, no Stations.  Oh well, we tried.  We stopped at the grocery store, and then came home and prayed our own Stations of the Cross, albeit brief.

I came across a recipe for Spinach Lasagna Rolls - perfect for a meatless Lenten Friday.  They turned out yummy - only to have my husband e-mail and say that I didn't need to fix him dinner because they fed him at work.  Oh well, I tried on that one, too.  The lasagna rolls will keep.


P.S.  3 blog posts today - what's gotten in to me?

This Week's Dinner Menu

Things seem to go so much better around here when I have a menu plan.  I don't know why I always fail so badly at planning meals.  Maybe it's because I grew up with the "wing it" plan and you always default to what you grew up with right?  Well, I am trying to do better at menu planning so here's my plan for this next week:

Sunday:  Chicken Enchiladas (my husband's favorite);  Refried Black Beans from this book.

Monday:  Leftovers

Tuesday:  Ham Stuffed French Rolls (also from the book above)  This is a new recipe to try.

Wednesday:  Ham & Macaroni Casserole (Lil Guhl's favorite); Green Beans

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Orange Chicken with Rice (Boyson's favorite);  Broccoli

I see a lot of dough in my future . . .

As in home made bread!  

 

Last night I baked a couple of loaves of this bread from the November edition of my Family Fun magazine.  All I can say is - Wow!  It turned out so great.  It was fantastic last night when it was warm, and it is great today - cold!  The bonus - this bread is made with honey, not sugar.  And I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil.  The recipe said you did not need to knead it, but I did for a bit, because it was so sticky when I mixed it up.   So I kneaded it for a few minutes, and added a bit more flour.

Don't be fooled by the look of the crust here - it's not hard; it's soft (I used an egg wash). And this bread is dense enough to used for sandwiches or toast.  But it's not doughy.  And I also learned how to "cloak" the dough.  (Do a Google search for that - it was really quite easy!)

Now go make some bread.

All Dressed Up and Ready to Go!

Mini banana bread loaves for our parish bazaar this weekend!

 

Hunting anyone?

My husband is a hunter.  He hunts with 5 other guys.  They all bring a dinner meal to share.  I made two pans of Chicken Enchiladas tonight.  

As I was making them tonight, and feeling very hungry, I was thinking that I would go hunting just for the food!

Orange Smoothies

My kids are enjoying this easy little treat the past couple of days:

Place one 8 oz can of frozen orange juice, 1 cup water, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/2 cup sugar into a blender.  Mix until smooth.  Add ice cubes until blender is full and blend again.  Serve immediately.

Wordless Wednesday - My dinner

A Christmas Cupcake Wreath

Well, my Christmas cupcake wreath (from this book) turned out way better than I ever could have expected.  Usually these sorts of projects don't turn out for me.  The one in the book is done in all white and it looks very elegant.  But I happened to have green candy melts on hand so this saved me an extra trip to the store.  The greens of my frosting and leaves don't exactly match, but all in all I am pleased with how this turned out.

 

I also happened to have this serving tray with high sides that exactly held the twelve cupcakes in a nice tight circle.  This is key especially since I have to transport this today. 

Merry Christmas!

Ideas for Boredom . . .

Lil Guhl: "Everytime I am bored, let's make cookies."

Hmmm. How much do you think we will all weigh?