Bring it on!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!! There are ref's that are yelling and kitchens are smelling and every one's telling you be a good cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer..... it's the most wonderful time OF THE YEARRRRRR!!!

Football season, baby. Bring on the yummy hand foods. This one is a sweet dish, because that is what I crave lately. Sweets. My thighs are so happy. So happy that they are beginning to share the wealth with my calves. I would be concerned if I could see either of them.

Best Ever Apple Dip
recipe courtesy of a friend

8 ounces cream cheese (whipped is easiest to work with)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag heath bits

Cream the first 3 ingredients with a hand mixer on low speed until combined. Pour in the bag of heath brickle and mix on low speed until combined. Refrigerate.

~~~~~

This dip is awesome. I'm not just saying that because I'm pregnant. I had it before I was pregnant and loved it then too. I also think adding some mini chocolate chips couldn't hurt!

I heart chips n salsa

So much that I'm going to have them for dessert!!!

While the above statement is somewhat true, I put a spin on the traditional chips n salsa to make it more dessert friendly. Because only a special breed of people would actually want salty chips and spicy salsa for dessert, and just because I fall into that category doesn't mean the guests coming to my house last night would.

Last night there was a mexican theme in the Webb household. Instead of making soapapilla's for dessert, I wanted something that could be prepared ahead of time.

I took 5 taco size flour tortillas and sprayed the tops of them with a non stick cooking spray, and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on the spray. From there I cut them into triangles and spread them out on a baking stone.

They almost look like grill marks, huh?

Now they go into a preheated 350* oven for 15 minutes.

For the salsa part, I chopped kiwis and strawberries, sprinkled with sugar and let them chill in the fridge. I actually did them the night before to save time, and the kiwis lost their color. So if I were you I would chop just the strawberries ahead of time and sprinkle with sugar and right before serving, add the chopped kiwi.

Either way it plated so cute! Looked just like chips n salsa!


It tasted equally as good, just in a totally different direction!

party party party

My kitchen has not recovered from hosting 2 parties this weekend. One Friday night and another Saturday night. Sunday it was ignored as we shopped for labor day sales and it was again ignored on Monday as we played with the toys we bought on Sunday. Tuesday was another off day and I used it to clean up. But then I baked and Bradley took over cooking up a batch of home brewed Samuel Adams. Then of course we made dinner. So I began tackling the project again today and started cleaning out the fridge. I found a few leftover cupcake truffles from Friday night's party and just as I was throwing them away I thought, "they're too cute not to blog!"


So here they are. An incredibly easy, but very impressive, dessert.

I got my idea from Cara's Cravings only I didn't spear mine. I also used a red hot for the "cherry" and the inside was made with a fun fetti cake mix. It's my fave box cake mix.

Sorry for the bad quality camera phone picture... this is the week where I don't know what I did with my camera!

Summer Time

Tonight we are going to an outdoor dinner and were asked to bring "something". I racked my brain over what to bring, I read recipes, I went through cook books and finally it hit me. I wanted something cool, summery and refreshing. I'm making a fruit trifle.


Everthing about this trifle screams summer. From its airy pudding and easy preperation to its chilled trifle dish and sweet fruits.... ahhh yes - SUMMER!

Summer Trifle
recipe by me

one store bought angel food cake
7 kiwis
1 mango
1 package of strawberries
1 small pack of Jello instant pudding, white chocolate
1 small container cool whip
mini chocolate chips

cut all of the fruit into little bite size pieces, sprinkle with sugar, toss and put into the fridge so they can make a syrup amongst themselves. make the pudding and put it in the fridge to "pudding up". go play on the internet or watch tv or accidently fall asleep. wake up - cube the angel food cake into bite size pieces into the bottom of a trifle dish and gently press them into an even layer. top with the fruit salad and make that layer even as well. top with a thin layer of mini chocolate chips. now whisk in about half the cool whip with the pudding and pour over the top, smoothing out with a rubber spatula. decorate with a ring of mini chocolate chips an a sprig of mint if desired. cover with plastic wrap and chill until you are ready to enjoy!

Mother's Day... continued!!

We had a great summery lunch and when women get together, you know dessert will be involved! I wanted something fun and light but I wanted it to be something that mama loved. Jaime at Burnt Toast blogged about making Turtles for her mother because it was her favorite. That's so funny because turtles are also one of my mother's favorites!! But her first favorite is key lime pie! I was off to find a recipe....

If you recall me talking about my grocery shopping mishaps in the Platinum Chef post, I'm just going to pick up where I left off -

They did not have key limes. Which made me so mad because I saw key limes at the dang Wal Mart just the week before and Publix didn't have any. Is that weird or what!? So I had to settle for a bottled key lime juice that I think may have altered the flavor of the dish. When I made the strawberry sauce, it had a medicine taste to it. The dish itself wasn't the best thing I've ever made. But I'm hoping it was the bottled key lime juice, because I don't see how you can go wrong with key lime mousse and strawberries.

The original recipe can be found on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

**pictures to come, although they look really close to the ones peabody posted (and yes that is her first name, isn't that cool!?)

They should just grow cream filled!

When we thought we were going to get off easy and only have to attend one Easter celebration this year, I had written a special recipe for green beans and planned on making that. Then the weekend filled up.... FAST! I spent Friday night washing clothes and cleaning house so I could get up early Saturday and make two desserts and start Saturday night's dinner in time to be at a friend's daughter's second birthday party at 1:30 pm. I was 30 minutes late. I was very busy! The first dessert was the chocolate pie everyone around me has grown so fond of. Only, to make it extra pretty for Easter, I lined the top with strawberry halves and filled in the center of that with mini chocolate chips. I had a request that more chocolate be on top, haha! As if the center of the pie wasn't enough. I also used Ghirardelli chocolate this time..... yum! I should of snapped a picture, it was VERY beautiful!

Dessert number two was something that I found a while back here and couldn't wait to try out. Mine did not turn out nearly as pretty... but I'm sure they were just as tasty! I did change the filling recipe up a lot though. The best part was hearing people say, "I've never heard of stuffing strawberries" and then watching them dissappear :)

Stuffed Strawberries
recipe by me, based on above link

2 pounds of strawberries
4 large egg yolks, I used SafeEggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tpsn vanilla extract
2 cups mascarpone cheese

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and cheese.

To prepare the berries for stuffing, I washed them and cut off their greenery. Then I took the tip of my knife and stuck it in the opening of the berry, where it is hollow inside, and just twisted it to open it up a little more.

I put the cheese mixture into a pastry bag and filled each hollow and set it cream side down into a dish, then I swirled the top with the mixture so people would have a vision of what was to come.

~~~~~

Once I got into the swing of stuffing them, it was a breeze. I initially started by trying to carve out the insides and that just became too tedious. Amber's Delectable Delights shows another way to stuff them, and that would of worked if my berries had been a little more firm. Either way.... extremely tasty!!

what do YOU see?

I am constantly bringing home something new for the kitchen. Whether it be something to cook with or something to dish it up in or something to just set there and look pretty. I am particularly fond of anything solid glass. In fact, I have two cabinets devoted to nothing but glass. I have pilsner glasses, juice glasses, tea glasses, shot glasses, martini glasses.... well, you get the idea. My most recent glass adoption was a 5 piece set of some very odd bowls. Bradley just does not understand my obsession. He always asks, "Now... what are you gonna do with that???". And my response is almost always the same, "I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it". That usually quiets him up long enough for me to prepare something delicious to eat out of it, and then he gives it the "okay" to stick around the Webb house.

But I think I know what his problem is. He can't see outside the box. You see, when he looks at those very odd bowls, he just see this -



But, when I look at those very same odd bowls..... I see this -



I have the "foodie" mind set :) Call it a gift!!!

Semi-Homemade Dessert
recipe by me

4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mascarpone cheese
Store bought cream puffs
Strawberries
Mini Chocolate Chips

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone and vanilla until well combined.
Fill the bottom of your dish with the mascarpone mixture and fit 3 cream puffs around it. Cut the stem off a strawberry and split it open, place one slice between each puff, flesh side facing inwards. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips

~~~~~

Now, obviously the mascarpone mixture makes way more than you need for 4 single serve desserts. So stay tuned and I'll show you what to do with the rest of it.

Intimidation

Today, my department is having a luncheon. There is an old co-worker coming in to town and instead of us going out to lunch with her and being rushed to get back, we thought it would be a whole lot easier (and probably more delicious) to cook and bring it to work. We chose an Italian theme and I picked dessert. I had originally planned on making the chocolate desire pie, but layering it with cheesecake. But that didn't seem "Italian" enough. Then I remembered some excellent tiramisu I had on a recent trip and decided on that. So I was off to find the perfect recipe, when I discovered that these days, people are becoming more open minded to the recipes passed down though generations and were substituting fruit in place of coffee and Marsala.

Unfortunately, I did not read the recipe before deciding on it. The ingredient list was so simple and I think that is what caught my attention. When I got home and actually read the recipe, it was so intimidating that I almost didn't make it. But I am glad I did, because I found SEVERAL shortcuts and came up with the recipe I am about to share with you....

Strawberry Tiramisu aka Tiramisu alle Fragole

For the "Soaking Sauce" -
1 & 1/2 pounds fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

For the Filling -
4 large eggs, separated (I chose Safe Eggs, since there is no heat involved)
2 cups Mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup sugar

And don't forget the lady fingers! I used about 30.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Then transfer to either a blender or a food processor, whatever you have, and liquefy!!! Set it aside and let it cool.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. I used my Kitchen Aid and just a little cream of tartar to help the process move quickly. Transfer the finished product to a plate and set it in the refrigerator.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they are fluffy. I, again, used my Kitchen Aid. It is just so helpful! Then, add in the mascarpone and continue mixing until well blended. Get your egg whites, and fold those in.

Now you are ready to begin putting the masterpiece together. I used my rectangle lidded pyrex dish. Dunk the lady fingers one at a time in the strawberry sauce and form a single layer of them in the bottom of the dish. Once you completed the layer, you can add a little more sauce if you wish. Then take about half of the mascarpone mixture and spread it over the lady fingers. Next, more lady fingers dunked in strawberry sauce, and finish off with the remaining mascarpone. I topped mine with mini chocolate chips, but you could also slice up some strawberries or use fresh mint.

This dish would also be very pretty prepared in individual serving sizes. Make sure whatever you prepare it in is glass, so the pretty layers shine through!

Happy Leap Day!

In honor of the day, a few of us decided to bake something and bring it to work. Imagine that!

Last weekend Bradley went to a cookout for the "young men" of his family's church and I made a pie for him to take. It was a brand new recipe I was yearning to try out. When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "I didn't get to try it, by the time I was ready for dessert everyone else had devoured it."

Now that's what I like to hear!!! But it made me curious - was it so good that they really had devoured it? Or was it so bad that the first person to try it threw it away so no one else would have to endure the agony of ingesting it? The only way to find out, was to make another.

It is quite possibly the simplest dish I have ever made, the Kitchen Aid does the work for you! I followed the recipe from here exactly - except I used a graham cracker crust.

Then, because I'm never happy just leaving well enough alone, I added a topping. It's almost like a cheesecake topping. Which lead me into another recipe idea entirely.... that I might make and post when I feel the need to gain a couple of pounds by eating just one slice.

Topping:
1/2 tub of cool whip
splash of milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 bar cream cheese, cubed

put everything but the cream cheese into the Kitchen Aid and mix with the whisk attachment until smooth. then add the cream cheese, one cube at a time letting all the lumps disappear before you add the next cube.

Spread the topping on the pie, I left about a quarter inch between the topping and the crust so the chocolate would shine through, then I sprinkled a circle of mini chocolate chips in the middle of the pie.

I call it, "Chocolate Desire Pie" and the only thing I have to show you, is a horrible camera phone picture. But I'm sure I will have another opportunity to take better pictures

I baked, again!

I've been wanting to make an apple pie since I saw Paula Deen's Savanna High Apple Pie... covered in caramel. WOW! I was pretty sure I could eat an entire apple pie, so I planned on making one to take to work so I could only eat one slice. We celebrated the Iron Bowl a week early at work and had "Tailgating Food" ie. chicken fingers, potato salad and desserts. I made a Caramel Crunch Apple Pie. I ended up sharing my slice with 3 other people, so it worked out in all our favors! :)

uhm yes, excuse the "worn in" look of the plate, it stays at work in the cupboard.



Caramel Crunch Apple Pie
recipe courtesy of recipezaar.com

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled cored and sliced
2/3 cup flour
2 tblspns flour
1 - 9 inch frozen ready to bake deep dish pie shell, thawed
1 cup "Caramel Bits" (or 25 unwrapped caramels)
1 tblspn water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (no substitutions)

Preheat oven to 375*

In a large bowl, combine the apples with the 2 tblspns of flour and toss them until they are coated. Arrange them in the pie shell.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the caramel and the water. Once it is smooth, spoon it evenly over the apples.

In a medium bowl, combine 2/3 cup flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter and mix until it looks like brown sugar. Sprinkle it over the pie.

Set the pie on a foil lined cookie sheet and loosely cover the top with foil. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, removing the foil from the top when there are 20 minutes remaining.

~~~~~

This pie was absolutely amazing! The house smelled so good while it was cooking! It really took care of my apple pie craving.To me, it could of used more caramel, but tasted wonderful nonetheless. I'm going to make another one this weekend for Bradley to take to work.

Happy Halloween!

We had so much fun at work! There was a costume contest, a ton of food and of course, we trick-or-treat'd! Some of us even got a picture in the Birmingham News! I had in my mind what I wanted to bring, and originally I was going to let the Wal Mart bakery make a cookie cake and I was going to decorate it myself. But I figured I would come out cheaper if I just let them do the whole thing. It was cheaper, but they definately did NOT read my mind!! Can you blame them? It is weird in there sometimes...


Oh and of course, one of the costume contest for good measure!

'Tis the season to eat pumpkin...

We play the cutest game at work - it is called "Boo!". It starts with one person who buys two goody bags and secretly places them on two people's desks and leaves a sign that reads "I've Been Boo'd" and then those two people boo two other people and so on. I love it! This year I got a cute bag with little Halloween themed cookie cutters: a pumpkin, a ghost and a bat. Boo me with something kitchen related??? They knew me too well. Immediately I had a plan.... Pumpkin Pie Fudge, in the shape of a tiny pumpkin!!! I went to the store that night to get boxes for the treats.









I waited for a night when I didn't have much going on to make the fudge. I had never made it before, and I knew I was going to need no distractions. Bradley is out of town this whole week on business, so Monday night was perfect. But let me just say... I probably won't ever make it again. When you bring the candy to a rolling boil.... watch out! My arms were covered in tiny red dots from the million degree liquid coming to a bubble and popping. That and it didn't completely set up... I'm blaming it on the stormy weather.

Pumpkin Fudge
recipe on allrecipes.com

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 7 ounces marshmallow creme
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 9x9 inch pan with aluminum foil, and set aside.
2. In a 3 quart saucepan, heat milk and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
3. Mix in pumpkin puree and cinnamon; bring back to a boil. Stir in marshmallow creme and butter. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 18 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and add white chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until creamy and all chips are melted. Pour into prepared pan. Cool, remove from pan, and cut into squares. Store in a cool, dry place.

Mine didn't set up that night before I went to bed, so I put it in the fridge overnight and took it out the next morning to cut out the pieces... it was still runny! So I just left it on the counter and went to work with the intention of throwing it away when I got home. But when I returned, it had hardened about half way through. I'm sure that someone who had more experience in making fudge would not of had this problem. It was a pretty easy recipe. Cutting out the little pumpkins was fun, too!!











The experiment turned out ok for my first time. Everyone seems to like it, but I will just stick to my once a year craving for peanut butter and chocolate layered fudge, and let someone else make it!!

Trying on a new hat....

I cook, I don't bake. My mom wasn't that big of a baker, and neither was meme.... as far back as I can remember. We had the occasional cobbler or coconut cake here and there, but there was never a big desire for confections in our home. Bradley has a big family, and of course during the holidays they all meet up. Last Christmas I found out that you don't always have the option to bring an awesome casserole or dish of homemade mac n cheese. And thus, Bradley's family gave me the desire to learn to bake for Christmas. I started with something very basic, a gingerbread trifle of Paula Deen's. It was a bowl lickin' hit. Wow.... I could do this. I'm still taking it slow, since neither of us are big sweet eaters. My main taste testers for sweets are my co-workers. Sugar helps us deal.

While browsing blogs here, I found a recipe for Pecan Pie Coffee Cake Bars. Here is the funny part... I luh-huve pecan pie.... and I am so allergic to pecans. When we would have them at thanksgiving, mama would always make extra filling and I would just eat a plate of that instead of a slice of pie. She even went on to make a Mock Pecan Pie with oats instead of pecans, she really loved me! But the blogger described the inside of these bars as "just like pecan pie filling".... so long as you don't over bake them. Yeah... I think I over baked. Maybe you will have more luck. Without the pecans, I call them Cinnamon-Sugar Bars. They definitely register "need an insulin shot" on the "Sugar Meter".

Pecan Pie Coffee Cake Bars
recipe courtesy of the online blog sweet-savory-southern

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup self rising flour
2 cups chopped pecans (optional.. haha!)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat all four eggs with a mixer. Add sugar and mix with eggs to combine. Next add the butter and vanilla and combine with other ingredients. Add flour and cinnamon and again combine well with other ingredients. Stir in chopped pecans. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30-35 min. Be careful not to over cook. The top will be golden brown, but the inside will still be a little sticky when a toothpick is inserted. It will set up as it cools. Slice into bars once cool.
*The outside is slightly cakey and the edges crusty from the sugar that crystallizes as it cooks, but the inside is gooey like pecan pie filling. Delicious and perfect with coffee