~No-Fry Fried Ice Cream~

I'm obviously behind on this because I found this recipe right after Cinco de Mayo.  Someone posted a link to it on Facebook and I quickly bookmarked it.  Now I know exactly what I'll serve to guests whenever I serve dessert.  This. Was. Fabulous.  I mean, I'm a huge fried ice cream fan and almost always have it when I go to authentic Mexican restaurants.  Now I can have them all the time at home without even having to fry it!

Anyways, you're supposed to mix a few cups of corn flakes and mix them with sugar, corn syrup, melted butter and cinnamon.  I used Kellogg's frosted flakes so I didn't have to add any sugar.  Roll some scoops of ice cream in the cereal mixture and place them in a cupcake pan.  Then place them in the freezer until ready to serve.  I served them up with whipped cream and caramel sauce.  Yummy!

~No Fry Fried Ice Cream~

by Tablespoon ( really cool blog )

6 cups honey coated corn flakes cereal, crushed

2 Tablespoons white sugar  

3 Tablespoons butter, melted  

5 Tablespoons corn syrup  

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon  

1 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened  

(optional) Toppings: caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, whipped cream

1.  Combine crushed cereal, sugar, butter, corn syrup. and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

2.  Shape ice cream into 3-inch balls and roll in the cereal mixture, pressing lightly to ensure that the ball is fully coated.

3.  Place ice cream balls in muffin tins and freeze until ready to serve.

These hold very well in the freezer, by the way.  A week later, we were still enjoying these!

4.  To serve top with syrup, whipped topping, and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.

Enjoy!



Catching Up: Easter Recipes

Last weekend, we spent Easter with some very good friends here in Stuttgart.  It had been a while since I'd whipped up anything homemade in the kitchen; even then, I wasn't trying to kill myself.  You guys know how I love to keep things simple!

I was asked by the hostess to help her out by bringing a few dishes. Naturally, I agreed to do a side dish as well as a dessert. 

I wanted to do a side dish that I thought would go well with the ham that we were going to have.  The hostess already told me that she was going to have a salad as well as some sweet potatoes.  So I went with a green bean casserole...only this recipe was kicked up a notch.  I didn't think it would be noticeable.  I mean, it's green bean casserole, after all.  However, it was a hit.  Even I thoroughly enjoyed it and intend to make every green bean casserole this way from now on.

~Classy Green Bean Casserole~

{via allrecipes.com}

3 (14.5 ounce) cans French cut green beans, drained

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup coarsely crushed buttery round crackers

2 tablespoon butter, melted

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the green beans, sour cream, condensed soup, salt and pepper. Spoon into a 2 quart casserole dish. Stir melted butter into the crushed crackers, then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

3.Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned and bubbly.

For dessert, I wanted to have something light and I knew that I wanted to use strawberries.  Enter Kraft Foods' Strawberry Pretzel Squares recipe.  It's similar to a recipe that my cousin always makes back home, only this one incorporates fresh strawberries and a pretzel crust.  I love that sweet and salty combination!  Because we had so many desserts that evening, including a fabulous carrot cake that the hostess made, I had tons leftover (although I was told it was delicious).  No problem though, because I took it to work the next day and it was polished off in no time.  I am definitely making this one again too!

~Strawberry Pretzel Squares~

{via kraftfoods.com}

2 cups finely crushed pretzels

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. milk

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1-1/2 cups cold water

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

HEAT oven to 350°F.

1.  Mix pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.

2.  Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.

3.  Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression).

4.  Stir berries into gelatin; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Enjoy!

Now I'm off to find the perfect Cinco de Mayo recipe for a potluck we're having at work.  Any ideas out there?

Prosciutto-Gruyere Strombolis & Harvest Apple Tarts

Continuing on with our Cooking Light series...I decided to make these strombolis last night.  They were so easy to make...about 10 minutes to gather all the ingredients (there are only 5!) and roll them all together.  It was nice to come home after a long day at work and literally just pop these into the oven in minutes.  And...they were yummy too.  Of course, no stromboli is complete without some marinara sauce, so I whipped that out as well.

Prosciutto & Gruyere Strombolis

by Cooking Light

1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread dough

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

1 cup trimmed arugula

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

 

Preheat oven to 425°.

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet; pat into a 14 x 11-inch rectangle. Cut dough into quarters to form 4 (7 x 5 1/2-inch) rectangles. Top each rectangle with 1/2 ounce prosciutto, 1/4 cup arugula, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon parsley.



Beginning at short side of each rectangle, roll up the dough, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of rolls). Arrange rolls 4 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until rolls are lightly browned. Serve warm.

Harvest Apple Tart

by Angie at Cocina Diary

Then I decided that we needed a quick dessert.  I've been wanting to try this Harvest Apple Tart recipe that I saw on my friend, Angie's, cooking blog a while back.

Let me just say that if you haven't visited her blog yet, you're missing out.  It's called the Cocina Diary and it's fabulous! 

This recipe is another easy 5-ingredient fix (okay, so it's 6 ingredients) and you should have every ingredient in your pantry already.

Here's what you get:

Complete and utter deliciousness!  Good thing I have some puff pastry and more apples left. I might have to make this again tomorrow evening!

Bowties with Ham & Sweet Potato Spice Cookies

My friend, Laura, had her baby shower yesterday afternoon.  She hits her 36th week today and is having her second little boy!

The baby shower was a potluck, so I decided to bring both a main dish and a dessert.

Pasta casseroles are one of my favorite things to whip up for parties.  One, I'm a huge pasta fan.  You can't go wrong with it.  Just about everyone eats it!  This particular dish was so simple to throw together.  The asparagus gives it a delicious crunch, the sundried tomatoes kinda give it a nice hint of sweetness and the melted havarti cheese just really brings it all together very nicely.  It's simply called Bow-Ties with Ham, and I got both the recipe and this picture (below) from Pillsbury.

Bow-Ties with Ham

by Pillsbury

3 cups uncooked bow-tie (farfalle) pasta

1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce

10 medium asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil and herbs (drained and chopped)

1 cup diced cooked ham

1 cup shredded Havarti cheese (4 oz)

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray.  Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

2.  Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat Alfredo sauce over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot.  Gently stir in cooked pasta, asparagus, tomatoes and ham.  Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Pour into casserole.

3.  Cover; bake 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly.  Top with remaining cheese.

I just love the fall.  I do a lot more baking at this time of the year because of the holidays and I love the aroma of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin spice to completely saturate the house.  I found this recipe for Sweet Potato Spice Cookies in a Taste of Home Cookies & Bars book that I bought years ago.  Oh my goodness, the flavors in this cookie just meld so well together.  You've got sweet potatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg...and butterscotch chips, coconut and pecans to give it a nice crunch.  They were wonderful!  The kids especially loved them.  Even my husband gave it a rave review!  I am definitely going to make these again.

Sweet Potato Spice Cookies

Yield: 7 Dozen

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup finely shredded uncooked sweet potato

3 Tbsp orange juice concentrate

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1-1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

1.  In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, sweet potato, and orange juice concentrate.  Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.

2.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until firm.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Wonton Cups & Coconut Pineapple Bars

Wow! This is my first cooking/baking post in, like, over a year. I can't believe it. It's just that I've been so busy since I moved to El Paso a year ago, that I kinda just stopped cooking/baking. This weekend, I was invited to a friend's house for dinner and I decided to get off my butt and make something. And I thought that I'd start of nice and simple just to ease back into everything. And I hope it doesn't stop here. With the baby coming in two months, I'll have to start cooking more!

First off, I wanted to make an appetizer. So I made these Shrimp Wonton Cups. They're so easy to make and delicious. Now, I'd rather deep fry wontons any day, but I suppose baking it, like this recipe calls for, makes it just tad bit healthier. Only, I found that the shells soften up a little to quickly for my taste. And, these cups taste best when served immediately out of the oven. By the time I got to my friend's house on the other side of town, not only had the wonton cups softened, but the cheese was no longer hot and stringy. Apparently, no one else noticed. They were practically all gone. I'd consider this a hit!

Shrimp Wonton Cups
(taken from the Pampered Chef Celebrate! Cookbook)


24 square wonton wrappers
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
10 oz. shelled, deveined, cooked, medium shrimp, chopped
2 green onions with tops, finely chopped
1/3 cup grated carrot
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded mozarella


1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Using a pastry brush, brush one side of each wonton square with melted butter. Press each wonton, butter side up into muffin cup. Bake 8 minutes or until edges turn golden brown. Remove pan from oven to cooling rack.

2. Finely chop green onions and grate the carrots. Combine cream cheese, pressed garlic, and worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Blend well. Stir in chopped shrimp, green onions, carrots and mozarella cheese.

3. Using a small scoop, fill each wonton with a rounded scoop of the cream cheese mixture. Bake 5 minutes or until wontons are golden brown and filling in bubbly around the edges.

Enjoy! See how easy that was? Now for dessert...you guys know that being from the islands and all, I love anything with pineapple and/or coconut. So I made these yummy Coconut-Pineapple Bars that were to die for! Now the bars have a cake-like consistency. I think I'm going to have to come up with a good frosting for this. Anyone have ideas?

Coconut-Pineapple Bars
(from Simply Better, Easy Potlucks, May 2006)

1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 20-oz. can drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 c chopped nuts toasted (if desired)
1/2 c shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease 3-quart rectangular, baking dish. Set aside

2. In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add eggs, pineapple, and butter. Stir until combined. Fold in nuts and coconut. Spread mixture in prepared baking dish.

3. Bake about 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in dish on wire rack. Cut into bars.

And there you have it! Again, I'm going to try to post more recipes here in the future. Hope you guys stop by again!

Christmas Day Yummies!

Okay, so I think I may have gone a little overboard on chocolate during our family Christmas Day party. Actually, my entire family went overboard on food period, but it was a great time. In this picture, you can see some of the sweet treats I served up that day. In addition to chocolate fondue, complete with pretzels, marshmallows and angel food cake, I served up some delicious brownies and some truffles. I also whipped up a pulled pork recipe that I borrowed from one of my fellow bloggers. These were only a few things featured on that day's menu. We had everything from Beef Bourguignone and traditional Filipino food to various side dishes and casseroles. I'm still feeling the tightness in my jeans from that day! So scroll on down, and I'll you'll find recipes for the desserts/dishes that I made.

Up first are these Ooey Gooey Bars, compliments of my TWD Elfster Secret Santa, Melissa, of Love at First Bite. As I've mentioned before, Melissa and I go way back to our high school days and she got me started with blogging. She has an awesome blog, which I reference quite frequently. With her Christmas card, she enclosed two of her favorite family dessert recipes. One of which, were these Ooey Gooey Bars, which were very rich and completely delightful!

The only problem is that I'm a dud and the card with the recipe on it was packed this morning with the rest of my cookbooks and kitchen items. So I'll have to post the complete recipe later on in a few weeks. I will be in sunny El Paso, Texas by then. So sorry Melissa, this post doesn't really do you or the Ooey Gooey Bars any justice, but I want you to much how much I appreciate you sharing your family recipes with me!

So you know how those 8 oz. packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese boxes have neat recipes inside them? Well, I found this particular recipe in one of those boxes and turned out some lovely looking chocolate truffles--my first batch ever. They make a lovely presentation, but were very rich. I still have some leftover, probably because they were overshadowed by Melissa's brownies and the chocolate fondue. They're extremely easy to make and perfect if you have a little helper that loves to be in the kitchen with you.

Simply Sensational Truffles

(from 8 oz. package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese)

2-1/2 pkg. (20 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
decorations: chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, multi-colored sprinkles

1. Melt 8 chocolate squares. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

2. Shape into 36 balls. Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.

3. Melt remaining chocolate. Use fork to dip truffles; return to baking sheet. Decorate, then refrigerate 1 hour.

Finally, months back I saw this recipe on Pamela's (one of my favorite foodies!) blog--Cookies With Boys. Who would have known that root beer would make the perfect marinade/sauce for pulled pork? Not I, but I do love the drink as do a couple other members of my family. So it was an instant hit and received rave reviews. Thanks Pamela for featuring this on your blog! As I am typing this, my mouth is watering. But since all my stuff is being packed as we speak, it'll be a little bit before my crock pot will be available for me to make this again.

Pulled Pork with Root Beer Sauce

(from Better Homes & Gardens)

1 2-1/2- to 3-pound pork sirloin roast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 medium onions, cut into thin wedges
1 cup root beer*
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups root beer (two 12-ounce cans or bottles)*
1 cup bottled chili sauce(used a whole 12 oz. bottle)
1/4 teaspoon root beer concentrate (optional)

Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)
8 to 10 hamburger buns, split (and toasted, if desired)
Lettuce leaves (optional)
Tomato slices (optional)

1. Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut roast to fit into a 3-1/2- to 5-quart crockery cooker. Sprinkle meat with the salt and pepper. In a large skillet brown meat on all sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Transfer meat to cooker. Add onions, the 1 cup root beer, and garlic.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

3. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan combine the 3 cups of root beer and the chili sauce. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 2 cups. Add root beer concentrate and bottled hot pepper sauce, if desired.

4. Transfer roast to a cutting board or serving platter. Using a slotted spoon, remove onions from cooking juices and place on serving platter. Discard juices. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart into shreds. To serve, line buns with lettuce leaves and tomato slices, if desired. Add meat and onions; spoon on sauce. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*Note: Do not substitute with diet root beer

Tuesdays with Dorie: Arborio Rice Pudding

I am a huge fan of the Kozy Shack brand of vanilla rice pudding, so when I found out we'd be making it this month I was stoked, especially since it's my first time making it! In all honesty, it took me two tries to make it. I should have read the P&Qs first because I discovered that everyone simmered their rice for longer than the 30 minutes prescribed in the recipe. So the first try, I got rice soup. Late last night after cleaning up a nice mess my dog made for me while out at school (and instead of working on a very important homework assignment) I took another stab at it. After almost an hour of simmering, I got just what the recipe said I was supposed to get--thick, milky white goodness!

I chilled the pudding overnight and this morning, my mom and I each enjoyed a martini glass full of this creamy, delicious concoction! I topped it with some of The Pampered Chef's Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkles.....yum! Not sure when I'm going to make it again, but I'm so glad I had a chance to tackle it. Thanks to Isabelle of Les gourmandises d'Isa for selecting this week's recipe challenge. Run over to her blog for the complete recipe!

Blueberry Apple Pie

I got this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers, Pamela of Cookies With Boys. It looked so yummy and I needed a dessert to accompany the pasta I made for my family on Friday. You would be amazed by how easy it was to make, especially since I cheated an used Pillsbury's ready-made pie crust. All you have to do is toss the apples, blueberries and a few other ingredients and dump them into the pie shell and voila! You've got a stupendous dessert to serve and enjoy.


I actually used double the pie topping, which I probably could have done without. It just made the pie more rich! As Pam said, the pie was a little runny, and I agree. But it did thicken a little bit more as it sat and paired very nicely with cool whip!



Here's the finished product! Finger-lickin' good, I tell ya! I'd like to thank Pam for sharing such a wonderful recipe on her blog. Check it out!


Blueberry Apple Pie
(Adapted from Cooks.com)

2 c. sliced and peeled tart apples
2 c. frozen blueberries
1 c. sugar (used 3/4 c.)
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter(skipped)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg(skipped)
2-3 tbsp. lemon juice(skipped)

9 inch pie shell topping:
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. sugar

Combine all ingredients and place in the pie shell. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the top. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then 350 degrees for 30 more minutes. Cool for about five minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Rugelach

So I was able to make the Rugelach after all. Not only did I feel bad about skipping this week, but my friend Heidi (who is visiting from North Carolina) asked this morning if I was going to be baking anything. And I was like, well, I'm supposed to be baking something for Tuesdays with Dorie, but didn't think I had the time. Well, I found time and I'm glad that I did. Yet, I still can't pronounce the name of this yummy treat! Maybe Grace, of Piggy's Cooking Journal, can help you out with that. Her blog is spectacular and it has the entire recipe for your perusal. So go check it out!

At any rate, these little things look like they're so easy to make...on other people's blogs. I had a horrible time with the dough. I don't have a food processor, so I'm thinking that may have been the source of my problem. I used my KitchenAid mixer instead and even though I refrigerated the dough for over two hours, I found that after a few minutes (while I rolled it out), it became too soft and almost like a paste. So when trying to roll the Rugelach, the dough fell apart, or just wouldn't roll! It was a nightmare! When all was said and done, I only had about 12 Rugelach. And some of them came out funny looking because I couldn't roll them properly.




I decided that Rugelach is just okay. I don't think that I'll be making them again anytime soon, but I'm just glad that I was able to try something new. Heidi tried them and said that they were okay, but she would've preferred other fillings. She suggested apple. She was a good sport, though, and I'm glad that she was here to try them. So if you're wondering what Rugelach is all about, just head on over to Grace's blog! As I said in my previous post, I am going to be out of town until next Tuesday, so I don't think I'll be making next week's recipe, Gugelhopf. Actually, I think I'll make it later next week because I actually went out and bought myself a German Gugelhopf pan. So just stay tuned!

P.S. In case anyone is wondering, I used bittersweet chocolate pieces, dried cherries, raspberry preserves and pecans for the filling.

TWD Break & Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

Folks, I'm going to have to bow out of TWD for the next two weeks, only because they will be busy and I won't have time to make the recipes. I have a friend visiting from North Carolina this week, not to mention I have two exams, one of which is a midterm! Arghh! Then, this weekend, I'll be out of town to find a place to live in El Paso, Texas-my next duty assignment. I won't be back until Tuesday evening. So please forgive me! Who knows, I might feel guilty and actually make the Rugelach post tomorrow after all...even if I do have to study!

Anyway, on Halloween I made a Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie. I found the recipe in this month's issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I took one look at the picture and decided that I had to make it. Halloween was the perfect opportunity since I had company over and it was so simple to make and well worth the effort, as you can see in the pictures. I love cheesecake and the addition of the pumpkin is not only perfect for the fall season, but was a perfect complement to the sweetness of both the chocolate and the cream cheese. It was creamy and delicious and I will definitely make this for Thanksgiving! Oh, and I must admit that I "cheated" by using a refrigerated pie crust. It sure helped to speed the process, since I'd prepared the pie about an hour or so before company arrived.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2008)

For Deep Dish Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablsepoons shortening

5-6 tablespoons cold water

For Pie Filling:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate or mini chocolate pieces

1 15 oz. can pumpkin

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup half and half, or light cream

Chopped Chocolate (optional)

1. In medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. Using pastry blender or two forks, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoons of cold water over part of flour mixture; gently toss with fork.
2. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until all flour is moistened. Form into ball. On lightly floured surface, flatten dough and roll pastry from center to edge into a 13-inch circle.
3. Preheat oven to 450. Transfer pastry to a 9 1/2 to 10 inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim crust edge 1/2 inch beyond pie plate. Flute edge high. Line pastry with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 6 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 375.
4. In medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg; beat on low speed until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture into cooled pastry shell. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate.
5. In bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar and spice. Stir in 4 eggs. Gradually stir in half and half. Slowly pour pumpkin mixture on chocolate layer. To prevent overbrowning, cover pie edge with foil.
6. Bake 60 to 65 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove foil. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. Top with chopped chocolate. Serves 8.

The pie was a hit. Ask Jacques; he was there. Lucky for me, I didn't have too many visitors, so I had some leftovers. My visiting friend, Heidi, and I had some for a snack yesterday and for breakfast this morning and it is still so delicious! So try it! You'll love it!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Clara of I Love Food for Thought chose this week's recipe challenge, Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes. Since I didn't get to make my cupcakes until this afternoon, I had a chance to check out other TWD blogs and people have whipped up some of the most creative cupcakes I've ever seen. Most of the cupcakes are appropriately decorated for Halloween. Prudence Pennywise's blog, for example, has some spectacularly decorated cupcakes...you should definitely check hers out! I mean, making words with melted orange chocolate? Too cool!

I loved making these cupcakes. Could it be because of the CHOCOLATE??? Absolutely. I made these just before I got picked up to go to school. And since my carpool mates are such fantastic friends, I shared my chocolatey creations with them. Totally lacking any creativity with cake frosting and decorative tools, I opted to cheat by buying these fall-themed cupcake cups, equipped with these cute pumpkin decorations/toothpick thingys. I thought they added a nice touch to my cupcakes, if I may say so myself!

Many TWD-ers mentioned that this cupcake came out dry. Unfortunately, I had the same result. Nevertheless, the cupcakes were quite tasty....and very chocolatey! I honestly don't think they taste any better than the mix I usually use straight out of the Duncan Hines box, but I like the fact that I can say that I made them from scratch and even more, that my friends told me they tasted really good! So thanks Clara for choosing this recipe! It was tons of fun. Rush on over to her blog for the complete recipe!

As others have mentioned, this Friday is the last day for anyone to become a TWD member, so you'd better sign up, like, NOW!!! Don't let the opportunity pass you by!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Pumpkin Muffins

I love fall! This recipe was the perfect recipe to ring in the fall season. There's nothing like the sweet aroma of pumpkin, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg all mixed together in one concotion that made up Dorie's Pumpkin Muffins--a recipe chosen by Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp. If you share my love for all things pumpkin--pies, muffins, rolls--head on over to her blog for the recipe! The recipe called for sunflower seeds and golden raisins, neither of which were in my pantry. I did have red raisins though and if I had done a little bit more thinking, I would have done what most TWD'ers did and added the chocolate chips I had on hand. Next time! When Rosie (my Kitchenaid) mixed up the batter, it was quite thick. Not surprising since I piled on the raisins and chopped pecans.

I used my cookie scoop to distribute the batter evenly (and with minimal mess!) into my muffin cups. I really packed the batter in. The recipe calls for about 20 minutes baking time and it's a good thing I thought to check in on the muffins a little early. Around 17 or 18 minutes, they had reached a very golden brown. I immediately pulled them out!

And this is what I got. I immediately took a taste test...well, both Lucy (my dog) and I did and we agreed that these muffins truly rock! They were warm, moist and so flavorful!

Since I didn't want to get stuck with a butt-load of muffins for the next week, I bundled the muffins up and took them to my Auntie's house for her potluck. I guess they were a hit because I didn't have any left over. I am definitely going to make these again...probably on Halloween because I plan on having some company over and the goal for that evening is to pig out on a smorgasbord of junk food! I can't wait!

By now, you should be dying to try these muffins! Then get on over to Kelly's blog for the recipe. And Kelly, you are to be commended for choosing it!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I borrowed this recipe from Susan's blog, She's Becoming DoughMessTic. I've found some of the most creative, delicious recipes on her blog, so you should check it out. If you click on the link I've provided, it'll take you directly to the recipe for these delicious Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins. I baked these, not only because my family came over for dinner last night and I needed to prepare a dessert, but because I needed something to cheer me up since my husband departed earlier that day (he'll be leaving for his deployment sometime this week)--and it sure did the trick!

What I liked was that they were so simple to put together. I was able to make a dozen and a half of these muffins. The sweet cream cheese in the center was the perfect compliment to the tart fresh strawberries and they were just so moist. All in all....they're to die for!

So if you're big on strawberries like me, or just want something to tickle your sweet tooth--this is it! Scoot on over to Susan's blog and check the recipe out!

Classic Banana Bundt Cake by Dorie Greenspan

As I mentioned in the this week's Tuesdays With Dorie post (which I posted earlier today), I had an inkling that I was going to struggle with the creme brulee recipe. In all honesty, I didn't struggle. It just didn't come out the way I had wanted it to. Oh well, it happens! So, over the weekend I experimented with Dorie's Classic Banana Bundt Cake as a back-up to the creme brulee--in case it went haywire. The recipe came from Dorie's cookbook, Baking From My Home to Yours.

I happened to have some extremely ripe bananas to use for the recipe, all of which I mashed up and added to the fluffy batter. There was so much batter, I was afraid it wasn't going to fit into the bundt pan!

It was an early Sunday morning when I made this cake, so invited my family over to share a few slices of the cake with me before going to church. The cake was an instant hit and I have to admit that I had more than one slice. In fact, I've had a slice for breakfast every morning since then--and there's still enough for two more slices! Here's a picture of my grandma enjoying her slice of banana cake!

If you're bonkers for bananas, you definitely need to try this recipe! It is so moist and the sour cream truly accentuates the flavor of the bananas. The recipe can be found on page 190 of Dori's book.

Tuesdays With Dorie: Creme Brulee

Well you guys, it wasn't a total disaster! Looking at these photos you wouldn't know that what happened actually happened. The picture above is what the cremes looked like as I set them out too cool. But let me start at the beginning. Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake picked this week's recipe challenge and let me tell you, I was nervous. It's one of my favorite dessert picks at Italian restaurants, but I never imagined myself making it, especially since it called for using a blow torch. I was able to find a Chef's Torch at Ross for about $13.00. The package came with 4 rammekins too, so it was a steal (although I didn't use the rammekins this time around). I could have used the broiler method to carmelize the sugar, but I wanted the challenge.

The cremes were so easy to prepare. There were only 5 or 6 ingredients and the only substitution I made was the 2% milk for whole milk, which is where I suspect I went wrong. Anyway, I baked the cremes for 60 minutes at 200 degrees and when I removed them from the oven, the centers didn't seem to be completely set. Then again, I didn't know what I was really looking for as far as a "set center", so I cooled them to room temperature (picture below) and then put them in the refrigerator overnight thinking they'd firm a little bit into the texture I'm so familiar with.

And I thought they had. Until I did the carmelizing today. The Chef's Torch was actually real easy to use despite my fears. It was really fun too. So I heated the sugar until I got some really nice color on the cremes. And then I got my spoon out and tapped through the crunchy sugar crust.......

And creme soup everywhere! I wasn't too disappointed though. The creme tasted delicious. Now I have 5 more servings that I don't want to serve to anyone. Oh well, more for me! I'll be able to get more practice with the torch! So, if you're reading this and have any ideas for how I can do this next time (which I will), feel free to comment and clue me in! And thanks, Mari, for helping me to get over my creme brulee-making fears! If you want the recipe, then hop on over to her beautifully colored blog!

Funny, it's almost as if I was prepared to fumble this week's challenge. Over the weekend, I had some extremely ripe bananas that I had to get rid of. So I pulled out Dorie's cookbook and pulled out a recipe for a banana cake. I'll be posting it later on, so stay tuned!