A top of the mornin to ya!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you All!!

This is the day where I can play with food coloring and celebrate my Irish Heritage to its fullest :)
I am making Green Oat Pancakes with green syrup and green applesauce for breakfast,

and Irish Stew, and Irish Soda Bread for dinner.

For Dessert we are having Irish Cream Cheesecake, yum.


The kids made some fun stuff yesterday to take to school, green sparkle wands and Irish potato candy.

And of course got all dressed up for the Day-




Irish Stew

Ingred;
3T. butter
2c. stew meat, I am allergic to lamb so I used beef
1/2c. minced onion
1/2c. chopped carrots
2c. peeled, cubed potatoes
1/2c. peeled cubed parsnips
1/2c. peeled, cubed turnips
2T. vegetable soup bouillon
1 small handful crushed, dried parsley
Salt and pepper
enough Water to cover the vegies.

I sauteed my butter and meat together until it was almost cooked through, stir in about 1/2t. pepper, 1t. salt. Then add in the onions and carrots until the onions became translucent. Then I tossed in the potatoes, parsnips and turnips. I added enough hot water to cover the vegie's with about 1/2 inch extra.
I stirred in the vegie bouillon, then added in my parsley and brought to a boil. I let this simmer covered until the vegies are tender.
I don't how traditional it is but it was sure tasty :)



May luck be our companion
May friends stand by our side
May history remind us all
Of Ireland's faith and pride.
May God bless us with happiness
May love and faith abide.
~Irish Blessing

Snickerdoodles are SO much better as a bar cookie

In fact they should always be made as a bar cookie, I have never liked Snicker Doodles because they are a crisper, dryer cookie than I like.
This Bar Cookie recipe is really, really good. They are cinnamon-y and chew-y and perfect-y :)

I am giving you the link so that you can print out the recipe, because you NEED to make these, they are that wonderful. Thank you to Heidi at Tried-and-True cooking with Heidi for this wonderful recipe :)

Who doesn't LOVE Bread Pudding?

Make that Chocolate Bread Pudding.

Now I personally would have thought it impossible for someone to not like chocolate, but my very own Brother-in-Law is an anti-chocolate man. How that very strange phenomenon happened I do not know.

I have had this recipe for bread pudding bookmarked for quite some time, last week I made Challah bread and decided that it would be the perfect way to use it up. I changed it a little, I didn't add the chocolate chips, instead I added about 1/2c. cocoa powder to the custard batter. I baked it in a 8x8 pan and it turned out PERFECTLY.

The kiddos and the Hubby who are all, thankfully, chocolate people, thought so too :)

Bananas may be edible after all

Well as long as there is chocolate involved.
We had some Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie at a friends house last week and I was wanting to make it for Hubby, because he missed out. OK and because it was really really yummy. My friend gave me some basic instructions for it that seemed pretty simple.
She had told me to use vanilla wafers, instant vanilla pudding, banana's and chocolate, easy peasy right?
Well, I had a box of vanilla wafers stashed away and all the other required ingred, or so I thought. So this morning I went to get the goods out to make it and what did I find???
No Vanilla Wafers!!! Somebody ate my cookies, and no it wasn't me I don't eat those things, they have no chocolate in them.
So I had to settle for some chocolate chip cookies instead. I also couldn't find Instant Vanilla pudding mix in my cupboard, I had 3 others odd flavors, go figure.
So I was slowed down temporarily but it didn't stop me, I had just to be a little inventive-

This is why I don't these shots, someone is always missing!
Pretend you see some bananas,and butter in there, k :)
And I don't know why my vanilla pudding- that is what is in the red bowl-looks so odd.
Very Strange.

I missed a step, I am a bad camera person, bad, bad slacker.
Here is after I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave.
The whole pan goes in so you need to use glass, or do it in the oven :)

Look! There are my bananas!

They were MIA for a short time, now they're back and perfect- just barely ripe.

Here I am spreading the cool whip mixture over my perfect bananas :)

Does anyone know how to fix my picture?? I tried everything, then gave up, oh well.

Here are my cookies pre-crumb, it looks fine- just tilt your head to the right :)

Sprinkle the yummy crumbs over top, and make 'er pretty

Black-Bottomed Banana Cream Pie My Way


Ingred;
1 pkg chocolate chip cookies
1 reg sized container cool whip
1 small pkg cook and serve vanilla pudding mix
1c. milk
3T. butter, melted
1c. mini chocolate chips
2 bananas

Prepare the pudding as the box instructs but only use 1c. of milk instead of the 2 it calls for. Chill in the fridge until cooled, fold together with the cool whip, save a little cool whip to decorate with. Place half of the cookies in the food processor and turn into fine crumbs. Spread in the bottom of a 8x8 glass pan. Mix with the melted butter and pat down to make crust. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust, place in microwave and heat for 30 sec. to 1 minute. Until the chocolate starts to melt. Slice bananas and place over the chocolate layer, save a few slices. Spread you cool whip mixture over that. Saving out half a cookie, make the rest into fine crumbs and sprinkle over the top. Decorate with the reserved cool whip, banana and crumbled cookie, a few chocolate chips won't hurt either. Chill for at least an hour.

Does it get any better???

Than Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Pretzels?
I saw a recipe for these tasty little goodies on a blog a few months ago, but of course last night when I went to look for it..... POOF! It was no where to be found, and I can't for the life of me think of where I found it, soooooooo if any of you remember seeing them or posting about them I would love to know. I made up my own filling for them but am really wanting to know what the original filling for them has in it. Ugh, you all know who I blame my memory loss on right??

No, not Aliens!!! Geezzzzz.

I blame it on my kids, have you ever noticed that kids NEVER forget anything?!?! Unless it pertains to chores or homework, but I am convinced that is voluntary forgetfulness. But say you tell them- Sure, I will wash your blue and white striped shirt for you to wear tomorrow, and you forget (big surprise) and they remember right before they are heading out the door next day for school!!! And the only reason they remember is because the little stinkers took YOUR memory and are hoarding it all!!!!!
Anyway the only help for Memory loss is Chocolate of course. So a few of these little treasures ought to fix me right up, for a little while anyway :)


Chocolate PB Pretzel Bites
Ingred;
1 bag Pretzel Butter Snaps
1/2c. chocolate chips
2c. peanut butter
1/2c. graham crackers
1/2c. saltines crackers
2c. powdered sugar
2t. vanilla

Run the crackers through a food processor until they are finely ground, then mix them together with the peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Place chocolate chips in a glass bowl and heat in the microwave in 30 sec. intervals until melted. Roll the peanut butter mixture into small balls and press in between 2 pretzel squares. Then dip one end in the chocolate and place on wax paper till dry.

A beautiful Lemon Dessert and a Duo of Beautiful Awards

I have had this recipe stuck to my fridge for at least 2 months, I don't know why it took me so long to make it was actually pretty quick and easy. Which makes it a perfect one for me, I am going to use this as my base and see how many different flavors I can turn it into : )

Lemon Pots de Creme
Ingred;
2c. cream
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
1/3c. sugar
2t. lemon extract

Heat oven to 350, place a 9x13 pan in the oven to heat. Start a tea pot up to get some water boiling.
Place cream in a heat proof bowl, microwave for 4-5 minutes until it starts to boil. While that is heating whisk together the all the eggs and the sugar, when the cream is ready whisk in a small amount to temper your eggs. Then whisk the eggs into the hot cream. Whisk in the extract.
Pour into 6 small ramekins, place in your heated 9x13 pan and set in the oven. Pour the boiling water into the 9x13 pan until the water reaches half way of the sides of your ramekins. Cover loosely with tin foil. Bake for 30 min. remove from pan, cool, chill in the fridge overnight. Sprinkle with powder sugar before serving.




Purple Hoodie Chick very sweetly awarded a couple of awards the first one is the
BINGO Award.I got the B for beautiful and I for Informative, Thanks P H Chick!
This award was started by Bookin With BINGO and
here are the rules: This "B-I-N-G-O" BEAUTIFUL BLOG AWARD
means that this blog is...

B: Beautiful - Goes to Willoughby, she always has such beautiful thoughts and pictures. She is such a genuinely beautiful person inside and out :) And because I know Willoughby has already recieved this award I also want to give this to Holly- because she leaves me such beautiful comments :) This stop Willoughby
What are we going to Eat?
I: Informative -Here I had a tie, I hopes that's ok, Luis and 5th Sister always post such great info, I always come away from their blogs a little bit more informed :) Muddy Runner 5th Sister

N: Neighborly - Betty always leaves me such sweet neighborly comments, I feel like I could walk out my front door walk across the street and tell her all my woes and she would take care of me :) A Corgi in Southern California

G: Gorgeous - Goes to Monica and Brandi for the absolutely gorgeous Cakes and Desserts they post :) Lick the Bowl Good Cakes-a-nonymous

O: Outstanding - Chicago Mom is such an outstanding on the ball Gal, she always has a great menu planned out every week. Recipes too! I always know where to look when I am trying to figure out what to make for dinner :) What's for Dinner?



This reward I have had before so I am going to link you to my other post Honestly Me

And I want to pass this award to-
1-Chicago Mom
2-Lee at I want to make that!
3- Mini Baker
4-Stephanie
5-kyslp
6-Betty
7- My Hubby

The rules can be found on my previous post along with my 7 things about me!

Thanks again Purple Hoodie Chick!

I can multi-task, really I can

I have so many recipes book marked from Donna's Blog, & occasionally I actually make one. The other day she shared one that I was just dying to make- Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars.
I made a special trip to the grocery store to get the oatmeal cookie mix and apple pie filling that I needed to make this.

Now it's been so hot here that I have been doing my baking in the morning or late in the evening, so this morning I got everything out and begin making these.

Of course there were a small swarm of children with the usual questions- whatcha doin? whatcha makin? When are you going to feed us? Can I eat candy for breakfast? hahahaha!
So while I was mixing and preparing this I also set them all up with their breakfast, which is never a silent affair. One kiddo wanted to know where I thought the dog had buried his bone, another wanted to know which earring I thought she should wear, yadda, yadda, yadda. So while I was mixing and talking- cause I do TRY to multi-task, I finished making the bars and slid the pan into the oven.

Hubby walks in and asks Whatcha makin? I turned to look at him- Apple Streusel Cheesecake ba.......... I trail off as something on the counter catches my eye. There on the counter is my can-full can- of apple pie filling that was suppose to be in the middle of my bars! That were in the oven baking!!! We had a good laugh and I decided to put the filling on top after the bars had chilled.

Sorry Donna, I had good intentions, apparently I just lack focus. These were really good, but now I will have to wonder how much better they would have been if I had actually payed attention and made them right??? LOL.

Stress wouldn't be so hard to take if it were Chocolate covered

Chocolate Mousse covered that is.
This Chocolate Mousse tastes almost exactly like the mousse filling you get in the sheets cakes at Costco. It has a great consistency for a mousse cake filling but is a little thick and rich for just spooning up a cupful, unless it's an absolute emergency :)




Mocha or not Mousse

Ingred;
6 oz chocolate, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4c. sugar
1/4c. cream
2t. instant expresso powder- optional
1c. heavy cream

Place mixing bowl in the freezer to chill, put chocolate, sugar and 1/4c. cream into a glass bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 sec. intervals stirring after each one until chocolate is melted. It took me 1-1/2 min to melt mine. Set it in the fridge to chill while you whip that cream into shape.
Whip the cream in your chilled bowl until stiff peaks form, fold in your chilled chocolate mixture, spoon into a gallon size zip baggie and refrigerate for at least 2 hours...

Quick & Easy Strawberry Dessert

For a quick and yummy dessert the kiddos and I cubed up some leftover Angel food cake and topped it with a mixture of sliced strawberries, lemon balsamic vinegar, & sugar. Then drizzled a little straight cream on top. Yummy :)

Brown Sugar Shortbread

Ingred;
1c. softened butter
1c. dark brown sugar
2c. flour
1/4t. salt
1t. vanilla
2T. cinnamon sugar

Oven 325.
Beat together the butter and brown sugar, add in the vanilla then the flour and salt. The mixture will be slightly crumbly. Press into a greased 9x13 pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake for 35-45 min. Cool and cut into bars. These would be excellent dipped in chocolate :)

Spiced Mexican Chocolate Pudding

First a cute story than we will get down to the chocolate, so hang in there. Whenever I make a recipe that I plan on posting here on my blog I plate up 4 or 6 serving, then from those I pick the best looking one and take some pictures. Now the other day after I had plated up, I think it was the Blueberry Poppy Seed Coffee Cake. I handed over everyone's plates except Miss K's, because I needed to get a picture. After I had my picture I handed over the cake to the patiently waiting Miss K. And told her thanks for waiting so patiently, she said she didn't mind waiting because that meant she got the Rock Star one. ????? She explained that because this one got its photograph taken and put on my Blog that that made it the Rock Star, how cute is that :)
Now they all argue about who gets the Rock Star one, talk about your classic backfire huh??
Lol, OK on to the recipe.

Spiced Mexican Chocolate Pudding
Ingred;
1/4c. cornstarch
1/4c. sugar
1/2t. cinnamon
1/8t. salt
1-1/4 c. cream
1-1/4c. milk
6 oz chocolate
1T. butter
1t. vanilla

In a med. pot whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon & salt, whisk in 1/4c. of the cream until mixture in smooth. Add in the remaining cream and milk, bring to a boil constantly whisking until starts to thicken, remove from heat and stir in remaining ingred. Serve either warm or cold.

This had great flavor, but the texture was a little to solid for me. So I think next time I will be cutting the cornstarch by a third and see how that works out. Oh, & as we were eating this someone suggested that a squirt of whip cream on top would make it perfect, sprinkled with a little cinnamon of course.

Warm Peach Gratin

Since it was a chilly morning here I decided that this would make a wonderful tasty breakfast.

Ingred;
1c. sour cream
1/4c. half 'n half
1/4c. sugar
1t. rum
3-4 peeled and sliced peaches (or you can cheat & use canned ;)
2T. brown sugar

Arrange peach slices in a pie plate, Mix together the sour cream, half n' half, sugar & rum. Spoon over the peaches, sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Broil for a few minutes until bubbly, serve warm.

The verdict on this one- Everyone wished the recipe made more, it was pretty tasty & will definitely be made here again. This would probably be very pretty heated and served in individual ramekins. The rum could be replaced with vanilla or almond extract. The half n' half could be replaced with cream, same amount, or milk, probably half the amount. :)

My very first PW

I really enjoy, and when I say enjoy I mean LOVE, Pioneer Woman's recipes. Her pictures always have me drooling, her food pictures that is. I have several of them saved but today, for the first time, I actually made one!! When I saw the picture in her side bar I was intrigued, hmmmm apple dumpling, never made them- actually never even had them. Then I clicked on the picture, read the recipe, and the drooling begin.

So a week later, today, I gathered the ingred. (I had to hide the last 2 green apples in my cupboard from the kids) and whipped them together. All my girls helped, this recipe is great for little helpers the only thing they couldn't do was put it in the oven. (Warning if kids are helping make these have extra Apples on hand, little snitchers.) There are only 7 ingred. and 4 of those are in your regular old baking stash-
Sugar
Cinnamon
Butter
Vanilla
Green Apples
Cresent Roll Dough
Mountain Dew

You can get the recipe and directions here- PW Apple Dumplings.
Putting them together took just minutes, but then they do take about 40 min. to bake. It was hard to wait for them, oh but they were totally worth it just look at this yummy goodness-

Here, need a closer look????

Put one on a plate and add a scoop of French Vanilla Ice Cream

Yummy, these are incredible and very easy to prepare. But don't just take my word for it, go make some!

Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb!

I am finally getting around to posting my Gramma's Rhubarb cake recipe, I have been in a bit of a bloggy bog lately. Anyhow here it it-

Grandma's Rhubarb Cake

Ingred;
2c. diced rhubarb
1/2c. sugar
1/2c. shortening
1-1/2c. sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2c. flour
1t. soda
1t. cinnamon
dash of salt
1c. buttermilk
1t. vanilla

Oven 350
Mix together the rhubarb and half c. sugar and set aside. Cream together the shortening and remaining sugar, add in the eggs and mix well. Sift together the remaining dry ingred, and stir together the last 2 ingred. Alternately add in the wet and dry ingred. to your batter. When well mixed, stir in the rhubarb. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake for about 40 min. Serve with whip cream or ice cream .
Unless you are having it for breakfast ;)

(Hubby just informed me that whip cream and ice cream, are imperative for rhubarb cake AT ALL TIMES! Sadly he is not a Fan of Rhubarb)

Now while I was surfing the web, checking for more rhubarb recipes to use with my bumper crop I found this site here Rhubarb Recipes.
It has ALL kinds of Rhubarb recipes, very fun.

Better Than S**

This cake is referred to by many names, but it's most popular one is R rated so I won't share it on here :) My Sister-In-Law calls it Bishops Delight because my Father-In-Law doesn't like the other name. She first made it for us years ago, & it became one of our favorite stand-by dessert for parties & potlucks.

Better Than S** CakeIngred;
1 box Devils Food Cake Mix (Duncan Hines is my favorite)
1-1/3c. Water
1/2c. Oil
3 lg Eggs

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 jar Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping (we prefer Mrs. Richardsons)
1 reg container Cool Whip- thawed

Mix and bake the cake according to the directions on the box, let cake cool until it's slightly warm. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the top of the cake, pour the s.c. milk over the top and spread to cover. Heat the hot fudge in the microwave for 30 sec. stir, spread evenly over the top of the cake. Let cool completely, then spread the cool whip on top, store cake in the fridge until serving.

Mochiko Mochiko Mochiko

That is just a fun word to say isn't it??? I think so :) Mochiko is a flour made out of sweet white rice, it looks similar to powdered sugar.
I first read about it on a blog post about Mochi a little doughnut made with it then filled with a sweet bean filling, sadly I forgot to save where I found that.
But I did find another blog with a recipe that describes how to make Daifuku, which is a type of Mochi, I can't wait to try making it! Then I found a Blog where the Mochiko is used to make little teacakes, yum.
So I thought this might be a good, easy recipe for me to start out on using the Mochiko, see I can't stop using it! It's almost as fun to type as it is to say, you try it :)

I am gonna be using these beautiful Cherries-

We live only about an hour from Flathead Lake where there are lots of Cherry Orchards, so we get some really great, fresh cherries! And here is the group of ingred. It had to be re-taken it because I realized the evap. milk was MIA-

I am not going to give you the recipe here, because it's not mine, so if you want it you can jump on over to The Food Librarian's Blog and get it. I will say that this recipe was very quick & very easy, the hardest, most time consuming thing was pitting the cherries. It seems I need another kitchen tool ;)
So here we have the finished product-



Aren't they cute. I used the rest of the batter in a loaf pan, I am going to slice it and top with strawberries! Here it is before the strawberries-

Today & Tomorrow I will be getting ready for a SURPRISE party for my Sweet Sister-In-Law, I am making an Appetizer & Dessert Buffet. So after Tuesday night I should have some yummy recipes to show you!!

Yummy Treats

I have been wanting to try this since I saw a picture in a magazine, it's a mixture between
Zambaglione & Champagne Cream. I wanted the texture of the Zambaglione using Champagne instead of Marsala. So I combined a couple recipes & this is what I came up with-
Didn't it turn out pretty :) :) :)

Champagne Cream

Ingred;
6 eggs yolks
1/2c. sugar
3/4c. champagne- I used Andre's Strawberry Champagne.
1c. heavy cream
2T. sugar
1/2t. vanilla
1c. fresh berries of your choice

Start a pot of water to boil on the stove & place a glass bowl in the freezer.
Whisk together the egg yolks & sugar in a metal bowl, slowly whisk in the champagne (it will foam up quite a bit). Place metal bowl over top of a pan of boiling water, whisk mixture until it's nice & thick (all the foam will disappear). This takes about 10-15 min. Take your chilled bowl out of the freezer and pour your custard into it, place into the fridge to cool.
Chill another mixing bowl, once your custard is cooled, whip the cream, sugar & vanilla in the chilled bowl until firm peaks form. Reserve 1/2 a cup of the whipped cream. Gently fold the custard into the remaining whipped cream. To serve layer with your berries into individual serving dishes, garnish with reserved cream and berries.

This was so light & airy, if you are looking for a impressive,beautiful, easy, make ahead dessert this would be perfect, it was wonderful :)

The grocery store had shrimp on sale so I decided to make wonton wrapped shrimp, & bacon wrapped shrimp.

Wonton Wrapped Shrimp

Ingred;
Wonton wrappers
lg cooked, peeled deveined shrimp
cream cheese
cocktail sauce

Wipe both sides of the wonton wrappers with olive oil, place a 1/2t. cream cheese in the center of each wonton. Place a shrimp on top and fold in the corners to make a square, bake at 425 for 15-30 min. until the wontons are crispy. Serve hot with cocktail sauce.


The Bacon Wrapped Shrimp I cooked at 425 for about 15 min. than broiled for about 5 min until the bacon was crispy :)

One more picture for the road-

3 Recipes & a Picture

Leftover Beef Stew

Ingred-
Leftover Beef skewer ingred.
Leftover Vegie Tray remains
Water to cover

Cook on low all day, than enjoy :)



I had a lot of leftover vegies and beef chunks from our BBQ so I threw it all in the crockpot the next day for dinner. Yum :) Things were so busy that I didn't get to take any food pictures but I have a couple recipes for you.

Super easy crock pot shredded BBQ Chicken

Ingred.
5 frozen chicken breasts
1-2 bottles bbq sauce

(how easy is that huh? :)

Now I put my ingred. in the crock pot the night before, about 11pm, on low and left it overnight. At about 11am I opened it up, removed the meat, shredded it with a fork, then added it back in for a couple more hours on low. Because the chicken was frozen I didn't add water, I didn't want it to get too runny. It was perfect served on large kaiser buns. There was none left after the bbq.

Now for dessert my Hubby wanted Tiramisu, But I couldn't find ladyfingers when I went to the grocery store that usually has them & I didn't feel like driving all over looking for them so I concocted my own recipe that my sis named-

Black & White Trifle

Ingred.-
1 pkg chocolate wafer cookies
1pkg softened cream cheese
1 small pkg white chocolate instant pudding mix
1/2 cold milk
2 containers cool whip

Beat the cream cheese, slowly beat in the pudding mix, then the milk.
Beat until smooth, fold in 1 cont. of cool whip, whip it :)
Place a layer of cookies on the bottom your trifle bowl, add a layer of the cream cheese mixture, than a layer of cool whip, than a layer of cookies. Repeat until ingred. are gone.
Top with crumbled remaining cookies and keep overnight in the fridge.

This turned out really good, next time I make it I think I will double all my cream cheese ingred. except the cool whip. The way it was it only went about 3/4 the way up in my bowl. Because it sat overnight the cookies softened up, this reminded me of like a cookies & cream pudding or ice cream. Yummy :) Next time I will take pictures I promise!

Green Day, Rootbeer Float Cake, and post from the Slacker

I feel like I have been a total slacker lately, an online slacker, I haven't been on here much. I have been feeling a little blue for some unknown reason, which is not uncommon- I have issues :)
Anyhow I wanted to post about a few fun things. I wanted to show some pic's of our Green Dinner-



And My little helper K, helped me make a delicious cake, RootBeer Float cake from Lisa's Cookbook. There are a TON of great recipes on there, if you enjoy cooking you should definitely check it out.
So here I have my little Kitchen Sla.... I mean helper :)



Here are the cast of ingredients



Here is the K stirring up the ingredients, this recipe is awesome and super easy- see the 6 year making it?????

Super Easy and you can check out the recipe here- :) :) :)

Here it R my other helper, he wanted a taste and I told him NO, he got a chewie instead, poor little guy.



Here we have our fluffy frosted cake, I think I will sample a piece, if I'm careful no one will even notice ;)



See how sneaky I was :)


Yum everyone LOVED it, Thank You Lisa!!!


Also there is a Blog I wanted to share with you all- Got Org is a great blog if you need some help organizing your life, which I DEFINITELY do. She has great helps and tips, it is a great one to check out as well and you can get there by going here- :) :) :)

Happy Thursday All! :)