Plain Jane Ice Cream

My sweet mother-in-law bought me a lovely ice-cream maker for my birthday maybe seven or eight years ago but I am ashamed to admit that it was not used for years. I wanted to use it but I was letting our food "issues" get in the way. B was allergic to dairy until after her sixth birthday. Plus she was allergic to eggs and when she outgrew her egg allergy we found out that little L was highly allergic to eggs. 

Most chefs will tell you that you need cream and eggs to make a proper ice cream so my poor ice cream maker just sat and sat for years. Then I just went for it! Maybe it is because I am an "allergy mom" or even just a mom that I decided that I could care less about "proper ice cream" and more about home-made ice cream. It might not be fancy ice cream, in fact it is just plain vanilla, but it is good!

Plain Jane Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups half & half

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extra

Combine the whipping cream, half & half, sugar and salt in a sauce pan. Heat the sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until all of the sugar has dissolved. 

Take the sauce pan off the heat and stir in vanilla.

Place mixture into a seal-able container and place in the refrigerator. It is best if mixture can sit over night to chill.

Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions. (I left my machine running for about 35 minutes but each machine is different.) Then freeze your ice cream until hard, at least two hours.

Enjoy!

Perfect Summer Salad

There was a time when my girl friends and I would get together and try and have conversations while chasing our toddlers. We all said "this will be so much easier when they are older". Um what were we thinking!?! Between the worst winter and all of our children's different sports teams we have not seen each other in forever. Honestly I would pay good money to run after a wee-one if it meant I could have a chat with my friends in person more other. We really didn't know how good we had it!

So when a friend sent out a text saying lets have a little happy hour before the 4th, we were all in! All we had to do was bring something to share and something to sip. So simple yet so perfect. I will admit that I just brought some cupcakes, nothing worth blogging about. But Former Blogger A brought a salad that was so good I asked for the recipe. Being the wonderful friend that she is she said I could past the recipe along to you!

Asparagus, Tomato & Cumber Salad (from Prevention Magazine)

8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and roughly chopped into bit sized pieces

2 cups sliced english cucumbers

1 large tomato, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place the asparagus in a pot with a steam basket. Steam for about 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Immediately plunge the asparagus into a bowl of cold water, drain, and lightly pat dry.

Place in a large bowl. Stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and feta.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oregano, oil, mustard, and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables and toss well.

Trust me, you need to try this salad!

Cheers To The Weekend!

Last week two of my favorite PTO volunteer warriors join me for dinner. My sweet Hubby thought that the three of us deserved a nice dinner after a year of tons of hard work. It should be noted that the other two worked non-stop all year, I only had to work hard on one event. But since Hubby offered to cook I went along with it!

The only thing (besides clean the house) that I had to do was make a cocktail. I had an idea in mind - an adult strawberry lemonade. So of course I turned to Pinterest and they had a ton of options. While all of the drink recipes looked awesome they were all too involved and I was short on time. So I winged it!

Adult Lemon-Aid

1 pint of strawberries, washed and quartered

1/4 cup water

1 bottle of lemon-aid (I used Simply Lemonade, but you could use any kind)

1 cup vodka

In a food processor, place the strawberries and water. Pulse until the berries and water to form a strawberry like juice.

In a large pitcher add the "strawberry juice", lemonade and vodka. Stir and serve over ice. Enjoy!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Cheers!

Welcome Home Meal

As you may already know, B had a field hockey tournament last weekend up in Pennsylvania. B and her teammates played well and more importantly they had a wonderful time. It might be just me that feels this way but win or lose the rides home from tournaments are soo long! The excitement is over and B always falls asleep on me. So I always enjoy driving into town and knowing we are home.

Coming home on Saturday was made even better by the scene B and I walked in on. Hubby and M were fast at work on some homemade biscuits. After a quick hug, L informed me that we were having ham and biscuits for dinner. I might be a Northern girl but I must have a little Southern heart because I was just over the moon!

Hubby and the boys followed Southern Living's recipe "Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit" from their May 2014 addition. These biscuits were tender and flaky. Plus the butter tang was spot on! While these biscuits would have been perfect by themselves, my boys took it to a whole other level.

Hubby cooked a country ham steak on a casket iron skillet. While the ham was cooking he sliced the biscuits then he spread djion mustard on them. He also sliced some extra sharp cheddar cheese. When the ham was nice and hot he pulled it off the pan and sliced it into bite sized pieces. Finally he added a slice of ham and cheese to each biscuit. Simply put... it was heaven on a biscuit!!!

And if you didn't think I was already too spoiled I should let you know that Hubby DVR'ed the Derby for me. Please don't tell me that I was the only one that loved Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski!?!

Spring Risotto

There is just something about ham that says "Spring" to me. Just thinking abut roasting a spiral ham makes me hungry but these days I just don't have time to spend a whole day in the kitchen. Three kiddos on four different sports team really has forced me to cook more quick meals. But quick does not have to mean tasteless food.

So if you and in the mood for a yummy ham dinner but have little time give this recipe a try. I promise you will love it!!!

Risotto with Peas and Prosciutto

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup Arborio rice (short gain)

4 to 6 cups hot chicken broth*

1 cup frozen or fresh green peas

1/2 cup roughly chopped prosciutto

Heat chicken broth to a gentle boil in a small pan. 

In another pan (medium sized) saute the chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat, until the onion is softened.

Add rice and saute for about 2 minutes until all the grains are coated.

Add hot broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until the broth is adsorbed; about 20 to 25 minutes. The risotto should be creamy; add more liquid if a creamier texture is desired.

Stir in the peas and prosciutto until the peas are heated all the way. Serve immediately and enjoy!

*If you or someone you are cooking for is on a gluten-free diet be careful which chicken broth you use. I know that it is hard to believe but some chicken broths have gluten added to them. Weird, right!?!*

Snickerdoodle Candy

I am not sure if it is all the cold this weather or what but we have really been on a "snickerdoodle" kick lately. First we made snickerdoodle bread and this week we tried a snickerdoodle candy recipe. L had wanted to try snickerdoodle cookies but all of the recipes that I found called for eggs and L is allergic. And when I googled egg-free snickerdoodles I came upon a candy recipe. 

All I could think while L and I were making the truffles together was that even if the recipe was a bust the look on his face was so worth the effort. Sometimes I think B & L just like it when I try to make something they have seen their friends eat but they can't due to food issues. Even if our attempt does not work, at least we can say we tried! However, in this case it definitely worked out!

Snickerdoodle Truffles
adapted from Shugarysweets

Ingredients

Truffle Center:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granualted sugar
1 1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I use Cup4Cup)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coating:
16 oz vanilla candy coating, divided
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar mixture**

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with both sugars until smooth and creamy. Mix in the flour, vanilla, salt and cinnamon until combined well. Scoop dough and roll into balls, about a tablespoons worth. (Since my sous chef is a 5 year old, our truffles were all different sizes and it didn't matter one bit!) Place your balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 2 hours or overnight.

Melt vanilla candy coating. Set aside 1/4 cup of melted coating for later. To the remaining melted candy coating add 1/2 teaspoon of ground sugar. Using a toothpick, dip each of the frozen truffles into the melted candy coating. Carefully placed dipped truffle back on the parchment paper. Once all truffles have been dipped, drizzle the reserved melted candy coating over all of the truffles. Immediately sprinkle the truffles with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Allow the truffles to set in the refrigerator, about ten minutes. Enjoy!!!***

*Since I used gluten-free flour I omitted the 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar. I would include it if I were to make these truffles with all-purpose flour.

**You can make a cinnamon/sugar mixture by taking equal parts granulated sugar and cinnamon then combine. My kiddos like to sprinkle this mixture on buttered toast as a special treat.

***I have been told these truffle will keep in your fridge for a week and a month in your freezer - but I would not know since these truffle were a huge hit!

Simple Mussels

Last weekend I was shopping at Wegmans and I noticed that mussles were on sale. When we lived in Marblehead, MA one of our favorite dinners to share were PEI mussles but I had never prepared them at home before. So when the nice man in the fish department told me that it would be so easy with cook, I decideed to go for it. Boy am I glad I did! 

Classic French Mussels
adapted from Hank Shaw

2 pounds live mussels
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup white wine

Scrub and debeard the mussels. The "beard" is the fibrous hairy thing hanging from one side of the tasty bivalve. Pull it off with a side-to-side motion. Luckily our mussels, from Wegamans, were already debearded.

Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a large, wide-bottomed pot with a lid; I used a large saute pan. Saute the shallot until it is soft but not browned. Then add the garlic cloves.

Add the white wine and bring it to a boil. Once sauce is boiling add the mussels. If possible, keep them in one layer.

Cover the pot and let the mussels steam for 3-8 minutes. After three minutes, check the mussels; many should be open. You want them all open, but some will do this faster than others.

As soon as most of the mussels are open, turn off the heat. Cover for a minute while you prepare bowls and plates.

Spoon out plenty of mussels and broth, which should be briny enough to not need any more salt. 

Throw out any mussels that did not open!

Serve with crusty bread for dipping. Enjoy!!!

Snickerdoodle Bread

You all know I love to bake right? Baking to me is so easy; look up a recipe, carefully read it over, make changes if needed and then go for it. After following those steps, twice, I have a "new to me" recipe to share with you. If you love cinnamon I have feeling you are going to be happy with this one! (Hubby's note- VERY VERY VERY HAPPY!)

Snickerdoodle Bread

adapted from Lady Behind The Curtain

Batter Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 (10 oz) package cinnamon chips

1 tablespoon flour

Topping Ingredients

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare TWO 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pans by butter and lining with parchment paper. *This step is a must!*

In a large bowl, combine , butter and sugar; cream together for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream, mix to combine.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, stirring just until combine.

Coat the cinnamon chips with 1 tablespoon flour, then stir into the batter. Evenly spoon batter between your prepared pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping. Sprinkle topping over batter before baking. Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before removing bread from pan.

Enjoy!

One of the things that I love about this recipe is that you get two loafs of bread. Gift one to a friend and save one for your family. Winner-winner!

Pork Chops With Sauce & Orzo

What is with the weather lately? When we moved down from the North Shore of Boston to NoVa I thought that I had said good-bye to below freezing days. Man was I wrong! It has been just too cold here and cold weather calls for comfort food if you ask me. So a couple of nights ago I got out my dutch oven and whipped up a hearty dinner to keep winter chills away!

Pork Chops with Sauce & Orzo

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 pounds of boneless pork chops
1/2 kosher salt
1/2 fresh ground pepper
3 to 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

Season pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. In a dutch oven, heat olive oil to medium heat. When the oil is hot add pork chops in a single layer and cook each side for 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove pork chops from the pan and set aside.

Add crushed garlic to pan and cook for about 2 minutes then add the balsamic vinegar. Bring garlic vinegar mixture to a boil then turn down heat and add the can of crushed tomatoes.

Place pork chops back in the pan with the sauce and simmer until pork chops are cook through and tender.

Serve pork chops and sauce over a bed of orzo*. Enjoy!!!

(Hubby's note- This was another winner. Definitely a great choice for a cold winter night.)

*DeLallo makes a super yummy gluten-free orzo*

You can also find me at: Savvy Southern Style

Tomato, Olives and Caper...Oh My!

Our Sunday dinner was just too good! It was one of those dinners that was not really planned, it just sort of came together. Plus it was as easy. Grilled swordfish with a tomato, olive and caper sauce. Hubby grilled the fish while I whipped up the sauce. Gotta love team work!

Tomato, Olive and Caper Sauce

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup pitted katamala olives, chopped
2 tablespoons capers

In a medium sized sauce pan heat olive oil. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes and wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Finally add the olives and capers to the tomato sauce and stir until all ingredients are heated.

We served this sauce over grilled swordfish but I think that the sauce would work well on any firm fish. It would also taste great with sauteed shrimp. Maybe even with just some pasta. Endless uses my friends! Enjoy!!!

Chops And Sauce

Once again the kids had off yesterday, not really sure why but they did. So after a nice relaxing morning at home, we ventured out to run some errands. Since I had some extra time this morning while I was making my grocery store list I poured over the latest from Cooking Light and found a recipe that looked very promising. If an unexpected snow-day is not the time to try a new recipe then I don't know what is!

On a cold and windy day, Orange-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops sounded just right! The recipe calls for enough citrus that I could pretend I was on the beach in Florida yet had enough sauce to be served with smashed red bliss potatoes. Honestly it was heavenly on such a cold night! (Hubby's note- Thumbs up for this recipe! It was really good.)

Orange-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (if you are gluten free read carefully since some whole-grain mustard contain gluten!)

1 tablespoon canola oil  *I used extra virgin olive oil. I always do!*

4 bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick) **I had to go boneless since the store was sold out of bone-in. Less cooking time but is was still yummy**

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt ***I might have added more salt***

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 fresh rosemary springs

1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small sauce pan, combine the orange juice, marmalade and mustard; stir over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until syrupy. About 10 minutes.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet oven medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Salt and pepper pork and add to pan; cook until brown. Turn pork; add rosemary and onions to pan. Pour juice mixture over the pork; bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 140 degrees. 

Place onions and rosemary on a platter. 

Return pan to medium-high heat; add lime juice. Cook 4 minutes or until liquid is syrupy. 

Add pork to platter; drizzle with sauce. Serve hot!

I chose to serve my chops along side smashed red bliss potatoes and roasted asparagus. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will make this recipe again. And again!!!

Better Than Swiss Miss

Don't you just love it when you find a great recipe on Pinterest!?! I am so please with the recipe that I found last week for semi-homemade hot chocolate mix from Jill's blog One Good Thing. Since we have been buying Swiss Miss in bulk I knew that my kiddos would love this recipe and boy with I right. L has declared that this is best!

Semi-Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

4 cups powdered milk

21.8 oz box Nestle Nesquik

16 oz instant coffee creamer

1 cup powdered sugar (Jill suggested that you could adjust this to taste. The kiddos and I thought this amount was perfect).

1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa*

Mix all of this together in a big bowl. Pour into a storage jar or canister.** To make a mug of cocoa, add 3-5 heaping tablespoons of mix per mug. Top with hot water or milk, then stir.

*Jill's recipe did not call for cocoa, but the kiddos and I like dark chocolate so I decided to add some cocoa. Next time I make this recipe I plan to add a full cup of cocoa. I will let you know how that goes!

**I had no desire to clean an extra bowl so I mixed all of the ingredients in the jar that I planned to use. Which, by the way, was a gallon storage container.

This yummy recipe makes a ton which is perfect for us since we are enjoying our second snow day in a row! Man it is going to be so hard to wake up to reality tomorrow....

Chocolate Mint Cookies

I have been in the mood to bake some treat for the kiddos' teachers but I wanted to try something new. So of course I turned to Pinterest for a little inspiration. On the main page there were a couple of mint brownies trending that looked super yummy but when I went to their original source the recipes were very involved.

You all know that I love to bake but I was not not up for a challenging recipe. I need something that I could whip up while making dinner and overseeing homework. Is it just me or do you not remember having homework as hard as your child does now? Anyway...I decided to make some cookies with a mint twist. Since most of the brownie recipes were inspired by Andes mints I thought why not just add them to cookies!

Chocolate Mint Cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter, soften
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
2 extra large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups unbleached flour or gluten-free flour (such as Cup 4 Cup)
2 packages (4.67 ounces) Andes Creme De Menthe Thins, roughly chopped
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars. Then add one egg at a time and mix until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the vanilla, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. Once combined well stir in the flour. Then fold in the chopped mints and chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough and place on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes - you might need more or less time depending on your oven. Either way the center of your cookies should look slightly underdone. This way you will have a perfect cookie once they cool.

Enjoy!

(Hubby's note- This new recipe is strongly endorsed by both myself and M. We may or may not have gone to town on the raw dough but the baked version is just as good. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!)

You can also find me at From My Front Porch and No Minimalist Here

Best Leftovers Ever!

Sure you think that I am going tell you how to turn your left-over turkey into some amazing casserole. But let's be real...we have all been there and done that. Further more if you ask me the best thing to do with your Thanksgiving left-overs is turn them into a sandwich that New Englanders call the "Gobbler". Simply place the left-over turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce between two slices of bread dressed in gravy. Old school yet yummy every time!

No what I really want to tell you about today is how to make the best grilled cheese ever! While I know not everyone makes homemade pimento it has become a staple appetizer for my family on Thanksgiving day. I have also learned that pimento makes for an incredible grilled cheese sandwich. The only catch is that if you plan to reuse it for grilled cheese you have to omit the mayo. I know that idea if offensive to some but if you are going to heat it in a sandwich mayo just doesn't work. 

Pimento Cheese

8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
8 ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
jarred sliced pimentos, drained and roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper (we prefer a little more heat so I add 1/2 teaspoon)
2 to 3 dashes of hot sauce

Simply mix all of the ingredients in a bowl with a hand held beater until a creamy spread is formed, then refrigerate over night so all of the flavors can blend together.

Allow pimento cheese to come to room temperature before serving with crackers and celery sticks.

*Or spread pimento cheese on buttered whole wheat bread. Then simple grill on low heat until the cheese has melted. Trust me, you are going to love it!!!!

Da Bomb!

I know that I have already told you all about one of Baltimore's sweet treats, Berger Cookies. While some might be happy to indulge in these awesome cookies as-is, every once in a while I like to step it up a notch and turn them into the Baltimore Bomb pie. The best way to describe it is a traditional chess pie with chopped up Berger cookies added. I know that sounds weird but trust me!

Baltimore Bomb

1 frozen extra deep Pillsbury pie crust

1 egg

4 egg yolks

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

6 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

10 Berger cookies, chopped

Prepare pie crust according to the instructions on the bag. Allow crust to complete cool.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bring about an 1 1/2 cups of water to simmer in a medium sauce pan

Whisk together the egg, egg yolks, sugars, salt and cider vinegar in a heat proof bowl.  Whisk the heavy cream and then place bowl over the simmering water. Add the butter and continue to whisk until the mixture is warm to the touch.

Place chopped Berger cookies into the baked pie crust. Gently pour mixture over the Berger cookies and place in oven. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until pie has set.

Allow pie to cool for at least an hour before slicing. I know that it is really hard to wait that long but if you slice it while it is too hot the pie will just fall apart!

Enjoy!!!

M wanted me to let you know that the pie is best served with a cold glass of milk. And I would have to agree with him - yum!

You can also find me at From My Front Porch, A Stroll Thur Life and No Minimalist Here

Rainy Day Baking

Yesterday morning was a wet one here in NoVa. At times it seemed as though the rain was coming down in sheets sideways. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! We really needed the rain. And it gave me an excuse to stay inside and nest a little bit.

Not sure about you but when I nest, I bake! On a cold rainy day baking is the way to go in my mind. Not only does it warm my kitchen up it also makes the whole house smell wonderful! I decided to whip up some Pumpkin Bread since I had not made it in forever. Easy and yummy!!!

Quick & Easy Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups flour

3 cups white granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly granted nutmeg*

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 can of 100% solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie in a can)

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. 

In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat together the pumpkin, oil and water. Then add one egg at a time, beating the eggs well into the mixture.

Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add the pumpkin mixture. Stir well to combine and get most of the lumps out.

Bake for 75 minutes or until a tooth-pick comes out clean after being inserted into the center of the bread. Cool completely before taking carefully taking pumpkin bread out of the pans.

Enjoy!

There are endless reasons why I love this recipe. It is like pumpkin pie just in bread form. My house still smells unreal hours and hours after baking it. I could go on and on but one of the best things about this simple recipe is that it makes two loafs. One for your family to enjoy and one to gift. 

Trust me this recipe will make you very popular!!!

You can also find me at No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch, A Stroll Thru Life and Savvy Southern Style

Dumplings

I am not sure if it is the cooler weather that we are enjoying here in NoVa or maybe it is just the fact that I am feeling better. Either way I have really been in the mood to bake! There is just something about having my house smell of sweet treats baking on a Sunday afternoon. 

But since I am still playing catch-up from last week I knew I needed to bake something simple. So I went with apple dumplings. They might not be the prettiest of desserts but they sure tasted wonderful!

Apple Dumplings

1 refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury)

2 apples, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (you could use less but we just happen to love cinnamon.)

juice from half a lemon

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl add apples, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Stir until apples are evenly covered. Set aside.

Roll out pie crust according to boxes instructions. Cut crust evenly down the middle, giving you two halves. Cut halves evenly down the middle, giving you four halves.

Divide apple mixture evenly among the four pieces of pie crust. Carefully fold the crust up over-itself, pinching the seems as you go. But don't fuss too much - they are dumplings so they don't have to look perfect!

Bake dumplings for 25 -30 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

This is the face of a boy who takes his desserts very seriously! Doesn't L look like he is going to attack his dumpling? 

Doctored Cake Mix

B really only had two requests for her birthday dessert. The first was that all of the children in the cul de sac could come over and have dessert with her. And the second that whatever I baked was topped with cream cheese frosting. Seemed like reasonable requests to me and so I baked up some red velvet cupcakes on Saturday morning.

But here's the thing...I cheated! I didn't make them from scratch. Yes, I know that there a million red velvet recipes out there that are not that hard at all to make but I simply did not have time. B and I had to be to our field hockey game really early because it was picture day. After the game B wanted to have lunch out with the family. Then by the time we got home and showered.... Well you know how it goes! 

And I have to say I feel not guilty since these "doctored" cupcakes from a mix got rave reviews from the kiddos and adults!!!

Doctored Cake-Mix Red Velvet Cupcakes*

1 box of white cake-mix (as always I used Pillsbury)

1 box of non-instant chocolate pudding (do not make the pudding!)

3/4 of a cup buttermilk

1/4 of a cup water

1/3 of a cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

red food coloring, as much as desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins.

Mix the white cake-mix and dry non-instant pudding until combined in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl add the buttermilk, water, oil and eggs. Mix until eggs are well beaten. Pour into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Stir in a few drops of red food dye.

Bake for 25 minutes or until done.  

Allow cupcakes to completely cool then top with your favorite cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

*If you were to claim that you made these from scratch I would not tell a soul otherwise!!!

Iced Lemon Cake

I was not joking when I said we had more lemons than I knew what to do with! After the kiddos and I made home-made 7up-like soda I still had a lot of freshly squeezed lemon juice left over. So I turned to my collection of Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks.  I have every single cookbook that Ina Garten has ever published since she has never let me down!

Lemon Cake (from the Barefoot Contessa Parties!)

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperarture
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the syrup:

1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cups granulated sugar

For the glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar 
3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired.*

For the cakes...

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup...

Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; spoon the lemon syrup over them. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze...

Combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

*Learn from my mistake, you need to use parchment paper. If not you will not be able to get your cakes out of their loaf pans without them falling apart. TRUST ME!

I know that everyone is all into pumpkin lattes and all but it has just been too hot here in NoVa. So this fresh lemon cake really hit the spot. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Too Many Lemons and Limes

Somehow we ended up with two huge bags of lemons and limes. I needed something to do with them before they all went bad and I had to suffer from a massive case of Catholic guilt. So I did what any good mother would do, I sliced them all up and put my kiddos to work! 

Thank goodness the boys don't see the juicer as "work". To my boys it is just a super cool machine that crushes the inside of citrus. Boys will be boys!!! It might have had something to do with the fact that they knew we would be making homemade 7-Up-like soda with the lemon and lime juice.

Homemade Lemon Lime Soda

Makes three drinks*

Simple syrup (If you have never made it before check out this recipe.)

Freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice

1/2 Liter of club soda or seltzer**

Ice

Take three highball glasses and add 2 tablespoons of simple syrup and juices. Stir to combine.

Fill each of the glasses with ice and then top with Club Soda.

Enjoy!

*I know that three serving is an odd number for a recipe but I have three children. 

**We have the SodaStream Penguin and we use that for all of our homemade sodas but store bought soda water would work well too.

I am not sure if M was just so happy to have "soda" with dinner for no special reason or if he enjoyed drinking something that he helped make. Either way, I sure do love his smile!!!