Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

This is one of the husbands FAVORITE desserts and it is incredibly simple.  If you look online you will find several recipes for this (don't believe me just google sopapilla cheesecake pie) that all have slight variations.  After trying several and finding some too sweet and some without cinnamon (which I love) or some not sweet enough.  I decided to combine the best from each recipe I found to make my perfect recipe (in my humble opinion).  Here it is - 

Ingredients

2 packages cream cheese, softened (8 oz container)

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (8 oz container)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup honey

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Pumpkin Dip with Gingerbread Chips

"I have the biggest sweet tooth. After the holidays, I gotta start working out."

The above quote is so true for many of us... including myself sometimes. However, I recently stumbled upon a recipe that's healthy, tasty and festive.  I'm currently at my best friend Amanda's house (you may remember her from 2 prior posts here and here) and she had some of the Stacy's gingerbread pita chips which are amazing!!!  She had read about a recipe for pumpkin dip on Pinterest (we're slightly addicted to that site).  So we decided to experiment and try it out for ourselves.  The result was an amazing, quick and cheap dip that's perfect for the holidays.  Not only will it save you some calories but it will also save you some cash to spend a little more on that someone special.  While the dip was good we did say it would also be great if you cut the cool whip in half and added a block of cream cheese instead.  As is it is a little sweet (great if you're looking to satisfy the sweet tooth) but the cream cheese might help balance out the sweetness.  Enjoy!

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

"It is not what is poured into a student that counts but what is planted." -Linda Conway

It has almost been over 2 months since I posted last!!!  Now that this was officially the last day before Christmas break I can now post!!!  After one of those days where you are so busy you can't even find time to get up to go the bathroom this is what I decide to do to relax... blog again :)  I can't believe I've stayed away for so long.  Starting teaching has been rewarding and overwhelming all at once.  I love teaching and haven't regretted the decision to change from the job I had planning events for the last 4 years to teaching around 90 high school students every day.  I love the fact that after class students come to me to ask questions other than science questions, so many of them are truly looking for advice which is interesting because us "older people" often look down on them as if they won't listen to us... they listen way more than you know.  It has been exhausting and overwhelming though.  I went from my job I was well adapted to, to teaching 5 new classes and having to make everything from notes to tests.  Plus grading - oh my goodness I had no idea how much grading you do!  I literally stay up until about 10 PM every night catching up on grading and planning.  So thank you to all the teachers I had in my life I totally took you for granted!!!  That being said I finally found some time a few weekends ago to try out a new recipe - and a baking on at that!  For those of you following the blog for a while you know I'm more of a cook than a baker. I often feel like I can't experiment as much with baking but when I came across this recipe I knew just the tweak to make.  This is a Cooking Light recipe for a made over hummingbird bundt cake.  For those of you in the south you probably know what a hummingbird cake is but in case you don't it's basically a cake with pineapple, pecans and bananas in it.  The recipe originally called for a Bourban Glaze but I honestly think you can't have Hummingbird cake without cream cheese so I substituted a cream cheese glaze instead but it would probably be wonderful either way.  The recipe also made them in mini bundt pans which I did.  I think this would make a beautiful dessert for new years, or an nontraditional Thanksgiving dessert.  I won't keep you any longer since I'm sure you're salivating thinking about the yumminess... here's the recipe!  

On a side note another recipe to come soon - homemade cinnamon chocolate chip biscottis that one of my student's brought to class the other day!

Anyone can make Tiramisu

Origin of TIRAMISU

Italian tiramisù, from tirami su!, literally, pull me up!

Are there certain foods that intimidate you?  I know for me I have several.  My current fear is Indian food, which I'm trying to muster up enough courage to get over.  I have learned from the past those I'm most intimidated to try cooking are ones I end up falling in love with.  For the longest time I was completely at loss for how to even begin cooking Greek food.  Then I experimented with a few recipes and fell in love.  Another past fear was Tiramisu.  I loved it in recipes but had no clue how to start making it.  Then I began looking online and found quite a few simple recipes.  I took what I liked from all of them and put together an amazing recipe that I use over and over again.  This is a great one to make in advance and take to a friends home.  It does need to sit at least 4 hours to overnight so it is a great dish to make for parties the day before.  I can't wait to share it with you and hope you love it as much as I do!!!

Chocolate Popcorn

drizzled choc. popcorn

"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate." - Katherine Hepburn

Well I had planned to attempt to make the caramel popcorn the other night and got home from the grocery store only to realize that I had forgotten corn syrup.  So I attempted another one of my favorites… chocolate drizzled popcorn.  This is something I tried the first time I went to NYC and fell in love.  When I went back the store that had sold it had closed down and I haven’t been able to find it since.  I will admit Target carries a pretty amazing white chocolate/cinnamon popcorn but it still didn’t compare to the chocolate drizzled popcorn.  So I made my own chocolate drizzled and sprinkled with sea salt.  It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty.  I was surprised by how incredibly easy it was to make and couldn’t wait to pass it on!

A recipe I can’t wait to try – Caramel Corn!

I'm someone who believes the only way to see a movie is in a big theater, on a big screen, with a big bag of popcorn. 

Dan Glickman 

If you asked me to pick my favorite food my response would probably surprise you.  Granted my favorite foods change a lot but one that has always stayed is popcorn.  I absolutely love popcorn, any kind of popcorn.  From microwave, to movie theatre, to chocolate drizzled, I love them all.  However, most of the time I have to buy whatever kind of popcorn I want because I don’t know how to make creative kinds of popcorn.  However, after seeing this recipe I’m hoping that will change and I will be posting many new creative popcorn recipes.  My hopes are high for this recipe… can’t wait to try it!

Easy Summer Berry Cobbler

Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.

Erma Bombeck

Vintage Butterprint Pyrex

I thought the quote above was cute.  I am one of those people who cannot keep desserts in my house.  I honestly will eat them until they are gone.  There might have been an occasion or more than one during our first year of marriage when my husband held up an empty dish in shock to ask if I had ate all of the brownies, because he had only had 2. I try to practice willpower but when it comes to brownies it's just like everything else goes out the window.  That is why I try to give away any desserts I make.  My waistline and running time cannot afford to have dessert every night (especially if I eat the whole pan).  I also hate going over to someones house to hang out and not bringing anything.  S0 a lot of times I'll bring a dessert along.  That way I get to bake some, I get to have some and I get to leave it there to tempt them (evil laugh).  In all honesty though I do like to bake I just try not to do it too often.  However, this past weekend when we were going to a friends house I realized I had no butter, no cake mix, no brownie mix, nothing just a few bags of frozen blueberries I'd picked a month ago.  So I tried mixing a little of this and a little of that and I had an amazing cobbler result from all that experimenting.  I had to share it because summer is the perfect time to make berry cobblers as the berries are so fresh.  I also think these would make great mason gar desserts.  Mini cobblers in Mason Jars topped with vanilla ice cream... sounds like a perfect southern summer dessert to me! Speaking of berries, thank you to everyone who filled out the survey last week.  It showed that the overwhelming majority considers cherries their favorite summer fruit!  I completely agree!!! Enjoy your summer dessert, don't eat too much!

Cute Mason Jar Strawberry Shortcakes



Mason Jar Strawberry Shortcakes

Babies are such a nice way to start people.

This past weekend I had the privilege of hosting my best friends first baby shower!  For the shower we had a pink theme (I'll try to get photos from her later).  I was in charge of dessert and decoration and wanted to come up with a really cute dessert.  Last week on twitter I noticed a picture someone had posted of a cake in a Mason Jar and I go the idea for Strawberry Shortcakes in Mason Jars.  If you've been to any major chain restaurant in the past year you've probably seen the cult obsession with dessert shooters, but what I loved about the mason jars was that it was just a little bit larger so it allowed for a more impressive and filling dessert.  It was such a simple process that turned out amazing and I just had to share it with you!  They were simple and quick to make.  To make them a little more festive I printed out labels with a little baby graphic and cute baby sayings and stuck them to the front of the jars.  For some other cute "dessert shooter" recipes that you could easily make into mason jar treats check out Pillsbury's dessert shooter recipes here or Betty Crocker's recipes here.  I'm thinking my next attempt at making up another recipe for mason jar treats will be cobbler mason jars with layers of cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream and a crumb topping... YUM!



Mason Jar Strawberry Shortcakes

Ingredients

With Label

1 angel food cake

1 lb strawberries

1 large tub of whipped cream

a few cherries (or other topping)

10 Mason Jars (Jelly Jar Size)

Cut angel food cake into bite sized pieces

Slice strawberries

In a mason jar layer some of the angel food cake

Then layer some of the strawberries

Top with whipped cream (*see tip below)

Top off with a cherry

*if you place whipped cream in a sandwich bag and snip off one end it allows you to "pipe" the whipped cream in which allows for great presentation

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Today's Recipe Attempt... Creme Brulee

Today I am cooking for Shale's family as a combination gift for Father's Day (the husband's dad), Sue's Birthday (the husband's mom) and Khua's Birthday (exchange student living with the husband's family).  I'll be making several recipes which I'll be posting later but one I am so excited to try is Creme Brulee.  Creme Brulee is Sue's favorite dessert and I just recently received a Creme Brulee set that I'm dying to try (yes I'll be using a torch for this and no I'm not a pyromaniac).  When looking for recipes I came across this one which sounds amazing.  It is by Barefoot Contessa (who I love) and her recipes always turn out exactly like predicted!  I can't wait and had to share!!!

Tuesday's Tip plus baked Zucchini Fries and Marsala Turkey Burger

Cookies are made of butter and love.  ~Norwegian Proverb

Today's tip is very simple and concerns cookies.  Now I'm not sure if you're like me but when I make cookies I cannot keep them at home after I make them.  If I do I will eat them all so most of the time I'll take them to work, or the husband will take them to work, or we'll take them to our Bible study groups on Sunday morning.  However, a few months back I learned a great tip for storing and shipping cookies... bread!  Now if you've heard of it you know what I'm talking about and if you haven't heard of it then you probably think I'm crazy.  Either way next time you make a batch of cookies when you put it in your Tupperware to store until later pop in a piece of bread.  It will keep the cookies moist and tasting like they just came out of the oven.  This is a great use of the heel of the bread!  If it doesn't work for you feel free to message back but I promise it is one of the best tips I think I've ever learned.  Now on to some recipes!!!  Last night I found lean ground turkey breast on sale and decided to cook up some quick turkey burgers.  I also had some zucchini in the fridge but I was craving something a little crunchy so I mixed a few things together and found 2 winning recipes.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

A recipe I can't wait to try - cake ball cookies!!!!

"COOKIES!!! UMM-NUM-NUM-NUM-NUM!!!"
-Cookie Monster

get ready for a fabulous recipe!

I've got to admit when I stumbled across this recipe I completely agreed with cookie monster.  As you may have figured out from two previous posts (here and here) I am a fan of cake balls and cake pops.  If you aren't sure what they are make sure to read this post because you are missing out!!!  A while back I was looking up different food blogs to try to find a new recipe for dinner and I got a little sidetracked, thanks to a whole blog dedicated to chocolate!  During my sidetracked adventure I found a few blogs dealing with desserts only and stumbled across an amazing one called SugarDerby.  She has come up with what I believe to be one of my favorite creative desserts ever!  The cake ball cookie!  Yep you heard right.  Imagine a fabulously gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed with an extremely moist cake ball.  Oh, I can't wait to make this.  I just need to find something to make them for otherwise I'll eat them all myself!  So I just absolutely have to share!  I'd love to hear your thoughts or see pictures of how they turn out for you.  I promise I'll post pics when I make them as I can't wait to see what they look like!

Cake Balls for the guys...

"My husband and I share work in the kitchen 50-50. I cook and he eats"

in box ready for the office

A few days ago I made cake balls for my husbands office.  They loved them and when my husband asked for the recipe I directed him to my blog.  Apparently, the recipe I have down is "too confusing for the guys to understand" as he puts it.  He said that he wanted it listed as "2 tablespoons of whatever".  So the post of this title is exactly what this specific blog post is about.  A cake ball recipe so easy the husbands could make it.  For you girls out there I suggest printing it out and leaving it laying around the house, oh so subtly, until you arrive home to wonderful cake balls ;-) but even if your husband won't make them it still is a great simple recipe to share.

Cake balls for the guys
Ingredients:
1 box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cup of water
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 container of Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting
2 bags of chocolate chips (1 white, 1 semi sweet)

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare cake mix, water, oil and eggs as directed on the back of the mix box
Cook until done
Remove from oven and allow to sit out uncovered for several hours (or even overnight)
*it is important to not cover it because you want the cake to dry out

One cake has dried out some break up the cake and place into a mixer
Turn the mixer on and mix until cake is all crumbs
Add 2/3 container of icing
Mix until combined well (it will have the consistency of cookie dough)
Scoop out small amounts and role into balls
Place the cake balls into the freezer for a few hours or overnight
When the cake balls are frozen and ready to be dipped melt one of the packages of chocolate
Dip half the cake balls in the chocolate
(the method I like to use is place the cake ball on a fork and spoon the chocolate over the cake ball, then tap the fork until the excess chocolate falls off)
Place cake balls on a greased cookie sheet
Place cake balls in refridgerator
Once half have been dipped set aside the remaining chocolate
In a different bowl (or double boiler) melt the other type of chocolate
Dip remaining cake balls in the other type of chocolate
Once all cake balls have been dipped in the appropriate chocolate drizzle the opposite chocolate cover on top just for appearance sake

You're finished, see guys it wasn't that difficult!

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The evolution of the cake pop!

"Life is unsure, always eat your dessert first" 

I love experimenting with new recipes and decorations.  So when my mother in law mentioned having a birthday party for my husband and his grandfather (they celebrated their birthdays within a week of each other) I knew I wanted to try something new.  I told the MIL I would make the dessert and began to try to come up with something creative that they would both like.  I knew they were both Chicago Cubs fans so I wanted to try to incorporate that somehow.  The Cubs theme combined with my husbands love for cake balls slowly evolved into the Cubs cake pops.  There was definitely some trial and error along the way (I threw out 3 lbs of chocolate!) but the end result was perfect!  The cake pops were delicious and such a difference from your typical cake or cupcakes for the birthday.  This post will be a little different as it will have pictures along the waybut I wanted you to be able to understand what they looked like.  If you are new to the cake ball/cake pop world you are probably wondering what I am talking about.  Imagine a moist cake rolled up and dipped in chocolate and made just the perfect size so that you can eat quite a few without feeling like you've ate a lot - almost sinful right?!?!?  They are definitely an addicting little addition to your baking collection. 

Days 11-15 of the Oatmeal Challenge

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
John Gunther




Turquoise Polka-Dot Pitcher

 

I've gotta admit I love polka dots so I'm in love with this pitcher!  How cute is this!  I could imagine it filled with fresh lemonade, perfect for summer.  I've kept up the oatmeal challenge and wanted to update you with more creative oatmeal recipes.  I'm half way through and actually starting to enjoy oatmeal.  I hope you enjoy the new combinations!

Christmas Goodies and Coffee Creations!

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

Dale Evans Rogers

Don't you love this turquoise wreath?

I cannot believe Christmas is this weekend!!!  Last week I got the stomach flu and was sick for a whole week!  This made for absolutely no cooking during the week.  (I think the husband was a little tired of canned chicken noodle soup for me and "fend for yourself" for him)  However, my best friend is leaving to go to NYC and I had her Christmas party at my house on Friday night which meant I had to cook. I had decided to do "Caitlin's Favorite Things" for the menu and they turned out really well so I wanted to share... enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped PB Sandwiches and other Christmas goodies

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

Peg Bracken

ShopEnSky Cupcake Liners

I have an admission to make.  I don't like peanut butter.  Honestly!  I can manage to eat the reduced fat kind but the regular kind just tastes awful to me.  Which really is a disappointment when you think of how many food items are made with peanut butter, especially at Christmas time!  However, I have a husband who LOVES peanut butter, he will basically eat anything with peanut butter in it.  However, I was making another recipe this weekend and decided to throw together a few ingredients that I had left over to make these peanut butter wonders.  My second admission is... I didn't try them after I made them, like I said I don't like peanut butter so I wasn't about to use my hoarded calories for sweets on these.  However, everyone who tried them loved them and they were so easy so I had to share... ENJOY!