Thursday, November 11, 2010

From The Good Life - Veterans Day


Take time today to remember those who have lost their lives and those serving our country! A special tribute to my Father, who served in Pearl Harbor. At 91, I imagine he's one of the few remaining survivors. Thank You, Dad!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Coca Cola Cake

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!!

Have you ever had Cracker Barrel's Coca Cola Cake? We don't eat at Cracker Barrel a lot but when we do, it's for breakfast. Usually I don't eat cake for breakfast, notice I said usually. There's quite a few copy cat recipes for this cake. When I found this recipe, using diet coke and a low fat cream cheese frosting, I couldn't pass it up.

I was skeptical, just cake mix, coke and two egg whites? Would it rise or cook properly? Don't be skeptical. This cake is so good. It is so moist and the frosting is delicious. I am looking forward to trying some of the other versions of this cake.




Diet Coke Cake
Recipe adapted from Erin of grin and bake It

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 can Diet Coke
2 egg whites

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Bake according to the directions on the cake box. Makes 24.

Flavor Variations

Chocolate cake mix and Diet Coke
Spice cake and diet root beer
Vanilla cake mix and diet root beer
Pineapple cake mix and 7 Up
Vanilla cake mix and 7Up
Vanilla cake mix and diet orange

Low Fat Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
1 c. marshmallow cream
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, lemon juice and vanilla until well combined. Then gradually beat in the powdered sugar.

Makes 1 3/4 cups

NOTES: The use of marshmallow creme instead of butter in this easy frosting recipe keeps the fat, calorie and cholesterol counts low. To simplify clean-up, spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray before attempting to measure out the marshmallow cream!

I am linking this to Tuesday's at the Table and Tasty Tuesday's.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Ginger Custard Pumpkin Crustless Pie

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!!
I was going to skip this week's SMS until I read everyone's reviews about how delicious this is and realized I had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge. Since pie crust and I aren't friends, I decided to go crustless and make these in ramekins.

The recipe calls for scalding the cream. I am sure I've made recipes before where scalding is required? I was curious, though, what is scalding? "To heat a liquid, generally referring to milk or cream, to just below the boiling point. It should be heated just until tiny bubbles begin to form at the very edges. "

I whisked the eggs for this recipe by hand. Are you watching Top Chef, Just Desserts? In the relay race two weeks ago, the contestants were challenged to whip 6 six egg whites to hold upside down for 10 seconds. That's amazing!!

I baked these in a water bath for about 25 minutes. I think they could have baked a few minutes longer. While I thought these were delicious, I was hoping the cinnamon and ginger flavors would be stronger. I could barely taste them. Maybe steeping longer would have helped? This recipe is a nice change from my standard pumpkin pie recipe.



Thanks to Debbie of Everday Blessings of Five Dees for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog. If you'd like to see what the other SMS bakers created this week, go here!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Pink Saturday & A Giveaway!!!



Happy Pink Saturday!!


For the details on my giveaway, go here!!! The winner will be announced on November 12th . Thanks for entering!!!

I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound!!!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Crock Pot Black Bean Enchiladas & A Giveaway!!!

Have you started your holiday shopping? Or do you wait until the last minute? Just in time for gift giving, CSN stores has offered me a $45.00 gift certificate to giveaway to one of my readers (USA or Canada). Have you checked out CSN Stores? CSN Stores has EVERYTHING, from drop leaf tables to cookware.

How to enter is simple!! Sign up to be a follower of my blog and leave me a comment! If you're already a follower, just leave me a comment and you're entered. I will be picking a winner on November 12th. Good luck and thanks for reading my blog!!!


I try to serve as many meatless meals as I can each week. I've mentioned this before but for those of you who are new readers, my husband doesn't think it's a meal without some meat. In fairness, he's gotten a lot better about it the past couple of years. In fact, there's some meals he says he likes and (almost) doesn't miss the meat! This was one of those meals. Black beans are an excellent substitution for meat.

The cooking time for this recipe is 2-4 hours on high. I cooked for 5 hours on low. It was perfect!!



Slow Cooker Enchiladas
Recipe Courtesy of The Kitchn
Serves 4-6

1/2 yellow onion
2 bell pepper, diced small(any color)
1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspooncumin1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded and divided - we like monterey jack
2 16-ounce jars of your favorite salsa
12 6”-8” tortillas, flour or corn
Optional: 1 cup leftover meat - chicken, pork, hamburger, or shredded beef

In a medium bowl, mix together the onion, pepper, black beans, corn, spices, meat (if using), and just 1/2 cup of the cheese. Pour about a cup of salsa (half a jar) into the bottom of the slow cooker and spread it around evenly.
Scoop about 1/3 cup into one of the tortillas, roll it up, and nestle it into the bottom of the crock pot. Repeat with the half of the remaining filling, rolling tortillas until the entire bottom of of the crock pot is filled. Spread another cup of salsa over this layer and sprinkle it with another 1/2 cup of cheese.
Continue with the remaining filling and tortillas to create a second layer. Top with another cup of salsa, but reserve the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese for later. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2-4 hours. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the leftover cheese over the top and let it melt.
Serve the enchiladas with the remaining salsa. Leftovers will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
• To cook these enchiladas in the oven, layer the rolled tortillas in a 9x13 baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

From The Good Life





Last Friday night, The Landscaper named Lynn, had his annual weenie roast.
As a foodie, I was happy to learn we were dining on Rick's Meats homemade Smoked Bratwurst.
(You'll have to excuse the photos, they were taken in the dark on the iPhone.)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Brrr-ownies

Brownies are like chocolate chip cookies, there are a zillion recipes out there. Do you have a favorite recipe you always make? Or are you like me and you keep trying new recipes? I first saw this recipe on my friend Susan's blog. I bookmarked it and bought the mints immediately. Then what do I do? I forget about them. I was looking for toffee chips and burried in the basket were the mints. These are my favorite kind of brownie, gooey, chocolately with the addition of the flavor of mint.

The gooeyness of these made it hard to cut them into nice squares. I wonder if chilling them would have helped? Regardless they were delicious. This recipe goes in the make again soon file!!


Brrr-ownies (found on page 103 of Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan).
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 5 pieces
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup (6 ozs) York Peppermint Pattie Bites (or equal weight of patties) chopped into bits
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with foil. Butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with chopped chocolates and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted - you don't want then to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
With a whisk, stir in the sugar. Don't be concerned when your smooth mixture turns grainy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and whisk vigorously to bring the batter together and give it a shine before gently stirring in the salt and flour; stir only until incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the peppermint pieces. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the rubber spatula.
Bake the brownies for 30 to 33 minutes, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out almost clean. (The tip of the knife may be a touch streaky) Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
When they are completely cool, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board. Cut into 16 2 inch squares.