Best Sugar Cookies with Cornmeal

  If you like sugar cookies, give this recipe a try.  The cornmeal adds a nice crunch to the already delicious sugar cookie.  The original recipe called for the zest of a lime.  No limes in my frig, so I used lemon.  Lemon and sugar cookies are the perfect combination of flavors!!

 Recipe Courtesy of A Spicy Perspective

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Zest of one lime  (I used lemon)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup 100% yellow cornmeal + extra for rolling (not cornmeal mix)

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5  minutes. Then beat in the salt, lime zest, egg, and vanilla. Once blended, slowly add the flour, followed by the cornmeal. Scrape the bowl and beat again for just a few seconds to combine.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (or 350 convection) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dump the dough out onto large piece of foil and use the foil to shape the dough into a 9 1/2 inch log, about 2 inches thick. Wrap well and freeze for at least 30 minutes to firm up the dough.
3. When ready to bake, open the foil and sprinkle cornmeal over and around the dough log. Roll it back-and-forth to coat the log on all sides. Then cut the log into 16-18 equal slices. Lay the cookies on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just barley golden on the edges, but soft in the middle. (7-8 minutes convection.) Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet completely before moving.

Pimento Cheese Mini Burgers

How do you make something that's already good even better?  Add more of it, of course.  That's just what we've done with Secret Recipe Club,  the months where there are 5 Monday's, we will have a reveal day with a theme!  Our first one, Tailgate Recipes, starts now!  What a great theme for the start of football season!  Tailgating and football go hand in hand. 

My assigned blogger is Nicole of I am a Honey Bee.  On her About Me page Nicole shares 28 random things about her.  How fun is that?  I might just borrow this idea.  Okay?  Here's just the first five ....

1. Peridot is my favorite stone although garnet is my birth stone

2. I have 3 tattoos and plan on getting more

3.  I’m from Greenwich, CT

4. I hate the cold, REALLY hate the cold, but I like snow.

5. I really like NASCAR… Go Kasey Kahne!

To read the rest of the 28 and see all of Nicole's great recipes, visit her blog here.  I also love that she has done a Clean 30 several times. 

These Pimento Cheese Burgers would be perfect for tailgate or backyard bbq.  The leftover cheese made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches!!!

Pimento Cheese Mini Burgers

Recipe Courtesy of I am a Honey Bee 

Makes 6 sliders
Ingredients
Pimento Cheese

• 8 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounce jar of diced pimentos, drained
• 1/3- 1/2 cup mayonnaise 
• cayenne and black pepper to taste

Burgers

• 1 pound of 85/15 ground beef
• 1 teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 6 whole wheat dinner rolls

Process

1. To make the Pimento Cheese, combine the cheese, pimentos, and mayo. Mix thoroughly. Add the cayenne and pepper to taste. Set aside to chill for at least 1 hour.
2. In a large bowl combine the ground beef and the Seasoned Salt and black pepper. Evenly divide the burgers into 6 rounds. Shape and flatten each burger so they are slightly thicker than 1/4″.
3. Cook the burgers until desired doneness.
4. Slice the dinner rolls in half. Place each burger on the bottom portion of the buns, then scoop about 2 tablespoons of the pimento cheese on each burger, and top off with the rest of the bun.

An InLinkz Link-up

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love bacon? I've been wanting to try a chocolate chip bacon combo for a while. This recipe with the addition of maple to the bacon caught my eye. Candied bacon is easy to make in the oven. It does take some time but the end result is so good. The combination of these sweet chocolate chip cookies with the maple bacon flavor is delicious. You can't just eat one!!

These taste better than this picture would appear.  I made these for Tim to take on a guys golf trip and we were snapping a picture in the predawn hours before he left.  They were a hit with the golfers and will be added to my regular cookie rotation!

Milk Chocolate Chip Maple Syrup Glazed Bacon Cookies
Recipe Courtesy of Nadia G

• 12 bacon slices, minced
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

BATTER:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, large dice
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups quality milk chocolate, in chip-sized chunks
• Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

Directions

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
For the bacon: In a medium frying pan, saute the bacon until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp. Drain the fat from the pan, add the maple syrup and stir to blend. Saute until the maple syrup becomes thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer immediately to a small bowl and let cool.
For the batter: With a standing or handheld mixer, blend the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat until well blended, 1 minute. Add the vanilla and beat for 30 seconds more. Stir in the flour and baking soda with a wooden spoon. Add the bacon and chocolate and stir to combine. Scoop heaping teaspoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden around the edges, 9 to 10 minutes.
Let the cookies cool for 1 minute, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cheese and Salsa Dip

Can you believe it's August already?  Does anyone know where 2015 has gone?  Crazy how fast time seems to fly.  I'm up for any ideas to slow it down!!

The third Monday in August brings us Secret Recipe Club.  Not familiar with this fun group, you can find out everything here!  I was assigned Kirstin of Loving Life.  What a great blog name.  She says, "My hubby and I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, in Southwest Washington, with our two amazing daughters, Kaitlynn (19) and Kristianna (16). We have been married 23 years. We have always homeschooled our girls, though both our girls are now ending that journey. Our oldest started a Running Start program her junior year and our youngest will start the same program this fall. Our oldest will also be getting married this fall.  We spend A LOT of time with working, watching soccer...and working around our house and property when we find time."  No wonder she's "Loving Life."

Kirstin had so many great recipes to choose from, it was hard to decide on one.  We were having a neighborhood picnic and I needed something to take for a side.  The veggies a plentiful in my garden, so this delicious Cheese and Salsa Dip seemed like the perfect choice. 

Ingredients:

2 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
1 12oz. jar salsa (I like thick and chunky)
2 c. shredded cheese

Combine cream cheese and shredded cheese in bowl of mixer. Begin mixing to break up cream cheese. Slowly add salsa until you get a good dipping consistency. Not too runny though, think of guacamole consistency. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips!

An InLinkz Link-up

Key Lime Bars

  These bars use animal crackers for the crust, how delicious is that?  This would make a great cheesecake crust, too.  These bars remind me of cheesecake, only in bar form.  Key lime makes the perfect summer dessert.  I must admit to using bottled key lime juice, which I love, instead of juicing limes.  I did zest a regular lime for the zest.  Topped with toasted coconut these make a beautiful dessert for a summer picnic or barbeque.

Key Lime Bars

Recipe Courtesy of Mel's Kitchen

Yield: Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

Crust:
• 5 ounces animal crackers (about 2 1/2 cups animal crackers)
• 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• Pinch salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 tbsp grated fresh lime zest (from about 2 limes)
• 1 can (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk
• Pinch salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from about 3-4 regular limes or 20 Key limes)
Garnish
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, adjusting an oven rack to the middle position. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, letting two opposing edges hang over at least an inch or so. Grease the foil with cooking spray.
2. For the crust, process the animal crackers, sugar and salt together to fine crumbs in a blender or food processor. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and pulse to incorporate (or stir together in a bowl with a fork). Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press the crumbs into an even layer. Bake the crust until fragrant and golden, about 15-18 minutes.
3. For the filling, while crust bakes, in a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese, lime zest and salt together until combined. Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth (you can use a handheld electric mixer, if you want). Whisk in the egg yolk and lime juice until combined.
4. Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake the bars until the filling is set and the edges just slightly begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, 15-17 minutes.
5. Let the bars cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Then cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil overhang and cut into squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired.

Spicy Buffalo Butter

August 2nd? Where has the summer gone? Besides the weather and fun, the thing I will miss the most about summer is the fresh veggies!! Sweet corn is one of my favorites. Herb butters are perfect to enhance the flavor of the corn.  Tim couldn't get enough of this the first time we had it for dinner. 

Spicy Buffalo Butter

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon Frank's Red Hot Sauce or other vinegar based hot sauce
1 tablespoon chopped chives

Mix the ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap on a clean counter. Spoon the butter mixture onto the bottom third of plastic wrap, then roll into a log. Refrigerate for one hour, or until firm.

• Room temperature butter is key to making flavored butters. Use unsalted butter so you can control your salty flavor.
• Softened butter makes it easy to fold your flavoring ingredients into the butter. To make the butter logs, simply spoon the butter mixture onto the bottom third of a piece of plastic wrap, then shaped into rolls, twisting the ends of the plastic wrap as you roll.
• Chill each log for at least 1 hour or freeze for 20-30 minutes for the logs to take shape.
• Flavored butters taste amazing on anything from vegetables to pasta, chicken, beef and fish. 

Spider Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Spider Cookies in July? One of Tim's coworkers was celebrating her birthday and she loves Halloween.  Kind of fun to look for Halloween ideas in July.  These were fun and easy to make.

Spider Cookies with Chocolate Chips

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup, plus 24 chocolate chips

1 teaspoon canola oil

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Beat in the egg, then the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Fold in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.
3. Drop mounds of the dough (about 1 ½  tablespoon each) 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Press one chocolate chip, pointed-side down, into the top of each cookie. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway though, until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Place the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Dip a toothpick in the melted chocolate and draw legs around the exposed chip.

Bailey's Cupcakes - Secret Recipe Club

The third Monday of the month brings us to the July edition of Secret Recipe Club.  To find out more about Secret Recipe Club, visit the site here!

This month, I had the pleasure of being assigned The Painted Apron.  Jenna says "I am a little creative crazy, jumping from one project to the next.  Boundaries tend to get in my way so for this blog, “the Painted Apron”, I want to include my favorite creative areas, cooking, party planning, styling, gifts, & painting, and will try not to get side tracked!  It is my sincere wish to inspire creativity in you, give you some jumping off points, and help you enjoy some new creations of your own."  If you're looking for great recipes, party ideas or tablescapes, check out Jenna's blog, you won't be disappointed.

Boozy cupcakes are so fun and make a delicious treat.  These Bailey's cupcakes were no exception.
In Jenna's original recipe, she makes mini cupcakes and frosts with a Bailey's frosting.  I made regular size cupcakes (the recipe made 24) and used a traditional buttercream frosting.

BAILEYS CUPCAKES 
Recipe Courtesy of  The Painted Apron
      
1 box White Cake Mix
1 box instant Vanilla pudding mix
1 cup Bailey’s Irish cream
1/3 cup  either half and half or  buttermilk
4 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
Mix dry ingredients together.  Beat eggs and add other wet ingredients and combine with dry.  Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thoroughly combined, batter will be thick.  Scoop into paper lined cupcake or mini muffin pans.  Bake according to cake mix directions, and check before time is up, 2-5 minutes, testing for doneness with a toothpick. Do not overbake or they will be dry. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Pineapple Glazed Baby Back Ribs

Today was one of those days where you don't want to use the stove or the oven.  Temperatures were in the upper 90's, add in the humidity and it felt like 105.  Hello, Summer!!!

We decided to use the smoker without smoke as an outdoor oven to make these ribs.  It worked perfectly.  In addition, I used the crock pot for Corn on the Cob.  Add in sliced summer tomatoes for a Caprese Salad and we had a perfect summertime meal. 

These ribs are easy and the flavors are delicious.  The rub and glaze give these ribs a nice combination of sweetness and tartness.  Perfect for a summer dinner party, barbeque or a Sunday night dinner!!! 

Pineapple Glazed Baby Back Ribs

Recipe Courtesy of Andrew Zimmern

Ingredient List

• 3 racks of trimmed baby back ribs
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 whole bunch cilantro
• 1 handful fresh mint
• 1 fresh Serrano chile

Pineapple Glaze

• 1 quart pineapple juice, fresh squeezed is amazing and if you have a juicer, use it for this.
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 2 cups sake
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup mirin

Marinate the Ribs

Combine herbs, spices, liquids and seasonings by pulsing in a blender. Rub mixture into ribs, let stand overnight in fridge.

Start the Grill

Prepare a charcoal grill to cook the ribs over indirect low heat, keeping charcoal to one side. When the temperature reaches 275-300 degrees, add the ribs.You will want to keep adding charcoal every 40 minutes or so to maintain a medium low heat of roughly 275 degrees. Grill over indirect heat for 2.5 to 3 hours or until ribs have shrunk back from the rib tips, meat is roasty toasty and fork tender.
Baste with pineapple glaze during last 5 minutes of cooking. Before serving, char ribs for 2 to 3 minutes if you like over high direct heat.

Make the Pineapple Glaze

While you’re grilling the ribs, combine the pineapple juice, red chile flakes, sake, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and mirin in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce until glaze-y, about 1 hour. Season with sea salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Use to glaze the ribs before serving.

 

Happy Birthday Cupcakes!

Paxton celebrated his 4th birthday last week.  Despicable Me is one of our favorite movies.  Browsing on Pinterest I found these cupcakes.  Cute and so easy to make!

Minion Cupcakes

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool cupcakes completely on cooling rack, about 15 minutes.
• 2 Reserve 2 tablespoons frosting. Place remaining frosting in medium bowl; tint with yellow food color. Frost cupcakes with yellow frosting.
• 3 Use kitchen scissors to cut 1/4-inch circles off both ends of 16 marshmallows to make 32 total rounds.
• 4 Use reserved frosting to stick milk chocolate candies to marshmallows. Place marshmallow eyes on cupcakes, placing two eyes on some cupcakes and one eye on others. Cut 2 small pieces of licorice rope for each cupcake. Place licorice rope pieces on sides of eyes. Use black decorating gel to pipe a mouth onto each cupcake.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Two of my favorite bloggers, Happier Than A Pig in Mud and Savoring Time in the Kitchen have posted the recipe on their blog for Chive Blossom Vinegar.  This year the timing was right for me to make this beautiful vinegar.

If you have chives, give this a try.  It's so easy and produces a beautiful delicious vinegar to use in salad dressings and marinades. I think I may try this to pickle some green beans this summer.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

• Pick your blossoms, snipping enough to fill your jar about 2/3 full

• Give the blossoms a good soak to remove any dessert or critters that might have hopped on to the beautiful flowers.

• Spin them in your salad spinner or dry on paper towels

•  Pack them in a jar and fill your jar with distilled vinegar.

• Leave them in a cool, dark place for 1 - 2 weeks.  Lynn at Happier Than A Pig in Mud recommends 8 days.

•  Strain and store in the fridge!  

• Isn't the color just beautiful?

One Man's Trash......

Twice a year, thousands of people flock to an event in Omaha called Junkstock.  There's a weekend long junking event in Central Nebrakska called Junk Jaunt.  500 junk vendors!!  Before throwing anything away, I'm left to wonder can this be re-purposed? 

I'm sharing three things that can be found at either of these events.  Two of the three I did purchase at Junk Stock and / or Junk Jaunt.  With the assistance of my wonderful husband, we re-purposed these into decorative or usable items.  I should have taken "before" pictures of these items but you'll get the picture. 

The first is a shutter.  After a light sand, I painted it.  I was looking for a phrase or word decal to put on the front or bottom.  I couldn't find one I like and as it turns out, you wouldn't see it anyway.  I used tiny clothespins to secure the photos.  You could use this for photos, kids artwork, lists or a combination.  I paid $5.00 for the shutter.

The second item is a rotary hoe wheel.  This is the item I did not buy.  I was at Junkstock, texted my husband, who used to be in the farm implement business,  to ask what it was.  He told me it was a rotary hoe wheel from a tractor.  He inquired on the price.  When I told him $25.00, he said DON'T buy that I'm sure we can find one at my buddies farm for free.  Indeed, we did find two of them.

After using a wire brush to remove as much of the rust as possible, we (that would be Tim) gave them a coat of rust restorer.   I  (yes really me) spray painted them yellow.  They're a fun addition to the garden.

The final item is a trash wheel tooth from a plow.  I had no idea what this was either.  When I spotted it, I thought it would make a great plant hanger.  We repurposed three of these.   I paid $5.00 for one at Junk Stock in Omaha and $2.00 each for two more at Junk Jaunt last Fall.

I (we) have two "junk" projects left to complete.  One I want to make Christmas trees or snowmen out of bedsprings.  I purchased a couple of these and then the same buddy of Tim's had those too. He should go into the junk business.    The other is re-purposing an old window frame.  I haven't quite decided what I want to do with this one yet. Anyone have a good idea?

Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins - Secret Recipe Club

The third Monday of the month brings us the June edition of Secret Recipe Club.  If you're not familiar with how SRC works, you can find the details here!  For the month of June, I had the pleasure of being getting to know, Jess  of Pumpkins and Peonies.   When I first started browsing her blog,  I recognized some familiar sites and realized Jess had lived in Omaha.  It's so much fun when you run across a blogger who lives (or has lived) in your town.    Jess says:

I’m all about…

My hubby,

My family,

His family,

Our godson,

My best friends,

Our puppies,

Making people happy,

Shopping,

Baking,

Traveling,

Any and all sports,

[Attempts at] cooking,

Change,

Self Improvement,

and

All things pretty and scrumptious.

She has a beautiful blog, with delicious recipes and other fun posts.  Stop by and check out Pumpkins and Peonies!  As always, it was hard to decide which recipe to choose.  For SRC posts, seems I move towards the sweets and this month was no exception.  I chose Jess' Deep Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins. 

The flavor of these muffins is delicious, cocoa and chocolate chips create a wonderful chocolate treat.  I found this batter to be VERY thick, I read the recipe twice to see if perhaps I added too much flour?  When I make these again, I will cut back the flour by at least 1/2 cup and reduce the baking time by five or so minutes.  As written, the muffins were a little dry for my liking but I warmed them in the microwave for about 30 seconds, creating a warm gooey muffin.

Dark Chocolate Muffins:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. milk

2-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. cocoa powder

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 scant c. semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

Garnish:

Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Place oven rack in center of oven.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth.  Add cream cheese and beat together with butter until smooth.  Blend in sugar and light brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla extract and blend well.  Fold in sour cream and milk.
3. In a medium bowl, blend together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, making sure no ingredients remain unblended.  Fold in chocolate chunks.
4. Using a large scoop, scoop generous amounts of batter into each muffin cup.  Place a couple of chocolate chunks in the tops of each muffin.  
5. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until muffins spring back when gently pressed.  Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.  When cooled, dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Yield: 18 muffins

An InLinkz Link-up

Sweet and Salty - Mint Stout Cupcakes

Do you like the combination of sweet and salty?   The addition of a little salt to a sweet dessert creates the perfect combination of flavors.  Tim got me this dessert and baking salts sampler for my birthday this year.

My favorite cupcake at the local cupcake bakery is a Sweet and Salty.  Having also read recently about using a stout beer in cupcakes, I decided to add a mint stout to a devils food cake mix.  The combination was delicious, adding just a hint of mint to the dark chocolate cake.  After topping with a basic chocolate buttercream frosting, I sprinkled the top with the espresso salt.  The addition of just a little salt, tempers the sweetness of the frosting.

I sent these to work with Tim and was quick to remind him to tell his coworker the "dusting" on the top was salt.

Mint Stout Cupcakes 

1 box devils food cake mix
1 1/4 cups Mint Stout Beer
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
Finishing Salt - I used Espresso Salt

Directions

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease bottoms only of three 9- or 8-inch round cake pans. Make cake batter as directed on box, using cake mix, beer, the oil and eggs. Pour about 1 1/2 cups batter into each pan.
• 2 Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely. 
• Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting. 
• Garnish with sea salt, if desired.

Watermelon Radishes in Sherry Vinegar

 What's your favorite season?  For me, it's a toss up between Spring and Fall.  Spring has just a slight edge because Spring brings us the Farmer's Market.  When you live in the cold Midwest like we do, fresh vegetables are pretty sad in the Winter time.  Our Farmer's Market began the first weekend in May.  It was obvious Omaha residents were ready for the fresh veggies of Spring, you could hardly walk around at the market because it was so crowded.  The first week, we picked up beautiful asparagus, nothing out of the ordinary but oh so delicious.  The second weekend, we found a new type of radish, the watermelon radish.  I wish I had taken a picture of the radish itself, it was a beautiful green on the outside and pink on the inside.  The flavor of a watermelon radish is mild but still has the wonderful hot bite flavor normally found in radishes.

 Watermelon Radishes in Sherry Vinegar

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Kosher salt, to taste
½ pound watermelon radishes (about 3 large radishes)
A few cilantro sprigs, for garnish
In a large bowl, combine the sherry vinegar, sugar, oil, and salt. Add the radishes, and toss well to coat. Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then serve garnished with cilantro.

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake

Rhubarb is a sign of Spring at our house.  There's those traditional rhubarb desserts, like the Rhubarb Pie I always make for our friend the landscaper and this rhubarb dessert, recipe courtesy of Tim's mom. Looking for something new for this year,   I was intrigued by the look of this Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake.  The topping looked crunchy and delicious.This could be my new favorite rhubarb dessert. easy to make but nice enough for when you have guests. 

Served alongside ice cream or whipped cream, this dessert is a keeper!  One thing to note, it doesn't keep well.  Although, still delicious, it was dry within a day or two of baking. 

 

 

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2/3 cup boiling water

Directions
Cover the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square pan with fruit. (I prefer an 8 inch or 9 inch square glass baking dish.  You could also use a deep dish glass pie plate.)

Mix 3/4 cup sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, extracts, milk and flour together (add a little more milk if it is too thick to pour); pour over fruit.  Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle over mixture in pan.  Pour boiling water over the top.  ( I know this sounds strange, but trust me, it works to create a pudding around the rhubarb in the bottom of the pan.)

Ready to go into the oven

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.  Yield:  9 servings.

You can see that the sugar topping creates a glaze on the top of the cake, something like a creme brulee, as well as creating the pudding at the bottom.  You can serve warm in a bowl with ice cream, or let it cool a bit, slice and invert on your plate to show off the pudding. 

Banana, Chocolate Chip, Granola Muffins

Does anyone know what time it is?  You guessed it!  It's time for Secret Recipe Club.   Want to know more about SRC and join in the fun?  Check it out here! 

This month I was assigned the Kitchen Witch.  Rhonda a.k.a. Giggles, a middle-aged blogger, culinarian, photographer and avid motorcycle rider.  Drop by and give her blog a look, you'll find beautiful photographs and delicious recipes!

After making my way through Rhonda's recipes, I settled on Banana, Chocolate Chip, Granola Muffins.   No granola in the pantry?  No problem, I used coconut and quick oats.  I found these to be done after 15 minutes.  I always set the timer on muffins for less time than the recipe calls for because muffins tend to be dry when overcooked! 

Banana, Chocolate Chip, Granola Muffins

• 1 1/2  cups plus 2 tbs. all purpose flour, divided
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 or 3 bananas)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 plus 2 tbs. butter, melted and divided
• 1 1/2 cups granola, divided
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin paper liners.  In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until moistened.  Then stir in the  granola, and chocolate chips.  Do not over mix.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tbsp. flour, cinnamon and melted butter.  Then stir in 1/2 cup granola.  Sprinkle topping over muffins and gently press into batter.
Bake in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of muffin comes out clean.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

When I was a kid, the only options for Rice Krispie Treats were the original ones.  I always thought they were too sweet.  Today it's fun to see all of the different recipes.  There's one's made with red hots,  a salted caramel variety, this one using cake batter and a recipe made with everyone's favorite biscoff. 

With hot chocolate season over,  left with a few extra packets in the fridge, this recipe caught my eye.  Fun how it uses the hot chocolate packets in the recipe.  These are yummy and you could substitute almost any kind of chips.

Just a little recipe note on this one...the next day I was planning to send these to Tim's office and tried to cut them.  They were hard as rocks.  Have you ever had this happen with Rice Krispie Treats?  I did some reading and apparently my marshmallows got too hot which results in very hard Rice Krispie Treats.  Note to self, don't let the marshmallows get that hot ever again!!  I'm so glad we enjoyed a couple of them the night we made them.  

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

Recipe Courtesy of A Kitchen Addiction

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• ¼ C butter
• 1 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
• ¼ C creamy peanut butter
• 2 packets dry hot chocolate
• 3 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
• 6 C crisp rice cereal
• chocolate chocolate chips, for garnish
• peanut butter chips, for garnish
• mini marshmallows, for garnish

Instructions

1. Butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large saucepan (I used a 6qt.), melt butter over low heat. Stir in marshmallows until melted. Stir in peanut butter, hot chocolate mix, and baking cocoa until smooth.
3. Add crisp rice cereal and stir until coated.
4. Gently press mixture into the bottom of prepared baking dish. Do not press too hard or bars will turn out hard.
5. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, peanut butter chip, and mini marshmallows. Gently press down.
6. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars and serving.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

3-Ingredient No Bake Toffee Bars

I would love to write a cookbook featuring nothing but quick and easy recipes.  How many times do you need a dessert but don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen?  Or how about someone is coming over and you need a quick appetizer?  Don't get me wrong, I love to cook when I am in the mood and have the time.  Unfortunately, that's not as often as I would like.  I either am out of time or too tired.  So when I find an easy but yet delicious looking recipe, I'm there.

One of my favorite blogs is Dine and Dish.  Kristen lives in KC and often features something from my home town.  Besides that, she's an amazing writer and has a wonderful blog. If you don't follow her, you should.  She shared this recipe as one that her kids can whip up, quickly and easily.  For me, these were what I made for the monthly birthday treat day at Tim's office.

 

3-Ingredient No Bake Toffee Bars

• 2 sleeves Ritz Crackers
• 1 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 8 ounce package Heath English Toffee Bits (found in the baking aisle)

Instructions

1. Spray a 9" square pan with Pam cooking spray
2. Place Ritz crackers in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Remove the air and seal tight. Using a rolling pin, roll the crackers into fine crumbs.
3. Pour cracker crumbs into a medium bowl. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and toffee bits.
4. Press firmly into prepared square pan. Store in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
5. Cut into small squares and serve.

Brown Sugar Balsamic Roasted Carrots

Roasting any vegetable makes it sweeter.   By adding balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, these carrots were almost like candy!!!

Brown Sugar Balsamic Roasted  Carrots

Recipe Courtesy of Let's Dish

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 4 - 5 carrots, washed, dried and sliced on the diagonal
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
• Coarse salt, to taste
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper, or line with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place carrots in a medium bowl.
4. In a small bowl whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like your carrots).
5. Pour the balsamic and brown sugar mixture over the carrots and toss to coat well. Arrange in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until carrots reach desired tenderness.
7. Remove from oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt and chopped fresh parsley

Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

 Do these months just keep going faster and faster or is it me?  Hard to believe it's April and my third month cooking with Secret Recipe Club, Group C!  If you'd like to learn more about how Secret Recipe Club works, check it out here!  I look forward to seeing who had my blog each month, it's such a fun surprise!!

This month,  I was assigned Angels Homestead.  April, the woman behind the blog is a dedicated wife and almost empty-nest, mother of five, as well as Mamaw to two adorable grandbabies. She resides in Southern Indiana, along with her husband Joe and daughter Melissa, and enjoys the quite life on their 3 acre homestead. She enjoys blogging about her adventures in frugal allergy-free cooking, gardening, household tips, and her family.  Stop by her blog, you'll find some delicious recipes and great household tips!!

I must admit I have never made any type of pudding from scratch.  Recalling my childhood, I don't even remember my mother making pudding from scratch.  It's always been the box of Jello pudding.  When traveling in the south, I have enjoyed a bowl or two of  banana pudding.  April's recipe for Old Fashioned Banana Pudding caught my eye.  After all it was time I make a scratch pudding.

I cut the recipe in half and it made enough for two delicious dishes for Tim and I.  I don't think I did the best job of tempering the eggs when combining them with the custard.  When I was assembling the pudding, I did see a few streaks of what may have been scrambled egg.  Be careful when mixing, slowly is the key. 

Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding
Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter
3 medium bananas, sliced
Vanilla Wafers

Directions

Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly add milk.
Stir constantly until it thickens. Slightly beat egg yolks and temper with a small amount of the hot custard; stir well.
Add egg mixture to custard and cook 2 more minutes.
Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter, stirring to combine. Let cool.
In a 9 x 9 serving dish, alternate pudding, bananas, and wafers, beginning with pudding and ending with pudding.

An InLinkz Link-up

Smoked BBQ Glazed Meatloaf with a Bacon Weave

Earlier this year when Tim and I were on our cruise, we met Rick and Nancy, a wonderful couple from Canada.   When discussing things we do in our spare time, we discovered both Rick and Tim liked to BBQ with their smokers.  We shared one of our favorite recipes, Smoked Mac and Cheese.  Rick shared their recipe for this Smoked Meatloaf.

One of the nice things about the smoker is most recipes are pretty simple, glaze or rub the meats and place them on the smoker.  This recipe, not so much.  It requires lots of steps but the end result is well worth the effort.  I'm going to share the link to the original post which goes into detail on how to prepare the meatloaf for smoking.  Needless to say, this is moist and delicious!!!

SMOKED HONEY BOURBON-GLAZED MEATLOAF with a BACON WEAVE

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 1 hour 45 minutes
RECOMMENDED PELLETS: Hickory or Oak
SERVES: 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1 carrot, peeled and diced or grated
1 stalk celery, finely diced
4 oz. mushrooms, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, grated or diced
Olive oil
3 to 4 fresh sprigs of thyme, leaves only
1 egg, beaten
6-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup condensed tomato soup
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 lb thick-cut bacon
Traeger Honey Bourbon Sauce or favorite barbecue sauce

PREPARATION
Start the Traeger on Smoke with the lid open for 4 to 5 minutes or until the fire is established.
Mix together the carrots, celery, mushrooms, and onions in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for about 2 minutes just to soften the vegetables a little.
Let the vegetables cool and then mix them in a large bowl with the ground beef, garlic, thyme, egg, crumbled cooked bacon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, bread crumbs and tomato soup.

Form the mixture into a loaf and place on a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet.

Make your bacon weave using the thick-cut bacon, weaving it on a large piece of parchment paper.

Gently flip and lay the weave on top of the meatloaf so that the parchment is on top and peel off the parchment paper.

Put the meatloaf on the Traeger and smoke for 45 minutes.

Then take the meatloaf off and turn the heat up to 300 degrees F and allow to preheat, lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes.

Place the meatloaf back on the Traeger and cook for about an hour or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
During the last 15 minutes (once the meatloaf reaches about 140 degrees/145 degrees F) brush the meatloaf with the barbecue sauce to let it caramelize and for the exterior turn into bacon candy gold!

After you take it off the Traeger allow the meatloaf to sit for 15 minutes before you slice into it.