Strawberry Freezer Jam

I picked SEVEN pounds of strawberries yesterday. It actually didn't take too long. James was at daycare so I went by myself and picked fast.

I used a reduced sugar pectin and followed the directions in the box for Freezer Jam. I had first bought boxes of regular pectin but was horrified to read that for every four cups of smashed strawberries I'd need THREE cups of sugar. Too much. My Facebook friend Sylvia told me that she used the reduced sugar pectin successfully to make her freezer jam. I went back to the store and found it. Four cups of smashed strawberries and just one cup of sugar. It is definitely sweet enough! The strawberries were awesome to begin with so they barely needed sugar, really.

The recipe is very easy. From about 5 1/2 pounds of strawberries I ended up with twelve 1-cup containers of jam that will stay good in the freezer for up to a year. I think I might need more because I'll probably give some away :) We're definitely picking more strawberries next week since I didn't have enough this time for this ice cream.

The recipe was in the pectin box but I did find it online here.

Malted Milk Ice Cream

I guess this ice cream is so good it's inspired a song! Here's a youtube video I found when I did a simple search for the recipe online:

I've wanted to make this ice cream for a long but every time I buy the carton of Whoppers they slowly disappear (Jim!) This time I made the ice cream soon after buying the Whoppers and there were even some leftover to satisfy Jim's urge to snack :)

The ice cream itself tastes like a vanilla malt! It's super creamy and is still soft after a night in the freezer. The malted milk balls add a great crunch!

Jim has given this ice cream TWO thumbs up! He has even promised to help eat it all. Whenever I make ice cream he might taste it but he never takes more than a bowl. I think maybe, just maybe, he'll enjoy at least two bowls??

And I'm hoping my friend Emily will share a bowl with me tomorrow when she comes over for lunch :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Malted Milk Ice Cream.

Bacon Lover's Mac & Cheese

Yeah, my husband loves bacon.

I damn near had to do a bacon intervention a few weeks ago and I purposely stopped buying the bacon. I did give in to this recipe because... well, I love my husband but I do love my bacon too.

This was gooooood. Jim gave it a 9.5! I discovered that I love Fontina cheese- so tangy and creamy. YUM.

The baby bella mushrooms and spinach made me feel a LITTLE better about using so much bacon and then using the bacon grease to cook the mushrooms, and then a little grease added to the butter for the roux. Oh, and a little more grease on top of the entire dish before it went into the oven. Hey, the recipe said to do all that!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon Lover's Mac & Cheese.

Stained Glass Jello

Why oh why didn't I take a before picture??

The jello looks cool but it didn't turn out the way it was intended. I made two colors of jello (red and blue) and then cubed it. I made a gelatin mixture of sweetened condensed milk and unflavored gelatin and poured this over the colored jello in a 9x13 pan. It was very cool looking. The idea was to cut out star shapes and have cool looking stained glass jello. You can check out the link for the original idea/picture.

I hope this is still BBQ worthy!

I think I should have made half a recipe so it was thinner? It would have been easier to cut.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Stained Glass Jello.

4th of July Strawberries

I saw these on a food blog but the idea is simple- white chocolate dipped strawberries with blue sparking sugar.

They are very sweet but also very pretty!

Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet

OMG freaking yummy. I guess I've made a sherbet before, but not knowing I had. Sorbets and sherbets are without cooking a custard. Sorbets don't have milk or cream, but sherbets do. I just never thought of it before.

This was very easy and fast. I made a simple lemon syrup, cooled it, and then added buttermilk and lemon juice. Churned it in my lovely ice cream maker and it has remained creamy and refreshing since it's soft serve stage. Actually, it's still pretty soft-servy not at all icy or hard. LOVE IT. I also love that this isn't necessarily seasonal but it's light and refreshing for summer.

One minor revision: I did reduce the sugar from 2/3 cup to just a little over 1/3 cup. I have found that I like my sorbets less sweet than the recipe asks, so I figured the same for a sherbet. Truth.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet.

Update 2 days later: The sherbet did harden quite a bit. Five minutes on the counter and it softens up enough to scoop out well enough. I think. I don't have an actual ice cream scooper anymore, so I've been using a regular big spoon. Mental note: get an ice cream scooper.

Cupcake Surprise

I couldn't resist this Cupcake book at Target. And then I thought of the neat recipe I had bookmarked for One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes for Two. While James was occupied with his TV show I whipped up these easy cupcakes, and then half a recipe of (easy) vanilla frosting. I hid my work and then surprised him with the book first.

It's a cute story of a vanilla cupcake who is sad that he is so plain and ordinary. An ordinary birthday candle tries to help him with different toppings to make him special, but in the end they join forces to become a special birthday cupcake.

I brought out my box of sprinkles and things and told James we could decorate some plain cupcakes to make them special for us.

Excuse the dirty, wrinkled up face but he was clearly excited about something!

A loose sprinkle.

James' Special Cupcake, a little heavy on the sprinkles.

The cupcakes were good! These ordinary cupcakes could be customized in so many ways- by adding chocolate chips, cocoa powder, fruit, etc. It's nice to just make TWO cupcakes whenever you need them! (Haha. NEED cupcakes. I mean, WANT.)

Now I just have to tell James that he doesn't get cupcakes EVERY TIME we read this book!

Please click here for the stolen recipe for One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes for Two.

Please click here for the stolen recipe for Martha's Fluffy Vanilla Frosting. I found this frosting recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. THREE ingredients. So very easy.

Win a trip to Paris!

I'm just posting a link to a blog offering a contest...

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

Strawberry Sorbet & Cantaloupe Sorbet

Fruit sorbets are so easy. I just need to keep my ice cream bowl in the freezer at all times, so I'm ready to whip it out for the ice cream maker. I was expecting guests, one who is lactose intolerant, so I was pretty excited to make something I knew she could eat. Well, my son got sick and I canceled the Oprah party. I have all of this sorbet around the house and no one is eating it. (My husband likes his sweets but I think he'd rather have chocolate something-something. Oh well, more for me!)

I cut back on the sugar a bit in the recipes, knowing that the fruit was already pretty sweet. The strawberries were some of the most perfect, ripe strawberries ever- well, next to the pick-your-own at berry farms, and the cantaloupe was also very perfect and delicious. Such great fruit for sorbets!

The strawberry sorbet was smooth and creamy. Perfect! The cantaloupe sorbet was a bit icy, good though. I think it was because the cantaloupe sorbet called for a bit of white wine. I used a bit of vanilla vodka in the strawberry sorbet, which keeps it from icing up. I think next time I would use vodka in both. Who knows if that's what made the difference?

Anyway, refreshing and wonderful!

Of course these ice cream recipes came from The Perfect Scoop but I've found them online as well.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Sorbet.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cantaloupe Sorbet.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Happy Mother's Day! It's actually the day before but my Mom came over tonight for dinner. We made a feast of Ginger Soy spareribs, (Souped up) Baked Beans, Broccoli Buttermilk Slaw, Ginger Tea Lemonade, and then the Cake for dessert. (The dinner recipes may be posted tomorrow. Can you believe I didn't take any pictures? It's kind of awkward to pull out a camera when you have guests...)

I've never made PUDC but I think traditional versions use canned pineapple. This baby had an ENTIRE fresh pineapple baked into the bottom of the cake, with gooey browned butter and brown sugar. I used a springform pan so that the cake would slide easily out of the pan. I was worried about sticking but I didn't need to. All of the pineapple stayed put and settled prettily on the top. Yay!

I was concerned that the cake was uncooked in the middle, but really it was the gooeyness seeping into the cake. It was just fine. The cake was sweet but not too sweet- a great end to our meal tonight. It must have been good- my step dad requested some leftovers to go home with them :)

Here is James saying: "Haha. You don't get any!"

Please click here for the stolen recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I actually found the recipe in my own cookbooks, but of course it's already been blogged about by other foodies.

Wedding Shower Cupcakes

I was asked very nicely to make cupcakes for a wedding shower for two teacher friends. I asked each bride to request a cupcake flavor.

Sandy chose Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Naomi chose White Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream.

These weren't new recipes so I am going to link to my existing blog posts. Naomi's choice was a bit different, mixing and matching from different recipes for her perfect combination.

Click here for my post about the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Click here for my post about the White Cake. (It's actually a very flavorful, fluffy almond cake.)

Click here for my post about the Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Happy Weddings!!!

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

This recipe has been all the rage on the various food blogs that I read every day. It has looked so pretty and I knew I had to try it. It has staple ingredients so I could make it whenever I had time. That's the hardest thing about this recipe- the time waiting for the dough to rise, two different times.

I thought it would be a good treat to make for future overnight guests. But maybe not. It would take a good long time to shape, let rise, bake, and then cool. I guess it depends on how much time you're working with.

The pieces really do pull apart easily. The bread isn't too sweet, but the sugar that I sprinkled on top of the bread became crusty and sweet. It is delicious.

I hope it freezes well!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Sandwiches

My husband was very happy with this meal. The mozzarella stuffed meatballs were a new recipe for us, and I decided to buy bolillo rolls for the sandwiches. I love them. They aren't quite the Mexican rolls that I remember from my childhood, but they are good.

I used a bottled pizza sauce and it was just fine.

Sides: the wonderful buttermilk broccoli slaw recipe that I will never stop making and fresh corn on the cob. The first of the season and surpisingly good!!

And some great Ginger Tea Lemonade.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs.

Ginger Tea Lemonade

This was pretty fantastic! Jim loved it. It was easy but took a while. You need to brew tea, and let it cool. And simultaneously you can make the ginger simple syrup, and let that cool too. Then juice the lemons in a pitcher. Strain the ginger bits from the syrup, and add everything together.

I wish I had made a double batch. This was was 5 glasses of tea. I'm thinking of making this for a girls' dinner or summer grilling party. YUM.

Jim has the great idea of adding his ginger liqueur to this.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Ginger Tea Lemonade.

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Fancy lunch today! This was an easy recipe to whip up today for lunch.

The coconut chicken was great. The breading was easy enough to mix up, and dipping the chicken pieces in egg whites and then the breading, and then spraying lightly with cooking spray. Easy.

I do think that the best part of the recipe was the vinaigrette. And wow, just a few ingredients to make that goodness. The recipe only made enough for two servings. After we ate our salads I promptly made a quadruple batch for the rest of the week.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.

Pumpkin Cupcakes & Repeat

I baked four dozen cupcakes last night. It made me happy. My friend Jessica had her baby shower at work today and I knew that pumpkin is one of her favorites. These pumpkin cupcakes were fluffy and moist. Well received today!

Two dozen Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.





Two dozen Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting. I've made these before. I knew they'd be good!



And I have leftover salted caramel sauce in the fridge. Bonus!!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Repeat Skillet Lasagna

Pretty darn good! We need to make this more often.

Click here for my original post.

Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp

I can't believe I ever bothered with precooked shrimp. We much prefer the fresh(er) taste of cooking with uncooked shrimp, especially if you cook them just right! I kept a close eye on these shrimp so they'd be tasty!

Risotto isn't that hard. I don't know what Gordon Ramsey fusses about. Okay, I do really. I guess I just make sure that I have everything chopped and prepped so that I don't have to scurry around the kitchen during that crucial 18 minutes of stirring and adding, stirring and adding.

I wouldn't change a thing about this risotto. It was delicious! Maybe I would add a squirt of lemon juice on top to brighten it up a bit. Maybe. Personal preference.

Thanks Kristina and Ana (& Rich) for the recipe! It will be one of those that you keep handy for comfort food. Jim will love if this makes it into a regular rotation!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Lemon Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp.

Pssssst! Do you see my artisan bread in the background? Third batch of bread! I'm still trying to perfect the master recipe. I think they are going well enough, but I'm anxious to try out something more exotic. It's amazing how yeast, water, salt, and flour come together to make such deliciousness!

Salted Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

These look like ordinary rice krispy treats BUT they have 1/2 cup of my most favorite salted caramel sauce mixed in. I told myself that I "had to" make these because I have rice krispies just sitting in my pantry, it would be wasteful to let them spoil. And then I had all the ingredients for salted caramel sauce (butter, cream, salt, sugar), so everything just lined up juuuuust right.


These made me happy today. After a long week it was either make these krispy treats or make myself five drinks (one for each day of the work week). For realz. I did have a dream of making salted caramel ice cream, but I'm still looking around for THE BEST recipe. Soon.


So I did use my favorite salted caramel sauce recipe. I guess I've only made TWO ever, but this was the best of the two. If it ain't broke...


Click here for the stolen recipe for Salted Caramel Rice Krispy Treats.

Pumpkin Spice Custards

I've made these delicious little desserts before. I have a recipe printed out from my dear BFF Christa. The recipe is at the bottom of an email that she wrote to me on November 5, 2006. She tells me how excited she is for me and how she can't stop thinking about me! It was the day before I was to have James :) :) :) It's a good memory, thinking about how exciting that time was. He's such a big boy now.

This recipe does not have a link then, so I'm typing it out below. It is a very simple recipe that tastes of crustless pumpkin pie. Mmmmm. I don't mess around when it comes to pumpkin!

Pumpkin Spice Custards, makes 8 individual desserts

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 can (12 oz) evaporated fat free milk (or you can use full fat)

Directions: Preheat over to 300 degrees. Mix sugar and all spices in a small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin, vanilla, and sugar-spice mix. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into eight lightly greased 6-oz ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins on baking sheet. Bake for 55 minutes or until knife inserted in custard halfway between center and edge of ramekin comes out almost clean. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with dollop of light whipped cream, if desired.