Stuffed Strawberries

YUMMMMMMM

I have seen these on Vicki's Healthy eats and Sinful treats and then Amy made them from Simple, but delicious, I just needed a reason to make them and today was my nephew's birthday party. They were definitely a HUGE hit. I looked over at one point and my nephew was just shoving them in his mouth one right after the other.



I used my Wilton's new cake decorating kit for the first time. I had the hardest time with the bag, but I finally I was able to figure it out. (I start my cake decorating class next Monday)


Stuffed Strawberries
Source: Amber's Delectable Delights
Ingredients:
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur, or to taste (I used vanilla extract instead)


Directions:
Cut the tops off of the strawberries and stand upright on the cut side.
Make a cut 3/4 of the way down from the tip of the strawberry towards the bottom.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and liqueur until smooth in a mixer or a food processor. Place into a piping bag with a star tip.
Pipe into each strawberry and arrange on a serving platter.





I used 4 pints of strawberries and made 3 batches of the filling. I had a lot of filling left so I think one batch of filling per 2 pints of strawberries would be perfect.

If you don't want to be fancy and use the piping bag just use the filling as a fruit dip. It would go very well with other fruit. It's just pretty and fancy with the strawberries.

Buffalo Chicken Dip - aka "Crack Dip"

I've seen so many versions of this recipe, but my best friend's dad seems to have the best combination of ingredients. I made this tonight for tailgating tomorrow. From the mouth of my husband after letting him "test" it, "Man, I love that shit." So, I guess that means he approves.

Hopefully we will pull out a Bengal win tomorrow.


Here is Mick's version:

Ingredients:
2 (14.5 oz) cans of chicken breast
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese
1 cup Ranch (not blue cheese...ewww)
1/2 cup of hot sauce (I used Frank's)
1 cup of shredded mild cheddar

Preheat oven to 350.

First mix the cream cheese until it's smooth and creamy. Then add the hot sauce and ranch (or blue cheese if you must) and mix until well blended. Add chicken one can at a time (I like having the chicken all shredded in the mix and not chunks, so mixed a little longer). Add cheese and mix. Cook for 20-30 (you will see it bubble on the sides)

GO BENGALS!!

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

Okay, so the ladies from the knot have all bought the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. We are going to take turns choosing a recipe. I think we decided we will be baking on a biweekly basis. The first selection was page 99, the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies.

I am not that crazy about them. I think it's too rich and dare I say too much chocolate. This will be the first and last time I make them. My husband is going to take them to work tomorrow, so that will be the true test I guess.

the recipe:

FOR THE BROWNIES:

½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 Tbs strong coffee (I left this out because I was not going to buy coffee for the recipe)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

6 ounces premium- quality milk chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought milk choc. chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional) - I used Cashews, Dorie suggested at some point to try it this way.



FOR THE GLAZE:

6 ounces premium- quality white chocolate, finely chopped, or 1 cup store- bought white chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream


Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven, and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9-inch baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.

To Make the Brownies: Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and chocolates are melted- you don't want the ingredients to get so hot they separate, so keep an eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.

Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Don't beat too vigorously- you don't want to add air to the batter- and don't be concerned about any graininess. Next, stir in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If you're not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips and the nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out streaked but not thickly coated. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the brownies rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you'd like.)

Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the foil and place it under another rack- it will be the drip catcher for the glaze. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.

To Make the Glaze: Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then, using a rubber spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth.

Hold a long metal icing spatula in one hand and the bowl of glaze in the other. Pour the glaze onto the center of the brownies and use the spatula to nudge it evenly over the surface. Don't worry if it dribbles over the edges, you can trim the sides later (or not). Refrigerate the brownies for at least 30 minutes, or until the glaze is firm.

Cut into 16 squares, roughly 2¼ inches on a side.

Mine did not turn out pretty either. Hopefully when I take my cake decorating class I will get better with this type of stuff:)

Oriental Soup

My first homemade soup, done. I just took a recipe and turned into my own, by adding a little more here and there.

I bought the ingredients Friday and was finally able to make it. For those of you who don't know, the area I live in was just hit with a huge windstorm. We came home from the Bengal's game to find shingles all over the yard and no power. We went without power for a little over 24 hours.

There are still so many families without power.

It looks like the hubby and I are going to need a whole new roof. UGH!


Okay, I will stop rambling. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 cup sliced onions
4 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth
3 tablespoons Soy sauce
1 cup spinach leaves, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 (8 oz) water chestnuts
1 (8 oz) bamboo shoots
1 (14 oz) can bean sprouts
2 cups chopped Broccoli
1 cup chopped cabbage

Directions:
-In a saucepan, heat oil. Add carrots, onions and celery. Stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, just enough until the onion is soft.
-Add vegetable broth, soy sauce and ground ginger- bring to a boil.
-Add remaining vegetables with the exception of spinach. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes and then add spinach. Once the spinach has been added let it simmer for at least another 10 minutes.
hmmmmm.... ready to serve!

Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes

WOW, these little cupcakes are so wonderful. My husband said they are the best dessert so far. Let me give a shout to Vicki from "Vicki's Heathly eat and Sinful Treats". They are perfect for a summer time treat.

I did have a hard time with the icing. I let the cupcakes cool for several hours and kept the icing in the fridge, but it still was running over the sides of the cupcakes. I can't figure out what I did wrong. Maybe I didn't let the strawberry puree cool down enough. I don't really remember how long I let it sit before pouring it into the frosting.

This is the perfect pairing of icing and cupcake.

Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes from Good Things Catered

Ingredients for Cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries

Ingredients for Frosting:
1/4 cup strawberries
1 tablespoon strawberry liquor (I didn't have any either, so I used strawberry juice from cutting them)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans
Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl
In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy
Add eggs one at a time until combined
Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined
Add flour mixture and stir until just combined
Fold in berries
Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way full
Bake for 20 minutes

For frosting, put berries, liquor, and juice in saucepan
Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes
Let cool then blend until smooth
In bowl of mixer mix cream cheese and butter until creamy
Add sugar, then vanilla
Add berry puree until smooth
Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled

Peanut Butter Pie (heaven)

I love this pie, it's heaven in a pie. I love peanut butter, can you tell?

Filling:
1 package of cream cheese
1 cup confectionary sugar- Shifted
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Topping:
1/2 heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup fin sugar

-8 chopped Reece Peanut butter candies

Beat the cream cheese until fluffy, slowly begin to add the confectionary sugar- beat until light and fluffy. Add the 1/2 peanut butter and mix until blended. Slowly pour in the evaporated milk. Beat for about 2 minutes until all ingredients are well blended, fluffy and creamy.

In a another bowl, combine heavy whipping cream and sugar- beat cream and sugar until it forms stiff peaks.

Slowly fold 1/2 the whipped topping into the peanut butter mixture.

Place into cooked and cooled pie crust (I like graham cracker crust)

Sprinkle a layer of chopped reece's peanut butter cups onto of the peanut butter filling.

Pipe remaining whipped cream topping on top of the pie filling and candy- sprinkle remaining candy on whipped topping.

Mashed Cauliflower

If you want to break out of the norm of mashed potatoes and go in the route of Low carb, here is a good side dish.


Boil 1 head of Cauliflower until soft
Drain water

In a bowl, beat Cauliflower with:
-TBL of Cream cheese (I used about half the pack because I love cream cheese)
-1/4 cup of Parm cheese
-1/2 tsp sp of garlic
-1 cube of Chicken bouillon
-3 TBL of butter

Cali's Taco Cups

What's that you ask? Cali is a knottie who has been making people happy everywhere giving out this recipe. I have made them for several parties now and they some how always seem to be the topic of conversation. The last party we had, Aaron made sure everyone who came to the party had one and the he wanted every detail of what people thought of them.

He had a few friends in from california last weekend and I swear I thought one of them was going to be found in a corner making out with the delicious little cups. I didn't think he was going to stop eating them.

I usually double the recipe.

1lb. ground beef
1 pckg. taco seasoning
1 pckg. Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
Shredded cheese

Brown and season ground beef like you normally would when making tacos (I just use one of those seasoning packets). Take biscuit dough (I prefer the Grands biscuits because they're larger so you have more dough to work with, but the smaller ones work too -- you just haveto be careful when stretching them out) and use them to line a muffin tin. Fill the dough-lined cups with the taco meat (it'll bea squeeze, but you can fit it all in there). Bake in the oven according to the biscuit directions minus one to two minutes. Sprinkle on cheese and pop back in the oven for an extra minute to melt. Then top with whatever else you want like salsa, guacamole,sour cream, etc. Delicious!

Corn Casserole

Here is a very good side dish. If you want to spice it up throw in some jalapenos (I can't say that word without singing the Big and Rich song).

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
2 cans of corn (I sometimes use 3 cans)
Garlic salt to taste
Pinch of parsley

Melt butter and cream cheese. Once butter and cheese have been melted add corn, garlic salt and parsley. Place in a casserole dish and cook in oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

This is a great dish for holidays, quick and easy.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes, I am posting another recipe and the blog is only 3 days old. I have so many recipes I want to get out there.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press each ball once with fork tines.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned.

I like these peanut butter cookies because they are soft and moist, but peanut butter cookies I have tried have been crunchy. I don't think cookies should be crunchy.

Buckeyes- yes it's time (Candy)

When I say buckeyes, what do you think of? Do you think of those annoying Ohio state buckeye fans? Yes, I said it. I don't hold it against my friends that they are Ohio State buckeye fans, I just taunt them. Okay, back to the only buckeyes that mean something. The little balls of peanut butter dipped in chocolate. Hold on a minute, let me wipe the drool from my mouth. My mom makes these one time a year at Christmas time, which is always a happy time.

Please do not lick your computer screen as I am giving the recipes, it's not attractive:)

I'm not sure how much of this recipe is a secret, but rather than something my mom has perfected. No one can make them like she does.

Remember the beginning post and we talked about childhood memories? This is one of those times that I would sit in the kitchen waiting for her to mess one up, just dip in the chocolate too much so it didn't really look like a buckeye anymore. She had to have them perfect, so I welcomed mistakes.

Okay here we go.... Buckeyes.. I am going to break it out into parts so it kind of makes more sense. First, you make the peanut butter balls, cool them, then add the chocolate.

Peanut Butter Balls:

2 Sticks of margarine
2 cups of peanut butter (please save us all the icky faces and use Jif-choosy moms use Jif)
1 1/2 pounds of Powered sugar (yes that's right pounds, not cups)

-Melt the butter and peanut butter in a double boiler (doubler boiler works better). Once it's melted add the powered sugar. Mix well and then roll them into little balls on a cookie sheet and put in the fridge. They need to be firm for the next step.

Chocolate Mixture:
1/4 small slab of parawax
1 (12 oz) large bag of Chocolate chips

-In the double boiler- cut and melt parawax and chocolate chips until smooth.
(you may need to keep repeating this step if starts to get stiff while you are working on the buckeyes)

Okay, putting it all together:

-Stick with toothpick and dip in chocolate mixture leaving tops plain (just like a buckeye). Once you dip them, put them on a piece of wax paper gently. Once the chocolate has cooled and it's firm you will keep them in the fridge (they should be kept in the fridge).

There it is, now go at it. Please let me know how they turn out. I haven't attempted these myself, it's too much pressure, because like I said my mom has perfected them. I don't have a picture, but I sure wish I did. It would be nice to show you how great my mom's turn out. Once she makes them I will add a picture. I tried to do a search, but they just didn't look as good. You could google a buckeye, but I think the only thing you will see are the Ohio State buckeyes (puke) or just the WRONG way to go about making buckeyes.

Good Luck! Have I mentioned how good these are? mmmmmmmm......

Bar-B-Que Pork Chops

This is a recipe of my mom's. It's finger licking good, better than fried chicken. This recipe will actually make you giggle a little because I am going to give it to as my mom used it when I was growing up, remember a family of 10. You will definitely want to cut the recipe in half (several times). Unless of course you are having a party.



18-20 Pork Chops (are you eyes bulging out of your head yet)

4 onions

3 large cans of tomato sauce

2 cans of water

5 tablespoons worchester sauce

5 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons horseradish sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste



Flour and Brown pork chops and place aside.



Cut onions and sautee them until tender and brown. Once they are tender; add the tomato sauce, water, worchester sauce, mustard, horseradish, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Let that simmer for about 5-10 minutes with onions. Add pork chops and let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Spinach and Feta Pasta

Okay, first day on the veg diet and we have a successful recipe. It was so good, I thought about licking the bowl.

I found this recipe somewhere on the web. I don't really remember now. I am going to have to start writing this stuff down and giving people credit for their goods.



This was a pretty quick dish. It probably took about 20-30 minutes.



Here we go.....



Ingredients:

1 (8oz) package of Penne Pasta (I used regular spaghetti, I am weird with pasta) - Also note that I used whole wheat pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 chopped onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 cups chopped tomatoes

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I don't like mushrooms, I left this out)

2 cups spinach leaves, packed (I will use more next time, since I left out the mushrooms)

salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch of red pepper flakes

8 oz feta cheese (I used low fat)



Directions:

1. Uh... do I need to really tell you how to cook pasta? I'll skip that step. If you can't cook pasta, please step slowly away from the kitchen and no one gets hurt.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat: add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown. Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted. Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until heated through.

White Chicken Chili-YUM!

The husband and I went to Friday's one night and they had this chili, so I searched the internet high and low for their recipe and Ta-da, here it is.

I really like this over rice, but you don't need rice to go with it.


INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/ teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
5 (14.5 ounce) cans great Northern beans, undrained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute
for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the chicken, chicken broth, green chile
peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and add the beans. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes,
or until heated thoroughly. Pour into individual bowls and top with the cheese


This doesn't really cook well in crockpots. The sauce doesn't thicken up like it should, best cooked on the stove.

Easy Italian Chicken

The good thing about this recipe is no measuring. You just take the amount of chicken you want to cook, enough dressing to marinate and enough parm cheese to cover it on both sides. It's a quick and easy chicken dinner.

This is actually one of my dad's easy recipes.


Ingredients:

Chicken breast
Italian Dressing
Parm cheese

Instructions:

Marinate chicken breast in Italian dressing for at least 20 minutes. Chicken breast will be breaded with Parm cheese and then placed on a pan (better covered with foil for easy clean-up) Broil on each side for about 10-15 minutes. Parm cheese should be partially darkened.

For more flavor add Italian dressing mix in with Parm cheese and use as breading.

Best Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I'm not sure where this one came from. I just did an internet search one day for Spinach and Artichoke dip and found this recipe. It's so good, probably one of the best I have ever had. I am not a big fan of Mayo in my dips, so I looked for one that didn't call for mayo.

It would make for a great tailgating party dip.

1 pkg. frozen spinach thawed
1 jar marinated artichokes, chopped
8 oz. Philly cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 stick butterred
Red pepper flakes to taste

Sauté onions in butter, adding ingredients while mixing and blending well after each addition. Add ingredients in this order: Spinach, Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, Parmesan Cheese, Artichoke Hearts, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.
Remove from heat and put in crocks or microwave dish. Top with Monterey Jack Cheese and melt.

Serve hot with chips or bread.

It is also good with Mozzarella Cheese on top.

Sorry no pictures, but maybe next time I make it. We do have a Bengal's game this weekend, maybe I might make it then.

Perfect Party Cake- Dorie Greenspan

This delicious cake was brought to me by a knottie, exp. She was right on spot introducing this cake. It was so damn good.

This is the first cake I have ever made and it was made for my 2nd year anniversary, so the pictures are cheeeezy and not perfect:

Perfect Party Cake, Dorie Greenspan:

For the Cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour (1 cup cake flour = 1 cup all purpose - 2 Tbs)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated Meyer lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream:

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh Meyer lemon juice

For Finishing:

1/2 cup seedless chocolate - raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable (for 2 cakes)

1/2 rhubarb preserves (for the other 2 cakes)

About 1 ½ cups white chocolate shavingsMacarons
(I just used the buttercream and Strawberry preserves for my layers)- this was a great hit. I didn't use anything noted above for the filling.

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 4 4-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.Whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites in a medium bowl.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the buttermilk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the buttermilk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the four pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream:

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cakes:

(directions for one, repeat for the other 3)Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with a layer of buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer. Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the chocolate shavings into the frosting, patting it gently. Tint some remaining buttercream with your favorite colors and pipe large and small dots of different colors with plain decorating tips. You can also decorate with macarons

Servin the Cake: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine

Storing:

The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Nieman-Marcus cookies

I don't know what else to call them, but I received this email chain about some lady who bought the recipes and it cost her $250. I don't know if that's true, but the cookies are delicious.

You may want to cut the recipe in half or you will have a TON of cookies.

2 cups of butter

24 oz Chocolate chips

4 cups of flour

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of salt

2 cups of sugar

1- 8 oz Hershey Bar (grated)

5 cups blended oatmeal

4 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups of nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender or food processor to fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. This makes about 112 cookies.

Enjoy, they are good. It's chocolate chip cookie meets oatmeal cookies =)

The Beginning

Do you ever sit and think about what kind of mom (or dad) you want to be? I do, all the time. (Imagine that) I want to be the kind of mom who when my kids think back to their childhood and they remember the good food their mom made, the smell of the kitchen. It will bring back so many memories for them. I know for me, I can remember everything about my mom's kitchen, the woman can cook and bake. It's not always healthy, but damn it's good. I still ask her to make me stuff that makes my mouth start watering just thinking about it.

I come from a family of 8 kids so my mom was always in the kitchen baking up something good to feed all those hungry mouths.

Here I am wanting to start a blog to share recipes and have a place to just to vent a little. So, there will be lots of recipes and a little bull crap.

I am going to share some of my mom's recipes, shhhhhh don't tell her. The woman's buck-eyes are to DIE for.

I am starting on a veg diet tomorrow, so I will be sharing some healthy recipes as well, but my husband will not be on this diet and I will share all the recipes he enjoys.

Well, that's all I can say to get started. I will be posting some recipes very soon.