Dessert Fruit Pizza

I looked a couple of recipes for fruit pizza before I decided on this one. 

Ingredients:
(Not included:  Information on the cookie base.  I used a cookie mix and you can too, or the original recipe uses a homemade recipe.)

1 jars (13 Ounces Each) Marshmallow Creme
1 packages (8 Ounces Each) Cream Cheese
Various kinds of fruit (I used blueberries, kiwi and strawberries)

Directions:

Mix marshmallow creme and cream cheese until light.
Spread onto cooled crust
Decorate the top generously with sliced fruit.
Slice into squares or wedges and serve.

All in all, it turned out pretty tasty.  I had to make it gluten-free for a gathering I was attending, so I think if it hadn't been gluten free, it would have been even better.  Gluten free cookies are kind of dense compared to regular sugar cookies.  I think I will make this again with a regular sugar cookie mix and see how it turns out.

I looked in a couple different places for a gluten free sugar cookie mix and couldn't find one.  I ended up using a gluten free chocolate chip mix.  I realize now that I was looking in the wrong stores.  Next time I will go to our Community Mercantile, which always has what I'm looking for.  I used the ingredients below for the gluten free cookie recipe, but the original recipe calls for using sugar cookies. 

The cookie turned out very nicely though:

I then gathered the ingredients for the topping:

I mixed them together and it formed a very nice topping.  Not overwhelmingly sweet, but just sweet enough.

I smeared it on the cookie once it was cool.  Below you can see that I left a small edge at the end of the pan to make it easier to get the cookie out at the end.

Next I got out my fruit:

I sliced it up and placed it on top.  Then I cut up the pizza into little pieces for easy sharing:

More flowers in bloom

It seems like every day there are more beautiful tulips popping up, so I thought I would share them with you too!  I'm just thrilled with them.

Pretty!  Pretty!

Flowers in bloom!

I'm so excited that my tulips and daffodils are blooming.  It has been raining almost nonstop here for about a week but it's worth it now that my garden is exploding with gorgeous color.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

Let me start off by saying that I think this particular recipe is subject to debate.  If you like chewy cookies that stay soft then this is the cookie for you.  By that description, I thought it would be the cookie for me but it wasn't really.  I don't think they're bad, but I'm not tempted by them.  That said, my husband loves them.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly softened

1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter, well-mixed

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

About 1 cup chocolate candies or other mix-ins

(I used chocolate chips, but you can use M&Ms or candy bars or nuts or all of the above.)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

I like to prepare everything ahead of time so it's easier when I start mixing so, I had four bowls of things ready to go:

Eggs and vanilla

Oatmeal

Mix-ins (chocolate chips)

Butter, peanut butter, and sugars

First, mix together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars, then add in eggs and vanilla.

Beat in baking soda, then oatmeal and mix-ins.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and place the the mixture in balls about 2 inches apart. 
Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until done. 

Remove from oven when slightly golden.

Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes until they have firmed up enough to remove to wire racks.

I probably won't make these again, but they're not bad.  They're just really...chewy.

Turkey

As an amateur in the cooking arena, I am very proud to announce that I made a turkey this weekend and it was good.  In fact, it was really good.  For the record, this is time consuming but if you're going to make a turkey I definitely recommend this process. 

When my parents visited us over Christmas, they gave me this:

I tossed it in the freezer and there it stayed, looming over me, taunting me in a very intimidating fashion.  Finally, I decided to haul it out and give it a shot.  I searched for recipes and decided that I couldn't go wrong with Alton Brown's turkey recipe.

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

I took the turkey out of the freezer three days ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator.  Then the day before I planned to cook it, I gathered together the brine ingredients:

Instead of the 5 gallon bucket Alton suggested, I used this, which I found in the hardware store:

Aside from being a little flimsy, it worked great. 

Directions:

Combined the stock, salt, brown sugar and peppercorns pot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Below is a picture of the bird with the brine, ice and some water before I put it in the frig.  I filled it up the rest of the way after I put in the refrigerator.  It wasn't completely immersed, but almost. 

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the turkey on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
(I didn't have a roasting rack, so I just used a roasting pan.)

I gathered the aromatic ingredients:

I thought this was as good a time as any to start my own herb garden so I bought fresh herbs for this and will plant them for future use.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

I thought it would take longer than it did, so make sure you check on it after an hour.

Success!  The turkey was juicy and delicious! I even made all the Thanksgiving fixings to go with it, so my husband called it ThanksPatrick's Day. LOL.

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Okay seriously, these are so good that a few weeks after I posted this my husband came home from work with a package of string cheese asking if I would make them again. LOL!

I found the original recipe here.  If you are interested in nutritional info (including Weight Watchers points, she has listed the information on her site).

We absolutely loved these!  They were incredibly tasty.  My husband and I should have had a guest over so we didn't eat them all by ourselves.  ;)  Not included in the ingredients is a dipping sauce. I used Barilla Tomato & Basil marinara sauce.  When I made them a second time we used pizza sauce to dip and it was even better!

Ingredients:

12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese 
1 large egg, beaten
5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
5 tbsp panko crumbs
2 tsp parmesan cheese
olive oil cooking spray

Ingredient changes:

The recipe called for dried parsley but I had run out so I didn't use it.  That was fine.  I don't think it needs it. It also calls for 2 tbsp of flour, which is pictured below but is not needed.  I used the flour the first time I made these and then left it out the second time and there was no change.   Also, I used Pam spray the first time and real olive oil in my misto the second time with no change in results.  The recipe also calls for way too many breadcrumbs.  You could probably get away with using half.

Directions:

Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.

In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley. 

(Pictured below in my beloved mis-matched pottery bowls.  I have a friend who is a potter who gives me some and I also buy some at the local pottery sale every year. Love!) 

Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs.
Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).
When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.

Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.  (I ended up taking mine out a minute early.)

These are yummy, melty and delicious!  I definitely recommend them but its best to serve them right away.

Makes 24 pieces. (If you're playing the home game, you might notice we only had 22 pieces because I ate one of the string cheeses. LOL.)

Mint chocolate chip cookies

For the St. Patrick's day potluck at work, I tried out Tidy Mom's Mint Chocolate Chip cookies.  I don't often try to bake cookies without my good friend, indie over at Girlie Review (who blogs about cosmetics but is an excellent cook), but it is time to branch out.

My baking skills are improving.  I have realized over the years that baking really is an art form and I hope one day to become proficient at it.  I'm (at times) a bit slap dash with my cooking and I often try to change recipes without thinking through the chemistry of it - which is why baking can be a dangerous area for me.  (For example, don't try to make dirt cake with all fat free ingredients unless you just want a big pile of goop. LOL)  This time the cookies turned out great!  I'd definitely recommend this recipe.

Ingredients

    1 pouch Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
    1/2 cup butter, softened
    1/2 teaspoon mint extract
    1 egg
    green food color
    1 cup creme de menthe baking chips
    1 cup dark chocolate chips

Ingridients edit:  
 I used milk chocolate chips because I'm not overly fond of dark chocolate.  I used less than 1 cup of each kind of chips.  About 3/4 cup.  I thought a whole cup seemed like a lot and I think they turned out great that way.

Instructions

Heat oven to 350°. In large bowl, stir in cookie mix, butter, mint extract, food color and the egg.  Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chips.
   

    Put dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Let them cool for a few minutes before removing to wire rack. (I baked them for exactly 8 minutes and they were perfect!)  Here they are packed in tupperware to take to work.  Yum!

I really like the sugar cookies mixed with chocolate chips.  I think I will try to make them again without the mint added in.  Very tasty!

Bird's Nest Breakfast Cups

This is a Pinterest find and the original recipe is here.  These require a little prep time up front but taste awesome and are great if you are having guests for breakfast.  I really should have people over for breakfast more often now that I have all these great recipes!  Also, my son seems to be more agreeable to hanging out in the kitchen first thing in the morning than when I'm trying to make things at night these days.

Ingredients:

1 24 oz. bag of shredded hash browns
1 tsp salt (They called for 2 tsp but it was a little too salty for us and I LOVE salt.)
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs oil (I use olive oil)
1/3 cup shredded cheddar
Bacon bits or 8=10 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled
Eggs
Extra shredded cheddar
Muffin tin  ( I used 2 muffin tins: a 12 cup muffin tin (shown below) and a 6 cup muffin tin.)

 

Take your bag of hash browns and mix in the salt, pepper, oil and 1/3 cup shredded cheese.

Grease the muffin tin.  (I used Pam Olive Oil Spray.)  Divide the mixture into each cup in muffin tin. 

(I had some of this mixture left over so I put it back in the freezer for another day.)

Bake hash browns at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  I was expecting them to be browned, but they were just cooked, but still light colored. You could probably cook them for a bit longer, but make sure you check on them so they aren't burned. - FYI.
Take them out and lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees.

The original recipe calls for cracking an egg into each cup, but that seemed like a lot to me so I took about half the amount of eggs, whisked them up and put some into each cup.

Then top with bacon pieces and a sprinkle of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 minutes (or until the eggs are as firm as you like them).
Slide a knife along the edges to remove from pan when cooled.

Note:  As you can see above, I used an ancient muffin tin to make this but I also used a newer, nicer one as well (not pictured).  It was a little hard to get them out of this muffin tin, but the nicer, nonstick ones popped out very easily.

These were really tasty and pretty easy.  Except for the fact that they were a little too salty, I would definitely make them again!

Jambalaya & Cheddar Biscuits

I have only tried to make Jambalaya once and it was from a Zataran's mix a long time ago.  Last night was the first time I'd tried to make it from scratch.  My dad used to make it all the time when I was a kid.  I probably should have asked him for his recipe.  That would have been smarter, but I didn't.  Nothing like starting from scratch when you don't have to. LOL. I do have a couple of his that I will be posting soon.  Anyway, I started with this recipe and then altered it.

Ingredients

• Sausage, sliced into rounds (I used pork & turkey sausage)
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used 4 chicken breasts)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used the kind with oregano & basil)
• 1/2 a can of tamato sauce (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked white rice

I started out sauteing the chicken (since it would take the longest) along with the garlic in a little bit of Olive Oil.

I made minute rice in another pot and set it aside.  When the chicken was done, I tossed it in with the rice, which was done, and added the drained can of tomatoes.  I turned the rice back on low and mixed in the dry ingredients (pepper, salt, red pepper, worcestershire sauce).

I sliced up the sausge and put it in the frying pan, flipping it occassionally while I chopped up the two celery stalks and put them in the frying pan with the sausage.  When the sausage was done, I added it in to the rice mixture using a slotted spoon so the grease stayed behind in the frying pan.  I mixed it all up and added a little tomato sauce to calm down the spice when I thought it needed it.  That part is optional.

Here's the finished product still in the pot.  YUM!

My little one did not have any. :)

While cooking the chicken, I started making the Cheddar Biscuits, which was a Pinterest find.  (There was no original link.  I don't know where the recipe came from but after googling it, I found this, which might be the original location.  The picture sure looks suspiciously similiar.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

2 c. Bisquick

2/3 c. milk

1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese

1/2 c. melted butter

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Mix Bisquick, milk and cheddar until a soft ball forms.  Drop by balls onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Mix butter and garlic while biscuits are baking it.  Brush it on the biscuits while they are hot and still on the baking pan. I did a couple of layers of the mixture.

This meal was SO good.  We loved the biscuits and it was good to have bread with a spicy meal.  (We usually don't eat bread with meals just because of the additional calories.)  I will definitely make this again!