Fried Apple Cakes

Found this recipe for Fried Apple Cakes and just had to share. They are AMAZING!!!
(makes 8 hearty cakes)


3 cups shredded apples from peeled apples, I used Fuji Apples, but feel free to mix em up.

juice of half a lemon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter and a dash of oil for cooking pancakes

Peel three medium apples. Grate the apples and drizzle the juice of half a lemon over the shredded apple. Place shredded apples in a colander over a bowl and leave for 10 minutes while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Beat the eggs and add the flour , sugar and spices. Whisk until no lumps remain. Press some of the excess juices out of the resting apples and add to the egg and flour mixture.

Over medium heat, melt half of the butter in a heavy bottom skillet and add just a dash of oil. This will help the butter not burn. Dollop large tablespoonfuls of apple batter into the hot butter and fry like pancakes, flipping once. Serve with maple syrup and sour cream.

Ham and Cheese Mini Muffins

These muffins are to die for. I found them on one of my favorite blogs.
They are a great served with your favorite eggs, fresh fruit and juice.
What a great way to spend a lazy Staurday morning!


3 Tbsp. butter
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups Bisquick

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1/2 cup finely chopped cooked ham

1/2 cup "Real Bacon"

Melt butter over medium-high heat; add onion, and saute until tender. Combine bisquick and cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Stir together milk and egg, blending well; add to cheese mixture, stirring until moist. Stir in onion, ham, and bacon. Spoon into lightly greased(PAM) mini muffin pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 425 for 18 minutes. Let stand 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.



For Ham and Swiss muffins: Use shredded Swiss cheese instead of cheddar; use 1 cup finely chopped cooked ham; and add 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard with milk and egg. Proceed as directed above.

Cupcake In A Jar

I love the idea of a Cupcake In A Jar! They are sooo easy to make and I think they would be so fun for a picnic or childrens party. Maybe a western theme cookout.

White Chocolate Toffee Bars

These White Chocolate Toffee Bars are AMAZING!! I found them on A Whisk And A Prayer. What a great treat for teachers, neighbors, or to make with the kids. Some of my best childhood memories were time spent with my mom in the kitchen.

Crispy Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Found the recipe for these ohhhh so yummy  Cinnamon Tortilla Chips over at The Cheeky Kitchen and just had to try them. Click on the link and and get the recipe for yourself. They are sooo good and very easy to make!  

What a fun after school snack for the kids, or to go along with a nice bowl of ice cream or even a cup of hot chocolate....the cooler months are just around the corner. Have the kids help you make them and use all different kinds of cookie cutters!

Garlic-Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

I found this recipe on one of my favorite sites. Our Best Bites

They are soooo good and one of my favorite side dishes.

1 1/2 lb. fingerling or baby potatoes, washed; try and pick the potatoes that are as bite-sized as possible

2 1/2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 Tbsp. coarse-grain or Dijon mustard

2 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Rosemary (be sure and strip the needles from the stem before chopping them)

About 5 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

Coarsely-ground black pepper

Kosher salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is heating, combine olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, mustard, and some black pepper.

Set aside. When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and boil for about 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork. Drain, return the potatoes to the pan, and then toss with the mustard mixture.

Now...this is where the beauty of this recipe comes in. You can either do all of this ahead of time and then refrigerate the potatoes until you're ready to finish them off or you can do it all at once. Either way, you're not going to spend more than 30 minutes tops making these beauties and they're so elegant that you could seriously serve them at the fanciest dinner party. So...if you're making these right now, preheat your oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. If you're saving them (for up to 6 hours), line the baking sheet and spread the potatoes out evenly and then cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them until you're ready to bake them.

When you're ready to bake these guys and the oven is hot, sprinkle with Kosher salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the skins are browning and sizzling. For fancy presentation, place the roasted potatoes on a platter, scrape those delicious bits off the foil, sprinkle them over the potatoes, and then garnish with a few sprigs of rosemary

Awesome Breakfast Casserole

With the weather getting cooler and the hint of fall in the hair and the obvious Halloween decorations up in the stores my thoughts have turned to the holidays and colder weather. Both of those make me think about how we cook differently in the warm months. It seems we make more soups and stews and  yummy casseroles. They warm our bodies, give us extra fuel  and make our homes smell so inviting as they cook. I found this this wonderful recipe for a breakfast casserole that would be perfect for Christmas morning or any morning for that matter. A lazy Saturday or Sunday reading the paper and waiting for this to pop out of the oven sounds soooo nice to me! I found it on one of my favorite sites Our Best Bites

I love that you make it the night before and just put it in the oven the next morning.
I was going to copy the recipe onto my blog but they do such a great job with step-b-step instructions and photos. Just click on the link above and go check it out.

Chocolate Praline Cake

I have several blogs that I visit everyday just in case they have posted something new. Babblings From Brooke  is one of them. This cake recipe is to die for and with the holidays right around the corner I am sure I will make it several times. I bet you will too!

This is absolutely amazing. The topping by far is my favorite part. If you don't like pecans, well, shame on you!



Chocolate Praline Cake
1 box devils food cake mix plus ingredients to make the cake

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup pecans, chopped



Make the cake using the directions on the box. Set aside.



Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add brown sugar and whipping cream and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add chopped pecans to the mixture. Pour mixture in the bottom of a bundt pan (must use this type of pan). Then carefully spoon the cake batter over the sugar mixture. Bake @ 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Invert cake onto platter. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whip cream.

I'm sooo slow!

Back in March I had a "Spring Recipe Contest" I did announce the winners but it took me forever to get pictures of them so....the winners of the Spring Recipe Contest were.....

ShandreeWho won some fabulous bath produts. And......

Jill...who won some yummy peach blackberry jam, and some blackberry ginger sauce.

Thanks to both of these beautiful ladies. I hope you both enjoy your prizes.

And The Winner is......

Ellen Deem...you are the winner of our Chocolate Recipe Contest. Your Flourless Chocolate Cake sounds soooo good!! I will contact you with the details for your prize!!

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your recipe with all of us!

Swanky Chicks

Want the cutest custom tags and or labels for your next party? Not really sure what you want but one thing is for sure ...you want choices! Look no more....Swanky Chicks is having a contest and you can win $40.00 worth of beautiful custom tags or labels!! You get to choose from a ton of different styles, colors and fonts. You can change it as many times as you like until you find the perfect one for you and your event.

Head on over and check it out....  http://www.swankychicks.com/
They also ahve a blog http://swankychicks.blogspot.com/
And you can find them on facebook

Recipe Contest

I looooove chocolate. More than most people I am sure. And since I love chocolate I am always looking for recipes that have chocolate as one of the ingredients. Post your best or favorite chocolate recipe and win a yummy prize. Contest will close Midnight Sunday May 23rd.

Planning A Party

Planning a party? Don't know where to start? Have I got a blog for you!!

http://katelandersevents.blogspot.com/

They can help you plan your even from start to finnish! They are also having an amazing contest right now. Check it out. While you are there look at all the different party ideas /themes they have. You will be addicted too!

I love Pink and Green together so I snagged this picture from their blog just to give you a hint of what you will see whan you visit them.

It's All In The Details!

If you know me at all you know I love a good party. I love to attend them and I love to have them. I am all about the theme. I got to have a theme!!! I just don't know how to do it any other way. Sometimes I choose the theme by the holiday, like 4th of July, Birthday, or  Halloween. Sometimes it's by the weather, like Winter wonderland,Spring Fling, or Fall-ing leaves. Maybe it's a baby shower, or retirement party, or just a simple dinner party or pot-luck with friends. It doesn't matter I have to have some kind of theme!! Ok...I guess by now you get the point...LOL.

Since I am such a blog stalker I have found sooo many wonderful blogs and websites that are all about entertaining, party themes, food, etc. I can't even begin to compare with these ladies. I am not even in their league. But maybe someday with a lot more stalking and a lot more practice I can make it up the party ladder one step at a time.

That being said....my sister was here for a visit and I gave a luncheon in her honor and invited some of her friends that she has made here over the years. My theme was "Spring" and I thought of pinks and greens and baby birds.  The menu was light and we all had such a good time.

I wish I would have thought to take pictures as I did each step but I'm new to this and will have to remember that next time.

I started with a borrowed vintage style birdcage I got from my boss...that was where I got my inspiration for the theme. Then I added a light green moss table cloth and a runner in the same color a few shades darker. I had the table cloth and just happen to find the runner at Ross for $1.50

I have this cute bunny that I have used many times for Easter and other occasions. I just change the color of the ribbon around his neck. I then stopped at the dollar store where I picked up the flowers all in beautiful colrs of  white, pinks and yellows.

I added the beautiful glass jars with the robins eggs and bird nest. They were birthday gifts from friends at work. As a party favor each lady received one of the little rosebud vases.

I used my own white dinner plates and put a smaller pink plate on top. I got the pink plates on sale a year ago at Anastasia's Attic and knew I would use them some how. The the beautiful napkin rings where made by my "Go To Girl" and very good friend Tammy Hanney at http://www.showandtelldesign.org/

This is a side view of the centerpiece. I tried to make sure no matter which side or end of the table you were at you had something pretty to look at.

Here is another view of the table with everything in place and just waiting for our guest to arrive.

                                                                     



















The menu was a light green salad topped with grilled chicken that had been soaking in a hawaiian merinade. I added grapes,blueberries, cucumbers, dried crandberries and your choice of poppyseed or raspberry dresing. Hot buttered crossiants and lemon water rounded it off with of course.....dessert!

I used the center island in my kitchen to set up my two tierd dessert plate. I served cute little brownie bites I found at my local grocery store. They were topped with daisys. I also ordered miniture coconut raspberry filled cakes and mini eclairs from my favorite bakery.

Here is a picture of me and the guest of hoor my older sister Nita. As I said I am no even in the same league as the talented ladie in the blogs I have been finding. But it was cute and we all had a great time.

So the next time you ahve a party, don't just put out paper plates and food. Look around your house at the things you already have. Then make a budget for the things you would lilke to buy. Ask friends if you can borrow a few things and before you know it you got a party!!

If you look at the right side of my blog you will see just a few buttons and names of blogs I ahve been to. Just click on them to see all the wonderful things I ahve found. And each one of their blogs as a list of their favorite sites. BEWARE...It's addicting!

I am linking this back to "Between Naps On The Porch"

Setting A Beautiful Table

There is or at least should be more to having a great meal than just the food right? Good friends and family to share it with you and then there is the table......I love to have a pretty tablescape to balance the aromas coming from the kitchen and the laughter coming from around the table. I found this great new blog http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/ and today they went straight to my heart. I have lived her in Utah for almost 18 years but I was born and raised in Florida. The Style Sisters captured what a warm sunny day around the pool or beachside should look like. They are also giving away a set of beautiful napkin rings and I would love to win them.

Here are a few pictures of what can hapen when you buy a few beautiful napkins and then an idea starts to form. I'm sure you will agree with me when I say it's beautiful!!

It all started with these beautiful napkins!

Add a beautiful napkin ring, a plate, and utensils...

A beautiful lanten, some shells and a few candles!

And look at the transformation! I told you it was beautiful.

You can hear the waves crashing and smell the cool ocen

breeze!!

Here is a picture of the napkin rings. You can

also buy them on the Style Sisters blog.

I LOVE COCONUT!!

I love coconut.....anything with coconut in it or on it and I am all over it. Today I found this yummy recipe on one of my favorite sites. http://www.ourbestbites.com/  I just had to have it. You should all check it out. The recipes are amazing!!!

First the moputh watering pictures and then the recipe...LOL

I'm drooling......








Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze


adapted by Our Best Bites from Cooking Light



2 C flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C sugar

1/4 C (4 Tbs) real butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 C mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

1/4 C sour cream or plain yogurt

3 Tbs apple juice or milk*

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C coconut



Topping: 2 Tbs additional coconut

Glaze: 1/2 C powdered sugar whisked with 1 1/2 Tbs fresh lime juice



*as in: don't go buy apple juice just for this recipe. If you don't already have some, just use milk!



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.



In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat to combine. Add banana, sour cream or yogurt, apple juice (or milk), and vanilla. Beat until blended.

Add flour mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 C coconut.



Pour batter into a 9x5" loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle additional 2 Tbs coconut on top.



Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Note: Check bread after about 40 minutes. If the top has browned and the coconut pieces are looking toasty, cover top of bread lightly with a piece of foil. Continue baking until done.



When done, remove pan from oven. Let cool on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Whisk powdered sugar and lime juice together for the glaze and then drizzle over top. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

Some Southern Favorites

Growing up in the south, every day was filled with barefeet, sunshine, and family fun that usually had something to do with food. As far back as I can remember Sunday dinners were the relaxing ending to the previous week and the magical beginning to the week to come. My mom along with my Aunts in the kitchen cooking up all the family favorites. Fried chicken, biscuits, gravy so smooth you could see your reflection in it....and the desserts...don't even get me started on those. So in remembrance of my mom, and my wonderful sunny, barefooted, food filled days in the south...here are a few of my favorites...enjoy!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

1 (3 3/4lb.) cut up whole chicken
3 cups buttermilk
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 cups all purpose flour
Vegatable Oil (about 1/4 inch in your skillet)

 1. Combine chicken and buttermilk in a large non-metal bowl, cober and chill 8-12 hours. Drain chicken discarding the buttermilk.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine salt and pepper, sprinkle half of the salt mixture over chicken. Combine remaining remaining salt mixture and flour in a large zip-lock freezer bag. Place 2 pieces of chicken in bag, seal bag and shake to coat. Remove chicken. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

3. Pour oil to depth of 1/4 inch in a skillet. Fry pieces in 2 batches in hot oil over medium-high heat 5-6 minutes on each side or until browned.

4.Place chicken on a wire rack in a jelly-roll pan. and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

And look at the yummy results!!

Banana Bread Cobbler

1 cup self -rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

4 medium-size ripe bananas sliced

Streusel Topping (recipe at botom)

Vanilla ice cream or whipped topping for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour and next 2 ingredients just until blended, whisk in melted butter. Pour batter into a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish. Top with sliced bananas, and sprinkle with the Streusel Topping.

2. bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with vanilla icecream or whipped topping.

Streusel Topping

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup self- rising flour

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup uncooked regular oats

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Stir togethere brown sugar, flour and butter until crumbly, using a fork. Stir in oats and pecans.

Cinnamon Chip Bunt Cake

If you want a yummy, light and different cake to serve this year on Easter, not that there is anythng wrong withh acrrott cake or a beautiful white cake covered in coconut (my personal favorite) but...if you want something a little lighter and just something out of the box for this particular holiday go to this blog  http://www.theidearoom.blogspot.com/  and try making her Cinnamon Chip Bunt Cake.....OMGosh it is so good!

Come back after you make it and let me know how you liked it...let her know too!

We Have A Winner!!

Okay we have TWO winners because I just couldn't decide...LOL...

Jill and Shandre you are both winners!! Your prize will arrive very soon!!

Thanks for sharing your recipes with all of us!

Orange-Choclate Dipped Macaroons

Orange-Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

1 (7 oz.) package flaked sweetened coconut

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extrat

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites, almonds, orange zest

and both extracts until well blended. Drop dough by tablespponfuls onto baking sheet

1 inch apart, making a total of 20 cookies. Bake until lightly golden. About 25-30 minutes.

Slide parchment paper onto cooling rack and let cool until firm, about 20 minutes.

Peel macaroons off paper, transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely

3. Place chocolate and shortening in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave on

medium just until melted, about 1-2 minutes. Stirring  every 30 seconds. Stir until

smooth, and then cool slightly.

4. Dip one half of each macaroon into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off.

Place on wax paper. Let stand until chocolate sets. About 3 minutes.

If you are on Weight Watchers these cookies are 2 points each.

Spring Recipe Contest!!

With Spring just around the corner (we hope) I thought a Spring recipe contest might be fun.

There is one rule and one rule only....No Jell-O salad recipes!! If you know me at all you know I HATE

Jell-O.

So post your favorite Spring recipe...you know the one you and your family just can't wait for each year after the snow starts to melt and the flowers are starting to poke their heads out. The birds are singing and have not gotten to that annoying wake you up on Saturday morning stage yet...LOL.

Maybe it's a favorite Easter recipe or Sunday brunch. Just post it and I will pick the one that sounds the yummiest to me. So...you want to know what the prize is....I'm not going to tell you...post your recipes and you will see!!

Aloha Paradise Bars

Just found this recipe on the betty Crocker page...they look so yummy. What a great dessert for Easter!

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix


1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

2 cups white vanilla baking chips

1 cup coarsely chopped dried pineapple

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)


1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan.

2. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle with baking chips, pineapple, coconut and nuts. Drizzle evenly with sweetened condensed milk.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool completely. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 2, bake 20 minutes.

Wonderful Site

I copied this from my friends blog, because I knew you would all want to see it. With all of us trying to save money on food this is a great place to get some great info. Check out her blog. There is a link at the bottom of this post.

Don't Toss That Lettuce Yet!


I usually go on a rampage and clean out my fridge every week. As much as I try to use up all my food, including leftovers and produce, there are are some days when food does go bad and I have to toss it.


How do you know if your food or beverage has gone bad, and needs to meet the garbage can?

Check out this site called Still Tasty.
 http://www.stilltasty.com/

You simply search for the food or beverage, indicate how long you've had it in your fridge or pantry, whether it's been opened, and you'll find out if you need to toss it out or not.



Posted by One Cheap Gal
http://www.onecheapgal.com/

Chocolate Trifle

I found this on another blog and just had to share it with you. OMGosh it looks so good. I think I will make one this week and give it away to one of my lucky friends or neighbors!!


Chocolate Trifle
(recipe from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup water

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy



Directions

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch squares.
In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk.
Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.


In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is my son-in-law T's favorite cake. I make him one every year for his birthday, and he usually doesn't share...LOL

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese softened
3 Cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 Cups all purpose flour
1/8 Tbsp. salt
1Tbsp. vanilla extract

1) Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time beating just until blended after each addition.

2) Combine flour and salt: gradually add to the butter mixture beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube or bunt pan.

3) Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes;remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack

This is great plain with a cup of hot chocolate, a cup of coffee of a glass of milk. It's also great with cool whip or ice cream on top. But my favorite way is plain.