Thursday, November 22, 2012

Today is not only a day of Thanks and great food,  but,  don't forget the football games!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

MMMM Good!

Here come da pies!  Thanksgiving is only a few days away.  Have you gotten your desserts yet?

Friday, November 16, 2012

Turkey Day is only 5 days away!  Are you ready?  This is one of my favorite holidays for food!  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, caranberries, green bean casserole!  MMMMM.  Can't wait.  Big group this year so two giant turkey cakes for dessert besides the pumpkin and pecan pies.





Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It's been a while since I added a post to my blog.  Time sometimes gets away from me and before you know it - it's Thanksgiving.  I hope all of you are preparing and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I am baking pumpkin pies and pecan pies as well as cheesecakes to sell to friends and family.  I am quite busy, but I love it.  Looking forward to having a nice Thanksgiving with friends.  Eat well and enjoy!


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Cherries, cherries, cherries!

Summer fruit is very plentiful now.  I purchased some cherries in the grocery store the other day that looked beautiful.  They were dark and had a lot of stems on them,  however,  after getting them home and tasting them,  they were sour!  We didn't want to eat them and I really didn't want to take them back to the store,  so I made a cherry cobbler with them.  I must say,  after I added sugar to them, and a cobbler topping,  they were delicious!  Baked it for about 45 minutes and served it with some cool whip!  MMMMMM.....

Monday, July 23, 2012

Easy and Delicious Treats!

These cupcakes are so easy to make the family will love them.  All the ingredients are store bought. 
1 box devils food cake mix.  Prepare according to package directions.  24 cupcake cups.  1 can chocolate frosting and 1 can vanilla frosting.  1 can of Black Cherries with juice.
Bake cakes and poke them with a fork after they are done.  Pour 1 Tablespoon of cherry juice over each cupcake.  Let them cool completely before swirling them with chocolate and vanilla frosting.  Put a cherry on top of each and drizzle a little juice over frosting.  They are really tasty. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Chocolate Almond Mini cheesecakes

I'm liking the new Duncan Hines Frosting Creations frosting.  I made mini cheesecakes using the Chocolate Almond flavor and they were delicious.  Topping them with sliced almonds and also putting some of the frosting in the batter makes these little creations great!  Try it with any cheesecake recipe and see what happens. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

50th Wedding Anniversary


Being married for 50 years is quite an accomplishment these days!  I was very happy to make this cake for a lovely couple this past week who celebrated 50 years together.  Many more years to you both.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy 4th of July!


Celebrate with this light and delicious Red White and Blue Yogurt Cake.  Uses a white cake mix,  following directions on package and adding 16 ounces of flavored yogurt.  Bake in 9x13 or in layers as I did.  I added blueberries to one layer and raspberry to the other.  Make the frosting by mixing cool whip and 16 ounces of yogurt.  Different and delicious!  Have a safe holiday...

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Beat the Heat

It sure is hot!  Beat the heat with a cool, refreshing summer salad.  Heavy meals don't sit well in the heat.  You may not move around as much as you would if it were a little cooler. Try a cool, easy to make, refreshing summer salad.   This one has bibb lettuce, manderin oranges, strawberries, and a light creamy dressing.  Add a few nuts if you like.  This salad is sure to please.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ethnic Cookies are good anytime of the year.

I came across a recipe for a cookie my friend used to make years ago and bring to work.  It's a Rugelach cookie.  I believe this cookie is an Eastern European treat.    Her recipe was a bit complicated so I tried it a different, easy way and boy oh boy, it was delish!
Instead of making the dough,  I used two rolled up pie crusts.  The filling usually is dried fruit with apricot preserves.  I used cinnamon, nuts and not only apricot preserves, but raspberry.  They were unbelievably easy and excellent tasting.  The recipe is attached.  They are a favorite around this house!


Rugelach Cookies

½ c brown sugar
¼ c walnuts chopped
¼ c mini chocolate chips
2 Pillsbury Ready to use Pie Crust rolls
½ c apricot or raspberry preserves


Unroll the two dough rolls.
Cut each in half.
Separate so you have 4 halves
Mix the brown sugar, walnuts and chocolate chips.
Spread 2 halves of each crust with apricot or raspberry preserves
Sprinkle the sugar mixture over each half of the dough.
Roll the dough starting at the rounded edge to the straight edge.
Press gently.
Cut each roll into 1 inch pieces and arrange on parchment paper cookie sheet

Bake 350 degree oven for 17 minutes, or until lightly browned.
The filling will spread out when baking.  Let them cool completely on the parchment paper.  Remove each cookie and break off the extra filling that melted.

Makes 32 cookies.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Pie Please!

Try this one:  find a good recipe for homemade apple pie filling.  Next take ripe strawberries and use them in the recipe instead of apples!  I tried it and the results were amazing.  See for yourself!


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

'Tis the season, strawberry season that is!

Now is the time for the best strawberries of the year.  They are ripe and sweet and a treat to eat!  What are you waiting for?  If you haven't already,  take a frozen pound cake, slice it lengthwise into three slices,  load it with strawberry flavored cream cheese frosting and fresh berries.  The possibilities are endless. 
If you're not into baking, try dipping strawberries in melted chocolate bark for a real summer treat!  Have fun and ENJOY!

Cook of the Week!


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Wow today's the day!  The Daily Herald newspaper should have my interview in it.  I'm so excited to see it.  You can download it online by going to http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120612/entlife/706129965/   Check it out for my tiramisu recipe along with recipes for Mom's Ricotta Cookies and Tamale Pie!   Thanks.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It's been a few months since I wrote anything on my blog.  Been very busy cooking and baking and trying to win contests!  I am going to be in the Daily Herald newspaper on Wednesday, June 13.  They are doing a spread on me as "Cook of the Week".  I'm so excited.  I hope my interview will be presented well.  I'm attaching the photo of the Tiramisu I made for the photo shoot.  It will be exciting!  Enjoy.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Black Cherry Mini Cheesecakes

I was fooling around with Duncan Hines newest frosting creations, cherry vanilla, the other day and I had the idea to make a black cherry cheesecake.  My husband was having a meeting and wanted me to bake something that could be individually eaten, so,  I made individual cheesecakes!  These were delicious.  And yes, the Duncan Hines frosting really put a finishing flavor touch to it!   These are worth a try.  Here's the recipe.

Black Cherry Mini Cheesecakes
    • 1 packet of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Cherry Vanilla Flavor Mix and 1 can of Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter
    • 1 can dark cherries in juice
    • 12 ounces softened cream cheese
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 1 tsp lemon juice
      1 tsp cherry juice
    • 1/2 cup sour cream
      24 Vanilla wafer cookies
    • 1 tsp juice from cherries

1.      Pour pack of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Cherry Vanilla Flavor Mix into can of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter. Stir until evenly blended.
2.      Open and drain the can of cherries (need 1 tsp for batter)
3.      Mix the softened cream cheese with sugar until blended.
4.      Add the lemon juice and cherry juice.
5.      Mix until incorporated. Next add the eggs one at a time.
6.      Scrape the side of the bowl and blend the eggs totally in.
7.      Stir in the sour cream.
8.      Line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake papers.
9.      Place 1 vanilla wafer in the bottom of each paper.ll.
10. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cups about 2/3 full.
11. Place 2 cherries on the top of each cake before baking.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes.
13. Allow to cool and refrigerate over night.
14. Using a pastry bag, pipe a dollop of the cherry frosting on each cake.
15. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

YUMMMM.

    Thursday, April 12, 2012

    Easter Deviled Eggs


    Easter is a great time for hard boiled eggs.  We've all colored them at one time or another, however,  this Easter instead of only coloring the shells,  I peeled them, colored the whites and made the yellows into deviled eggs!  Easy, cute idea,  try it sometime!

    Friday, March 2, 2012

    Antipasto Salad

    Hello everyone! 
    Here is an interesting way to serve an antipasta salad.  I usually mix all the meats, cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and anything else I want in one large bowl to serve.    This time I took a lazy susan and put the lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes in a larger salad bowl along with the dressing and had all the other ingredients in their own little bowls around.     I was able to have the delicious salami, mortadella, black olives, green olives, chunks of provolone cheese, artichokes and pepperoncini so that everyone could put whatever they liked on their salad plate.  Accompanied it with breadsticks and my guests really enjoyed it . It  made a great presentation.  Yummmm.


    Monday, February 20, 2012

    February is half over already!

    Time is flying by this year.  Spent the month of January in Florida so I didn't have much access to my computer.  February has so many things happening:  Valentines Day, Presidents Day, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and an extra day "29".  Hope you are enjoyed your Valentines Day as much as I did,  never miss an opportunity to indulge in white chocolate dipped strawberries! 

    Tuesday, January 3, 2012

    Starting a New Year!

    Well, starting a new year with very cold weather today.  Not much going on in the kitchen as I have to go grocery shopping,  so,  grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup.  Not very original but my husband used to have it a lot when he was a kid.  He still loves it.  Super fast, super easy and delicious!