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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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! 

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!