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!

New Years Eve - Happy Birthday Fred

New years eve is coming up tomorrow.  My husband Fred's birthday.  Everyone celebrates his birthday!  I'm making one of his favorite dishes for dinner tonight.  Ravioli Casserole.  I love easy recipes and this one is made with frozen cheese ravioli, enhanced jar tomato sauce, grated romano cheese and meatball filling in between. 
I make my meatball recipe and use it crumbled up between each layer of ravioli.  The ravioli are placed in the casserole dish frozen with tomato sauce, making layers of ravioli, meat, sauce, cheese and ravioli again.  Baked for 35 minutes covered, and an additional 15 minutes uncovered. Serve with some fresh crusty italian bread and you will agree that  these are the best tasting ravioli you will ever have. 

Happy Birthday my sweet and HAPPY NEW YEAR  to everyone!

Holiday Sandwich Butter Cookies

Do you have a favorite butter cookie recipe that only comes out on holidays?  I know I do.  I did something a little different this year.  I put two of them together to make a sandwich cookie with vanilla icing in between.  Very pretty to look at and the icing makes the butter cookie just a little sweeter and delicious.  Try this sometime and you may be looking at butter cookies in a different way.....Merry Christmas, happy eating!