really good recipes

I had the pleasure of having my mom & mom-in-law come & visit us on Mother’s day this year.  We went out for lunch, but returned home to enjoy a little dessert.  I whipped up these babies with some help from Tessa the morning of & they got rave reviews by all.

I do love the dessert jar trend & this recipe would work great for that, but I since I decided on making these at the last minute, I made mine in  small flower dishes by R. Woods & also some cute ramekins I received recently as a gift.

Here’s what you’ll need to make 8 mini cheesecakes:

(recipe adapted from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (approx half box)
1 stick butter melted
1/3 cup sugar

24 ounces cream cheese; room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
2 tablespoons of vanilla
sliced strawberries or other topping of choice

Crush graham crackers & mix them with a stick of melted butter & 1/3 cup sugar.  Press them into small bowls or ramekins.  Leave a half cup of graham cracker crust for later use.  You could also set the crushed graham crackers aside & use them parfait style in a dessert jar.

Beat cream cheese, sugar & vanilla together until smooth & fluffy.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until light & airy.  Slowly fold whipping cream into cream cheese mixture until evenly blended.

Dollop the mixture in your graham cracker crust serving bowls & smooth out with a butter knife.  Edge the top of  the cheesecake with remaining graham cracker crust.  Place in refrigerator for 4 or more hours.  Then top with your favorite fruit. (see… there is at least ONE healthy ingredient ;-)

Enjoy with family & friends.  Happy Mother’s Day moms!

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After searching high & low for clever egg salad recipes last week, I decided to try out the Mexican themed one with our extra Easter eggs.

Here’s what you’ll need for a serving size for 4-6.

8 boiled eggs

4 roma tomatoes

1 small onion

2 avocados

4 tablespoons of mayo

2 tablespoons of skim milk

4 tablespoons of lime juice

1/2 cup of feta cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Chop up the eggs, tomatoes & onion.  Place in bow with feta cheese.

Mash up avocados & squeeze lime juice.  Add mayo & milk, then mix together until smooth.  Add to eggs & tomatoes & mix together.  I served this as a dip with tortilla chips, but it could be served on bread or pita too.  It was a perfect Easter evening dinner that was simple to make and surprisingly filling.

Are you going to have a dozen or more hard boiled eggs sitting in your fridge after Easter?  Turn them into a scrumptious lunch with one of these tasty twists on traditional egg salad.

Swap out the mayo and mustard for curry & yogurt for this artisan blend.  Add a little crunch with apples & pecans —oh yum!  From 101 Cookbooks

Bacon makes everything better right?  Plus some green olives add a bit of extra saltiness that will have you smacking your lips for more.  From Epicurious

For a little Latin flair, how about adding some avocado, tomatoes & lime to the mix?  From Home Made Simple

You can always stick with a more traditional recipe, but dress it up with some sun-dried tomato pesto, greens & a squeeze of lemon.  From une-deux senses

Bring on the heat by adding some jalapenos & cilantro to this south of the border mix.  From Homesick Texan

This last one is for those who aren’t big fans of mayo – but like their ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt & red peppers.  From Shutterbean

Having friends over for a little green themed party?  Looking to surprise your co-workers with an afternoon snack?  Want to make your kiddo’s day extra special?  Here are a few green treats that we think will make March 17th memorable.

marshmallow pops (also could be great for Michigan State March Madness :-) from Love From The Oven

shamrock shake cupcakes from three little monkeys studio

homemade shamrock tortilla chips from zakka life

triple layer mint oreo brownies from averie cooks

shamrock juice from creative juice

Irish style dirt cake from quick dish

Cheers to a St Patrick’s Day filled with lots of luck!

Since St. Patty’s Day is right around the corner we’d thought it would be fun to share a few colorful rainbow recipes.

As the legend goes… The leprechaun is the official custodian of gold & other buried treasures that the rainbows end denotes. The treasure belongs to all of the fairies, however the leprechaun remembers where the invading Danes buried their loot when they arrived in Ireland, so he was the obvious choice for the job! He’s also very cunning and sly, so if the treasure is ever in danger of being discovered by a mortal,legend has it the leprechaun can usual trick the unwitting human out of his booty!

rainbow cake by brown button

fruit rainbow by tangled & true

rainbow jello by glorious treats

rainbow cocktail by alcademics

rainbow ice cream cone cake bites by sugar swings

mini rainbow pancakes by preparing the soil

Tessa is celebrating her 16th birthday with us & since she LOVES owls so much, we found these cuties to make for her birthday party.

They were really quite easy to make &  look fantastic in a big flock.

I like the look of overflowing cupcake tops so my cake mix made 16 giant cupcakes.

Tessa frosted them… aren’t her cupcake nails adorable?  Next comes making the cute owl eyes…

Then place the eyes on the cupcake, add the oreo ears & m&m for the beak … ta dah!

Cupcakes with LOTS of personality! (just like the birthday girl ;-)

I do love my junior mints & york peppermint patties so when I stumbled upon this tasty recipe, I needed to try it.   I made a double batch so I could serve some up at my new year’s eve party & our staff celebration this Saturday.

These are fairly easy to make & were a big hit at our party.  They are very rich so keeping them a small size is a good idea.

Here’s what you need:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract

1-2 cups chocolate chips

1 teaspoon of crisco

I added a little extra evaporated milk & vegetable oil to the original recipe because it was just too dry & made a big powdery mess.

It might be a good idea to place the mixing bowl in the sink when you first start mixing since there is so much powdered sugar to blend with a small amount of liquid.

Gus definitely helps me keep the floor clean of any crumbs or powdered sugar sprinkles.

Roll the mint mix into a ball & press into a patty, then place them in the freezer to harden.

Put the crisco in the chocolate chips & microwave until melted.  Once the patties are firm, dip them into chocolate & place them on waxed paper.  If you have extra chocolate left over, drizzle across for a little fancier look.  Then place in freezer.

My double batch made around 30 patties & oh did they taste gooood!

These also could be fun for Valentine’s Day treats tied with a silly saying like… you & me are mint to be

After finding this tempting recipe by Miss Martha, I thought it would make a great pairing to my hot chocolate mix I was planning on giving my neighbors for the holidays.  The intentions were there… but my time ran out so the hot cocoa went out solo.  However Tessa & I did manage to make one batch right before Christmas.

Normally I’m all about simple recipes that look & taste fabulous… this one is not simple but the latter does apply.  Plus it’s pretty cool to tell everyone that you know how to make your own marshmallows ;-)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat the parchment with cooking spray, and set pan aside. Put sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; let mixture come to a boil. Raise heat to medium-high; cook until mixture registers 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl; let stand 5 minutes to soften. Set the bowl with the gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in extract; set aside.

Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.

Whisk gelatin mixture into sugar mixture; with mixer running, gradually add to egg whites. Mix on high speed until very thick, 10 to 12 minutes.

Pour mixture into lined pan. Working quickly, drop dots of red food coloring across surface of marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl food coloring into marshmallow to create a marbleized effect. Let marshmallow stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.

This batch made 30 marshmallows.  The dyed marbling was a fun touch, but I don’t know if I’d add it again as some of it bled through the powdered sugar coating & looked a little horror-movie-like as opposed to candy-cane-lane.

The subtle minty taste & marvelous melting qualities of these gems give them a 4 star rating!

Tessa & I made just enough of these to give to a few family members & friends on Christmas Eve.  Since most of the gift giving is geared towards the kids in our families, I like to surprise the adults with a little something special.

I like to surprise my neighbors & party guests with a little extra something around the holidays so this year, I whipped up some tasty hot chocolate they could enjoy throughout the season.

This mix is really simple to make & when presented in dressed up jelly jars, it really makes a lovely gift.

This amount makes 60 oz of powdered mix. I used 12 oz jelly jars so each batch filled 5 jars.

4 cups of powdered milk

2 cups powdered sugar

1.5 cups of cocoa

1 cup powdered creamer

1 cup mini chocolate chips (dark or white depending on your preference)

I bought the Costco sized goods & it easily made over 48 jars of cocoa-ness.

Add some labels using double sided tape or print on large Avery label sheets.  Get hot cocoa pdf & top lid label.

Dress up the jar with some of your favorite ribbon & findings.

I also love the idea of surprising friends with this tasty treat for Valentine’s Day.  All you need to do is switch up the felt findings…

Tessa tried it with our homemade peppermint marshmallows & we both agreed it was rather delicious!