St. Swithin -- the weather saint

On Monday, you'll find the feast of St. Swithin on the liturgical calendar. For a lovely summer cake to celebrate the day, pop over to Catholic Cuisine and you'll find a recipe for a delicious blueberry cake.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip

I did not realize this dish looked like a sunflower until Faith saw the picture and said so (duh!). It would be great if you had a sunflower theme. You might do a better job of arranging the apples than I did. Of course if you want it to look like a sunflower be sure and use yellow, or mostly yellow apples like I did.

It's hard to decide what to indulge in this time of year. All the wonderful harvest foods, like fresh apples and pumpkin) have so many variations, one could never get tired of them. Or at least not while the leaves are falling.

This past weekend I scheduled an appetizer night, an event my family loves where we fill our plates with the kinds of foods we don't get to eat except on the rare occasion we serve an appetizer -- very rare, I assure you. For dessert, what's better than another appetizer style dish -- dip!

This recipe turned out so wonderful, I would be tempted to eat it every day. It wouldn't be healthy to eat every day, as I can always turned something very healthy -- a juicy, fresh apple -- into something unhealthy. This time I can blame Michelle at The Brown-Eyed Baker for turning a healthy food into a sweet treat. It took less than a week after Michelle posted this recipe for me to try it. That's just about a record. The boys liked this dessert, but not as much as Faith and I did. We hovered over the plate until our bellies hurt.

I made the recipe almost like Michelle did, except I cheated and used Smucker's Caramel Ice Cream Sauce, since I was already making several appetizers for dinner. I also omitted the Heath Bits because of Noah's nut allergy. I did sprinkle the caramel sauce with sea salt, but it may have been lost in all the other flavors. I wouldn't say it was crucial. I also used two 8 oz blocks of cream cheese, for a total of 16 oz., simply because I wasn't paying attention. I would recommend using the 16 oz because when are you ever going to use up that little chunk of cream cheese left over? I also may or may not have quadrupled the amount of caramel sauce. Hey, her first name is Caramel.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip

serves about 10 

16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup powdered sugar

3 T. heavy cream

½ t. vanilla extract

1 cup caramel sauce, divided

2 T. Heath bits, divided

2 T. mini chocolate chips, divided

 fresh apples, cored and sliced (I used a mix of Jonagolds and Golden Delicious -- my Goldens were slightly tart)

 Line a 4-to-6-inch round pan or bowl with plastic wrap, using enough so that the excess hangs over the sides of the pan; set aside. I would suggest a bowl with a rounded bottom for a rounded top when you flip it.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla extract and beat again until completely combined and smooth, another 1 to 2 minutes.

Spread half of the cream cheese mixture into the plastic wrap-lined pan, smoothing it into an even layer. Top with half of the caramel sauce, spreading it to within a ½-inch of the sides of the pan. Sprinkle with half of the Heath bits and mini chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and top with the remaining cream cheese mixture, spreading it in an even layer to the edges of the pan. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the top of the cream cheese. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

When ready to serve, remove the pan from the refrigerator, pull back the plastic wrap and invert into the center of a serving plate. Remove the remaining plastic wrap. Top with the remaining caramel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Heath bits and mini chocolate chips. Serve with apple slices. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Source: Brown-Eyed Baker

Oat Flour Apple Blueberry Crisp

Since I "went wheat-free" again recently, I have, for the most part avoided sweet treats. The few sweets I have baked, I have used oat flour, which I really like using. It doesn't have the same properties as wheat, by and large, but in some dishes it really doesn't matter. And it takes great -- far superior to wheat in the taste department. It doesn't create the same crumb in cookies and cakes, but in the fruit crisp it creates a perfect "crisp" on top of a bed of lovely fall fruit.

I decided to add a cup of blueberries to my apple crisp because a) I love blueberries in anything, and b) I had them in the fridge and they needed to get used. You could certainly go sola malum (a rough translation of "only apple" in Latin), but I do love the combo of apples and berries. I checked with my youngest son who has peanut and tree nut allergies to see if he had any intention of enjoying my crisp, and he responded "I hate blueberries." Gasp! Blaspheme! Anyway, I added walnuts because I knew he wouldn't even be tempted. They were a wonderful addition.

If you are not watching your calories, enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of this crisp right out of the oven, and if you are, just drizzle with half & half. {wink}

I create my own oat flour with old-fashioned oats and the food processor. It makes a rather texture flour. If you prefer a smooth flour, by a certified gluten-free oat flour, and, of course, wheat-free oats.

Do you see how the ice cream melts and becomes one with the apple crisp? Yum. Half & half does the same thing. Yum, yum.

Oat Flour Apple Crisp

serves 6

3/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

4 T. salted butter

3 T. coconut oil (solid)

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

5 medium sweet-tart apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if using fresh, rinse)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In an 8 x 8 glass plan, place apple pieces and rinsed blueberries. Squeeze lemon juice into pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Toss gently.

In a medium bowl, place oat flour, first two measures of sugars, cinnamon and salt. Add butter and coconut oil. Cut butter and coconut oil into flour with fingers or fork. Add oats and walnuts, and toss to combine. Sprinkle topping over fruit and bake for 45 to 60 minutes until fruit is bubbly and tender. Serve immediately with ice cream or cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

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she ain't pretty, but she sure is tasty

a green brown smoothie

The other day, I was informed by a friend that another friend (one I don't know, but who is apparently also a reader here -- hello, friend!) thinks I "should try drinking green smoothies" as maybe they will help some of the health issues I am having. Hmmm. Yeah, green smoothies are very popular these days, and rightly so. They are packed with nutrients, but not hard to make.

My biggest problem with smoothies, and probably the reason I don't drink them every day, is IC patients can't consume much fruit (scroll down to the fruits on this list). No strawberries, no orange juice, no granny smith apples, the usual ingredients in a green smoothie. Those fruits have too much acid and IC patients have to be very careful about consuming acidic foods. I have learned though, that I can handle blueberries, some apples and bananas. So I decided to give it a try with the ingredients I know I can handle.

I bought a big box of organic, baby spinach yesterday, and today for lunch I enjoyed my first green smoothie, which was really brown because apparently blue and green make brown (not what I learned in kindergarten, but that's ok). It was really tasty. I used what I had on-hand plus the spinach I bought. These are ingredients I always have on hand so as long as I buy spinach I can enjoy one every day. Yum.

A couple tricks:

When bananas get beyond edible (too many brown spots -- which by the way, bananas with a lot of spots contain high levels of dopamin quinine, a naturally occuring dopamine -- good for your mood and leg cramps!) I peel them and break them in pieces and put them in a freezer bag in the freezer -- they are great for popping in your smoothie because the frozen, creamy banana makes the smoothie more palatable.

Buy juice boxes. Yeah, I know they create trash, but if you are only using juice in a smoothie, you'll never drink the entire bottle before it goes bad. You could freeze it in ice cube trays, but my kids are always happy to drink the juice left in the box after I make my smoothie, so I just buy 100% juice boxes.

Add some flaxseed or flaxseed oil to your. Flaxseed is really nutrient rich, and a little goes a long way. I have been adding flaxseed meal to granola and now to my smoothie. One or two tablespoons is plenty and 2 tablespoons of flaxseed have more than a day's worth of omega-3s. Even if you take fish oil pills, it's best to get at least half of your omega-3s from food. You can use flaxseed oil if you don't like the texture (it thickens the smoothie a little), but flaxseed oil doesn't have the fiber that you get from the meal. The oil also doesn't have the phytoestrogens found in the seed, so if you have to avoid plant estrogens, go with the oil. Flaxseed is fibrous so it can cause bowel trouble. Go slow to begin with. And pregnant and nursing women probably should avoid flaxseed and its oil altogether.

My Green Smoothie 

makes enough for two -- or one really big one

1 golden delicious apple, cut from the core, leave the skin on

1 banana, peeled, frozen and broken in a couple pieces

1/3 cup blueberries, washed

1 cup packed baby spinach leaves, washed 

1/4 cup apple or pear juice, more if needed to thin smoothie

2 T. Greek yogurt, plain (I used Fage 2%)

1/4 cup almond coconut milk (use regular milk if you like, but the almond and coconut milk has more calcium and vitamin E)

Blend all ingredients in the blender (even my old -- really old -- Oster blender handled it). Pour in a glass and drink. If you want to save half of the smoothie for later, place in a container in the freezer and defrost later. 

Banana Oat Pancakes (Wheat Free, if need be)

I headed into week two of wheat free. So far, no results, but I'm gonna stick with it. I also removed oats from my diet last week, but I really just didn't have my heart in it. I eat a lot of oats. Probably not quantity a lot, but a little here and there, and I had really nothing to fill that gap with. So I added back wheat-free oats this week and I am much happier. I can eat my granola and I can eat these pancakes.

These are a real treat. They are sweet and creamy (from the banana) and filling. I can't help it, I just feel happy with a belly full of grain. I'm like a horse, I guess.

These were also super easy to make, and a great use for those ripe bananas. I bought wheat free oats (not necessary unless you are avoiding wheat) and just whirled them in the processor until they were a coarse flour -- just a minute. They are a little delicate while they are cooking, so take it easy when you're flipping. I topped mine with just a pat of butter and some fresh, sweet blueberries. Syrup is completely optional. The recipe came from cookieandkate.

Just thinking about these delightful pancakes makes me think I might need one for dessert. yum.

 Banana Oat Pancakes

makes 6-8 pancakes

3 small bananas (9.5 ounces), mashed (I used two medium because my bananas are never small)

2 T. coconut oil or butter, melted (I used butter)

1 T. lemon juice 

1 t. honey or maple syrup (I used honey)

2 eggs

1 cup oat flour*

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I omitted)

In a medium bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil (or butter), lemon juice and honey (or maple syrup).

Beat in the eggs. If your coconut oil goes back to its solid state like mine did at this point, just warm the mixture for short 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, until it is melted again.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. With a big spoon, stir just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Do not overmix or you’ll run the risk of getting tough pancakes.

Let the batter sit for 10 minutes. You may want to thin out the batter a bit with a touch of milk or water, I did not.

Heat a heavy cast iron skillet (or nonstick griddle) over medium-low heat. If necessary, lightly oil the surface with vegetable oil or cooking spray.

Once the surface of the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles on it, pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan. Let the pancake cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the cake.

When the pancake is just beginning to set, flip it with a spatula and cook for another 90 seconds or so, until golden brown on both sides.

Source: cookieandkate

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Strawberries, sour cream, and turbinado...oh my

You know about three in the afternoon, when your rear starts to drag, and you seriously wonder whether you can make it until 9 p.m. when you might possibly be able to at least sit, if not lie, down.

I have a little pick-me-up for you.

A little sumpin' sumpin' (no, no, not the alcoholic kind, just the special treat kind).

I had read about these little babies in a few places on the web, but really, they didn't sound so special, until one day I guess I must have actually thought about it, or maybe it was just the arrival of really good strawberries at the grocery store, and I thought, "Hmmm, that might be worth trying."

And I did.

Last evening, Doug took the kids up to the pool for exactly one hour after dinner, and I had all the dinner dishes to wash and put away. But when I finished...I pulled out a brand new, just-bought-that-day quart of strawberries, the (full fat) sour cream (and the Greek yogurt just for testing sake), and the box of turbinado sugar (which had exactly one and one-half tablespoons left in it -- well not exactly, but pretty close. I didn't measure.)

Rinse berries and blot dry with a paper towel. Check. (I washed three)

Stir the sour cream up until creamy and dip two strawberries. I dipped the third in Greek yogurt. Check. (Yeah, just dip them right in the container. Who's gonna tell?)

Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Check.

Place on a pretty plate and repeat with two more (Or however many you want, but don't share. Do. Not. Share. This is mommy's treat.)

Take plate and sit -- you must sit and enjoy.

Bite the end off and then nibble, nibble all the way around until there is nothing left but leaves. (I tossed those over the deck rail so I didn't have to see them on my plate.)

In no time at all I ate all three and then I.licked.the.plate. I did! Really. Nobody was watching.

And then I went back to the kitchen where I had put everything away because I was so convinced these little babies were going to be no big deal and I got it all back out, except I got the brown sugar out since there was no more turbinado sugar. And I tested it (just for you, my friend) to see if the brown sugar was as good. And it was not. But it was good, so if you only have brown sugar, go for it. But I really do like the crunchiness of the turbinado sugar.

Oh my, just thinking about them makes me anxious for three o'clock. Except I have a sick little chick up in bed and I can't run to the store for more turbinado. I'll just muddle through with brown sugar.

I tell you there might not be enough strawberries left in the world for these babies.

You'll thank me. You will.

PS There was only a slight difference in the ones made with sour cream and the one with Greek Yogurt. I used 2% Fage Greek yogurt, so it could have been the little bit of extra fat from the full fat sour cream that made the difference. Don't skimp here. Go for the real deal, but in a pinch the Greek yogurt will do.

Pentecost Dessert

This past weekend was action-packed with cooking. In fact, I felt like I was in the kitchen from Saturday afternoon to Monday night. I don't mind having folks over, but on big holiday weekends it does get to be a lot.

 On Sunday, we celebrated the holiday with my family, because my Mom's birthday always falls right around Memorial Day and we celebrated her birthday. It also happened to be Pentecost Sunday, so we enjoyed two desserts -- both of which would make nice desserts for future Pentecost Sundays.

The first are the Tongues of Fire cupcakes that were posted at Catholic Cuisine. Little Miss Fancy Pants Kelly made those cupcakes pictured at Catholic Cuisine and I'll tell you -- those little tongues of fire are not easy! It would have helped had I purchased the mini marshmallows I was supposed to buy (had three bags of the big kind in my pantry but nary a mini in sight). I made about 100 tongues before I was satisfied with enough for five cupcakes. And then I frosted and sprinkled sugar on the rest. It was 10 p.m. Saturday night and I was done (in more ways than one)!

The cupcakes were yummy red velvet and the frosting traditional cream cheese -- both found here.

The second dessert was a gorgeous fruit tart pie that I first saw at Cheryl's. I looked all over my Podunk little town for a tart pan and came up with nothing. But I was so determined to make that dessert I decided to make it in a pie plate. Bad move. It was pretty, and very tasty, but I pretty much had to dig it out of the pie pan. I guess I'll order a tart pan from amazon because it was good I want to be able to make it over and over. If you want to make it for Pentecost just call it a Fruits of the Holy Spirit Tart. We only had five fruits, but who's counting? I told them to pick their favorite five fruits (of the spirit). I made Paula's recipe (other than using a pie pan instead of a tart pan) just as the recipe was written. Oh, and I heated up some homemade strawberry jam and strained it instead of making the glaze.

I'm linking up to the gals over at Catholic Cuisine if you want to check some other great ideas for celebrating our Church's birthday!

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I am loving Pinterest if for no other reason than I see a lot of recipes I would not otherwise see. This cake recipe is one of those, and as soon as I saw the words strawberry, yogurt, and cake in the same recipe, I knew it was a done deal. It took about two days for me to stop at the market and get what I needed.

This cake was like no cake I have ever had. It was so moist, almost like a cheesecake, and packed with flavor. Sweet, but not too, and tangy from the yogurt. Delish! As I said, I spied the recipe on Pinterest, but it came from A Spicy Perspective.Thanks, Sommer, for a great recipe.

I modified a little, to cut back on the acid and then just because. I omitted the lemon zest, but surely did not notice (though if acid is not an issue for you, go for it!). I also used a scant 2 cups of sugar, (maybe 2 cups minus 2 T) but might cut back even farther next time. I also used milk for the glaze instead of lemon juice and doubled the powdered sugar because I wanted a substantial glaze. (For less sugar, use the original measure.) I like a not-so-sweet cake with sweet icing.

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

scant 2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 Tb. lemon juice, divided (or use milk for glaze)

Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt (I used plain)

12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced

1 cup powdered sugar (double for a white glaze like mine)

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) 

Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest, if using, and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.

Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.

Spoon batter into the Bundt pan (I find using an ice cream scoop to be helpful). Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice (or milk) and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Source: Modified from A spicy Perspective

St. Paddy's Day treats

It's been awhile since I posted. My sincere apologies. Dinners have been bare bones around here, by and large, which is good timing for Lent even if it wasn't intentional. I did manage to muster the fortitude to party on St. Patrick's Day and my kids (and husband and mother) were most appreciative.

We enjoyed Jessica's Guinness Stew which never fails to please, served over a pile of buttery mashed potatoes. Yum. And, of course, Soda Bread.

We also enjoyed a silly St. Paddy's Day fruit salad, which, fortunately was nutritious and tasty as well as silly. I thought I had accounted for all my colors in the rainbow, but when assembling realized I missed violet. Oh well.

Red: strawberries
Orange: orange slices
Yellow: bananas
Green: kiwi
Blue: blueberries
Indigo: blackberries

The pots of gold are rolos and the clouds are marshmallows (or the marshmallows are clouds, in case ya didn't get that).




We also enjoyed some Leprechaun Bait. I saw it on Pinterest as Bunny Bait and if you google Bunny Bait you'll see a hundred recipes so I'll not link, not knowing the "original."

This is a flexible recipe and you could make it with lots of ingredients or just a few. I used popcorn, crispix cereal and pretzel M&Ms -- just the green and orange -- Ireland's flag colors, and vanilla candy coating. I have to say the popcorn got rather soggy so I don't know if I used too much vanilla coating or the popcorn is supposed to get soft, but I didn't like it and would use something different next time -- maybe plain Bugles, or corn chex and pretzels. You could add nuts if your people like nuts and colored sprinkles if you can find the right colors. I could not find just green sprinkles at the grocer. For Bunny bait you can use pastel M&Ms and pastel sprinkles -- cute, cute. And for Elf Bait, you can use Christmas M&Ms and Turkey Bait -- fall M&Ms. You get the idea -- a multi-holiday treat.

If you serve it, be certain to tell your family that it's sweet. Both my mother and husband grabbed a handful and thought it was salty popcorn which resulted in some strange facial expressions.


My mom also brought over some Shamrock Shortbread cookies. I don't have a recipe, but if you want it, I'll get it. Just ask.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is the brunt of many a joke -- that stuff that comes out of the can in a solid lump looking nothing like sauce -- but it need not be. Cranberry sauce is easily one of the most simple menu items you will prepare for Thanksgiving -- as easy as mashed potatoes. My son Geoffrey asks for it every year. It's his "it's not Thanksgiving without..." menu item. He makes it only slightly more complicated for me by requesting it be completely smooth and chunk-free. It adds an extra step or two to traditional cranberry sauce, but he's my baby (and I tease him that he likes his cranberry sauce baby food style). If you like a chunky sauce, just stop after you cook the mixture, refrigerate and pull it out an hour or two before dinner is served. I made mine last night.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

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1 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice (not from concentrate, either fresh squeezed or good bottled juice)

1/2 cup water

3 cups rinsed cranberries 

1 pear, peeled, cored and diced (you could also use an apple or just omit entirely)

Combine sugar, water and orange juice in a saucepan. 

Turn onto medium heat. Add cranberries and pear. Bring to a simmer and turn down slightly so it doesn't bowl over. Cook for about 10 minutes. You will hear the cranberries popping -- that's good. Cook until pear is soft and cranberries look pretty well popped.

If you want a chunky sauce, pour mixture into a storage bowl and cover. Refrigerate until Thanksgiving.

For a smooth, seed and pulp-free sauce, cool mixture slightly. Pour into food processor or blender. Process (or blend) until pureed.

A little at a time, pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl, using a spatula to scrape the seeds aside. Cover and refrigerate until Thanksgiving. Spoon sauce into a serving dish.

Peach Crumb Bars

About midway through the month of August I stopped by a local orchard and bought myself a couple pecks of peaches, one to eat and one to bake with. The peach I bought to bake with were seconds -- not perfectly shaped, but perfectly usable. They were white peaches, which are not quite as "peachy" as the old-fashioned peaches, but they were mighty tasty in these Peach Crumb Bars. This was a simple recipe, quick to put together, and they were a wonderful treat. I sent the leftovers to work with Doug so I wouldn;t be tempted to eat the whole pan by myself.

The recipe came from Brown-Eyed Baker and the only change I made was to omit the spices. Because the peaches were so mild I didn't want to over power them.

Peach Crumb Bars

24 bars

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3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg, lightly beaten

5 cups diced or sliced peaches (about 7 peaches, peeled)
2 T. lemon juice
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (I did not use)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (I did not use)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter, and then the egg. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place the pan and the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Place the diced (or sliced) peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and spices, if using. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.

Spread the peach mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Source: Brown-Eyed Baker

Frozen Key Lime Pie

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I stepped out the back door this morning to let the dog out, and the air felt cool, light, and oh-so-slightly fall-like. I could breathe. Oh my goodness, I think my lethargy this past summer might have something to do with lower oxygen levels in my blood -- for the humidity all summer long I felt like I could hardly breathe.

Anyway, when I got that breath of fresh, cool air this morning, I realized there were some yummy summer recipes that I had not yet shared with you, one of which being this wonderful Frozen Key Lime Pie. I, myself, am not big on Key Lime Pie, but I tell you, I could have eaten this entire pie by myself, it was that good. The recipes comes from my new, favorite ice cream cookbook, A Passion for Ice Cream.

One thing I like about this cookbook is it not only offers great ice cream recipes, but it offers recipes using those great ice creams. This recipe, however, does not use ice cream -- it's made to be just this pie. The crust is made with sugar cone crumbs (yum!), and it is topped with a macadamia nut whipped cream, which we unfortunately had to do without because of my son's tree nut/peanut allergy (I'm sure it's wonderful, however and I have included the measure of nuts in the ingredients in case you want to use them). If you don't use the nut cream you could top the pie with some grated lime peel, or just leave is clean like I did.

Note: I used Rose's lime juice instead of key lime juice as neither key limes nor their juice are available at any of my local grocers.

Frozen Key Lime Pie

serves 8-10

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12 sugar cones, broken up

6 T. butter, melted

6 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Key Lime juice (I substituted Rose's lime juice available either in the juice aisle or with bar mixers)

1/8 t. salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Whipped topping

3/4 c. whipping cream

1 T. sugar

1/4 t. vanilla

2/3 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and roughly chopped (optional)

Place sugar cones in processor and grind them to fine crumbs. Add butter and pulse until combined. Press the crumbs in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Place in the freezer.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, eggs and sugar. Whisk in lime juice and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula or wooden spoon, until thick, about 8 minutes. (The curd is done when you can briefly see the bottom of the pan as you stir.) Pour curd into a bowl set inside an ice bath and cool. 

When curd is cool, whip the 1 cup whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream into curd. Pour into shell and freeze for at least four hours or until firm.

To serve: whip cream with sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold in nuts if using. Spread over pie and serve.

To make ahead: cover pie tightly and freeze for up to 2 days. Whipped cream can be made up to three hours ahead and placed on pie at serving time. (I found that the cream tasted just as good on the leftover pie after it had frozen, so this is your choice -- frozen cream or soft cream).

Modified from A Passion for Ice Cream

Subpar Peaches

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 You pick up a large peach and sniff it. Mmmm, smells sweet and peachy, just like it should. Feel soft, just gives a little under your thumb. Looks absolutely perfect.

One bite, however, reveals a mealy, dry, albeit soft and sweet peach. Completely inedible in my opinion, relegated to cooked dishes or the compost (or the dog).

Today I discovered that subpar peaches, diced up in a bowl of granola with cold milk (and any other fruit you might have around) are completely and totally delicious.


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A Peach of a Saint Pie

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For the feast of Saint Anne I looked for something special to make that had some significance to her. Apparently lobster is a traditional dish, but I wasn't planning to spend quite that much. ;-)

Catholicculture.org mentioned that fruit pie is a traditional treat because her feast day, and the feast of her husband St. Joachim, is mid-summer, and fruit is certainly plentiful, not to mention delicious. I decided a Peach Pie was in order because St. Anne is certainly a peach of a saint: the mother of the Blessed Mother, the grandmother of our Lord Jesus? Yup, she's a peach.

This recipe is based on my Apple Crumble Pie recipe, but with adjusted thickener and sugar and a splash or two of amaretto for added depth. The amaretto is not absolutely necessary but nice. And if you go for it, you can also add a handful of sliced almonds to the topping. I would have if I had any.

A Peach of a Saint Pie

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1/4 cup sugar, divided
1/4 c. flour
6 medium to large peaches, peeled and sliced in bite size pieces (just use a potato peeler)
1 T. lemon juice

2 T. amaretto (optional)

3 T. butter
Pastry for single-crust pie prepared and placed in 9" pie dish (the one I use is here)

1/2 cup sugar
½ cup flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
¼ cup butter

1/4 cup sliced almonds


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl (the same one you use to make the crust is fine), sprinkle peach slices with lemon juice and toss. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup flour and toss. Sprinkle with amaretto and toss. Pour in prepared crust. Dot with 3 T. butter cut in small pieces.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour and spices. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until crumbly. Add almonds, if using, and sprinkle atop peaches.

Bake for an hour. Serve warm or room temperature.

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Strawberry Freezer Jam (and, of course, some biscuits to go with)

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I have been making strawberry freezer jam every year for about 10 years. It's so simple -- really not much more complicated than mixing strawberries with sugar. And though I have been tempted to try to make "real" jam (cooked and processed instead of frozen) I really prefer the flavor and texture of fresh strawberries. That's the difference between this jam and "real" jam -- the strawberries are not cooked in this recipe, so you get that yummy fresh fruit flavor every time you open a jar. It's the best thing on toast -- nothing else compares. Yum!

This is just the recipe from the package of Sure-Jell. I noticed the last time I bought it that they now sell a Freezer Jam package. I don't know if the product was any different -- I think just the packaging. It tasted just like the jam I make every year.

I have just a few notes in the recipe in italics -- those are just my thoughts, learned from experience. You can double this recipe, and I did, though I wouldn't do that with just any jam recipe.

The biscuit recipe is easy as pie (easier, actually) and is the most wonderful recipient for that delicious, mouth-watering jam.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)

4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

3/4 cup water

1 box Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin

 

Rinse 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water (or use any combination of glass jars and plastic containers -- I like the small jars because I am the only one who eats it -- yes my kids are picky about chunks of fruit in their jam). Dry thoroughly. 

 These are just grocery store berries, bought when they were super cheap. If you have a glut of garden berries, please do use those. I don't get more from the garden than we eat fresh, so I use grocery store berries, which are just wonderful for this purpose -- plenty of sugar to make up for any mediocre flavor.

Cut, but not yet crushed

Stem and crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time (I cut the berries into smaller parts and crush about 2 cups at a time). Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl (do not use more than 2 cups or your jam will not set up -- if you have leftover crushed berries, sugar them, and eat them over ice cream). 

Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 Crushed with sugar

In the meantime, mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 minute. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 minutes or until sugar is almost dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

 

Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. (this last time I froze them right away and it turned out just the same)

Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using (because jam has no preservatives, use it withing a month of removing it from the freezer).

Buttermilk Biscuits
makes about a baker's dozen

3 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
⅔ c. shortening
1 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening. Add buttermilk and stir into a soft dough. Knead dough on floured surface and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter. 

Place on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.


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Breakfast of Champions

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The other night when my brother's family was over for dinner, I made a huge pan of this Blueberry Crisp (I added some peaches so it, too). Oh my goodness I do love that dessert, but because my children are incredibly finicky when it comes to fruit desserts -- there is only a small handful they will eat -- I only make this dessert if other adults are coming over to share. Of course, I completely overestimated how much everyone would eat (and since I also made Rice Krispie Treats the kids were not at all tempted) and had half a pan left over.

Thus...I present the Breakfast of Champions. It's fruit, and oats, and cream -- sounds like breakfast to me. Yum.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream -- Basic Recipe

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream

2 t. pure vanilla extract

In a medium mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the ice cream churner on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

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English Trifle

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This very special dessert is really not much more than cake, fruit, pudding and cream. There are many variations on it, some of which have alcohol and some (the true British trifle, I have read) use a gelatin-based liquid so that the trifle sets up with the fruit suspended.

My version is, I suppose, an Americanized version, but it was delicious, and very special, nevertheless. I opted to not use alcohol, but if you want to dress it up, just add a few tablespoons of Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur to the strawberries -- it will be very grown up! I used a store bakery pound cake and it was delicious and, of course, could not have been easier. The next time you have pound cake leftover, just freeze it and pull it out for a lovely dish of trifle. I assembled mine in pretty crystal glasses, but for a crowd, use a pretty, deep glass or crystal bowl.

We celebrated the feast of St. David of Wales with this special dessert, but it would be appropriate (and much appreciated!) for any Welsh, Scottish or English saint's feast day. The recipe for custard makes more than you need for this recipe, but it's what I use. I never have trouble getting rid of leftovers. ;-)

English Trifle

Printer version

1 small pound cake (about small 10 slices)

1 quart strawberries, cleaned and diced*

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Custard

 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 t. salt

3 cups whole milk

3 large egg yolks

2 t. pure vanilla extract

2 cups heavy cream

1/3 c. powdered sugar

Place strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir, cover and let sit at room temperature for several hours. If using alcohol, add two tablespoons orange liqueur to strawberries.

Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in milk, mixing until ingredients are dissolved. Whisk in egg yolks.Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the first large bubble appears. Reduce heat to low; continue to whisk, and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and immediately pour through sieve into bowl; stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

When custard is cool and strawberries have produced quite a bit of juice, whip cream and assemble trifle. 

In a mixing bowl place whipping cream and begin whipping at high speed. Gradually add powdered sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.

In either 6 to 8 small dishes or one deep dish, place a small amount of strawberries and juice in bottom. Break up cake and drop in juice, either half a piece in each cup or several pieces in large bowl. Spread half the pudding over cake (reserving the rest for another purpose), dividing up evenly among cups or placing all of it in bowl. Spread remaining strawberries and juice over pudding. Break up remaining cake over strawberries and top with whippied cream. 

Chill until ready to serve.

* Any fresh fruit can be used.

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Winter Grapefruit Salad

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This recipe is one of those that you might have seen pictured in your mother's, or grandmother's, copy of the red and white checked Better Homes & gardens.  It's homey and old-fashioned, and in this day of exotic fruits available at every grocery store, probably forgotten. But, I love this kind of salad, for its simpleness of preparation and of flavor. In the dead of winter, with not much but citrus, apples, and pears to be found in the produce department (at least that are reliably good), I thoroughly enjoy a salad like this with breakfast for dinner, or Sunday brunch.

 Winter Grapefruit Salad

serves 6

printer version

3-4 large grapefruits

12 maraschino cherries, halved and drained on paper towels

2-6 T. sugar, depending on tartness

dash salt

Wash grapefruits and dry with a paper towel. Cut the top and bottom of one grapefruit off, close to the flesh. Place grapefruit on one flat side and being careful to not waste the flesh by cutting off too big a piece, slice the peel off from top to bottom going all the way around, a bit at a time.

 

Place grapefruit on its side and slice between the flesh and the membrane, removing each triangular piece of grapefruit, going all the way around until all the flesh is removed. Place pieces in a bowl and then squeeze the remaining membranes releasing all the juice into the bowl as well.

Repeat with remaining grapefruits. Add maraschino cherries. Taste a piece of grapefruit to determine how much sugar is necessary and sugar to taste. Add salt. Toss and refrigerate until serving time.

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Cream Cheese Apple Dip

With a glut of apples in the house from the orchard, I have been thinking up all sorts of ways to use them. We had sandwiches for dinner the other night and I wanted something to do with some cold apples, since we'd had applesauce the night before. I found this incredibly simple Apple Dip at allrecipes.com and it was a huge hit. Every single bit was scooped up before dinner was over. It couldn't be easier -- I put it together while our sandwiches heated up in the oven.

It tasted very caramel-y combined with the yummy richness of the cream cheese. It was actually amazing that there was no caramel in it.

The only changes I made were to use one teaspoon of vanilla instead of the tablespoon which I felt would be too strong, and I started with whipped cream cheese (8 oz.) so it was nice and fluffy. My changes are recorded here.

Cream Cheese Apple Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract

Whip together the cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until the sugar has dissolved, and the mixture is smooth. Chill until ready to serve.

Printer version with no pictures

Printer version with pictures



Source: modified from allrecipes.com

A Peach of a Blueberry Pie...

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...Blueberry Peach Crumble Pie to be precise. For the feast of Our Blessed Mother's nativity, we celebrated with pie...the usual birthday dessert in our house. And because it was Our Blessed Mother's birthday, I chose to make a blueberry pie, with a couple of peaches added for extra yum, and a crumble topping because it's my favorite.

Blueberry Peach Crumble Pie
serves 6-8

printer version

2 cups blueberries rinsed and patted dry
two large peaches, peeled and diced
3/4 c. sugar (if fruit is very sweet cut this measure back to 1/2 cup)
3 T. flour
1 T. fresh, strained lemon juice
1/8 t. salt
Single pie crust (if you need a crust recipe, you can find the one I use here)

Crumble

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 cup flour
4 T. butter



Prepare pie pan with bottom crust.

Mix the fruit, sugar, flour, lemon juice and salt (do this gently with your hands to prevent breaking the berries). Place in pie crust.

Crumble: Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour and spices. Cut in the butter until crumbly and sprinkle on top of the fruit.

Bake the pie at 375 degrees F in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes. Place a baking sheet under pie. Bake until thick juices bubble in the middle, about 30 minutes longer.