No Bake Chocolate Cookies

I was just looking through my archives to see when the last time was that I posted a recipe. It was over a year ago! I shouldn't be surprised because I really didn't cook a lot this last school year.

Since I organized my scads of recipes to try, I've been slowly trying new things, and now I have a stack of recipe cards to make. Not that I'll get around to making them all into recipe cards, but it's good to have goals.

The one I'm posting today was e-mailed to me by my sister in 2007. Yikes! When we were teenagers she used to make these for us all the time. You know, when she wasn't beating us up. Anyway, I think most people have had one version or another of No Bake Chocolate Cookies, but I never had a recipe card for them before, so now I can make them whenever I want.

Zoe especially loves these and begs me to either make them or let her make them. I say let her make them. Now that my girls are getting older it's really nice to have them cook for me. They're always complaining that I only had kids so I could have a slave. You know, because I make them do soooooo many chores.

In reality I never considered this extra benefit of having kids. "Sweetie, I don't feel like running downstairs for my purse. Run along and fetch it for me, will you?"

"Pick that up for me, please. I'm old and I don't bend."

Etc., etc.

I'm just living the life.

Anway, super easy recipe that doesn't require the oven. Make some today and enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

I have a fantastic recipe for you today which I've adapted slightly from the May 2012 issue of Taste of Home magazine. 

The shortcake ends up being a cross between a biscuit and a scone, but the orange zest gives it a very special touch. The original recipe calls for grated orange peel, but I have bad luck with graters (knuckles get in the way), so I used my micro plane for a more subtle showing of orange peel. I also amped it up a bit because I don't think 1 tablespoon was enough. For me at least.

This is the biscuit mixture after "cutting the butter in." I don't have much luck with that either, so I tend to get in there with my hands and smash the butter into the flour. It takes awhile, but it works well.

I like the look of scalloped edges, but the only scalloped cookie cutter I have is a heart shape, so I went with that. I know it's June, but I'm not sorry.

Right before popping the biscuits into the oven, the recipe calls for brushing the biscuits with the whipping cream and sprinkling them with coarse sugar. This step is optional, and I assure you, you'll still be able to choke these down if you forget this part. I forget it at least half the time.

Oops. I bet you just realized that I've made these a few times since I received my May issue of Taste of Home. Busted.

Make them today. You won't be sorry. 

I like the recipe so much, it was worthy of a recipe card. Remember to click on it first for the best resolution, then save it to your computer. Enjoy!

Lemon Shortbread Cheesecake

We recently hosted a group of friends for dinner, and we served Pizza on the Grill . It's my absolute favorite summer dinner, and when we go to the trouble to make it, we like to have a lot of people to share it with. However, when I'm cooking for a crowd I often end up overbuying ingredients, because I'm always worried I'll run out and someone will go hungry. This time the ingredient I got way too much of was goat cheese--twelve whole ounces of it.

I quickly found out that it was a problem I could deal with, because I remembered that I had this awesome cheesecake recipe that calls for goat cheese. Of course it's one of the hoity toity recipes that came from Bon Appetit, but trust me, it is so worth it. You won't believe how light and smooth this cheesecake is.

Here are the ingredients you need to make the best cheesecake on the planet: shortbread cookies, lemons, sugar, goat cheese, cream cheese, an orange, sour cream, vanilla, eggs, and strawberries. Not too bad as far as ingredients go. The goat cheese is really the only strange ingredient. Give it a try. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Here's the recipe card.

Enjoy!

Red, White, and Blue

I hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July weekend. I don't know about you, but I always find it to be an exhausting holiday, there always seems to be so much going on.

And, of course, I like to complicate things by adding even more to an already crazy schedule. There are just too many cool ideas out there to try.

For example, I've been wanting to make the girls and I patriotic flip flops for years, and I finally got them done this year. Of course it was July 3rd before I even started on them, but they're done. And never mind that Stinkerbell's flip flops are several sizes too big for her. She'll grow into them. Eventually.

To kick off our exhausting holiday every year, we bike into town to watch the parade. Peanut Head wanted to take Gunny with us this year, and since none of us was clamoring to wear Mr. Poochie Pants in the baby carrier, Peanut Head found this nifty little Walkie Dog contraption that attaches to the bike.

Since you know I never pass up an opportunity to make fun of Peanut Head, I'm going to stop and share the reason behind this seemingly unnecessary piece of equipment. 

Since summer has sort of hit in Idaho, we've been taking bike rides together as a family. Gunny has accompanied us on many bike rides and, because I possess an uncanny ability to exercise my imagination in regards to all things that could possibly go wrong in any given situation, a gift to all mothers upon expelling their first born, I was not about to man the leash with our sweet little dogidita at the other end.

Think about it.

Yep. The Gunesita loves to run in front of Peanut Head's bike. After which Peanut Head does a marvelous flip, head over heels over his handlebars, with his back tire following him in his graceful dive to the ground, and landing atop his incredulous, but apparently unimaginative peanut head.

And my friends, it is all I can do to restrain my laughter, giving myself an implosive inward snort that must be embraced with a violent cranial hug, thereby dang near giving myself a nose bleed. It's a painful process that has been repeated over and over and over again. I only wish I had some footage to share with you.

Not of myself, of course, but of Peanut Head's aerial feat.

Now you know. This seemingly unnecessary piece of equipment, the Walky Dog Bicycle Leash, is a very necessary piece of equipment. You could say it's the glue that is holding my marriage together at the moment.

Since I possess a minimal amount of self-control.

And Gunny loves it. He will run for hours and hours and hours along side his Peanut Head. He will run until he is no longer propelling Peanut Head's bike, his tongue dragging on the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.

All the while with a smile on his face.

And then Peanut Head, because he loves his little dogidita mucho, will stop and put him in this little baby buggy.

And together they will ride off into the sunset. A man and his dog.

Two grunts in love.

It's a vicious cycle.

Completely unrelated, except as it applies to the holiday weekend, I made some patriotic Rice Krispies treats. I haven't made these in years, and I was amazed at how easy they are. 

Since I plan to make them more often, I couldn't resist making a recipe card for them.

Not that you need a recipe card, because the recipe is on the cereal box. Doi. But you know me, I'm all about the cute.

Have a great week, Peeps!

Cherry Coffee Cake

If you're on a diet, you don't want to stick around for this, I promise you. It'll only mess up all your hard work, and I'd feel awful about that.

But then I'd have this cake to console myself with, so I'd get over it quick enough.

If you need to whip something together to take to a party, or if you just want a treat, you might want to give this recipe a try. It's one of my go to recipes, and the best part is that I can make it with stuff that I normally keep in my pantry.

Here's what you need to make the cake: 1 box of yellow cake mix, 1 C flour, 1 pkg. yeast (or 2-1/4 tsp.), warm water, 2 eggs, 1 can cherry pie filling, 1/3 C cold butter, 1 C powdered sugar, and 1 T corn syrup.

Now I realize that my pantry might not look like your pantry. Take my Mama Llama for instance. Whenever I go visit her, if I want to make a treat, any treat, I have to go to the store to buy every blinking thing in the recipe. She's so granola crunchy, she doesn't keep any white flour in the house at all, and the small amount of sugar she does have is all melded together into a small sugar brick. Plus everything is organic. Not that that's a bad thing.

I should eat like her. At my Mama Llama's house, if I want a little wheat germ or flax seed snack, I can have a part-aaaaay and invite the whole neighborhood over, but chocolate chip cookies? Forget it.

Hey Mama Llama, this cake's for you. It has no nutritional value whatsoever. Just empty calories. Sweet, sweet, empty calories.

You could probably count the cherry pie filling as a fruit serving though. It was fruit once.

Here's the recipe card. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Are you in the mood for some peanut butter cookies today? I've never been a maker of peanut butter cookies because they always turned out dry and crumbly. Well, that has changed.

I have a secret recipe now. I got it from a certain Mr. Lemmon who lives down the street from me. He makes the most amazing peanut butter cookies, and the moment I tasted them, I just had to have the recipe.

So I wrestled it away from him and then I locked him in my cellar so I can claim it as my own.

Not really. I don't have a cellar.

This is all you need to make these beauties: shortening, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, peanut butter (duh!), baking soda, and flour. The chocolate kisses are optional. 

Just follow the recipe (at the bottom of this post) and be careful that you don't add too much flour. Sift it as you measure it and don't add a speck more than the 3 cups.

Then do the normal peanut butter cookie thing. Roll the dough into 1-inchish balls.

Gently press down with the tines of a fork.

Rotate 90 degrees and repeat.

Pretty, huh?

If you want to add a chocolate kiss, it's the cherry on top.

Naked peanut butter cookies.

Peanut butter cookies ready for a date with your mouth.

And if your peanut butter cookies come out dry, you can fix that easy. Just put them in a sealed container with a piece of bread overnight, and you'll wake up with soft cookies. It works for any type of cookie. Even the rock hard Gingersnaps you buy at the store.

Here's your recipe card. Enjoy!

Pecan Pie

I'm such a slacker. I wanted to get this recipe up before Thanksgiving, but I didn't make it in time. Not even close. Here's hoping you can use it for a holiday dinner or something.

I originally got the recipe from the "Dear Abby" column in the newspaper. I've been making it for years and it's Peanut Head's favorite. Even better, it's super easy to make and practically fail safe.

Here's the recipe card.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the holiday bookmarks, and I promise to get those up for you before Friday. It would have been done sooner, but I'm a slacker. Sorry.

Give Me Cake!

Peanut Head  had a birthday a little over a week ago, and in this house that always means cake. There is never any mixing it up with different desserts for birthdays around here. Birthday equals cake and the cake must be chocolate.

We're very rigid like that.

So anyway, Peanut Head was traveling "for work" on his birthday so we didn't have cake exactly on his birthday.

Why the snooty quotation marks you might be asking? Well, because I was at home. With the dirty house, and the dirty laundry, and the dirty, noisy girlies, doing all the work while Peanut Head had his little mental vacation.

Yes, I'm bitter and I don't mind saying so.

So, since Peanut Head had his birthday while he was away, we made his cake when he got back. You should know that I seriously considered making his cake on his birthday and eating it before he got home, but I was too busy with all the dirty and the work to even think about cake.

So he lucked out.

I decided to let the girls help me make the cake. Because the house was already a disaster and all, and it was way worse when we were done. 

But we had cake to look forward to.

And this cake? This cake is the best chocolate cake on the planet. No lie. There was only ever one cake that could even compete with this cake, and that was here.

And I'm feeling magnanimous after all that delicious, moist, chocolate decadence, so I'm going to share the recipe with you.

Except that, oopsie, I should probably mention that this recipe is a super secret family recipe, passed down from the Barefoot Contessa and cradled lovingly in my possession for many, many years. I'm real old, you know.

So all I'm asking of you, is that you please, pretty please, don't tell on me. Pinky swear on it.

You looked, so now you are sworn to secrecy. And that means you too, Alison. Don't tell. Nobody likes a tattletale.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Today I want to share a super simple recipe for White Chocolate Popcorn that, I promise you, will make you famous. Or at least get you noticed. Just don't make it on a hot day, or maybe never in Texas would be a good rule of thumb.

Unless you're in air conditioning, then it would probably be okay.

I say this because the magical coating will get all melty and then it'll get all over your hands, which means you'll have to lick it off, and I know you wouldn't do that.

That would be indelicate. 

Anyway, I got this recipe from Melanie-Who-I-Almost-Killed-With-Pie, and she was kind enough to share it with me, even after her near death experience at my house. Oopsie.

Okay, so here's what you need to make this stuff: 1 bag of microwave popcorn and 3 squares off a brick of almond bark. Yes, I know, it's called White Chocolate Popcorn, but I use the words "white chocolate" loosely. It's really just man made chemicals strung together to create a magical experience.

Nothing sinister, just magic.

The first step is to pop the popcorn and pour it into a bowl. Be sure to remove any unpopped kernals.

Then melt the magical ingredient in the microwave and then gently pour it over the popcorn and mix thoroughly, tossing to coat.

Finally, dump the popcorn out onto waxed paper and let it air dry. This is the hardest part. My theory is that it is impossible to let it dry completely without eating at least half of it. I've tested it over and over again, and Every. Single. Time. I cannot leave it alone.

But that's just me. No self control, you know.

Here's the recipe card, not that you need it.

Fruit Pizza

I have a yummy summertime recipe to share with you today. I originally got this recipe for Fruit Pizza from my sister-in-law, Barbara. Thanks, Barb, we love this one.

Here's what you need to make it: refrigerated crescent roll dough, cream cheese, sugar, pineapple tidbits, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, bananas and cornstarch. Actually, you can put whatever fruit you choose on it, there are no rules here. By the way, I have way more strawberries, bananas, pineapple and blueberries here than I really need. I'm going to make a fruit salad with the leftovers.

Start by unrolling your tubes of crescent roll dough onto an ungreased jelly roll pan. 

Like this. Then press the seams together and creep it up the sides a bit. I didn't get a picture of that because, well, I had greasy hands and I'm an OCD freak.

Then bake it according to the package instructions and it will look something like this.

Strain the pineapple tidbits, making sure to save the juice.

Mix 2 Tablespoons of pineapple juice and 1/2 C sugar in with the cream cheese. Mix it well. I cheated and used my stand mixer.

Start plopping it around your cooled pizza crust.

Then smooth it all out.

Now for the fun part, you get to start putting the fruit on the pizza. The order is really not important. Start with what you want. I chose bananas.

Next I cut the skin off my Kiwi with a paring knife.

And sliced them up. Aren't they pretty?

I still have lots of room left . . .

. . . for blueberries and strawberries . . .

. . . and pineapple.

Once all your fruit is on, or while you are baking the crust, you'll need to prepare the glaze drizzle. Take the remaining pineapple juice, add 2 Tablespoons of corn starch, and cook it over medium low heat, stirring often, until the mixture thickens.

I don't have a picture for the next step, but I put my very thick glaze into a snack baggie, cut a small piece of the corner off, and drizzled it around the pizza.

It looks good enough to eat, doesn't it? Believe me, it was.

Enjoy!