Cute as a Cupcake!

We made cupcakes tonight. The ones you bake in an ice cream cone. They were delicious! You should try it!

Yummy Strawberry Dessert

This recipe is so yummy and perfect for your next barbecue.
Go HERE to get it!

Strawberry Daiquiri

My husband and I went on a fun little cruise last year along the California coast and in to Mexico; just the two of us. I had such a great time! We were gone 4 days, went to some fun places, went snorkeling in Catalina, bartering in Ensenada, boogie boarding in San Diego, and drank our fair share of virgin strawberry daiquiris. I seriously came home craving them.

I fooled around with a couple of ideas on how to make a virgin strawberry daiquiri, and I think I have a pretty good recipe goin' on. It's really sweet, but it suits my taste buds! If it is too sweet for you, you can add fresh strawberries with a little bit of sugar instead of the jam. I've done that before, as well. I really just play around with this recipe every time I make it.

Here you go:
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup strawberry freezer jam
• 6-8 ice cubes
• 1/8 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Add more jam to make it sweeter, more pineapple juice or lime juice if it's too thick or you can add a little bit of water.

It's yummy enough to make me feel like I'm back on Catalina Island every time I take a sip. Enjoy!

Strawberry Recipes

Today I found THIS site that has tons of easy strawberry recipes for you to enjoy!

Strawberry Honey Butter

This recipe is seriously so good! And, like most of my recipes--super easy! You take a stick of butter at room temperature, add about 1/2 cup of that yummy strawberry freezer jam (I have also used raspberry jam) and whip with a mixer until blended. (Look at the picture to the right-- It should look like this. If it is runny, add more butter, if it is too thick, add a little more jam. You can't mess this up!)

Then, if you'd like, add a tablespoon or two of honey. (It's good without it, as well) That's it! Now go slather those homemade rolls with some of this sweet butter and enjoy! It is also fantastic on scones. Heck, it would probably even be good on cardboard. It's that good!

Strawberry Angel Food cake filling

On many special occasions, this is the dessert of choice in my husbands' family! It's so simple. Take an angel food cake, whipping cream or cool whip and some strawberry freezer jam. Mix equal parts of strawberry jam and whipping cream together.

Cut the angel food cake in half and add filling to the inside.

Then, put the top back on the cake and frost the outside of the cake with the filling. Drizzle with strawberry jam and add strawberries to the top. This makes a great summer dish that is so tasty and pretty, too!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

When I married my husband, I realized that one of the items on the dinner table every Sunday was homemade strawberry jam. The jam HAD to be on the table and family members would point out when it wasn't there. It was almost more important than the salt and pepper, really. I didn't grow up having homemade jam, so it wasn't special to me--until I tasted it. Can I just say- There is nothing like homemade strawberry freezer jam. And, do you want to know the best part? It's so easy! I made 5 batches of jam today in under 2 hours. Amazing!

Here are the ingredients in the picture to the left. Strawberries (about 2 pounds per batch), sugar, lemon juice, and Pectin. (I prefer the "liquid pectin") Some people use a blender to chop the strawberries, and that is great if you have a powerful blender. I don't, so I use a mini-food processor that cost about $7 at Walmart.

Here's my mini-food processor, below. Cut the stems off the strawberries, and then cut the strawberries in half. Blend the strawberries to your liking. Some like chunks of berries, others like it completely blended. I'm a completely blended type of girl. Measure out 2 cups of the blended berries. I just keep adding the crushed berries from the processor little by little until I have enough for one batch. *Only do one batch at a time, or it won't work--trust me, I've tried before!*

Mix the 2 cups of strawberries with 4 cups of sugar. (I know, it's a lot! Why do you think it's so good?!) Let it stand for about 10 minutes, then add two Tablespoons of lemon juice and one package of pectin. Stir for three minutes. Then, pour into individual containers.

I made 5 batches of jam and came out with 7 containers full. I used about 9 pounds of strawberries, so the recipe ended up taking a little more than 2 pounds of strawberries per batch. Refrigerate the jam until set, then freeze for up to 1 year.

For The Love of Cupcakes!

Cupcakes are in order for any celebration at our house. Monthly ( sometimes weekly!) we'll whip out a batch of cupcakes and decorate them to our heart's content. Here is a little collections of a few cupcakes that we've made:


Our next cupcake project will be these. Now, here is my challenge to everyone out there reading: Make the "Ice Cream Cone cupcakes" with your friends, children, or for yourself! Email your pictures to ericandbrandilynn@yahoo.com and one lucky person will be chosen at random to win all the fixin's to make these "Yellow Jacket" cupcakes! Entries must be in by 12AM on June 15th.

Have fun with this!

*Photos sent will be posted on this blog, unless you request otherwise*

Homemade Rolls

Homemade rolls are one of life's greatest pleasures! Let me walk you through the steps of how to make delicious rolls from the how to make the dough to different ways to shape the dough.

Here'stherecipe or see below:

Potato Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of yeast ( 4 and 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 cup mashed potatoes (you can use instant potatoes)
• 2 cups milk, scalded
• 8 cups flour
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt

Soften the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water. In a bowl, mix together softened yeast, potatoes, milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, salt and 4 cups of the flour. Mix together with a mixmaster until smooth. Add the remaining flour 1 cup at a time and knead well until mixed. You may need to add a little more flour to make a dough that you can handle, but not more than 1/2 a cup more. Turn the dough into a greased bowl and let it raise until double. Divide the dough into thirds and roll out in a circle onto a floured board. Brush with melted butter and cut into 16th. Roll them up as you would croissants. Place rolls on a greased pan and let raise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

Makes 48 rolls


1. So, the first thing I always start with is the mashed potatoes. I have used both mashed potatoes from scratch and instant potatoes in this recipe and I honestly cannot tell a difference in taste. What I'm getting at is--Use Instant! I even use the microwave directions, so it only takes me about 5 minutes.

2. The next thing I do, is pour the warm water into my mixer, along with the yeast, and let it sit for 5 minutes or so to activate. (the water should be foamy and bubbly looking--if it's not, you may need to proof your yeast to make sure it's still good.)


3. While the yeast is activating, I pour the milk in to a microwaveable container and microwave it for about 2-3 minutes to scald it. I was taught that you know the milk is scalded when tiny bubbles form around the outside of the pan or dish, so I cook it until I see that.


4. Now add the potatoes, scalded milk, shortening, sugar, salt, eggs, and 4 cups of the flour and mix until smooth. (I figure you don't need pictures of that...pretty self explanatory.)

5. Next add the rest of the flour. I usually add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour to make the dough workable. You still want the dough to be a little sticky. Stickier dough makes fluffier rolls--trust me! Keep in mind that you will be rolling these out on a floured board, which will add even more flour. The dough will stick to your hands a little, but not much.


6. Take a large bowl and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Put the dough in the bowl and let it rise until double in size. I made the dough before church, which is 3 hours, and I knew that the dough would be long done before I got home. I put the bowl in the fridge, which will slow the rising down. When I got home, it was perfect and ready to be rolled out!

7. Now for my favorite part, shaping the rolls! There are so many possibilities. First, flour your surface. Divide your dough in to three large balls. To smooth out the top, I pull the edges of the dough out and under, so that the imperfections are on the bottom.


8. Roll the dough out into a large circle. (and here's the best part!) Melt a stick of butter and pour a third of it onto the dough and spread it around evenly. Then, cut the dough (with a pizza cutter) into 16ths.

** To roll your dough into a "butterhorn" shape: Take the triangle by the short edge and roll it all the way up. This is the easiest way for me. I usually make my rolls this shape.

**To roll your dough into a "rosette" shape: (I still cut the dough into 16ths) Roll the dough into a long rope about 12 inches long. Then, tie it in a loose knot.

Then, tuck the top end of the knot under. Finish by tucking the other end up and into the middle of the knot, creating a rose type shape. Brush with butter.

**To make "clover" shaped rolls: (I still divide it into 16ths) Divide each roll in to 3 balls. Spread the top of the ball out and tuck edges under. Put three balls into a muffin tin. (sorry the pic is so hard to see, but you get the idea.)

9. Let the rolls rise until double (about 1 hour) Cook at 350 degrees. Watch the rolls to see how long they need to cook. My oven cooks them in 12 minutes, but my mother in laws oven takes 20. They should be golden brown. Brush with butter.

(One thing I should add--I have made these for Thanksgiving two years in a row. Both times I made the rolls and shaped them the day before, and then froze them before letting them rise. Then in the morning, I pulled them out of the freezer and let them rise all day while the other dishes were being made. They were ready to bake in a few hours, and were fresh and warm out of the oven for dinner!)

Here are the butterhorn rolls. Perfect!

Here are the Rosettes (on the left) and Clovers (on the right)

Every time I make these, I wonder why I don't make them more often. They are so easy! Enjoy them!

Mmmmm....

You know you want this recipe!
Click "BOWTIE FESTIVAL" on the side bar link under "What's Cookin".
You won't regret it.

Shish-Kabobs

My husband and I have been saying for the past month how much we both wanted to make shish-ka-bobs for dinner. When the Kraft food and family magazine (subscribe here!) came in the mail this week, I was inspired! They have three delicious ideas to try the next time you want to grill kabobs:

• Ranch-Style Steak Kabobs
• Shrimp Kabobs with Olive and Tomato Relish
• Sweet and Sour Meatball Skewers

Some useful tips for grilling kabobs:

• Make sure to soak your wooden kabob skewers in water for at least 20 minutes (longer is better) before grilling to avoid the sticks breaking and burning over the heat. I put mine in a 9x13 baking dish to soak so that they could all soak at the same time.
• While it is appealing to have a variety of meat and vegetables on one skewer, keep in mind that different meats and vegetables all have different cooking times. One thing that we tried was having all of the one vegetable on the same skewer and all of the meat on another. This made it so that our vegetables weren't burned and our meat wasn't over or under-cooked.
• Don't stick the meat so close together on the skewer. Leave a little bit of space in between each piece so that the meat can be cooked evenly.
• Marinading is always best! This prevents the meat from being too dry. McCormick (our favorite is Garlic, Herb and Wine) does some great powder marinade mixes that just require you to add water and vinegar to the mix. We placed the meat in a gallon size ziplock bag along with the marinade and kept them in the refridgerator for at least 30 minutes.

Here's what we put on our skewers: (pictures to come soon!)

• Chicken (my favorite was marinaded in teriyaki sauce)
• Stew meat
• Red and Green bell peppers
• Red and Yellow onions
• Mushrooms
• Pineapple (MY FAVORITE!!)

What I WILL try next time:

• Meatballs
• Small red potatoes
• Possibly some other types of fruit (peaches?!)
• Cherry Tomatoes

My husband put the leftover kabobs in a large ziplock bag and took them to work for lunch the next day. He thought everything was SO much better the second time. All those flavors marinading together overnight. Mmmm. Unfortunately, he ate ALL of the leftovers, so I didn't get to try the next day goodness. Dang.

We do have some leftover pineapple, and I was thinking it would be fun to make fruit kabobs for breakfast. Place some bananas, strawberries, and pineapple (maybe some mandarin oranges, etc.) on a skewer and pour a glaze on top.

Here's a good glaze to try:

1 c. sugar

1 c. orange juice

4 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. grated orange rind

Dash salt

I'll let you know how that recipe turns out!

Here are my kids putting their favorite foods on to the skewers.

Happy Kabob Grilling! And have a GREAT Memorial Day!

Swiss Chicken Casserole Recipe

Click here for a link to this recipe
or
Print this recipe card

Swedish Meatballs

Click here for a link to the recipe

(notice that I change the recipe slightly)
The link calls for you to cook your meatballs in a skillet. I take the easier route and broil them on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. I also add 4 oz. of low fat cream cheese to the sauce and it makes this recipe irresistible!
print this recipe card:

Fried Rice

Printer friendly version
or
print your own cute recipe card below.

Easy Parmesan-Garlic Chicken Recipe

Here's a link to the recipe
or
Print out this recipe card

Garlic Lime Chicken Recipe