Sunday afternoon No Bake Cheesecake

Cleaning out the pantry and I discover a Jello No Bake cheesecake (which is the hubby's fav) and a refrigerator pie crust left over from the holidays.  I ditched the boxed graham crust, popped the refrigerator crust in the oven, added some caramel and pecans and here you have it. A caramel pecan no bake cheesecake in a flaky crust. Best of all worlds! :) 

Sunday afternoon No Bake Cheesecake

King Cake

It's not Fat Tuesday in our house without slicing into a delicious King Cake.  Living in Wyoming you can't just run to Kroger and grab one from the bakery.  First of all, there is not a Kroger in these parts.  Second, they have probably never even heard of a King Cake, or country ham for that matter, but we will save that discussion for another post!  As a result I have had to suck it up and make my own in order for us to continue with our favorite Fat Tuesday tradition.  I have to give credit to Homemade by Holman for sharing this delicious recipe.  Happy Mardi Gras everyone!  Enjoy!

Dough:

1/2 cup half and half

2 TBsp butter

1 package active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm water 

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling
Zest of 1 lemon

Scald half and half over medium heat, remove from heat and add butter.  While mixture cools, stir together warm water, yeast and 1 TBsp of the sugar in bowl of a stand mixer and let stand until foamy.  When half and half mixture is cooled, add to yeast mixture.  Add remaining sugar and egg and beat until well incorporated.  Add salt, nutmeg and flour one cup at a time.  Stir in lemon zest and switch to dough hook attachment.  Knead with dough hook for about 5-7 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  It will still be fairly sticky.  Oil a deep bowl and transfer dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in size.  

Filling:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 TBsp cinnamon

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
2 TBsp bourbon ( I used Woodford Reserve)
1/2 cup raisins

Combine bourbon and raisins in a small bowl and set aside.  Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and flour and then stir in melted butter.  

Punch down dough and turn out onto a heavily floured surface.  Roll dough out into a large rectangle about 12x16 inches.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread filling mixture over dough in a thin layer leaving about a one inch edge free around the whole rectangle.  Drain raisins and sprinkle over filling.  Begin rolling dough like a jelly roll from the wide edge.  Roll tightly and transfer to baking sheet.  Form dough into an oval, seam side down and pinch edges to seal.  Using cooking scissors, cut slices into top of dough about every two inches approximately 1/3 of the way through dough.  Cover with a towel and let rise an additional 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.  

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 TBsp lemon juice

2 TBsp half and half

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Food coloring in green, yellow and purple

Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice and half and half until smooth.  Pour over cooled king cake.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and a couple drops of yellow food coloring and stir together.  Transfer to a small bowl or plate.  Add 1/4 cup sugar and a couple drops of green food coloring and stir together.  Transfer to a small bowl or plate.  Add last cup of sugar and purple food coloring and stir to combine.  Sprinkle sugar over icing as desired.

King Cake

White Chocolate Candy Cane Martini

'Tis The Season...for fabulous holiday drinks!  Recently at a local restaurant I was served a Candy Cane Martini.  Instantly, I was hooked and searching for a recipe so that I could enjoy this drink in the comfort of my own home.  The recipe I am using originated from One Martini At A Time.  I am actually sipping on one as I blog...yum!  Sit back, relax, and enjoy this Ridiculously Delicious Holiday Drink.  You deserve it!

Makes Two Drinks

The Spirits:
2 ounces of Vodka
1 ounce of Peppermint Schnapps
4 ounces of a White Chocolate Liqueur
3 ounces of half and half
Mini candy cane for garnish
Red sugar sprinkles for cuteness

In a cocktail shaker combine the spirits and half and half with ice, shake and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish your glass with the miniature candy cane and sprinkle in some red sugar sprinkles for a little extra Christmas.

White Chocolate Candy Cane Martini

Red Velvet Chip Cookies!

Tonight I am baking Red Velvet Chip Cookies for my boys' teachers, friends and of course for my own little Valentines.  I wanted a red cookie, something festive, something a little unique and of course something ridiculously delicious!  I stumbled upon this cookie recipe posted by Sweet Dreaming and knew this was the cookie I had been looking for.  I just finished my first batch, and not only are they a beautiful red cookie, they are moist and absolutely delicious!  I am so pleased with how these turned out, I wanted to immediately share with all of you, just in time for your own Valentine's Day celebrations!  Happy Heart Day dear friends!  Much love!

What you need:

1 box Red Velvet cake mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until a dough forms.  Dough will be thick!  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Roll into balls and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Let cookies stand on pan for about 3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies.

the dough...

Roll them into balls...

Yumtastic!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Red Velvet Chip Cookies!

Cranberry Relish

This recipe was given to me from a friend in Texas about two years ago.  She served this cranberry relish as a garnish for a pork tenderloin and it was absolutely delicious.  I most recently made this to serve alongside a glazed ham I cooked for my family and it added such a fabulous flavor.  Its bright red color is so festive and just simply beautiful.

To make it you need...

2 cups of cranberries

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup onions, chopped

1 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (optional)

1/4 cup lime juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Combine all ingredients and blend in a food processor.  Chill for at least 30 min before serving.  Serve alongside a pork tenderloin, ham or meat of your choice.  

Add all the ingredients in the food processor to chop & blend.

A beautiful and delicious side, when spooned over pork is absolutely divine!

Cranberry Relish

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Earlier this week I baked these cookies for a cookie swap I was invited to by a large group of woman from my husband's company.  It was my very first cookie swap and it was SO MUCH FUN!  We had a wonderful white chicken chili prepared by the host and had a fabulous time eating cookies and chatting.  To top it off at the end of the night we filled our bags full of each others cookies to bring home and I can't wait to get my copy of all the recipes that the host is in the process of compiling.  For the swap I decided to try a new cookie.  This one caught my eye because it was minty and green, a perfect cookie for a Christmas get together.  These cookies were so moist, minty and chocolatey, I have decided to make them for my neighbors and am including the recipe in with my Christmas cards!

PRINTABLE VERSION
The Ingredients:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
8 drops green food coloring
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color, and egg until soft dough forms.  Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chunks.
2.  Using a small cookie scoop drop dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until set.  Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
4.  Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Makes 36 cookies  

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wassail

Thanksgiving Day we made our first Wassail of the holiday season.  It is a delicious tradition in our house and the kids always look forward to it.  This year our 11 year old Collin prepared the Thanksgiving wassail and he did a terrific job.  It tasted just as wonderful as ever, maybe even a little bit sweeter, being made by such a sweet guy! :)

PRINTABLE VERSION
Ingredients:
1 gallon Apple Cider
1 tsp Whole Cloves
1 tsp Whole All spice
2 3" cinnamon sticks
2/3 cup sugar
orange studded with whole cloves

Mix all the ingredients together in a large pot or slow cooker (I prefer the slow cooker that way I can keep it on low and we can enjoy the hot cider throughout the day).  Bring to a boil. (In a slow cooker turn on high and in about an hour should be good and hot).  Reduce heat and let simmer.

Wassail

Firecracker Cupcakes!

Happy Memorial Day!

Firecracker Cupcakes!