July 2008 - Kitchen Scrapbook

Back again, with a few pictures…

July 31, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 31, 2008
Filed Under For special occassions

It was a wonderful trip. Lexi and Tiffany travelled well. And if it wouldn’t’ve been for the gum episode (where Tiffany took it out of her mouth and was playing with it and it got on her carseat and the floor and on Shannon’s computer case) and the cappuccino episode (where I actually dropped mine and caught it upside down and had to wash up part of the area in and around the cup holders), we’d have had an uneventful trip, disaster-wise.

The wedding was beautiful… have you ever seen one that wasn’t?! It was pink and brown w aqua accents. Here are some food-related pictures from the reception…

The cake. Neat, huh?

As we entered the reception hall, there was a table with a chocolate fountain and fruit and pretzels and marshmallows and also a punch table that we stopped at before being seated. I don’t have a good picture of those tables, but here’s my plate from it…

Decor on the guest tables was little cups filled with mini buckeyes and tied shut with tulle and ribbons and there were tea lights sitting on top of coffee bean filled votive candle holders. They looked really neat. Some people were actually munching on the coffee beans. I love the chocolate covered ones, but never ate one plain!

The meal was chicken sandwiches, baked beans, chips, and macaroni salad (I think, for some reason I’m having a hard time remembering the salad and I don’t have any pictures of the main meal part). Good food! My b-b-qued chicken sandwich was great!

The dessert area. Instead of the usual cake and ice cream, they had an impressive display of desserts. Cheesecakes, cookies, chocolate roll, trifles, bars, cakes, fruit pizza… Just delicious! It was so hard to choose from…

And the bridal table, beautifully decorated…

Comments

7 Responses to “Back again, with a few pictures…”

Rene on July 31st, 2008 10:33 am

Kay — could you send me some of that cheesecake?!? That looks great!! My friend is a cake decorator at a local German bakery in our little town and they have been making cakes like that one lately too. They have a really cute one on display that looks like hay bales with a farm themed bride and groom on top. It has little tractors and animals sitting on each of the tiers. I’ll have to go over and get a pic. I love going over there but when I’m on a diet (like all the time) it’s dangerous!

Welcome back and just to let you know I started my own recipe blog (http://cookingwithwingsaway.blogspot.com) and I linked to your site and said a little something about you. You’ve inspired me to spend more time in my kitchen — something I’m sure my family is very grateful about!
lisa on July 31st, 2008 10:40 am

i love the cake, except the black curly things don’t quite seem to fit. picture it with just the daisy on the top layer. and maybe a few daisys on top. better, right? =) the coffee beans, the chocolate fountain, the DESSERT TABLE-so neat! looks like a fabulous wedding!
Michelle on July 31st, 2008 11:04 am

I love weddings!! I liked the display of desserts!!
Michelle on July 31st, 2008 11:04 am

Oh- by the way, Welcome Back!! I missed your daily post.
Angela on July 31st, 2008 2:40 pm

Hey, that wedding was at my church, wasn’t it? Things were looking familiar there. . . It does look beautiful, and yes, I have seen some weddings that weren’t much to behold!
Kay on July 31st, 2008 3:15 pm

Rene, good for you on starting your own cooking blog!

Lisa, those things on the top looked great in person… it was chocolate melted, then piped into a design, then stood up on top of the cake. It was brown instead of black. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Thanks, Michelle.

Angela, do you go to United Bethel?
Jan on August 1st, 2008 7:42 am

I agree with whoever thought that daisys would look better on the cake. My first thought was, “No flowers!” But the dessert table!! I wouldn’t be fit to be turned loose with an array like that around, esp. with having to watch my sugar right now. I could eat some cheese cake……NOW!

Tidbits

Be back next week…

July 26, 2008 December 13, 2019

Posted on July 26, 2008
Filed Under Tidbits

No, the kitchen didn’t fall off of my house. I’ve taken to eating out instead of cooking… we’re on a trip, left on Wed. We’re in Ohio, going to a wedding later today, and then catching up with some friends tomorrow and Monday. We should be getting home Tues or Wed, so I’ll be updating again then, after getting the salad of duffel bags and all down to the laundry room.

The motel room that we’re in actually has a little kitchen and in the Guest Services Directory book, there is a section of recipes. I copied a few down to try at home. Here are 2 of them:

Hole-in-One Eggs
2 slices bread
2 tsp. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 strip bacon, cooked and crumbled
Cut a 2″ round circle out of the center of each bread slice. Spread both sides of bread with the butter. In a skillet, toast bread on 1 side over moderate heat till golden. Reduce heat to moderately low. Turn the bread over. Break an egg into the hole in each slice. Sprinkle the bacon over the eggs. Cook, covered, for 5-6 min until the eggs are firm. Serves:2. I can picture having some fun trying different shapes for that middle part.

Slice-of-Comfort Pie
16 marshmallows
4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.45 oz) w almonds
1/2 cup milk
1 8-oz carton Cool Whip
1 9″ graham cracker crust
Heat and stir marshmallows, chocolate, and milk till melted. Remove from heat; stir in Cool Whip. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm. Serves 8. This just plain sounds GOOD!

After we get home, I’ll feature these with pictures.

Have a good day!

Comments

3 Responses to “Be back next week…”

Arla on July 27th, 2008 10:01 am

Hi Kay,
Don’t you think we ought to see your kitchen sometime on a post? I’d love to see that bookshelf of cook books for one thing. You used to have a Coke theme. Is this still the case? Anyway, it seems fair for us to see the birthing room so to speak.
Cordy on July 28th, 2008 12:26 pm

Hi Kay – hope you are enjoying being away from routine for now! I was sooo sure you had a recipe on here for Zucchini bread. I looked under breads…..cannot find it…..am I dreaming??!!
Kay on July 30th, 2008 7:57 am

Arla – yeah, my kitchen is still Coca Cola, basically just wallhangings and valances and a few knick knacks. I might post a picture sometime.

Cordy – There is no zucchini bread on this site… I’ve never ever made it, but I’ve eaten it and love it! The closest thing to it on this site would be banana bread.

Garnishing, How To, Pies

Silk Chocolate Pie with Chocolate Curls

July 21, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 21, 2008
Filed Under Garnishing, How to…, Pies

Silk is right. I wonder whoever came up with that term for pie. But it fits this one. Smooth as silk. And creamy and light. Light as in not heavy, not light as in diet. Far from it!

My grandma always said that she likes to make pies better than she likes to eat them. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like pie! Sometimes while I’m making pie, I wonder if I have reached that same status now. Then, I eat a piece and decide I’m not quite there yet. BUT, this pie may have been an exception. Not that the pie itself was so fun to make. The fun was in the garnishing… chocolate curls.

This recipe is taken from my newest cookbook… Simply with Taste. I got it about a week ago. I love it! Sometime, I’ll tell you more about it and its nice features. This silk chocolate pie is the first recipe I tried from it.

Silk Chocolate Pie

Printable recipe

1 pkg. (4 oz) Bakers German sweet chocolate
2 Tbsp. milk
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
4 cups whipped topping
2 baked or graham cracker pie crusts

Microwave the chocolate along with the 2 Tbsp milk on high at 20-30 second intervals until chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and 1/4 cup milk until smooth; add the chocolate

and mix until well blended.
Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Fold in the whipped topping.

Spoon into the prepared crusts. May freeze if desired, or use within a day. Top with whipped topping and chocolate curls for garnish.

And now for the fun… How to Make Chocolate Curls

Melt about a 1/2 cup chocolate chips w about 1 Tbsp. of shortening.

Spread into a thin layer on the back of a metal cookie sheet.

Put in the freezer for 3 minutes. Take it out of the freezer. Immediately, take a flat tool of some sort (I used my Pampered Chef little square scraper that’s actually for cleaning stoneware, I use that little thing for alot of stuff!) and hold it at about 45 degrees and push down and across the baking sheet. The chocolate should curl right up.

If it just breaks, wait a minute or 2 to let the chocolate soften, then try again. If it doesn’t curl, put it back in the freezer for another minute or so. Depending how long it takes to curl all the chocolate, you may have to put it back in the freezer to harden up again before you’re done. Use a toothpick or utensil of some sort to move the rolls to a plate and put them in the refrigerator. When they’re good and hard again, you can put them in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Or you can just put them on the pies like I did.

Comments

5 Responses to “Silk Chocolate Pie w Chocolate Curls”

Shannon on July 22nd, 2008 7:52 am

Oh those look good even if I’m not sure I would eat them.
Rosalyn on July 22nd, 2008 10:00 am

This is making me really hungry right now! think I’ll have to make it for supper! ????
Michelle on July 22nd, 2008 11:13 am

Looks delicious!
Katrina on July 22nd, 2008 5:47 pm

YUM!
Barb on July 23rd, 2008 9:50 am

This pie looks really good, and the chocolate curls look fun to try.
I don’t think I have ever tasted or made silk pie so I will have to try this.

P.S. I finally updated my blog.

Cooks in Training, Main Dishes

Microwave Mac ‘n’ Cheese – Cooks in Training #3

July 18, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 18, 2008
Filed Under Cooks in Training, Main dishes

Whenever there’s a microwave recipe, I usually shy away from it. Here’s the reason. It’s because of my microwave… sounds like a good reason, huh? My microwave is a half-pint. I can’t fit a 9×13 pan in it and when my girls were babies on bottles, I always had to lay the 8-oz bottles down to warm up the milk because they wouldn’t fit in there standing up. The size isn’t the only reason. The other reason is that it takes SO long to cook stuff in it. We joke that the microwave has only one setting and that’s DEFROST. True, it does have only 1 setting, but it is a bit hotter than defrost. It takes forever to boil water and it literally is faster to throw a pan of water on the stove rather than do it in the microwave, like when I make finger jello. But the microwave works great for warming up serving-sized portions and thawing meat, but other than that, I don’t use it for general cooking. Oh, I guess I do cook half a bag of frozen veggies in there sometimes.

But, you can’t beat the deal we got on it. We got married about 12 years ago (in fact our 12th anniversary is in a couple weeks) and a little bit after we got married, we realized we need a microwave, so we found one at a pawn shop for $25 and it’s still the same one we use today. Not sure why it doesn’t give out! Here it is:

Anyway, having said all that, I decided to try a microwave dish. For the Cooks in Training foods, I don’t like to use the stove because my little cooks might burn themselves, even with adult supervision, but the microwave is fine. So, here you go, a food that kids like… and made by them.

Microwave Mac ‘n’ Cheese …taken from the 2000 Quick Cooking cookbook

Printable recipe

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cups hot water
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup chopped onion (I had to do some fast talking to get that in there because I couldn’t sneak it in! I said we wouldn’t put in as much as it says, we only put in a couple tablespoons)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/3 cup flour
1 1/4 cups milk
8 oz. process American cheese, cubed (we used Velveeta)

Hmmmm, I may have to outlaw the aprons! We don’t really plan ahead and suddenly decide to cook or bake and away they dash for the aprons, putting them over whatever clothes they already have on! In this cooking session, Tiffany’s combo clashes even more than usual.

In a 2-qt microwave-safe dish, combine the first 7 ingredients. Cover and microwave on high for 3 1/2 minutes; stir. Cover and cook at 50% power for 4 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil, rotating a half turn once. (I didn’t rotate at all because my fashionable microwave has a turntable, and it still works.)

Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into macaroni mixture.

Yeah, I was watching this process very closely, and it was one of my duller knives. Velveeta is soft… a butter knife may have even worked.

Add cheese. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 minutes or until the macaroni is tender and sauce is bubbly, rotating a half turn once and stirring every 3 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

This was really good, although I’ve tasted better made-from-scratch macaroni and cheese. I missed the buttered crumbs that are usually on top of macaroni and cheese. This definitely beats the stuff from a box though and got rave reviews by the girls. Plus, Lexi thinks it’s more fun to eat food that they made themselves.

Comments

3 Responses to “Microwave Mac ‘n’ Cheese – Cooks in Training #3”

Shannon on July 18th, 2008 7:10 pm

Hum, wonder what all I could get them to eat if they cooked it by themselves!
Freida on July 18th, 2008 8:17 pm

You need a new microwave!

Tucker saw this and says- “MMMM, that looks yum. I wish I could taste it. ” My kids love mac and cheese. I’ll have to try this one.
Barb on July 20th, 2008 7:26 pm

I am going to try this for sure. My children love macaroni and cheese. I usually just make it as I go so it will be good to have a recipe to go by, and to be able to do it in the microwave is even better.

Tidbits

Mystery cookies, kids, weird fork, soup, recipe index… in other words, a misc post!

July 17, 2008 December 13, 2019

Posted on July 17, 2008
Filed Under Tidbits

I bought peanut butter chips for something and had half the bag left over. A few days later, I got a (another) baking urge and got the bag out of the cupboard and looked on the back for some ideas. On the back, was a recipe for chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips in them. So, I made them, with the intent of featuring them. After I was done, I was cleaning up, and never thought to save the empty bag with the recipe on it. So, into the trash it went. And I didn’t even think about it till a day or so later when I went to feature them. By then the trash was already taken out. And it would be rather anti-climatical to feature them without a recipe. So, if you ever are in the baking aisle at the store, these cookies would be worth your time. All you’d need to do is get a bag of Recees peanut butter chips and check the recipe on the back to make sure you’ve got all the ingredients. I don’t even remember the name of the recipe, but here is what the cookies looked like…

They’re easy to make, soft, fudgy, and taste great!

Tiffany was having quite a time keeping everything on her lap here. I offered to take her doll, but no, she wanted to multi-task…

She also finishes my coffee alot of mornings… she asks “Wome o’ hot?” If I say ‘warm’, she reaches for it and says, “Cn’I have it?” Goodbye coffee… which actually is using the term ‘coffee’ very loosely… my cup is full, but only about half of it is coffee, the other half is chocolate milk and some sugar.

And then we have a fork…

It just suddenly got like that and we don’t know when or how it happened. It seems like the whole tine would’ve bent instead of just the top part. It’s not bent down or up, just over. Weird!

Tomato soup: Once in awhile, we have a quick meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I usually keep Campbell’s tomato soup on hand, but the last time I went to make it, I didn’t have any. So, I found a recipe and made some from scratch. It took considerably longer, but it was WAY better than the stuff from the can! So, now I guess I’ll have to weigh the pros and cons of time vs. taste every time I make that quick and easy meal. Do you always make tomato soup from scratch? I remember Mom making it from scratch when I was younger.

Recipe index: I don’t know if you noticed the Recipe Index link up at the top of the header. Slowly, but surely, I am getting all the recipes under their respective categories on that page. I just started it, so only a fraction of it is done, but I think when it’s done, it’ll make the site more user-friendly. You can use it awhile for the recipes that are there so far.

Have a good day!

Comments

9 Responses to “Mystery cookies, kids, weird fork, soup, recipe index… in other words, a misc post!”

Amber on July 17th, 2008 8:55 am

I made tomato soup once or twice from scratch and have a wonderful recipe that has little chunks of tomatoes in it. I hardly ever make soup in the summer because it’s so hot, here. Although i might need to, that’s when i have fresh tomatoes from the garden.
Michelle on July 17th, 2008 9:30 am

I usually can tomato soup when tomatos are in season. It’s really easy to do. And it’s so convenient when you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to get supper around. Just grab a can of soup off the shelf and add a little milk and heat it up. If you want the recipe let me know. This is making me hungry. I think Jadon and I will have this for lunch today along with Grilled Swiss Sandwich.
Mary Faith on July 17th, 2008 10:39 am

Tomato soup. That makes me hungry for some! I can it, too. Have an awesome recipe that I’ve used ever since teenage years when I made it for Mom. (Somehow, not sure how, I ended up being the “tomato soup canner”.) Several years ago I had trouble with the milk curdling and discovered that if I use evaporated milk, it never curdled PLUS it made it awesomely rich and wonderful. That’s how I make it ever since. “Acid-y” tomatoes or not.
Jo on July 17th, 2008 11:41 am

I canned tomato soup for the 1st time last year & we absolutely loved it. Should do a whole bunch more this year. I use evaporated milk, too, and add it right at the end of the heating time to keep it smooth & rich. And the best ingredient of all: a couple of tablespoons of browned butter, stirred in just before serving! It takes tomato soup from “good” to “scrumptious” (never mind the calories!) We used to always use tomato soup out of a can—but after you’ve had homemade, the canned stuff just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Jessica on July 17th, 2008 12:27 pm

I seriously doctor the Campbell’s soup. Buttermilk or cream or sour cream and a dash of cayenne and lots of basil and a pnch of oregano and less liquid than they call for. Think I’ll go make lunch…
I’ve never had homemade that was not curdled. ugh
Michelle on July 17th, 2008 12:38 pm

For what it’s worth… My mom always told me to add a pinch of baking soda to the soup when you’re heating it up. I think the reason being so the milk doesn’t curdle.
Christy on July 17th, 2008 7:56 pm

Yummy! Those are probably my favorite cookies!
Gina on July 19th, 2008 12:03 pm

The best soup is your aunt Eva’s recipe. Can it in the summer, and have quick soup handy any time. I never liked the tomatoe soup with milk, so this one is my favorite because it doesn’t have milk.
Lois on July 31st, 2008 2:03 pm

I love your Aunt Eve’s recipe too… wonder why, since I grew up with it. Mom always made it, and now it’s is our favorite fast meal. We even eat it for Sunday lunch!! I do not like the boughten stuff.

Cookies and Bars

Butter Pecan Turtle Bars

July 15, 2008 December 13, 2019

Posted on July 15, 2008
Filed Under Cookies and bars

I can’t tell you how good these are! It’s good I don’t have a pan of these sitting around, what with trying to be on a diet and all. I’d be helpless.

This recipe came from the Tasty Favorites cookbook and the 2-page spread that they’re on is a dynamite 2 pages. Seriously, I was trying to choose between all 4 recipes. First, I weeded out the Chewy Peanut Butter Bars, I think because I wasn’t too sure about the coconut… they, by the way, are not similar to the Peanut Butter Dream Bars featured awhile ago. Next, I weeded out the Chocolate Crunch Bars, mostly because I had made something similar to those before, except the brownie part was a brownie mix in my other recipe instead of made from scratch like this one. I just could not choose between the Caramel Toffee Bars and the Butter Pecan Turtle Bars (which are actually called Butter Pecan Turtle Cookies in this cookbook, but I’d say they’re bars because they’re made in a pan then cut apart, not made individually like cookies). And finally the Turtle ones won. BUT, you will probably be seeing those other recipes sometime in the future.

Back to that Tasty Favorites cookbook, I love it! It’s got 227 pages of good solid down home cookin’ recipes in it. It’s compiled by the Pleasant Grove Mennonite Church in IN. If any of you readers are from there, you did a GREAT job compiling that cookbook! I know my cousin Nic goes to that church, but I don’t think I know anyone else there.

Anyway, back to the Turtle bars…

Butter Pecan Turtle Bars

Printable recipe

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup pecan pieces

Mix flour, sugar, and butter, and pat into a 9×13 pan.

I wasn’t too sure about this crust when I was making it. It seemed too thick for as fine and crumbly as it was. But after it baked, it was perfectly firm and not crumbly at all.

Sprinkle pecan pieces over crust.

Caramel Layer:
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup milk chocolate chips
In a 1-qt pan, combine butter and sugar, cook. When entire surface boils; boil 1/2 to 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour over pecan crust.

Anybody getting a caramel craving? I’m feeling a strong urge to make these bars again.

Bake at 350 on center rack for 18-22 minutes or until caramel is bubbly all over and crust is lightly browned.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on and allow to melt slightly, swirl as they melt.

I will not go out to my kitchen and make these right now. I will not go out to my kitchen and make these right now. I will not… somebody, please help me… I could use a bit of willpower here.

Comments

14 Responses to “Butter Pecan Turtle Bars”

Traci on July 15th, 2008 10:00 pm

I WILL go out to my kitchen and make these right now…..oh darn, tomorrow is WEIGH IN WEDESDAY….When I get a few moments, I’m sure going to blog about your site….I LOVE the pictures!!!
Barb on July 16th, 2008 4:44 am

I WILL…
Lisa on July 16th, 2008 4:49 am

My husband LOVES Turtles. I have to make these for him. You may see this recipe turn up on my blog soon!!

Are they the same consistency of a store bought Turtle?
Shannon on July 16th, 2008 6:41 am

My mouth is watering!!!!! I gonna make these today!!!! I love turtles so I’ll even put the choc on top. Oh, was I suppose to be yelling at you not to make them???
Rene on July 16th, 2008 8:13 am

I just have to make these! I have 2 events that call for a dessert this week (birthday of a co-worker and our church ladies night out). Who knows I might even make them twice!!
Kay on July 16th, 2008 8:48 am

Lisa, I’m not even sure what store bought turtles are like. Do you find them in the candy section?

Rene, you make them once, you’ll make them twice. These got compliments at the picnic that I took them to.
Lisa on July 16th, 2008 1:42 pm

Kay – yes they are in the candy section. They are round and have the pecans kinda sticking out of them. Very popular at Christmas time. I believe the box is red striped. My husband wants a box every time he sees them. I think I will have to make these for him this weekend!
Liz on July 16th, 2008 3:59 pm

You are going to have to start telling me what dishes are yours at social functions. Once I see them on here I wish I would have tried them that way I know if I like them or not. I heard someone make some comments about those bars but never got around to try them. I love turtles so I am sure I would have liked them.
Roxanna on July 16th, 2008 9:07 pm

I made these today and they are great! Barb ate some-actually, I think she ate half the pan!
Karen on July 16th, 2008 9:56 pm

These look fabulous!! I want one RIGHT now!!
Barb on July 17th, 2008 9:02 am

No, I did not eat half the pan, but they were WONDERFUL! I am going to make them for our family reunion this weekend.
Traci on July 18th, 2008 2:13 pm

Ok, my dd read the recipe and we baked the CRUST for 18 minutes BEFORE putting on the carmel…so, we didn’t bake the caramel….not really sure if it turned out like it was supposed to do, but they were still awesome. My caramel didn’t seem to go as far as yours….would you know why? Thanks for the recipe.
Kay on July 18th, 2008 2:54 pm

Traci, glad you made them. I’m not sure about the caramel… I made exactly how much the recipe said and had a 9×13 pan. You probably did the same. When I poured it over the crust, I tried to cover the whole crust while pouring so I wouldn’t have to spread it to the parts I missed. I still had to close in little gaps by spreading it and the caramel layer isn’t very deep at all… the chopped nuts still stuck out above it.
Rene on July 20th, 2008 7:57 pm

Ok…I just pulled these out of the oven and they smell amazing!! It was near 100 today so I really debated with myself about turning on the oven. I’ll be back to let you know how they turned out. I’m glad you mentioned the crust being so crumbly at first because I was worried I didn’t put in enough butter.

Out of My Comfort Zone, Salads

Creamy Sweet & Sour Cole Slaw – Out of My Comfort Zone #6

July 14, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 14, 2008
Filed Under Out of My Comfort Zone, Salads

I’m going to throw in another ‘Out of my comfort zone cooking’ post. Because that’s exactly what it was. I didn’t know a thing about cole slaw, except that I like to eat it. I don’t remember ever buying cabbage in my life. I do, however, remember a science experiment in grade school involving purple cabbage, but I forget what it was all about or I’d tell you. It must not have made an impression on me back then.

I was walking thro’ the grocery store the other day and beside the bagged ready-made lettuce salads in the produce section was shredded cabbage. I suddenly got hungry for cole slaw. Instead of going over to the deli counter and ordering a small container of cole slaw, I decided to try homemade cole slaw, made by me. So, I grabbed a bag of the shredded cabbage.

We had a church picnic last night at Dan’s (our pastor’s) house. There were going to be burgers and hot dogs and from there we were supposed to bring a salad and dessert. I thought of cole slaw for the salad (and what I took for dessert will be featured in the next post). The nice thing about a potluck where there are 50 dishes to choose from is that if something flops, there are enough other dishes to pick from. The other nice thing about a potluck is that if something flops, nobody knows who made it. Unless they ask around. So, I made cole slaw.

I learned something about cole slaw. Saturday evening, I was chatting online with my aunt and I asked her if I should make the cole slaw now so the flavors can blend together or if it would just get mushy and if it would be better to wait till Sunday afternoon. She said she doesn’t know (she must not make cole slaw very often either ), and said ‘why do today what you can put off till tomorrow’. So, me, being an expert at procrastinating, made it Sunday afternoon, about 4 hours before the picnic. It looked perfect. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge and went to take a nap. 3 1/2 hours later, I got it out of the fridge to go to the picnic and it looked totally different! It had gotten runny and the cabbage was softer than it had been! Must’ve been from the sugar in it. I was so glad I hadn’t made it Saturday evening, because it was about perfect at the picnic. It may have gotten too mushy made too far ahead of time.

Another thing I learned is that it is possible for me to make good coleslaw and another thing I learned is that it’s SO easy and quick to make! This recipe is taken from the Famous Daves Backroads and Sidestreets cookbook.

Creamy Sweet & Sour Cole Slaw

Printable recipe

10 cups chopped shredded red and green cabbage
1/4 cup grated carrot
2 cups Miracle whip
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish (I’d recommend not putting this much in unless you’re making it for a Memphis-style sandwich or really really like horseradish ???? )
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. celery seeds

Toss the cabbage and carrot in a bowl. I used a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots. The bag said there is 7 1/2 cups in it, so I just didn’t put all the dressing on.

Mix salad dressing, sugar, horseradish, dry mustard, white pepper, salt, garlic powder, and celery seeds in a bowl. Add to cabbage mixture and mix well.

Chill, covered, until serving time. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Right after mixing…

3 1/2 hours later…

That coloring difference is from different lighting, but it did actually get lighter in color too. Actually, I guess it does look more like real cole slaw in this picture. Maybe all cole slaw recipes do that. As far as the taste of this, it was great! It will be my cole slaw recipe, but I might try others now and then too. I’m just so impressed how easy it was and how flavorful it was. I’d even make it for company. Or for a summer picnic. Or just for anyhow.

Comments

3 Responses to “Creamy Sweet & Sour Cole Slaw – Out of My Comfort Zone #6”

Shannon on July 15th, 2008 7:09 am

I love cole slaw. Need to try this cause it looks easy enough. (The bag of cabbage appeals to me)
Lisa on July 15th, 2008 7:30 am

This past 4th of July was the first time I made coleslaw too. I went with a Blue Cheese Coleslaw. I got the recipe from a friend, and had just never gotten around to trying it. It turned out great and there wasn’t much left of it after the party. I highly recommend giving the Blue Cheese recipe a try too! It was really good.
Mary Faith on July 15th, 2008 10:06 am

Coleslaw is definitely better (in my opinion anyway) made several hours ahead of time. This makes me hungry for coleslaw again! I got a recipe years ago that tastes very much like the KFC coleslaw. I’ll have to try this one. It looks very good, too!

Cookies and Bars, Cooks in Training

Smiling Sugar Cookies – Cooks in Training #2

July 11, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 11, 2008
Filed Under Cookies and bars, Cooks in Training

I’m going to try to do this series without talking every time about big messes and me using a rag every 2 minutes before the mess takes over my kitchen. Hmmmm… now, I’m sitting here with nothing to say if I can’t talk about that…

Just kidding. We had fun. And now Lexi can finally stop sharply inhaling and saying, “Mom, let’s make these sometime!” whenever she sees these cookies in the 2004 Quick Cooking cookbook.

Smiling Sugar Cookies

Printable recipe

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
About 24 popsicle sticks
1 cup vanilla frosting
Food coloring
Assorted small candies (we used M&Ms)

Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Roll the dough into 1 1/2″ balls.

Insert stick into the center of each. Place 2″ apart on lightly greased baking sheets; flatten slightly.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

That baking time is a problem for 2 little energetic cooks. Tiffany and I made frosting and Tiffany licked the beater while Lexi wrote stuff with popsicle sticks to pass the time. And they still kept peeking in the oven and asking if the cookies were almost done.

Remove to wire racks to cool. Divide frosting between bowls and tint them to desired colors. Put each frosting in a plastic bag and snip off a small corner of the bag. Pipe hair and mouths onto cookies. Use a small dab of frosting to attach small candies for noses and eyes.

Ah, I just love that chubby little hand with a decorating bag. She actually didn’t do too bad at decorating for a 2-yr-old.

Let dry for at least 30 minutes. Yield: about 2 dozen.

And here’s the finished product…
They would’ve been kinda cute poked into something and standing up, but I couldn’t think of anything around here that would work for that. 3 were eaten plain, we got 19 cookies out of the batch.

Here’s the smiley section. Alot of the food I take pictures of (if it’s for a meal) gets photographed while everyone is coming to the table or sitting down already and when I take more than 1 picture, there are jokes like, “Wasn’t it smiling the first time?” With these, the joke was, “Oh, now the food actually does have to smile!”
Yes, those are all smileys… use your imagination. Tiffany did that one by herself with the red mohawk. And the one with the yellow hair and green eyes has a beard… Lexi’s creation (before we even started decorating, she said she’s gonna make one with a beard, don’t know why she thought of that, she’s rarely around anyone with a beard). I made only one of these and I certainly hope you can tell which one.

Soon, Lexi got bored with smiley faces, so she switched to flowers and a butterfly…

Now, about making these with your kids… I just went back to check the time on my camera. The very first picture (dumping ingredients into the bowl) was taken at 2:54 p.m. The last picture taken (them sitting there holding cookies) was taken at 4:30 p.m. 1 1/2 hours… not alot of time. Skip storytime and spend 1 hour less on the computer someday (ouch, less computer time? that hurt. Let’s switch that one to ‘skip scrubbing the kitchen floor and weed the flowerbed some other day’). They will have a ball of fun and it’ll make memories for them. And hopefully not too bad of nightmares for you.

Oh, and by the way, this is actually a good sugar cookie recipe if you just want to make regular sugar cookies sometime. I don’t like sugar cookies because they’re always so dry and tasteless (that’s my opinion, I live with a couple of people who really like them), but these are better than most of the sugar cookies I’ve had.

Comments

3 Responses to “Smiling Sugar Cookies – Cooks in Training #2”

Katrina on July 11th, 2008 9:53 pm

Cute and how fun. I REALLY need to do this kind of thing with my kids more. (4 boys) Thanks for the reminder.
Kelsie Hoover on July 12th, 2008 5:08 pm

I might try these at out next girl’s club…I’m in charge of craft for the younger half (ages 4 or so-10)…it usually ends up being 15 girls. I will definetly have the cookies made before hand…hopefully we don’t mess up the entire gym! thanks for the idea.
Suzanne on December 28th, 2008 6:15 pm

I really love the fact you get your kids involved with the cooking. I find it really sad nowadays that girls my age (25) only know how to pull a box of mac n cheese out of the cabinet and that’s what they know how to “cook.” I think it is great your kids are learning the basics and more of how to cook!

Chicken and Turkey, Easy Meals, Main Dishes

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, only 4 ingredients!

July 9, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 9, 2008
Filed Under Chicken and Turkey, Easy meals, Main dishes

The title actually sorta gives away what most of the ingredients are! Cheese (actually a can of cheese soup), chicken, and if it’s quesadillas it’s gotta have tortillas, and water. I got this recipe off of the soup can. Southwest Style Pepper Jack soup.

It was kind of hard to find… have you ever stared and stared at shelves, just knowing it was there, but you couldn’t lay your eyes on it? I did that with this. I did it in the jello section looking for watermelon gelatin too just lately, but that’s for another time and another post. There is a difference though… with the watermelon gelatin, I was only hoping it was there, with the soup, I knew it was there.

The reason I knew it was there is because my sister-in-law Liz makes these quesadillas and she said Marketplace has the soup, but Walmart doesn’t. After I finally found the soup, I immediately looked on the label to see if the recipe was there and sure enough, it was. Then, I wondered HOW, out of all the soup can labels there, Liz found this soup and tried this recipe. And it was a hit with the family! Wonder how much more I’m missing out on by not trying other soup can label recipes.

There are 4 more recipes on the back (you have to cut the paper off of the can on the specified line and flip the paper over to see them, this is not something you should be doing in the store before purchasing). I think it’s the manufacturer’s trick to getting you to buy more… you can’t see the other recipes till you get home and cut the paper off of the empty can before throwing it away. Then some of the recipes grab you and “Southwest Style Pepper Jack soup” goes right back on your shopping list. The other recipes are: Nachos Grande, Cheesy Pepper Jack Tacos, Mexican Meatloaf, and Cheesy Southwest Potatoes. I’ll bet some of those would be good too. Especially the nachos, meatloaf, and potatoes. They all have 5-7 ingredients. The reason you don’t need many ingredients is because this soup has got LOTS of flavor and kick.

Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas

Printable recipe

1 lb. boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 can Campbell’s Southwest Style Pepper Jack soup
1/4 cup water
8 flour tortillas (8″), warmed (I used 9″ tortillas, and only 6 of them)

Preheat oven to 325. Cook chicken in nonstick skillet until done and juices evaporate, stirring often. Add soup and water and heat through. Shannon grilled the chicken on the grill while I mixed and heated the soup and water. When the chicken was done, I chunked it up and mixed it into the soup.

Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on half of each tortilla to within 1/2″ of the edge. Moisten edge with water.

Fold over and seal. Place on 2 baking sheets (or 1, in this case). Bake 5 min. or until hot. I baked them for 7-8 minutes, until I saw a bit of browning.

Cut into wedges and serve with salsa. And/or sour cream. I ate mine with sour cream. It was spicy enough without the salsa.

Just delicious for something so simple! If you have a full-time job and need to come home and make supper, this would be a good thing for the main dish! It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish. For a quick idea of something to serve with it, how about tortilla chips and applesauce. Or peanut butter pie (I’m so hungry for peanut butter pie!). Or ice cream. Or something else cold and creamy to cool the mouth. Tiffany’s take on the quesadillas after a couple bites was, “I don’t wike da spicy.”

Comments

10 Responses to “Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas, only 4 ingredients!”

Esther on July 10th, 2008 7:54 am

yum!! They look good. We have a quesdilla maker that makes making quesdillas fun but i was wondering is this mixture kinda runny from the pic it looked like it was. Our thing closes tightly and i was wondering if i try if everything will get squished out? Keep the good recepies coming! I love your site. I finally found doughnut mix after lots of searching now i can finally make those raspberry things.
Monica on July 10th, 2008 9:19 am

MMMM!! They sound yummy!! I’ll have to try them.
Shannon on July 10th, 2008 3:32 pm

Sounds good. My girls would say the same things Tiffany did. Nothing spicy here!!
Kay on July 11th, 2008 7:54 pm

Esther, wow, I’d be making quesadillas all the time if I had a quesadilla maker. Yeah, the filling is kind of runny, but there’s enough chicken in it to keep it from running out, at least when they’re made this way. Not sure what it would do in a quesadilla maker. Might work to put less water in the soup.
Liz on July 12th, 2008 4:15 pm

Just FYI I didn’t find that recipe by myself. I think my mom got if off one of those adds in Readers Digest that is advertising for Campbells. She served it to us and that is how I found out about it. I sometimes think the same thing of how many recipes are out there that I don’t even see because I am not looking at recipes on the containers.
anxiety on January 19th, 2009 6:01 am

I just tried your recipe today and wanted to say thank you, because it was really tasty!
Jennifer on May 25th, 2010 6:10 am

I tried this last night and it was yummy! I substituted salsa for the water and added onions to it. We ate them up! Thanks!!!
penguinracing on August 7th, 2010 2:13 pm

I loved this receipe, and my step kids actually do too. I found the receipe on the label of the soup can. Too bad can’t find it anymore, no substitue found yet
P.J. Scott on April 26th, 2014 12:11 pm

I’ve spent the last 2 weeks searching for Campbell’s southwest style pepper jack soup and canops and Wegman’s’t find it anywhere. I live in Western NY (Niagara County) and have looked at Tops and Wegmans. Anybody know how I can locate this flavor?
Cassandra on October 14th, 2014 7:27 pm

I have looked for the last 2 years for this soup and can’t find it anywhere. It looks like Campbell’s isn’t making it anymore. If anyone finds a substitute flavoring, please let me know. This was so good and so quick and easy to make!! Miss it!

For Special Occassions, Holiday Cooking

July 4th follow-up post…

July 7, 2008 December 19, 2019

Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under For special occassions, Holiday cooking

First off, about the USA jello. I used a jello mold that’s the shape of the US.

The mold has teeny shallow lines between each state, so to get the different colors effect, I mixed up the blue and red jello, then used a medicine dropper to drop it into the different sections. (I don’t keep a medicine dropper around, I took a bottle of infant Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet, took out the dropper, washed it really good with hot water, used it to color the states, washed it good again, and put it back in the bottle.) In some states, there’s a mixture of both blue and pink. That happened when the dropper dropped before I was over the state I wanted or when I got too much in the state and it went over the little ‘walls’ between each state. It was a little tedious, but I thought it would look a little blah with just all one color on top. After I got all the states filled in, I put 1/2 of the white mixture in, then layered red, white, and blue from there.

To cut the jello, I followed the lines and cut it apart into states (except some of the New England states!). It was kinda nice because then you could pick your size. Lexi was declaring that she was gonna get Florida and that she’d get Wisconsin out for Tiffany. But when I finally gave them the go-ahead to dig in, she saw the size of Texas and changed her mind about Florida. Then, Tiffany wanted the biggest one too, so to save a fight, we suggested California and she was happy with that. They each ate about 1/4 of their piece, then said it was too big. Sigh. I was thinking, “So, then WHY did you guys have to get the biggest pieces?!” but instead I said, “Just wrap them up in Saran wrap and put them in the fridge. You can finish them later.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

We got together with some friends Friday night and grilled burgers and hot dogs before the fireworks. I made a fruit pizza for dessert. It’s this recipe, but I cut back on the amounts because it wasn’t gonna fill up the whole pan since it was shaped into a rectangle, a flag. Oh, it was so good. I didn’t count how many pieces I ate. Fruit pizza is one thing I crave, especially in the summer.

I have a few fireworks pictures, but other than that, nothing. I was lounging in my lawnchair thinking, ‘I should go get my camera and take a picture of Shannon grilling and of the kids playing and of the adults talking and capture the party atmosphere around us’ and then as I kept lounging, I lowered my standards and started thinking, “I should at least get my camera and take 4 pictures because that would make a pageful for when I scrapbook this event’, but I just kept sitting there, living the moment instead of capturing it. I actually don’t like taking pictures at social events. BUT the only thing I hate worse than taking pictures is not having pictures, so that’s what drives me to take them. Except for this time.

And with that I leave you with a little fireworks show…

Comments

7 Responses to “July 4th follow-up post…”

Rene on July 7th, 2008 11:22 am

Kay — Thanks for the explanation! I was wondering how you did the states!! Great fireworks pics!!
Lisa on July 7th, 2008 11:33 am

I bet my state would’nt fill anyone up! (Rhode Island!)
Shannon on July 7th, 2008 11:34 am

To cool. Not sure I’d have the patience to fill all the states in. I’d be very hungry for fruit pizza right now too. Might have to make some.
Cordy on July 7th, 2008 12:29 pm

That fruit pizza almost drives me to my kitchen right now. Oh my, that looks wonderful! I appreciate this blessing on here you give to us so very much – THANK YOU! I did wonder how you keep the bananas nice? Do you dip them in lemon juice? P.S. When Bernice drops you a note…..must tell you she also is a wonderful cook….we’ve had brunches at her place…often celebrating someone’s birthday. She loves to give everything an extra special touch. It is not only a wonderful experince with friends but she gives the whole time we’re together a meaningful start as she lifts our time together to our Lord.
Isn’t the family of God more than precious!!
Berneice on July 7th, 2008 12:35 pm

Thanks for clueing us in on your USA finger jello. It looks cloo, but I doubt I will ever try it. Not nearly enough patience on this end Fruit pizza looks refreshing too.
Kay on July 7th, 2008 1:08 pm

Cordy, to keep the bananas nice, I glazed them right away as soon as I put a row of them on. The glaze keeps them from browning for awhile. I made it in the afternoon and the next morning, the bananas on the leftovers were just getting a hint of brown, not too bad, but if you’d make it a day ahead, you’d want to save the bananas to put on later for the freshest look.

Btw, the ’stars’ on top of the blueberries are just little dollops of Cool Whip.
Denise on July 8th, 2008 8:31 am

I love fruit pizza, and that flag is just so neat. Also thanks for explaining the USA jello. I was wondering how you did it. With you showing all these neat things it makes me want to thow a July 4th party next year.

For Special Occassions, Grilling, Holiday Cooking

It’s Independence Day!

July 3, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under For special occassions, Grilling, Holiday cooking

How are you spending the holiday? …Going out on the lake? …Firing up the grill? …Getting together with family and friends? …Going out to watch fireworks? I don’t specifically remember not watching fireworks any year, but I’m sure there was a year or two missed in there somewhere. When we lived in town, we could see them from our house. Fireworks is what I think of first when I think ‘4th of July’, then I think of my oldest brother (Happy Birthday, Tom!), then I think of grilling and burgers and brats. I know, with having a cooking blog, you’d think grilling and all would be first on my list.

Speaking of grilling, I’m sure we’ll be doing some. Here are some of our favorites:

Hot dogs, our favorites are Ball Park beef franks…

Brats, it’s gotta be Johnsonville…

Cheeseburger, this has got to go on the menu this weekend! I’ll have to talk to the guy in charge of grilling around here…

New York Strip Steak, and please don’t forget the sauteed mushrooms! Mmmmm…

Rib-Eye Steak done medium, this was melt-in-your-mouth tender, didn’t even need A1 sauce…

Shrimp and mushrooms grilled on skewers, a great appetizer…

Pork chop sandwich, last but definitely not least! This is the thing out of this whole list that we grill the most. Yup, even more than throwing hot dogs and brats on the grill. Maybe next time we make them, I can remember to get a better picture! They’re easy, at least for me, because all I do is set the table…

And then I couldn’t let the holiday go by without playing around with my beloved for-any-occassion layered finger jello! It’s a nice side benefit that it tastes good, too.

Instead of using a 9×13 pan for a batch, I used a large cookie sheet with sides so it wouldn’t get so thick. The red and blue layers each have 2 batches of jello in them and the white layer is all of the white mixture (as opposed to dividing it in thirds). When I cut it into little shapes, it looks better if it’s not so thick.

And then you can play around with it a little more and makes squares and cut a star out of the middle, flip it over, and put it back into the hole.

And then you can play around with it a little more and make the United States of America…

And, being in the spirit of things, this is what I was snacking on just now as I wrote this post…

Red strawberries, white sugar, and blue blueberries.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

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Comments

10 Responses to “It’s Independence Day!”

Shannon on July 4th, 2008 7:11 am

Oh the food looks good. But then it always does here. I love that jello, looks too cool in the stars and the states.
Jo on July 4th, 2008 8:46 am

Did you SERIOUSLY do that map of the U.S. in jello????? I am in complete awe. May I have your autograph?
I was going to do layered jello like that to send w/ my husband to OH for their big doin’s tonight…but changed my mind & did a layered jello cake instead. Red on the bottom, blue on the top, iced w/ the old stand-by Cool Whip. So simple…just hope it tastes good! (since I won’t be there to check) Happy 4th!
Marilyn on July 4th, 2008 3:11 pm

love the finger jello, esp the stars, those are so cool! my kids would love them. Happy 4th of July to you too!
Mary Faith on July 4th, 2008 3:32 pm

I decided to google “red, white,and blue finger jello” to find a recipe and guess what? The very first site that came up was this one. LOL It took me back to the recipe you had on here. I had forgotten you had the recipe before. So cool.
Kay on July 4th, 2008 5:01 pm

Mary Faith, sorry I didn’t get here to answer your question! Glad you found the answer in the meantime! Hope it turns out good for you!

To get to the recipe from this post, the words “layered finger jello” in bold red up there between the pork chop and the finger jello pictures is a link to the recipe. Also, the names of some of those grilling pictures are in red… those are also links to their respective recipes.
stephanie on July 5th, 2008 7:04 am

Whoa lady! The United States? How in the world did you do that?
Love the stars and the whole Ble, Red and White theme who were the lucky recipients of the gourmet atmosphere?
Jan on July 5th, 2008 7:42 am

Map of the US???I’m in awe. I’m not artistic so I’m always wowed by those who are. The stars are cute, too.
I also love the photos of the little cooks in the cherry pie post. For some reason, Tiffany just cracks me up! And Lexi looks so grown up in the apron.
Berneice on July 5th, 2008 8:46 pm

Like the rest. I stand (sorry,I sit) amazed! Did you really do that map? How in the world?? Happy belated 4th
Katie Mast on July 6th, 2008 7:38 am

Happy July 4th to you. That Map is incrediable. I have a mold for that as well, but never did it like that. How did you do that? I love the star shape idea and the sq. how cool is that! I am making your meat loaf recipe for lunch today, it has become one of our favorites as well.
Mary Faith on July 7th, 2008 12:34 pm

I did the star shaped finger jello for the weekend. Took it to Cheyenne on Sat. and then again to the carry in yesterday. (I made how many batches on Fri. to make it enough!) It was definitely a big hit both places. I took some of the “scraps” along to Cheyenne and the children ate those quite freely. All that’s left here is a few more “scraps”.

Cooks in Training, Pies

Mini Cherry Pies – Cooks in Training #1

July 1, 2008 December 12, 2019

Posted on July 1, 2008
Filed Under Cooks in Training, Pies

Ok, we’re going to have 2 dessert posts in a row. But I’m fine with that… you know the saying, “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first”. And when Lexi tries to talk me into letting her have 2 cookies right before supper and I tell her to wait till after supper because she won’t be hungry and she reasons ‘But if I wait till after, I might not be hungry for the cookies and I’d rather eat the cookies now and not be hungry for the chicken and stuff for supper’, I see her point and actually agree with her. There are very few foods that I like better than cookies. So, yeah, she got that honestly… the willingness to ‘wreck’ a meal by eating dessert first. Which isn’t wrecking the meal at all because the cookies are better than the meal.

In case you’re getting worried, we don’t actaully eat dessert first around here. We just discuss it. I actually don’t usually even make dessert at mealtime because we’re often too full for it anyway. So our cookies and pies and milkshakes and stuff are more often an evening snack for us.

With this post, I’m starting a series called “Cooks in Training”. Guess what that is… anybody have little people in the house? Do our weekly recipe with them. They’ll love it! And you actually will too, just relax and picture the worst case scenario and hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised that it didn’t go too bad. My main job was using a rag before the messes took over my kitchen. Lexi (5) and Tiffany (2) did all the work except for the little bit that I did to show them how to do it. I’m not sure how long this will last as being weekly… hopefully I’m not burned out by the 3rd week!

We were grocery shopping one day and Lexi saw some cute little pre-made graham crusts in a pack of 6. She did a sharp inhale and exclaimed, “Mom, look at these sweet little pies! Can we get them?” They were really cute. And only $1.25 for 6 crusts, so I quite easily gave in. Here is what we ended up doing with them:

Mini Cherry Pies

Printable recipe

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups cherry pie filling (or filling of your choice)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
6 Keebler mini ready-made graham cracker crusts

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla till smooth. Spread on bottom and up sides of each crust.

Between this step and the next step, “Oh! We forgot our aprons. Mom, just wait. We have to go get our aprons. C’mon Tiffany.” Their aprons were made for them by their Great Grandma, the one who makes THE BEST brown sugar pie.

Put about 1/4 cup pie filling on top of cream cheese mixture.

And if any filling would happen to miss the crust and land on the counter, just lick it up. —————————————————————————
Melt chocolate chips and put in plastic bag. Cut off one corner and pipe the chocolate onto the filling.

And, uh, try not to let the bag drop into the pie. That would get cherry filling on the bag and then might get your hand messy.

Chill for an hour or two. Eat. They tasted great!

Comments

3 Responses to “Mini Cherry Pies – Cooks in Training #1”

Barb on July 2nd, 2008 12:08 pm

I Love your website,I’m from Illinois and it sounds like we have a lot in common I Love baking I have a daughter Courtney 10 yrs old and likes to bake, although her idea is she does the baking and Mom cleans up. I’ve been up since 2 o’clock this morning and made 9 doz. cinn rolls a batch of cookies, my friends call me crazy i call it relaxing,I want to make these little pies with Courtney sometime,she is Daddy’s girl the next 2 days he drives truck. Hey keep the recipes coming I love it
Sorina on July 3rd, 2008 6:05 am

I like the sound and look of this. I shall mark this on my to do list.
Jes on July 3rd, 2008 10:54 pm

I get pretty frustrated when I try to cook with my kids (3 and 2yr. old boys!) but I need to do it more! I will be checking this often for some good, fun ideas to do with my little ones! Thanks so much for sharing! Love it!!