"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." Dr. Seuss
Earlier today I posted a photo on FB of this bread pudding I made especially for Bill (yes, I like it, too). It is chocolate chip bread pudding, that tastes absolutely delicious.
I got a couple of requests for the recipe, so I decided to post it here for all of you.....
1 French loaf - 2 days old 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter - melted
Custard: 3 cups buttermilk (or half-and-half) 4 large eggs 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor*) 1/2 tsp. Espresso Powder* 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark chocolate)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice bread into 3/4" slices, brush melted butter on both sides of bread (I use a jelly roll pan)
2. To make custard, beat together buttermilk, eggs, sugar, flavoring, and espresso powder at medium speed until well blended.
3. Pour some custard into an UNgreased 2-quart baking dish (enough to cover bottom about 1/2 inch). Sprinkle some chips over custard. Arrange bread slices in dish all around bottom, overlapping as necessary. Pour remaining custard over bread; sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over mixture. Push down bread carefully so that all of it is soaked in custard.
4. Bake bread pudding until golden on top, 50 - 60 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners sugar, if desired. *These items may be purchase from King Arthur Flour Company
I have also made this with blueberries instead of chocolate chips when in season. Just leave out espresso powder; use vanilla and not Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor. If you decide to make this, please let me know and post a photo on my FB page or leave a link in the comments here.
Today we celebrate the 100th Birthday of America's favorite cookie... The Oreo!!
No matter how you eat it.... by twisting it open, licking the cream out of it, dunk it in milk (MY personal favorite, Double Stuff to be precise!), or just bite right into it, there is such a distinctive, delicious taste to the Oreo that NO OTHER cookie can match. Others have tried, but seriously failed.
There are soooo many things you can make with Oreo cookies, too. Here's a few recipes that I love... The first one is mine and is totally addictive so I don't make them often:
~ Deep Fried Oreos (I guess you can deep fry anything these days)
Actually if you search Food.com, you will find 906 recipes using Oreo cookies, not to mention 1009 recipes on the Nabisco site!! I think I may go on a mission to try all of them. =) Roll me over when I am done. TeeHee!!
So no matter what type of Oreo cookie is your favorite - mine being the Double Stuff - let's all celebrate together today with a tip of a glass of milk and a cookie to the greatest cookie ever invented.
Unfortunately, due to time restraints and the many things that have been going on in both mine and Dolly's lives, I'm sorry to say that we will have to discontinue our Recipe Swap Meet on Thursdays.... AAWWW!! (This doesn't mean I won't on occasion share a recipe that I find is wonderful and share it with you fabulous people, because you know that I lubs you all!!)
As for those of you that have been so wonderful each week and left comments and your own recipes, please let me say: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Without your support, we would not have been as successful and found so many delicious recipes.
So for my final recipe, I want to share one of my favorite summertime recipes that you can use the last of your summer tomatoes in:
Tomato and Olive Salad
2 -3 ripe tomatoes cut into cubes (I like either beefsteak or on the vine) 1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese cut into cubes 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (Lindsay are my favorite) 1/2 cup sliced pitted black olives (again Lindsay are the best tasting) 1/2 cup pimento stuffed queen size green Spanish olives (have to go with Lindsay on this one too) 1/2 cup Hormel pepperoni minis (I have fallen in love with these little bite size pieces) Pepper and Garlic Salt to taste EVOO and balsamic vinegar to taste
~ Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy, either at room temperature or slightly chilled.
This received mixed puppy tail wags... depending what part of the salad they got. Pepperoni: 6 wags; cheese: 6 wags; olives: 0 wags; tomatoes: 2 wags (Mumbo and Maila will eat just about anything).
Thank you all so much again, for all your support with mine and Dolly's meme. We wish you all much happiness, good health and good eats - or as Dolly would say... Nummers!!
Please know that you can hook up with our friend and constant supporter over at Time 2 Eat Yall - her blog is all about "everything food: recipes, reviews, giveaways, tips."
Bon Appetit, my friends!!
{Disclosure: I have not been paid by any of the companies who's links I have included. I have found that they work best in my recipe and wanted to share them with my friends. However, if any of these companies want to contact me to do any reviews or giveaways, I am more than happy to oblige!}
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly (Hi, my dear friend!!!) and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
This recipe is really simple and you all probably know it or have at least seen it... we are having it for dinner tonight (hence no new photos) with some fresh tomatoes on the side. Just in case you don't know how to make them, I wanted to share the recipe with you.....
~ Preheat oven to 375 degrees ~ Separate crescent rolls into triangles; spread desired amount of mustard onto each triangle. ~ Cut cheese slices into 4 strips each; cut slit into each hot dog within 1/2" of each end; stuff 2 strips of cheese into each hot dog. ~ Lay 1 stuffed hot dog onto 1 triangle each, wrap dough around hot dog; place on ungreased (I use a parchment lined) baking sheet. ~ Bake in preheated oven for 12 - 15 minutes, until crescents are golden brown and cheese is melted.
These are soooo yummy! They get 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags as my doggies love everything about them: the hot dogs (of course), the cheese and even the crescents..... Bill and I like them too. =)
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer!
Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit
{Disclosure: I have not been paid by any of the companies who's links I have included. I have found that they work best in my recipe and wanted to share them with my friends. However, if any of these companies want to contact me to do any reviews or giveaways, I am more than happy to oblige!}
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly (Hi, my dear friend!!!) and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
**I saw a recipe similar to this on another blog and I cannot remember where, so if it was yours, PLEASE let me know because I want to THANK YOU... I totally LOVE these!!**
Brownie Covered Oreo Cups
1 Pkg brownie mix (I prefer Duncan Hines, but Publix had a BOGO on Betty Crocker and I am all about saving money!) 1 Pkg Oreo cookies (I always use Double Stuff and I found this new flavor with chocolate and vanilla flavor - TO DIE FOR!!)
Plus my secret ingredient for everything chocolate that I make..... 1/4 tsp. Espresso Powder
~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees; spray muffin pan generously with cooking spray (I only use Pam)
~ Mix brownies according to package directions, adding Espresso Powder to the dry mix before adding wet ingredients.
~ Put approx. 1 Tbs. of brownie mix into each muffin cup; then add one cookie to each cup; followed by one more Tbs. of brownie mix.
~ Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (you'll see the top crack just a little)
~ Let them cool in pan for 10 min. then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
~ Serve plane or as I like them with whipped cream (Reddi-Whip is my favorite) with each bite..... of course I have to share the whipped cream with the doggies. TeeHee!
But that is ALL they get - no chocolate for my babies.
See the delicious layers of the Oreos!
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer!
Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!
{Disclosure: I have not been paid by any of the companies who's links I have included. I have found that they work best in my recipe and wanted to share them with my friends. However, if any of these companies want to contact me to do any reviews or giveaways, I am more than happy to oblige!}
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday! My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly (Hi, my dear friend!!!) and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Nutella Swirl Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 4 large eggs, at room temperature 2 tsp. pure vanilla 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups sugar 13-ounce jar Nutella Sparkling crystal sugar (optional)
~ Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour. Lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt.
~ In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed of mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.
~ Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife - do not over mix; sprinkle crystal sugar on top of batter.
~ Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes; invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.
This comes out SO moist and I love the chocolaty/nutty flavor of the Nutella inside. Bill and I both like to add a little ice cream and whipped cream on top for an added treat. The cake gets 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags, too - we just make sure not to give them any of the Nutella. =)
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer! Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday! My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly (Hi, my dear friend!!!) and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Spaghetti Pie
6-8 oz. left over cooked spaghetti 1 1/2 cups left over tomato sauce 2 Tbls. butter, melted 2 eggs, beaten 1/4 cup grated Parmesan/Romano cheese (plus some for top of pie) Butter for pie plate Shredded cheese (I prefer Sargento 4 Cheese Italian) Salt and Pepper to taste Your choice of fillings; I used meatballs and fresh mozzarella balls
~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees; brush pie plate all over with thin layer of butter
~ Add melted butter, grated cheese, salt & pepper and beaten eggs to left over spaghetti and toss well until all pasta is coated.
~Press the spaghetti mixture into the prepared pie plate, up the sides as much as possible; be careful not to let pieces hang out of the dish.
~ Fill with your favorite things: I used meatballs and small fresh mozzarella balls. You call also use ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, pepperoni, etc.
~ Add sauce over your fillings, then sprinkle Parmesan/Romano and shredded cheese on top of sauce.
~ Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
I love this recipe because it uses leftovers and it is so versatile, you can fill it with whatever you have at home and whatever you love; it can be vegetarian or it can be FULL of meat. As for the doggies, believe it or not, it received 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags because they seem to love pasta and as I've mentioned before, the just adore meat and cheese. Here is a little video (not too good in quality, but you get the idea) of how much they love spaghetti:
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer! Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us?We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Pink Champagne Cupcakes
Cupcakes: 1 box white cake mix (you can make scratch, but I just use box mix for this recipe) 1 1/4 cups champagneat room temperature (use a sweet, cheap sparkling wine - don't waste the good stuff) 1/3 cup vegetable oil 3 egg whites 4 to 5 drops red food coloring
Frosting: 1/2 cup butter, softened 4 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup champagne at room temperature (again, use a sweet, cheap one) 1 tsp. vanilla (I only use Mexican pure vanilla) 4 to 5 drops red food coloring
~ Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. ~ In large bowl, combine dry cake mix and room temp. champagne. Add oil, eggs and food color. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly into paper-lined muffin cups. ~ Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting (at least 30 minutes). To Make Frosting: ~ In medium bowl, beat ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. ~ Frost cupcakes. Decorate with pink sugar and/or sprinkles, edible pink pearls.
The champagne make these SO light and fluffy and give the frosting a delicious flavor.... it received 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags because my dogs are very strange. =) I like to frost with my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator to make them look purdy - but of course I don't have a photo of these because I haven't made them in a while, it's just too hot. So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer! Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Double Chocolate Bread Pudding with Dulce de Leche
Dulce de leche:
2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk (I only use Eagle Brand)
Pudding:
1-lb. day-old loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes 8 ounces dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate (the darker the better for me) 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I also use a really dark cocoa called Black Cocoa, mmmm) 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups whole milk 1 1/2 cups half-and-half 6 large eggs, beaten 1 tsp. instant espresso powder (my favorite comes from King Arthur Flour Company) 1 Tbls. vanilla extract
~ Make dulce de leche: Pour condensed milk into a bowl; set over a pot of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is very thick and golden brown, about 2 1/2 hours. Add more water to pot during cooking time, if necessary. Remove bowl; set aside to cool.
~ Make pudding: Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spread bread in dish; sprinkle with chocolate. In a bowl, whisk both sugars, cocoa and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk milk, half-and-half and eggs. Dissolve espresso in vanilla; whisk into egg mixture. Whisk egg mixture into bowl with cocoa mixture. Pour over bread cubes. Cover loosely; let stand for 1 hour.
~ Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove cover. Bake pudding until puffed and set in center, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Insert a small knife into center; it should come out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drizzle with dulce de leche and serve with ice cream, if desired.
OK, this does take some time to make, but you don't have to stand over it while making it and it really does taste delicious. Bill LOVES bread pudding and because of the chocolate content, there are NO puppy tail wags on this one... however they all did like the caramel sauce and they do love ice cream! =) I haven't made it in a while so I don't have a current photo of my own, I borrowed one from the recipe file. So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer! For more recipes, head on over to Ms.BiBi at Daily Organized Chaos.
Let's get cooking..... Bon Appetit!
{Disclosure: The links provided are for you because I found that they are wonderful for the recipe. I received no compensation from the companies included. Opinions expressed are 100% mine}
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Macaroni Salad
6-8 Hard cooked eggs, peel and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 box (16 oz.) elbow macaroni, cooked according to pkg. directions (Barillaworks best)
2 cans large ripe pitted olives cut in half
1-2 Tbls. mustard (to taste)
salt, pepper, mayonnaise (Hellmann's is the best) to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and serve chilled. Store leftovers tightly covered in refrigerator.
This received 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags, as you can see. It really amazes me what these doggies like to eat, they even bugged us while we were eating dinner so they could have more. As you can also see, Bill really loves this, too - it is one of his favorites. I love how simple it is and usually make a HUGE bowl of it so that we can have leftovers for several days and I make dinners that go well with it. Sometimes I make extra hard cooked eggs so that I can make egg salad for sandwiches for lunch or deviled eggs, which is also one of Bill's favorites.
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer!
Sorry I'm late... I forgot today was Thursday. Darn Monday holiday. =)
OK... we know you have all these recipes that you love to make. You got them from your mother, your grandmother, a magazine, or maybe you made it up, perhaps you don't even remember where the recipe came from. Well, how about sharing them with all of us? We are going to share ours with you every Thursday!
My good friend and (according to her husband) excellent cook, Dolly over at XmasDolly and I are now doing a recipe swap; we want to share ours with you and wold LOVE to get some of your favorites as well... So, Welcome to Thursday's Recipe Swap Meet, here is all you have to do:
Post a recipe on your blog, sign the linky on either blog (they will be linked), grab our new button - isn't she cute - hubby says she looks like me... TeeHee? (above, on my sidebar and on my Co-Chef Dolly's blog) and check out the recipes. Don't forget that each week you actually will be getting at least TWO for the price of ONE because both Dolly and I will post a recipe on each of our blogs. How simple is that??
Sauteed Pork Chops with Olives
4 boneless pork loin chops unflavored breadcrumbs
seasonings (I used Pampered Chef citrus and basil rub) 2 eggs 1/4 cup milk can of sliced olives 1/2 cup beef stock 1/4 cup white wine 2 Tbls. flour 2 Tbls. EVOO
Mix your seasonings into the breadcrumbs in shallow bowl; beat eggs in shallow bowl; put milk in another shallow bowl and then dredge chops first in milk, then eggs, then cover in bread crumb mixture. Saute the chops in the EVOO for 4 minutes on each side until browned.
Deglaze the pan with the wine;
then add the flour to thicken the sauce, add a little stock if needed. Once thick, add the rest of the broth and the olives.
Cover pan and cook for 20-30 min. (depending on thickness) until no longer pink inside and internal temp is 160 degrees.
This received 6 out of 6 puppy tail wags, of course... they LOVE meat!! Hubby liked it, too!
So now all you have to do is sign our linky so we all can find your recipes. You check out all ours and we will check out all yours. If you don't want to write it all down and you know of one on line just post a link to it on your blog or leave it in a comment if you prefer!
