Frozen Fruit Cups

I tried these frozen fruit cups yesterday and liked the versatility of them, so posting so I can make them again some time.  They are pretty, refreshing and fast to put together.  I like the individual ones, but if someone wanted to put the whole recipe in a 9 x 13 pan and freeze it, then cut into serving sizes, it would work great too.  You can vary the fruit to whatever you want and have in your cupboard or fridge pretty much I think also.  Berries would be good in them, cut up in tiny pieces.

FROZEN FRUIT CUPS:

In a medium/large bowl combine: (I used a hand mixer so sugar was completely dissolved)

1/2 pint heavy cream, softly whipped

1/2 pint sour cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

5 Tablespoons maraschino cherry juice (from the jar of cherries)

Add: 

1/2 cup seedless purple grapes quartered

1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries

1 cup pineapple tidbits, drained

2 medium bananas, finely chopped (I didn't have these and used 2 fresh peaches I had)

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice 

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds, optional

In a cupcake tin (18 cupcake size if you have it or enough to equal that) put 18 foil lined cupcake papers.  divide the above fruit mixture between them, sprinkle almonds on top if desired.  cover and freeze.  Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.  

Salted Caramel Brownies for Kevin's Birthday Dessert Request

My daughter, Kim's, boyfriend, Kevin requested salted caramel brownies for his birthday this year.  I found this recipe online with high ratings so after getting all the ingredients together, made them for his party today.  Everyone said they were really good, so I decided to post it just as written by the author, Sabrina Snyder.  I had vanilla ice cream with them too.  I did reduce the flake salt though.

SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIES:

1 cup butter-she recommends unsalted-I used salted because I had that.
14 ounces semisweet chocolate chips DIVIDED (I used mini chips because I had those)
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate-I used the bar type and chopped it up
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon instant expresso-I had a hard time finding this, so ordered it online-it has a very fine texture, so would recommend using it, but you maybe could use regular instant coffee if in a pinch.
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour DIVIDED
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt-I used regular
11 ounces wrapped caramels-one bag-unwrapped
2 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons flake salt-also ordered online

INSTRUCTIONS:
1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper
2. In a larger sized microwave safe bowl add the butter, half the semisweet chips, and unsweetened chocolate together in a microwave in 30 second increments until fully melted and mixed. set aside to cool.
3. In a separate bowl add the eggs, instant espresso, vanilla and sugar and whisk well.-add to chocolate mixture.
4.  Add 1/2 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt also into the cooled chocolate mixture.
5. Mix the remaining 6 ounces of chocolate chips into the remaining 1/4 cup of flour in a small bowl and add to the chocolate batter.
6. Add milk to the unwrapped caramels and microwave in 30 second increments until melted and fully whisked together.  (mine took 3 times I believe)
7.  Add half the chocolate batter to the pan.  smooth out.  Pour HALF the caramel on top in a thin pour.  then top with remaining brownie batter.

Bake for 35 minutes, remove from oven and drizzle the rest of the caramel over it (you may have to re-melt the caramel to get it to drizzle) sprinkle with the salt.  (I didn't add as much salt, just a slight sprinkle). 

**I messed up when I made mine and put the whole batch of caramel in the middle-I have rewritten the directions here because I didn't get what she was trying to say on what to do with it and they turned out just fine doing it that way so don't worry.  I just sprinkled the salt on the warm brownie top lightly instead. 

Fireworks Birthday Cake for Shellie's 49th Birthday

The kids had their annual 4th of July/combo birthday party for Kevin (Kim's guy) and Shellie today.  I always make the lunch and desserts for it.  This year I made Shellie's traditional jello poke cake (recipe on blog) but decided to make some fireworks to put on the top to hold the candles.  They were so easy and I thought turned out cute!  All you have to do is use regular sized marshmallows and dip them in red melting chocolate, stick them on waxed paper and put the birthday black candles in them.  I found these with gold glitter on them, and let set in the fridge.  I sprinkled some americana sprinkles around them on the cake and at the party I added the happy birthday in the center of the cake.  

Pickled Eggs experimental batch

I saw a post on facebook re pickled eggs yesterday.  My son used to like them at the bars up in northern Minnesota, so I thought I'd do a test batch to take to our 4th of July little celebration coming up.  I found a few recipes, decided I definitely wanted the beet juice style for the colored eggs, and sort of adjusted another one that I thought he might like because it was similar to garlic jalapeno pickles.  Will find out after they sit a week if it's worth making a bigger batch next time.  I only made 8 eggs.

Make 8 hard boiled eggs, peel and wash and place in a glass jar or container.

Meanwhile make the brine of:

3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup beet juice (or water if you don't care about the color) I just bought a generic brand of sliced beers and drained the juice and it was perfect-we'll eat the beets for supper)
1/4 of an onion thinly sliced.  I used a yellow onion, but red would be pretty in the jar too
1/2 cup sugar
6 whole cloves
2 jalapeno peppers, deseeded and sliced lengthwise
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 garlic clove peeled

put brine ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar and simmer about 5 minutes.

set aside until just warm, not really hot because the eggs with get tough.

when cooled down, pour over eggs and refrigerate..will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.  it says you can eat them the next day, but a lot of recipes said to wait a week. 

Easy Stromboli

I keep looking for easy suppers to make now that the weather is so nice and we like easy lighter in the heat anyway, so tried this tonight.  I can see how it could be adjusted with different ingredients to make different variations really easily.  It makes a big log so could easily fill a family of 4-5 with a bowl of soup or salad.  (I am just heating up a can of Campbell's Tomato soup and having some fresh sweet cherries for a side) 

Stromboli with Ham/Salami/Provolone and Mozzarella Cheese

1 pound prepared pizza dough (homemade or store bought).  I used Pillsbury thin crust in the refrigerated section. 

a little all purpose flour for sprinkling on parchment paper

16 thin cut slices of salami (1/3 lb)

thin sliced honey ham

16 slices of provolone cheese (1/4 lb)

1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup roasted red peppers drained and chopped-I actually used some pimentos because I had them.

1 Tablespoon Capers

1 large egg beaten

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan for sprinkling


DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 400 degrees, set rack on lower 1/3 of oven.

Lay a 16 inch sheet of parchment paper on the counter and lightly flour it.  Spread out dough on paper to a  14 x11 size. Mine was close, just had to squish it out a little bit.  Brush beaten egg all the way around the edge of the dough.  Layer in order..Salami, provolone, Ham, Mozarella, Peppers, and capers, leaving 1/2 inch allowance all the way around.  Start rolling it up on the longer side carefully.  Seal all the ends by pinching together and tucking under the sides.  slide the parchment onto a cookie sheet and put smooth side upward.  Brush with egg and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  cut shallow cuts into top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake another 20 min.  Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes, slice and eat. 



 

Gaile's Eggroll Recipe

I had an eggroll class with the two grandgirls today and passing the recipe on to them because they both were interested and love the eggrolls.  Sam wrote everything down as I put the filling together and wrote up the below recipe to share.  If you have any questions feel free to comment below.   You can look up a tutorial online on how to roll eggrolls if you need that also..hard to explain in writing.  Enjoy!

New Fun Project -Making Dog Collars

I will soon be getting a new Golden Retrievers puppy and so developed a new interest in making dog collars.  My granddaughter, Sam, used to make and sell them, along with leashes that matched, but I like the retractable ones so won't be doing those.  My first one I tried, today, was for the pups mom..I plan on giving it to Dave, the breeder, when I go up later this week to pick out which female of the 6 available I want.  There were 11 puppies born, all healthy and adorable, so it will probably be a hard choice to make, but will be fun.  The mother dog's name is Peaches, so here is the collar I made! 

I made a second one today for a friend as a gift for referring me to Dave to begin with..she is getting a pup from him also..she picked out the pink leopard fabric for it..