English Toffee

Milk Chocolate bars or chips, melted
2 c roasted almonds, reserve some ground almonds

Place whole almonds on a greased cookie sheet

Combine:
1 lb real butter
2 1/2 cup sugar

On medium heat, stir at 180* until all mixed.  At 280* stir like crazy until 300*.  Immediately pour onto almonds as evenly as possible.  Cool 5 minutes and then pour on melted chocolate.  Score with a pizza cutter.  Sprinkle with ground almonds.

-start at medium heat and once it is all mixed to to high heat.
-melt butter then add sugar.
-use whisk starting at 250*.

Lemon Blossoms

I got this recipe from a lady at church, I LOVE them. If you like lemon flavored baked goods you gotta try them. It has a strong lemon flavor which I love!

Yield: 5 dozen

18 1/2 -ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2 -ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half-way*. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel.
To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Fruit Bruschetta

I got this from my friend Mary Kelly. It is absolutely delish! You can use different fruit, to your taste or the season.

24 1/4" baguette slices (I used way more than this.)

1/4 c soft butter

6 T brown sugar, divided

1/4 t cinnamon

3/4 c finely chopped nectarines or peaches

3/4 c finely chopped strawberries

2 T fresh lime juice

1/4 c chopped candies pecans or walnuts

-Lay baguette slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet

-Stir together butter, 4 T brown sugar and cinnamon until well combine

-Spread butter mixture on one side of each baguette slice

-Broil until bubbly and edges are browned, it should look like carmel

-Stir together remaining brown sugar, lime juice and fruit

-Spoon equal amounts of fruit mixture over each slice and sprinkle with nuts

Chocolate Mint Cookies

I received requests for this recipe to be put on my blog. I got this recipe from my cousin Lauri at one of my bridal showers about 6 years ago but never tried it until last Christmas and now it is a favorite. Every time I have made them and taken them somewhere people ask for the recipe, and to me that is a true sign that something is good!

So it makes a ton but can easily be divided into 3 batches and the dry ingredients set aside in a plastic bag and used later. I will give the whole recipe and then at the end the divided recipe.

2 Pillsbury Chocolate Cake Mixes
1 Pillsbury Brownie Mix
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
5 boxes Andes Mints

Mix all ingredients together. Batter will be stiff. Roll into about 1" balls and place on greased cookie sheet ( or I just line it with parchment paper). Bake at 350* for 9-12 minutes. Immediately place candy on warm cookie when it comes out of the oven. Use a tooth pick to spread and swirl colors of the candy once it is melted. Allow to cool.

To divide into 3 batches, combine the dry ingredients and stir. Measure out 4 cups into a ziplock bag and repeat with a second. There will be 4 cups left in the bowl and and 1 egg, 1/4 oil and 1/4 cup water. About 1 1/2 boxes of Andes mints will be good for this batch.

Pistachio Cake

My mom has been making this for as long as I can remember. Devan likes this and he doesn't even like cake very much. I'm not a fan of frosting so I love that you just dust it with powdered sugar and wolla perfect to serve and tastes great.

1 package yellow cake mix
1 (4 ounce) box pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1 cup water
½ cup oil
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ cup Hershey’s chocolate syrup

Combine all ingredients except syrup in a bowl and mix. Pour 1 ½ cups batter into a bunt cake pan. Pour chocolate in pan. Pour remaining batter on top. Slightly swirl with a butter knife. Bake at 350* for 50 minutes. Cool 15 minutes and remove from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Banana Cream Pie

I got this recipe from the Top Secrets Recipe Book. It is supposedly like the Marie Calenders Banana Cream Pie. The recipe calls for a regular pie crust but I prefer to make a crumb crust using vanilla wafers instead. I just made it for Thanksgiving and my cousin who loves Banana Cream Pie said it was the best one she ever had.

Crust: (once again I use a home-made vanilla wafer crust instead)
¼ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
1 ¼ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice water
½ teaspoon vinegar

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cup whole milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 ripe bananas, sliced

Topping:
whipping cream, whipped
¼ cup slivered almonds

Beat together the butter and shortening until smooth and creamy and chill until firm. Sift together flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Using a fork, cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients, until mixture has a consistent texture. Mix egg yolk, ice water, and vinegar into the dough, then form it into a ball and refrigerate it for 1 hour so that it will be easier to work with. Preheat oven to 450*. When the dough has chilled, roll it out and press it into a 9-inch pie plate. Press parchment paper or aluminum foil into the crust and weight the crust down with a ceramic pie weight or another pie pan filled with dried beans. This will prevent the crust from puffing up and distorting. Bake for 15 minutes (may need to put foil around edges to prevent edges from over cooking), then remove the weight or pan filled with dried beans and prick the crust with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let the crust cool.

Make the filling by sifting together the sugar, cornstarch and salt into a medium saucepan. Blend the milk and eggs in a medium bowl, then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens, then cook for 1 minute more. Remove the filling from the heat and stir in vanilla and butter.

Put plastic wrap on the surface of the filling and let it cool to about room temperature. The plastic wrap prevents the top from becoming gummy. When the filling has cooled remove the plastic wrap and add the bananas, stir. Pour the filling into the pie shell and chill for a couple of hours before serving. Top with whipped cream and almonds.

Tyler's Favorite Hot Fudge Sunday Cake

I got this recipe from my good friend Sherry Whyte who is an amazing cook. She actually renamed it for my brother Tyler because he loved it so much and would always ask for it. I remember him calling home from college to get the recipe more than once.

1 ½ cup flour
1 1/8 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups brown sugar
3/8 cup cocoa powder
1 ¾ cup HOT water

In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, salt, milk, oil, and vanilla. Pour into a greased cake pan. Mix together brown sugar, and 3/8 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over mixture in pan. Just prior to baking pour HOT water over top. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream.

Home-made Ice Cream

This ice cream is best made the day before you plan on eating it. It doesn't go rock hard like lots of home-made ice cream you can actually scoop it.



In a blender combine:
1 cup cream
2 cups fat free half and half
1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 ts vanilla

Pour into ice cream maker and churn for 30-40 minutes. Pour into a plastic container and put into the freezer. Best if made at least one day before serving.

Variations:

Mint chocolate chip – omit vanilla and add 1 ts peppermint extract. When there is just 10 minutes left of churning add chopped Dove dark chocolates or mini chocolate chips.

Root beer – omit vanilla and add 4 ts root beer extract.

Chocolate – Combine sweetened condensed milk with ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder in a sauce pan and heat until smooth and blended. Allow to cool slightly. Combine in blender and omit vanilla.

Mix in – add a mix in desired, Oreo, Reese’s, M&M’s etc. when there is 10 minutes left of churning.

Raspberry Chocolate Hot Fudge

In honor of the 9 lbs of raspberries that Kyra and I picked yesterday here is this recipe that I love. I got it from my mom.

1 10 oz package frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed (or 10 oz fresh raspberries)
4 oz sweet chocolate, chopped
3 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 TB softened unsalted butter

In a saucepan bring raspberries to a boil in their syrup. Put chocolate in a food processor or blender and with the motor add the raspberries, blending until smooth. Add cocoa powder, sugar and butter. Blend until combined well. Serve warm over ice cream. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.