Tuxedo Strawberries

Tuxedo Strawberries

An easy snack for any occasion.

I used those melty little disks and "nuked" them for a few seconds in a shallow dish, 

stirred and gave them a few more seconds.

The strawberries I rinsed and let dry on a towel.

I used red hot candies for the buttons.

First I dipped the "shirt fronts" with white or vanilla melty.

Immediately add the red hot to let it stick in the melted white candy.

By the time I did about a dozen, the first ones were hard enough to add

the brown part. I melted the candy in the microwave for a few seconds

not melting the wafers totally. Stirring them made them smooth.

On my first one, I ended up with chocolate all over my fingers,

so I came up with stabbing the stem end with a toothpick and then

rotating the berry for each side.

"Quality control" had to test the last one because my dish was full.

Taking them to our "sing" tonight.

Sharing At:
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Pineapple Upside Down Cakes on a Miniature Scale

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Only in muffins...

I was casting around in my head for a dessert for the weekend and pineapple cake sounded so good.

So, good ole' Betty Crocker called me from the cupboard and I doubled the recipe that makes a 10" pan.

Spooned in the butter and brown sugar into the little cups and over sized muffin tin and added

a half maraschino cherry and some pineapple.

Ooo, that photo above makes me a little dizzy when I look at it. I hope you are OK.

Then the batter, they were pretty shallow in the cake department, but they rose to the occasion.

All that bubbly brown sugar goodness just has to have somewhere to go.

 Loosen the edges with a knife and turn upside down on a plate.

A tip from a recipe user, cut down paper muffin liners for just the bottom of your tin.

Spray the pan first, put in the paper, spray again.

This one stuck until I gently peeled it off.

Look out mouth!

One of these days, I want to try it with rice flour - to make them gluten free.

Shared on Made by Me Wednesday

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

There's nothing like the taste of fresh fruit.

In season it can be rather overwhelming, though.

We have many apple trees and when it is apple time,

we are hard pressed to use up all the fruit.

The same holds true with berries,

peaches,

strawberries,

pears,

and other fruits.

Here is a recipe that can be used with fresh or frozen

or even canned fruit.

It is very simple.

1 Cup flour

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup milk

1 stick butter

4 Tbsp baking powder

My local grocery store carries freshly frozen fruit in 1 lb bags.

It is simply fruit, with nothing added.

Here is a bag of frozen peaches.

It makes roughly about 4 cups.

I added about 1/4 cup sugar and let it sit for a few minutes while I prepared the other ingredients.

Melt 1 stick of butter (margarine can be used if you like)

In a bowl, mix 1 Cup all purpose flour,

1 cup granulated sugar,

and 4 Tbsp baking powder

Kinda mix it up a little and then

Add 1 cup milk.

A tiny splash of vanilla extract makes this taste and smell even more wonderful.

Mix it up, it will be kinda thin, about like pancake batter.

Pour it over the melted butter. Don't mix.

That's right, batter on the bottom, don't worry it will turn out right.

Take your sweetened fruit and place it over the top of the batter/butter

Arrange it so that the fruit is evenly distributed, so that everyone gets a bite or two.

Sprinkle on a little cinnamon and bake.

This is a before it baked picture, sorry I just seem to forget

to take the after, I am so eager to jump in and sample.

The batter will surround the fruit like a down comforter surrounds you.

It will come up over the fruit and the fruit will disappear in fluffy goodness.

Bake it at 350' for around 45 min to a hour, depending on if the batter is still gooey in the center.

if so, let it cook a little longer.

Easy, so much so, you can allow you 10 year old to experiment with

cooking, if you are really adventuresome.

******

I have used peaches, apples and berries for this recipe.

They have all been awesome.

Easy Hamburger Patty Press

I love hamburgers, although I don't make them a lot.

Even better, I love the condiments that go on to make a great hamburger.

Every once in a while, Mr and I get the notion that we must have a good hamburger.

Our local store has specials on Mondays and this was one of the deals of the day.

It is a 2 lb "chub" of hamburger. Good stuff.

The butcher on staff saw us looking at it and he was very helpful in pointing out the

pros and cons of different brands.

He told me of a way to make patties that is really easy.

You will need a flat bottomed plate to use to push down the patty,

and a surface to push onto...

that sounds like I could have said it easier...

Here is a flat bottomed pie dish and I chose a plate to contain the burger patty.

Cut the "chub" into large slices, probably about 1 1/2" to 2" thick, it all depends on the diameter

of the original chub.

Peel off the surrounding plastic and place it on your surface.

Put the flat bottomed plate over it and press down.

A perfectly formed patty without getting your hands all messed up.

I like to make up the chub and then wrap the patties, two at a time,

in plastic wrap and then into a zipper-type freezer bag.

I then freeze them until time we want to use them.

It is simple to pull out what is needed.

Time to "fire-up" the grill.

Annual Apple Night at the Homestead

Annual Apple Night

It was that time again.

Apples from our small orchard were dropping,

and dropping,

well, you get the picture.

So, we invited all the friends we have in the world over

(not really, it just sounds fun to say that)

And, they peeled, juiced and otherwise had a fun time

making apple filling for pies.

Our elderly couple supervised

One young fella ate apple peelings like he would spaghetti

He certainly kept us entertained.

I wonder how his stomach felt after a while.

The kids had a rousing game of capture the flag,

a birthday celebration for a 12 year old,

and a fun night for all.

Many hands make light work.

Thanks to you all.

There are still apples out there, if you are interested....

P.S. I couldn't have done it alone without the help of my daughter,

she is, by far, the BEST organizer.

Chicken Corn Taquitos

I posted a picture of these on my instagram account and was promptly told that they were flautas and they are usually made with flour tortillas- whatever, it worked for me.

A friend asked me for the recipe (no, I haven't forgotten you), so here goes.

I fly by the seat of my pants/skirt.

I used cold, cooked chicken, chopped up

Added some cream cheese,

or Laughing Cow cheese,

some cotilla cheese,

a little salt and chili powder

some shredded monterey jack cheese.

Mix this all together so that it sticks together

Heat your tortillas in the microwave til soft and pliable

I have this cute little flannel lined tortilla warmer, it is cloth.

I put about 5 or 6 tortillas in it, "nuke" it for about 30 seconds,

turn it over and give it another 30 seconds.

Just enough to warm them up so they roll nicely.

Fill the center with a little of chicken mixture and roll them up

Fry in some oil and drain.

Eat, yum.

I sometimes make them ahead, refrigerate and then warm them in my toaster oven

for a late night treat.

Enjoy, Nancy

Fruit Smoothie

Mr drinks one of these every day. I love them, too, but right now I am trying to limit my carbohydrates, so...
No gluten, no dairy - that is unless you want to add it...

I use 8 ingredients, and it make two largish servings.

I put everything in the blender and give it a whirl

Measurements are approximate:

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds

1 ripe banana

1/2 Cup pineapple (today I used canned in its own juice)

crushed or any kind will work - add some of the juice too

Mango chunks - frozen

my store carries these - it is only fruit with some stuff to keep it from turning brown...

Peach slices - like the mango, frozen

and like the mango, they have no sugar added - only fruit

Lately, I have added a large washed leaf of Kale

(I have drawn the line at the stem at this point, maybe I will add it if I get a better blender)

And, lastly, a golden delicious apple

(because that is the kind Mr likes)

I throw all of this into my blender (an older one at that)

and pulse it and then really get down to business with running it.

It is really important to at least let the lid rest on top of the ingredients,

as I found out this morning when it spurted out all over me, my glasses, the counter, etc...

As it blends, it will condense down

Now, with it turned off, give it some stirs, then continue to run it to get all the fruit to the bottom

where the real stuff is going on.

One will be enjoyed today and the other will be refrigerated with a cover for tomorrow.

I know, it probably loses some of its goodness, nutrition and all, but it makes two

and I am too lazy to do this every day!

My blender is an Osterizer

Just a plain Jane, but she is a workhorse.

I think she is probably 20 years old - times flies by so fast.

I found a VitaMix at a yard sale a while back.

But it needed a replacement "doodad" and I was just too lazy to order it...

So, I sold it at a show and made a $60 profit.

Unless someone wants to give me a VitaMix, I will continue to use this one until it dies.

Then, I am promised a new one.

(I am not suggesting or hinting here)

I am just telling you that this one works fine for me - and yours will probably do so also.

Enjoy whatever variety of fruits you want in your drink.

They freeze great, too, for the summer.

I am going to be looking for "popsicle" makers for the summer.

I will probably find them at a yard sale, I do most other things too.