My Mom's Most Amazing Blueberry Cream Pie

Zoey is a big talker. She often talks so much during meals that we have to tell her to stop talking and put food in her mouth. Then Demetri and I have to have a rapid and forced conversation that will not allow to get a word in edgewise. You know, so she will chew and swallow. When my mom served this pie Zoey was completely silent. She ate her entire piece without saying anything. After her last swallow, she smacked her lips and said, "Gramme, this is the best pie you made in your life!" And I have to agree. 

Ingredients:

• Dry pint of blueberries… ¾ for filling and ¼ for decoration
• ½ C sugar
• 5 TBS cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 Cups milk
• 1 slightly beaten egg
• ½ C or more of Cool Whip/Whipped Cream
• ½ tsp of almond
• Graham Cracker crust

Directions:

1.     Put first 3 ingredients in pot
2.     Add milk, constantly whisking until boiling
3.      Lower temp and keep whisking until thick
4.      Add small amount of mixture too slightly beaten egg
5.      Return egg mixture to pot
6.      Continue stirring until it boils again
7.      Take off burner and let cool… 15/20 minutes
8.       Put in fridge to cool off
9.       Once cool, beat well then add almond, Cool Whip, and blueberries
10.     Arrange in pie shell, decorate, put in fridge to set

Chewy molasses spice cookies

These are so stinkin' good.  Even Charlotte says so.  (Side note-- maybe I should reconsider the phrases I use because they sound pretty weird parroted back to me by a four-year-old.)  I made the rookie mistake of running out of chocolate chips (my go-to baking ingredient and main bribery tool for the kids) so I had to resort to a non-chocolate chip-based cookie for this afternoon's baking activity.  I set the kids up playing "car wash" . . .

. . . and whipped up the dough.  I was ALMOST done with them before Charlotte finally wandered over and demanded to help roll the balls in the sugar.  Curses, foiled again.  Yes, I think it's important to let her help in the kitchen, but it sure does muck up the works sometimes.  Anyway, we finished the cookies without incident and both kids actually like them (which is huge, because they usually don't like anything other than chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies drowning in frosting).

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butted, softened

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl and set it aside for later.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

3.  Beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar with a mixer until combined.  Beat in egg and then molasses until combined.  Gradually add the dry ingredients until a dough forms.

4.  Roll the dough into balls the size of a rounded tablespoon.  Roll each ball in the reserved sugar to coat.

5.  Place balls three inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake (one sheet at a time -- this is important according to the original recipe) 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges are firm.  The middles will look totally undone, but don't bake them any longer or else they will taste burnt.  Cool 1 minute on the baking sheet before transferring the cookies to racks to cool completely.  

IT'S PEOPLE!!! (aka Soylent Green Cookies, aka Glazed Lemon Cookies)

Once upon a time, we were eating delicious, store-bought, iced lemon cookies for dessert when my twin and I were teenagers.  For some reason, we got on the topic of the movie "Soylent Green".  None of us kids had ever seen it before, and my dad was telling us the basic plot.  It seems that some nefarious corporation was making delicious food out of, well, people, and then selling it to the unknowing public.  Or something like that.  I still have never seen the movie, but I love how it has become engrained in pop culture.  Apparently, the main character uncovers the secret and at some point screams "IT'S PEOPLE!" to anyone who will listen.  Since that fateful evening, my sister has refused to eat those delectable cookies (and, I believe, most any lemon-flavored confection).  She calls them "Soylent Green cookies" and imagines that they must be made out of human flesh or something like that.  I have no such biases and adore anything lemon-flavored.

I have a bunch of lemons on hand (thanks to my effort to display fresh fruit in a bowl like they do on "Sell This House", and now I have a bunch of elderly, sad-looking lemons in need of use or disposal) and decided to try to find a cookie recipe to use them.  The result was DELICIOUS and remarkably similar in flavor and texture to the store-bought version.  I think the glaze has a little more kick though, which is awesome.  Everyone BUT ERIN should try making these cookies, because they are amazing.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest (takes about 3 small lemons)
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
4-5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (takes one or two small lemons)

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.  Whisk and set aside.

3.  In a small bowl, add granulated sugar and lemon zest.  Rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers, until fragrant.  This sounds silly to do, but it was actually kind of fun.

4.  Beat butter and sugar/lemon mixture together until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

5.  Slowly beat in flour mixture on low speed until blended.  Drop dough by tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  Gently flatten dough with the palm of your hand.

6.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are just set and slightly golden brown.  Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes and transfer to cooking racks.  Cool completely.

7.  In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Dip each cookie top into the lemon glaze.  Let cookies sit until icing has set.

DANGER: Chocolate chip cookies with sea salt

Don't make these if you have a taste for both chocolate and salt and don't want to gain 10 pounds by the end of the week. I love nothing more than mixing salty and sweet -- especially if the sweet is chocolate -- therefore I will never be making these ever again unless I suddenly develop much better self control. Corey and I inhaled these this weekend in some sort of a race to see who was more of a glutton. It got ugly. We both lost, I guess.

But enough self-deprication. I got this recipe from a really awesome book called Mom's Big Book of Cookies (a gift from my mother-in-law). I love this cookbook for one huge reason in addition to the awesomeness of the recipes -- it is spiral bound and actually stays open flat on the counter while I'm cooking! I have a cookbook holder, but it really only works well for a narrow range of book size. Now I just have to keep my son's grubby mitts off the book while I'm baking. The gorgeous color photos of the cookies are irresistible to him and he is bound and determined to push a chair up to the counter and spirit the book away for reasons known only to him.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH SEA SALT

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp medium grain (not coarse) sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl.

3. Cream the cooled melted butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon* until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 minutes (or up to 6 hours) to let the dough firm up.**

5. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls*** onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 teaspoon sea salt.****

6. Bake the cookies until golden around the edges but still soft on top, about 9 to 11 minutes. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then remove them with a metal spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days (unless you are like me and Corey, in which case the cookies won't last in the house for more than 24 hours, tops).

* This book is very particular about some things, like mixing with a wooden spoon and letting eggs warm to room temperature before mixing them in. I have made recipes out of the book before with straight-from-the-fridge eggs and haven't noticed the end result compromised in any way, but I'm sure the author would disagree. I actually did use a wooden spoon and mixed the butter and sugars by hand because it's so darn easy with melted butter.

** I have never heard of this step for anything other than rolled-dough cookies so I humored the author and did it. I thought it was kind of silly though and probably wouldn't do it again. I did put the bowl back in the fridge in between batches, but mostly to keep myself from consuming large quantities of cookie dough and spoiling my appetite for the finished product.

*** Does anyone actually ever follow this direction and make cookies that ridiculously small? I probably made my cookies twice this size and they baked perfectly in the same amount of time specified by the recipe. If you're really on the ball and bake a test batch of only two or three cookies to start with (like my mother does), you can test this.

**** Or just shake on a decent amount and laugh at the cookbook author for thinking you were anal enough to actually measure out such a tiny amount enough times to make several dozen cookies.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars: Righting Wrongs

Wrong #1: How have I never posted this recipe on this blog?!?  Banana Chocolate Chip Bars, found in my favorite cookbook of all time (Better Homes and Garden), are my signature baked goods.  I brought them to almost every potluck event when I was working, and I have made them so many times that the page in my cookbook is covered in tiny splatters of batter.  There's no telling how many people have made this recipe as a result of me e-mailing it, posting it on Facebook, and handing out the recipe at work.  Unless you don't like bananas in baked goods, you're going to love these bars.

Wrong #2: I made these wrong for years-- probably at least 7 or 8 years.  I didn't have the right size pan (a 15x10x1 baking pan, AKA a jelly roll pan, AKA a cookie sheet with sides), so I just made them in a 9x13 brownie pan.  I always wondered why I couldn't get the texture exactly right.  Then, one time when I was sending my sister the recipe, I thought more about the pan size.  I ran to Target, bought the right pan, and the next time I baked the BCCBs, they were HEAVENLY!

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes
Oven 350 degrees

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1) Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.

2) In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat till combined. Beat in the egg, bananas, and vanilla till combined. Beat in flour till combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

3) Spread in the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Nutrition facts per bar: 117 calories, 5 grams total fat (2 grams saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 92 mg sodium, 17 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams fiber, 1 gram protein.

***************

I have no picture of the banana chocolate chip bars, but here's a picture of my daughter (who loves to bake!) sampling the fruits of our labor (making brownies):

Really Freakin' Good Apple Pie (and crust)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• about 8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Prepare the apples.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust - save a little bit to put on top of the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
4. Do the lattice crust and pour or brush remaining liquid over crust.
5. Bake 15 minutes in oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

I know, you may not want to make your own crust. But someday when you are feeling like a Domestic Goddess, here's a good/easy recipe:

1 c. butter
2 c. flour
1/3 c. milk
1 tbsp. vinegar

Cut butter into flour with pastry blender. Put vinegar in milk, add to flour mixture. Roll out half and fit into pie pan, then save the other half for the lattice crust.

Botio's Carrot Cake

Ok, so I haven't made this recipe yet. But it comes from a trusted source. In fact, it comes from the Master Chef and God of Cooking: Botio! He can make anything taste good.

Botio's Carrot Cake

2 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 c grated carrots
1 ½ c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 c chopped nuts

Icing:
1 8 oz softened cream cheese
¾ c softened butter
1 16 oz box confection sugar
1 c chopped nuts
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Combine flour, soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. Combine all other cake ingredients, and then add dry ingredients. Stir with electric mixer at medium for about 3 minutes. Grease and flour 2 9-inch pans. Bake 40-50 minutes. Check with toothpick to see when it is done. Your baking time may vary.

Cool thoroughly* before icing. For icing combine and beat thoroughly with electric mixer.

*I put put the cooled cake in the freezer and frost it later. This makes it very easy to frost and handle.

Mounds Cake!!!

I made this for my mom's birthday. She declared it to be her MOST FAVORITE CAKE IN THE WHOLE WORLD. Not that she's biased to my cooking or anything.

Ingredients:

1 box devil's food cake mix (and what you need to make it)

1-2 cans coco lopez cream of coconut (depending on how coconut-y you like it)

1 container cool whip

shredded coconut - about 3/4 of a cup or however much you want

1 king size chocolate bar - shavings

Directions:

prepare and bake cake in a 9 x 13 pan.

remove from oven, poke holes all over.

pour coconut milk over cake and then cool.

frost with cool whip then cover with shredded coconut.

garnish with shaved chocolate.

serve or refrigerate.

No-bake Nap Cookies

I made these while my kids napped this afternoon, hence the name. I saw a recipe on the back of pomegranate-flavored Craisins (my 16-month-old, Peter, is addicted to them) and modified the recipe a little to match my (1) laziness, (2) supplies, and (3) older child's picky eating habits. You see, while Peter is addicted to pomegranate-flavored Craisins, my three-year-old, Charlotte, will only eat the cherry-flavored kind. We should probably buy stock in Ocean Spray at this point. Anyway, here is the recipe with my modifications:

NO-BAKE NAP COOKIES

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 12-ounce package of white chocolate baking chips (I could only find 11-ounce packages!)
3 cups chow mein noodles (FYI - a 6 oz. package is about 3 cups)
1 cup cherry-flavored Craisins
1 cup granola cereal (nothing this plain existed at Publix, so I bought vanilla)
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted (though I didn't toast them)

1. Line 2 large baking sheets with waxed paper. (I only had cling wrap, and that worked just fine.)

2. Combine honey and cream in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until bubbly.

3. Add chips; cook, stirring until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

4. Combine noodles, Craisins, granola, and almonds in a large bowl. Believe me when I say a LARGE bowl.

5. Pour cream mixture over noodle mixture. Stir until mixed and coated. I dove right in with my hands when the silicone spatula proved worthless. It was kind of a calamity, so don't make this with your toddler unless you have a really high tolerance for messes.

6. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets. Let stand until completely set. Store loosely covered. Makes 30 clusters. (Well, I only got 27, but my tablespoonfuls were heaped awfully high and there had to have been at least one or two cookies worth of mixture stuck to me after I finished hand-mixing them.)

I threw them into the fridge to make sure they cooled and set in time to take them to dinner at our friends' house tonight. Based on the portions I sampled during their creation, they are AWESOME. I bet the kids will love them, but then again nothing is ever certain with those goofballs. Cross your fingers. At the very least, Charlotte can pick out the Craisins and eat them. Here is a shot of the cookies before I stuck them in the fridge. Note the baby monitor next to the baking sheets!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Grahams

These are homemade Reese's. They're bars, so they're super fast to make. They also travel VERY well, and everyone seems to love them.

22 graham cracker squares, crushed.

(Do yourself a favor- buy the box of crumbs and use 1 1/2 cups.)

3 C powdered sugar

8 oz butter, melted (Yes, it's 2 sticks of butter. Get over it. It's CANDY)

1C creamy peanut butter

1 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine crumbs and powdered sugar. Stir in butter and peanut butter. Mix well and spread evenly in an ungreased 12x13 pan. Press firmly into an even layer. You can cover with plastic wrap if it's too sticky.

Place in fridge for 45 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave on defrost, stirring frequently, until completely melted. Spread over peanut butter mixture and let firm up for at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares. They're rich, but delicious. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

People, I'm going to announce this in advance: If you make these muffins, you might not be able to stop eating them, thereby adding several inches to your waistline. Consider yourself warned.

My lovely sister signed me up for a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, and two issues ago, I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins. I'm not going to bother re-typing the recipe here because I made no modifications to it. These doughnut-muffins are so fabulous.... They truly are a combination of a cake-style doughnut and a muffin. The actual cake/muffin part is not overly sweet, but after you bake these bad boys, you brush them with butter (YUM!) and roll them in a cinnamon-sugar recipe (DOUBLE YUM!). So, they end up being just the right amount of sweet. Holy mackerel, just typing all of that made me want to run out to the store and buy more pumpkin so I can make another batch.

Here's a picture of the muffins I baked:


They turned out looking virtually identical to the picture that comes with the recipe (with the exception of my terrible photography skills, that is). When does that ever happen?!? It probably helps that I followed the recipe's instructions exactly. I usually never sift all the dry ingredients together first, and alternately adding ingredients in portions typically sounds like a step I can skip. Funny how those instructions might actually be worthwhile....

So good. Soooooooooo good. I think my only complaint is that a single batch only makes 12 muffins. I didn't realize that; otherwise, I would have doubled the recipe. Oh well. There's always a next time.

P.S. Just like cinnamon-sugar cake doughnuts, these things are a tiny bit messy to eat, so consume them over a plate or the sink (if you're ghetto like me).

Dump Cake

SO easy. Does this even count as a recipe?

1 box white or vanilla cake mix

2 cans canned fruit or fruit filling

(We use light cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple. Do not drain!)

2 sticks butter

Layer in a 9x13 in this order-

Fruit, dry cake mix, then butter slices.

Bake at 350 for an hour.

As you can see, this is the perfect recipe to try with little people. Charlotte and I split it, so we each used a square pan (8x8 or 9x9). She then took hers home to bake for her daddy. Peter was very impressed with her skills.

Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Apple Cake

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups chopped apple
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 inch pan. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.
2. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and yogurt with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the splash of apple juice.
3. Blend in the flour mixture, then stir in the apples. Spread the mixture evenly into the pan.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven. When done the cake should spring back when lightly poked.

Cream Cheese Topping

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients and then beat until smooth. Gently frost the cooled cake and then refrigerate.

Mud Balls

I was recently over at a friends house for a playdate and she was going to do a mini-cooking session with the kids for snack time. Was she crazy?! How inspirational! These Mud Balls looked delicious.....but I told her that I had given up sweets for Lent so I couldn't try them. Well, she declared that these were SNACKS not dessert. So, I ate one.....and I haven't stopped eating them. I have made them more times than I can count in the last couple of months! They were my Lent Cheat. They got me through. And once Lent was over, I was able to admit that they WERE indeed cookie-like-dessert. ;) But they have OATS and FLAX SEEDS in them, so they MUST be health food!!!! Right?! I think I will start adding flax seeds to random things, just so I can call it health food. Stay tuned for more recipes including flax seeds......

At any rate, Lent is over and I am still eating them. I love them. And the kids enjoy making Mud Balls too--messy and fun! And health food?! Woah. Can you handle it?

Here's what they call for:
1/4 cup of each of these things: ground flax seeds, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, honey, and peanut butter
1/2 cup of oats

Put peanut butter and honey in microwave-safe bowl for one minute, stir. Add everything else to the bowl, mix it up, and then roll it into bite-size balls. Or have your kids do this part! Or just stick some of the Mud Ball mud in a bowl and eat it.....sometimes I do this.
Once rolled into balls, just put them on a cookie sheet and place it in the refrigerator. These won't last long so I don't even cover them.

Notes: I use chunky peanut butter, but you can use either. Flax seeds can be ground in a coffee bean grinder. Also, I always double this recipe when I'm making it. One batch is just not enough in my house!

Enjoy this "health food"! :)

A challenger for Erin's banana bread recipe

I was looking for my copy of the banana bread recipe that Erin posted (and I stupidly forgot I could just look it up on the blog!) and came across this one I had stuck in my recipe box (without trying it first) ages and ages ago. I made it for the casual Easter dinner we just had with my husband's grandparents, and it was a big hit with everyone except my weirdo daughter. She wouldn't even try it for some reason. What a chucklehead. Oh well.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium ones)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch (6-cup) loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
• Mix in wet ingredients.
• Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, the pour it all into the loaf pan.
• Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 70 to 80 minutes. Tent loosely with foil if loaf browns too quickly.
• Cool loaf 10 minutes in the pan, the turn it out and cool completely on a rack.

I did the foil tent thing and baked it for 80 minutes. The result was delicious. I actually had oranges in the house so I used fresh grated zest, but I bet the jarred stuff would be just as good. There's still half a loaf left, but I bet it won't stick around for long.

I was distracted and failed to take a picture of the loaf when it was fresh out of the oven, so to distract you from this faux pas I'm posting a photo of the two cutest Easter egg hunters in Tennessee:



You're welcome.

It May Be Too Easy Even for the Flaming Toaster Dessert

I have never posted to a blog before and am excited to do so on one called The Flaming Toaster! The fact that it is a recipe blog is ironic since I have, in my culinary history, made frozen pizza without removing the cardboard tray, roasted a turkey with the baggie of innards still inside, and baked brownies that doubled as a paper weights.

So here it is, the super-easy, healthy, yet satisfying, all about presentation, yogurt parfait dessert!

Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes barring interruption or spills



Ingredients and Supplies:

Big container of vanilla yogurt (not fat-free, creamier the better)

Various berries (if you are feeling patriotic go for strawberries and blueberries)

Tall parfait glasses or any other tall, pretty glass (yes, I did register for these for reasons I cannot recall)

Long handled spoons

Fresh mint (optional, but a nice I’m-so-gourmet touch)

Cinnamon if you are so inclined

Steps:

1. Put 2 – 3 spoonfuls of yoghurt into tall glass

2. Put layer of strawberries

3. Put 2 – 3 spoonfuls of yoghurt in tall glass

4. Put layer of blueberries

5. Repeat until glass is full

6. Top with sprig of fresh mint (optional)

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon (if you like)

Meem's Snickerdoodles

These are AWESOME. Especially for someone recently diagnosed as moderately allergic to chocolate. Good thing I don't know any poor soul who had that happen. Anyway, Meem is what my siblings and cousins and I all call our grandmother. Meem gave me this recipe, hence the name. By the way, what on EARTH is cream of tartar? I have never seen it called for in any recipe other than this one and another I saw for lemon meringue pie. How do they come up with this stuff?

I have made these with wheat flour before and they turned out great. I also have used butter-flavored shortening and the result wasn't too different than usual. By the way, those Crisco shortening sticks are definitely the way to go. They are sooooooo much easier to measure than scooping it out of a big tub, getting it all over your hands, and then getting it all over everything else while you try to get the stupid stuff out of the measuring cups.

MEEM'S SNICKERDOODLES

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
cinnamon/sugar mixture*

• Cream sugar, shortening, & eggs.
• Add dry ingredients and mix well.
• Chill until dough can be handled
• Roll into walnut-sized balls, then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.
• Plop the balls onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350˙ for 9 or 10 minutes. You want them to get slightly browned along the edges, but definitely don't overbake them.

*This is something everyone should have on hand to make cinnamon/sugar toast. What? You're all healthy and don't make stuff like that? Okay, it's a mixture of about three parts sugar to one part cinnamon. You will need about a half cup or so to make this recipe, so make triple that amount and save the rest to sprinkle on toast. You won't be sorry. Here's Charlotte, eating some of the yummy mix off of the counter:

Who are you calling a dip?

By popular demand (well, Joslyne's demand, anyway), here is the recipe for a lime fruit dip. I made it for Charlotte's second birthday party yesterday and there was always some partygoer parked by it for the duration of the event. I am currently eating the left over dip (a very tiny amount, unfortunately) and trying to think of an excuse to make some more. Too bad Zoey's birthday isn't until May.

The ingredients are simple, so there is no excuse to pass on trying this recipe because it's too complicated. Ask Erin sometime about the time she stashed a jar of marshmallow creme under the bathroom sink and created a family mystery -- one that lasted for two decades until she confessed -- as to how it got there.

LIME FRUIT DIP

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
1 carton (6 ounces) lime-flavored yogurt
1 drop green food coloring (optional)

• Beat the cream cheese until smooth. It really does turn out better if you soften the cream cheese first -- I didn't do this and there were little hunks of cream cheese swimming in the dip. It tasted just fine, but the texture wasn't optimal.
• Beat in the marshmallow creme and wonder how on earth this product was ever invented.
• Fold in yogurt and food coloring if desired. The food coloring may be optional, but it adds such a pretty hue to the dip that I deemed it necessary.
• Cover and refrigerate until serving. Serve with fruit (or a spoon or your finger, depending on how desperate you are).
• Yield: 2 1/2 cups*

I don't have a photo of the dip, but here's the birthday girl in her new cupcake hoodie:


*Funny and/or embarrassing story -- until very recently, I kind of thought the "yield" of a recipe meant you should slow down and stop once you have made this much. I guess I just never thought about it very hard. Yes, I'm an idiot.

Fancy-Pants Chocolate Croissants

This 'recipe' only has two ingredients. TWO! And it's a crowd pleaser. Only seve to people you already like or else you may have some new 'friends'. So here we go:

1 bag chocolate chips
1 package crescent rolls (the kind that come in a tube)

Unroll dough from tube. Separate each crescent roll triangle along the perforated edges. Place lots of chocolate chips at the wide end of the dough triangle. Then roll up into crescent shape (directions on package). Cook according to package directions.

And . . . BOOYA! You have just made a delicate french pastry filled with chocolate.

Do not panic. This child is NOT making this recipe. Nope, this child is making floury 'goo'. Um . . . it was an accident . . . (NOT MY FAULT)