This is a photo from the Kohl's site of the exact slow cooker I bought. It is a Hamilton Beach "Stay or Go" 6 quart. I highly recommend.

Last week I made a chicken bake thingy with cream of mushroom soup, peas, and stove-top stuffing.  It was eh.  The husband doesn’t like the mushier dishes, and it was only so-so.  BUT on Sunday, I tried my hand at a butternut squash dessert.  And Oh. My. Goodness.

Anywho, here’s the gist of what I did:

• roast a halved butternut squash (sans seeds and whatnot, 450 for an hour)
• remove from peel and place in mixing bowl
• add chopped apples (I used the only 3 Gala apples we had left, and large chunks worked well)
• stir with a couple tbsp honey and a squirt of fresh lemon juice to freshen up the taste
• I added some golden raisins because they are sweet and they seemed like a good idea.
• add a handful of walnuts, or however many of whatever nut you like
• add a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and mix gently

Mix this dish together and then place in the bottom of your lightly buttered/oiled/greased crockpot.  Set the crockpot for 4 hours on low.  This was the perfect time because the apples were soft, and the squash was reminiscent of pumpkin pie consistency.  MMMMMMM.

I got my inspiration for the topping from Skinnytaste because hers looked oh-so-yummy.   I’ve been really into this blog lately after a friend of mine told me she had found some good recipes there.  We can all stand to cut some calories, right?  So I’ve been perusing the site every so often, and she has such great little tricks that don’t over-do the whole “low-fat” product thing, which I try to mostly stay away from since those products have more sugar.  Not to mention, they are NOT satisfying.  I got some 100 calorie packs a couple weeks ago, and I ended up eating 3 of the dadgum packs.  And I still wanted something sweet an hour later.  I say have the 3 stinking oreos, ya know?  And let me tell you, whole wheat flour is changing my world.  I am very pleased with all the recipes I’ve tried from Gina over at Skinnytaste, so I hope you give her a try as well.

So here’s what she used for her topping on her Cinnamon Apple Crisp:

• 1 cup Quaker quick rolled oats*
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted

* I used rolled oats that I got out of a bulk bin at Whole Foods instead of quick oats because that’s just what I had on hand.  I’m sure either would be fine.

Mix the above ingredients and sprinkle over the squash and apple mixture in the crockpot.  Put the lid on, and get your errands done.  When you get ready for dinner, this little beauty will be waiting for your dessert.  Be forewarned: If you want something uber-sweet, this is not the recipe for you.  I really can’t eat super sweet desserts too often anymore; the effect is like that of Coke or carbonated sodas insofar as I get a stomach ache like you wouldn’t believe.

I knew I could enjoy butternut squash as a dessert, and I was right.  Add some frozen vanilla yogurt and wow!  It might not be fully fall just yet outside, but my kitchen is ready to go.

**Forgive me for not including a picture of the deliciousness!  It was too good!

Flourless pb cookies are good with either milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or semisweet chocolate chips.

On most Sundays, I get this urge to bake.  We’re making brunch, and I just keep cooking.  Today, I was in the mood for cookies.  I saw a recipe in Southern Inspired magazine that I picked up for free at the gym a couple months ago.  The recipe was for Oatmeal Blueberry Cookies, but it involved creaming butter and sugar, and I really wasn’t in the mood for all that cleaning.  My favorite vegan blogger, SusanV over at FatFree Vegan Kitchen: Sinlessly Delicious, rarely mixes anything in a mixer when baking (mainly because she doesn’t use eggs!) or at least that’s the case with everything I’ve ever made from her recipes.  I can eat eggs, and I love them, but the healthiness and ease of her baked goods always calls to me.  So that’s where I looked for my first batch of cookies this morning.  And I could just add the blueberries to the top like the Southern Inspired recipe called for, right?  Well, it wasn’t that easy.  I didn’t have egg replacer powder, so I just thought I could put in an egg.  Makes sense?  Sure, but mine didn’t turn out as good as I’m sure SusanV’s did.  Here’s a link to her recipe.  I’m not going to bother with giving you the recipe for the ones I did, because they were just so-so.  I mean, they would be better as a breakfast cookie.  But that’s what happens when one experiments; sometimes things are good, and sometimes they are not so good.

After I started those, I thought about my friend Ashley’s peanut butter cookies.  I noticed her eating these last spring at lunch, and I had to have the recipe.  They are super easy, they don’t need a mixer, and they don’t have flour in them!!  I did add some oats (not the quick oats,but the rolled oats that keep their texture) that were still in the previous mixing bowl, and I thought about some flax seeds I needed to use.  I just took them out of the oven, so we’ll see how my additions went.

Here’s Ashley’s Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in the meantime:

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (she uses reduced fat)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips (she likes the milk chocolate, but I only had semisweet)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix all the ingredients together.
3. Bake for 5 minutes.  When they are just the slightest bit brown, they are done.  Ashley means it, now.  I left one of my batches in there for longer thinking they needed to spread out more, and they were crumbly as hell.  Still good, but not easy to eat or transport.
4. Let them cool on the pan until you can spatula them up without them breaking.

**I added about 2 tbsp. of flax seeds, 2 tbsp. of the rolled oats,and about a 1/4 cup more peanut butter, and the flavor was slightly different but still extremely good.  Mine were a little crumbly this time, too, because J was in the kitchen and got me distracted (“Where’s this go?”  “What do you want me to do with this?”  I swear he does that every time I get involved in a recipe.).  So I don’t know if the crumbliness is due to the added ingredients or the extra time…

I’m gonna go ahead and tell you that it is a 5 out of 5, a 10 out of 10, and 100%!  I was going to take off points for the high calorie content, but these little nuggets of deliciousness are just too good.  And I just can’t make myself care because they are that good.  AND they were good 2 days later.  I made it again tonight, experimenting with the amount of butter.

Paula’s recipe calls for one whole stick of butter.  I used a half stick of butter, melted it in the pan with the brown sugar like the recipe calls for, and added some water.  You pour this delicious goodness on the bottom of the bundt pan and between every layer of biscuits, so it worked out well with the water instead of the extra butter.  It made more of a candy coating on the gorilla bread instead of a more…buttery/greasy coating.

Here’s Paula’s recipe for Gorilla Bread posted on Food Network’s site:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

This summer peach pie is my mom's recipe. I have called her so many times to repeat it because it is sooooo sweet and delicious for the summer.

Sometimes I could just hit myself.  I made a peach pie yesterday, ate a slice before it set in the refrigerator, and only THEN realized that my blogger friends might like this!  I am smack dab in the middle of finishing the yearbook, and I think I am delirious.  If you’ve ever worked on a yearbook, you understand the nightmares involved in publishing 268 pages of (mostly) student work.  I say “mostly” because I simply have to do some of it because folks disappear in the summer. But it’s cool.  I don’t mind it…too much.

Which is why this pie is so good.  It is easy, cool, refreshing, and delicious.  You do have to turn on your oven to crisp up the pie crust, but you could do that at night after everyone is out of the kitchen.  Let it cool overnight.  Wake up the next day and fix this while you’re making your lunch.  It’ll be ready before dinner!

This recipe is straight from my mama.  It makes 2 pies, which coincidentally is how many pies crusts come in a package in the freezer section.  You can easily half the recipe to make one, though.  Which is what I did last night.  And only because I didn’t have room in the fridge for 2.

• 2 frozen pie crusts (I recommend deep dish)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp clear corn syrup
• 1 box dry peach jello (3 oz)
• at least 4 fresh peaches per pie

1. Cook the pie crusts according to package instructions.
2. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a microwave safe bowl.
3. Add water and mix.
4. Add corn syrup and mix.  Make sure it is all mixed together.
5. Microwave to boiling–Go 2 minutes and stir.  Go 2 more minutes and stir.  Watch it closely so that it doesn’t boil over and make a big ole mess in your microwave.
6. The mixture should be thicker and clear.  At this point, slowly stir in the box of jello until mixed well.
7. Let it cool.  Let the pie crust cool.
8. Put your peeled fresh peaches in the cooled pie crust.
9. Pour the jello mixture over the peaches.
10. Refrigerate until set.  I can never remember how long I refrigerate it because I always eat some before it is completely set.  =)

While the Germans have been in town, we have gone dancing 3 weekends in a row.

So it’s ridiculous how long it’s been since I posted!  I pretty much had to stop all activities except for grading.  Well, that and hanging out with our German friends.  They come every year for a school exchange, and I must say that they are pretty fantastic people.  In the past month, we have done lots of eating from Pei Wei, Margo’s kitchen, Glen’s grill, and Marcus’s fabulous Thai dish.  It has also been prom season around here, and I have chaperoned, fixed hair, done make-up, and taken tons of pictures.

Our Germans’ month here has turned into almost 6 weeks because of the Iceland volcano.  They can’t fly home!  I really love having them here, and I wish they could stay forever.  But I know that they really want to get home, and their 24 students want to get back to their families.  We just want them to be safe.

Marcus and Daniela are “our Germans” and they are fantastic!  Every time we are all together, the laughing is uncontrollable.  Have you ever had this kind of laughter, where your sides hurt, over and over again?  These Germans–it’s like we’ve known them our entire lives.  And they have a way of bringing out the best and funniest in all of us.  This past Monday night, Marcus cooked a great Thai dish that I will be posting the recipe to soon.  It was their last night in town (or so we thought anyways).  There Marcus is, cooking this beautiful Thai dish with dried chilies from Margo’s garden that she has hanging over the stove, chopping vegetables and things.  We are all sitting around, drinking wine and talking.  It is a warm place, cozy with friends and good-natured familiarity.  Everyone is really laid back, the conversation is always interesting, and I look up to see  that Marcus is wearing a t-shirt with a tiger face on it.  The tiger has a patch on one  eye and a tear rolling out of the other eye.  It read, “Eye of the Tiger.”  You just can’t beat that.

Tonight we will be going dancing again…for the third weekend in a row.  Daniela is always a fun dance partner, and she is really beautiful, too.  Last weekend, as we left the dance club, I looked up to see several forlorn looks on guys’ faces, quite sad to see her leave.  Marcus and Daniela have definitely inspired a trip to Germany in the future for us.

Joe’s birthday was also this week.  I did have time to make him a most beautiful trifle with lemon-scented vanilla pudding, angel food cake, Creme de Cassis liqueur, whipped cream, and some excellent fresh berries.  It is delicious and light enough to enjoy on a warm evening.

Lemon-scented vanilla pudding just means that I zested a lemon and squeezed some fresh lemon juice into vanilla pudding after it set.  It livens up the flavors of the berries.

Ingredients

• big package of vanilla pudding
• whipped cream or cool whip ( I used light)
• large package of fresh blackberries
• regular sized package of fresh blueberries
• regular sized package of fresh strawberries, sliced as you go (save one or two pretty ones for the decoration on the top)
• angel food cake
• Creme de Cassis Liqueur
• juice of half a lemon and its zest

The layers are as follows:

• Mix vanilla pudding and whipped cream (or light cool whip) for the first layer in the bottom of the dish.
• Place evenly sliced pieces of angel food cake on top of that.  Make sure that however thick you want the cake, you definitely don’t want to cut too much of a wedge so that your layers will be more even.
• Brush the cake with Creme de Cassis liqueur.  The angel food cake will soak it right up.
• Place clean, fresh berries on the cake slices.  I mixed them all together, but you could have a layer of just strawberries (then, blueberries on the next round, then blackberries on the next round)
• Spoon on a layer of lemon-scented vanilla pudding
• another layer of angel food cake–keep in mind that you want to cut smaller pieces, too, to fit in the little, unfilled spots
• brush cake with liqueur
• another layer of berries
• pudding
• top with whipped cream
• make a nice design with the leftover berries on the top of the whipped cream

Save some berries to make a design on top of the trifle.

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp. melted Earth Balance shortening or margarine
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup soy yogurt
• 4 tsp. vanilla almond (or soy) milk

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (NOT quick-cooking or instant)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup carob chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients–flours, sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder
2. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients–mash the bananas, add the applesauce, margarine, vanilla, soy yogurt and almond milk.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. I cannot remember where I learned this next thing, but I want to say it was an older lady at one of the restaurants I worked at. It could be a total myth, but it seemed to really work for this. So get a few Tbsp of the all-purpose flour in a separate bowl. Add your blueberries and your carob chips and make sure they are coated with the flour. This ensures that they won’t sink to the bottom during baking.
5. Add the flour-coated blueberries and the carob chips to the mixture and combine.
6. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until fully cooked throughout.

Although this turned out all tasty and full of yummy things that are also good for you, I would probably just choose blueberries OR chocolate as both flavors mixed with the banana bread can be very dynamic. Not bad, especially if you like new things–just different.

She mentions pureed prunes.  I could not find non-dried prunes, so I used baby food prunes.  It was worth paying the $1.70 not to clean my heavy food processor.

Also, I reduced my balsamic vinegar to about 1/2 of its original volume.  What I didn’t use in the first recipe, I stored in the leftover baby food prunes jars.  Yay recycling!

Fat-Free Balsamic Fudge Cookies

These fudgy-but-fat-free cookies have three chocolate enhancers: cinnamon, prunes, and balsamic vinegar. You probably won’t be able to detect any of them in the finished product, but they lend the cookies a deeper, more chocolaty taste.

1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch cinnamon (optional)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup demerara sugar (or other vegan sugar)
1/2 cup prune puree (see note)
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see note #2)
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Mix the flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt together and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the prune puree with the sugar and cocoa and stir to combine. Add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Using the back of a spoon, flatten each cookie slightly and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Place them in the oven. Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes—be careful not to burn the bottoms!

Remove from the oven and lift the parchment paper or silicone mats onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely. These taste best cold and somehow even better the next day. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

*4 out of 5 for chocolatey goodness, but too cakey and sticky.

Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops
(adapted from Habeas Brûlée)

*My changes are in italics and bold*
1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine I used Earth Balance shortening.  You could use butter if you’re not going for the vegan version.
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup soy yogurt This is what replaces the egg.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar reduced is soooo good, even if you do have to open a window
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender) I didn’t have a vanilla bean, so I just sprinkled with regular

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the sugars and set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar/cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Then add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix. This is where I added the carob chips.  MMMMM double chocolatey flavor!

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar, and place them in the oven. After 5 minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in 4 minutes. Be careful—depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds (I found out the hard way!) They shouldn’t need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they’ll harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies. I don’t have cooling racks.  I just put them on some paper towels on the counter.  These come off the parchment paper way easier because of the butter/margarine/shortening.  P.S.  I’m getting big into Earth Balance products–all natural, lower fat, non-dairy.  Nice.

*5 out of 5!  These are soooooo good.  I realize that they have more fat, but they are still vegan (if you don’t use butter) and better for you than most cookies.  I highly recommend!

Aunt Wilma’s Million Dollar Fudge

Ingredients:

4 ½ cups white granulated sugar
one 12 oz. Can PET evaporated milk
2 sticks of PARKAY margarine
3 cups or 18 oz. of HERSHEY’S milk chocolate chips
one teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of pecans (optional, but really GOOOOOD)

What to do:

• Cook on low –medium heat:

4 ½ cups white granulated sugar
one 12 oz. Can PET evaporated milk

• Stir to keep from sticking. Bring to a boil and BOIL for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. <This part is VERY important. Do not walk away for a second. If you don’t get this mixture to the appropriate consistency, it will never set. I made this several times, and the 10-12 minutes is approximate on the low end. It will probably take longer. Or it may be that my stove is not as good as yours. It just needs to get to that “candy consistency” phase before you add the chocolate below.>

• Add the following:

2 sticks of PARKAY margarine
3 cups or 18 oz. of HERSHEY’S milk chocolate chips

• Stir till smooth and creamy. Add one teaspoon vanilla and 2 cups of pecans. Pour into a lightly greased (PARKAY) pan and let cool.

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum

In a mug, combine:

2 tbsp dark rum
4 or 5 tbsp of frozen awesomeness (or more of this tasty mixture if you prefer sweeter)
½ cup boiling water poured over the above ingredients

Frozen Awesomeness

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pint of good quality vanilla ice cream, softened

Mix all but ice cream in blender or food processor. Stir in ice cream and freeze.

A finished holiday beauty: The edges of this pumpkin cheesecake develop into a beautifully rich golden orange.

This comes straight out of The Taste of Home Cookbook.  I don’t know why I was always wary of cheesecakes.  Perhaps it was the disastrous efforts of trying to make my mom’s famous fudge.  Candy is a real doozy.  But I will perfect my mom’s fudge this year.  And of course I’ll be sharing the recipe.  Also look forward to some Martha Washington balls from my mom’s friend Ruby this Christmas.

I write this as my heart breaks about my oven.  The coil caught on fire earlier tonight, and I almost cried.  Especially since I had just deposited an Enchilada Verde Casserole with a homemade creamy cheese sauce.   It was vegetarian, and I think it was going to be amazing.  I wish I could just get a whole new oven/stove.  At least this didn’t happen yesterday when I was in the middle of cheesecake mania. Because that would have been a REAL tragedy.  Hooo doggy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dessert

3/4 finely chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
3/4 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (about 12 squares)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
2 tbsp chopped walnuts (again, I only had pecans–my mom keeps me stocked)

• in a small bowl, combine the walnuts, cracker crumbs, sugar and spices
• stir in the butter
• press onto the bottom of an ungreased 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom (I used a 9 inch spring form)

This is what my crust looked like after I pressed it into the bottom of the pan. It sure does smell good!

For the filling:

• in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth
• add eggs and beat on low speed just until combined
• add pumpkin and 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• beat on low speed just until combined
• the book goes into great detail about not over-mixing because it would cause air bubbles, cracking, etc.  I followed these instructions exactly
• pour filling into crust
• sprinkle with nuts and remaining cinnamon (I did not have the 1/4 tsp reserved to the side.  I left it in the little sprinkler so it would sprinkle on evenly.)
• place pan on a baking sheet
• bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until center is almost set
• cool on wire rack for 10 minutes and run a flexible metal knife or icing spatula around the edges to loosen
• continue cooling on the wire rack for 1 to 1.5 hours (it continues to cook the inside as it sits)
• store in the refrigerator

Just pour the cheesecake filling into your spring form pan over the graham cracker crust.

Recipe Review Rating=10 out of 10!  Bake time was perfect, taste is simply incredible and multi-dimensional, crust is amazing.

*submitted by Melissa Davies of Clermont, Florida for the 2008 edition of The Taste of Home Cookbook