Tag Archives: dessert

Booberry! No, Lemon! No, Booberry! No, Lemon! MOMMA!!!!

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Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

This is what you hear when you ask your kids what kind of quick bread or pound cake you should make today. Our “boo” (Joshie to the uninitiated) wanted “booberry”). On a side note, my husband started calling Josh Boo when he was but a wee infant and the nick name just kind of stuck. Now he is Boo to practically everyone. We have half joked that when he gets to school age and the teacher asks his name, his response will be “Boo Aaron Brand!” and on his wedding day, the pastor will be asking his bride if she takes “Boo” to be her husband. Yes, we’re a strange strange family. I somehow doubt this comes as much of a surprise.

Moving on… Boo wanted “booberry cake”, Jordan (Zach was still asleep…at noon. Ahhh, the life of a teen on Summer vacation from school) wanted lemon. So what was a mother to do? I did NOT want to make one of each… too expensive and results in too much in the way of sweets in the house. Nor did I want to disappoint either boy.

So I remembered the recipe I had recently printed out for Ina Gartens Lemon Yogurt Cake. I’ve said before and I’m sure I’ll say again; you can never go wrong with Ina’s recipes. The woman is a cooking goddess. I have another one…or maybe two… might be three… of her recipes waiting to try after payday. With this recipe, I decided I could make both boys happy. I simply made the cake as written but adding about 2 cups of blueberries to the batter just before pouring it into the pan. On a side note, you ever make something while thinking to yourself what a cooking goddess/god YOU are only to find out after the fact that 350,000 have done the almost exact same thing before you did? Rather disheartening to ones cooking goddess dreams isn’t it? It’s like this big “well crap, I invented this darn it! I did, I did, I didddddd!!!” Sorry. I’m done now. 😛 Continue reading →

We Gotseses TREES!!!

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Soft Frosted Orange Cookies

Some of you may remember that late last year my husband and I bought a house and land. We’re in our late 40’s and this is the first time (for all intents and purposes) that we’ve owned a home, so we’re loving it. You can see a photo of the house here . Is it fancy? Not in the least. Is it new? Nope; about 13 years old. But it’s ours and it came with ten acres of land; 3 cleared and 7 wooded which was one of the major reasons we wanted it.

So this Spring we’re having fun doing a lot of planting. My husband tilled up a large area for us to have as a garden and we’re planting trees. So far we have two different types of apple trees, 2 fig trees, a peach tree and a nectarine tree. I want to get a couple more apple trees, one more peach tree as well as 2 or so pear trees, some cherry trees and some nut trees. It’s hard to describe how it feels to see this house becoming OUR dream… OUR future. It’s pretty darn cool.

Unfortunately, we live too far north for citrus trees though I do eventually want to get some dwarf citrus trees to pot, leave out in Summer and bring in during the cold seasons. If anyone has those and has any recommendations for a good place to buy them, please let me know 🙂

But for now, when I want a citrus dessert, I have to do what those of us not in very sunny climes have to do…. go to the store and buy some fruit.

I wanted cookies recently but not chocolate ones. I know I know… close your mouth and stop looking so amazed. There IS life beyond chocolate. Not always a good life, but life nonetheless. I say this as I am nibbling on a Scharffen Berger Milk Chocolate Bar I splurged on. Go figure. Continue reading →

Rumors Of My Death Yada Yada Yada

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I’m fairly sure no one really missed me or even noticed that I hadn’t posted in a couple of weeks *sobs dejectedly and hides under the bed* but just in case…. I’M NOT DEAD!!!! Just thought I’d mention that in case you weren’t sure if I was dead or not when you saw a post from me.

*Scratches head, looks confuzzled, starts to speak and gives up*

Seriously though (who am I fooling with the word ‘seriously” in my blog? Please raise your hand so that we can all laugh at you), I AM back. Can I promise I won’t disappear again? No. I may get hit by a falling space satellite tomorrow. I could contract Typhoid. I could get eaten by an enraged chicken. You never know.

Or I could just need a break again and not be the type to try to get whining attention by writing a post saying “I must leave *insert heavy sigh* because life is too hard *insert more sighs* and I need to lie in my bed, watch bad reality shows and eat Cheetos *sigh more and look downtrodden* and then expect 500 people to comment telling me to go away and come back when I’m refreshed. I prefer to just go away, come back when I’m refreshed and giggle maniacally knowing that maybe one or two of you were wondering where I had gone. I DID need to go away though. For reasons that are probably obvious if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I just needed some down time… physically, emotionally, mentally. But I’m back, I’m raring to go and I MISSED ALL OF YOU!!! *Spreads hugs, kisses and Twinkies everywhere*

And I like to think I have come back with a bang. Berries are getting a bit less expensive as the year progresses (meaning I didn’t have to sell the kids to buy some berries) and if you’ve read my blog, you know I love berries. During the Summer, I tend to exist on fresh blueberries and raspberries *”Violet! You’re turning Violet, Violet!!” (who knows what that’s from? Huh huh huh?)

So what I have for you today *uses my professional voice* is pretty darn yummy. It’s also pretty darn rich so plan to have this after a light meal, not, say, a pork roast or after going to a Chinese buffet (am I the only one who eats like a pig at those?) . I made a parfait that layers a rich white chocolate/almond pudding with fresh berries. I originally started out with a cake that had a white chocolate/almond filling and berries on top and it morphed into this lol.

This is fairly easy. You’re just making a pastry cream, lightening it up into a pudding type mixture, layering it with berries and there ya go… bobs your uncle (what the heck does that phrase MEAN anyway!?)

Berry & White Chocolate/Almond Parfait

  • 1 cup half and half or light cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • Scant 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup almond paste, crumbled
  • 6 ounces good quality white chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
  • 3 cup assorted berries
  • 1/2 cup apricot preserves
  1. Pour half and half into a saucepan. Add vanilla extract and bring cream to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and flour.
  3. Whisk in the eggs, then the warm half and half. Pour this back into the saucepan.
  4. Add the almond paste and whisk over medium heat until almond paste dissolves and pudding boils, about ten minutes.
  5. Remove from heat and add the white chocolate. Let sit for about 3 minutes, then stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
  6. Put plastic wrap over pudding and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.
  7. When cold, fold in the heavy cream. Cover again and chill for about another 3 hours.
  8. When ready to serve, put the preserves in a small bowl and microwave until melted, about 25 seconds.
  9. Fold gently into the berries in a medium bowl.
  10. Make a layer of the pudding, a layer of berries, another layer of pudding and top with more berries. Serve. Drool. Eat too much.

 


Once Upon A Time

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Creamy Mascarpone Cheesecake

I remember when I first started trying to teach myself to cook. My mom wasn’t big on cooking; she was too busy supporting 3 kids to worry about it. She did however make really good lasagna, chili, chicken and dumplings and lemon meringue pie. But she just didn’t have the time to really get into it. So when I was about ten or so, I started playing with our food 😛

My brother or sister were usually the ones to make dinner for us when mom was at work but I liked playing around with baking. Thing is, I never used a cookbook. Strangely enough, I actually succeeded anyway quite a few times. I know now that what I was whipping up when I dumped butter (well, margarine. Mom only got butter at the holidays), sugar, vanilla and flour into a bowl and beat the living hell out of it was a basic pound cake, but back then I just thought I was a genius because I made a cake… all by myself. My brother and sister never complained. I guess even far from perfectly done cakes were ok. They were sweet after all and we were kids hehe. I also had quite a few failures with this basic dump and bake method. I recall many a cake coming out of the pan gummy, tough and undercooked in the middle. We ate those too. They were sweet and we were kids 😀

I still have problems with actually opening a cookbook and following a recipe. Anyone who reads this blog knows how often I completely destroy change a recipe I’ve gotten elsewhere. Usually it works. I get lucky. If not, hey, it’s sweet and I HAVE kids now. They don’t care. 😛

Sometimes though, I find a recipe that sounds yummy enough just the way it’s written that I don’t change much at all anything. The recipe I’m posting today is one of those rare creatures. I borrowed a Gourmet cookbook from the library recently. OMG, I love this book. I have so many paged marked (not literally) to make the recipes. When I saw this recipe for Mascarpone Cheesecake, I knew I had to make it. I had bought a tub of Mascarpone a few weeks ago when we weren’t completely broke (there is a reason you get so many inexpensive recipes lol) and was saving it for the “right recipe”. This one was it. The only things I changed was to add the zest of one orange into the filling and about half a teaspoon of orange extract. Not enough of either to actually make it taste orangey, just enough to give it that “ooo, what’s in this? I taste something but I’m not sure what it is” kind of oomph. Mainly, I wanted a reason to decorate the top of it with orange strips hehe. I also used a full 3 packages of cream cheese just cause it seemed silly to use two and a half of them 😛

So if you’re craving cheesecake, give this one a try. It’s rich and creamy without being over the top “I can’t finish a piece of this…it’s too much”. It has the most outstandingly wonderful smooth and creamy texture of any cheesecake I’ve ever tasted or made. Even my non cheesecake loving husband keeps going back and taking bites of the slice I cut for picture taking and my 15 year old says he is going to eat his piece really slowly to make it last lol. I was going to add a sauce to it, but it’s so good I didn’t. Maybe with the leftovers tomorrow.

Creamy Mascarpone Cheesecake

  • Crust-
  • 70 vanilla wafers, finely ground
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • Filling-
  • 3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temp
  • 1 cup mascarpone cheese, room temp
  • 3/4 cup sugar (I used a full cup since I used extra cream cheese)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest from one small orange
  • 3/4 teaspoon orange extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Topping-
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  1. Preheat oven to 350, making sure your oven rack is in the middle..
  2. Combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl and combine until you have a nice crumbly mixture.  Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
  3. Bake at 350 for about ten minutes or until light brown. Transfer to a rack to cool.
  4. While it cools, make the filling. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar. Beat at high speed for 5 minutes.
  5. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  6. Add the extracts, lemon juice and orange zest and beat at low speed just until combined.
  7. Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
  8. Bake until cheesecake is barely set and still jiggly in the middle, about 30 minutes mine actually took more like 40. But, it should be set on the outside, wiggly near the middle inch or so. It will finish setting up as it cools. Cool slightly in the pan for about 20 minutes.
  9. Make the topping-
  10. Stir together the topping ingredients in a small bowl.
  11. Spoon topping over the still warm cheesecake and return to the oven for about ten minutes or just until the topping looks set and not runny.
  12. Run a knife around the edges of the cheesecake to prevent cracking. Cool completely in the pan on a rack before taking the sides off of the cake. Best bet is to refrigerate it overnight.
  13. Use a knife dipped in hot water to make clean cuts. Or just grab a spoon and hide in the closet and eat this.


You Know Me And Lemon

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Rustic Lemon Lavender Cornmeal Pound Cake

If I don’t eat something lemony at least seventeen times a once a week, I go into withdrawals.  I love chocolate… and Twinkies… and Cheetos…and Twinkies stuffed with Cheetos…and Cheetos stuffed with Twinkies (sorry. I’ll stop now.) but sometimes I just have to have that kick from lemon. Mind you, unlike my 15 year old son, I do NOT suck on lemon halves *shudders at the thought*. And while I actually like the new Lemon Twinkies (c’mon, did you really think I’d let those pass by without a try?) even I have to say that they can’t compare to home made treats.

I mentioned in the last lemon post I made…erhm, which was one of my last posts actually. Is this a sign of a rut? Nahhhhh.

Moving on. I mentioned in the last post that lemon has always seemed a good Spring flavor to me. It also works for Easter which would be a good excuse to make the recipe I’m sharing today.

I wanted to make a pound cake. I wanted lemon. But all the lemon pound cake recipes sounded boring. So… say it with me, regular readers… I played with a recipe. Like most cooks, I love Cooks Illustrated recipes. But today, I was antsy and even their stuff seemed boring to me. Heresy, I know. That’s like saying Martha Stewart doesn’t look good in an orange jumpsuit or Sandra Lee is a tee totaler. So I took one of their pound cake recipes and made it mine. Mine I say!!! Buahahahahaaaaaaa. Then just to add insult to injury, when I was done making it and glazing it, I covered it in Easter sprinkles. Why? Just cause I’m that kind of a gal. Continue reading →

A Blogger By Any Other Name…

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…is NOT a good thing. The other day I went to a blog I go to frequently. I loved what I saw, made a comment and realized a few hours later when it popped into my mind, that I had called the lovely lady, a blogger I know (know as in blogs) by the wrong name. Needless to say, when I went back and looked, the comment I had made had NOT been approved. Lol… this aging thing sucks. In my defense I had been to about 40 gazillion blogs that day (t’was before I got sick and kind of disappeared), reading and buzzing and commenting and at that point, I’m surprised I remembered my own name, much less that of anyone else.

Anyone else find things like that happening as you age? And by as you age, I mean anyone over 25 hehe because God help me, I remember it happening back then too. I blame my kids. The memory loss and the fact that I haven’t had a full nights sleep or hot meal since 1985 are all the fault of my kids 😛 I’ve found though that It really does get worse as you get older. I can think to myself, while sitting here at the computer, “Oh, I need to look up such and such” and literally by the time I get Google pulled up to do a search, I’ve forgotten what I wanted to look up. Talk about wanting to slam my head into my desk! I frequently decide I’m just gonna give up trying to remember things and go adopt 36 cats, buy a pair of glasses that hangs by a string around my neck (though I just know I’ll still forget where they are), a case of Geritol and call myself the Crazy Old Cat Lady. It suits me… the crazy part anyway. Right now we only have 4 cats so that isn’t enough to qualify me. At least I think we have four cats. I can’t remember. Continue reading →

Sometimes Simple And Old Are The Best

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Yum

I have NO idea who ate some of this before I could get a photo *blinks innocently*


I should know… I mean, look at my husband. Ok, I’m so gonna die for that but I couldn’t resist that one hehe

Seriously though… have you ever noticed that in the blogging world, it is always something new, something unique, something that is all about “OMG, I made elk tongues with a balsamic reduction and served it with bacony coleus plants sauteed in bear fat!”

Mind you, I love the new stuff; don’t get me wrong. I’m no different there than anyone else in trying to be unique and have something here on my blog that isn’t on 396 other blogs. Erhmmm, other than that elk tongue thing… you can have my share. Honest; I don’t mind.

Sometimes though, I just want something comforting, easy and old fashioned. Especially recently. I’ve been battling a fun fun fun tooth and jaw infection (thus my absence {didya miss me? 😛 } and also why no new posts recently) and have been taking massive doses of Penicillin. And while I’m not allergic to it, I’m sensitive to it big time and spent the better part of a week nauseous and unable to eat. I’m eating again but am still doing better with soft easy foods because my jaw isn’t 100%.

Point being (whining over lol) that when I’m down, physically or emotionally, I like, as I said, easy and comforting. One of my go to recipes for that (other than the ubiquitous mac and cheese that is practically everyone’s fave comfort food) is an old Amish recipe. I absolutely LOVE so many Amish foods. I have the same fascination with their culture, religion and foods that so many living in the mainstream world do.

Continue reading →

I Need C.P.R.

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That of course stands for Chocolate Public Relations cause this really needs some media attention! 😛

Ok, that was really corny but I couldn’t help myself.

If you’ve been a regular reader of my blog for a while, you may recall that up until last year, I had never eaten, much less cooked, a lava cake. It was one of those much hyped foods I avoided.

Then… I tried one. This one to be exact . And yeah, I admit it, I liked it. Just a little bit. Honest. I was still blase and ultra sophisticated, saying that I was so above all that… so not into the idea of a crispy edged cake with a center of soft gooey chocolate. Pshaw. You know how hip I am (I just lost “hip” status by using the word hip, didn’t I?) and too good for trendiness.

OK, OK, I LOVED IT!!!! *falls to the floor sobbing in abject “oh so not hip” shame*.

It was chocolate heaven on a plate. Crisp, yet gooey… chocolate yet in the case of that one, offset by fruit. So I decided a few days ago that I wanted more. I WAS going to make a white chocolate one but realized I had no white chocolate so that one will wait for now. I did however want something a LITTLE different than a plain one.

Well, I had a can (or six) of home made dulce de leche in the fridge ( I have to come clean and admit that I am one of those risk taking people who makes my dulce de leche by just boiling the unopened can for hours. What can I say? I like living life on the edge 😛 ) Moving on… I decided I was going to make a lava cake with a center of dulce de leche. Yeah I know; as if the cake in it’s normal form isn’t enough with it 35,000 calories and 4 bazillion fat grams, I added dulce de leche. If it makes you feel better, I have a black bean and polenta recipe coming up soon? Nice and healthy. Well, except for the cheese and cream in the polenta. Sigh. I give up.

It turned out quite nicely. Mind you, after eating all of the one I photographed, I may never eat again, but that’s ok. I can live off my own fat and the fat in the cake for at least a decade, maybe more.

So give this a try. It’s actually really easy. And darn, does it taste good! The chocolate lava cake part of this is from The Neeleys on Food Network. The only addition here that is me is the dulce de leche. On a side note, this recipe makes Paula Deen recipes look like they are for health nuts. On a side side note, are health nuts anything like Corn Nuts? Are they edible? On a side side side note, when did corn get nuts?

Ok, I’m stopping now. Continue reading →

The Lonely Outcast Citrus

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Yes, this is already sliced in thick slabs and ready for me to dig in….




You all know the one I’m talking about. It’s the citrus that gets grimaces instead of drools, the one that never gets invited over for dinner and a movie, much less dessert and an attempt to get to third base. It’s the one that get ignored because it has a tendency to be a bit…shall we say… bitter about life. It’s the citrus that has very little middle ground. You either love it or you hate it. I’m one of those weirdos in the love it camp. Just add that to the list of things that makes me strange and wonderfully lovable.

What citrus? Why Grapefruit of course. People tend to think of it in terms of either juice for breakfast, juice beverage aka grapefruit juice that has been sweetened. I admit that I prefer that to the straight up kind myself, or as a fruit to eat, grimacing the whole time, because they are on a diet and their mothers best friends sisters cousins stepgrandmother lost 45 pounds in two days doing that Continue reading →

Oh The Things I Do For You

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I mean… seriously? Who else will, out of love for you, make the noble sacrifice of frequently working with butter, sugar, cream and all things decadent? Who else, out of love for you, would practice over and over again, making treats JUST so that I could blog about them here for your pleasure? Who else, out of that great enduring love for you, would torture herself eating creations filled with said butter, sugar and cream, JUST so that I could then describe to you what it tasted like? No one else! No one I say! Ok, maybe a few other bloggers but they too do it out of a great love for you! It has nothing, nothing I say, to do with the idea that we like shoving gooey, rich creamy treats in our gaping maws! Perish the thought! It’s that love thing… yeah, that’s it. The love thing.

You believe me, right? *bats eyes innocently* Continue reading →