Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Tis the season for holiday parties, which means it is also the time for yummy appetizers. I don't know about you, but appetizers are always the hardest for me. I never know what to make. I am never sure if I should try and bring something warm and in return have to keep it warm. Do I just grab a bag of chips? Oh what to do.

Well, this is the appetizer that fixed all my woes. This Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip is by far our favorite holiday appetizer.

The prep is fairly easy. Chop, mix, and let it set overnight. Then put it all on top of a layer of cream cheese. Then you just dig in and eat it with some crackers.

This dip has been a hit every time we have made it. The next time you have an appetizer assignment for a party, bring this and all the guests will love it and will henceforth declare that you be the bringer of the appetizers from that point on.

Click HERE for printable recipe

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Potato Corn Chowder: Slow Cooker Saturday

Welcome to the long awaited revival of Slow Cooker Saturday. I have been meaning to bring it back for months and months and months, but obviously I couldn't get my act together.

However, I knew when I made this warm your belly Slow Cooker Potato Corn Chowder I had to bring Slow Cooker Saturday back to life.

This chowder is completely family friendly. All my boys devoured it. The heaping serving of bacon thrown on top of the soup probably helped their love a little bit. Just a little bit. Oh bacon. On Instagram (you know you want to follow along @larissa_anotherday) I referred to this as bacon with a side of soup. Ha. That is how we do things around here.

This soup is easy to throw together and is altogether so very yummy on a cold day.

You will not be sad you made this soup.

Okay, now to the recipe.

First, I am trying something new with how I get recipes to you. Since I am still in the dark ages and still use blogger I do not have access to a recipe widget that will make printing recipes easier for you. I am fully aware that makes getting recipes from my site more than a little annoying. So until I make the big girl step to switch over to Wordpress and to actually install a .com, I have come up with a format allowing you, the reader, to have a print friendly recipe.

I am going to offer the recipe in a jpg and pdf form. So you can either right click on the photo of the recipe and save it OR you can click the PDF link. The choice is yours. Either way, you will have a printable recipe.

Hope that makes life a little easier. Let me know what you think. LOVE YA.

Get printable recipe HERE

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Harvest Fruit Salad: Thanksgiving Side Dish

This is one of my favorite Fall fruit salads. In fact, I just made it for Middle's Woodland Theme Baptism Luncheon. This also makes a great side dish on Thanksgiving, because let's face it one of the hardest things about Thanksgiving dinner is deciding what sides to make. I mean we all know the main players. That is a no brainer.

Turkey-Check.
Potatoes-Check.
Gravy-Check.
Rolls-Check.
Pie-Check.

But alas, what to do with the other sides. There are so many to choose from. How does one narrow down what to make?

Well I am gonna help you at least narrow down one. This salad is nice to have on the Thanksgiving table. It pairs up great with my favorite Spinach Apple Salad.

This Harvest Fruit Salad is a great addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Harvest Fruit Salad

6 cups diced apples
2 cups halved red or black grapes
1 pomegranate, seeds only
1 cup walnut pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 water
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla

First prepare all the fruit.

Aren't pomegranate seeds gloriously lovely??

Place all of the fruit into a large bowl.

Now make the sauce.

Combine the sugar, flour, and water in a saucepan. Heat over medium high heat until it boil lightly and starts to thicken. When it thickens, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then pour it over the fruit and evenly coat.

Then stir in the walnuts.

With everything all mixed and pretty all you need to do is serve it up.

Now that will make your mouth happy and your Thanksgiving dinner complete.

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Left Over Halloween Candy Cookies

Halloween has been over one week. Have your kids eaten all their candy yet? Have you eaten all their candy yet? Do you need a creative way to use all that candy?

Well, I have a smart and not healthy way to get rid of it. Why not put it into some cookies! You know because cookies need candy in them.

So go ahead and gather up some of that excess Halloween candy. I recommend all the chocolate candy. While very delightful on their own, I am thinking Starbursts and Swedish Fish would not taste spectacular in these cookies. So I guess you should go ahead and just eat those.

Once you have gathered up some of the chocolate bars, chop them all up.

I use my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie as the base for this cookie. However, instead of the milk chocolate chips you add in the chopped up Halloween.

Follow all the same directions.

Then when you are done you have these delightfully yummy Halloween Candy Cookies. These are great cookies to hand out to friends and neighbors. I baked up a batch for our school's teachers. I knew they were a hit when one of them posted on my Facebook page how much they loved them.

These cookies are the perfect way to use up that Halloween candy. Trust me!

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German Chocolate Brownies

Took the train to Brownietown and I enjoyed some German Chocolate Brownies. When I say I enjoyed them, I mean I licked the batter off the spoon before they were baked, I licked the knife after testing if the brownies were done, and then I had quite a few brownies once they were baked.

I came across this recipe in an old magazine. Upon reading "brownie" I started drooling and craving them immediately. I knew I needed to come up with a reason to make them, and consequently eat them. Good news, it took me .5 seconds to remember that I just happened to have company coming into town. I also realized that one of them just happened to love German chocolate anything and he just happened to have had a birthday recently.

German Chocolate Brownies = Happy Birthday. German Chocolate Brownies = happy me.

These brownies are my favorite kind of brownie. They are rich, dense, and fudgy. Just how I like them. Another delightful component of these brownies is the toasted pecans and the toasted coconut.

Do you see that goodness?!?

So yeah, these brownies are GREAT. Not only did the birthday boy enjoy them, but so did every single person in the housed. Every. Single. One. 

Brownies are so delightful. These German Chocolate Brownies are heaven I tell you. HEAVEN. Give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

German Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cups unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Take off heat and whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt. Whisk for about 1 minute until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, whisking each time. Add the cocoa powder and flour. Stir until blended together. Fold in the toasted pecans.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake the brownies for 40-45 minutes, until tester comes out clean. Cool brownies in the pan.

While the brownies cool, make the chocolate sauce. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate in the cream over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the chocolate melts into the cream and the sauce is smooth. Pour the chocolate sauce over the cooled brownies.

Top with toasted coconut. Lightly press the coconut into the chocolate frosting.

Once the chocolate has cooled and set, lift the brownies from the pan by lifting out the parchment paper. Cut the brownies into squares.

adapted from: Rachael Ray

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Cauliflower Corn Chowder

Every so often we order a basket of fresh fruit and veggies from Bountiful Baskets. If you haven't ordered from Bountiful Baskets before, it is a like a jackpot of fruits and vegetables. In your order there is half fruit and half veggies, but you never know what exactly you are going to get.

We never ever have a problem eating the fruit. We know how to throw back our fruit. However, we don't always know what to do with the vegetables. I wish I could tell you that we eat all our vegetables happily. Um...we don't. Oh we still eat them, just not always happily. Hang head in shame now.

This last bunch of healthy goodness had a bunch cauliflower. Add that cauliflower to a fridge already full of veggies and you have this chowder just calling your name.

Well not really, that would be weird. No one wants to eat food that call's their name. Who am I kidding, I would eat this chowder even if it called my name over a bull horn.

It is that good. Good and packed full with vegetables.

This chowder might also be topped with bacon. BACON people. That is a vegetable right? Shh, let's just pretend. Bacon is a vegetable. Bacon is a vegetable. Bacon is healthy. Eat five servings of bacon a day. Okay maybe that is too far.

This chowder is amazing. My boys all ate it. All of them had seconds and one of them had three bowls. THREE. That right there is a momma miracle. I do feel the need to mention that the subsequent bowls didn't have bacon on top. That right there is saying something.

It is saying this Cauliflower Corn Chowder is amazing. That is what it is saying.

Cauliflower Corn Chowder

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken sodium
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
salt and pepper

Cook bacon first. Set aside.

Heat a stock pot over medium high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted add in the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Stir frequently until the vegetables are tender. Which should take 4-5 minutes. Stir in cauliflower and bay leaf. Stir occasionally, making sure to not break up the bay leaf. Cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the flour and stir while cooking for 1 minute. Then slowly add in the chicken broth and milk. Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes while it thickens slightly. Stir in the corn.

Bring the chowder to a boil. Then reduce it to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 12-15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.

Top with bacon.

Adapted from: Damn Delicious

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My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

Nothing beats a really good chocolate chip cookie...and in turn nothing beats really good chocolate chip cookie dough. Just saying people. Anyway, before I hear too much about how I shouldn't eat the dough I will move back to the chocolate chip cookies themselves.

I am not a huge dessert person. There are very few desserts I have a hard time passing up. Brownies come in first. Then comes chocolate chip cookies. However, not just any chocolate chip cookies.

These chocolate chip cookies are my favorite and unbelievably hard for me to pass up. I have been making this recipe for years and years. You know, the make-it-by-heart-in-my-sleep years and years.

Which is why I try not to make them all the time, and I always try to deliver at least half to a cookie-loving neighbor.

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookie because they are rich, dense, and taste like cookie dough in baked cookie form. They are glorious people. Simply and divinely glorious.

My Little Men think I am a baking guru all due to these cookies. Heaven knows I don't bake enough to make me an actual guru. One bite of these cookies though and it doesn't matter that I don't bake much. The taste of this cookie is all they focus on.

Their feelings, and I quote, "You make good cookies mom!" Preach it boys.

Give these cookies a try. I am fairly certain you won't be hatin' life if you do.

ENJOY!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Our Best Bites

3/4 cup (12 Tablespoons) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the melted butter and the sugars until fully incorporated.

Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

Mix in the dry ingredients. Add in the chocolate chips.

Scoop onto a parchment lined cookie tray. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

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Chocolate Cola Cake:Thirty Handmade Days

Best. Chocolate. Cake. Ever. This cake should be a part of your life yesterday. There is a secret ingredient in there that makes this chocolate cake rich and moist...and it is not the cola...

Intrigued?

You should be. Don't worry I will tell you all about this delightful cake. You just have to head over to Thirty Handmade Days to get the recipe. You won't be sorry.

Cinnamon Banana Muffins

We like our bananas around here. Most of the time we just eat them up. Occasionally a bunch will get by us. When the bananas are past eating, the boys start begging for me to bake something. Sometimes we make Frosted Banana Bars or Double Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Lately we have been making the bread version of these muffins. I really liked the bread version of these muffins, but I am gonna be honest, it was a little high maintenance. Each time I made the recipe the loaves always turned out different. I knew the flavor was there, and just needed a better way to show it off.

Well, these Cinnamon Banana Muffins are the better way to show it off.

These muffins are spectacular! I have always loved anything with a crumb topping. Okay not anything, I am pretty sure if you put crumb topping on peas I would still not like them. I digress.

Another thing I love is cinnamon chips.

These muffins are packed with cinnamon chips.

The recipe makes a ton. Which frankly is good because I am pretty sure my boys each ate two before I was even done baking them all. I guess they couldn't help themselves. They weren't the only ones...I may have had a few myself. The whole family gave me two thumbs up. That says a lot, because yes they are known to give me two thumbs down accompanied with "Eww" and "Mom, this is not the best thing you have made."

So if you have a bunch of bananas just taking up space on your counter, I think you should make these.

Cinnamon Banana Muffins
yields 3-4 dozen

 crumb topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

bread:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
6 ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16oz) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour
1 package cinnamon chips (I use Hershey's brand)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare the crumb topping by cutting the butter into the brown sugar and flour, creating a crumb topping. Set aside.

Combine the 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, then sprinkle a teaspoon's worth of the cinnamon sugar mixture into tins.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Slowly mix the flour mixture into the bowl of the mixer. Add in about 1 1/2 cups at a time. Mix until completely combined.

Then mix in the cinnamon chips.

Fill each cup 3/4th the way full. Then sprinkle some of the crumb mixture over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tin. To remove from the tins, run a knife around the edge of each cup. Then gently lift each muffin out.

Now eat up and enjoy yourself!

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Shrimp Tacos

These Shrimp Tacos are ridiculous! Ridiculously awesome. Ridiculously easy. Just ridiculous I tell you.

Let me tell you a little story about how I was introduced to these lovely shrimptastic tacos.

First, a little back story. I am not a huge fan of shrimp. Or at least that is what I always thought. In the last couple of years I have had a few encounter with shrimp and much to my surprise I really rather liked it. Now all of those times the shrimp was fried. So naturally I liked it, because well who doesn't enjoy things fried?

The answer--very few of us do not enjoyed things fried.

I still convinced myself that I did not like shrimp unless it was fried.

So that is my back story. Fascinating I know. Jump to a few months ago when I was introduced to these awesome Shrimp Tacos.

I was in my backyard hanging with the Little Men. They were playing and playing and playing some more. We had already been outside all afternoon. As they kept playing I realized I hadn't even started dinner. Oh well, no one was complaining.

My backyard neighbor saw us outside and walked on over. Our yard is gloriously open to several other yards and our neighbors are just as glorious. She walked on over and we chatted for a bit. We chatted about Summer days. We chatted about how we both loved being outside in the sunny weather. Then it came up that I loved being outside so much that I hadn't even planned dinner.

Then she told me about her dinner and how yummy it had been. You guessed it, her dinner had been shrimp tacos. I said, "Oh yum!" She said, "Hey I still have some, let me go make you one!"

Then we went back and forth with the obligatory, "No you shouldn't" and "I insist".

The conversation ended with her running into the house and bringing me out a plate of shrimp tacos.

They were delicious. So delicious, I called her a week later and asked her how she made them. Then I made them for the whole family. The whole family loved them.

I have now made them several times. You know what this means? I guess I like shrimp.

I played around a bit and a new addition I made to the recipe was adding a bit of avocado sour cream. So good!

Give these Shrimp Tacos a try. They are so delightful.

Shrimp Tacos

1 pound of small/medium shrimp, peeled and tails cut off
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
McCormick's Grill Mates Mesquite Seasoning
1 packaged Spanish style yellow rice, prepared
shredded cabbage
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
1 ripe avocado
corn tortillas

Prepare the avocado sour cream by mashing up one ripe avocado and mixing in 1/4 cup sour cream. Salt to taste. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Melt the butter. Add in the garlic and saute for a minute. Add in the shrimp. Toss. Then let the shrimp cook on one side for 2-3 minutes. Then turn over and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the shrimp is pink. Sprinkle generously with the Mesquite seasoning. Toss to coat. Let cook 1 more minute. Remove from pan.

Serve shrimp immediately over a warmed corn tortilla. Layer the corn tortilla with a spoonful of rice, shredded cabbage, shredded cheese, 4-5 shrimp, and a dollop of avocado sour cream.

Go ahead and make yourself a couple. They are just little tacos after all.

Enjoy!!!

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Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

A few years ago here on the blog I had a FROYO week. A whole week devoted to delightful frozen yogurt recipes. Yum that was heavenly. I went a little froyo crazy that year, and the whole family was pretty grateful I made that much frozen yogurt.

Fast forward to last year. I don't think I made any frozen yogurt. I didn't make one single batch of frozen yogurt. Well I just couldn't repeat that this year.

I christened our 2014 Frozen Yogurt Extravaganza with this unbelievable Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt.

The base for this frozen yogurt is one of our favorite Greek Yogurts--The Greek Gods Honey Vanilla. Seriously, guys, it is the best. With just a few more added ingredients it makes the best dang frozen yogurt ever.

I love making frozen yogurt because it requires just a few basic ingredients, you add in some extra pizazz, run it through an ice cream maker, let it set up just a bit more in the freezer and then you are ready to dig in.

I don't mind if I do. 

Happy FROYO eating!

Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

1 24 oz Honey Vanilla yogurt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons honey

Cut the vanilla bean open and scrape out the seeds. In a bowl, add in the yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract, and honey. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker. Once the mixture is set up, pour it into a container. I drizzled a little bit more honey over the top. Then freeze for at least 2 hours until firm.

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Cauliflower Fried Rice

I know what you are thinking? You are thinking that this looks like some delightful fried rice and I must have accidentally typed in cauliflower in the title. However, I am here to tell you that while you are right about this being delightfully yummy fried rice I did not mess up on inserting cauliflower into the title.

For, in fact, this is indeed Cauliflower Fried Rice and there is not one grain of actual rice used in this recipe. Even though the rice is missing, the flavor is not. You know what else isn't missing? Vegetables! Lots and lots of vegetables. Seriously, this is the best dish to sneak in those vegetables. My kiddos totally ate this up, none the wiser.

Well, Oldest knew so he said he could tell, but I think that is only because he knew my sneaky tricks. The others who were kept in the dark about the veggies gobbled it down with no complaints. Thanks to the shredded chicken mixed into this Cauliflower Fried Rice it was a complete meal in a bowl.

I do want to clarify that the cauliflower in this dish doesn't mimic the exact taste of rice. I just want to be honest with you. However, the texture is super similar and even though it doesn't taste like rice, the flavor is awesome. Again, this was a hit with the family and I kind of felt like Super Mom for a minute realizing how many vegetables I just got my kids to eat. Woot!

You won't be sorry you gave this a try. Yum!

Cauliflower Fried Rice
adapted from Skinny Taste

1 head of cauliflower, rinsed
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 egg whites
2 eggs
salt
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
5 green onions, sliced and divided white and green
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 cups shredded chicken
 
First, remove the core from the cauliflower and then let it dry completely. Chop the head of cauliflower into florets. Place half of the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower has the texture of rice. Repeat with the rest of cauliflower.

Combine the eggs and the egg whites in a small bowl and beat with a fork. Season with salt.

Spray a wok with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook them like scrambled eggs. Remove and set aside.

Add sesame oil to the wok. Saute the onions, scallion whites, garlic, peas, and carrots until soft. About 3 to 4 minutes.

Raise the heat to medium high and and then add in the cauliflower rice. Add in the soy sauce. Mix and cover. Let it cook for about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the egg and the chicken. Stir. Remove from heat and then mix in the green parts of the green onions. Mix in more soy sauce if needed.

Serve immediately.

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Glazed Lime Cookies

If these cookies were people, these Glazed Lime Cookies would be the classiest bunch of them all. Well maybe not as classy and ladylike as macarons, but these could be her almost as lovely friend from grade school.

These Glazed Lime Cookies are light and just crispy enough. They are refreshingly sweet and perfectly enhanced by the lime. They are summer in cookie form people. I know I often categorize my food by seasons, but I just can't seem to help getting immersed in the food of the season.

We use lime a lot in this house. Funny story, once we had some friends over for dinner...that isn't the funny part. We did our customary meal planning. We gathered up a few of our favorite recipes that we felt all coordinated together. It was only after making the dinner and moments before they arrived that we realized that FOUR of the things we made all had the name LIME in it. Hehehe. I guess we really do like lime. The whole night was lime-tastice. You won't hear me complaining.

So yes, we like limes. I had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile. I have had this recipe for years (like we are talking 10) and I just kept putting it off. Story of my life. Finally decided to add the ingredients to my grocery list, because that is like writing it in stone don't you know.

Then I made them. Then I ate them. Then I ate some more. I really rather liked them.

I will say this, they are a little more grown up of a cookie. My Little Men only like them so-so. Also, if you make cookies for the cookie dough, well this isn't really the recipe for you. This is definitely a needs to be in baked and glazed cookie form to be enjoyed at its best.

With all that being said, I also don't want to scare you off from these delightful cookies. They really are something special and are not your typical cookie. Like I said, they are way more sophisticated than your average chocolate chip. Good news though is that they don't require tons of work like a fore mentioned macarons.

Give these lovely cookies a try. Oh, and when you read that there is 1 cup of corn meal in them, yes that is correct. It seems weird I know, but trust me these cookies are not weird they are uniquely surprising and marvelous.

See.

Glazed Lime Cookies

cookie:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
4 teaspoons lime zest
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup corn meal

glaze:
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
8 Tablespoons lime juice
2 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in egg and beat until incorporated. Then add in the lime zest, lime juice, orange zest, and almond extract. Mix until blended. Add in the flour and the corn meal. Mix well. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets with cooking spray and sprinkle lightly with corn meal. Shape dough into 1" balls. Place on cookie sheet about 3" a part. Dip the bottom of a glass in corn meal. Using the glass, flatten the cookies to 1/4" thickness. Bake 14-16 minutes or until the cookies are light brown around the edges. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

To make the glaze combine the powdered sugar, lime juice, and lime zest. Stir until smooth. Place the cooking rack with the cookies on it over a sheet of wax paper. Pour the lime glaze evenly over the cookies. Let the glaze set.

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Strawberry Soup

Before I get to this Strawberry Soup, let me just say I love strawberries. One of the best things about Summer is strawberries. So...I really love strawberries.

When we lived in Ohio this time of year would be about the time that we would be berry pickin' at our favorite local farm. Strawberry picking at that farm is one of my favorite family memories. We would eat as we pick, which was allowed. We would load up crates, baskets, and flats with bright red, delicious strawberries. We would then roll them all out of the berry fields on the most quaint green wagon.

We would take the berries home, eat some more, and then make lots and lots of freezer jam.

We may not be able to pick berries anymore (no sweet little strawberry farm by us now), but we still manage to find buy ourselves lot and lots of strawberries. I still make lots of freezer jam. I mean seriously, how can I live without freezer jam? Nobody can. It is the best stuff ever, especially slathered on a just out of the oven warm slice of of homemade bread.

Strawberry freezer jam holds a special place in my heart.

Now so does this Strawberry Soup. Don't be confused by the word soup. This is not a warm bowl of pureed strawberries. This Strawberry Soup is more like a creamier version of a smoothie.

Oh. My. Heavens.

This pretty much made my day. I had myself three bowls in one day. Don't worry I saved some for all the boys in the house. Everyone else thought it was quite spectacular too.

This soup is the perfect addition to a Summer meal. Heck it is perfect for anytime.

I highly encourage you all to give it a try. I am fairly positive you won't be too sad about it. So after you pick your berries or buy your berries or grow your berries, put some aside for a delightful bowl of this Strawberry Soup and be prepared to eat several bowlfuls.


Strawberry Soup

4-5 cups of fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Chill for an hour before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Happy berry picking and berry eating. Happy Summer!

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Orange Creamsicle Chex Mix

A few Summers ago we made some Lemonade Chex Mix that we were all really fond of.

Like 'make a batch and it disappears in an hour' fond of.

Well, now we have another Chex Mix concoction to be fond of.

Orange Creamsicle Chex Mix. I have it on pretty good authority that it tastes like Summer. I know, I know, that is two posts in a row that I talk of things tasting like Summer. Between this chex mix and the Vanilla Bean Lemonade from yesterday, we are getting all geared up for Summer.

Normally I dread Summer. Summer is not typically my favorite season. Summer is a weird mix of over scheduling and constantly fighting the boredom bug. I am pretty excited for this Summer though. So I have high hopes for a change of heart and a complete enjoyment of Summer.

Even though I have traditionally not enjoyed Summer, one thing I love about Summer is all the fresh and crisp flavors.

I can tell it is Summer by the overflowing white bowls of fruit setting on my table and counters.

I have recently had bowls full of oranges. Since orange paired with Summer makes me think of Orange Creamsicle popsicles, it is no surprise my brain immediately made up this Orange Creamsicle Chex Mix.

I like to make a batch and then keep some and share the rest. This mix was a HUGE hit. Those with who this little treat was shared loved it and swooned over its yumminess. Okay there was no actual swooning, but they did really like it.

I am betting you will too.

Orange Creamsicle Chex Mix

9 cups Rice Chex
2 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 teaspoons orange zest, divided
1 teaspoon orange extract
2 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl, pour the cereal. In a microwavable bowl, combine the white chocolate chips, unsalted butter, and 2 teaspoons of orange zest. Heat at 50% for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat for 30 second intervals until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the orange extract.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal. Carefully stir until the cereal is completely coated.

Stir the remaining 2 teaspoons of the orange zest with the 2 cups of powdered sugar. Then pour the powdered sugar over the chocolate covered cereal. Stir to coat.

Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

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Vanilla Bean Lemonade

Days are getting warmer and longer. You know what that means don't you?

Barbecues, picnics, and lemonade.

Lots and lots of lemonade.

I have two favorite lemonades.

First is Strawberry Lemonade. 

Next, well I am sure you can guess...

Yup.

Vanilla Bean Lemonade.

Oh gracious. Lemons and vanilla beans. I think they must be soul mates. I am so glad they found each other.

I first had Vanilla Bean Lemonade when we lived in Ohio. The Hubs had come across it at a Market in Cleveland. He bought a few bottles to bring home. After trying some, I had to force myself not to drink it all down.

The lemonade was perfectly sweet and tart. Then it finished with the best vanilla flavor. I know it will sound cheesy, but it was like drinking a summer breeze and a summer sunset all in one.

We haven't lived in Ohio for almost three years now (which is crazy people, CRAZY) and I haven't had Vanilla Bean Lemonade since then. I have been missing it. I mean, seriously almost three years without my favorite lemonade. Well that is just craziness.

So I figured I should probably whip up my own Vanilla Bean Lemonade.

Oh my favoritest lemonade I am so glad you are back in my life. I look forward to many long summer days, relaxing on the back patio with the warm breeze blowing across my bare feet drinking down glassfuls of this lemonade.

Happy Summer.

Vanilla Bean Lemonade

4 large lemons, juiced (about 4 cups)
2 quarts of water
2/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, scrapped
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

First, scrap the vanilla bean to get all the seeds out. If you have never scraped a vanilla bean, here is a great video by the Martha Stewart on How to Scrape a Vanilla Bean.

Put the sugar into a small bowl and add in the vanilla beans seeds. Mix until the seeds are evenly combined in the sugar. This makes vanilla sugar.

Combine the vanilla sugar, lemon juice, water, and vanilla extract in a pitcher.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour into glasses. Add ice. Drink it down.

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Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

Oh guys, we are pretty much in the season of lemons. Eek. I am so excited. I have shared my 2014 lemon excitement already when I shared a recipe for Lemon Cheesecake Pie a few weeks ago.

Now with the sun shinning, the freshly mowed grass smell, later days, and school almost out for the Summer bring on the lemons. Bring it.

Just after my love of all things lemon, is my love of all thing Strawberry Lemonade. How can a person not love something that combines strawberries and lemons?!
 
So I kind of had to make up a cookie recipe for Strawberry Lemonade Cookies. Then I kind of had to eat half a dozen cookies.

They were that yummy.

Pretty and yummy.
 

These cookies make me happy. They are perfectly chewy with the right hints of strawberry and lemon. They are Summer in cookie form.

In fact, when I baked these up the Little Men were playing outside in the sunshine. Birds were chirping. Lawn mowers were running. My yard was full of bicycles, balls, and shoes. There was laughter and shouting.

The sounds of summer.

When the boys were done playing, the cookies were waiting for them.  They happily devoured these Strawberry Lemonade Cookies. They were a hit.

Give a try.

Strawberry Lemonade Cookies
makes about 2 dozen
 
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3.4oz strawberry Jello pudding mix, dry
zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs and the vanilla. Then mix in the lemon juice.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and strawberry pudding mix. Add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Then add in the lemon zest.

Using a cookie scoop, drop scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a cookie rack.

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