Date Squares

I'm back! I know you have all missed me. (haha!) I have a handful of tasty recipes that are husband approved to share. I must apologize for by absence as the last few weeks have just flown by!

Today I bring you a recipe for Date Squares. After leaving Costco with a tub of dates, I knew immediately that I wanted to bake something with them. I scoured a bunch of recipes but never really found one that would be AWESOME. Then I turned to my faithful King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. Goodness, I adore that book. Well, they had a recipe for date squares, but alas it also wasn't quite what I wanted. What is a girl to do? Make up her own recipe! And here we are. :)

These bars are sweet, crumbly and everything that is good in the world. With my constant need to snack (34 weeks tomorrow) I wanted something that was at least somewhat good for me. These don't have a whole lot of sugar, so I do let myself feel good about eating them. :) Plus! The crumbly yumminess consists largely of flour and oats. Good things, indeed.

Date Squares
recipe by me!

Filling:
4 c. (loosely filled- no cramming!) chopped dates
1 c. water
1/2 c. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbl. lemon juice

Crumbly Crust:
2 c. oats
2 c. flour (all purpose or whole wheat or combo)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
pinch of salt
2 sticks of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your baking dish. (I used a 7.5" x 11.75" pan- but a 9x13 will work in a pinch- may need a little less time baking)
To make our filling, combine all filling ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to distribute everything evenly. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat so that it is just simmering. Stir occasionally until all of the liquid seems to be sucked up and you have a lovely glob of sticky dates. Set aside to cool while making the crust.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first six ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pour the butter over the dry ingredients and gently stir with a fork. Think about how you toss a salad, coming from the bottom of the bowl and moving up, gently. We don't want one huge chunk, but rather streusel consistency where all of the dry ingredients seem to be moistened.
Dump half of the crust into your greased pan and press into an even layer across the bottom. Spread the date filling over the bottom crust, evenly. Now sprinkle the remaining crust over top the dates. Do not press this layer down. It ensures a tasty crumbly top!
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is turning golden (a little less for those 9x13 pans!). Once done baking, let cool for a little while before cutting into it so that it doesn't all fall apart completely. I was able to wait an hour. That gave it time to firm up a little, but still was warm and gooey. Enjoy!

Linked up at:

• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Monday Blog Hop at Santa's Gift Shoppe
• Hearth & Soul Hop at The 21st Century Housewife

Innkeeper Pie

So far in my pregnancy I haven't had too many strong cravings. One thing that I have always had and continue to work with is my sweet tooth. I love dessert. I love being able to make dessert at home for myself, my husband and for friends and family.
One such dessert that is pretty easy to put together and tastes amazing is this Innkeeper Pie. It comes from a cookbook my mom has. I have been making it for years and can't remember exactly where it hails from. I think a Hershey's cookbook?
Anyways. This dessert is a pie and a cake. Together. In all of the best ways possible. I thoroughly enjoy it, and so did my husband.

Innkeeper Pie
(from a Hershey's cookbook?)

1 pie crust- homemade or store bought
2/3 c. sugar + 3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. water
1/3 c. butter
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening (I like plain ol Crisco)
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
1/2 c. shopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work best, I think)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium saucepan, stir together 2/3 c. of the sugar, the cocoa powder and the water. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and 1 1/2 tsp. of the vanilla until both are fully incorporated. Set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, the remaining 3/4 c. sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in the shortening, milk and remaining 1 tsp. of vanilla. Stir just until combined. Add in the egg and mix well to combine.
Spoon the batter into the prepared crust. Stir the chocolate mixture a bit and gently pour over the cake batter. Sprinkle the nuts over top the whole thing. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and dry. Cool slightly and enjoy!


Linked up with:

• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Hearth & Soul Hop 51 at A Moderate Life
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home

Cranberry Orange Scones

Hello everybody! I am finally back with a recipe. And boy is it a good one. First, I thought I would explain a little bit of where I have been.
I have been sick as everybody knows. And I think it's starting to clear up because I can taste again. Haha. However, I was a different kind of sick before this head congestion thing struck. Good ol morning sickness. That's right! Hubby and I are going to have a baby! While m/s was kicking my butt, I didn't do much cooking and wasn't interested in lots of food I usually am- so I didn't really feel qualified to write any food related posts. Well now I am on the track back thanks to food cravings (and less aversions, thank God).
Lately I had been thinking about making something with the dried cranberries in my cupboard. Then the other day while spending time with a friend at a coffee shop, the barista was passing out samples of cranberry orange scones. Yum. I've had these before and they are totally one of my favorite scones. Okay, cranberry orange scones it is.

This morning I began searching for a good reciple- preferably one that I already had all of the ingredients for. Then there it was. I had everything it needed in my kitchen. It was go time. I followed the recipe exactly. There really was no need to deviate from such a simple recipe. Glad I didn't because boy are those scones yummy! And they are literally fresh from my oven right now. I just finished eating my first scone while writing this paragraph. :)

Cranberry Orange Scones
recipe by Brown Eyed Baker

1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. orange zest
1 1/2 c. + 2 tbl. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
a pinch of salt (I forgot to add this since I was hungry for some scones and in hurry!)
3/4 c. dried cranberries
1 c. heavy cream
1 tbl. melted butter
some more granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.
With your fingers, rub together the granulated sugar and the orange zest in a large bowl until everything is all nice and incorporated.
Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together thoroughly. Mix in the cranberries.
Add the heavy cream and stir until combined. Lightly knead the dough on a lightly floured surface just until everything is combined. Too much kneading leads to a stiff and less light and fluffy scone.
Now you can pat the dough into a 8-inch circle and cut said circle into 8 even wedges. Place the wedges on the baking mat a couple inches apart. I like the look of round scones (that then puff out with the rigid edges) so I divided my dough into 8 portions and formed them into slightly flattened balls and placed them on the baking sheet.
Brush the tops of the scones with the melted butter and lightly sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they have puffed and are starting to gain a light golden brown color.
Allow to cool on a baking rack and enjoy. Yumm!!


I have linked up here:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Hearth & Soul Hop vol. 41 at A Moderate Life
• Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple

Buttermilk Pralines and Chocolate Covered Almond Clusters

Today is the last night for my decorating basics class. I'm still on the road to getting better from this cold. I really really dislike coughing. I think I have done enough of it in the last three days that I shouldn't need to for the rest of the year.
So to celebrate the last day of my cake decorating class, I thought I would post about some tasty candy that is good any time of the year. I made this around Christmas time- but they would be just as great for Easter or even a birthday. Make up a bunch and wrap them individually for Halloween.
The first recipe I found on bhg.com (Better Homes & Gardens) while looking for something to do with the buttermilk I had in the house. The second came from Food Network a long long time ago. I actually have it hand written on the back of some piece of paper somewhere in the kitchen. Luckily, the recipe is super easy with very little ingredients.

Buttermilk Pralines makes about 3 dozen or so
(recipe from bhg.com)

2 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. buttermilk
2 tbl. butter
2 c. pecans, slightly chopped (you want to have lots of big pieces)

Spray the inside on a heavy 2 quart saucepan with nonstick spray. Combine the brown sugar and buttermilk in the pan and cook over medium high heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Carefully attach a candy thermometer to the pan and lower the heat to medium low. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the thermometer reaches 234 degrees F, or soft ball stage.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the butter, but don't stir. Let the mixture cool until the thermometer reaches 150 degrees F. Once cooled down, take out the candy thermometer and quickly stir in the pecans. Doing this will further cool down the mixture, so you have to work quickly from here. Beat the mixture with the wooden spoon untul the candy feels like it's thickening, but still looks glossy.
Drop the candy by tablespoonfuls (smaller if you desire) onto wax paper a couple inches apart because the mixture will spread a little. If the mixture in the pan begins to stiffen before you can finish scooping it out, mix in a couple drops of hot water at a time until the consistency you need returns. Let the pralines cool until set and then store in an airtight container.


Chocolate Covered Almond Clusters
(The amounts are estimates. You can use more or less almonds, more or less chocolate as desired)
recipe adapted from Food Network

1/2 c toasted slivered almonds
24 individually wrapped caramels, quartered
1 c. chocolate chips

Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Divide the almonds among 24 muffin wells (less wells if you want more almond per each candy).
On top of the almond slivers, place 4 of the pieces of caramel. This amounts to one caramel per candy. If you overfill the wells with almonds, the caramel won't be able to reach all of the almonds.
Pop the pan in the oven and watch carefully. About 5 to 8 minutes and the caramel will be melted. If left in the oven too long. it will all burn. Remove from the oven and let the candies cool just until hardened and easy to handle.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Dip each almond cluster in the chocolate with a couple forks and set on some parchment or wax paper to harden. Store candies in an airtight container.


Linked up with:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
• This Week's Cravings at Mom's Crazy Cooking

Perfectly Simple Dark Chocolate Tart

To continue on my theme of chocolate desserts, I bring to you this rich chocolate tart. I know what you may be thinking, and no, these last three decadent desserts were not in my house at the same time. There was no overlap, at all......Thank goodness.
This dessert comes from a tasty little cookbook of mine called Luscious Chocolate Desserts. So far everything that I have made from this book has turned out fantastic. This tart, is certainly no exception. But be warned, it is only for the chocoholic. The party I made this for had lots of people, and I still ended up keeping half of it because it is so rich that everyone only took small slices. (May also be because there were so many other delicious desserts there, and you can't fill up on just one.)
However, if you are looking for a relatively quick and easy to put together dessert, this is definitely one to keep in your arsenal. With so few ingredients, The only thing that I changed was the kind of chocolate I used for the filling. There really wasn't anything else for me to change about it. Although, next time, I may add just a touch of ground cinnamon to the filling. I love how cinnamon and chocolate compliment each other so nicely.

(my apologies for the poor picture quality. It was nighttime and all I could get was glare)

Perfectly Simple Dark Chocolate Tart serves at least 12
(recipe adapted from the awesome book, Luscious Chocolate Desserts)

Crust:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. toasted walnuts, cooled (you can toast your walnuts in the oven at 350 for a few minutes, or stovetop, just keep an eye on them because they'll burn quickly)
3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cold, unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces

Filling:
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or any combination of the two that you like)
1 c. heavy cream
6 tbl. unsalted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Lightly grease a 11-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. (one that has sides that go up at least a couple inches) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, blend together the powdered sugar and walnuts until the walnuts are very fine. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt, blend just until it's all incorporated. Now add the butter and pulse just until the mixture starts to clump together a bit in the machine. Turn it off and press some between your fingers, if it sticks together, you're ready. Pour the dough into the tart pan and press down evenly to form a crust over the bottom and about an inch and a half to 2 inches up the side. It's going to shrink down just a bit when baking.
Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, or until it begins for pull away from the sides of the pan. It may take a few minutes longer. Let the crust cool.
Now onto the filling. Melt together the heavy cream and chocolate in the microwave. Starting at 30 seconds, then moving onto 10 second incriments. Alternatively, put the bowl of chocolate and cream over a pot of lightly simmering water. Whisk until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is nice and smooth. Whisk in the remaining ingredients for the filling. (Note: if the chocolate mixture is really really warm, I recommend that you should temper your eggs first with a little of the chocolate mixture)
Pour the warm filling into the crust and pop back into the oven. Bake for about 12 minutes. The filling should appear set all around the outside, but just a little jiggly in the center. Transfer the tart to a wire rack and cool completely. When you are ready to serve, remove the rim of the pan, gently and set on a cake stand, or whatever you plan to serve it on. Dust with cocoa powder if desired, and enjoy!!

Linked up with:

• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
• Delicious Dishes at itsablogparty.com
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Strawberry Shortcake Scones

You remember my Strawberry Bread, don't you? You don't? Okay, go ahead and read it. I have time. :)

Back to my 2 containers of strawberries that needed use. I found a delicious looking recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Scones at Fancy Frugalista. Having a bunch of strawberries and the desire to expand my scone repertoire, these were perfect. I love that they use NO cream. Perfect since I didn't have any.
These are great, and definitely best fresh and warm. Yummy!
The recipe calls for strawberry juice. My strawberries weren't willing to give up much, even after a sprinkling of sugar. So I just used what I had and filled up the rest of the way with milk. It worked. They were great.
I halved the recipe for hubby and I, if you have quite a few people to feed, go ahead and make the full batch.

Strawberry Shortcake Scones
(recipe from Fancy Frugalista)

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. + 2 tbl. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. room tempterature butter, cubed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
strawberry juice + milk to equal 1/3 cup. (half and half is ideal, but more milk than juice is just fine)
1/2 c. chopped strawberries (mix in some sugar and let sit to get juice)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.
Mix together the first 4 ingredients. Then blend in the butter until it's pea sized.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, juice and milk. Mix into the flour mixture just until moistened. Gently mix in the berries. Put the dough onto the cookie sheet and form into a 8-inch circle. Score into 6 to 8 slices and bake 25-30 minutes. I think you could also divide the dough into 6 to 8 pieces and put them on the cookie sheet and bake them that way. They may night take as long to bake, so keep an eye. Let cool a bit and enjoy!!

Linked up with the following awesome parties:

• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale

Creme Brulee

Can you believe that I never had creme brulee until just earlier this year? A couple friends of mine are big fans of it, and when we learned it was the dessert special of the night at the restaurant we met at for dinner, there was no getting around having some! It was delicious.Creme brulee is decadent, smooth and just plain fun. The crystalized sugar layer on top is fun to gently tap, then to crack to get to the lovely custard beneath.
Next time hubby and I had dinner with these friends we all four walked to the grocery store and bought creme brulee ice cream. Also delicious. I had to try making it sometime. The creme brulee, not the ice cream.
Alas, I don't have one of those spiffy hand-held torch things that you caramelize the sugar with. I have heard of people using their broilers, but that doesn't sound fun or ideal. It was then that the hubby tells me he has a welding torch. Nothing huge, but certainly bigger than the little hand held ones at the cooking stores. Perfect!
The recipe was a lot easier than I hoped for. With only a few ingredients- the only thing that really matters is following directions. The outcome is very tasty. Very very tasty. We had those creme brulee loving friends over again and I made this recipe for them. What a hit. Everybody loved it. Yum!
Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures- but a quick internet search would surely give you plenty of ideas.
I used Alton Brown's recipe- and found that it makes more than he says. (That or I give smaller portions?) Anyway- I half his recipe and it makes 4, instead of the 3 it should. Whatever. Hubby then cooks the sugar layer on top and it's done! Alton would be proud that we used the welding torch- not buying a uni-tasker! Hehe.

Creme Brulee serves 4
(adapted from Alton Brown)

2 c. heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and the insides removed
1/4 c. sugar (vanilla sugar if you got it) + more for topping them
3 egg yolks (use the whites to make meringue cookies!)
hot water

Heat the heavy cream and the vanilla bean (and insides) in a saucepan over medium high heat and just bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for about 15 minutes. Remove the bean and discard (or rinse off, allow to dry and stick in a containter of sugar to create vanilla sugar)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the 1/4 c of sugar and the egg yolks until the sugar is fully incorporated and the yolks begin to lighten in color just a tad.
Slowly pour the cream into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly as you go to prevent scrambled eggs from forming. We want dessert here, not breakfast. Pour your liquid into four 7-8 oz. ramekins and set those ramekins into a cake pan or roasting pan and fill the roasting pan (not the ramekins!!!) with enough hot water to just come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 40-45 minutes. The costard will still tremble and wiggle a bit in the middle- that's just fine.
Remove ramekins from the water bath and refrigerate until comepletely cool- a few hours to overnight.
Alton says to take the creme brulee out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to serve. I usually forgot to, and it worked out just fine. Right before serving, sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of sugar and shake slightly to spread the sugar into an even layer. Safely using a torch (or your broiler), caramelize the sugar on top until nice and browned and bubbly. Let sit for a minute for the sugar to harden. Serve and enjoy!!

Linked up at:

• Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
• Topsy Turvy Tuesday at I'm Topsy Turvy
• Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
• Two For Tuesdays at Frugality and Crunchiness with Christy
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Snickerdoodle Bars

Feels good to be writing another post. Life has been busy lately and so I haven't had much time to sit down and write! I really need to make a stockpile of posts to have on the ready. Someday. Anyways.
A few days back, one of my hubby's friends was coming by for dinner and I wasn't sure what to make for dessert. I love having a dessert when company comes over because it's a great excuse to have sweets. Not only do I feel that it's the part of the meal that I'm best at making- but we aren't stuck eating a whole pan of brownies by ourselves. Although, how bad would that really be? :)
I looked in my recipe binder in the section marked off as "haven't tried" and looked for a simple and easy dessert to whip up. I found a recipe for Snickerdoodle Bars. The recipe was super quick to throw together- even while prepping for dinner! A 13x9 inch pan of these may seem like a lot for a group of three, but they are SO tasty that they won't last long. No worries there!
The recipe is from Betty Crocker. I think I must have gotten it from being on their email list. I find email lists like these to be worthwhile because they often have menu ideas for all sorts of occasions- and the ones run by something like Betty Crocker sometimes even have coupons. What's the worst that can happen? You don't like the recipe- then trash that email! Easy-cheesy! Here is the original recipe. I didn't change much except halving the glaze because it was way more than I needed.

Snickerdoodle Bars

2 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
(Cinnamon Filling)
1 tbl. sugar
1 tbl. cinnamon
(Glaze)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1-2 tbl. milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the sugars until fully incorporated. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
Spread half of the batter on the bottom of the baking pan. Mix together the cinnamon filling ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining batter in teaspoonfuls over the cinnamon filling. Don't worry about it not completely covering the filling- everything will spread out in the oven and have a great marbled look.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely then mix together the glaze ingredients (adding more milk if it's too thick- or more sugar if it's too thin). Drizzle over the bars and enjoy!

I liked up over at:

• Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
• Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
• Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
• Topsy Turvy Tuesday at I'm Topsy Turvy

Chocolate Mousse Pie

A while back I bought a bag of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips with plans to make cookies or something with them. Instead, I noticed a recipe on the back of the bag for Decadent Truffle Bottom Pie. This pie looks so good! However, I decided to make something different; using ingredients I had on hand. I also didn't want to bake in the middle of summertime- so something had to be done about that.
This pie is definitely for chocolate lovers. It's rich and oh so chocolately- I'm sure because of the use of dark chocolate instead of milk or semi sweet. It makes a great summer dessert because it's served cold and would be great with some vanilla ice cream.
You can play around and use a chocolate graham cracker crust if you are seriously craving your chocolate. Or maybe add some chocolate cookie crumbs crumbled in the middle.
So here we are, my version of a Hershey's recipe.

Chocolate Mousse Pie serves 8-12
adapted from Hershey's

1 premade graham cracker crust
2 c. mini marshmallows
1/2 c. milk (low fat is fine)
2 c. Hershey's dark chocolate chips (1 12oz bag)
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
sweetened whip cream for topping (optional)
Chocolate cookies for garnish (optional)

Put the marshmallows and milk in a large microwave safe bowl and heat up on medium power for one minute. Stir until smooth. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds at a time on medium power if necessary.
Once smooth, stir in the chocolate chips until they have thoroughly melted and are smooth. Microwave another 15 seconds at a time on medium power until the mixture can be stirred smooth.
Take 1 cup of this delicious chocolately mixture and spread it onto the bottom of the pie crust. Let the remaining mixture cool to room temperature.
In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer (or by hand if you're super tough), whisk the whipping cream until it's stiff. Fold in about a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Then, fold in the rest of the whipped cream and spread this mixture in the pie crust and refrigerate until serving. Top with sweetened whipped cream if desired. Enjoy!

Linked up at the following parties:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tuesdays At The Table at All The Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• All Things Domestic at Crazy Domestic
• Recipe Share Party at The Harrigan Howdy
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

S'mores Scones

I have been on a s'mores kick lately. Okay, maybe it's not a kick as much as a love for this flavor combo. I mean, where can you go wrong with chocolate and marchmallow melted together between two pieces of graham cracker? That's right. You can't go wrong. It's delicious. So on one of my hunts for s'mores related recipes, I came across this one at Baked Perfection. It looked simple enough compared to other scone recipes. There aren't any eggs. No serious method. Just combine all of the dry stuff and mix in the cream and ta-da! Scone dough.

When I was planning my tea party, I knew I had to have these. It was one of the first recipes I decided on making. What a better way to try a new recipe than when friends are coming over? They'll tell you their honest impressions of it.

And the recipe was great. Everyone liked it, especially my hubby (who wasn't at the tea party, don't worry). The crushed graham crackers gave the scones a delightful texture as well as added flavor. I can't think of a better way to incorporate graham crackers into this recipe!

I changed up the recipe from Baked Perfection just a bit to make it easier for myself. Check it out!

S'mores Scones (makes about 15)

1 1/4 c. flour

1 1/4 c. finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

3 tbl. sugar

1 tbl. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c. mini marshmallows

1 1/4 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. chocolate chips, melted (optional)

powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F and grease a cookie sheet.

Mix together the first seven ingredients in a bowl. Pour in the heavy cream and mix it together JUST until combined.  Using your hands, roll the dough into 1 1/2-2 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. The dough will be sticky, so you can flour your hands if you like.

Bake for 9-11 minutes. The scones will be beginning to brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a baking rack. Once cool, drizzle with chocolate and sprinkle powdered sugar over top to make it look nice. You can see that I didn't do that. I ran out of time.

I linked my recipe up with:

• Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
•  Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Recipe Swap Sunday at *Remondelaholic
• Tuesdays at the Table at All The Small Stuff
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails and Fish Scales
• I'm Lovin It Fridays at Tidy Mom
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home

Lemon Curd and a Tea Party

This past Monday afternoon I had a small get together with three of my friends at my house. The idea was to have a light lunch, delicious desserts and refreshing beverages with a few great people.

Having never planned a tea party or ladies lunch or what-have-you before, I started thinking about the tea party that my mom-in-law threw for me and how much fun it was. I also befriended Google as a trusted source for information.

(shortbread cookies)

I never really did come up with a theme for the party until the morning of when I decided to go simple and summery (is that a word?).

(S'mores Scones)

Working with what was around the house, I used a nice cream colored tablecloth along with simple white plates and green jacquard napkins. I found cute magnets at Michael's that doubled both as place markers and favors.

Having just come back from the hubby's parents place, there are a bunch of lemons in the house. I think they dress up the table nicely.

(Chicken Salad Sanwiches and Spinach Vegetable Soup)

Now onto the food! The four of us had chicken salad sandwiches and Spinach Vegetable Soup for lunch. There was strawberry lemonade and peach iced tea as beverages. And dessert included peanut butter cookies, s'mores scones, and shortbread cookies with lemon curd.

My friend over at delightful country cookin' was at the party and brought her Spinach Vegetable Soup. It was delicious! I think it totally blew my sandwiches out of the water! Go by there and check out her post on the party!

The S'mores Scones and Strawberry Lemonade will be making their appearances on here shortly. I feel that each of them deserves their own post. Partially because I love to organize things into their own little places.

I found this recipe while looking for tea party ideas. Lemon curd is just one of those things you think of when you think "tea party". The only problem is that I really don't like only using egg yolks. Especially when a recipe calls for 6 of them. I mean, I can realistically only make so many meringue cookies. The beauty of the recipe I found at Joy of Baking is that it uses the whole egg. It's great. Kristin even noted that it's a bit lighter than normal lemon curd. But if it's not light enough for ya, then you can fold in some whipped cream and there you go!

Oh, lemon curd. What can't you do with the stuff? It was wonderful on my shortbread cookies. It would be great spread on some scones. I'm even thinking about making a yellow cake and having this be the filling. YUM!

Here is the original recipe for the lemon curd. The only think I did different was leave out the lemon zest because I'm not crazy about the idea of finding lemon zest in my teeth throughout the day. But that's just me. Anywho- here we go!

Lemon Curd (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

(adapted from joyofbaking.com)

3 eggs

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice (use the real deal stuff here!)

3/4 c. granulated sugar

4 tbl. unsalted butter, cut into 4 to 6 pieces

Whisk together the first 3 ingredients in a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of just simmering (not boiling) water. Whisk it constantly until the mixture thickens up to the consistency of sour cream (this should be 160degrees F). This takes about 10 minutes, but don't worry, your patience will be rewarded.

Once it has thickened up, take it off the heat and pour through a strainer to get out any possible egg lumps. Or, if you're like me and don't have a fine mesh strainer just continue with the recipe! Whisk in the butter one piece at a time, waiting until the previous piece is completely melted and incorporated before adding more. Once done you should immediately cover the lemon curd with a piece of plastic wrap and allow to cool. Don't worry, you can place the plastic right on the curd. Once cooled, you can serve as is, or chill and serve later. Enjoy!!


I have linked up my awesome party to these awesome parties!

• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum 
• I'm Lovin It Fridays at Tidy Mom
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Delicious Dishes at itsablogparty.com

Banana Fudgesicles

What's better than a nice cool treat on a warm afternoon? What frozen confection brings you back to childhood?  And what's a tasty way to use up some very ripe bananas when you're tired of banana bread?
I'll tell you. It's banana fudgesicles. :)
Last summer I began my search for popsicle molds. I didn't find them, but luckily the hubby and I recieved a pack of 6 as a wedding present. Yay!
Now that the weather is warming up, I knew it was time to break out the popsicle molds and make something tasty. What is tastier than chocolate? Not a lot. What goes great with chocolate that I happen to have a few of? Bananas!
The banana makes it healthy, right? ;)
I found these fudgesicles to be so nice and refreshing on a warm day! The chocolate is just strong enough that it compliments the banana perfectly, and I am so glad I didn't have to make more banana bread!
My recipe makes 6 popsicles. Each hold about a half cup of popsicle goodness. You can use small dixie cups with posicle sticks, or even double it up to make a bunch. Yum.

Banana Fudgesicles

2 tbl. cornstarch
sprinkle of salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
heaping 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 very ripe banana, mashed up good.

Mix together the first five ingredients in a saucepan. Once combined, bring to a boil over medium heat and stir for one minute, or until the mixture has thickened up. Congratulations, you just made a really quick and easy pudding.
Turn off the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until they have melted completely. Then mix in the maches banana.
Like a good gravy, this stuff will thicken up fast as it cools down. You can put piece of plastic wrap over it, touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming and stick it in the fridge if you don't want to make the fudgesicles right away. Otherwise, fill up your molds or dixie cups with the pudding. Stick the tops on the molds, or put plastic wrap over dixie cups and stick a popsicle stick through the plastic wrap. The plastic helps to hold the stick upright.
Freeze for at least four hours and enjoy!
Note: If the fudgesicles don't come out of their molds easily, run a little warm water around the outside and they should pop right out.


I linked this recipe up at:

• Friday Food at momtrends
• Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
• Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen
• Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming
• Made By You Monday at Skip To My Lou
• Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Motivate Me Monday at Keeping it Simple
• "You're So Crafty" Monday at Miss Crafty Pants
• Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
• Marketing Mondays at Trendy Treehouse
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at BlessedwithGrace
• Tuesday Tastes at Crazy Daisy
• Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam
• Strut Your Stuff Thursday at somewhat simple
• It's Party Time Thursday at Pony Tails & Fish Scales
• Recipe Share Party at Harrigan Howdy