Cranberry salsa over cream cheese recipe

I don't know about you but my calendar is already filling up for November and December. There are work parties, church parties, children parties, ugly sweater parties you name it and we will party about it. I like to always take something to each of these parties and one of my favorite recipes is a Cranberry Salsa over Cream Cheese. It is so delicious and so easy to make. I thought I would share the recipe with you.

• 12 ozs cranberries (fresh or frozen) chopped I use my ninja to chop them up.
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 11/4 cup green onions chopped
• 1- 2  small jalapeno peppers take the seeds out and  and mince
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh Ginger
• 1 pinch salt and pepper

Mix all the above ingredients in a glass bowl. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving (best if made the day before).  To serve  pour over the top of 2 bricks of cream cheese 8oz. I only serve half at a time in case it does not all get eaten at once.  We eat it with wheat thins, club crackers or pita chips.

So delicious. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is one of our all time favorites and is one that so many of you have enjoyed too. In fact a friend of mine recently messaged me and said I NEED YOUR PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE, ASAP!! I thought I had better share it again with you all just in case you missed it in the past.


Pumpkin Bread

1 (15oz) can of Pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 c. water
3 c. Sugar
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp ground cloves

Preheat Over to 350F or 175C. Grease and flour three 7x3inch bread pans

In a large bowl mix together the Pumpkin, Eggs, Oil, Water and Sugar until well blended. Sift all the dry ingredients together and then mix with the wet ingredients. Por into pepared bread pans.

Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes wrap the pumpkin bread in plastic wrap and let it cool in the wrap. This will make your break so moist and so delicious. 

You can add a bag of chocolate chips or 2 cups of pecans to this recipe which make it extra yummy too. 


*Note ifyou cant get tins of pumpkin you can make this very simple and you can use pumpkin or butternut squash. Simply boil the flesh of either fruit and mash. You can also roast the vegetable to use the flesh too. Both options work well.*

Pumpkin Soup

Its this time of year when I enjoy cooking with pumpkin the most. We can find pumpkin spice in just about everything around us this time of year. From our favorite chocolate bar right down to our lip balm. But nothing says autumn more to me the the smell of fresh baked Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies. Or a nice warm bowl of Pumpkin Soup. Here is one of our families favorite pumpkin soup recipes. It is so delicious and perfect comfort food.

Pumpkin Soup

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 brown onion coarsely chopped

1 clove of garlic crushed

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

2 teaspoons of ground coriander

1 large butternut pumpkin, skin and seed removed and roughly chopped

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup cream

Salt and Black pepper

parsley, natural yogurt to serve

Directions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium - high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, or until soft and golden. Add cumin and coriander. Cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Add pumpkin and stir to coat. Add stock and curry powder. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Stir in cream and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth or as desires. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of yogurt and fresh parsley.

Love,

Alisha

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been writing and doing recipes for our community and 4 other communities news letters recently. So for September I added my favorite  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. nOne thing that I love so much about this recipe is that my lovely neighbors are vegetarian. This recipe has no eggs in it and so I can share it with them. I think September is one of their favorite months because they know its time for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine and my neighbors do.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 2 dozen (can be doubled to make more)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 Tablespoons pumpkin puree 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips ( I use milk chocolate but you can use what you like)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Combine the butter and sugars and mix well. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin and mix until smooth. Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients mixing just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Bake on an uncreased cookie sheet at 350F for 12 - 15 minuted or until the start to puff up. Cool slightly before removing from pan. 

Love,

Alisha

Summer Fruit Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing

I know what your thinking. Does it sound something like this? "Come on Alisha, Its not summer yet!!"

Well here in Dallas it is starting to get into the low 80's which mean summer will soon be here. I for one can not wait and to celebrate the glorious coming of sunshine, warm weather, parks, swimming pools, day trips to the zoo and family vacations. I decided to share with you my most requested, most favorite recipe ever! I must admit this is NOT my recipe. But I will be the first to claim it if anyone at the neighborhood pool party asks if it is. So shhhhh this is our little secret, and everyone else who loves Betty Crocker.

Creamy Lime Dressing

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Fruit

3 cups cut-up cantaloupe

1 quart strawberries, quartered

2 ripe medium mangoes, seed removed, peeled and cut up

2 cups blueberries

2 cups cut-up honeydew melon

Mint leaves, if desired 

 

Here is where you can find the original recipe, thanks to my dear friend Betty. And yes this font is small so that you come to my page to find the recipe not hers :) 

 

Love ya!

Alisha 

Rice Pudding Recipe

When we moved to the USA we knew that there would be  a number of things that we would miss from the UK. Many of those things I just cant replicate. The beautiful country side, the amazing architecture, the History that you are surrounded by and of course our lovely family and friends all of whom I miss terribly. There are some things which I can replicate though, all of which seem to be food items which I must admit are not good for my diet.

One of the things which my husband misses the most, at least when it comes to food, is Ambrosia Rice Pudding. I'm certain they must put some addictive ingredient in this stuff because its pretty much A-Maze-Ing! At least that is what my lovely hubby would tell you.

So I set out on a mission to make the best creamiest rice pudding I could. And this recipe is pretty good. Not quiet Ambrosia but pretty good.

3/4 cup uncooked white rice (for creamier pudding use short or medium grain rice)
2 cups whole milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle of Cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir.
Reduce heat,cover and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through.

In another saucepan, combine the cooked rice, with 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt.
Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes stirring regularly.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup milk and beaten egg together. Add to the rice mixture. 
Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve warm.

Sometimes we like to add mix ins to our Rice Pudding. Some of the things we have added are; fresh fruit, crushed up candy bars, nuts, crushed up cookies, jams, nutella or chocolate sauce. Those are just a few of the mix ins we've added but of course the mix in possibilities are endless. 

Enjoy!
Alisha

Jalapeño Jelly

A friend of mine is an AMAZING gardener. A few days ago she mentioned that he had a bunch of jalapeños and had no idea what to make with then, you can only make so much salsa. She asked if I wanted them and I was over the moon with the prospect of making Jalapeño Jelly. Pretty much the minute she dropped them off I started. I searched out recipes and most of them used peppers too. I have green peppers but they called for yellow or red, nope none of those on hand. Also the recipes wanted me to weigh the Jalapeños. Since moving back from England I haven't bought kitchen scales so I wasn't going to weigh anything. Plus most the recipes I saw used 8, yes 8, cups of sugar. That's way to much. So I decided to put my own recipe together using bits and pieces of other recipes and what I've come up with is amazing! Seriously Yummy. My hubby and I are half a jar yesterday with cream cheese and crackers. So here is the recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have been!

Jalapeño Jelly

2 cups Diced Jalapeños

2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar

5 1/2 cups White Sugar

2 - 3oz pkg Liquid Pectin

Start by deseeding, removing the stems from and chopping your Jalapeños. Make sure you wear disposable gloves for this process.

Next in a food processor mix 1 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar and all the Jalapeños. Blend until chopped up very fine.

In a large sauce pan mix; purée Jalapeños, remaining Apple Cider Vinegar and sugar. Mix over medium high heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for an additional 10 minutes stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat and add the Liquid Pectin. Return to heat. Stir constantly. Boil at a rolling boil for one additional minute. Remove from heat.

Many recipes called for green food coloring at this point. You can add 2 drops if you like. I left mine a natural color. 

Ladle hot Jelly into prepared jars. This made 3 pint jars. 

If you make this recipe let me know what you think. It's very simple to make and a lot cheaper than buying it at the grocery store. 

Enjoy

Alisha x 

Oreo Pudding Poke Cake

It's Friday night. At my home we will all need to unwind and why not do it whilst enjoying chocolate cake. We love us a good chocolate cake but when you poke holes all over that cake and then cover it with two boxes of Oreo cookie pudding and crushed Oreos on too of that well then we REALLY like chocolate cake 😊

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake and ingredients to make as directed
2 boxes instant Oreo pudding mix
4 cups milk
Crushed up Oreos

Directions:
Make cake according to directions on back of the box. Bake according to those same directions. Once completely cooked use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over your cake. And set aside.

Mix the Oreo pudding with 4 cups of cold milk until it sets up. Pour over the top of you cake making sure to cover every hole. Then cover with crushed up Oreo cookies. Serve straight away or if you can control the urge to eat it then you can refrigerate it until your ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

The other day I found myself talking to a few friends about dinners. You know the general "what are you making" conversation, when two of my friends stated their husbands don't consider soup as a dinner. I was kinda like wha...? How could you go a whole winter without making a single soup? In our home we have soup at least one a week in the winter. Today was one of those days. Tonight we had Chicken Enchilada soup for dinner. Lucky for me my wonderful hubby doesn't mind soup.

While at Target looking for a few ingredients I knew I was missing for tonight's dinner I decided to look up the recipe here just to make sure I knew what I was looking for. I couldn't find it and thought have I really not posted this recipe? So I could be completely mistaken and might someday find it on here twice, but in case it really isn't on here I'm sharing it. It's so simple. A throw everything in the crockpot recipe. Those are definitely my favorite. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn

1 chopped onion

1chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper

1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce

1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup

1½ cups milk

1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese

2 chicken breasts

Instructions:

In a 3½ to 5 quart slow cooker, combine drained beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper. Place 2 chicken breasts on top of mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over ingredients in cooker.Cover; cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.

Remove chicken and cut or shred into bite sized pieces. Add chicken back into soup.
Top with pepper jack cheese and serve.

Can also be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips.

Ranch Cheese Ball

There are just some things that for me are a must while entertaining and one of those things is a Ranch Cheese Ball. Every time I make this bad boy it's hard to take it anywhere without my husband having a sneak taste or begging me to leave him some. And it's just one of those things that always goes first so I thought I had better share the love on this one.

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese
1 stick of butter at room temp
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 packet dry ranch dressing seasoning

Directions:

Cream the butter and cheese together. Add the Ranch dressing packet and finally the cheese. Shape into a ball and serve with your favorite crackers.

You can use the whole Ranch packet but even with unsalted butter, to me, it's just to salty. But season it to taste. You can't go wrong. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Trifle

Each month at book club we all take a treat. I love this because it allows me to make all those pintrest recipes I've been dying to try. This month I wanted to do something pumpkin but not traditional pumpkin so I decided to look up and see if they had any Pumpkin Trifle recipes and I found this one on Taste of Home. It was a winner. Everyone really enjoyed it.

Ingredients:
1 package (14-1/2 ounces) gingerbread cake mix
1-1/4 cups water
1 egg
4 cups cold fat-free milk
4 packages (1 ounce each) sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, water and egg, beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into an ungreased 8-in. square baking pan.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. When completely cooled, crumble the cake. Set aside 1/4 cup crumbs for garnish.

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in pumpkin and spices until well blended.

In a trifle bowl or 3-1/2-qt. glass serving bowl, layer a fourth of the cake crumbs, half of the pumpkin mixture, a fourth of the cake crumbs and half of the whipped topping. Repeat layers. Garnish with reserved cake crumbs. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

I will definitely be making this again. What's your favorite pumpkin recipe?

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Tis' the season for pumpkin. Honestly I can't get enough of it.

Tonight for dinner I made Pumpkin Pie French Toast. I put a picture up on Facebook for all my lovelies to see and had an overwhelming number of requests for the recipe. I guess I'm not the only pumpkin lover out there.

So as requested here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

4 eggs
1/2 c. Pumpkin Purée
1/2 c. Milk
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 teas. Vanilla
1 teas. Pumpkin Pie seasoning
1 loaf of French Bread sliced thickly

Mix the eggs, pumpkin purée and milk together. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and mix well. Finally add the pumpkin pie seasoning and give one final mix.

Heat a frying pan or griddle to medium and spray with your favorite non stick cooking spray.

Dip the French bread into the pumpkin mix. Make sure to cover both sides. I really like to let the soak it up. Place on your fry pan or griddle for 2-3 minutes then flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time. You want both sides to be a lovely light brown color.

Serve warm with maple syrup and/or whipped cream. For a special treat I whip up my own fresh cream with a little sugar and ginger added to it. Lovely.

Pumpkin Spice Muddy Buddies

So I discovered a new love while at Target last week.... Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses. Imagine my excitement when I came across these bad boys. I started to think of all the lovely Pumpkin Spice Treats I could make. Cookie, truffles, and, wait for it.... Wait for it.... Muddy Buddies. Or as they like to call it here in East Texas, Puppy Chow. I know weird, who wants to eat something called Puppy Chow. I'll stick to Muddy Buddies 😉

These bad boys are easy to make and oh so tasty. The thing that takes the longest is unwrapping all the Kisses.

So here's what you do:

1 pkg Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses
1 box Chex Cereal
1 cup Powder Sugar(or more if you like

Unwrap all the Hershey's Kisses and put them into a bowl. Melt them by sticking the bowl in hot, boiling water so as to heat the bowl melting the chocolate. Stirring constantly.

When the kisses are all melted add about 9 cups of the cereal to the chocolate and mix well.

Finally put the powder sugar in a ziplock bag. Add the chex cereal covered in chocolate and do the Wiggle Dance shaking that bag so all the cereal is covered in the powder sugar.

Open the bag and pop one of those bad boys straight in your mouth. It's not my fault if you can't stop at just one. I know they are simple divine.

Enjoy!

Frosted Strawberry Squares

There are certain tastes and recipes which immediately send me back to my childhood. One of those recipes is Frosted Strawberry Squares. My mom used to make these during the summer when the strawberries were ripe and on sale in the stores. With strawberries being on sale these past few weeks here in Texas for 99 cents per pound I have been making these babies and just as I loved them when I was a child. My children and my husband love them too. Hopefully it will be one of those tastes that will effect my children the same way when they are adults as it does me.

Frosted Strawberry Squares:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Slivered or Chopped Almonds

1/2 Cup Melted Butter

2 Egg Whites

1/2 Cup granulated Sugar

10 oz Whipping Cream

2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Cups Sliced Fresh Strawberries, Crushed / Smashed

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Combine Flour, Brown Sugar, Almonds and melted butter and spread in an 8x8 pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times. Once done allow to cool completely.
• Once cooled press 2/3 of the mixture in the 8x8 pan to create the crust
• Beat egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form
• Beat whipping cream until soft peak
• Combined beaten egg whites, whipped cream, lemon juice and crushed strawberries. Spread mixture over the crust.
• Sprinkle the remaining crust/crumb mixture over the top
• Freeze 3 - 6 hours
• Cut into squares and serve. I garnish with a little fresh whipped cream and strawberries.

As a side note this last week when I made this I used Splenda brown sugar blend and Splenda Sugar substitute. It worked very well. When frozen they needed to defrost a little bit before serving but it actually worked very well and tasted very good still.

Coronation Chicken Sandwich FIller

During the Queens Diamond Jubilee we decided to have a few friends over and have a little garden party. We served traditional British food. You know, scones with Clotted Cream and Jam, Sausage Rolls, Chocolate Rice Crispy cakes and Sandwiches. Not just any sandwiches though Coronation Chicken Sandwiches. Since then I have had so many people ask me for the recipe. Even people who werent at the garden party have now heard of this awesome chicken sandwich which I made that evening and been requesting the recipe. So I thought I would list it here. If so many of my Texas Friends want it than maybe people in the rest of the world would be interested too. If you try it let me know what you think. We love it!

Coronation Chicken Sandwich Filler:

Ingredients:

1 Can Chicken (Or 2 chicken breast cooked and shredded)
3 Tbsp Mayo
1 Tbsp Mango Chutney
1/2 teasp cinnamon
Curry powder to taste
1 - 2 small boxes of raisins

Mix all these ingredients together and serve on your favorite bread. I love it best on homemade Honey Wheat. Either way even on the cheapest store bought bread this recipe is delicious and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we do!

Mango Chicken Salad with Lime Cilantro Dressing

I thought I would share with you one of my favorite salad recipes. This salad is pretty and tastes delish!! If you have any awesome salad recipes you want to share back my family would thank you. It's like summer here in Dallas and I'm pretty certain that means this summer we will only be eating salads :)

Ingredients

4 cups torn romaine lettuce
3 cups cut-up cooked chicken
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 ripe medium mangoes, seed removed, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, if desired
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Red pepper sauce, if desired

Directions

In 3-quart glass trifle bowl, layer lettuce, chicken, black beans, tomatoes and mangoes.
In jar with tight-fitting lid, shake dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad; serve immediately. Or, cover and refrigerate salad and dressing separately up to 4 hours; drizzle salad with dressing just before serving.

Homemade Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream Pies

Today I was on the phone with a missionary serving in our ward. He was telling me how he had received a care package from his family and that it had his favorite treat from home. Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream Pies. Just the words took me back to my childhood when my mom would get home from the store and we would see the little white box with the blue writting. Of course not forgetting the picture of the little girl, obviously Little Debbie, in her 50's get up sporting one of those pretend cowgirl hats. I remember how the pie, only by name because it was really more like a cookie, would fall apart in my hands and I would have to eat it just a little bit at a time savoring each bite until finally it was gone. And being one of 7 children I had to wait until the next time mom went shopping to have another because there were never enough in the box for each of us to have two, so we only got one. Thinking about it I wonder where the other 5 went each week. Probably the same place all my children treats go now, in mommy and daddy's tummys.

Straight away I decided I needed to indulge my children and my husband in this great American treat so I turned to the internet for advice. A couple button pushes later and thanks to google I had loads of recipes for these little gems. I read through a bunch of these recipes and am now going to share with you the one which seemed to suit me and my brain tastebuds (you know the things which make you salivate when reading a recipe because it sounds so good) I found this recipe on a little blog called The Sweet Touch. So thank you to Lucy over there for posting such a great recipe. If you try these let me know what you think. Im going to have a go tomorrow and take them to the missionaries on sunday and see what they think. Happy Baking!

Homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies

Ingredients

Cookies
1 1/4 cups butter, unsalted, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups quick oats (the only change I made here was to pulse the oats several times in a food processor so that there were some bigger oats pieces and some finely ground, but I'm sure it would be great either way)

Filling (I am leaving the measurements as listed but I only used about half the recipe so you could easily halve the ingredients and have plenty for filling. A little bit goes a long way!)
1/2 cup butter, unsalted, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the 1 1/4 cup butter with the granulated and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture and then the oats..
Use a small cookie scoop to make uniform sized balls for the cookie sheet. Do not worry about pressing flat as they will spread when they bake. Refrigerate the scooped cookie dough for about 10 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 11 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 48 individual cookies.

Make the filling by beating the 1/2 cup butter with powdered sugar and up to 2 tablespoons of milk. Transfer to a zip lock type baggie with a corner snipped off.

Assemble the cookies by piping about a teaspoon of filling onto the bottom side of one cookie. I used about a quarter sized dollop and it was the perfect amount of sweetness. Top with another cookie.

*** What was your FAVORITE Treat growing up? ***

Friday Night Treat - Homemade Hot Fudge

So tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. It was one of their Birthdays and so I asked what he would like. The answer was Angel Hair pasta and Alfredo sauce and Brownies with ice cream and hot fudge. Well Alfredo and Hot Fudge are not available in England so i learned a long time ago how to make my own. I love Hot Fudge sauce. I tend to make a lot of it and then put it in jars. it doesnt last long so I cant give you a shelf life. Im pretty sure this wont last long in your home either! Enjoy!

My Yummy Hot Fudge Recipe:

1/2 cup butter (Ive always used real butter)
5 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
6 oz Evaporated Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Mix the butter, cocoa, sugar and milk all together on high heat stirring constantly until it boils. Reduce heat to medium stiring regularly for an additional 7 - 10 minutes depending on the consistance you want. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Please not this will be VERY HOT when you take it off the heat. I always let mine cool for about 15 - 20 minutes before serving it. It will also thicken a bit more while it is cooling.

Pour over anything you like, ice cream, brownies, cake, etc. So Delish!

Friday Night Treat - French Toast Cupcakes

One of my friends on Twitter made some French Toast Cupcakes earlier this week and straight away I looked up where I could find a recipe to do the same. They sounded Delish! Well I found loads of recipes, but here is the one that I decided to use. We loved it I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

French Toast Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. maple extract
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat your oven to 350° degrees. Line muffin tin with baking liners.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs until combined. Then add maple extract.

4. Alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk into your liquid mixture. Make three additions of flour and two of milk. Beat until smooth.

5. Divide batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched.

6. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.


Maple Buttercream Frosting

4 tablespoons butter or margarine (room temperature or softened)

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter until smooth, add maple syrup, and then gradually add powdered sugar. I think I used 2 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. I added small amounts of milk when I felt like it was too thick.

Friday Night Treat - Strawberry Pie

Strawberries are starting to come into season here and a lot of the stores are selling them for super cheap. So last week I decided to make a strawberry pie. I like to make my own pie crust as well because then I can make a BIG pie. Here is my recipe for the Pastry first and then the Strawberry Pie filling second! Enjoy!

Sweet Pie Crust

2 cup Plain Flour
1 cup Vegetable shortening (here it is cookene or Trex in the US it is called Shortening. When I googles it I foiund out that Copha there is the same thing)
1/4 teas salt
2 teas Sugar
1/2 cup ice water

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and work it through with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and work it in with your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. (I used less than 1/2 cup sometimes. Just use what you need not nesicarrily all of it.) Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. This recipe will make two pie crusts.


Strawberry Pie Filling:

• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water

1. Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving.