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Dessert

Bars/ Bars/ Dessert

White Chocolate Raspberry Bars

Just in time for Valentine’s day.

Do you ever wonder how the first bar dessert was made? Maybe someone just got tired of making all those individual cookies and just pressed the dough into a pan and baked it and abracadabra a new dessert.

Well, this dessert came from my daughter; and the recipe came from a co-worker years ago. When I use to cater I could make this, cut into tiny little 1″-1 1/2″ squares (because it is so rich) and freeze and then pull out day of the party to thaw.

This is a great little “bite” to have in your freezer to serve to those friends that pop in for coffee or a cocktail in the afternoon.

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Candy/ Dessert

Chocolate Beer Pretzel Toffee

Thanks to the Beeroness for this recipe.

What’s fun about Paul and Brooke opening a brewery in Round Top sometime this year is me helping (or not) to come up with some beer inspired recipes. I’ve made the Beer Caramel Sauce to go with my Bacon Waffle and Ice Cream and I think I need to experiment with a good beer cheese soup recipe next.

Back in November when my sister was visiting with friends from Braggadocio, MO we did a wine and chocolate tasting up at Bernhardt Winery in Plantersville, TX. It was a fun afternoon. Wonder what a beer and chocolate tasting would be like or a beer and anything pairing they can come up with will so much fun.

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Dessert/ Desserts/ Ice Cream

Chocolate Peppermint Pavlova

Chocolate and peppermint for Christmas!

If there are two things just made for each other it has to be chocolate and peppermint; just think of peppermint bark, peppermint hot chocolate, York peppermint patties, and even those thin mint Girl Scout cookies and you will be wanting to make this dessert.

A friend, Miggie, recently told me her favorite ice cream was HEB’s Creamy Creations Mexican Hot Chocolate and it got me to thinking about my Santa Kisses cookies which are meringue cookies with thin layer of chocolate on bottoms and dipped in crushed peppermint. So, I’m immediately thinking about pavlovas (dying them pink) and making them into shells dipped in chocolate and crushed peppermint candies and topping with a big scoop of the Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream and garnishing with some more crushed peppermint. So that is exactly what I made for a recent dinner party and everyone loved them. Thanks Miggie for the recommendation.

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Cake/ Dessert/ Desserts

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

One delicious beautiful cheesecake.

Over Thanksgiving my daughter Alexis wanted to make this cheesecake to take to a family dinner. She had a great looking recipe and we decided to make two; one for her and one for us. I’m so glad we did, it was absolutely delicious; smooth, creamy and just the right amount of sweetness.

I’ve never been a fan of pumpkin pie. I make it almost every year and maybe one or two pieces are eaten and then the garbage disposal gets the rest. That did not happen with this dessert. It’s still around a few days later and getting eaten. I think I’m going to freeze slices for hub so he can enjoy it when he’s whining for something sweet; he doesn’t really whine though.

Grandson, Thomas was on hand to help stir. He told me when he arrived at our house that he wanted to learn to cook; music to this Grans ears. Thanks Thomas for your help and you can come cook in Grans kitchen anytime you want.

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Dessert

Peach and Strawberry Crunch

Summer is over but still love those peaches.

Summer might be over but we can still get some good peaches in the market.

Back in the summer I bought some delicious peaches and then when we went out of town I didn’t want to waste them and didn’t have time to peel and bag so I simply put them peeling/pit and all in the freezer. So when it was time to make this dessert all I had to do was thaw peach and sugar them.

My mother always made shortcake with pie crust not those little cakes you see hollowed out in the center always sitting next to the strawberries. For this fruit dessert I mixed strawberries and the peaches and added a little cinnamon and a little almond extract while the peaches were juicing out in the refrigerator.

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Dessert

Salted Caramel Beer Sauce Waffle Dessert

Bacon, Waffles, Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce!

If you haven’t tried my Bacon Waffles or read the “Ice Cream/Waffle Bacon/Waffle” story read how this all started with my Bacon Belgian Waffle post.

Our son Paul and his wife, Brooke are opening a brewery in Roundtop, Texas sometime in the Spring 2020 and I’ve been experimenting with different things he might want to try for the Brewery and came up with this idea for a dessert. This would definitely be a shared dessert although when I made it for the blog I gave it to my husband and told him that he didn’t have to eat it all, just give it a taste. Well, he cleaned his plate.

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Cake/ Dessert

Pink Lemonade Cake

What’s so special about pink lemonade?

What so special about pink lemonade? Well, it most certain isn’t made from pink lemons. I’ve never seen one. Have you? But you have to admit that an ice filled glass of the pink liquid seems a little more special than the yellow variety.

If you were making homemade pink lemonade you might crush (and strain) some raspberries, cranberries or strawberries and add just enough of the juice to give you the light pink color you want in a glass of pink lemonade.

Pink is a relaxing color. Studies have shown that people associate the color pink with sweetness.  Maybe that’s why when I had a daughter (after two sons) I dressed her in a lot of pink; just because she was so sweet I’m sure.

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Dessert/ Desserts

Cookie Coated Mango Squares

Refreshing dessert for the hot summer ahead of us.

Don’t you just love mangos? If you haven’t tried this fruit you should because it is the perfect cool refreshing dessert for the summer.

I was looking at the mango.org blog for information on mangos and thought I would share some of it with you. There are several ways to cut a mango. If nice and firm I use a mango cutter it it takes the pit right out of the middle. It’s a funny shaped pit, nothing like that of other fruits with pits/stones. You can also slice off the sides and then either cut in cross sections and scoop or in long pieces and scoop. My daughter uses the edge of a glass, after cutting off the sides of the mango, to remove the peel. You will want to look at the mango.org blog for all kinds of tips on storing (do not refrigerate until ripen) and recipes etc.

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Cookies/ Dessert

Lemon Meltaway Cookies

I love anything lemon, and this tea cookie is the best!

Years ago I made a cookie called High Tea Lemon Cookie. They were good but could have been a little more lemony and a little less crumbly or at least not fall apart before getting in your mouth. That recipe was made with 1 1/2 cups of cornstarch and to me not quite sweet enough.

My sister and I first put the High Tea Lemon Cookie in one of our cookbooks we did together (self-published so no longer around) 30 years ago. I’ve made that recipe numerous times and finally decided to try and rework the ingredients for a sweeter little firmer cookie.

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Dessert/ Morning Foods/ Muffins

Chocolate Banana Muffins

What to do with those black bananas?

In less than 24 hours we will be at Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos celebrating our 50th anniversary with kids and 6 grandsons. There’ll  be 14 of us and I’ve been accumulating so much stuff that I probably won’t need. One suitcase is full of 4 floating chairs, gummy bears, sand molds, sand buckets and shovels, large bags of M&M’s (at least 6), mosquito bracelets, bottles and bottles of sun screen.

So, what could happen? Six little boys under 10 are bound to be up to something this summer and sure enough I get a text a couple of weeks ago and grandson Charlie (7) fell off the monkey bars and broke his wrist. Poor little guy was pretty unhappy that night but by the next day sporting a neon green cast he looked like he was ready to jump in a pool. Well, maybe by the time they get there. Hoping to see a waterproof cast by then, if not, then he’ll have something to put over the cast so he can join his cousins doing everything (maybe almost everything) at the beach and at one of the 8 pools. 

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Dessert/ Desserts

Banana Split Dessert

Second time around for an old 60’s favorite.

Ya know, I see recipes popping up on Pioneer Woman and use to on Paula Deen’s show that my mother was making back in the 50’s and 60’s. And, on Pinterest I’m always seeing “new” recipes that I remember my mother making. I guess the younger viewers are seeing/testing/tasting these recipes but some of us who have been around a few decades longer have been enjoying these old family favorites for quite a while.

Take this Banana Split Dessert; use to be one of my mother’s dessert recipes she enjoyed making for family and friends. When it comes to banana splits all I remember about that ice cream favorite was that when my sister and I would go to a Dairy Queen or ice cream shop we would ask for a banana split but we only wanted the banana, only vanilla ice cream and no pineapple or strawberry toppings. For us it was chocolate all the way; I guess that really wasn’t a banana split.

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Bread/ Dessert/ Morning Foods/ Muffins

Peanut Butter and Toffee Muffins

Want a good muffin to go with your pot of tea?

I love baking and I don’t care what it is. There’s nothing better than a hot loaf of Italian or French bread right out of the oven slathered with some room temperature butter. That makes me want to get out my yeast and start some bread. Sweet breads and muffins are another one of my favorite things to bake. 

Several years ago I made this Lemon Scented Pull Apart Bread. In fact it was back in 2011 when my daughter was home her wedding shower and her future mother-in-law and my sister were here; and everyone loved the bread. But, I was on some kind of diet at the time and I didn’t even eat it. This bread is on the top of my list to make again. 

We’re having another cold spell here in Texas this week. Just a few days ago I was complaining it was hot again when it got up to 80’s. But like always, wait around a few days and the weather will change. So, when it drops back down in the 60’s (my kind of weather) I’m thinking about what I can bake. Don’t you just love the aroma of something baking in the oven whether it is a sweet or savory item.

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