Pistachio Cake

Growing up, the ice cream joint we would frequent was good ol' Baskin and Robbins. I would inevitably get that bubble gum ice cream that had the actual gum pieces mixed in. I would sit there and eat the ice cream but spit out the gum onto a napkin so when I was done with the ice cream, I could eat all of the gum at once. I know, I was weird.

My dad, however, would get their pistachio almond ice cream. He finally convinced me to try it. And right then I decided that as much as I loved that pink bubblegum ice cream, I would give it up for that yummy pistachio. And then when Florida got Blue Bell ice cream and they had a pistachio almond flavor that became a staple in my freezer, I renewed my love affair with pistachios once again.

So even though I love pistachio ice cream and eating just plain pistachios, I have never really attempted to make anything else with that as the main flavor. I have seen plenty of recipes I wanted to try but haven't yet. So when I saw this and I had everything needed, I finally took life by the reins(or is it horns?) and just made it right then!

It is really yummy. I found it on Pioneer Woman. I do agree with her that it isn't a really strong pistachio flavor but when you add a glaze and chopped pistachios, it really rounds it out nicely. My oldest daughter is obviously following in her mother's footsteps. After I finally convinced her to try a piece, she ate like half the cake in 2 days. I am totally serious. Oh, does that say something bad about my parenting skills??? Oops.

Pistachio Cake

Recipe: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

Box of white cake mix

1 package (4 oz) Pistachio Instant Pudding Mix

1/2 c Orange Juice

1/2 c water

1/2 c vegetable oil

4 eggs

3/4 c chocolate syrup (like Hershey's)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.

Mix all ingredients but chocolate syrup and beat for two minutes on medium-high. Pour 3/4 of the batter into the bundt pan.

Add chocolate syrup to the remaining batter and mix well. Pour chocolate-laced batter on top of the pistachio batter.

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Note: You can use a knife to swirl chocolate batter into the pistachio batter for more of a marbled design.

She recommended a chocolate ganache but I made a vanilla glaze instead. I am sure it would be great with either!!

Banana Cream Pie

Let me begin this post with a coming of age story about a young girl and a pie. I was 8 years old. My family had invited like 4 big families over to share in our Easter dinner with our family of 7. There was ham, a plethora of side dishes and rolls. Oh, and tons and tons of pies. In my memory, there was a table just filled with pies. A kids dream come true, especially since there were like 100 kids running around and the adults are otherwise occupied conversing one with another.

I meandered over to the pies. There were several banana cream which has long been a favorite of mine. I took a huge piece and ate it. I went back and got another huge piece and ate it. I went back and got another huge piece and ate it. This went on and on until the pie was almost completely gone, just a few crumbs and some filling that had fallen out. I then went on my way. Later that night I paid for my pigginess (Spell check confirms pigginess is indeed not a word but a totally appropriate made up one for this story).

Interestingly enough, that horrible night of throwing up banana cream pie did not have any lasting effect on my love for it. So when I saw this recipe and the description was that things don't have to be totally homemade to be good, I knew it was going to be a keeper. And it really, really is. I have made this pie over and over again. It is easy and so so good!!

Just a quick note here. The original recipe actually makes two pies. However, I am a pig (see above story) and just make one pie. I buy the big graham cracker pre-made crust instead of the smaller one. I follow all the same directions except that I put about 2/3rds of the pudding mixture into my crust and then eat the other 1/3rd while I am standing there in the kitchen. Also, I have only ever tried the vanilla version but I am sure the chocolate one is good as well.

Banana Cream Pie

adapted slightly from Our Best Bites

1 4-serving size box of instant chocolate or vanilla pudding

1 c. cold water

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 cookie crusts. You can use anything--graham crackers, Nilla Wafers, shortbread, even Oreo.

Lots of bananas

1 pint whipping cream

1/3 c. powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, cold water, and sweetened condensed milk. Mix well and place in the refrigerator to chill for a few minutes.

Slice the bananas and layer them on the bottom of the crust, just until entire bottom is covered, although I do stack a few but just be careful. If you stack too many bananas, the crust doesn't get as moist. Set aside.

In another bowl, whip 1 c. of whipping cream until soft peaks form.

Remove pudding from the fridge and gently dollop the whipped cream on top of the pudding. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until well-combined. Place most of the pudding mixture on top of bananas. It doesn't all fit and it is fun to have some left to eat with cookies!

Be sure and save the plastic domes that come with the pie crusts, you will use them to cover the pie while it refrigerates.

Using mixer, whip remaining whipping cream and 1/3 c. of powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spread over pie. Place the clear plastic shells back on the pies and allow to chill for several hours. This is actually really important, the banana flavor has to have time to seep into the pudding and the crust to get softened.

Go ahead and dig in. But maybe not eat a whole pie all in one sitting. Then again, maybe I could do it without throwing up this time. Something to think about.....

Cranberry Dip

I am really not a lover of cranberries. At Thanksgiving, it is a dish, whatever form it takes, that I pass over. However, this year for Thanksgiving, we went to my sister in law's house and she had out this dip. I decided to be adventurous and try some. It was so good I couldn't stop eating it, even though I knew that we would be eating the main meal soon. And even though I was so stuffed after dinner, as we were leaving, I ran over and took a few bites more.

New Year's Day was spent over at my parents with my sister and her family. We decided to do a huge spread so we could just snack and watch football all day long. I knew this dip had to be included. Some of us loved it, some of us, well, didn't. It definitely combines different flavors than usual, but I just love it.

Cranberry Dip

Source: Rebecca Mebius

Ingredients:

12 oz. fresh cranberries

1 jalapeno pepper

4 green onions(I forgot these so they are not pictured)

1 bunch cilantro

juice of 1 lime

1/2 c sugar

3/4 tsp cumin

1/2 c sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Pita chips

Using food processor, chop cranberries, pepper, onions, and cilantro.

Add lime juice, sugar, and cumin to the mixture and stir together.

Using hand mixer, combine sour cream and cream cheese. You can just mix by hand if preferred. Spread cream mixture into a glass dish, whatever size you want. Pour salsa mixture over top. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

You can serve with anything you want but pita chips are so good!

Easy Oreo Truffles

So, Christmas is fast approaching and lots of people are madly baking. Baking is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen because I of course have a huge sweet tooth. But with Ryan being gone so much and with three very needy little kids, I don't get much time to do it. Making dinner usually consists of me trying to cook while my one year old cries and pulls on my legs. Is it any wonder that I just have the kids eat mac and cheese and cereal a lot?

But these are such a breeze to make and so good that I have already made them twice in the last couple of weeks. Once just because I wanted to eat them and again yesterday when I had a dinner to go to. They taste like a lot of work went into them but it didn't. My kind of dessert!

Oreo Truffles

found on: The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 package of Oreos (I used regular but double stuffed probably would be good and I also want to try mint)

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

1 package of Baker's semi sweet chocolate for dipping (or whatever you want)

If you have a food processor, place Oreos in there and crush into small pieces. I crush mine pretty good. If you don't have a food processor, place Oreos in a ziploc bag and crush with whatever instrument suits you.

I assume you can mix the Oreos and cream cheese in your food processor but since mine is little, I do it by hand. I place the Oreo crumbs in a large bowl, add cream cheese and just knead and mix together until they are combined.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on tray or baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or freeze for about an hour.

You can melt the chocolate in the microwave or use a double broiler.

Dip the balls in the chocolate and place onto waxed paper to harden. Chill and serve!

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

I know Thanksgiving is totally over but I wanted to post this recipe anyway. I mean, I am always running on my own time frame and I really don't think the 3 people reading this blog care.

This was a really nice twist on the traditional pumpkin pie. I really love pumpkin pie so I wanted to try this. It had the nice pumpkin flavor along with the crunch of the streusel topping. Perfect for the pie party that I made this for!

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

by Tidymom.net

Crust:

1 pie crust (as always, I used store bought!)

Filling:

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 cup apple butter

1/4 c packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

Streusel Topping:

3 tbsp butter

1/2 c flour

1/2 c dark brown sugar

1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375.

Put crust in 9 inch pie plate.

In a large bowl, mix ingredients for filling in the order given.

For the streusel topping, combine sugar and flour. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in chopped pecans and set aside.

Pour filling into crust lined pie pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Remove pie from oven and sprinkle streusel topping over pie.

Return pie to oven and bake for additional 15 minutes. She does say to cover crust with foil before returning the pie but I always cover the crust with foil after like 15 to 20 minutes of baking. So I did that step while the filling was baking. Whenever you want.

Cool completely, about one hour.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Yesterday it rained all night and all day. It really didn't stop for one little minute. And today it is snowing. I guess winter is actually upon us which is kind of a bummer. Oh well, I will really appreciate spring this year!

Last night I felt like a nice warm soup and pulled out this recipe that I have had for over 8 years but never tried. It is from my sister Tricia who is an amazing cook along with an amazing wedding cake designer. She has her own company and everything and makes beautiful cakes. She definitely got the talent in our family in that arena.

This soup was really creamy and had great flavor. It definitely will hit on the spot on a cold winter evening. And it is really easy!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

by Tricia Mason

2 tsp chicken bouillon granules

3 c Swanson chicken broth

2 c chopped carrots

2 c chopped celery

3/4 c chopped onion

2 cans (10 0z.) cream of chicken

1 can evaporated milk

2 c cooked chicken, cut into pieces

4 c cooked noodles (I used egg noodles)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat first two ingredients together. Add next 3 ingredients and simmer until tender. Add soup and milk. Add chicken and noodles. Add salt and pepper.

Loaded "Baked Potato" Soup

Sometimes all I feel like for dinner is a nice bowl of soup and some yummy bread, especially on cold nights. Yesterday my daughter stayed after school and then we had a church activity so we were in a rush around dinnertime. It had been raining and storming all day, bringing a chill to the air. What a perfect time to try making some soup.

There are a lot of recipes out there for soups that I want to try. Most of them are at least a little involved and I just didn't have the time last night. Then I remembered a recipe I had seen on Kraft Foods that was a baked potato soup that you cooked in the microwave. I was pretty skeptical but figured I would at least give it a try.

I followed the basic recipe but I added more of everything. It actually had a nice flavor. It made enough for my family of four plus a baby and then we added a salad and bread to go with it. I definitely want to try other soup recipes but this one was so easy.

Loaded "Baked Potato" Soup

adapted from Kraft Foods

3 medium baking potatoes, unpeeled (I peeled mine)

1 can (14 1/2 oz) fat free reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

4 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled, and divided

1 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 stalks sliced green onions, divided

1/4 c sour cream

Pierce potatoes; microwave on high 5 minutes, turning over after 2 1/2 minutes. Cut potato into chunks. Combine potatoes, broth, and milk in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 6 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes. Slightly crush potatoes with a potato masher.

Reserve 2 tbsp each of bacon and cheese and 1 tbsp green onions for topping; set aside. Add remaining bacon, cheese, and onions to soup.

Serve topped with reserved bacon, cheese, onion, and sour cream.

Makes 4 servings, about 1 cup each.