My favorite part of this time of year is an abundance of fruit. I’ve been eating several peaches a day for the last week, and I’m headed to the store shortly to load up on fruit for this week. My love of fruit, stems from growing up eating fruit for dessert. My mom could probably live off of nothing but fruit so naturally when I was trying to decide what to make for her birthday (back in March), it had to involve fruit! Strawberry shortcake fit the bill! I love how lightly sweet strawberry shortcakes are; they’re the perfect summer dessert!

Strawberry shortcake consists of macerated strawberries, whipped cream & white cake or cream biscuits. I fall into the camp that says biscuits are a requirement. This particular recipe calls for the use of buttermilk but cream biscuits are certainly great too (our favorite recipe is here). Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcakes
Serves 6

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
Rounded 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp cream for brushing biscuits
coarse sugar for dusting biscuits (optional)

Strawberry Shortcake Assembly:
2 lbs strawberries, trimmed and quartered
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp granulated sugar (divided)
1 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Sift together all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until a dough just forms (dough will be moist).

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 6 times. Pat out dough on a floured surface with floured hands, reflouring surface if necessary, into an 8- by 5 1/2-inch rectangle. Trim all 4 sides with a knife, dusting knife edge with flour before each cut. Cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then into thirds crosswise to form 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares, flouring knife between cuts. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Chill biscuits for 20 minutes.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Brush the tops of the shortcakes lightly with 1 Tbsp heavy cream and sprinkle lightly with the coarse sugar. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.

While the shortcakes are baking, toss strawberries with 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, at least 10 minutes, or refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 hours.

To serve, split the shortcakes in half horizontally and set the tops aside. Place the bottoms on 6 dessert plates and heap strawberries over them. Spoon whipped cream generously over the strawberries and replace the shortcake tops.

Source: Adapted from Gourmet 

How is it March already? Somehow February flew by and I didn’t manage a single blog post. I’d apologize for being an absentee blogger, but let’s face it… at this point I’m sure you’re not expecting weekly posts from me anymore I’ve been trying to get back into the groove of cooking regularly (more than grilled cheeses, etc) but we’re still a bit behind on progress. The little man is starting to sleep better which will help me be not so far behind on life soon… I hope! I feel like I keep saying that, but surely I’ll manage to not feel like I’m running in a million directions one of these days? Moms, tell me it gets better… please!

I’ve been on a huge muffin kick lately. Craving muffins and eating too many muffins! Sweet and savory. I actually whipped these up around the start of the new year. By the time the holidays have come and gone, I’m usually pretty sugared out; all those delicious cookies and candies can be a bit irresistible and something savory is a great way to break it up! This is a great way to use up some leftover bacon (I know what you’re thinking… what leftover bacon?), and they’re really easy to whip up which makes them particularly great! Enjoy!

Bacon & Green Onion Corn Muffins

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 slices cooked bacon, diced
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease or line twelve muffin cups with paper liners. Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk milk, eggs and melted butter in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened (do not overmix).

Divide batter equally among muffin cups. Bake until golden and tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.

Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit

I’ve been meaning to make some Free Printables to share with you guys for awhile, so I finally did it figuring there are some others out there who may be trying to be better about menu planning this year… and are maybe having a rough start like I am! Enjoy!

This menu planner also has a shopping list along side it so you can make a list as you go. I made three versions, one that starts the week on Sunday and another that starts the week off on Monday, and in case you’re a bit neurotic like me, one without the days of the week filled in so you can adjust according to your shopping day!

Weekly Menu Planner / Shopping List - Monday Start

Weekly Menu Planner / Shopping List  - Sunday Start

Weekly Menu Planner / Shopping List – Fill in Day of the Week

This menu planner doesn’t have a shopping list on it. If you’re like me then you have a smart phone that you probably use for your shopping list. I personally use the ShoppingList App which I really like. It stores my previous entries which makes creating a shopping list easy and quick!  I made three versions for this one as well– one that starts the week on Sunday and another that starts the week off on Monday, and in case you’re a bit neurotic like me, one without the days of the week filled in so you can adjust according to your shopping day!

Weekly Menu Planner  - Monday Start

Weekly Menu Planner – Sunday Start

Weekly Menu Planner – Fill in Day of the Week

Any other menu planners that would be useful to you?

Yields: 1 dozen muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup whole milk
1large egg, beaten
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined; fold in the chocolate chips.

Coat a nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray (or line with muffin liners). Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Best served same day.

Source: Adapted from Real Simple

So I hear there’s a big football game coming up? I honestly do not care about football especially pro football. I do love me some Aggie football, although recently we haven’t been too good and it can awfully hard to watch. I do occasionally ”watch” the superbowl with friends but I’d say that’s only once every 3-4 years if that. So forgive me my football loving friends!

When I do “watch” the game, its usually more of an excuse to have a party and cook up some good eats. These make a great game-day appetizer (especially since they can be made in advance and frozen) or a great food for the little ones. I baked these up recently for a family at church who’s newborn is in the hospital. They have two little ones at home, including one picky-eater who loved these! I was surprised actually how much I enjoyed these. If you’re fixing them for the freezer, I’d recommend doing at least a double batch. They were a bit addictive!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Yields: 48 mini puffs

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or italian cheese blend)
8 ounces pepperoni, cut into small pieces (about 2 cups)
1 cup marinara sauce (homemade or store-bought)

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease two 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and italian seasoning; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Freezer-instructions: Freeze baked puffs in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to freezer bag. To reheat: bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

I’ve seen this recipe float around the interwebs for quite some time. I’ve been meaning to give it a try and finally did — just in time to share with you before you start your superbowl menu planning. With the start of the new year, and new year’s resolutions, I thought it’d be a good time to try to lighten up this recipe a little bit. Obviously, its not healthy but at least its not quite as bad for you as the full fat version and its still very tasty!

This was really tasty — definitely a crowd pleaser! It was really creamy with a bit of heat. If you like heat, go for ‘hot’ diced green chiles or jalapenos — the cream cheese will help with the heat. I’ve tested it with reduced fat cream cheese, light mayo and 2% Greek Yogurt. You could cut the calories further by using reduced fat cheese too. I don’t typically recommend using fat free cheese; the texture is a bit odd and I’m just not a fan of fat free cheese but reduced fat cheeses would work great if your looking to cut back on the calories further.

Serve this up with tortilla chips, crackers, baguette slices, vegetables, or whatever fits your fancy. We tried a bunch of different crackers and chips with the dip and my favorite were actually Ritz. The buttery Ritz were delish with creamy heat, although Ritz are kinda crumbly so sometimes the crackers fell apart but I can deal with that Enjoy!

Jalapeno Popper Dip

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese*, softened
1/3 cup mayonnaise*
2/3 cup Greek yogurt*
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
4 ounces canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained
1/2 cup shredded Mexican style cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.  In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, greek yogurt, jalapenos, green chiles, mexican cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  Mix thoroughly with a spoon until smooth and evenly combined.  Spread the mixture into a 9×9 baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the panko and shredded parmesan and stir until combined. Top cream cheese mixture with panko mixture in the baking dish. Spray lightly with cooking spray.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and the topping is golden. Serve warm.

*Recipe has been tested before with reduced fat cream cheese, mayo & 2% greek yogurt with successful results.

Source: Adapted from My Baking Addiction

I first blogged this recipe in 2007. It blows my mind away that I’ve been going at blogging for over 5 years now. I really really don’t know where the time goes. What started as a little way of sharing recipes with just a handful of friends has really grown over the years. Oh how I’ve come to love blogging. I’ve missed it over the last year. First it was the nausea, then it was the pregnancy exhaustion and being super busy at work, then the baby arrived… excuses excuses. I’m back now though. I’ve got a bunch of recipes/posts lined up as well. Its good to be back.

Back to this recipe, I thought it was time to revisit this recipe. To this day, my original Salmon & Asparagus pasta post remains one of the most popular posts on this blog. I get more emails/comments about this recipe than any other, and there’s a good reason — its good y’all.

I’ve tweaked the instructions a bit below from the original recipe. If you’re looking for something creamy and more alfredo-ish, then double or even triple the butter & heavy cream. I purposely kept the heavy cream to a minimum. It adds a little bit of richness but lets the  flavor of the salmon & asparagus stand out rather than drowning in cream. But creamy can be good too. You can also obviously use two different pots for the asparagus & pasta, but it works to just use one and I’m all for saving yourself time and not unnecessarily having two pots to wash

I’d forgotten just how good this dish was. Hubby ‘mmmmm’d through this meal just as he did the very first time. Its Its going back into our rotation for awhile. Yum.

Fresh Salmon & Asparagus Pasta

1 small bunch thin asparagus, trimmed
8 oz. thin spaghetti
1.5 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
freshly cooked Salmon, cut into small pieces
salt & black pepper to taste

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook until tender but firm, 1-3 minutes. Using tongs, remove asparagus from boiling water and put in an ice bath to stop cooking. Return water to a boil, add pasta and cook until desired firmness. Drain when done. Trim cooked asparagus into one inch pieces.

In a large skillet, melt butter. Meanwhile, trim cooked asparagus into one inch pieces. Add asparagus tossing just to coat. Add heavy cream and lemon pepper. Heat until cream begins to thicken. Add cooked pasta, salmon, and parmesan cheese. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and salt. Toss and serve hot.

Baked Garlic Salmon

2/3 lb. fresh salmon fillet
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried parsley
kosher salt & freshly cracked black pepper
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and place salmon skin side down. Season salmon with parsley, minced garlic and salt & black pepper, to taste. Add parsley & minced garlic. Bake ~12 minutes until flaky.

Baby cuteness aside, I really didn’t blog much this year. Sorry y’all. Thanks to those of you who have stuck around. Based on stats, the following recipes were most popular in 2011:

Ham & Swiss Sliders

Mock Champagne

Mini Key Lime Scones

No Fuss Focaccia

Looking forward to getting back into the groove! Happy New Year! Wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2012!

How is it already Christmas week? Seriously… this year has gone by way too fast! I feel like I’ve barely set foot in the kitchen this year; let’s hope I do better in 2012 now that I’m kinda figuring out how to balance being a working mom & wife. I’ve been trying out my crock pot a bit too although I haven’t found any blog-worthy recipes yet but I will be back soon with some new savory recipes as well!

I whipped up these cookies awhile ago. Hubby is a sucker for all things little debbie (well actually all things sweet and sugary). I’ve had homemade little debbie type treats on my to-do list for years for him. I’ve already made homemade hostess cupcakes (chocolate cupcakes with cream filling) and moon pies before. Now it was finally time to tackle Oatmeal Cream Pies! These were easy to put together and delicious! Definitely a treat for all you oatmeal cookie lovers!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulatedsugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

For filling:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In large mixer bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, honey and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Stir in oats. Chill dough in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Drop tablespoon sized dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes just until the edges start to brown. Cookies will seem moist in the middle but they will set up. Cool on baking sheet until set and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For Filling: In a double boiler, add egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar and heat over simmering water. Whisking frequently, heat until egg whites become very frothy and sugar is dissolved (approx. 160 degrees). Carefully add egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for several minutes until egg mixture will hold stiff peaks and is light in texture. Carefully fold in vanilla until incorporated.

Assemble Cookies: Spread filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container.

Source: Macaroni and Cheesecake, originally Homemade by Holman

I started making this a couple years ago. When I first heard about it, I thought the saltines were incredibly strange but they give the “toffee” a good texture and the salt from the saltines are great in contrast to the sweetness of the sugar & chocolate.  Over the years this recipe got a new nickname… I started calling it crack cause its so good (not that I actually know what crack is actually like) and totally irresistible. Its always a bit like Christmas year around… aka Christmas Crack.

Not only is it only 5 ingredients. Its so easy and quick to make and everyone always raves about it! Its one of my go-to homemade gifts for the holidays. You can use all kinds of chocolate, dark chocolate is my personal fave but semi-sweet is my go-to as I typically have a bag of semisweet chocolate chips in the pantry. Top it with nuts or toffee bits, sprinkles or whatever else your heart might desire!

Go make this now. You won’t regret it. Well your waistline might but your tastebuds won’t

Saltine Toffee aka Christmas Crack

4 ounces saltine crackers (1 sleeve)
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4- 1 cup dark brown sugar
12 oz (or 2 cups) chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a 15×10 by 1-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Line pan with single layer of saltine crackers.

In a saucepan, combine the butter and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high and boil for 3 minutes without stirring. Immediately pour over saltines to cover crackers completely.

Bake for 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before spreading melted chocolate evenly across crackers. Top with chopped nuts.

Cool completely and break into pieces.

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes