Cherry Crisp

1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup flaked coconut

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x9" small rectangular baking dish. Pour pie filling into dish and spread evenly. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. With a fork, mix in melted butter. Combine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly ontop of pie filling. Sprinkle nuts ontop, if desired. Bake 30- 35 minutes until golden brown. Serve slightly warm with ice cream.

A yummy, simple dessert that is very easy to put together!

When life gives you lemons....

....make Lemon Glazed Scones! That is what Emma and I did together today. This was the ideal activity to do on a day that was cold and blustery. The weather outside might have been frightful, but the smell inside, emanating from our kitchen,
was delightful!

Emma checking if the lemon is fresh

Emma stirring the dry ingredients together

 Lemon Glazed Scones:

2 cups all purpose floour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter, cut up

1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 egg

ICING:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Yellow food coloring, optional

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender until crumbly. In a seperate bowl, whisk together zest, juice, cream, and egg. Stir egg mixture into dry mixture just until dough begins to form. Knead a couple times until dough just starts to hold together. On a lightly floured surface, gently press dough into a large circle, about an inch thick. Use a pizza cutter and make 8 wedges. Place scones on ungreased baking sheet, not touching each other and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes just until edges are light brown. Remove from oven and let rest on sheet for 5 minutes.

Prepare icing by mixing powdered sugar and remaining juice together in bowl. Add coloring if desired. Place scones on wire rack. Drizzle or brush icing onto warm scones.

(recipe courtesy of www.tammysrecipes.com --a great site!)

My husband gave this recipe a thumbs up! I will be sending a few scones tucked inside of his lunch box for him to enjoy tomorrow on his morning break at work.

Next time that I make these, I think I will experiment and try orange juice and zest, and maybe add some dried cranberries, too. There are alot of different combinations of flavors that would be yummy together.

The finished product



Treat time!



So good paired with a cup of hot chai tea. Ah...my one indulgence today! :) This is the perfect treat after a long day of toddler chasing, laundry, meal preparation, teaching.............especially on a night where the wind is howling around the house and we are in the middle of a March snow storm. Time to curl up with a book and relax. Good night!

Busy 'Lil Bakers

Here is Emma, all ready to bake this morning! She is my right hand helper in the kitchen. We often bake on Saturdays. Today we made Cherry Swirl Coffee Cake (from http://www.allrecipes.com/). We also ended up making a batch of brownies to freeze, but I didn't get a picture of them first! :)  

 Isaac decided to join us,too!

Here they are below, posing with the amazing finished product--yummy!

They cannot wait to surprise their Daddy with it. :)



Missing the Olive Garden?

We used to enjoy going to the Olive Garden in our early years of marriage. Quite often we were able to go "out on the town" for dinner and a movie. It was fun then to get dressed up and be able to just jump in the car and go...now fast forward to present day and it has been a LONG time since we have eaten at that particular restaurant.  It's kind of expensive there for a family of five to have a meal (and that's not including dessert!), and seeing as the children are just as happy with the dollar menu at McDonald's.....well, we just don't make it there often!
At this season of life, with hungry, squirming, sometimes mischievous little ones in tow :), lingering over a multiple course meal just does not happen.
It's alright, though. I would rather have the three children we have been blessed with more than anything else. Having the privilege to be their parents is worth way more than being able to do whatever we want, right when we want to, such as in our pre-children days.
There will come a time in the future where we do not have to cut up food on their plates, have to request extra napkins,
 or need to be getting up to rush a child urgently to the restroom. There will not be child care to arrange. Someday we will even be able to have uninterrupted conversations without french fries flying through the air!

So, for right now, fine dining out has to be reserved for those rare times when my hubby and I get a date night alone. (And I'm really okay with that!) Since that doesn't happen but a handful  of times in a year if that, I do try to make meal times at home nice. Occasional candles and fancy glasses can transform even simple fare into something a bit more special. I like to try new recipes and make my family home-made treats.It is my hope that the children will have fond memories of meal times as a family while they were growing up.

Recently, I was thinking about those Olive Garden bread sticks. I went searching for a soft bread stick recipe that was similar to the signature ones served there.

The Food Network website has a great recipe for Almost Famous Bread Sticks, and I must say that they were not only simple to make...but they actually DO closely resemble the real thing. I spread mine with olive oil before baking. Everyone loved them! They went perfectly along side lasagna for supper (and then the next day were still equally as yummy when spread with peanut butter and jelly as a quick snack for Isaac). I will definitely be making these again! Even if you don't usually make your own bread, this recipe is so easy--really!

Now if I could just replicate Olive Garden pasta dishes.....

Love is in the air!

Valentine's Day is almost here. For the past week at our house there has been a perpetual mess of glittery stuff, paper hearts, and well...PAPER everywhere. :) Isaac and Emma had so much fun crafting their own Valentine cards

and today we made a huge batch of sweetheart cookies

(Ethan just hung out with us and looked cute!)

We like to celebrate Valentine's Day mainly because it is neat to have a set aside day every year where you focus on appreciating those who you love. And not just romantically...it's been a good opportunity to use as teachable moments with the kids. We have been talking alot about what it means to have loving, kind behavior towards each other and also to stop and realize God's great love for us. I have challenged them every day to think of something nice to do for each member of our family.

And secondly, let's face it: winters are LONG in these parts. We need fun diversions during this cold season to distract us from the reality that it is still several weeks until spring truly arrives for good.  :)

Adorable Purse Cake

This year I again turned to the amazing Betty Crocker web site to inspire an idea for Emma's birthday cake.I am not a professional cake decorator by any means, so I love their easy, creative ideas for putting together a spectacular looking cake that is so much more special than your typical sheet cake. It was between a butterfly cake or this purse, and no surprise, Emma picked the purse. She is a very "girly-girl", so it fit her perfectly. She loved it and was sorry that it had to be cut. :)

Here is a video tutorial below on how to make the purse cake .
(I could not get the specific link to the recipe to work, but if you go to http://www.bettycrocker.com/ and type "purse cake" into the search box, it is easy to find!).
I would highly reccomend this recipe. It is an adorable cake that any little (or big!) girl would love.
It does not have to be limited to a birthday,either...it would be fitting for Mother's Day or even if you wanted to have a fun tea party with your daughter or a group of friends.
It could even be adapted for a baby shower and the purse could be made to look like a cute diaper bag!

The nice thing about this cake is that you can use your imagination and decorate it however you wish. It's very versatile. The cake in this video is yellow with green trim, wheras the one I made was pink with red trim. I decided I liked how it looked with two handles rather than just one. I could not find the same candy that they used, so I made my "flowers" with Skittles and also studded the pink purse part with realistic looking sugar pearls, which are available in the cake decorating/wedding section.

 I also used Skittles for the clasp closure ontop.

I did not make the matching little coin purse as they did , and so did not need to cut off quite as much of the cake layers on  the bottom--just enough to make a straight edge so that the cake could stand level.

Important: Make sure to put quite a bit of frosting on the bottom of the cake edge before standing up on serving tray. This serves as the "glue" so that it stays firmly upright. I found that it helps to freeze the layers for 30 minutes or so before frosting.

Keep in mind also that it is not a huge cake when complete, so if you are having quite a few people at your party, you may want to make some extra cupcakes to have on the side.

Here is the cake I made:

It was a hit!

Strawberry-Blueberry Cream Trifle

Dessert tonight was simple, but oh-so-good! Chunks of cubed cake layered with real whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries....yummy. :) Not only does it taste great, it makes an impressive presentation, too. The combination of berries made a beautiful shade of deep purple that really popped against the white of the cream. You could easily serve this as the finale to an elegant dinner!It would also be a fun alternative to a traditional birthday cake.
I am also a  firm believer in the fact that every day, even the seemingly ordinary days, are worthy to be celebrated. Every day is a special occaison, so I like to surprise my family with "fancy" treats for no particular reason other than that I love them! :)

This was the perfect thing on a cold January day...it makes one think of summer! I assembled the layers in a large, glass bowl about two hours before serving.

Here is a picture of the finished result. (Well, the view of the top anyway!)

All you need to make this is:

1 9x9 inch (rectangular) cake, cut into medium-size cubes

4 cups sweetened whipped cream

3-4 cups berries (more or less as desired)

1/2 cup sugar

Mix the sugar and berries together and let this mixture sit for at least an hour, so that the berries can become juicy. Then, simply alternate layers of cake, whipped cream, and berries in a large bowl or trifle dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to eat.

 Fabulous!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Emma does love her sweets.....

 We made a big batch of these cookies yesterday. They are a long standing family favorite (I first made them when I was just 8 years old! ).The whole house smells wonderful as they bake, and they taste so yummy with a glass of milk.  I thought I would share the recipe in case someone has not yet tried them:

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2  teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups old fashioned rolled or quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups butterscotch baking chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter together with both sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Seperately mix the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt together. Add gradually to butter mixture, mixing well. Add oats and butterscotch chips next. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake about 8 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool slightly, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. About 4 dozen cookies. Hope that you love them as much as we do!  

Cardamom Teddy Bears

The December/January issue of "The Woman Today" magazine featured an article that presented the idea of making teddy bear shaped breads for gift giving. Emma saw the pictures of the adorable, chubby bears and begged to bake some before Christmas. I loved the idea and knew that these bears would be well received. I added them to my mental holiday baking list that was growing longer by the day.

Fast forward a few weeks until Christmas Eve, when there was finally a chance to do some serious bread baking. I decided to use a combination of a few basic cardamom bread recipes that were already in my bulging recipe box and hoped for good results. Given my partially Scandinavian heritage, I had heard much about cardamom over the years, but this was my first time actually baking with it. Cardamom has a unique sweetly pungent smell with undertones of something similar to anise. 

I have to say, this bread was a hit with my family and I think I will be making this recipe throughout the year, not just on a special occaison. I ended up making a triple batch! Each recipe makes about four medium sized bears. You could make them whatever size you want, just keep in mind to adjust the baking time. I used my heavy duty Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to mix this.

Cardamom Teddy Bears

2 tablespoons active yeast (room temperature)

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup warm water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs (room temperature and lightly beaten)

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

5-6 cups all purpose flour

Combine yeast with warm water and a spoonful of sugar in mixing bowl. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. When yeast mixture is foamy, add milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, beaten eggs, cardamom, salt, and 1 cup of flour at a time. When combined, continue adding flour, 1 cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky. Place in greased bowl, turn once so top of dough is greased also. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size. Punch down dough. Divide in fourths. From each fourth you will need a large ball for the bear body, a medium size ball for the head and ears, and small balls for the arms and legs. Little bits of dough can be used for the nose. Attach to body by wetting dough slightly where pieces will be joined, then pinch edges together. Let rise until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle of body comes out almost clean. Place on wire racks to cool.

For icing, combine a few tablespoons of butter in a sauce. When melted and golden brown, remove from heat, and stir in enough powdered sugar to make a thick paste. Add milk or cream until desired consistency, then drizzle liberally over bears. Can add raisins for eyes.

Gingerbread

This is what is sitting on our kitchen counter right now:

What a fun recipe to make with the kids. It was very easy! Isaac and Emma's favorite part was rolling out the dough, and of course all three of them liked the tasting part when we were all done!

Gingerbread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup mild flavor molasses

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a seperate bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick, flat disk. Wrap snugly in plastic wrap. Chill at least 4 hours (overnight is best).

Roll dough 1/4-inch thick on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until edges of cookies are set and just beginning to brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies. Decorate as desired--have fun!

Sweet & sticky

There has been alot on my mind these past few days, and it has honestly been weighing me down. This morning when the kids woke, I decided to put all that behind me for the time being and just live in the moment...soaking up and appreciating the special, little everyday things. Ethan's sleep-creased face and dimpled grin, Emma's messy halo of hair falling in her eyes while she munched her cereal, Isaac's endless stream of chatter about super heroes and laser beams, just to name a few. We are safe and happy. We have full cuboards. We have heat. Everyone is healthy right now.The kids and I have a great Daddy/husband coming home to us this evening. Who could ask for more?

The kids wanted to dip pretzels as our activity today, so we did. They had so much fun! I love to see them laughing and getting along together. It was a big, sticky choatic mess, but worth every second of cleaning afterwards. :) We ended up with a heaping pile of pretzels, some decorated with a few sprinkles, some with none whatsoever, and some so thickly covered that you would be hard pressed to see a speck of white almond bark. Each one is a little different. They really got creative!

And in case anyone reading this will be a guest in our home around the holidays or the recipient of some of our goodies, rest assured that you will be given pretzels from a batch that did not involve my children's help (i.e. "kid germs"). The pretzels pictured in this post are reserved for our direct consumption only. :)

Ethan says, "Yum, yum!".

Christmas bark

Today we made two different varieties of Christmas bark, and both received rave reviews from my family. Looks like there won't be much left to stash away in the freezer. I will have to make (lots) more right before the holiday! :) It was super easy to prepare, clean up was a snap, and the kids had a blast helping.
Fun times had by all!

The first kind (my personal favorite) is Peppermint Bark. All that you need for this is:

12 ounces white chocolate (I used candy coating melts, but vanilla baking chips would work as well)

dash of almond extract

crushed candy canes

You simply line a baking sheet with parchment paper, crush the candy canes, then melt the chocolate on very low power in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so. When it is melted, stir in almond extract, spread onto parchment paper, and quickly sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Press the candy bits down slightly with your hands or back of a spoon. Let harden, then break apart into pieces. It looks too pretty to eat!

Emma was very particular about the job she got to do. :)

The favorite part of making this recipe for the boys was using a toy plastic hammer to crush the candy!

The second second kind is Chocolate Toffee Bark. For this you need:

1 sleeve of saltine crackers

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (I used colored sprinkles)

As previously, you line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the crackers onto the paper in a single layer. Preheat oven to 350. In a saucepan, melt the butter, stir in brown sugar, and bring to boil. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over crackers, bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, immediately put chocolate chips ontop. When chocolate is soft, spread evenly with a knife to cover cracker base. Place nuts (or sprinkles) ontop. Let harden in refrigerator. When cool, break into pieces. This is addicting!

(You would never think that a main ingredient was saltine crackers.)

Ethan was happy to fill the role of taste tester today!

Going bananas!

Emma helped me bake banana bread the other day. We liked how it turned out, and so thought I would share the recipe here. I plan to make another batch of it before Christmas arrives, as mini loaves of bread (especially with icing ontop!) make a cute little gift that everyone loves!

Banana Bread:

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs, beaten

4 to 5 cups mashed very ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9x5" loaf pans, or four mini loaf pans. In large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, mix together oil, sugar, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Stir in mashed bananas. Add dry mixture. Stir until moistened. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 55-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Don't overbake!

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.

For a little something special, I made a quick icing out of just three ingredients: butter, powdered sugar, and cream (or milk). I melted about 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan until golden brown. Then mixed in about a cup of powdered sugar until a thick paste was formed. Added enough cream to make a smooth, creamy icing that could be drizzled from a spoon ontop of the loaves. And that was it!
Happy baking!

Easy homemade granola

This is what we made the other day:

scrumptious granola drizzled with melted chocolate!

A few different recipes combined, with a few random touches of my own thrown in. It was so easy to make! 

I don't think I will be buying boxed granola from the cereal aisle anymore unless it is a really good sale! My husband and I both love having granola in the morning (with ground flax seeds ontop) and the kids like a little granola on their yogurt, or just

to snack on plain.

I mainly decided to put the chocolate ontop for a special gourmet look since most of this batch will be given away as gifts come Christmas! (It is still good without the chocolate!)

 Once the granola cooled, I put it into heavy duty ziplock bags, then put those right into the freezer. It will stay fresh and ready for gifting when the time comes! To package this as a gift, I will be putting a cup or two into a cellophane bag with a cute label and a pretty bow as the final touch.This will then be placed in a basket along with other goodies!

Here is the recipe I used:

Granola:

4 cups oats (I used half rolled and half quick)

1 cup flaked coconut

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup honey

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup dried fruit (raisins, chopped dates, cranberries, etc.)

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a large roasting pan or two baking sheets. Combine oats, spices, and salt in large bowl. Combine brown sugar, honey, oil, water, and vanilla together in a seperate bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir very well until evenly coated. Use hands to mix if necessary. Pour into pans, press down firmly. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven, stir well, press down again and bake for 20 additional minutes. Stir well. When golden, granola is done baking. Remove from oven, quickly stir in dried fruit. Allow to cool. Melt chocolate chips on very low power in microwave. Stir often. When melted, drizzle overtop of granola. Put in fridge to chill. Break into chunks, place in airtight containers, or freeze for later use. Yummy!!!

Pumpkin spice bread

I love to bake, especially around the holidays, so it seems natural that this blog will have alot of baking subject matter. :) Yesterday the kids and I made pumpkin spice bread. All three of them gobble it up as soon as it has cooled from the oven. It's so good and makes the house smell great as it bakes.

We will be making another double (perhaps even triple?) batch closer to Christmas, this time in mini loaf size, to give as gifts. This recipe is very versatile. You can stir in chopped nuts and raisins, dried cranberries, or even miniature chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup vegetable oil (I used unsweetened applesauce for half of oil)

2/3 cup water

3 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two large 9x5-inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, sugar, and vanilla. In seperate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. Stir both mixtures together until just blended. Divide batter between pans. Bake 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out almost clean (don't overbake!).

Little Ethan gives it a thumbs up!

We smell something

We see something

We taste something.......

and we like it!

Overnight Rolls

There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread on a cold, winter evening! I like to welcome my husband home with that aroma as often as I can, but as a busy mama with little ones often hanging onto my legs, it is can be a challenge to find the time to make from scratch dough in the middle of a hectic day. How excited I was to discover the concept of overnight rolls which, after some tweaking, turned out to be a keeper of a recipe.
So quick and easy to throw all of the ingredients into my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer (after the children have gone to bed), then pop the dough into the refrigerator. It's a great feeling to start the day with the knowledge that there is already prepared dough waiting for me whenever there is a calm moment.
I've made these several times so far and each time they were yummy. They look so pretty when brushed with melted butter right out of the oven, too. I made my rolls on the smaller side, but you could also make them larger to use for hamburger buns or other sandiwches.

Overnight Rolls:

2 Tablespoons warm water

1 packet of yeast

2 cups warm milk

2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup butter, melted

In mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add warm milk, eggs, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add 3 cups of the flour. Mix well. Add melted butter. When thoroughly combined, add remaining 3 cups of the flour. Place dough in a clean, well greased bowl, then turn once so top is also greased. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and let chill overnight. The next day, punch down and knead. Divide into about 24 pieces, form each into a ball and place on greased baking sheets. Put in warm place and let rise one hour. Preheat oven to 350. Bake each batch for 15-20 minutes until barely golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter and serve. 

Apple Crumb Pie

This is one of the desserts that I served at our Thankgiving celebration recently, though you certainly do not have to wait until a holiday to bake one--it is a year round recipe in our house. It is a delicious combination of both sweet and tart. The flavors play off of each other well, especially when topped with real whipped cream and a dash of extra cinnamon. The crumbly topping is a nice twist on your typical apple pie.

Apple Crumb Pie

9 inch pastry shell, unbaked, chilled

1 cup sifted flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

6 cups peeld, sliced apples (Granny Smith give best results)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat ovent to 375. Mix flour, brown sugar, and salt in bowl. Add softened butter and mix with a fork until crumbly. Set aside. Combine apples with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix  to coat slices.  Put into chilled pastry shell. Top apples with reserved crumb mixture. Bake in preheated oven until apples are tender and topping is golden brown, about 50 minutes. If pie begins browning too quickly, you can put a piece of aluminum foil loosely ontop during last 10-15 minutes of baking time. Serve slightly warm.