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Showing posts with the label Holidays

Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

Summertime is the season to indulge in a perfect combination of tangy and sweet desserts like this Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake.    Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars These delightful Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars have the perfect combination of flavors, the ease of the recipe, and the ease of carrying it somewhere.   Perfect for any celebrations, picnics, potlucks, or grand enough for any dinner party. Gooey Butter Cake has been around for many years.  It all started with the made from scratch version supposedly made by accident by a man in a St. Louis bakery.  Then, in the early 70s, Paula Deen introduced her version using a butter cake mix.  Since then, there have been many versions of the Gooey Butter Cake. With the ease of making recipes that call for few ingredients, I can whip up a batch of these bars in no time.   I had a couple of cups of blueberries that needed to be eaten, so I added them to the recipe.  The tartness of the lemon zest and cream cheese and the sweetness of t

Oven Smoked Brisket

Oven Smoked Brisket is tender meat that tastes like it has been smoked in a smoker for hours.  You don't need a smoker to enjoy this mouthwatering oven smoked brisket. Beef Brisket Smoked In The Oven The best Texas style brisket is tender without falling apart while slicing, and it has that thick layer of smoky, peppery bark surrounding each slice.  This recipe meets all of those standards. Brisket was a new cut of meat, you might say, at our house growing up as a teenager. When my mother first started cooking brisket, she would cook them in the oven at first, and then, when she got a smoker, she started smoking them. The best part about my mother cooking brisket was not how she cooked them but how she selected the one to buy. The briskets you buy in Texas are usually known as a packer cut—this means that it’s the entire chest muscle, and most of the time covered with a generous layer of fat and weighs anywhere from seven to eleven pounds. 

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with mini chocolate chips are sure to please everyone for a special occasion or any day.   These melt in your mouth chocolate chip pancakes are rich, buttery, light, and fluffy, and incredibly easy to make.  Top them with whip cream, and fresh fruit, then drizzle them with warm pure maple syrup. Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Pancakes If you want to wow your guest with big smiles on their faces, tell them you are making Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast. We love pancakes at our house, but when special occasions come, we pull out all the stops, birthdays and sleepovers are some of our favorites. My buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes are fluffy sweet pancakes with the tang of buttermilk seeping through, giving them the perfect morning dream come true. What I love about making pancakes is there are no crazy ingredients to come up with.  I mostly just need to make sure my buttermilk is fresh.  I use full fat buttermilk in my pancake recipe, yielding the

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are a fast and easy recipe that is perfectly sweet with brown sugar and loaded with oatmeal. Oatmeal No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies This is a classic cookie recipe for those that can't have or just prefer not to eat chocolate.   These Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are a version of the famous  Chocolate No Bake Cookies  using cocoa powder that I grew up eating in the 50s.  I am especially a fan of no bake cookies during the summer month.  Not having to turn the oven on is a big plus. They always satisfy the craving for something sweet.  I love the moist, chewy texture and rich peanut butter flavor that just takes minutes to make, and the hardest part is waiting on them to set up so you can eat them. When my children were small, I would give them a spoon to scrape the sides of the pan and get all that yummy peanut butter mixture.

Buttery Lobster Tails

Buttery lobster tails served with garlic butter sauce will wow any dinner guest for any special occasion, especially Valentine's.  Incredibly Easy Lobster Tails When you think of lobster tails,  a pricy restaurant meal you could never cook at home comes to mind.  I used to be intimidated and feel the same way until I watched my son-in-law make them at home.   What a fun meal we had, you will want to start making them for special occasions. My son-in-law, Ben, and I love to cook together.  On most holidays and a weekend of trying new recipes,  we will get in the kitchen and cook together.   For Christmas, it is our  Standing Rib Roast , Easter is our  Whole Bone In Ham , and a tailgate appetizer is  Grilled Whole Jalapeno Poppers . For this recipe, I have included two methods of preparation with tips and tidbits, how to broil lobster tails and how to bake lobster tails. 

Linzer Pop Tarts

This recipe was first published in February 2012.  Updated December 2022 This is a pastry that takes on the elements of an Italian tart made with a buttery pastry yielding the right amount of flakiness.  Simple and delicious, perfect for brunch. A Simple Jam Crostata A Crostata is one of those desserts that is known and made all throughout Italy, a rustic version of an open fruit tart. The shortbread crust is unique in that it is made with flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and baking powder.  And filled with the traditional jam, but there are new ingredients that have swept across the united states, Nutella, ricotta, and pastry cream.  

Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake

Warm gingerbread cake baked in a skillet on top of a sweet mixture of caramelized pears and flipped over to a stunning presentation, fancy enough for a Thanksgiving dessert. Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake The pairing of gingerbread and pears brings this cake to the forefront for the fall.   The pears hold up really well and play nicely with the cake's warm spices. Upside down cakes are famous here in the south, pineapple being the most traditional.   This Gingerbread Pear Upside Down Cake tastes and looks impressive and is made using a simple shortcut to save time and effort in the kitchen. The cake is moist and dense, just like I like it.  Usually, gingerbread cakes get better with age, but you will want to eat this cake in a day or two since the pears begin to soften.  The structure of the pears changes when cooked more than other fruits used in upside down cakes, such as pineapple, peaches, and apples. Serve thick slices of cake at a dinner party dessert or as an indulgent br

Epic! Pumpkin Roll Bread Pudding

My love for a pumpkin roll and bread pudding is the inspiration for the recipe.   The flavors of fall spices in the tender pumpkin roll cake and the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting are the beginning of an epic bread pudding.    Pumpkin Roll Bread Pudding with The Ultimate Custard Sauce. The bread pudding takes on a whole new level of deliciousness using a pumpkin roll cake cut up into cubes, and to add more richness, a pumpkin puree custard is poured over all the cubes.  And served with the Ultimate Custard Sauce, made with a secret ingredient.   

Smoked Salmon Roll Appetizer

Smoked Salmon Roll Appetizer sounds fancy, you might say.  Well, they are, yet they are straightforward to make. Do not be intimidated. Give them a try! Smoked Salmon Pinwheels  Make this elegant appetizer at your next gathering.   All you need is a few ingredients rolled into one fantastic bite, presliced smoked salmon, cream cheese, wasabi paste, cucumber and avocado match sticks.    Be sure and make a double batch for your guest. They will go fast.   These Smoked Salmon Pinwheels are the perfect make-ahead appetizer, even a day ahead.  Keep them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  There are so many variations you can make.   I think adding dill sprigs, pepper flakes, red onions, and what about capers?  Just go with it.  Make it your recipe for the occasion. I love recipes like this.  The add-ons are endless.   The whole recipe is leisurely.   I hope you will try making these Smoked Salmon Pinwheels for your next gathering.

Air Fryer TikTok Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

You don't have to heat up the oven for a quick and easy breakfast. Try making these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls in the air fryer.  You will not be disappointed. Air Fryer Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls I use my air fryer nearly every day in the summer months.  I am finding there is not much that I can't cook, bake, or grill in my air fryer.  I have been seeing the TikTok sensation for canned cinnamon rolls on every social media platform lately.  So I wanted to give them a try in my air fryer using sweetened pumpkin puree.  The viral TikTok cinnamon roll hack uses heavy cream, brown sugar, and cinnamon.   In this recipe, I combined the viral cinnamon roll hack ingredients with sweetened pumpkin puree to the heavy cream and adding pumpkin pie spice to the brown sugar. They are truly delicious, with pumpkin pie filling and cozy pumpkin pie spice in every bite, then topped with a brown butter icing; oh my gracious, did I say delicious?

Irresistible Symphony Cake aka Better Than Anything Cake

Irresistible Symphony Cake, devil's food chocolate cake mix, infused with sweetened condensed milk, topped with whipped topping, drizzled with caramel ice cream topping, and sprinkled with chopped chocolate symphony candy bars.  Delectable. Irresistible Symphony cake is utterly decadent and a perfect treat to serve for any special occasion, but don't pass up any reason to make one.     My daughter in love made this one as a request from my grandson for his birthday, with a  scoop of ice cream on the side for a truly indulgent celebratory dessert. This is a moist, semi-homemade cake that everyone will love.   The rich, sweetened condensed milk adds to the moist texture of this confection.   Then there is the topping, with whipped topping, more richness with caramel sauce, and more richness with chopped Symphony candy bars.  Heavenly.

Extreme Patriotic Cheesecake Parfaits

Patriotic Cheesecake Berry Parfaits, a perfect dessert for summer and cookouts with extreme layers of yumminess. The parfait starts with a spoonful of leftover cheesecake, fresh berries, yogurt, and berry jelly.  Don't forget to top it off with a generous spoonful of granola.  Did I mention these are extreme?   Are you looking for an easy and quick no bake dessert for the summer?  Well, try these Extreme Patriotic Cheesecake Parfaits.

No Fuss Blackberry Sweet Rolls

No Fuss Blackberry Sweet Rolls, a soft, tender dough swirled with a mixture of vanilla, brown sugar, butter, and a generous layer of luscious, whole blackberries all throughout and topped with a cream cheese frosting. Blackberry season is just around the corner, and the first thing I want to make is   Blackberry Dumpling Cobbler .   Last year I couldn't stop buying the large cartons of blackberries at SAMs.  The price always drops around this time of the year, and it is worth buying several cartons and keeping them in the freezer for later during the year to make these Blackberry Sweet Rolls. Sweet rolls are a favorite for a weekend breakfast treat.  My go-to recipe is my  Homemade Cinnamon Rolls .  The rise time is 30 minutes, and 15 minutes to bake, the perfect no fuss sweet rolls.

Fun and Easy Roasted Whole Caramelized Carrots

Fun and Easy Roasted Whole Caramelized Carrots, a classic, super simple side dish to grace holiday meals and family dinner tables.  The dish calls for a few straightforward ingredients that enhance the purest flavor of the carrots. I love everything about roasted root vegetables, especially how easy and quick they take to roast. While they are hanging out roasting in the oven, I can prepare other dishes to go with them. These roasted whole carrots are fun to make, just peel them and toss them in a mixture of seasonings, brown sugar, and avocado oil.   The carrots' natural sweetness and the deep seasoning flavor are excellent.   The small amount of brown sugar compliments the mild sweetness of the carrots. Honey is an option too.

How To Cook A Whole Bone In Ham

A Whole Bone In Ham recipe is so simple, with no glaze, no studding with cloves, and no fuss.  The recipe uses the low and slow cooking method and a blast of high heat at the end, caramelizing the outside.  The results are excellent, juicy, tender, and with superb flavor. Secrets To The Juiciest Ham With wide varieties of hams in grocery stores today, it can be daunting how to cook one.  I share secrets from how to buy ham, prepare ham, and cook the juiciest ham ever.  A whole bone in ham is the most effortless meat to cook for a holiday meal.  The preparation is equally as easy.   A whole ham is larger than needed for a regular meal but perfect for a large gathering or save and have for those wonderful leftover ham recipes. Most hams you buy are fully cooked, and all you do is score the ham and, if you want, add a simple glaze.  My family prefers the natural juices from the ham to baste the ham instead of a glaze.   By scoring a diamond pattern in the ham into the fat and skin, being

How To Make The Easiest Bunny Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookie Pops

Bunny Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookie Pops, frosted sugar cookies, and cream cheese come together to make the most amazing delicious no-bake pops.  Start with flattening the cookie pop, dip in melted candy melts and decorate with an Easter Bunny decorating kit.  A quick and easy Easter dessert just got a little sweeter.    After seeing someone on Tik Tok make Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies Pops, I had to give them a try.   With Easter around the corner, I decided to make some into bunny faces.  The only difference is the shape.

Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake

Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake is a chocolate fudge cake mix and fudge brownie mix that comes together to make the most scrumptious chocolate cake you will ever eat.  The chocolate ganache icing sends the chocolate love over the top.   Don't wait to make this cake.  The Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake brings back so many memories of my mother's chocolate cake growing up.    The Texas Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake has a rich, and I mean rich chocolate presence in the cake from the two mixes, chocolate fudge cake mix and chocolate fudge brownie mix.  The cake is dense while tender and moist yet smooth.   There are only five ingredients in the recipe, meaning do not add the ingredients on the back of the mix boxes.   I used Hershey Milk Chocolate Frosting  and microwaved it for 30 seconds to make an almost homemade ganache.   If you prefer, you can make the chocolate ganache using chocolate chips and heavy cream.

Standing Rib Roast

Standing Rib Roast is succulent, exceptionally flavorful, and looks stunningly elegant on the holiday table.  This prime cut of meat can be intimidating to cook but rest assured, it is effortless. For our Christmas dinner, we have enjoyed Standing Rib Roast, also known as prime rib roast, for several years now, and this last year I decided to try my hand at making Popovers to go with our meal.  They turned out fabulous, perfect addition, so I think I will try the Yorkshire Pudding this year. We decided to keep the sides simple too.  We served  Creamy Baked Mashed Potatoes and my Magic Green Beans . Simple is always best.

How To Grill Whole Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

Whole Jalapeno Poppers, a spicy, cheesy, grilled appetizer that will wow your guest.  The recipe is straightforward with few ingredients, jalapenos, cream cheese, white cheddar cheese, garlic powder, and of course, bacon. Stuffed jalapeno peppers are one of those foods I have been intimidated to cook.  I have eaten many and love them, but I thought they were too much trouble to make for some idea.   I am mainly talking about making them for our Superbowl parties or family gatherings.

Easy Jello Peach Icebox Pie

Easy Jello Fresh Peach Pie, three ingredients make a fresh peach filling, and a homemade buttery pecan shortbread crust will create a no bake icebox pie you see in your beloved diners.  Be sure to use fresh peaches. If you love peaches as much as I do and can not bring yourself to turn the oven on for a fresh peach cobbler , lattice top peach pie , this foolproof no bake pie is the perfect summertime solution. The best part of this fresh peach icebox pie is you can make it in the morning and serve it by dinnertime, or you can make it a day ahead before serving it.