You Can't Mess This Up - BELIEVE ME!!

So you all probably already knew about this - I'm always the last to know!!! But just in case....

let me share my quick and easy dessert we are enjoying tonight!

We will call it -

"Even Becky Can Bake This Dessert"

1 Box Angelfood Cake Mix (1 step)

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix

1 Bag Mini Chocolate Chips

Combine the top three in a container to save for when you are ready for your dessert!

Ok, let's just say you are ready now....

Get out your coffee mug and spray it with cooking spray.

Add 1/3 Cup of the Mixture

and 3 Tablespoons Water and mix well.

Microwave for 90 seconds.

Flip out onto a plate!

That's it - it's that easy! (And it was a hit here!!)

Holy Mole!!!

What we won't do for Dad's guac!!!

AND just in case you think it looks yummy too - here it is!! (Just call if you'd like two cilantro-tearing girls - there were only a FEW strings in ours!!)

Baking....

I know, you are wondering what I'm up today. (ME too, to be honest!)

But I did accomplish my friendship bread (you see, last week my Mom finished it up for me, yep, I mushed and she did all the hard work!). But today I did it myself. I do take a small amount of pride in that - I mean - after all of my kitchen fiasco's I am almost frightened to step in that linoleum-floored room. (I think Joe gets scared too - he watches me pretty close and asks LOTS of questions). But here it is - my pride and joy!

I branched out this time - yes, take a deep breath! I added ALMOND flavoring instead of vanilla - STOP LAUGHING - I was worried about that minor change but Joe said I'd be ok. And if you want alternative recipes, THIS is a great spot!! SO now the grand prize - I have three bags of starter to share!! (That's just the kind of person I am - always willing to share what I have!!) So don't be shy - speak up, oh, the only glitch is that you must be local - I just can not subject myself to standing in the post office and explaining that the contents of my package are liquid, fragile and yes, maybe even potentially hazardous!!

Soup Anyone??

Our favorite soup at Olive Garden is Chicken Gnocchi Soup - we just LOVE it. So Joe scoured the internet and found a gnocchi recipe and then put a little elbow grease into it, and look what he came up with. I must add - a couple of the boys helped with the gnocchi - that was quite a process!

Mashed Potatoes
Add some butter
Add some flour
Form it into long snakes - Chloe's words
Then form the gnocchi - the boys rolled each one with the fork marks.
It was QUITE the process!Simmering....
Gnocchi boiled
The finished product - worth every minute!!!
(Our tip - it made TONS of gnocchi so we froze about two cookie sheets full for next time!)

Shocker!

I am giving you FAIR warning here - don't fall over or have a heart attack - BUT I made something edible in the kitchen!!! AND, it was SO good that I thought I'd share the recipe. I got it out of the new Spring/Summer 2008 Season's Best by Pampered Chef - and without further ado -

Summer Strawberry Shortcakes

Shortcakes:

2 T butter, divided

2 pkg. (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent dough, divided

2 T Sugar, divided

1/2 C Almonds

1 Qt. fresh Strawberries, hulled

Blueberry Sauce:

3 T Sugar

2 t Cornstarch

3/4 C Water

1 Lemon

1 C fresh Blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 F. Place butter into bowl; microwave on HGH 20-30 seconds or until melted. Unroll 1 pkg. of the crescent dough onto cutting board; pinch perforations to seal. Brush dough with 1 T of the butter; sprinkle with 1 T of the sugar. Roll dough into a log, starting at short end; set aside. Repeat with remaining package of dough, butter and sugar. (Do not roll up dough.) Place log crosswise onto second layer of dough. Roll dough up around log to form a thicker cylinder; seal seams.

Cut cylinder crosswise into 12 equal disks. Coarsely chop almonds. Dip top of each disk into almonds and place almond side up onto large bar pan. Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately press centers of shortcakes with tart shaper to make 2-in-wide wells; remove to cooling rack.

For sauce, combine sugar, cornstarch and water in saute pan; stur until dissolved. Zest lemon to measure 1 t. zest. Juice lemon to measure 2 T juice. Add zest, juice and blueberries to sugar mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer 4 minutes or until sauce develops a deep purple color, stirring occasionally.

To assemble shortcakes, cut strawberries into quarters and divide evenly among wells of shortcakes. Spoon about 2 T blueberry sauce over each shortcake and garnish with lemon slices, if desired. Serve with ice cream, if desired. (12 servings)

Oh yes - just so you appreciate ALL I did to get this photo - the family is getting ready to take a bite - salivating heavily, and I yell, "Stop!!! Everyone stop - don't eat yet." Then I proceeded to get out the camera and start snapping - they all groaned and I heard murmurs of "blog" - yep, they were right!!!

My Christmas Gift to You!!

In the spirit of Christmas, I thought all of my blog readers deserved a gift - so, since you all asked for it - I am giving you the coveted "Laisy Daisy Oatmeal Cake" recipe!!!

Cake: 1 1/4 C boiling water
1 C Oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 C. Margarine
1 C White Sugar
1 C Brown Sugar
1 t. Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 1/2 C Sifted Flour
1 t. Soda
1/2 t. Salt
3/4 t. Cinnamon
1/4 t. Nutmeg

Pour boiling water over oats; cover; let stand 20 minutes.
Beat butter until creamy, gradually add sugars; beat until fluffy. Blend in vanilla and eggs. Stir in oats. Sift together flour, soda, salt and spices. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Pour into well-greased and floured 9"square pan. Bake 350 degrees 50-55 min. COOL.

FROSTING: 1/4 C. Melted Butter
1/2 C Packed Brown Sugar
3 T 1/2 & 1/2 or Evap Milk
1/3 C. Chopped Nuts
3/4 C. Coconut

Combine all frosting ingredients; spread over cake. BROIL until bubbly and brown. Serve warm or cool.

NOW - if you make this - I need to know what you think!!! So leave a comment!!!
Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Soup Recipes

A friend, Teresa, sent me all of these recipes via email since she doesn't have a blog---YET!!! This is what she said:

"I couldn't resist sharing TWO of my favorite soup recipes. One is
super-quick and easy (Southwest Chicken soup) and the other is a bit labor-intensive at first, but the soup freezes well in batches and is a wonderful warm-weather soup (Golden Squash soup). The chicken soup is a recipe my mother-in-law found and the squash soup is from Taste of Home too. The cornbread casserole goes very well with the chicken soup."

So I wanted to add them so you all can try them out too - you guys are good - these are great soup recipes!!

Southwest Chicken Soup

2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz skinned and bones chicken breast cut into ½” cubes
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp salt
½ tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 can (14 ½ oz chicken broth)
1 can 15 ¼ oz corn (undrained)
1 can 15 oz black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can 14 ½ oz Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring until opaque. Stir in onion, garlic, cumin, salt, chili powder, and red pepper. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently until garlic and spices are fragrant. Stir in broth, undrained corn, black beans, and stewed tomatoes. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir cilantro into soup and serve. Makes 6 servings.

CORNBREAD CASSEROLE
Category: Side Dish
Ingredients:

1 Box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 Can Whole Kernel corn, drained (14 1/2 oz)
1 Can Cream Style Corn (14 1/2 oz)
1 Cup Sour Cream
½ cup butter (1 stick) melted

3 Eggs (large or extra large) beaten
1 Tsp. Sugar

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour mixture into a 9x13 Casserole dish. Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes.

Pizza Soup

This is humbling, but I'll admit it ~ since I flunked cooking school :) our sitter has started having each of the boys prepare lunch on Tuesdays. (I'm afraid she thinks they will end up like their mother!!! Just kidding - actually it is a huge treat for us AND the boys love it too!!) This week was Micah's turn and he chose Pizza Soup. It was a hit in our house and so I wanted to post the recipe!!

1 pound ground beef
2 cans (26 oz each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
6 1/2 C water
1 Jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 T Italian Seasoning
2 C (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
Additional shredded cheddar cheese, optional

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, water, spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Add cheese; cook and stir until melted. Garnish with additional cheese if desired. Yield: 16 servings (4 quarts)

Taken from: Taste of Home's Big Book of Soup

Side Note: Micah added pepperoni's cut into 1/4's and some cooked ground sausage - it was wonderful!!!!

NOW - thought it would be fun for all of us to share a favorite soup recipe - so today's the day - just add your name to the linky below followed by your blog address on the second line and then on your blog post your recipe - it's that easy!!!

Interesting Stuff

Well - ran across a few neat things in my "Blog Drive" today -

If you'd like a new look for your blog, go to Bluebird Blogs and sign up for a free blog design - she is giving away two this fall in a contest!!

Sandra has a new book blog - looks to be fun - you might want to check that out in your leisure.

Ok - so I'm a flunkie in the kitchen but I do still try - I ran across this blog some time ago and still love to check it out every Monday for meal ideas - it's a yummy one!! Hey, who knows - maybe I'll get inspired and suprise my patient husband!!

Don't get too shocked now, I baked yesterday!! I will post the recipe I made with some fresh apples we went and picked - it is an apple bundt cake-- It was so good and so "Fall-y".
1/4 C cinnamon-sugar mixture
4 apples, chopped small
3 eggs
1 C vegetable oil
2 C all-purpose flour
2 C sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a Bundt or tube pan and coat with cinnamon misture. Mix apples, eggs and oil with an electric mixer. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon; mix well. Pour into pan and bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow cake to rest in pan for at least 10 minutes; invert onto a cake plate. To prepare glaze, combine butter, brown sugar and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Spoon over cake. Allow to cook before serving.
Glaze: 2 T butter, 1/2 C firmly packed light brown sugar, 2 T milk
Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or scoop of vanilla ice cream. Nut lovers can add 1 C of chopped walnuts or pecans to the cake batter.

Another of my favorite blogs to check daily is Wantnot. She posts deals on that website daily - yesterday's was free shipping at The Company Store - but she has new stuff everyday - you never know what bargain you will find and I'm a bargain hunter so that's right up my alley!!

And lastly - my favorite new site to check - our friends are adopting a baby girl from China and they just started a website - go and cheer them on - they are our dear pastor and wife and we are so excited for them - they have a wonderful story - and a beautiful daughter waiting in China for them. I told her she just needs to get some pictures of Caeleigh on there and that would be even better!!