Joy in the Kitchen!

  Christmas Candy!   Just the thought brings the buttery sweet scent vividly to my mind. Can you almost smell that?  My growing up years, my Dad often made fudge and Mom made caramels.  Together they made peanut brittle and sometimes divinity and cheat Marzipan.  Sooo good!   I mainly watched and licked spoons that were meant to be washed.   As Dave and I created our own candy traditions, we had a lot to combine!  His Grandma Evelyn was a big candy maker.  She made candy and cookies and shipped them to all of her children.  We inherited Grandpa's marble slab and large pan that he used to make caramels.  I remember him talking me through making caramels several times the first years we were married.  It took many tries to get them to turn out as well as his and Grandma's, but finally I can do them justice!  Grandma used some of the caramels as well as fondant she made and dipped chocolates, she made so many kinds ...

  Easter is nearly upon us!  One of our favorite traditions is dying and decorating eggs.  Finding a way to use up those eggs in a timely manner is a challenge for me!  Years ago I came across a similar recipe in a magazine and though I've lost that recipe, I still make up my own version of it nearly every year.   The addition of cottage cheese helps mellow out the heaviness of the eggs, and shredded cheddar cheese adds some fun flavor.   Often we just spread the mixture on slices of bread, but I love a good crusty roll for mine. Enjoy! Humpty Dumpty Egg Salad Sandwiches 4 hard boiled eggs , peeled and diced 1/3  cup celery , finely chopped 1/2 cup cottage cheese 2-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/4 cup mayonnaise  1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese salt and pepper to taste Bread of your choice lettuce leaves, optional Gently mix all of the ingredients except the bread.  Spread the bread with butter if you'd like and spread with a th...

  Ahhh   it's nearly time for April Fools Day !  I'm no expert on the origins of this day and I'm definitely NOT a fan of mean or hurtful pranks, but I do love to have a bit of fun with my family on this day!  Food is one of our favorite ways to celebrate any holiday, why not this one! You can find some other ideas in a previous post HERE  that I wrote a few years ago.  Some of those ideas take a little more time. This year, even if you don't have much time to be in the kitchen, you can select a few of these ideas to serve your family!  It's fun all day while kids are asking "what's for dinner" to say Fish Tacos or Chicken Sandwiches and then plate these up and serve! Life's too short!   Laugh! Here we have a colorful dinner consisting of a  Chicken Sandwich, with Fruit Slices, and Chips on the side. I just had to share a close up of that chicken sandwich.  Just makes your mouth water! You could add this lovely egg salad as a...

Lemon is such a vibrant fruit!  Color and flavor are bright and refreshing.  This old fashioned Luscious Lemon Cake is tart and sweet with a glaze that really packs a punch.  My mouth is watering just thinking about the melt-in-your-mouth goodness!   I got this recipe from my Mom who got it years ago from her friend at church.  I find so often that these recipes that were passed around amongst acquaintances are some of the best!  Tried and true, recipes to use over and over and pass along to a friend.   There is a 5 pound bag of lemons in my fridge waiting to be used so this seems like a tasty opportunity to share this recipe! Luscious Lemon Cake 1 lemon cake mix (any brand will work) 1 small package of lemon gelatin  4 large eggs 3/4 cup oil 3/4 cup water Glaze juice of 3 lemons grated rind from those lemons 2 cups of powdered sugar Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat together (by hand or in a mixer) the first 5 ingredients, scrapi...

ECLIPSE EGGS! It is August 21, 2017 and here in South Eastern Idaho we are ready for the eclipse!  My home is not dead center for totality, but we'll have 99% totality and that's good enough for me.   Our kids started school last week, but we are out today to enjoy the eclipse and avoid the anticipated traffic (that is non-existent!).   We have picked out the best viewing spot in our back yard and are looking forward to enjoying a few hours of family time! Here a great suggestion for breakfast if you haven't enjoyed that yet, or any other meal to celebrate Eclipse Day! The recipe for Eclipse Eggs can be found disguised as Peek-a-boo Eggs on THIS page of my blog! Happy viewing!!

Easy Cheesecake Cupcakes I love cheesecake!  It is one of my favorite desserts.  I've learned to make a pretty good baked cheesecake but it takes some time to get it smooth and creamy.  These little Easy Cheesecake Cupcakes are quick and easy.  You can enjoy that delicious cheesecake texture and taste with minimal effort and they look adorable. My friend Teresa gave me this recipe several years ago when I needed a portable dessert.  They work perfectly for toting to parties or for serving as a delicious dessert after a meal at home. I'm thinking we'll use these on Valentine's Day for a fun ending to our meal. Easy Cheesecake Cupcakes 1 C. sugar 3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened to at least room temperature 4 eggs 2 tsp. lemon juice 1 pkg. NILLA Wafers Cherry or Blueberry pie filling Whipped Cream, optional 24 paper muffin cups Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix sugar, cheese, eggs and lemon juice until smooth.   Place...

Last week I was invited to a Christmas party for Relief Society. (a women's organization in my church)  We were to bring a "fun" white elephant gift and an appetizer.  I agonized over that white elephant gift!  Agonized!   My sense of fun and humor is probably odd to some people and I worried that I might offend someone with my silliness! I love a simple pun, and when I saw the idea on pinterest for these fun LOAFERS, I knew that was what I had to do!  I added the pair of holiday fuzzy socks so it wasn't a totally useless gift.  The shoe box for wrapping was the perfect final touch.  I used the recipe for my Fabulous French Bread   and made 4 half sized loaves instead of 2 regular sized ones.  I tried to make them as close to the same size and shape as possible and then I chose the 2 that looked best.    To make them dark and shiny, I used an egg wash by mixing 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water and whisking it until smoot...

A few years ago I had fun tricking my family with this fun April Fool's Dinner.   The recipes aren't critical, you can use any meatloaf recipe and any mashed potatoes/gravy mix.   It was so much fun to prepare and the kids had fun eating this silly dinner! April Fools 2013 Dinner Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting Mashed Potato Sundaes Jello "KoolAid" Wormy Dirt Pudding Meatloaf Cupcakes:  Bake regular meatloaf recipe in large muffin tin and pipe mashed potatoes on for frosting.  Place in a cupcake liner. Mashed Potato Sundaes:   Layer mashed potatoes and a caramel colored gravy (chicken works good) in Sundae glasses. KoolAid:   Mix KoolAid colored Jello and pour into glasses.  Set straw in and put in refrigerator to set. Dirt Pudding:   Mix 1 package chocolate pudding as directed.  Add a cup of whipped topping if desired.   Fill individual bowls or cups with pudding....

My Favorite Guy and I decided to stay home for Valentine's Day this year.   It just doesn't seem as romantic having an intimate dinner for two..... with 75 other people in the restaurant!  Not to mention waiting in line, waiting to be seated, waiting to order, and waiting for your food.   We banned the kids to one of the bedrooms upstairs with a movie, chicken nuggets, apple slices, pop, and sugar cookies.  They seemed happy enough.  Their steak and crab days will come.  Right now the 6 year old is as happy with chicken nuggets as we are with steak and the 12 & 14 year old girls understand that we want space to ourselves and they got to pick the movie. I set a small table in the living room by the fireplace. Rounded up a yard of Valentine'y fabric someone gave me a few years ago and set the flowers Favorite Guy had given me earlier in the day there to enjoy.   A nice Pandora station of Harry Connick Jr. gave us some nice background music....

I just LOVE Valentine's Day!   I love baking and doing nice little things for my husband and the children. I bake and do nice things throughout the year, but it is fun to have a theme for it once in a while!   Some years I have more time than others to do treats and sweet things.   This year I found this cute candy/cookie mold on clearance and thought I'd give it a try.  How can you go wrong with chocolate and Oreo's?  I mean really?! You can order one of these on the Wilton website.   Hearts Cookie Candy Mold   is what it's called and it's very inexpensive.   The mold does 8 cookies at a time.  It takes maybe 45 minutes to chill them enough to turn out and do the next set. I used some red candy melts to add the accent colors and then I just melted some of my 10 lb chocolate block I got for holiday candy  making and melted for the rest.  Candy melts are easy to use, but I love the dipping chocolate best if I need plain, del...

The holiday's are upon us!  Even though it is a week before Thanksgiving, we are making fudge and caramels and other treats to send in a Christmas package to our missionary son who is in Canada.  We need to ship early to be sure it arrives to him in time. Dave's Grandpa made caramels pretty much every year.  I'd bet that he learned to make them from Grandma, but he was the one who taught me how to make them.  He had acquired a tall , 6 quart pot, a marble slab and made 4 iron bars to form sides on the marble to pour the caramel into.  We were lucky enough to inherit those tools when Grandma and Grandpa weren't able to use them anymore.  Most years we make caramels and though it is at least an hour long process of stirring and watching, the outcome is so creamy and delicious it is worth the time! Grandma often dipped these caramels in chocolate.  She also used the warm caramel to dip a candy nougat to make pecan rolls.  I never saw these, ...

Happy Valentine's Day!   I decided to bake cookies to decorate for my family for Valentine's Day this year.  I usually make sugar cookies but I don't always do more than slather frosting across them and sprinkle with pretties.  Sometimes I have time and it's fun to make them pretty - my girls who are 11 & 13 and my granddaughter who is 7 will LOVE these. (and I'm pretty sure my sons and grandson won't pass up a cookie just because it's pink and prettied up!) I used to work with Shirley at a restaurant years ago.  She was like a second Mom to me for several years as we worked and chatted together several evenings a week.  One year for my birthday she gave me a Dough Disc which you can see HERE  .   It's a plastic disc with a cotton cover that you slip on when you're ready to roll dough.  It works AMAZING!  Holds the flour nicely and when you're finished you just shake it in the trash & toss the cover in the laundry.  ANYW...

My husband is awesome.  Sometimes I forget that briefly and give him grief, but he really is awesome.  Here is the plate sized sugar cookie I made for him today using the sugar cookie recipe HERE .   I made smaller cookies for the kids - just lunch plate sized.  I love how soft this recipe turns out.  I used regular decorating icing recipe for these cookies but the rest I frosted with my favorite Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting because it tastes SO good!   Dave was thoughtful and cooked dinner.  Pineapple Chicken Stir-fry with a wild rice blend.  It was delicious!  Definitely a "cook-it-again" recipe! Happy Valentine's Day!