Florida Strawberry Pie

Where have I been.. It has been a crazy couple of weeks.. This blog should have been posted a few days ago. The days just seem to evaporate... On March 6th, I celebrated my 50th birthday. AUGH.. I was really dragging my feet about turning 50. My hip has been bothering me, I need readers all the time and winter just seems to be dragging on forever. WHINE..

So, my wonderful Husband and my fabulous sisters threw me a birthday party the week before my actual birthday. It was at a local bar. My Husband invited everyone, ordered the cake and paid the bill. He also flew my Florida sister in. She was glad she was here, but did not like the super cold weather. My sisters went WAY over the top. They decorated the place, made fabulous appetizers and really made me special. They are all a very special part of my whole life.  Sometime I will post my birthday pictures.

My birthday party started February 27th and finally ended on March 7th. Wow 10 days of lots of fun. If you are approaching a new decade, hit it up with a bang.

So off to Florida we went to celebrate my birthday. I was really missing my Mom. She was very glad to see us.. The first day we were there, we went to Bonefish Grill for are usual, Bang Bang Shrimp and Martini's. Well Martinis for me and beer for everyone else..

It is wrong to start a vacation with Bang bang shrimp

and a delicious martini.. well 2 martinis

MOM
Florida agrees with my Mom

My Husband and I after watching a beautiful sunset

Super long walk all the way to DOCS

Even the birds have fun on the beach

Going to celebrate my birthday some MORE with my family

My Florida sister and I after dinner

My handsome and TALL nephews

Another cocktail and another perfect beach day

My Mom made me a wonderful Florida dessert. Strawberries were in season their and just delicious in this birthday dessert. This recipe came out of either Cooks Illustrated or America's Test Kitchen. Make Ahead Dinners.. There recipes are always tested and come out perfectly. Time and time again. 

My Mom made this in a 9 x 13 pan and doubled the recipe. I am going to give you the recipe for a 9" pie pan. This dessert does go a long ways. This PIE could be made the day before. It could be covered with the topping even several hours before your event. The original recipe calls for a homemade pie dough. Mom likes to use a graham cracker crust. It does not break down so fast and is just perfect for Florida or anywhere you call home. It is up to you. Today I am posting a graham cracker crust recipe.

Icebox Strawberry Pie

original recipe for America's Test Kitchen

Adapted by my Mom

Ingredients

Crust

1 cellophane package of graham crackers, crushed

4 ounces (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Filling and Topping

2 pounds strawberries (7 cups)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 pinch of salt

1 pound strawberries (3 cups), hulled and sliced thin

4 ounces Cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

For the pie crust

Preheat your oven at 350 degrees. 

Crush the graham crackers. Add melted butter and mix completely. Pour into a 9 inch pie pan. Using your fingers and hands, press the graham cracker mixture into your pie plate until smooth. Bake in oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let complete cool.

For the filling and topping

Cook the 7 cups of strawberries in a large saucepan over medium low heat until they begin to release their juices. About 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is thick and jamlike. It should measure 2 cups, this takes about 25 minutes

Combine lemon juice and water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over lemon juice mixture and let sit for 5 minutes until the gelatin softens. Stir 1 cup of sugar, salt, gelatin mixture into cooked strawberry mixture and return to simmer, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 30 minutes.

Fold fresh strawberries into filling and spread evenly into cooled pie crust. Cover pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix cream cheese, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of sugar on medium speed until smooth.  About 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add cream and whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Spread over the top of your set up strawberry pie. Decorate with additional strawberries if you want. 

My Mother did not want ANY one in Florida 

to not know it was my Birthday. 

The original pie was not photograph before cutting...

It was beautifully decorated and served perfectly

Additional strawberries fanned over the top.

AND Candles if you want

Is that just a perfect dessert.

Cut beautiful and easy to serve

I really liked how it set up. 

You could serve this at a casual gathering or

Pre-plate it for a more formal occasion

This is what the caught on the beach one day...

They call this a Lemon Shark...

I call it never going into the water again

My Mom and I in front of this large gardenia bush.

And this is how you end a wonderful vacation..

Blueberry Muffin Smoothie

Well, it is the last working day in February. WOOT WOOT.. We had more snow on Wednesday and Thursday. It is also only 6 degrees today. Insane. I am wearing out my sweaters. I live in several layers of clothing...

If you were wondering, I still drink smoothies. I still look for smoothie recipes and I still LOVE my Vitamix. The best invention ever. Sometimes, I look back at all my posts from last year, Holy crazy girl. I still eat my overnight oats for breakfast, and eat my spinach salads for lunch. Smoothies are still fun. My Husband and I are on our yearly low carbohydrate diets. He is of course losing tons of weight and me.... pretty much nothing. That is why I did not give up my oats. They are so beneficial to me. He received P90x3 for Christmas. 30 minute workouts. It is condensed, but a power packed workout. I am mixing between P90x3, Piyo and Insanity. (I should really buy stock in Beachbody) I received a rowing machine for Christmas. Rowing is such a total body workout. I really love it. I also go to Crossfit twice a week. My core has leaned up and my muscles have developed more. It is a challenged. Yoga is still on my list. Once or twice a week..

This Blueberry Muffin smoothie is Delicious. My Husband and I were craving something sweet, but did not want to sabotage our hard work. This was so good. Blueberries are a super fruit and everything else is just the icing on the cake

Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
adapted from Jewel grocery store recipes

Ingredients
1 cup Almond Milk
1/2 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons Whole Oats
2 tablespoons Cashew Butter
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
ice

Directions
Add all ingredients into a high power blender and mix for 1-2 minutes, or until smooth. Add ice if you want to. Pour into a glass and drink up...

Just simple ingredients you can have in your pantry

I had forgotten how absolutely fabulous Cashew Butter is.

I did have a spoonful. OMG... sinfully delicious

I was liking the beautiful blue ~~ almost purple color

Caramel Delights

I found another one... WOW, these are are SO amazing.. I could eat the whole pan. I made these for a tray for a customer. She thought they were delicious. Cheryl loves my Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey bars (featured 10/29/14), but she thought these ranked very high..

It is a mouthwatering combinations of caramel, chocolate and oats.

Holy amazing.. Soft and chewy with a melding of flavors.

They are rich and sweet, but so good.

These would totally melt the coldest heart, or give you a diabetic coma...

Caramel Delights

modified from livforcake.com
Ingredients
3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 10 ounce bag caramel chips (or 14 ounce bag caramels)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with tin foil and coat with cooking spray

In a bowl of a mixer, combine melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, oats and baking soda. Mix well to combine.

Press HALF  of this mixture into the bottom of the 8x8 pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until starting to brown.

While the crust is baking, make caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, add the caramels and cream. Heat over medium/low  heat. Stir until smooth. Set aside

Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips evenly over the top. Gently pour the caramel sauce over the chocolate chips.

Sprinkle the caramel with sea salt. Will amp up the flavor

Crumble remaining oat/flour mixture over the caramel and return to the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Simple ingredients all added to the bowl at once

Baked crust with the chocolate chips added

Gently melted caramel and cream sauce

Poured over the top of the nuts

Add remaining crumble and bake for 15-20 minutes longer

These beauties are ready to be eaten

Chocolate and Caramel... some of the good things in life.

These are an easy bar. Give them a whirl and let me 

know what you think.

Chicken Cacciatore

Happy Almost Valentine's Day... 
I have been baking like a mad women. I had two customers throw in birthday cakes also.. And one of  the birthdays was in January. That cake is cool, but OMG people, I am dying here.. I may end up sharing a picture of the panda cake. And maybe next time.

So with Valentine's day being on a Saturday, are you a go out to dinner kind of person. Well we are not. My Husbands' birthday was 2 weeks ago and mine is in 3 weeks. We used to do very romantic things for each, but being married 12 years has changed that. Most of my Sweets job will be for Friday. I have a cake for Sunday morning pickup.. What a crazy weekend.

As much as I love surf and turf, that is not always budget friendly. And If you have a house full of kids, it totally does not work. In walks Chicken Cacciatore. This was fantastic. I think I made this years ago, but it has been a long time. This is a budget friendly dinner, that can feed 8 or make small packages for the freezer and later dinners. The recipe stated that you could spoon it over mashed potatoes or polenta. Both are my favorites, but we are dieting... Augh... So I cooked lentils and combined those with the chicken. My Husband would have LOVED mashed potatoes, but he wants to diet.

My Husband just needs to light diet and workout, and 

off come the pounds. Just sensible eating and portion control.

MEN!!

Chicken Cacciatore
very slightly modified from www.kitchenparade.com
Ingredients
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
8 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
24 ounces canned diced tomatoes
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions
Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a large dish. Roll the chicken pieces in the flour until lightly coated. Heat a large Dutch oven on medium high. Add the olive oil and lightly brown the chicken on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

To the large pan, add the garlic, onion, red pepper and mushrooms. Saute until soft. Add the remaining ingredients, cook for 5 minutes and then add the chicken.

STOVETOP: Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours ( or longer) stirring occasionally.

OVEN: Cover and cook in a 200 degree oven for 2-3 hours (or even longer). To let the sauce thicken, uncover for the last 30 minutes or so.

Serve with Mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, or lentils to soak up the rich sauce.

I used average size thighs. This recipe has some flexibility 

to add more chicken for a larger group

I dumped in all the vegetables and started sauting

This is after it has cooked for awhile.

Do you see this RICH color of the slow cooked sauce.
Every meal cannot always take this long, but
once in awhile, it does taste delicious.
Sometimes, in our fast pace world, you forget
how savory food can really taste.
SLOW Down and enjoy dinner.

Baklava Bars

I have found heaven.. These bars are AMAZING.. If you like Baklava or Honey, you will LOVE these bars. Oh ... in heaven, these bars would contain no calories.. But here on earth, they are not diet friendly. They are perfect for Valentine's day for that non chocolate person. (whomever that may be)

I made these for the first time at Christmas, they were a HUGE hit, and I loved them. I always wonder why I need to work out everyday... I had two trays in January that also requested them. So these will also be perfect for Valentines. Nothing says love like some "honey" honey.

These lovely delights could sit next to any cookie any day

and they are perfect all year round

This recipe does come together fairly quickly.. The steps are just spelled out to make things easier. This recipe will impress your family and friends. And you will have kicked it up a notch. 

Baklava Bars
hugely modified from Bettycrocker.com
Ingredients
Cookie Base
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Filling
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 package frozen mini fillo shells

Glaze
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup 1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with tin foil. Spray well with cooking spray.

In a large bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix and then add vanilla extract. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix. A soft dough will form. Press dough into baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

While crust is baking, in a medium bowl, stir walnuts, granulated sugar, butter and cinnamon with a fork until mixture is well mixed and crumbly.

Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over partially baked base. With your hands, crumble frozen fillo shells evenly over nut mixture. Bake for 18-20 minutes longer or until golden brown.

While that is baking, in a small microwaveable bowl, microwave honey, butter, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon on high for 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle this mixture over your cooked fillo bar evenly. cool completely about 2 hours.

Store covered at room temperature, if the are not totally devoured.

A soft dough. Gently spread out, using your fingers

into your baking pan. Cover surface evenly

Baked for 15 minutes.

Edges are "just" starting to brown

Nuts, sugar, butter, cinnamon topping

ready to go next

These shells are in the freezer dept.

Usually near the frozen pie shells and cool whip area

I decided that I will buy these again.

There are "countless" different things I can make with them

Breaking it up into small pieces

Baked for the second time and drizzled with a Honey mixture

This was from my January trays. 

Everyone loved them ... and the pizelles also

Taking an old Greek dessert and making it easier.

Baklava is fussy and labor intensive. 

With a bit of knowledge, any baker can whip these up 

for a special event... or a Wednesday..

Coconut Overnight Oatmeal

So... Here I am ... strolling along, eating my same overnight oatmeal day after day.  I am happy, because it is yummy and does what I need it to do... BUT, I found another recipe... I have listed different flavors of overnight oatmeal on my blog and so has the rest of the blog community, but this recipe looked delicious. So, I opened my pantry and my frig, I was missing 1 or 2 things.. SO behold, I made a new recipe. IF and only IF you like coconut, these overnight oats are just amazing. The whole time I ate them this morning, I smiled. The flavor of coconut made me think of a warm tropical day. (ON a COLD Freezing day in January in Illinois) It was like eating oatmeal and pudding all on one happy spoon. I am trying to eat healthier and oatmeal fills me up for hours. THROW AWAY the Packets. They are gross. Make it yourself. This breakfast was loaded with all kinds of goodness. Totally happy.

Good morning.
The Oatmeal was smooth,
The Chia seeds were plump
and the Coconut flavor was throughtout

Coconut Overnight Oatmeal

Adapted from ME

Ingredients

1 cup Oatmeal

1 cup Coconut or Almond Milk

1 5-6 ounce container Coconut Yogurt

1 teaspoon Chia Seeds

1/4 cup shredded Coconut

Directions

In a container or jar, place oatmeal, chia seeds, yogurt, milk and coconut in that order. Stir thoroughly. Sprinkle with a topping of coconut on top and place in refrigerator overnight. In the morning stir and eat up.

5 easy ingredients. 

A great start for any next day breakfast

Add in your ingredients

Chia seeds are loaded with Omega 3's. 

Oatmeal is a healthy Fiber

and Yogurt contains Protein

I just like the look of delicious fun. I am very lame

It is already thick. The spoon is sitting on top

Topped with some coconut.
If you did not want it so thick, do not add the yogurt.
It was a much more filling meal with it in it. YOU decide..

Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Dump Cake

Ok, Ok, OK, I know, I have totally fallen off the face of the earth. Not really. Just my blog..I am still baking and cooking all the time. I just have not written at all... Last year I started with a bang and just keep blasting through, well, at least towards the end of the year. Total peter out...

I really think I need to make writing my blog a New years resolution..

There are still tons of new recipes for me to try out. And at Christmas time, I added new cookie recipes to my repertoire. Sorry, one day, I will post them..In the new year, we have not started our hard core diet yet. There is no new junk food in the house. We are eating more clean and not buying Fried chicken from the local grocery store as convenience. (IT does taste great) I made my first turkey over the weekend. My Husband was quite surprised that I had never made a full fledged turkey. I had to call my Mom and sister for some pointers. One of our vendors gave me a 20 lb bird for Christmas. Shoved it in the freezer and waited until January. This baby took about a day and a half of thawing out. Hung out in the kitchen sink. On Sunday, I removed the insides, basted with butter and spiced it up. 4 and 1/2 hours later, we had turkey. I let it sit for about one hour. Covered it with foil. Then I started carving. That bird was still hot... Carving is not something I am very good at.. Those skills need LOADS of work.

Probably should have covered it with foil sooner.

So while the turkey was cooking, I decided to whip up a tasty dessert using my crock pot. I am trying to use my appliances. I like the crock pot, but I rarely use it.. I did make a ham in it last week.. Tasted fantastic.

Back to my dessert..  Apples have on hand. Still drinking my cranberry smoothies, fresh cranberries on hand, and who does not have a yellow cake mix on hand....This lovely dessert was quick to whip up, the house smell simply amazing.. Between a turkey and baking apples, who would not want to be a my house on a Sunday afternoon.

This was delicious, BUT it could have used some Vanilla Ice Cream

Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Dump Cake
modified from Cooking.com
Ingredients
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup fresh Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 of a Yellow Cake mix. (use the other half another day)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
4 tablespoons Butter, melted
1/2 chopped Pecans

Directions
Lightly spray or grease the slow cooker insert. Add all 4 apples and the 1 cup of cranberries to the insert. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the fruit. Evenly pour your cake mix over the apples and cranberries. Gently sprinkle the brown sugar over the cake mix. Slowly pour the melted butter over the brown sugar. Drop in your chopped pecans all over the mixture. Add a dash of cinnamon all over the top.

Put lid on crock. set on high setting for 2 1/2 hours. When completed, gently remove lid. Wipe off lid.

Remember to peel your apples before you start chopping.

It is loads more work this way to peel

I made this for my Husband and I with some left overs.
You can always double the recipe for a larger group

Photo skills are not doing this dessert justice.
I liked eating it the next day cold.
Warm or Cold, It was Husband Approved