My Girl, Paula: Orange Blossoms

Orange Blossoms was this week's recipe for My Girl, Paula. These cupcakes are so yummy. I love the combination of flavors.

I did not like making mini cupcakes. I made some regular size and it worked great, just had to bake longer of course.

I think I have dipping dexlexia! I ended up putting the blossoms close together on waxed paper and drizzling the glaze over them. It worked!

My son proclaimed these as AWESOME!

Ingredients:

Cakes:

1 package yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix

4 eggs

3/4 cup cold water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

3 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

3 T melted butter

3 T water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease one or two miniature muffin pans.

For the cakes, in a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, and oil; beat well. Fill the prepared muffin pans, using about 1 tablespoon of batter for each cake.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched.

For the glaze, mix all the ingredients until smooth; set aside.

Dip the blossoms in the glaze immediately after removing them from the oven. Drain on waxed paper.

Yields: 7-8 dozen

Enchiladas

I was going to make steak for dinner, but my son begged me for enchiladas. So....steak tomorrow! Jimmy ended up making most of the enchiladas.

My daughter makes a wonderful enchilada dish. She makes it like enchilada lasagna. We kind of winged the recipe. Here's our version tonight:

1. Browned 1 lb ground beef; drain. Add 1/2 can refried beans, 1/3 can of enchilada sauce, picante sauce, queso dip from jar. Heat through.

2. Mix remainder enchilada sauce with some picante sauce. Layer 2 flour tortillas on bottom of baking dish (the size down from 13 x 9). Layer half of the ground beef mixture. Add some enchilda/picante sauce, cheddar cheese and black olives. Repeat.

3. Bake at 350 degrees until heated through.

White Castle-like Sliders - sort of`

I found this recipe on the Big Red Kitchen blog. They looked yummy! I remember going to White Castle in Ohio. I left out the onions since my son is picky when it comes to onions. I didn't put pickles on his either.

This recipe was so easy and took no time to make at all. It's a quick dinner. I didn't use the party rolls, but the Martin's Potato Brand dinner rolls. I made 24 sandwiches. Probably could've done more.

These were quite tasty. I added mustard and ketsup.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried onion flakes

2 lbs ground chuck - 80/20 ground beef

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

6 slices cheddar cheese

24 small party rolls

24 dill pickle slices

Directions:

Evenly spread the onions on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Gently press the ground beef on top of the onion flakes. Press evenly making one giant pattie. Sprinkle with seasoned salt.

Bake in 400 degrees oven for 20 minutes. Using a paper towel, pat the excess grease from the top of the pattie.

Top with cheese, return to oven for 2 more minutes. Remove from oven, let set 5 minutes then cut into 24 patties.

Slice open and separate each party roll. Place bottom of rolls on a large platter. Using a spatula lift pattie with onion layer onto each bun bottom. Top each slider with a pickle slice then the bun lid. Serve immediately.

Makes 24 sliders.

Leftovers can be refrigerated.

Parmesan Biscuits

What a day....Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died. So sad.

Jimmy and I went to my parents' for dinner tonight. We had Crispy Chicken, scalloped potatoes, salad and parmesan biscuits. The crispy chicken recipe is here. The Paremsan Biscuits is from the MeMa's Manna Recipes for the Busy Person cookbook. Very simple and very yummy. My son inhaled them.

Ingredients:

1 (10 count) can biscuits

2 T grated Parmesan cheese

2 T margarine (I used butter)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt margarine in baking pan in oven. Sprinkle cheese over margarine. Separate bisbuits. Plan in pan, turning to coat both sides. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until brown.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Today is Sandra's birthday at work. We decided that I should bake a cake for her instead of purchasing one. Sandra wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

I had asked for chocolate frosting recipe and Caroline at Daily Blue Plate Special recommended one from Hershey's. With the frosting recipe was a cake recipe. It was simple to follow so I made that one for Sandra. The recipe can be found here.

This cake tastes AWESOME! I was so pleased with how it turned out! Sandra liked getting a homemade cake. We decorated it with luscious looking strawberries I found at Publix this morning.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Butterscotch Cashew Bars

This is my first recipe from Sweet Melissa Sundays. But, due to my busy Sunday, I made this on Monday!

I made these while I was making the taco ring. The recipe was really quite simple. They tasted good. My son says AWESOME. They aren't my favorite bars, but they were good. I would even try another nut on top.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

11 ounces butterscotch chips

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water

2 cups roasted salted whole cashews

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9″x 13″ pan with cooking spray. Using two sheets of parchment paper or foil, line the pan’s width and length, creating a “sling.” Spray parchment paper with cooking spray.

2. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt for 1 to 1 & 1/2 minutes. Decrease mixer speed to low and add the flour. Mix just until combined.

3. Lightly press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is a golden color. Remove to wire rack to cool.

4. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir together butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and water. Stir until mixture comes to a simmer and butterscotch chips are melted. Pour over crust.

5. Sprinkle cashews over the butterscotch caramel. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. After cooling, remove from pan and use a very sharp knife to cut into bars.

Yield: Makes 2 dozen 2-inch bars.

Taco Ring

I have seen this recipe posted twice. The most recent was on I Love Sweet Treats blog. Check her blog out...it has some great recipes.

I didn't get a chance to make the My Girl, Paula Baked Spaghetti like I wanted to yesterday for Father's Day. I was at a picnic with the dart league that my boyfriend belongs to. I ended up picking up some chicken from Publix and making rice and caesar salad.

Monday I took an unexpected day off. My sister and I took my mom to her first doctor's appointment since my mom's stroke. I had the doctor go over meds with me. After we got back home, my sister and I went through all the medications Mom had. We tossed stuff no longer being used and organized the rest. We put together a week's worth of medicine. By the time we were finished, it was after noon. Hardly worth going in to work! It was good tho. Jimmy and I hung out. He got home Saturday from Boy Scout camp.

This was really good! Part of it didn't look good since I had the large crescent rolls and one can didn't separate correctly. But, it was awesome.

Ingredients:

2 cans crescent rolls
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese

Toppings:
shredded lettuce
diced tomato
chopped onion
sour cream
salsa
black olives
avocado

Directions:

Cook and drain beef. Add seasoning and cook according to seasoning packages directions.

Arrange unrolled crescent roll triangles in a circle shape overlapping them with the points facing out. It will look like a big sun. Place meat around the ring and sprinkle with cheese.

Fold triangle points over filling and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Place toppings in the open part in the center and serve.

Cookie Carnival: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

I am really surprised I found time and energy to make cookies tonight. It's been such a hectic week with my mom. She is definitely getting better - her speech has improved greatly. I still go over there nightly to prepare dinner (unless my sister is there and we work together), get Mom's pills ready for next day, make coffee, hang out. I was very tired tonight and I friend had prepared a casserole. I was able to go over for only 1 1/2 hours and had the rest of the evening to myself. My son is still at camp until Saturday.


I have not participated in Cookie Carnival in months. This month's recipe caught my eye since I absolutely LOVE strawberries. The recipe is from Martha Stewart. It took awhile to cut up the stawberries into little bitty pieces. I ended up digging into the dough to get it all mixed up well. But the end result....Yummy! It's a wonderful soft cookie with lots of flavor.



Ingredients:


12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces {2 cups}
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
Sanding sugar for sprinkling {All I had was regular sugar}


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine strawberries, 2 Tbsp of sugar and lemon juice in a bowl.


2. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub it in with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together.


3. Stir in strawberry mixture.


4. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop the dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.


5. Bake until golden brown, 24-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.


Makes about 3 dozen

HELP! NEED CHOCOLATE FROSTING RECIPE!

I am making a cake for a co-worker's birthday for Wednesday the 24th. She wants chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I have the devil's food cake recipe. Does anyone have a yummy chocolate frosting recipe?

Thanks!

Kreativ Blogger Award!

I was nominated for the Kreativ Blogger Award from Michele at My Girl, Paula! Thank you, Michele; you've been a great friend!



Here are the RULES of this Award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

The 7 blogs I nominate are:

Mommy's Kitchen
My Baking Addiction
Cooking for Comfort
Tried & True With Heidi
Christy's Kitchen Creations
Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
My Kitchen Cafe

Seven Interesting Things about me:

1. I was a Girl Scout Leader for 13 years.

2. I was a Cub Scout Leader for 4 years.

3. I am a Troop Committee Member for my son's Boy Scout Troop.

4. I have 2 grandchildren - Samantha, 4, and Austin, 20 months.

5. I met my boyfriend on line at SinglesNet.com after many years of not dating after my husband passed away.

6. I have an Associates of Applied Science degree as a Medical Secretary, but work for a Property Management firm.

7. I have a brown belt in Taekwon Do, which I haven't been to in several months.

My Girl, Paula: Strawberry Cream Shortcake

This week's recipe for My Girl, Paula was Strawberry Cream Shortcake. It was super easy to put together. The hardest part was cutting the strawberries! I've had a very hectic week; my mom had a mild stroke on Tuesday which has affected her speech. She was discharged home on Saturday late afternoon. I had made a huge pot of spaghetti for Sunday and decided to make this for dessert. I loved the pudding part! My mom and I put some on the couple little pieces of pound cake. Yum!

The shortcake was light and delicious! It's a great summertime dessert.

Ingredients:

1 large Sara Lee pound cake
1 (5.1 oz) package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (12 oz) container Cool Whip
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced

Directions:

Cut the pound cake into thin slices. Layer half in a glass 13 x 9 baking dish.

In a bowl, combine the pudding mix, water, milk and vanilla with an electric mixer. Fold in Cool Whip.

Pour half of this over the cake and lay half of the strawberries on top. Repeat to make second layer.

Refrigerate until well chilled.

Yield: 8-10 servings

The yummy creamy part!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week I received in the mail "MeMa's Manna Recipes for the Busy Person" from Amazon. I've seen a couple other people had made recipes from this book and had rave reviews. There are so many recipes in the book I want to try. I can't wait to try more!

I decided to make the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies since I was in the mood for cookies and had all the ingredients. I must say....they were some of the best cookies I have every had! The recipe was easy and not time consuming at all. I would make these again and again.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup margarine (softenend) - I used butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift flour and soda. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix in dry ingredients, add chocolate chips.

Form dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange on ungreased baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Flatten to thickness of 1/2 inch with back of fork dipped in sugar.

Bake 12 minutes or until golden. Can be frozen.

Yield: 3 dozen

Cheesy Mac

I found this recipe at our grocery store, Publix. They have recipes and cookbooks out. They're called Publix Apron's Simple Meals. They have a lot of yummy looking recipes. I've only tried a few but they have all been good.

It's Friday night and my boyfriend is at home since he has to work early in the morning and my son is at the movies with friends. It's pouring rain outside so I decided to make myself some dinner. I've been wanting to make this Cheesy Mac for a while now, so that's what I made! I ate it while watching "True Blood" on HBO on Demand! Anyone know when the new season starts?

The recipe was easy to follow and good. My son gobbled a plateful when he came home from the movies.

Ingredients:

1 1b. ground beef chuck

1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth

1 cup water

8 oz elbow macaroni (2 cups)

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1/4 cup processed cheese sauce

8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat large pan or electric skillet on medium high 2-3 minutes. Place ground beef in pan; cook, stirring to crumble meat, until beef is brown and no pink remains.

Stir in broth, water and macaroni; bring to boil. Cook 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until liquid is mostly absorbed and macaroni is soft and tender.

Stir evaporated milk into pasta; removed from heat (or turn heat). Stir in both cheeses until smooth and melted. Serve.

Yield: 6 servings

Old Fashioned Peach Cake

My friend, Michele, from Alwayz Bakin' posted this on her blog. It looked so delicious that I had to try it. I made this Wednesday night to take it to my parents Thursday for dessert.

The cake was a hit with my family and at work. It was so yummy and most. The recipe was super easy to make.

Old Fashioned Peach Cake

Cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 (21 oz.) can peach pie filling
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I left them out)

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl combine dry cake mix, pie filling, eggs, 1/2 tsp extract and nuts. Blend at low speed until completely moistened, about 1 minute. Beat 2 minutes a medium speed. Spread batter in a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl combine sugar, flour, softened butter and 1/2 tsp extract with a fork. Mixture will be crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes until center springs back slightly when touched.

Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken

I actually made this Tuesday night for dinner. I found this recipe while looking at Paula Deen recipes on her site. I love fried chicken but never make it. This chicken was great! It came out so crispy with a hint of the hot sauce. I did not have any self-rising flour, so used all-purpose instead. It worked and tasted great. I just had 3 large chicken breasts but that was enough for my son and myself.

Since it was scout night, I cheated on the mashed potatoes and made instant. Still was good.

Ingredients:

Paula Deen's House Seasoning

2 1/2 lb chicken, cut into pieces

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup hot pepper sauce

3 eggs

Directions:

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a deep pot. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange (about 1 cup). Season the chicken with the House Seasoning. Dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour.

Place the chicken in the preheated oil and fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer than white meat. Approximate cooking time is 13 to 14 minutes for dark meat and 8 to 10 minutes for white meat.

My Girl, Paula: Apple Crisp

Sunday, late afternoon, was very quiet. After going to Bass Pro Shop (to buy boy scout type short/pants for summer camp for Jimmy and myself) with Jimmy and my neighbors, Jimmy went to a movie with friends. My boyfriend, Doug, has been sick all weekend. I feel bad not seeing him, but he told he doesn't want me to get sick. Poor thing...he is NEVER ill. This was a great time to make the Apple Crisp.

This is another recipe from the My Girl, Paula club. It was easy to make (except peeling the apples, which is not my favorite thing), and oh so yummy to smell while baking. It was another winner from the The Lady & Sons, Too! cookbook. So far every recipe we've made has been exceptionally delicious! As usual, Michele, you picked a winner. I think I needed to bake the crisp a tad longer; I thought the apples should be a little softer. The topping was real thick on top, but good. It was delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream!

Ingredients:

6 large apples (about 2 1/2 lbs), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1/4 cup water

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 T cinnamon

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) melted butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the apples, water and lemon juice in an 8x8 baking pan.

In a bowl combine the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour in the butter stir to make a crumbly mixture. Spread the topping in an even layer over the apples and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until th etopping is crisp and browned.

Yield: 8 servings

mixing the topping before adding the butter