Fourth of July Cupcakes

Happy Fourth of July! I hope everyone had as nice a day as I did. It was great having my daughter and her family here to visit for the holiday. They aren't leaving for a week. Looking forward to the upcoming week off to visit with them. We had a barbecue and went and watched the city's fireworks.

I decided to make the the Fourth of July Cupcakes from A Recipe a Day by Nancy. I thought my two grandkids would get a kick out of them...I think the adults did too!

This recipe should make like 18 cupcakes but I had my grandkids helping so I made 13!

Ingredients:

White cake mix and the ingredients to make it

blue food coloring

red food coloring

white frosting

sprinkles

Directions:

Mix the cake mix and the ingredients to make it. Divide the batter evenly into three bowls. In one bowl add blue food coloring to desired shade. Repeat with the red food color. Leave one bowl as it.

Line 18 muffin tins with liners. Put about 2T of red batter on bottom; next 2 T of white on top of red; third 2T on top. Do not swirl.

Bake as directed on cake mix box. Let cupcakes cool. Frost with the white frosting and add red, white and blue sprinkles.

My Girl, Paula: Mustard and Peppercorn Crusted Ribeye

This recipe is actually for next weeks theme: Grilling. This was such an easy recipe and so delicious! We ate until we were stuffed! My son-in-law grilled these for me while I did the inside stuff.

Ingredients:

4 large ribeye steaks (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, at least 6 ounces each)

4 T brown mustard

4 T fresh ground black peppercorns

1-2 T finely ground black pepper (if desired) - I omitted

Kosher salt

Directions:

Brush ribeyes with mustard on both sides. In a shallow bowl, or a plate with deep center, combine the pepper and salt. Pat pepper mixture onto steaks and crust thoroughly on all sides.

Prepare your grill by lightly spraying your grate to prevent sticking. When the grill is hot, place the ribeyes on your grate and cook until desired doneness. About 3-4 minutes a side for rare. Add one or two minutes for medium rare and so on.

Weekend Brunch Casserole

My daughter is visiting with her family from Kansas. When I was at my cousin's a couple weekends ago, she made this casserole. It can be found on the Bob Evans website. But, don't tell Bob that I prefer Jimmy Dean better...Shhh...

My cousin made it with onions and peppers; I left them out. It was so yummy! We ate the whole thing!

Ingredients:

1 lb Bob Evans Original Recipe Sausage Roll (I used Jimmy Dean Regular)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (8 oz) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

4 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Crumble and cook sausage in medium skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Line bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage.

Bake 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Refrigerate leftovers.

Have the Cake: Strawberry Shortcakes

This month's theme for Have the Cake was Strawberry Shortcakes. Strawberries are my absolute favorite fruit. I LOVE, LOVE strawberry season. I went thru a period recently where I did not want to try anything new. I seem to be out of that rut. I love the theme. I made the Strawberry Shortcakes from "The Sweet Melissa Baking Book."

The recipe whipped up in no time. I did not make the home made whipped Cream. I opted for Cool Whip!

I have to say these were the best shortcakes I have ever made or had. They were so delicious. Sweet by not too sweet.

Ingredients:

Shortcakes:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 T sugar, plus 1 T for glazing

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

4 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 T whole milk or heavy cream for glazing

Strawberries:

1 dry quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced

3 T sugar (or ore to your taste)

Whipped Cream:

1 cup cold heavy cream

3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 T plus 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:

Before you start:

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

To Make the Strawberries:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the floor, baking powder, salt, 2 T of the sugar, and the zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Little by little, stir in heavy cream until the dough starts to hold together (you may use a bit more cream if need be).

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat together to form a rectangle 5 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches long that is about 1 inch thick. cut the long side of the dough into thirds, and the width in half to form six 2 1/2 inch squares. Place the shortcakes 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Brush the tops of the shortcakes with the milk or heavy cream and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

While the shortcakes are cooling, prepare the strawberries. In a medium bowl, combine the sliced strawberries with the sugar. Set aside for 20-30 minutes to macerate.

To Make the Whipped Cream:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the heavy cream and vanilla on medium speed. In a slow steady stream, add the sugar and beat until the mixture forms medium-stiff peaks.

The whipped cream is best used when just made, but can be refrigerated in an airtight container overnight and beaten again before serving.

To Complete the Shortcakes:

Fork split each shortcake in half horizontally. Place one half on each of six plates. Spoon 2 tablespoons of berries on each. Top each with a large dollop of whipped cream. Spoon more berries on top Place each of the remaining halves on top of the berries. Garnish with more cream and berries, if desired.

Cookie Carnival: Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

This morning I made the other recipe for June for the Cookie Carnival. I was a little concerned at first. It seemed to take FOREVER to be fluffy. I finally just added the egg and vanilla. The dough seemed alittle dry. It was my first time using almond paste. I must say I really like the way it flavors the cookies. The cookies turned out delicious. I didn't want to make the homemade Raspberry Refrigerator Jam, so I just used the strawberry preserves I had in the fridge. Good choice!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup grated almond paste

2/3 cup sugar

5 T butter, softened

1 large egg white

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

6 T Raspberry Refrigerator Jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape.

Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixture at medium speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg white; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to almond paste mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets and press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden. (f you bake both pans of cookies at the same time, rotate the pans in the oven halfway through baking time for even browning.)

Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Spoon about 1/2 tsp Raspberry Refrigerator Jam into center of each cookie.

Cookie Carnival: S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies

One of June's Cookie Carnival Recipes was the S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies from Hershey's. Being campers, I had to make this for Jimmy and myself. Good choice!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups (8 oz pkg) Hershey's Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 Hershey' Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz each)

3 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows, scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows forming top layer.

4. Bake 10-15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan or wire rack. Cut into bars.

Buffalo Chicken

I found this recipe in the new June/July 2010 Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious magazine. I want to make about 1/2 the magazine this time. Lots of yummy stuff.

I knew my son would like this chicken; he LOVES chicken wings! The hotter the better. Jimmy helped me make this dish; in fact, he made most of it. It turned out so delicious.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz each)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 eggs

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

3 T canola oil

1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce

1/4 cup shredded provolone cheese (used slices)

1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs. Place bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in eggs, then coat with bread crumbs.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in oil for 7-10 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear, adding wing sauce during the last 2 minutes. turn to coat chicken.

Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and cook until cheese is melted.

My cat, K.C., making it very hard to post my recipe!