Apricot Jam Bars

This dish was made to bring to my last class of summer school a week ago. Our teacher made an announcement that she wouldn't be opposed to treats being brought in for the last day. Out of the entire class, I brought the jam bars & a lady brought in Krispy Kreme donuts! Sugar... Sugar... Sugar!


I ended up watching 5 yr old Dakota for a few hours when I was to be making this. I knew that it would be more fun if we also made something that she would like and could eat right away! Plus I couldn't go to class with a piece missing out the pan. ;0)  I asked Dakota what she wanted to make, anything at all and we'll make it. Her response, "Cupcakes! Chocolate Cupcakes!" Aww girl after my own heart. I love cupcakes too. We ended up making both cupcakes & apricot jam bars. She tasted every ingredient, and found that Cocoa Powder is not very good to eat by itself! hahaha. When we were constructing the bars, she said, "Everyone is just going to love this. Make sure you tell everyone that I helped." Yes Dakota, you helped a lot. She even tried using the sifter!! Here's a pic of Dakota's sprinkle extravaganza!

Very easy & yummy dish! Enjoy!


(Notes from recipe book: Dolores (Ma - my grandma) & Loretta (Gram - my great grandma) baked these!)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup butter
1 cup apricot jam (I used the entire jar of jam!)

Procedure:

• Mix flour, baking soda, sugar and oats in a bowl.

• Cut in butter until crumbly. Here's a video on how to cut in butter.

• Pat 2/3 of mixture in a 9 x 13 pan. 

• Spread jam evenly over top.

• Cover with remaining crumb mixture.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

• Cool.

• Cut into bars.

Pretzel Jello Salad

I made this dish for my Saturday Shindig party. For those not in the know, for about 6 years now my cousin Kristy and I have throwing themed parties twice a year for my mom's side of the family. It makes me happy that I now have something for my dad's side... this blog! The party's theme: Egyptian! Here's a few pics for ya!

This was a great dish to bring to the party. It was summery and light. It was so good that I'm feeling pressure from Angela to put this blog up before this weekend because she is going to make it! Angela cooking... look out! This is super easy to make so no worries. I was a bit nervous making this because for some reason instant jello & puddings don't ever work out for me. I make make complicated dishes and baked goods... but jello is my enemy. All worked out in the end though! Make this easy dish. You will need a few hours though. 


(Notes in book from Dolores (my Grandma, aka Ma) : Also used raspberry Jello & raspberries.)


Ingredients:


1 1/2 cup crushed pretzels (use blender)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
9 oz cool whip
1/2 cup sugar
2   -  3 oz Strawberry Jello (I only used one, I misread this when I made it. haha! Oops!)
2 cups boiling water
2 - 10oz frozen Strawberries (Ok, this is ridiculous. As I write this I am realizing errors. I used 1 pkg. Ugh.)


Procedure:

• Melt butter.
• Add melted butter to crushed pretzels & 1/2 sugar. Mix together. 
• Pat into 9x13 pan evenly.
• Bake at 350 degrees & then cool.

• Mix together cool whip, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup sugar. 
• Spread over cooled pretzel crust. 
• Cool  1 1/2 hours in refrigerator. 

• 1 1/2 hrs later, Mix Jello & boiling water very well. 
• Add undrained strawberries and spread over all. 
• Refrigerate to set. 
• Cut into squares for serving. 

Cinnamon Rolls & Quick Confectioner's Icing

Mmmmm Cinnamon Rolls. Enough said? 
Yummy Delicious Brilliant Lovely Sugary Goodness. Make it. 


Ingredients:


Prepared Basic Sweet Yeast Dough (see prior blog)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Quick Confectioner's Icing
2 Tbs hot milk
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla

• Mix together hot milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Procedure:

• Roll dough to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
• Spread with melted butter.
• Mix cinnamon & sugar, sprinkle on dough.
• Roll up like jelly roll... roll one side of the rectangle to the other.
• Cut into 12 slices.
• Place slices close together in a greased 9 inch pie pan. 
• Let rise until doubled. 
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. 
• Make Confectioner's Icing & pour over cinnamon rolls. Yum. 

Picture doesn't have icing on it. I forgot to take the picture. Oops. 

Basic Sweet Yeast Dough & Tomato Gazpacho

This dish was inspired by Billy's garden. An awesome bonus for driving out to Naperville last night was getting all this Veg:

I found a tomato gazpacho recipe online that I was excited to try using all of the wonderful tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden. To compliment this dish, I wanted to make homemade bread to go along with it. The Basic Sweet Yeast Dough recipe makes a two loaves of bread so my plan for the remaining dough... Spoiler Alert! Next blog is Cinnamon Rolls!

Our reaction to the gazpacho: it will now be a stable in our meals. It was easy and delicious. You just need 2 or more hours for it to sit in the fridge for all the flavors to marry. 


What can I say about the bread? Now, I'm not a bread fan typically. This bread was A-MAZING. Mike said it was a "Fantastic dinner". We split a second piece of bread! Now I feel like I may explode, but it was worth it. What's funny is that with some of these dishes I don't know what their going to taste like but I end up being thrown into my childhood every time. The sweet bread is the best. It's the only dough for me! Enjoy!

Recipe for the dough:


Ingredients:


2 pkgs dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour
2 cups milk scalded & cooled (Don't know what scalding means? Me either... explanation.)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour (about... I used 6 cups.)


Directions:

• Dissolve yeast in water.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp sugar on top. 
• Beat 2 cups of flour into milk until smooth.
• Add yeast mixture.
• Let stand for about an hour, until light and bubbly. 
• After an hour, cream butter & sugar together with electric mixer. 
• Add unbeaten eggs and salt. Blend well.
• Combine that mixture into the yeast mixture. 
• Work in more flour, enough to make soft dough. 
• Knead until smooth and elastic on a very lightly floured pastry cloth. 
• Place dough in a greased bowl; cover & let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. 
• Re-shape the dough and let rise again until it has doubled in size. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Knowing when bread is very tricky and people have their methods of knowing but if you're unsure (like me), I looked it up. This blog states that once the bread reaches 200 degrees, it's done. Use a kitchen thermometer.

Recipe for the Tomato Gazpacho


Ingredients:


5 Large Roma tomatoes, diced
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and diced
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow red pepper, diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (46 oz) can tomato juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 pinch dried tarragon
freshly ground pepper to taste
dash of sriracha


Directions:

• In a large glass bowl, mix the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, celery, cucumber, green onions, sweet onion, parsley, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, lemon juice, and garlic. Pour in the tomato juice. Season with curry powder, tarragon, pepper, and sriracha.
• Chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Shrimp Creole

This dish is my Aunt Karen's. Hello Aunt Karen! Both Mike and I enjoyed this dish. One of our favorite restaurants right now is Maple Tree, which is a Cajun restaurant that serves craft beer. Best of both worlds! So this dish really intrigued me and was very good. Ready for my substitutions? Of course you are. No matter how much I try, I just don't like shrimp. Cooked or not. Something about it just closes up my throat. My substitution? Chopped up pork chops. I also added a little Old Bay seasoning. Next time I make it, I'll make it hot and let it cook a little longer than 30 minutes. It didn't thicken enough and I was in a hurry. Enjoy!


Ingredients:

1            med onion, minced
2 Tbs     butter
1/2 cup  green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup  celery, diced
1            bay leaf
1 tsp      parsley
1 tsp      salt
1/8 tsp   cayenne red pepper
2 cups   water
1           6oz can tomato paste
2 cups   shrimp, cooked & cleaned (about 1 1/2 lbs) or 2 pork chops, cut into chunks

Directions:

• In a saucepan, cook & stir onion in butter.

• Stir in remaining ingredients, except shrimp. If making with pork, add the pork now.

• Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. (Cook longer if still thin)

• Stir in shrimp, heat through. 

• Serve over rice.