The sky during golden hour. We have also recently RE-discovered peanut m&m’s. We don’t really care what color they are. And the peanut m&m kick follows a mint m&m kick, which follows a peanut butter m&m kick….. We REALLY like m&m’s around here. What’s your favorite?
I don’t know about you, but one of our family’s all time favorite foods is the strawberry. I have waxed poetic about them before. Every year we start a countdown as we watch and wait for our local farms to open their pick your own fields. Last year we added a few little plants of our own and overwintered them. I wasn’t sure how they would do, but early indications are we will have quite a few this year. If we can keep the dogs from eating them, that is. And the countdown is over. Pick your own fields are opening up. Whoo hoo!! Time to go strawberry picking!
For Father’s Day I made one of the yummiest chocolate sheet cakes. I can say that, because it’s not my recipe. It is from scratch, but it doesn’t take tons of work. It had been a long time since I had made it (I don’t know why and it won’t be a long time before I make it again). I mean warm chocolate icing poured over warm chocolate cake so that it seeps down into the cake. [sigh]. Over the years it’s been called different names in my house. Sister Stocket dubbed them her brownies, then Betty Crocker simply called the recipe Texas Sheet Cake Brownies. I’m kind of partial to Ree’s description over at The Pioneer Woman. She calls it The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. On Monday we had it for dessert for Family Night even (hey, it’s just that good and 8 seconds in the microwave melts the icing JUUUuuuuuust enough). But I had to laugh when I went in after all was said and done and found this… K. knows what she likes.
May 15th – the BEST holiday ever! Today is National Chocolate Chip Day (YES! I love these people!) But what to make?! Traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies? Oh, SO good. Especially right out of the oven. Or Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Oh, MY GOODNESS. I cheat (Shhh…) . I make them from a mix and they are SO YUMMY! Maybe Magic Bars. They’re SO quick and easy with the extra KICK of Butterscotch… MMMMmmmmm. Oh… but you can’t forget Chocolate Chip Pie… Oh, NO. If you haven’t had this pie. You MUST make this pie. It’s like having a chocolate chip cookie in a pie. Please, eat it warm. It’s really the only way. I am absolutely going to make this pie today. It will be a fitting tribute to the Chocolate Chip. But I KNOW there are thousands of ways to enjoy chocolate chips. What would you consider an appropriate way to honor the venerable chocolate chip?
Strawberries are one the most wonderful gifts we have ever been given. Fresh out of the box with nothing else added they taste like sunshine, spring and happiness bursting in each sweet bite. But that’s just the beginning! There’s strawberry shortcake (which I prefer with pound cake as the base), strawberry smoothies, strawberry jam, chocolate covered strawberries (YUM!), strawberry cheesecake, strawberry pie…the possibilities are astounding. K. and I went and picked 30+ lbs. of these delightful berries yesterday. I’ve already made 6 pints of jam and frozen some of the berries for other things in the year. We had shortcake for dessert last night. And I still have some in the fridge to have fun with now (YES!). So what are your favorite strawberry recipes? I’d love to try some of them.
at Coldstone Creamery. I love ice cream. I adore chocolate and raspberry together. One recent wednesday, out on date, Kevin and I stopped in for some ice cream (for dinner no less – YES!) Oh my goodness, they had “Chocolate Raspberry Truffle” ice cream. This may not be earth shattering to you, but it is to me. One little taste was all it took and I was in HEAVEN. Ok, I added my favorite mixins, pecans and strawberries and it was absolutely perfect. To. Die. For. I think I need a year supply of this ice cream. Maybe I’ll go back and take a picture ( I couldn’t find one to put here). It would be a sacrifice. But I would do it – Just for you. That way you can *see* heaven. I’m helpful that way.
Every now and then I like to try a new recipe. Sometimes I’ll actually buy one of those little cookbooks in the checkout isle and see if there is something the family will like. Sometimes I get lucky. This last week we found a winner. Everyone in the family loved this dish. This recipe comes from Taste of Home in a collection of casseroles. I LOVE casseroles. A lot. Especially in the winter. And this little book was full of casseroles I can’t wait to try. Here was the first one…. Taco Lasagna (Sorry it’s not a picture of my casserole, I didn’t even think to take one). It was extremely easy to make. The filling would be GREAT just inside tacos themselves. Add in layers of refried beans, and melted cheese and voila Taco Lasagna. AND dinner was ready in about 45 minutes (not a record, but not as long as it takes for my Chicken N’ Dumplins either). Everyone LOVED it. It wasn’t too spicy,pretty mild actually, but plenty of flavor. It calls for a …
