Let Them Eat Cake!

  Today, I'm dreaming of birthday cakes. Why, you ask? Well, today is my 35th birthday. Each year, my mom & I share a birthday celebration since our birthdays are only a week apart. Some years we order a cake from a bakery. Some years my mom will bake one & some years I bake one. The celebration will be later this week, but this year I've offered to bring the cake, so I've been hunting around for some yummy inspiration.

  Here are some beauties I've found. As usual, Pinterest took the cake (so to speak)!

Blueberry Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Lemon Curd Layer Cake

Neapolitan Cake

And now for the chocolatey options...

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Heaven & Hell Cake (Layers of angel food cake, devil's food cake, & peanut butter mousse)

Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

Godiva Dream Cheesecake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

And now for the pièce de résistance...

Isn't this gorgeous?! I will not attempt to make this, but I wanted to share this beauty with you. 

(For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of Paris, France & all things Eiffel Tower-ish.)

All these cakes look so delicious, I'm having a hard time choosing which one to make. 

What say you? What would be your first choice?

I'm feeling very blessed today. I am surrounded by wonderful friends & my precious family. 

I have so much to be thankful for.

Life is good.

Enjoy your day!

Some Recipes To Try

  Again today I'm veering away from the Christmas theme that I've been in for the past several weeks. (Which makes no sense since it's actually December now, but hey, I'll go with it.)

  How many of you eat supper together with you family? I hope most of you do. It's such a precious time to spend together. It's often the time that we laugh the most, the kids open up & talk about their day, we tell stories from our lives, & teach lessons. Just last night, I got to tell my kids a Bible story that they had never heard before. I don't think I'm that great of a story teller, but they were transfixed. In telling the story, I also was able to teach the moral of the story: trusting in God's leading. It's amazing what happens at the dinner table. May I suggest that you try to make it a regular occurrence in your home? You won't be sorry.

  On the subject of supper, I have some recipes that I've tried recently that I would like to share with you. They are all simple & delicious. You may want to add one of these to your meal plan soon.

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

Via Taste Of Home

 Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

Via Time To Cook!

 Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

Via Rachael Ray

 Couscous with Kalamata Olives, Pine Nuts, & Feta Cheese

Via For The Love Of Cooking

  I give all of these recipes 2 thumbs up! Go ahead, give 'em a try!

Enjoy your weekend!

Christmas Fudge

  Christmas is the season of sweets. Cookies, cakes, pies, candies... and Fudge! 

  For as long as I can remember, I've loved fudge. I remember visiting The Fudgery in Banff, Alberta every summer & being able to choose my very own piece of sweet, gooey fudge from their vast selection of flavours. Another great part of the fudge shop was the big window they had in the front of their shop. You could stand outside & watch them make batch after batch of their amazing creations. 

  Several years ago, I found this super easy fudge recipe. It's a very versatile recipe - you can add whatever extras you want! Dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows, peanut butter, cookie pieces, candies... Let your imagination run wild! My kids love the marshmallow version so that's usually what I make.

Basic Chocolate Fudge

Makes about 2 lbs.

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

dash of salt

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp melted butter (if adding extras)

Over low heat, melt chips with sweetened condensed milk & salt. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla (and butter, if using). Fold in extras if desired. Spread evenly into wax paper lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper & cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator. Also freezes well.

Extras:

If you're putting in any extras, add 2 Tbsp melted butter to fudge mixture. Then fold in 2 cups of marshmallows, nuts, candies, cookie pieces, dried fruit, etc.

~~~

Enjoy your fudge creations!

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Merry Berry Cheese Bars

  So far, my Christmas baking is going well. Two recipes down, a few more to go. Today, I'm going to share a favourite recipe that I've been making all of my married life - 11 years now. 

If you like cheesecake or cranberries, then you'll enjoy these! This recipe originally came from Eagle Brand.

Merry Berry Cheese Bars a.k.a. Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
makes 24-36 bars


crust:
2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/2 cups oats
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened

cream cheese layer:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice

berry layer:
1 can cranberry sauce (you can use whole berry, but I prefer jellied)
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

1) With mixer, beat flour, oats, 3/4 cup sugar & butter until crumbly. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the mixture. Press remaining mixture on bottom of greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

2) With mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth, stir in lemon juice. Spread over baked crust.

3) Combine cranberry sauce, corn starch, & 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Spoon over cheese layer. Top with remaining crumb mixture.

4) Bake 45 minutes or until golden. Cool & cut into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.

~~~

I hope your family enjoys these as much as we do!

Enjoy your Monday!

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Pinterest Recipe Reviews Pt. 2

  How's your week been so far? Here in Saskatchewan we are trying to stay warm... cuz baby, it's cold outside! I'm trying to keep things cozy in our little nest. Christmas tunes are playing (click here to hear our new favourite album) & I've been doing some Christmas prep. We're starting to feel the Christmas spirit & I, for one, love it!

  Several weeks ago, I did my meal planning via Pinterest. Well, I'm here to finish off the reviews on that group of recipes. (Here is part one if you missed it.)

Lemon Chicken Breasts

  This was an amazing chicken dish! SOOOOOO tasty! The only thing I did differently was I used skinless chicken breasts instead of skin on. If you're a fan of lemon, you will love this as much as we did. I will definitely be making these again.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Okay, this recipe wasn't on my original meal plan, but I was going to a girl friend gathering & had to bring something. ;) These cookies are crazy good! If you enjoy sweet & salty together, you will certainly enjoy these bundles of yumminess. In Canada, we sadly don't have the caramel pieces she lists in the ingredients so I used butterscotch chips instead. I think they were a pretty great substitute. I will be making these again.

Mini Frittatas 

  My kids helped me make these for supper one evening. They are easy & tasty. One note: do not mix in the salt with the eggs like it says to. It all settled to the bottom & most of the salt ended up in one of the frittatas. Yup, I got that one. Yech! But the rest were very good. I would just sprinkle some salt into each cup next time. I'll make them again.

  So now that I've finally made most of what was on that original meal plan, I'm off to do another one! A family's gotta' eat, after all. Might as well make it good.

Enjoy your day!

How To Bake A Pumpkin

  I know a lot of you out there in blog land are getting ready for American Thanksgiving. Are pumpkin pies on your menu?

  I bought some pumpkins at the farmer's market earlier this fall to use in my fall decorating. (Click here & here to read about them.) Since fall is officially over here in Saskatchewan & winter (including snow) has come, my pumpkins were due for a makeover... a cooking makeover that is.

  If you have bought pumpkins & have struggled to peel them before cooking them, then this post is for you, my friend! This couldn't be easier!

What you need:

• A pumpkin (this is for a 4 lb. pumpkin. If your pumpkin is bigger, you'll need more water & leave it in the oven longer.)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 roaster pan or 2 smaller baking pans
• An oven :)

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2) Split the pumpkin in half & seed it. Remove the pumpkin guts (stingy fibres) by scraping the insides with a metal spoon.

3) Fill roasting pan with 1 cup water (more if your pumpkin is bigger). Place the two halves cut side down in the pan. 

4) Bake the pumpkin until very tender. About 90 minutes. Longer for a larger pumpkin. 

This is what they will look like. All blistered & bubbly.

5) Flip them over & scoop the flesh out of each pumpkin half. 

6) Puree pumpkin flesh in a food processor or blender & use as needed. It also freezes well.

Here's visual run down of the instructions (feel free to "pin it"):

Pin It (Aak! this pinning button doesn't seem to be working... I'm still figuring this out. Sorry!)

What do you plan to make with your pumpkin? I use mine for yummy muffins & pies. 

Enjoy your day!

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Classic Sugar Cookies

  Every year I try to start my Christmas baking in November. Some years it happens. Some, it doesn't. This year: so far, so good. :) My goal is to make one Christmas sweet each week & when December rolls around, my Christmas baking is pretty much done! Like I said, we'll see if that happens. At least I'll have a head start, right?

  This week, my little girl & I made these colourful Sugar Cookies to tuck away in the freezer for our Christmas celebrations. You can use whatever coloured sugar you want. I wanted to go for Peacock type colours. We bought these pretty coloured sugars at the Bulk Barn here in Saskatoon.

Classic Sugar Cookies

Makes 3 1/2 dozen. These are soft & chewy unlike a lot of sugar cookies. I also like that you don't have to roll out & cut the dough. Simply roll into balls & dip in pretty sugar.

2/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar for decorating 

(Use regular white sugar if you don't have any coloured sugar. You can also use food colouring to tint your own.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, & sugar. Stir in the eggs & vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir into creamed mixture until dough comes together. 

Roll dough into truffle sized balls & dip the balls in sugar. Place them on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake 10-12 minutes in a preheated oven, until bottoms of cookies are light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

~~~

When do you usually start making Christmas treats? 

These pretty sugars make me want to go make some other goodies!

~~~

On another note...

  It being November 11th, let's all take some time to remember the men & women who have served our country & given their lives to fight for our freedom. We must never forget that there is a price to be payed for peace & freedom. I'm so thankful that we live in a free country where we are free to worship God. 

  I, for one, will never forget their sacrifice. I hope you won't either.

~~~

Enjoy your day!

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Pinterest Recipe Reviews

  A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about Meal Planning via Pinterest. I haven't tried all the recipes I've planned to yet, but I thought I would do reviews of the ones that I have made. Don't worry, I'm a nice person. I won't be mean.

  I didn't include this dessert in my Meal Plan - mostly because I forgot. We had friends over for dessert on Friday evening & this is what I made:

Reese's Fudge Pie

  I'm all about chocolate & peanut butter. And really, I didn't think I would ever say this, but... this was almost too sweet. It has a fudge layer which is really dense & super rich. A ever-so-small piece is ample! I don't think anyone finished the big pieces I cut. I would make it again, but cut the pieces smaller. Definitely serve with coffee. Note: I made the crust with Oreo crumbs instead of graham crumbs.

  Red Lobster Biscuits

  These get a 10 out of 10. They were amazing. We each had one in hand & put it in our mouths at the same time. You should have heard the sounds coming from us! You must try these, if you haven't already. AND they are super easy to make. I would definitely make them again. Actually, I already have made them again. :)

Cajun Chicken Pasta

  This tasted very good, but I didn't get the cream sauce right - it was too soupy. It was delicious though. Make sure you have everything prepped before you start cooking. Things get cooked & added pretty fast. I would make it again.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

  This is a fabulous recipe! A couple of notes: read the recipe through before you start making it. The instructions are laid out in a different order than the ingredients. That confused me for a minute until I read everything through. Also, be warned that you need to freeze the cream cheese filling before you can use it in the muffin batter. That takes a couple of hours. If you know these tips in advance, you'll have a happy muffin-baking experience. :) I will most certainly be making these again!

Lentil Tacos

  I actually made these just last night. I've been trying to include meatless meals in my meal planning more lately both to save money & because it's healthy to not have meat all the time. These tacos were delicious! Our kids even loved them. I will be making them again soon.

~~~

  So those are the recipes from my Time To Cook! & Sweet Treats boards on Pinterest that I've tried so far. If you haven't signed up for Pinterest yet & want an invite, leave me a comment with your email address & I can send you one! I promise I won't send you any spam. None.... Zero. Zilch. Nada. 

  What have you cooked up from Pinterest lately? I'd love to hear about it! Now that Christmas is less than 2 months away, I'm itching to try some of the crafty goodies I'm seeing. I'll be sure to post about them. Stay tuned!

Update: Click here to read part two

But for now, over & out.

Enjoy your day!

These are not my photos. All images owned by the bloggers who originally posted their recipes in blogland.

Pineapple Rhubarb Jam

  Every summer, I chop & freeze vast amounts of rhubarb in preparation for my annual batch of Pineapple Rhubarb Jam. (We have 5 huge rhubarb plants in our back yard.) I blogged about the rhubarb back in August, thinking I would get to the jam pretty soon thereafter. I was wrong.

  We've had such a beautiful, warm fall here in Saskatchewan (and I, for one, am not complaining) that I kept putting off the jam making for a cooler day. The cooler days just didn't come until October! Last week, I finally got it made. It's done for another year.

  I love sharing jars of this with my family & friends & of course enjoying it throughout the year. Actually, we just finished the last jar of last year's batch the week I made this. Good timing. :)

  I present to you the jam recipe that has been adapted from my husband's grandma's recipe.

  I started out with 56(!) cups of rhubarb. Fifty. Six.

  Thankfully, after rhubarb has been frozen & then thawed, it reduces it's volume by about half. Okay, now I was working with only 28 cups. So, I multiplied this recipe x5.

Pineapple Rhubarb Jam

5 cups rhubarb (if you have frozen rhubarb that you have thawed, make sure you drain it. If you don't, you'll get runny jam)

1 cup crushed pineapple

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1 pkg. strawberry jello

Mix rhubarb & sugar, bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil for about 10 minutes. Stir often so it doesn't burn.

While it's boiling, start preparing your jars. With lids removed, soak the jars, lids, & seals in hot tap water in the sink. Leave them in the hot water until you're ready to use them.

Add Pineapple & boil for another 10 minutes. Stir often so it doesn't burn.

Remove from heat. Add jello powder & mix well until dissolved.

Pour jam into jars & seal. 

Tips: I fill my jars almost to the top, then wipe around the lip of the jar to get any spilled drops. Apply the lid. Cool on the counter until the jars have "popped". You will hear the seals popping as they seal. Test the tops by pushing down on them, if they don't move, they are sealed. If they pop down & then up again, you will have to store your jam in the fridge or reseal. To help with the sealing process, always use new seals. 

  Thanks to those of you who joined me on the jam journey on Facebook last week. It made it fun for me to interact with you while I was cooking & preserving.

Enjoy your day!

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Meal Planning via Pinterest

  Every two weeks, I do a big grocery shopping trip. The day before I go, I sit down & plan my menu for the coming two weeks. I look in my freezer & fridge to see what I have on hand & try to incorporate those things into my meals to save on costs. Why buy extra ingredients when you already have some on hand?

  Since discovering Pinterest, I've come across a whole new world of delicious looking recipes. This week, I've decided to put some of those yummy looking dishes onto my meal plan. I told myself to stop dreaming of cooking & baking those fabulous recipes & start DOING it! I love to try new recipes. Love, love, LOVE! But I have stipulations for the recipes I pick.

• I have to know what all the ingredients are. Or at least be able to easily find out what they are. See, I'm willing to learn new things.
• The ingredients have to be easy to find. I don't want to have to run into 5 stores to do my shopping.
• They have to be somewhat easy to make. I don't do incredibly detailed recipes.
• They have to be ready in 1 hour tops! (Excluding crock pot recipes, of course.) I have a few exceptions to this rule, but they're pretty few & far between. I start cooking supper between 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. & we eat between 5:00 - 5:30. 

  So, when I look at a recipe with those conditions in mind, I can easily decide whether to make it or not. 

  As I said, this week I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. Wanna see what made my list? Here's my plan:

1) Hamburger soup (a recipe from one of my cookbooks) with Red Lobster biscuits

2) Cajun Chicken Pasta

3) Mini Frittatas & salad 

4) Lemon Chicken Breasts with roasted potatoes & salad

5) Bean & sausage soup (my own recipe) with homemade Crescent Rolls

6) Pizza (cuz a girl's gotta have one night off, right? *wink*)

7) Lentil Tacos

8) Greek Pasta Salad (my mom's recipe - I'll post it soon.)

Goodies / Extras for the lunch box, snacks, or desserts:

Best Ever Blueberry Muffins (a favourite recipe I've been making for years)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Chewy Granola Bars

  That's my plan & we'll see if I stick to it! ;) Most weeks I do, but there's the odd one that I veer from the path that I've laid out. I'll be sure to let you know how the recipes turn out. I usually divide new recipes into a few different categories:

• Make again
• Make often
• Don't bother making again

  You should see my cookbooks. Full of notes, they are. 

"So & so liked this one". 

"Blah. Don't bother with this one again." 

The favourite note that still makes me smile is on a soup recipe that my mom made when I still lived at home. It says, "This soup ROCKS MY WORLD!" Truly. I still make it & it's a family favourite. :)

  Have you tried any recipes you've found on Pinterest lately? What were they? How did they turn out - would you make them again?

Enjoy your day!

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