Recipe: Sugar Creme Pie!

Growing up in the small town that I did, every time we would go to Indiana for any reason, my mom made sure that we stopped by Mrs. Wick's for sugar crème pies. They were always amazing and we always looked forward to them. When my parents divorced and we left Ohio to come to Colorado, my mom would often order a case of sugar crème pies from Mrs. Wick's to be sent to us. Sometimes the family would chip in some money for the shipping of the case, and we would enjoy them together, but as most good traditions...this one fell off the face of the earth.

As I was on... you guessed it... Pinterest, I found a recipe for sugar crème pie. I looked at the woman's blog and she was talking about Mrs. Wick's pies too! Holy cow, small world! I didn't bother reading the recipe or reading anything past that point. I immediately pinned it for later. Little did I realize that later would come so soon! Of course, I would have to order the vanilla bean paste before making it, but as soon as it arrived...I made some pie!

Mike and I got together with some friends this past weekend and I was told to bring dessert. I brought my chocolate bread bites with marshmallow and the first attempt of this pie. The pie was a big hit and it was gone!

Yesterday, I made it again, but this time, I tweaked the recipe, converting it to gluten-free so that if it tasted good, I could give it to my mom who has celiac. Turns out...whether from the gluten-free flour or because I changed how I mixed things up, the second attempt was better than the first!

I foresee this pie in my future often!


Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (or GF  all purpose flour, such as Jules)
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup cold buttermilk

For the filling:

2 cups sugar
3/4 cups all purpose flour (or GF all purpose flour, such as Jules)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
fresh nutmeg for garnish (optional)


For your crust, in a large bowl, add flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Cut butter into small cubes and toss into your flour mixture. Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour coating it all, and creating disks or flakes. All pieces should be rough in size, but thin enough to become a pie crust.
Slowly pour in the cold buttermilk, tossing the flour mixture until it is evenly dampened. Carefully knead just a few times until the dough comes together. It might be slightly shaggy or compact...this is okay! Press dough into the shape of a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or longer.

When you are ready to make your pie, preheat the oven to 450*.
On a slightly floured surface, roll pie dough into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Carefully transfer crust to a 10 inch pie plate and crimp edges as desired. (It didn't say about whether to spray the plate or not, but I did with non stick spray)

For filling, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk buttermilk, milk, flour, vanilla bean paste, sugar and egg together. Pour into prepared uncooked pie crust. Using your fingers, leave small dabs of butter on top of your pie.

Bake pie for 10 minutes at 450*. Reduce temp to 350* and continue baking for 30-40 minutes (or longer, in my case) until pie has set in the center and only jiggles slightly.

Refrigerate until cold. Serve chilled, or warm like my mother used to. You can top with fresh berries or freshly grated nutmeg.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers Wrapped in Bacon

When Mike saw that I had pinned this on Pinterest, he came up to me and said that he had been drooling over a few recipes that I've been pinning. He told me that he really wanted to try this one in particular. So, when we went to the store to get our normal groceries, I wrote the ingredients down for this so that we could begin experimenting.

This was one tasty experiment! And we will be making them again!

My one hiccup that I ran into while making these, as I checked on them in the oven (You can bake them or grill or smoke them), the bacon had unraveled and the cheese filling began to seep out from the jalapeno. So, I grabbed my toothpicks...what few I had left and secured them together.

This was our dinner that night, and it was super good!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
10 jalapeno peppers
10 bacon slices, cut in half (I think next time, I won't cut them in half)
10 mini sausages or smokies
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
1 teaspoon chipotle powder (I think it could use more)
2 shallots, minced (I didn't use any and it still turned out amazing!)

Slice the peppers lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and membrane. If using bell peppers instead, quarter them after seeding.

Mix the cream cheese, jack cheese, chipotle powder and shallots. Fill the hollowed out portion of the peppers with the cheese mixture.

Place the sausage on top of the cheese and wrap the bacon around the jalapeno. Use toothpicks to secure them if they will not stay on tightly!

Bake in the oven at 425* for 20-30 minutes or until the bacon is brown.
Grill them on medium high heat until bacon is browned and pepper is tender.
Smoke in the smoker at 225* for 2-3 hours or until bacon is browned.

Enjoy!

May May Be Busy

 

 

Hello everyone!

I cannot believe that May is already almost over! What the heck happened?!

 

Let me see what I can update you on...

 

 

Earlier in the month, my family had a little shindig, which Mike and I were not invited to, so we didn't go, but after hearing how some things went down, I was upset and wanted to head to the Springs. Unfortunately, I would have to wait, as everyone had plans during the time I was going to show up, so I waited.

 

On the Friday before Mother's Day, I headed to the Springs to see my mom and just spend some time with her before the little get together for Mother's Day. I packed that Friday morning and was running around the house, making sure that I was gathering everything that I was remembering to bring with me. When I rounded the corner, I saw this...

"Mommy, don't go!"

 

Kitty was not happy to see the bag out of the closet again. He climbed onto my bag and gave me dirty looks the entire time I was gathering things. Eventually, he hopped off my bag and pouted in the spare room. He was really depressed that I was leaving, and I guess he was moping around the house the entire time I was gone. When I came home, he snubbed me for a few hours, but then cuddled with me at night, so all was forgiven. I know that he takes it hard when I leave, and I always feel guilty when I do, but...what can I do? I can't take him with me...and I know that Mike was here to keep him company and give him some reassurance. Mike said that Kitty would meow at him every night, and he would tell him that I wasn't coming home yet. Then the night before I was coming home, Kitty meowed and Mike told him I was returning in the afternoon tomorrow. Kitty seemed to be in better spirits after that.

 

The drive to the Springs was nice, aside from the crazy people who drive like idiots, but the roads were all clear. When I drove through Rabbit Ears Pass, I was driving through snow filled areas. The roads were still clear, but the snow was on the side of the road, throughout the landscape from Rabbit Ears Pass all the way to Idaho Springs...lots of snow.

As I was driving down I70, before Eisenhower Tunnels, I saw a stunning image of the mountains, and had to get a picture of them.

 

How I like to see snow...far away and off the roads!

 

 

When I arrived to the Springs, I had some alone time with my mom before my brother showed up. I tried to get him to go out to dinner with me, but since we couldn't agree on a place to go, we ended up calling it a night.

The next morning, my mom and I watched half of Bridesmaids, as my brother and his daughter showed up, so we had to put the movie away. I made some of the Chocolate Bread Bites for mom and we spent some time shopping and hanging out.

 

On Mother's Day, we met up with my mother's parents and one of her sisters for yogurt. My brother and his little family were there as well. We had our yogurt and we talked with them for a while. Willow played with bubbles, getting everyone with them.

 

I surprised the family by my being in the Springs, but hey, I was invited. I don't live in freaking China, so it's not like the drive down is going to be an inconvenience. Granted, I wouldn't come down every time there was an event going on, but I have people there that I was going to see, and I needed some things from stores there anyways. I have learned that the only time that I get invited to come down is through my mother and friends and that is all I need, I suppose. There's no reason to get upset over spilled milk, as the saying goes.

 

My mom had sent a text to both my brother and me informing us that she didn't want anything for Mother's Day. So I replied with a text of my own..."No money spent on you, got it." What she may not have realized was that I had already made her something. I have been doing a lot of crayon art projects and made her a painting. I also gave her one of the cards that I made and was selling at the craft shows. I know that she was not happy that I had a present for her, but I know she really liked what I gave her too. It's the little things that mean the most to me, and I'm happy to do it. She deserves the best, and if that is something homemade from the heart, then so be it.

 

I talked to my grandfather about a lot of different things, and discovered they were returning to Arizona for his health, but decided to stay in the Springs. It's kind of humorous as they were going to move back to AZ, but then decided to stay, but then couldn't find a place in the Springs on the side of town they wanted, so they decided to go to AZ....haha, I know, that's a mouthful to say! The latest update that I have gotten through numerous grapevines is that they have made an offer on a place in AZ that they like. It wasn't the perfect place they wanted, but this one is approved for the reverse mortgage that they wanted/needed? So, I am hoping all goes well for them and that the move will be a permanent one for his health.

 

One of the shopping trips that my mother and I made was to a craft store. I picked up more canvas for my crayon art and some materials to make a dishwasher magnet. I had seen a couple of neat designs for a dishwasher magnet, and figured that Mike and I could benefit with one, as Mike usually has a hard time finding out when the dishes are clean or dirty, so I made one. I think it turned out really well, and since using it, Mike has stated that he now knows when they are dirty and clean because the magnet tells him so!

 

Not too shabby!

 

When I was making the magnet, I realized that in my head, I was thinking the letters would be in calligraphy. One small hiccup...I don't know how to write in calligraphy style. So, I pulled up a letter map on my phone and drew with a pencil on a piece of paper each letter that I needed, then traced it once it was finished. I thought it turned out pretty well for not writing with a calligraphy pen, or knowing how to do it.

 

I met up with the girls for dinner one night and spent some time talking to them. It was nice to catch up and see them again. I know that we have a lot of ideas to get together again soon, and I so look forward to it! Hopefully, I can convince them to head out my way once or twice this summer for spending time out here, but we shall see!

 

On my last day in the Springs, I met up with a dear friend that I worked with at Checks Unlimited and she became like my second mother. She gave me lots of advice as I grew older and pushed me in ways that I needed to be pushed. I became the person I am, partly because of her. It had been 8 years since I've seen her and it was nice to catch up with her again. Mike wanted to meet her as well, but because of the day that we were meeting with her, he was unable to make a trip down. We have plans in the works to get together again soon, so that Mike can meet her. 

 

After spending about five days in the Springs, I headed home. The roads were still completely clear and the snow was disappearing. When I got home, I unloaded the car with everything that I had picked up from the stores as well as my things, and when Mike got home, we went out to dinner.

 

Poor Mike has been suffering from a nasty cold/allergy for a while. Last night was the worst night I've seen him suffer since I've gotten home. I don't know what to do for him, as it really is just a cold. I think lots of rest and fluids will help.

 

A couple of days after returning home, we had code enforcement on our steps. I shook my head, letting out a couple of curses as I was remembering how it was back in the Springs when our jerk of a neighbor would call his buddy in code enforcement to tell us that our weeds were taller than 6 inches. Of course, taking our ruler outside to measure our weeds, they were just barely taller than 6 inches. Anyways...once the guy left the property, I headed outside to grab the slip he left us. Turns out that our half acre lot was littered with Dalmatian Toadflax. It's a noxious weed. Of course, Mike and I had no clue what it was. With the slip the man left us, was a flyer for a weed removing/pest management company. On it was pictures of 7 Noxious Weeds. The one we were dinged with was also on it. Of course, the pictures have yellow flowers on it. I looked outside to see our bush with yellow flowers on it, and I'm thinking, "If he thinks our bush is this weed...this is stupid!"

So, I call Mike, who called me back and I explain the situation. He told me to look at google images to see if I can get a better picture, and agreed with me to call the number on the flyer to have the people come out and take a look to see if it was the bush or if there was something else we weren't seeing. I hop on google images and I see this picture...

Dalmatian Toadflax...Noxious Weed, Pain in the Arse

 

I see this image and look outside again. I now see why code enforcement was at our step. The whole country is littered with them! So, I go outside and start to pull some out. Of course, the ground is dry and it's hard to get them out. After doing a grid of 5x5, which took me about 30-45 minutes to do, I headed back inside, out of the sun and heat and called the number on the flyer. As luck would have it, the company was open Monday through Thursday...this happened on Friday. So, I would have to wait until Monday to call. In the meantime, we were getting rainstorm after rainstorm.

 

Saturday, I was invited to a friend's house for breakfast, and it was a lot of fun. After a couple hours hanging out and talking, and when there was a break in the rainstorm, I headed home and began to clean and organize our garage and basement. Now, what I forgot to mention earlier/above, when I was in the Springs, my niece and I were playing. She would knock me down, giving me a knee to the ribcage and then would help me up, only to knock me down again. (she's two, by the way). When she knocked me down, I grabbed her before she could run away and I lifted her a couple of times, like a bench press before releasing her. What I didn't realize at the time, was that by doing that with her, I created several micro-tears in my shoulder. Certain movements would cause pain in my left shoulder, and of course, it just needs time to heal by doing light duty activities...

Now, with that in mind, I start cleaning and organizing our garage and basement with this hurt shoulder. Mike gave me a small lecture about light duty, but as I explained to him, I want to have some down time, to have fun playing games with him, and not having to worry about all of the things around the house that has to be done.

During my cleaning in the garage, I didn't run into any issues, aside from some old moldy boxes that I threw away, but I knew the basement was going to be a different story. As I started moving things and cleaning, I moved a blanket that was used to keep pictures safe, and I see movement. I groaned and cringed, just knowing what was under the blanket. Of course, I was holding one of my swords as I was using it to move the blanket around. As I got it turned over, I saw what was moving and cringed again. Black widow spider, sitting on the blanket. Ugh! I freaking hate spiders, and it's even worse when you know how dangerous they can be! I grabbed a shoe that Mike left by the back door and used it to kill the bugger numerous times. Ugh! Double ugh!

After running into that wonderful surprise, I continued on my quest to clean and organize the basement. As soon as I pulled out on of the big boxes that cannot be broken down, to use to place more boxes inside, I pulled back the flap to see a big wolf spider. AH!

I grabbed the bug killer that was sitting on the stairs and sprayed it until it was sopping wet, and of course, I was coughing from the fumes, and then I slammed the flap down onto the full box several times, making sure to kill the spider. Once I was satisfied that it was dead, I put the box into the garage, just to be safe that no more eight legged friends could surprise me like that again...If you haven't guess, I hate spiders! I don't care how big or small, how harmless...you come into my house, you die. Plain and simple. Of course, I know our unfinished basement has a lot more than what I saw, and I hate the basement for that reason. I need to figure a way to keep them out of the house!

 

Anyways...so on Monday, I call and leave a message for the weed people, and Mike went to have his eye appointment as well as a couple other errands. I started making some gluten free pudding from scratch when I hear him come home. In his hands, he is holding coffee for the two of us. It made my morning. Once we finished making lunch and the pudding, we played some games and just enjoyed having a nice down day, which we both really needed!

The day went by, no return phone call from the weed people. Okay, we are on a time crunch, people! I'm not sure if it is a small town thing or what, but we have had issues with calling people/companies and not getting any sort of reply or if we set up an appointment, they don't show up or call that they aren't coming! Mike got himself a free membership with Angie's List because no one here had one. So, he's been writing reviews on places!

 

Anyways, so because we are pressed for time, and no one called, I got up yesterday and headed outside to start my project of pulling those stupid weeds. It would have been nice if the deer would just eat them, but I guess they know that those weeds are noxious and not good for them. As I opened the garage to head outside, I noticed something moving quickly into the garage, and I looked down, heart beating fast. I laughed as I saw what was just booking it to get inside. I thought something was after the little guy, but he was just on a mission!

Walking with Purpose!

I took the little guy back outside, where he was determined to head back towards the house again. I scolded him again as I placed him further from the house. I'm sure he found his way back to the house and in the garage, but I was busy working in the yard to keep tabs on him.

 

So, I started where I left off the other day, and it helped that the ground was still slightly wet from all of the storms we were getting. 6 hours and some sunburns later, I finished pulling the numerous weeds out and bagging them. As my luck would have it, as soon as I plopped the bags by the road, weed guy calls me. I didn't answer, and he left a message. I was so angry! I think it's just stupid that this would happen.

This morning, I am walking like an old man. My legs are stiff and hurting, after doing squats for 6 hours, I guess that's just what happens!

 

I forgot to mention earlier, but I picked up a small window herb garden so that Mike and I can have some basil for pesto, and they are starting to sprout! I'm so excited to see that they are growing! I was doubting the window planter, as it was something that I picked up at Barnes & Noble, but I guess they are doing well. They will take a while before growing to full size, but at least they are growing!

 

When I was in the Springs, Mike texted me to tell me that our garbage disposal wasn't working. We both decided that it was time to just replace the kitchen sink and faucet and look into replacing the disposal and getting a water purifier installed as well. We've picked out the sink and faucet, but we are still working on getting this in the works. I think tomorrow we have a guy coming out to look at the sink and pipes for the purifier. Depending on what happens, I guess will depend on how much longer it will take to replace. I'm looking forward to having them fixed and in better condition than what we currently have.

 

I've made a lot of new things, and I have posted the recipes already. I've got a few other things that I am going to be trying soon, so keep a look out for those.

 

Um...I'm not sure what else, and I'm sure that I've left some details out, but I'm all over the place today!

 

I've been keeping up on my writing and reading, and have been getting a lot of great feedback! It's been helping me perfect my skill and continue with the works for publishing!

 

Well, I think that's it...

 

Until next time!











Recipe: Triple Chocolate Pudding - GLUTEN FREE!

I have been experimenting with a lot of different Gluten-Free recipes. This one is a keeper for sure! It was pretty simple to make, and was an instant hit for Mike and me! I have never made pudding from scratch, and was unsure of how it was going to turn out, but OH MY LORD! This is amazing! There were some consistency issues, but I think that was my fault for not stirring constantly, even though the recipe told me not too! I think it would have helped if I had a whisk too! Oh well...still tasty and amazing!

Ingredients:

3 cups Almond Breeze Chocolate Almond Milk, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a large saucepan, whisk together 1 cup almond milk, and the cornstarch.
Pour in remaining almond milk. Add the sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. String the mixture so that it doesn't stick to the pan. Whisk occasionally.
Add the chocolate and continue to stir until it melts. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring until it begins to thicken.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour pudding into cups or bowl. Allow cups to cool. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to allow it to set.

Enjoy!

Recipe: King's Hawaiian Baked Ham & Swiss Sandwich Casserole

Once again, I found a recipe on Pinterest, but as soon as I went to make it, I couldn't access the actual recipe. I think the site was down, as I remember reading the recipe beforehand, so who knows?

I was fortunate enough to have pinned this recipe from someone who listed the ingredients, including amounts in the description, so I just had that to go off of...but that's it. No oven temperature, or directions on how to accomplish this meal.

Lucky for me, I'm not stupid in the kitchen and I can figure things out pretty easily!

Mike really loved this meal. I think it was a little bland, but after adding some Sriracha, it was good! I think it needs some tweaking for me, but as far as the hubby goes, he was satisfied and that's all that matters!

Ingredients:

12 King's Hawaiian Original Rolls (We got a 24 pack, and used more than 12)
1 pound deli ham (We used black forest ham, sliced at about a 3)
1 pound Swiss cheese (We got it at the deli, sliced at a 3 as well)
1 1/2 sticks butter
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons poppy seeds (optional)
1 onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 350*.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add mustard, Worcestershire and onion to the butter. Mix until onions start to become soft.
Cut the rolls, separating the tops from the bottoms.
Grease a 9-13 pan and lay the bottoms of the rolls in the pan. (This is where we used more than 12, as the pan needed more to accommodate the empty pan space).
Pour half of the sauce over the top of the bottoms of the rolls. Place cheese and ham, followed by more cheese on top of the sauce. Place the tops of the rolls on top, and pour remaining sauce over the top of the whole dish.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn

On one of my many days of sitting next to Mike while he plays a game on the Playstation and pinning on Pinterest, I stumbled upon a recipe that sounded amazing! We eat popcorn frequently, and there have been many nights that Mike had been craving his caramel popcorn, but couldn't remember his recipe (the one that is just tossed together but comes out tasty). When I saw this recipe, I thought this would be a good one to try...of course, the downside came when I went to make it...

The recipe wasn't a recipe. I've run into this problem several times when I've tried to make things on Pinterest. Either the link that is provided is no longer there, or it's by people who just list the basics of what goes into it, but nothing else...for example, this one read something like this:
"Popped popcorn, butter, brown sugar and marshmallows.". Um...that's great and all...but not helpful to anyone trying to actually make it.

Some people just don't get that if you're going to write a recipe for people to try, you have to write it all...maybe that's just me being too nice in the culinary world? =)

So...moving on...this was a really tasty treat, and I will be making it again, and tweaking it some more, but for now...this was really good!

Ingredients:
Popped popcorn (We have an air popcorn maker, so...I guess however you can get it is good and however much you want!)

2-4 tablespoons butter
2-4 tablespoons brown sugar
2-3 large marshmallows

Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-medium high heat. Once it has melted, add marshmallows and stir until it is melted. It will be runny. Pour over popped popcorn and toss to try and coat the pieces (this will be tough).

Enjoy!

Recipe: Chocolate Bread Bites (Gluten Free!)

After making and improving the Brazilian Cheese Bread Bites, and because I had a ton of Tapioca Flour left over, I started to wonder how this recipe would be if I made them in a chocolate form! Oh my goodness! I haven't had a better idea yet!
I used the base of the original recipe (excluding the cheese, of course) and I added chocolate chips and bits of marshmallows. Now, the first batch that I made, was okay, but was feeling like it was still lacking something. So, before I put in the second part of the first batch, I added bits of marshmallow and it was amazing! Top it off with some whipped cream and you're in Heaven!
The second batch that I whipped up, I did the same thing, except that I added some sugar and a little more of some of the other ingredients. I kept the marshmallow bits and with only two of the bites, I added a bit of caramel. The possibilities of these sweet treats are endless! I foresee making these over and over again!
Now, I can teach my mom how to make these and spread the joy!

Ingredients:

1 egg, room temperature
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cup tapioca flour (order online or grab at the local health food store)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or your choice of chips)
2-4 teaspoons sugar
1 large marshmallow, cut into bits (might need 2 depending)
whipped cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 400*. Grease a mini muffin pan and set aside.
Mix together egg, oil, milk, flour, salt, vanilla, sugar and chocolate chips in the blender. (Again, not a typo).
Blend until most of the chocolate chips are no longer visible or tiny bits.
Pour half way into each tin. Add a piece of marshmallow in the center of each tin.
Bake for 16 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Just before eating, place some whipped cream on top and enjoy!

Note:* Best eaten warm! Pop them into the microwave for 5 seconds.
Marshmallow bits are just a suggestion. You can try adding the caramel bits (bakes the same), or use marshmallow or add some chocolate chips on top of the batter...choices are endless!

Enjoy!