I always thought I wanted a clean white kitchen, but then I came across this while searching for kitchen chandeliers. I want to put a tiny one above my kitchen sink.
It looks like that’s a 6 burner stove…no, wait…I am pretty sure it’s 8! The backsplash behind the stove is lovely. I think that there’s a wine fridge under what appears to be a microwave.
The butcher block island is enormous! Oh, the prep work I could accomplish there.
The sink has one of those pull down sprayers. I might even start to like washing dishes with that.
High ceilings, white chandeliers, clean lines, a wall of windows, plenty of room for mingling, glass front cabinets. I want this kitchen.
There are not many combinations more perfect than peanut butter and chocolate. When I came across this recipe as I was flipping though The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook I immediately stopped and added the ingredients to my grocery list.
There is no baking required and therefore no need to turn on your oven, which is nice for me. It’s been over 100°F most days this summer.
I changed a few things about the assembly of this pie to make it a little simpler. If you read the recipe from the cookbook you notice that the assembly requires some marbling of the caramel, peanut butter and cream cheese mixture. I just put a layer of caramel on top of the crust and then mixed the peanut butter in with the cream cheese. This seemed to be a fine way to assemble the pie, maybe just not as pretty as the marbling would have been.
I highly recommend putting the peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer prior to chopping. This makes life, cutting boards, knives and hands, much cleaner.
As you might have noticed, there is not much sugar in the filling. I was a little worried about this, but it was perfect. Who am I to doubt Magnolia Bakery? Combined with the cookie crust, caramel and peanut butter cups it is just wonderful and not overly sweet.
One of my new guilty pleasures are those Reese’s Minis, and I happen to have a stash of them in the fridge (where I must keep any chocolate with it being so hot this time of year.) I halved the minis and chopped some unsalted peanuts for the topping. If I were feeling really crazy I might use salted peanuts as a nice salty contrast. Something else that might be interesting would be using some of the white chocolate Reese’s…I think it could work. Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Icebox Pie
From The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
Ingredients
Crust
1 stick butter
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
Filling
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (1 pint) heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
6-8 regular peanut butter cups, chopped
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup caramel sauce
Garnish
Handful of chopped peanut butter cups
Handful of chopped peanuts
Directions
Crust
Combine butter and cookie crumbs in a bowl until crumbs are evenly coated.
Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Filling
Beat cream cheese until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, then beat in peanut butter and vanilla.
Whip the cream in a separate bowl, then fold gently into the cream cheese mixture.
Fold in the peanut butter cups.
Assembly
Remove the crust from the freezer.
Spread the caramel on the bottom of the crust, then spread the filling over the caramel and smooth the top.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 8 hours, or overnight.
To serve, garnish with peanut butter cups and peanuts.
Recently I made these blackberry pie bars again. The recipe is from Rebecca Rather’s cookbook The Pastry Queen. Buy it. This time around I found the bottom crust to be a little on the thick side, and there was an awful lot of filling. These bars are so substantial that they are best eaten from a plate with a fork. These are one of the best things you will ever put in your mouth. Ever. They are just really decadent and I thought it would be nice to have the same flavors, but in a bar that was a little easier to eat.
So, with some extra berries I decided to make the bars again with a thinner crust, and less filling. Since I only had a small bag of frozen blackberries I used a combination of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. A total of 4 cups of any berries would do. As with the Pastry Queen’s recipe, thaw and drain any frozen berries that you’re using.
I found these bars to be much easier to just pick up and eat. There are tons of things you could do with these. Use different combinations of berries, maybe use peaches, add some ground pecans, almonds or walnuts to the crust and/or crumb topping or even play with spices…cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomom. Oh, the sweet and delicious possibilities! I might try a small batch in an 8×8 pan so that I can try more of these variations without having too many extra goodies around the house.
I find these to be extra special served with a small (or maybe a rather large) scoop of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Mixed Berry Bars
Adapted from Rebecca Rather’s Blackberry Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust and Topping
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold butter, cup into cubes
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, regular or light
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
4 cups berries (any combination you like, make sure to thaw and drain any frozen berries)
Directions
For the crust and topping:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
Combine the flour,sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until fully combined. Add the butter to the flour mixture and process until the butter is evenly distributed,but the mixture is still crumbly.
Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes,or until it is golden brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes.
Filling:
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl,
Add the sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the berries.
Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top.
Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour,or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.
When it rains it pours when it comes to leftovers in our house. Last night, for example, we had 3 different choices for dinner using leftovers. It can get a little boring when its the same meal that’s just been reheated. Leftovers are a lot more bearable when you can make something new out of them. This is what I did with some leftover turkey from Rudy’s BBQ. Mmm. Rudy’s.
Along with the turkey I had barbecue sauce, tortillas, shredded Mexican blend cheese, half of a red onion, and half of a red bell pepper, all left over from other meals. Since this was kind of a last minute dinner and I wasn’t sure exactly how it was going to turn out, I didn’t really measure anything. If you’re not comfortable with that kind of cooking, this is a great way to start. The best way to get better at cooking without a recipe is to practice. Just use your judgement and use what you like. If you have barbecued brisket or chicken instead, then use those. I used a Mexican blend of shredded cheese, but cheddar, monterey jack, or pepper jack would all work. If you don’t like onions, don’t use them. If you like green bells instead, use those.
I’ve learned that when making quesadillas, like pizza, do not overdo it on the fillings (toppings for pizza). It can be a mess to flip over, and if the filling to crunchy tortilla ratio is off, they aren’t as tasty. Also, make sure to get your pan hot and use some kind of fat (butter is best in my opinion) even if its just a little bit. It makes for a much crunchier exterior. Enjoy!
Barbecue Quesadillas
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
6 flour tortillas
2-4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2-2 cups chopped barbecued turkey (brisket or chicken)
3-5 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1-2 cups shredded cheese
sour cream (optional)
Directions
Mix the turkey with the barbecue sauce, adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the meat is lightly coated. (Add more if you like.)
Heat a skillet over medium heat.
Lay out half of your tortillas and begin evenly layering cheese, turkey, onions, bell peppers and more cheese. Top with another tortilla.
Melt some butter (I use between 1/4 and 1/2 tablespoon) in the hot skillet. Carefully transfer one quesadilla to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes until the bottom is nicely browned.
Spread a little more butter on the top tortilla before flipping, being careful not to let too many toppings escape.
Cook for another 3-4 minutes until the other side is browned and the cheese has melted. Transfer to a plate.
Repeat with the other quesadillas. You can keep these warm in a 200°F oven on a cookie sheet.
Cut into quarters and serve with sour cream if desired.
You might call them magic cookie bars, or maybe seven layer bars. Whatever you call them they are quite good.
These bars require no mixing. Just a little crushing of graham crackers, melting of butter and then layering of ingredients. A mere 25 minutes in the oven and they’re done. This is a great last minute dessert. If you don’t have pecans, then you can use walnuts. You could probably even use peanuts, honey roasted might just be amazing. Yum. If you don’t have chocolate chips you could use white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or a combination. You can also use margarine if you don’t have butter. But who doesn’t have pounds of butter in their fridge at all times? Crazy people. That’s who. Enjoy!
Hello Dolly Bars
Ingredients
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
Directions
Pour melted butter in bottom of a 9×13 pan.
Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter followed by pecans, chocolate chips and coconut.
When spring and summer arrive there is a need for fresh and light side dishes to serve with all of your freshly grilled foods. This quinoa recipe is perfect next to fajitas, fish tacos, chicken, steak, or all by itself. It is even better after sitting in the fridge overnight. So, you can make it the day before and make getting the meal on the table easier. Or you can make more than you need and have leftovers. I’ve had this for lunch the past two days and it is so nice not to have to prepare anything and still get something really nutritious.
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a really amazing food. It is loaded with protein. It has a good amount of fiber and it is gluten free. It is also incredibly simple to prepare. It takes about as long as white rice, and is much better for you. The downside to quinoa is that is is a bit pricey. I paid $6 for a 1 pound bag.
This recipe came from My Kitchen Addiction. Here is the link. As with most recipes I try for the first time, I followed this one almost exactly. Here are my minor changes.
I used a can of corn instead of fresh.
I cut back the olive oil by 1 tablespoon with fine results.
I substituted honey for the agave syrup since that is not something I have in my pantry.
The second time I made this, a mere week later, I added some dried oregano and a dash of cumin.
This is a great salad that I’m going to play with some more. The possibilities seem almost endless! I might try a quinoa salad with diced cucumber, red onion, tomatoes, feta, fresh parsley, mint and a vinaigrette of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and Greek oregano…quinoa tabouli! Yum.
Southwest Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
(or about 2 cups cooked black beans)
3 ears of steamed corn, cut off the cob
(or 2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed OR 1 can, drained)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (about half a cup)
1 lime, zested then juiced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
While quinoa is cooking, combine beans, corn, red onion, red bell peppers and cilantro in a large bowl.
For the vinaigrette, whisk oil, vinegar, honey, lime juice and zest, spices and salt and pepper to taste.
Combine cooked quinoa with vegetables, then mix in vinaigrette. Serve room temperature or refrigerate.
