Dill Dip

I got a Kindle for Jeff for Christmas this year. He spends a disproportionate amount of his time in motel rooms waiting to get called back to work. And he reads like nothing you have ever seen. We have books all over the house and they were starting to plot their takeover. He loved it and hasn't put it down yet.

So he got me one for Mother's Day. 

I can't honestly say I love it as much as Jeff does, but I don't have any complaints about it, either. What I have become obsessed with is the free books that Amazon offers. Every few days I go a little crazy and download about ten books simply because they don't cost me anything. I have 153 books on my Kindle right now, some of which I am looking at right now and more than a little perplexed as to why I have it, even if it WAS free. 

One day, it was cookbooks. Free cookbooks? Yes, please.

In one of those cookbooks (I think it was the Circle of Friends, but I can't seem to locate the recipe) was a recipe for Dill Dip. When we visited my very pregnant sister last month, we spent a lot of time eating, and this was one of the snacks we decided to try. 

Add lemon juice, dried parsley, dill, dried sage and dried garlic to two cups of sour cream.

Mix it all up and serve with vegetables and crackers. This can be served immediately, but it gets better if you let all the flavors blend together for a few hours.

This was terrific. It is so muggy in Tennessee that you seriously can't even breathe. This dip is the perfect counteraction to that. It is light and tangy and goes with anything you have on hand. My brother-in-law went nuts over it. It worked really well as a sandwich spread, too.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Dill Dip

2 Cups Sour Cream

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley

1 1/2 Tablespoon Dill Weed, minced

2 teaspoons Dried Sage

1 teaspoon Dried, Minced Garlic

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well, cover and chill.

Orange Creamsicle Fruit Dip

The Boy was playing a computer game today and at the end, the little cartoon girl made fruit kabobs with apples. He was excited. We had to go to the grocery store and get red and green apples RIGHT NOW.

Luckily, I apples (and strawberries, a pineapple and two colors of grapes) on hand.

My kids eat a LOT of fruit.

So fruit kabobs it was.

But I wanted dip to go with it. It's just been that kind of a summer.

There are a lot of different mixtures into which you can dip fruit. I found this one over at Madigan's kitchen. The orange part of it intrigued me. The Boy has been downing orange juice like nothing else, so I figured he would go for this.

And it was easy.

And I had all the ingredients on hand. So there was nothing holding me back.

Mix the pudding and whipped topping together. And next time, for goodness sake, help The Poor Girl get all of her fingernails painted.

Stir in the orange juice.

Spend the rest of your day cutting up fruit and pound cake and skewering them onto kabobs. Unless your Boy insists, just skip this part and put all the fruit a bowl. My Boy insisted. That was the whole point of this snack, after all.

This was yummy. The orange went really well with every fruit we dipped it in. We had some left over and took it camping the next day. We didn't bring any back.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Orange Creamsicle Fruit Dip

1 8 oz Container Whipped Topping

1 Small Package Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

6 oz Orange Juice 

Fruit for dipping (strawberries, mango, grapes, pineapple, etc)

Mix the first three ingredients together. Add a little more orange juice to thin out to desired consistency, if needed. Wash, cut and prep the fruit. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Cinnamon Butter

Can you believe it's 2011? Have you decided on your resolutions? I have two. I had three, but didn't want to go overboard, you know. My abandoned resolution was to eat healthier. A couple things stood in my way.

First, we eat pretty good here anyway. I have been so lucky to have kids who aren't afraid of vegetables. So I really wasn't too worried about our diet to begin with. It just seemed like the type of resolution you should make.

Second, I discovered how to make my own cinnamon butter. There is no way I could in good conscious pledge to eat healthy when I know this exists.

Half a stick of butter, two tablespoons powdered sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Whip this together.
Spread on homemade bread.
Oh my. Or, if you are really feeling indulgent...

Spread this onto pancakes...

I will never be without this again.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Cinnamon Butter

1/2 Cup Butter

2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Whip all ingredients until light and fluffy. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Homemade Granola

I love Tina's blog. She makes so many things that sound so good to me. I like granola bars, but I have never been tempted to eat granola just as a snack by itself. I can be really dumb sometimes. I have noticed lately I have been drawn to foods that are supposed to be really healthy. This just looked so good that I had to try it.

Melt the butter. I love butter. Butter makes everything better.

Once the butter melts, add in the honey and salt. Heat this until you get a foamy mixture.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, wheat germ, cinnamon, brown sugar and all the other stuff you want in your granola. This is where it gets fun. Like dried fruit? Add in a half a cup. Nuts? What kind? I like almonds, but you might prefer pecans. The spices can be mixed up, too. I occasionally add in a half a teaspoon of nutmeg.
Add in the butter and honey and mix well.
Spread all of that goodness into a baking pan. And bake for about 10 minutes. Watch this closely. You are going for toasted here, and there is a very fine line between toasted and burned.
Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Stir it up and let it cool completely.

Wow. I love this. I have been eating yogurt for breakfast simply as an excuse to eat granola. I eat this by the spoonful. I think my husband might be worried. If this isn't good for you, for heaven's sake, don't tell me.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Homemade Granola

3 1/2 Cups Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats

1 stick + 1 tablespoon Butter

1/2 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Wheat Germ

1/2 Cup almond pieces

1/2 Cup Almond Slivers

1/2 - 1 Cup Dried Fruit

Melt butter in a 3 - quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt and briefly heat with the butter until foamy and bubbly. In a separate bowl mix together the oatmeal, wheat germ, nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon sugar if adding dried fruit add them as well. Turn off the heat and add the oatmeal mixture. Stir until everything is coated. Pour the mixture onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread the mixture out evenly and pat down. Bake it at 375° for 10 minutes (watch carefully) It will be a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes using a spatula or flipper slide it under the granola to loosen it a bit so it does not stick. Let cool on the baking sheet about 30 minutes then break into pieces and store in an airtight container

Pumpkin Pastries

I love the world of Harry Potter. It's one of the few books I can read over and over again. Since the next to last movie is coming out next month, I figured I'd better re-read the series so I remember what was going on. On his first trip on the Hogwart's Express, Harry buys something called Pumpkin Pastries from the witch's snack cart. I never really gave it much thought until I came across this recipe from Jenny. I firmly believe that these are the snacks they serve on the train to Hogwarts.

Mix together pumpkin, eggs, cream, sugar and spices.

Use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter to cut out your puff pastry. You could just use circles if you really wanted to, but aren't these cute? Then brush the shapes with melted butter. Yes, that is a regular paintbrush I got at the hardward store.
Sprinkle these with your favorite cinnamon/sugar ratio. Notice I put these on parchment paper. I am becoming a huge fan of parchment paper.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin mixture onto the pastry. Spread this out so it is close to the edge, but not too close, about a quarter of an inch away should be fine.
Bake these for about 25 minutes. Jenny also drizzled hers with some melted chocolate, but ours didn't last long enough to get to that point.

These are so good, I can't even begin to describe it. It's like pumpkin pie, only better, which for me, is really something. They are incredible right out of the oven. I didn't get the chance to try this, but I think they would be really good right out of the fridge, too.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Pastries

1 Cup canned pumpkin
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
4 sheets (2 boxes) of puff pastry, thawed
3 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Melted chocolate for drizzling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the pumpkin, sugar, heavy cream, egg, cinnamon and nutmeg until creamy and well combined.
Place puff pastry onto a lightly floured countertop and cut out 4 pumpkins per sheet of pastry. Place pumpkin cut outs onto silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Brush each pumpkin lightly with butter then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Spoon about 2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie filling around center of pumpkins leaving 1/4 inch border around edges.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown on the edges and pumpkin pie is cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to cooling rack. Serve room temperature or chilled. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired before serving.
16 pumpkin pie tarts

Fruit Salsa

I know. It's been forever. And ever.

But, I am nearly certain that this post will make up for it :)

I have had this recipe stored in my cookbook for ages. I haven't a clue where I got it, only that I look at it from time to time and think, "I must try that someday."

Well, someday became today. I needed something to take to our family 4th of July get together. I was, of course, planning on taking in the Jalapeno Poppers, but everyone is apparently making them as not a single grocery store I went to had a single jalapeno pepper in stock. I may cry.

Chop a small container of strawberries, a half a small container of blueberries, 3 kiwis and 2 medium size peaches and add it all to a large mixing bowl. Mmmm...I could stop here.
Add 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 3 tablespoons strawberry preserves to the fruit.
Mix well. Oh my.
The recipe actually calls for you to make your own cinnamon chips out of tortillas. I was all for that until I realized I did not have the butter flavored cooking spray it called for. I made a quick trip to the grocery store to get some and what did I find?

Cinnamon graham crackers. And chocolate graham crackers. Maybe someday I will try to make my own, but these just sounded perfect.
And they are. I could eat this all day, every day for the rest of the summer. I could eat this with a spoon. The Boy IS eating it with a spoon. I had to put the container on the top shelf of the refrigerator so it wouldn't tempt anyone before we had to leave.

My version is heavily modified from the original for a couple reasons. The original called for golden apples instead of peaches. I forgot to add the apples to my grocery list, but had peaches on hand. In retrospect, I could have bought the apples in my emergency trip for butter spray, but it didn't occur to me. The original also called for raspberries instead of blueberries. Like the elusive jalapeno peppers, no raspberries were to be found this day. I truly believe you could add ANY fruit and be happy with it, so be creative and add what you like.

Happy Birthday America!

Cheesecake Dip

I think it's going to storm again. That coupled with the fact that it is Super Bowl Sunday, and I am a cooking maniac today. I couldn't decide what to make. I had several different recipes I wanted to try and so instead of spending wasted hours narrowing my selections down, I just made them all.

This dip comes from Mommy's Kitchen and it is a sweet dip in contrast to the savory dips we usually have. It is insanely delicious. The Girl ate it by the spoonful, completely ignoring the fact that a dip traditionally is, you know, dipped onto something. A cheesecake dip. Can't really go wrong there, can you?


Add a stick of butter to a block of cream cheese. Both should be at room temperature.
Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla.
Add in 3/4 cup powdered sugar. The second time I made this I accidentally added granulated, but in the end, it didn't make any difference. Your powdered sugar will mix in a little better. Warning!! DO NOT sample the mixture here! You will never get to the next step!
Mix in 3/4 mini chocolate chips.
Stir well. Tina says to refrigerate and then form into a ball. We didn't get that far.
Serve with graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, Scooby Snacks, vanilla wafers, what ever you have on hand.
Can you say "inhaled"??? Like I said, The Girl ate this with a spoon.

Click here for Printable Recipe


Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1 pkg. 8oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. brown sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers, vanilla wafers or animal crackers.
Beat softened cream cheese, butter and vanilla until creamy. Slowly add sugars until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Place mixture in a lidded container. Refrigerate for 1 -2 hours form into a ball. Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or animal crackers.

Taco Cups

Awhile back, someone brought these amazing sausage ranch won-ton appetizer things. I got the recipe and promptly lost it. So when it came time to make them for our Super Bowl get together, the only ingredient I really had was the won-tons. I thought I had sausage and I thought I had ranch mix. Turns out I didn't have either.

I had sent Jeff to the grocery store to get the won-ton wrappers and that was such an ordeal that I felt like I was obligated to make something with them. Apparently no one in our little hometown grocery store knew where they were stocked. Their place in the store is up on the top shelf of a refrigerator in the produce section. It's a good thing Jeff is so tall or he never would have located them.

I had hamburger and taco seasoning. So taco flavored it is.

Press a won-ton wrapper into a greased muffin cup.

Brown a pound of hamburger and add an envelope of taco seasoning. I also added in about a quarter cup of salsa. Add a spoonful of this mixture to the bottom of the muffin cup.

Top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheese.

Bake at 425 for about 5 minutes. It doesn't take much at all to cook won-tons.

Add a dollop of sour cream and a bit of chopped tomato and shredded lettuce.

I waited until I had all the filling in to remove them from the muffin pans. Just so the bottoms didn't fall out.

I ate three of these before I even called anyone in to try them. They nearly didn't make it until the company got here. Even The Girl ate these and she claims to hate tacos.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Mini Tacos

24 wonton wrappers
1 pound lean ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
2 tablespoons Salsa
4 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend
Sour cream
Chopped Tomato
Shredded Lettuce
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Press the wonton wrappers into 24 muffin-pan cups.
Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat. Stir in the taco seasoning mix and salsa. Spoon the beef mixture into the wonton cups. Top with cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until the wontons are golden brown and the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Okay, one more pumpkin recipe and I will move on. I found these in my Google Reader a week or so ago and knew I had to try them. I couldn't locate where I got the recipe, and a quick search did not turn up a blog that sounded familiar. As near as I can tell they seem to have originated with Martha Stewart. Figures. These look like something she would invent. Don't take that the wrong way. I love Martha.

I almost didn't make these, cute as they are, because the ingredients list is such that for anything but pumpkin and spice, I wouldn't even have considered it. Typically, the shorter the list, the more likely the recipe will make it into my box.

But I did try them.

And now we are all happy here.

Start with the spices and flour in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Let The Boy whisk this all together, even though you told him he had to get dressed first. Less laundry, you know.
While he is doing that, combine the brown sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl. The recipe calls for dark brown sugar. You could substitute light brown if that is all you have. I actually have dark in my cabinet because that is what is needed to make butterscotch pudding. I'll let you know how that turns out. I also substituted half of the oil with applesauce. Then add in the pumpkin puree.
Whisk that together and add in vanilla and an egg.
Mix well and add the flour mixture.
Use a small ice cream scoop to spoon the cookies onto a baking sheet. You can use a 1/8 measuring cup in place of the scoop if you don't have one. If you don't have one, put it on your Christmas list. Or just go buy one. These are great not only for projects like this, but you can actually use it to scoop out ice cream. My kids love having tiny little ice cream scoops in their bowl. It might even force you to moderate your ice cream intake. Not in my house, you understand, buy you might have more willpower than I do.
Bake these at 350 for about 15 minutes. I wasn't sure how far apart to space the scoops since I didn't know how much they would spread out. Now I know. They do not spread out. They turn out to be very thick cookies. Mmmm...
While these are cooling, start mixing up the frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese.

Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and cinnamon.
I love the addition of cinnamon to this...
Use a regular table spoon to dollop the filling onto the flat side of an upside down cookie. Do this fast, because children will come out of nowhere to sneak tastes of this stuff.
Top with another cookie. Odd number of cookies? No problem. You can use the extra cookie to scoop out the scraps in the filling bowl.
You are supposed to refrigerate these for 30 minutes before serving. I tried. A good number of them did not make it that far.

These are good. Really good. I need to go make another batch right now.

Even though I loved this version, I have also located a filling made with whipping cream. I must try that.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
3 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cloves
2 c packed dark-brown sugar
1 c vegetable oil
3 c pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Bean Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling
3 c powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, applesauce and oil until combined. Add the chilled pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add the flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are set, about 15 minutes.

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. When the cookies have cooled completely, spoon a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.