This is one of my absolute favorite desserts!  I was asked to bring dessert for our school teacher appreciation lunch on Thursday and I was wracking my brain on what to bring.  Something special but fairly easy…  and all of the sudden I remembered this one!  I don’t make it much in the winter, as strawberries aren’t in season, but now the timing is perfect – YEA!  Here’s the recipe (from Betty Crocker):

Crust
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg

Filling
1 cup white vanilla baking chips (6 oz)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
Topping
4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water
10 to 12 drops red food color, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 15×10x1- or 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

2. In small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips uncovered on High 45 to 60 seconds or until chips are melted and can be stirred smooth. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in melted chips until blended. Spread mixture over crust. Refrigerate while making topping.

3. In small bowl, crush 1 cup of the strawberries. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Stir in crushed strawberries and 1/3 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in food color. Cool 10 minutes. Gently stir in remaining 3 cups strawberries. Spoon topping over filling. Refrigerate 1 hour or until set; serve within 4 hours. Store covered in refrigerator.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 270 (Calories from Fat 120); Total Fat 13g (Saturated Fat 8g, Trans Fat 1g); Cholesterol 35mg; Sodium 150mg; Total Carbohydrate 34g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 24g); Protein 3g

When I was growing up, we would have Jello 1-2-3 (as in ONE, TWO, THREE not one hundred and twenty three).  It came in a package similar to Jello, but with a special “mystery” ingredient, I suppose, that made it set in 3 layers.  It was a family favorite, but alas they quit selling it. 

Flash forward to a few days ago.  I pulled a package of jello out to make my regular finger jello the kids love, when low and behold, a recipe for Jello 123!  So… we gave it a try!  It turned out as Jello 1-2-(maybe 3?)  It wasn’t the original third layer, that was essentially regular jello, back in the day.  But it kinda sort of had a 3rd layer if you looked really closely.  That didn’t bother me much since the middle layer is really my favorite layer anyway!

Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try.

Jello 1-2-3
3/4 boiling water
1 pkg. Sugar-Free Gelatin
Ice Cubes
1/2 c. cold water
1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip Lite

Add Boiling water to gelatin mix – stir 2 minutes – or until completely dissolved.  Pour into blender.  Add enough ice to the 1/2 c. cold water to measure 1 1/4 c.  Add to blender.  Blend 30 seconds.  Add Cool Whip – Blend until smooth.  Pour into 4 dessert dishes.  Refrigerate until firm. 

If you make it, let me know if you get 3 layers or not! 

C-

We did a bit of baking yesterday – as we had guests coming over for dinner.  We made the Cake Truffles in the last post, and also this Banana Cake.  This is dense & rich, but super yummy too! 

1/2 c. Flour
1 c. Coconut
1 c. Rolled Oats
3/4 c. Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Chopped Pecans
1/2 c. Butter
2 Large Ripe Bananas
1/2 c. Sour Cream
4 Eggs
1 Pkg. Yellow Cake Mix

Frosting:
4 oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 c. Softened Butter
2 t. Vanilla
2 c. Powdered Sugar
Enough Milk to Create a Glaze Consistency

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10” Bundt Cake Pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, coconut, rolled oats, brown sugar and pecans; mix well.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and well blended.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, sour cream, and eggs.  Blend until smooth.  Add cake mix, Beat 2 minutes.  

Spread 1/3 of batter in Bundt Pan, sprinkle with 1/3 of the coconut mixture.  Repeat layers two more times, using remaining batter and coconut mixture.  Ending with the coconut mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Cook in pan for 15 min.  Remove from pan.  Cool Completely. 

Once cake has cooled, drizzle on frosting.

Refrigerate Until Ready To Serve

C-

These were inspired from this post by Jennifer (MckMama) over at My Charming Kids.  She made Snow Pops, but since I didn’t have any sticks…  we went with “truffles”. 

Here’s the basic idea:

Bake a cake – any flavor – cool, and then crumble into a bowl (I know… so much for a perfectly good cake.)  We used Devil’s Food.

Mix in a can of frosting – I used the hand mixer.  (we used coconut pecan – like what you use on devil’s food cake).  Now you have almost cookie dough consistency.

Form into balls – I used my mini cookie scoop to make them.  Place on a cookie sheet.

Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

Melt chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave.  We used white bark, chocolate chips & white chocolate chips. 

Roll each cake ball in the chocolate and then return to the baking sheet.  (Mine kind of stuck to the pan… you might want to use wax paper to line the pan, or spray it with non-stick cooking spray. 

Top with sprinkles quickly before the chocolate dries. 

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. 

ENJOY!  We did!

C-

P.S. If you make these, send me some pictures!  There are so many fun ways these could turn out!  I would love to share some of your creations with my readers!  Send me a pic. and a link to your blog if you have one!

Almond Bars are one of my family’s favorite Christmas Cookies and they really are fairly easy as well – which makes them a winner all the way around.  I have often taken these to Christmas Cookie Exchanges and Christmas Parties.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! 

C-

Cookie Dough:  
  1/2 cup butter
  1 cup white sugar
  1 egg
  1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  2 teaspoons baking powder
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  1/2 cup sliced almonds
  2 tablespoons milk

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract; mix until fluffy. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; mix well.

Divide dough into 4 pieces, and roll each one into a log about 12 inches long. Place 2 logs per cookie sheet 4 to 5 inches apart. Flatten each roll by hand until it is about 3 inches wide. Brush flattened roll with milk and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. While the cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal, into slices about 1 inch wide. When cool, drizzle with almond icing.

Almond icing: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies.

This recipe is from my good friend, Lynn.  It has become a family favorite.  ENJOY!

C-

Glazed Meatballs

2 eggs
1 cups dry breadcrumbs
¼  cup finely chopped onions (or use dried)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼  teaspoon pepper
½  tablespoon salt
2 pounds lean ground beef

Combine all ingredients and shape into one-inch balls.  Makes about 6 dozen. 

Place in single layers in baking pans and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink.  May be frozen.

To serve: 
Make Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½  teaspoon garlic powder

Pour sauce over meatballs.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Or put the meatballs and sauce in the crock pot and cook on low for four hours.

It was lefse (lef-suh) making day at our house.  If you’re not Norwegian, you’re probably thinking – what on earth is that!  It is basically like a potato tortilla.  We always had lefse at Grandma Blanche & Olaf’s house, for the holidays, when I was growing up.  So after I got married, Matt & I took part in a special lesson from grandma to learn how to make it ourselves.  We haven’t made it for 4 years though, so it was definitely time to do it again!    Grandma is no longer with us on earth, but she would be proud today!  It was heartwarming to pull out the recipe, written in grandma’s handwriting, to make our lefse.

So how exactly do you make lefse?  Peel & wash a lot of potatoes…  I would start with 5 pounds if it is your first time. We did…  24 pounds.   Cut the potatoes in smaller pieces and boil until soft.  Drain.   Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Mix with a mixer – I use my Kitchen Aid, but you could use a hand mixer too.  Dump the mixed potatoes into a new bowl.  Measure the potatoes (1 cup at a time) back into the original mixing bowl.  (keeping track of how many cups you have)  Add 1 T. of shortening for each cup of potatoes you have as well as a bit of salt and pepper.  Mix until shortening is melted and well blended.  Place in refrigerator overnight.  The next day, mix in (with your hands – my husband wore plastic gloves this time and it seemed to work well) 1/2 c. flour per number of cups of potatoes you had.  Roll the potato mixture into golf ball size balls.  Place them in the refrigerator.  Cover a countertop with LOTS of flour.  (At this point, it goes much smoother if you have two people – one to roll, one to cook – an be prepared to be covered in flour)  Preheat an electric griddle (450 degrees – some don’t go that high – they actually sell lefse griddles – that’s what we have) or use a cast iron pan (we have that too – we used both at the same time today).  Take out a few potato balls at a time (the rest need to stay cold) and roll them out (one at a time) on the floured surface – make them fairly thin, but not so thin that you can’t get them to the griddle.  Using a spatula or long skinny stick (the traditional way – see picture below) transfer the rolled out potatoes to the grill.  Cook until small brown spots appear and then flip.  Then transfer to a cotton tea towel to cool.  After you have cooked a couple pieces of lefse, you will want to brush off the extra flour from your grill.  All in all it is a long messy process, for a yummy once a year treat.  (At least that is how it is at our house.)  You can serve warm with just butter (how Matt likes it) or butter & cinnamon sugar (how I like it).  They can also be served cold – either way – experiment & see what you like.  And then there are others who just hate the stuff – I think you either like it or you don’t. 

So, actually we aren’t done.  We made about 80 so far and have about 150 more to go!  But we had to take a break for Annika to go to the Dr., pick up Ryan from school, homework, guitar lessons, a meeting tonight… Yeah, they’ll get done at some point RIGHT?  (my kitchen still looks like it does below – so Matt is out picking up dinner)

The lefsa only stays good for 2-3 days in the fridge, but you can freeze them and just defrost them as needed as well.   

We’ll be taking 80-100 pieces to the large Thanksgiving Gathering we are going to – we’ll see how the German’s like a Norwegian treat! 

So where are you in the lefse world.  Have you heard of it before?  Do you like it or hate it?  Have you ever made it?  Are you going to try to make it? 

Let me know in the comments.

C-

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg
1 c. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract

Directions:
1.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and bananas. 

2.  Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.

3.  Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Pour 1/3 c. batter on griddle for each pancake.  Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides. 

Here are a few simple ideas to make some creepy crawly fun Halloween food:

Rice Krispy Halloween Treats
The regular, run of the mill Rice Krispy Treat can be turned into a sweet and unique Halloween treat by adding a few drops of orange food coloring (a combination of red and yellow) into the marshmallow/butter mixture as it melts. When you cut the treats into squares, add one candy corn to the top of each square, or cut them out with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. 

Marshmallow Haystacks
Here’s a great variation to the Rice Krispy Treat recipe. Replace the rice cereal with corn flake cereal. Follow the instructions combining the cereal, melted marshmallow and butter mixture. Mold the cereal mixture into the shape of haystacks. Add an orange candy pumpkin to the top of each haystack.

Candy Corn Ice Cream Sundae
Slightly thaw 1 cup of vanilla ice cream, mix in one tablespoon of candy corn (coarsely chopped) and one tablespoon of dry roasted peanuts (coarsely chopped). Scoop into ice cream bowl. Freeze until firm. When ready to serve, drizzle caramel ice cream topping over the ice cream mixture, a dollop of whipped cream and some additional candy corn and peanuts.

Halloween Napoleons
Thaw one sheet of frozen puffed pastry. Divide the puff pastry into three equal sections and bake according to package directions. Crush enough Oreo cookies to make 1-½ cups. Set aside.

Prepare one package of vanilla pudding adding a few drops of orange (a combination of red and yellow) food coloring. Set pudding aside. Whip one small carton of whipping cream until stiff. While whipping, add two teaspoons vanilla and one teaspoon sugar. (or use Cool Whip instead)

To build the napoleon, lay one sheet of baked puff pastry on serving tray. Spread ½ of the pudding mixture on the puff pastry. Sprinkle 1/3 of the crushed cookies on top of the pudding. Spoon dollops of whipped cream on top of the cookies and follow by a second layer of puff pastry. Continue layering pudding, cookies and whipped cream.

Once the third and last layer of puff pastry is set on top, spoon three small dollops of whipped cream (do not spread) and top with some additional crushed Oreos. Slice and serve.

A Fun Halloween Breakfast
Breakfast is many times an overlooked meal when celebrating the holidays. The simple addition of orange food coloring into a glass of milk will give your kids a surprise on Halloween morning.

For some spooktacular Halloween pancakes, melt ¼ cup of chocolate chips in a microwave safe container. When melting chocolate, melt at 30-second intervals and stir each time. Pour or spoon melted chocolate into a heavy-duty plastic zip top bag. Press all the chocolate into one corner of the bag and with a scissor, cut a tiny corner off the edge of the bag. Make pancakes and with the melted chocolate, pipe a jack-o-lantern face on the pancakes.

Do you have other fun Halloween Recipes?  I’d love to hear about them!  Please share in the comments area!

C-

Hi there, just a couple quick Halloween resources for you. 

First off, I am guessing most of you already have your Halloween costumes in order.  However, if not, there is a GREAT ebook to help you out with really quick, easy affordable & cute Homemade Halloween Costumes – we’re talking no-sew easiness. 

Second, I have a fun Halloween Recipe & Party Game E-book you are welcome to – free. 

That’s it for tonight – ENJOY!

C-