food

I Need S’more Mousse Spoons

- Mama 4 Comments

I can’t call this a recipe. It is way, WAY too easy to be called a recipe. It’s a tutorial, I’m guessing, but trust me, you will want to make these.

They are so easy. And so delicious. Kids love them. Adults love them. Everyone loves them. From class parties to upscale Girls’ Nights In to your holiday party, these are a crowd-pleaser. And they take no time at all to put together.

First off, the spoons. I bought these fun spoons at Party City. They have a flat base and a curve for their neck, so they stand up all on their own. I set them around the center of a gold charger that matched my theme.

While you can certainly sub in your own favorite chocolate mousse recipe, the tried and true chocolate mousse from Jell-O is my personal favorite, and it’s the one I turn to time and time again to make these. And for the record, there’s also a caramel flavor, but I use the chocolate. You find it in the boxed pudding section of the store most of the time, and all you do is add milk, whip with your handheld mixer, and then refrigerate for half an hour.

I put mine into a frosting bag with a pretty star tip and piped it into my spoons.

I then garnished each of the spoons with some of my favorite things in the world… some Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits and some Golden Grahams Cereal. The Jet-puffed Mallow Bits are essentially like little hot cocoa marshmallows, and all you do is sprinkle them on whatever food you’d like– they come in a jar that is just like a parmesan cheese container, but it contains, DUH, marshmallows! Who wouldn’t love that? And, of course, Golden Grahams cereal is just like a delicious graham cracker, in bite-sized form.

In the center of my plate, I arranged squares of Hershey’s chocolate to add more of a campfire s’more feel, and I love how it turned out.

This elegant treat has a real s’mores flavor in it, but the texture is incredible, and it’s an entirely new take on that campfire treat we all know and love. The bonus is that it’s easy, and it’s single-serve, so everyone can just grab a spoon and go.

Who wouldn’t love one of these awesome S’more mousse spoons?

 

 

SixSistersStuff.com

Lots of Layers Individual Dips

- Mama 3 Comments

We’ve all been to a party and tried the seven layer dip, right? That glorious pairing of all of our favorite Mexican delights, piled into layer upon layer of delicious goodness…. see, I have this theory that pretty much any Mexican dish can be made with the same eight ingredients, no matter what it is, in varying combinations each time.

But this… this transcends all of that. It’s just incredible.

The way I see it, there are two major pros to putting dips in individual cups instead of serving them out of a big dish.

1) There is zero crowding around the dip bowl. Everyone grabs a dip cup and heads to wherever they plan on mingling or watching the game or whatever else they’re doing with dip. No more elbowing your way in just to get half a chip into the dip.

2) No germy issues! Seriously, the last thing I want is to be sharing a dip with a bunch of people, only to see one of them do the dreaded double dip. Ick. I don’t know where their mouth has been, or in some cases, I do, and it’s not somewhere I want my mouth to go after dipping after them. But see, with an individual dip cup, you don’t have to worry about that. Everyone has their own cup, and can dip or double dip without affecting anyone but themselves.

Plus there is the added bonus that these look SO fancy, especially with the awesome clear plastic mini slanted tumblers from Party City. You get 10 for $3.99 which is super affordable for a party, and not only can they be tossed afterwards or handwashed and re-used, but they’re also recycleable! Not only that, but there are tons of other great Party City items perfect for serving these individual dips for different occasions. Aside from these, my clear favorite, I also love the mini martini glasses, the mini pedestal cups, the cocktail petite bowls, or the mini cubes (in the mini tasting party section of their website). All of the above are just perfect for serving these fun dips, and they’re all affordable!

I started the night before my party by mixing my favorite layer of these dips… the Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party Dip Mix! I love the flavor of these on their own, but as a part of this dip, you simply cannot ask for a better option. The dip is so easy to make– you just take a little bit of the dip mix, some mayonnaise, and some sour cream and mix them together in a bowl. The nice thing is, for the reasonable price, you can get a lot of dips out of this one container of Fiesta Party Dip Mix…. it’s $8.99 to make about 8 cups of the fiesta party dip, and you’re using less than a cup for 10 of these individual dips. I like to make this layer of the dip the night before so the flavors have time to really mesh together. This dip is definitely better on the second day!

The day of the party, I prepare my individual dips… I start with a layer of refried beans on the bottom. You don’t need much– a little less than a tablespoon worked for me. After that, spread on a layer of the fiesta dip you prepared in the first step of the dip. Again, I used a little less than a tablespoon. Use whatever you’d like to in order to make the layers look the way you’d like them to. On top of the fiesta dip, pour on a little bit of salsa. I used about a teaspoon of my favorite salsa in each one, Old El Paso. Yum.

Now for the pretty part– the garnish! I tore up some lettuce and laid it gently on top of the salsa so it would give my garnish a flat surface to rest on. I then piped on some sour cream using a star tip in an icing bag, and sprinkled on shredded Kraft cheese (I used a cheddar and pepper jack blend) and some chopped green onions.

Right before serving, top each dip cup with a pretty chip, and make sure you keep plenty of extra chips on hand for more dipping!

That’s it. So easy, and this is way more impressive (and sanitary!) than serving your seven layer dip in a regular dip bowl.

Note: You can absolutely copy these layers to serve in an ordinary dip bowl, by the way. There’s no law that says you have to serve it in individual cups. I just love it that way!

Fall Flavors Tour: Candy Corn Cheesecake

- Mama 6 Comments

I am cheesecake obsessed. Not even kidding. Every year around my birthday, I ask for a cheesecake instead of a traditional cake. One thing about cheesecake that makes it even better is having a mini cheesecake that I don’t have to share with anyone. But, to make it even better, I can add one of my other favorite treats in with it– an Oreo. Those things are addicting, I swear.

However, what could be more fall than Candy Corn? And when I found out that there were actually Candy Corn Oreos this year, I knew exactly what I had to do.

Yes. Mini. Oreo. Cheesecakes… with Candy Corn Oreos.

And the best part about these? You don’t have to make some complicated crust or dirty a bunch of dishes. Just start by lining cupcake tins with cupcake liners, and drop one Candy Corn Golden Oreo in the bottom of each… you’ll need 15 total.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 packages (8 oz each) room temperature Philadelphia Cream Cheese (or your cream cheese of choice), 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract using a mixer (or a fork) to cream well.

Go ahead and gradually add two large beaten eggs (room temperature!), 1/2 cup sour cream, a pinch of salt, and 2 Tbsp corn syrup (the corn syrup really brings out the candy corn flavor of the Oreos). Mix that up until it’s smooth and maybe a little bubbly.

From here, I got a little wild and poured the batter into three different bowls, tinting one yellow, one orange, and leaving one white to resemble candy corn, but you can absolutely just leave it white if you’d like, or tint it one of the colors. I just loved the layered effect!

Pour it into your muffin tins, covering the Oreo, filling to just under the top rim by a centimeter-ish. Fill any unfilled sections of your tin with an inch or so of water, to make sure it cooks evenly.

Bake it for 14 minutes, then rotate the pans and bake for another 14 minutes to ensure even baking, then remove from oven.

Let cool, then put it in a container in the refrigerator for four hours or until chilled.

Then, serve, and taste the magic.

I’m not kidding, these things are magical. A couple of my taste testers came over before the cheesecakes were fully chilled, so I asked them to take some home and try them later, after they had finished cooling. I wanted to share with you the text that I got right after that. “Those cheesecakes are to die for!… we need the recipe ASAP!”

Seriously. These things are THAT good.

Oh, and for the record, they freeze really well in an airtight container, so you can just grab one anytime you need it, a perfect single-serve dessert. They’re good if you have a small family because you can grab just the amount you need, or they’re great for bake sales. You can also store them in the freezer as a last-minute dessert (think of those times you need to take a meal to a family at church who just had a baby, or need an impromptu potluck dessert to have on hand, or even times you have unexpected guests and want to impress!) just in case!

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Do you have a go-to dessert that you keep on hand in case of unexpected company? Or if you live in a small family (1, 2, 3 members), do you have a dessert you keep on hand?

Let me know what you think of these cheesecakes in the comment section below, and, as always, if you make them, please share pictures or comments! I’d love to hear about them!

SNAP! 36th

My Red Hat Afternoon with the Valley Springs Valley Girls

- Mama 1 Comment

I was so delighted recently to get a message from my dear friend (and major blog supporter!) Pat, asking me if I would come to her Red Hat Society meeting and demonstrate my Duncan Hines Cherry Masher Sandwich Cookies, which were award-winners in the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations baking contest.

I was so honored to be invited to demonstrate my recipe, especially since I’ve never actually done a presentation like that before today. It was thrilling getting to actually bake in front of people and have them ask me questions, both personally and professionally, about my life, my cookies, and my blog.

First off, this week has been a whirlwind, which has made it difficult to blog as frequently as I typically do, because not only did I really want to prepare for my presentation, but my brother also turned 12 which meant a two-tier cake and three dozen cupcakes for his castmates in his play.

It was worth the time off, though, because I was able to make so many great real-world connections this week with some great ladies.

Of course, when I first got to the meeting place for this fun and fabulous group of Red Hatters, I was practically shaking. Even though Pat is a great friend and I knew that I would end up doing well with my demonstration, it’s always a little nerve-wracking to stand up in front of people and demonstrate something you’re passionate about! The thought goes through your head with “what if they don’t like what I made?” or “What if I forgot a key ingredient at home?”

As I started baking, though, I really got into the swing of things. I came with everything pre-measured, so that helped me fumble a little bit less with my presentation.

All in all, the ladies really seemed to love the recipe (and my family appreciated my demonstration because it meant making a test batch for them at home, as well, so everybody got to taste some of my test cookies, too).

I wanted to tell you guys a couple of anecdotes about my cookies, though.

First, when I entered the Duncan Hines contest, I had actually baked 8 recipes in one weekend trying to choose which ones to submit. At the time, we had a couple of exchange students spending the weekend with us, and I literally just started calling people, saying “Come sit in my kitchen while I bake– there’s way too many desserts to go around and someone has to eat them!” People just sat in the barstools in the kitchen as I spent hours upon hours baking items for the contest, tasting them, giving their opinion, and waiting as I submitted the recipes to the website.

Then, everybody left. I cleaned up the kitchen. My mother went out of town with my brother. I had the house to myself, just my son and I, and when he was napping, I had the thought that I should really do just one more. Just one more recipe, that would do it. I whipped up the cherry masher sandwich cookies, thinking I wanted to make something that was a cross between a cookie, a cherry mash, and a cherry cordial, but was still delicious and interesting in a new and exciting way. What resulted was a not-too-sweet shortbread cooking with a cherry vanilla filling and a chocolate coating– this was before the lovely chefs at the Duncan Hines kitchen suggested that I make it a drizzle instead of a coating, which made the cookies a million times better.

I made the cookies, tasted one, and I knew these were gold. I posted the recipe, but… there was no one there to try them. I ended up polishing off the entire batch over the span of a couple of days, yes, entirely by myself (this is why I’m not a size 2 or even a 12).

When Duncan Hines contacted me to let me know I was a winner, I asked which recipe I won for. Was it the gimme s’more bars that my brother raved about? The strawberry pie that was a hit with my mom? The coconut amaretto bars that went on to win an Amish Friendship Bread Kitchen contest? No.

The winner was the Cherry Masher Sandwich cookies.

That NO ONE. No one tasted. Except me.

When I told everyone who had come and sat in my kitchen that weekend that I was a winner, everyone was exclaiming “Really?! For which recipe? Which one?” and all of them were a bit disappointed that no one had even tasted the award-winner.

Honestly, when I made those cookies, as good as they were, I really wasn’t sure I’d ever make them again. For most events, I have a handful of go-to recipes that are family favorites, and then I have a couple of new recipes that I try here and there, but for the most part, I just don’t repeat many recipes. There’s so many new things to try that I don’t always make a recipe again, even if I liked it (none of the other recipes I submitted for the Duncan Hines contest have been made again, although several I’d like to make again sometime). So, I really assumed before I was told that I won that, yes, the cookies were good, but no, no one would get to try them since I had already finished all of the cookies.

Now, it’s my most-requested take-along. Everyone wants to try them. I’ve made enough batches of those silly cookies that I could probably make them with my eyes closed and hands tied behind my back (not literally. You kind of need hands when you’re rolling out cookie dough). They’re really easy, but they’re definitely something you want to make a day in advance because of the freeze time.

It’s just so funny to me that what was just a cookie I made on a whim, last minute, one last entry into the contest, that no one tasted and I never thought anyone would get to try, ended up being a cookie that I’ve become known for. That cookie has singlehandedly driven a lot of people to my blog, sent me to New Jersey and back, gotten me an article in the newspaper, and led to a fun demonstration with an incredible group of Red Hat ladies.

I am so blessed that this little cookie recipe I came up with has taken me so far, that this simple cherry sandwich cookie with an amazing flavor has given me so many blessings, and so many great opportunities. In some ways, I have Duncan Hines to thank, and in many ways I have my mom’s amazing inspiration to thank, and of course, I have everyone who tastes my recipes and gives me feedback and helps with Zach while I’m destroying the kitchen to thank…

And for today, I have the amazing Valley Springs Valley Girls to thank, because I got to share a great day with them and I got to share my true passion of baking with them. And beyond that, I made connections that I hope will continue on for a very long time to come.

The ladies were so kind to gift me an adorable Red Hat bear, as something to remember this special event by, and I know that there’s no way I’ll be forgetting today anytime soon. I really feel blessed that I got to spend this time with them.

I made a very special recipe card for my Red Hat friends, and I wanted to share it with you, as well, so all of you can make these delicious sandwich cookies anytime you’d like.

As I told the ladies today, these cookies freeze very well for 2 weeks or so (as if you’ll have any left for that long!). If your church or group is having a baby boom or something and you need to take a lot of meals to people, it’s easy to whip up a double or triple batch of these and keep them in your freezer in an airtight container, then package up a baggie of 6-12 cookies to put in with a meal. It will seem like you spent all day slaving in the kitchen, but really these gems were just in your freezer, ready to go to whoever needed a little blessing.

I prettied these cards up using a digital scrapbooking kit in Photoshop. The kit is called Bake Me A Cake by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and is available here at Sweet Shoppe Designs, so you can make your own pretty matching set of recipe cards or digitally scrapbooking any other kitchen memories you have.

Give Me S’more Bars

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S’mores are probably one of the most special desserts I know of. After all, you have to make sure you have fire, and you need an occasion- maybe a bonfire, or a fire pit… well, that is, until these bars came along. They are so easy to make that it may mean s’mores on a very regular basis. As in every week. Or maybe two days in a row.

Or maybe every day in a row.

Once again, this recipe will be featuring Duncan Hines Frosting Creations… this time, I will be using half a can of Frosting Creations Frosting Starter with a full packet of Chocolate Marshmallow Flavor Mix. The Chocolate Marshmallow was just begging for a S’more-style dessert, so I whipped one up.

This is super easy. You’re going to start by melting 3 tablespoons of butter and an entire bag of jumbo marshmallows in a saucepan on the stove.

Once they’ve melted fully and it’s a liquid, go ahead and remove from heat, then pour in 8 cups of graham cracker cereal. I used Golden Grahams. Once you’ve done that, pull out some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and some hot chocolate marshmallows. (I freeze mine until right before this step, so they melt a little less). Stir them in quickly, then put your mixture into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle  these with another tablespoon of mini chocolate chips and another tablespoon of hot chocolate marshmallows (psssst… you can buy hot chocolate marshmallows on their own- Kraft’s Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits in Vanilla are PERFECT for this recipe!).

Now, put the whole pan in the fridge for 30 minutes, at least.

During this time, you’ll want to grab your Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Frosting Starter and Chocolate Marshmallow Flavor Mix. Scoop out half of the can into a bowl, and mix the entire packet of Chocolate Marshmallow Flavor Mix into it. I decided to use a half of a jar instead of a full jar, but still do the entire packet of mix, because a recipe like this doesn’t call for a large amount of frosting, but it does need frosting that packs a punch in flavor. Part of what I love about the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations is that it is so easy to customize. The full packet adds the concentration and punch it needed, without being overpowering.

Once you remove it from the fridge, glob the frosting on, and kind of spread it around a bit. Then, cut it into bars and serve. There you go- s’mores anytime!

Looks good, yeah?