Monday, May 29, 2017

Strawberry Whipped Sensation Pie

 I'm having a slice of this Strawberry Whipped Sensation Pie that my darling granddaughter and I made the other day, when I picked her up after school.  I have more in the freezer, if you'd like to stop by.

 

 This Roy Kirkham teacup is one of my favorite summer ones.  It's called Alpine Strawberry and I love the bees that are on the cup and the saucer.


 Here's Cissy busy squeezing the lemons.  I had lots of lemons, but I would never judge, if you'd like to use bottled lemon juice.  In fact, we used a shortcut and used prepared crusts for our pies.  Making things easy for kids is a good idea.  We also doubled the ingredients and actually got three pies.  I have one to take to a friend that recently had surgery.


Happy Memorial Day!  xo

yield: 1 pieprint recipe

Strawberry Whipped Sensation Pie

I tried this as a dessert from Kraft, but decided that it was easier, and less messy in pie form. It's really a perfect, cool, easy summertime recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups fresh strawberries
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tub (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
  • 1 Oreo cookie crust (or make your own)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Mash 2 cups berries in large bowl.
  2. Add the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and 2 cups of the thawed whipped topping.
  3. Pour into the pie crust. Frost with additional whipped topping. Cover and freeze for 6 hours.
Created using The Recipes Generator






Thank you for your visit!  xo
I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Monday, May 22, 2017

The Best Oatmeal Cookies

 I've been down in the dumps for awhile and I decided to have a feeling blue pity party for myself and bake my very favorite cookies in the whole wide world.  I'd ask you to stay and share a cookie with me, but I'm so sorry, I ate BOTH of them. Oh yes, I did!

 Maybe in  Just a Matter of Thyme my pity party will end, the blues will go away, and all will be well with my soul.


 I do remind myself that I have FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE, which my son, Mike, stenciled for me onto these rocks.  I love the way a beam of sunlight is shining on the LOVE!


My sweet sis sent me this pretty teacup from Grace's teaware awhile back, and I thought it was fitting for my feeling kinda blue tea. 

In order to keep my mind busy, and besides making these favorite oatmeal raisin cookies, I also made another favorite, which are found here.  After that, I decided that I needed a project and I defrosted my upright freezer that is in my garage.  My late Beloved would be horrified to see all the ice that had built up in it.  He always took on that task, and I had avoided defrosting it way beyond when it should've been done. It took me hours to defrost, and I took out enough icebergs to my garden that could've sunk the Titanic!   Did baking and taking on this icy project help?  It kept my mind and body busy, but all I can do is pray and trust God.

Thank you for coming to my feeling blue, pity party tea.  Hopefully next time, I won't eat all the cookies! 


yield: 30 large cookiesprint recipe

Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ever

I am not a shopper at Neiman-Marcus, but I love their food! Years ago my daughter won a $1,000.00 shopping spree there and she spent some of it at Horchow Finale and took me to Neiman-Marcus to eat quite a bit. Oh, how we loved their lunch menu, but they also have a cafe, where you can go up and order a quick lunch. It was there that I discovered the best oatmeal raisin cookie that I had ever tasted. I must confess unashamedly that am a connoisseur of oatmeal raisin cookies, because I try them whenever I have a chance. I have made America's Test Kitchen's recipe and loved that, but I have never tried another recipe since eating this one! I asked them for the recipe and they gave it to me, only in a huge amount, which I had to cut down to a manageable size.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 cups oatmeal (I use Old Fashioned)
  • 3 cups raisins (can be a combo of dark and golden)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed for about 30 seconds, until fluffy.
  2. Turn down the mixer to low speed and add the eggs and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat for about 30 seconds longer, until well combined.
  3. In an another bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the mixer, while beating on low speed for about 15 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the mixer with a spatula.
  4. Add the oatmeal and raisins and mix for about 15 seconds.
  5. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, drop the cookie dough onto the parchment paper about 3" apart. Gently press down the cookies to spread. At this point, refrigerate the dough, or I like to freeze the balls of cookie dough and then transfer them to food safe storage bags.
  6. When ready to bake, bake the cookies in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Frozen cookies may take a little longer.
  7. Enjoy these wonderful, comforting cookies!!
Created using The Recipes Generator



This sweet granddaughter, Avery, turned 10 this past week, and I was able to take her out for dinner to celebrate her!  She loves desserts and she ordered the chocolate molten cake.  She also got the scoop of ice cream for free and we added that on top of the cake, too.

Thank you for your visit!  xo

I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Monday, May 15, 2017

Chocolate Covered Cookie Balls

" It's Always Tea Time", just like my little sign says, so let's enjoy a little treat outside, shall we?  Recently, my friend Mary, who blogs at Home Is Where the Boat Is made these cookie treats and I just knew that Cissy and I had to make them!  You can see the beautiful photos of them here. 

 


 I bought this pretty towel and crocheted the edge and gave it to my daughter for Mother's Day, after seeing what my friend Karen,  from Beatrice Euphemie Vintage Cottage Style did recently.  Thank you, Karen,  for the inspiration! 

 I'm using this pretty teacup that my dear daughter gave me one year for Christmas.  Isn't the matching spoon cute?

 

 A sweet niece gave me this darling sign that I keep in my Butler's Pantry, which I use as my tea area.  Thank you, Maggie!!

 

Little Miss Cissy did everything in making these cookie balls!  That girl is a kitchen whiz!  She dipped every single cookie ball in the melted chocolate, too.  I was Cissy's sous chef, and did help a little with the sprinkling.


 Doesn't she look so proud of her treats to take home to her family? This little one loves to come over to my house one day a week to cook/bake.  She gets in the car when I pick her up from school, and says, "So, what are we making today?"




yield: 40+print recipe

Chocolate Covered Cookie Balls

These little cookie balls will have you clamoring for more. Cissy brought them home for her family, and they loved them. One of her brothers shared one with a friend and the friend told his mom that it was the best thing that he ever tasted!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 package of Oreo cookies (Cissy and I used the vanilla birthday cake ones)
  • 3/4 of a container of vanilla frosting
  • Vanilla almond bark (We used CandiQuick)
  • Sprinkles for decorating

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Grind the Oreo cookies in a food processor, or crush them in a food safe bag with a rolling pin.
  2. Add the vanilla frosting and mix to combine. We did all this in the food processor.
  3. Shape the mixture into balls, and then place the balls onto cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. Freeze the cookie balls for 30 minutes.
  4. Melt the vanilla almond bark according to the package directions.
  5. Take the cookie balls out of the freezer, dip each one in the melted chocolate, place back onto the parchment paper, and immediately sprinkle with colored sprinkles (I was the assistant during this process!).
Created using The Recipes Generator


My sweet grandson, Caiden, celebrated his 12th birthday this past week.  I take the grands out on a birthday date on a day near their birthday.  Caiden is on of Cissy's three brothers.

Thank you for your visit!  xo

I was featured!

I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Monday, May 8, 2017

Tea Bag Shortbread Cookies

 Please join me for some Shortbread Tea Bag Cookies that Cissy was able to bring home from our Evening Tea Party last week.  Aren't they the sweetest looking cookies?  


 My teapot and cup stack was given to me from a dear, sweet neighbor.  Isn't it so cute? It's perfect for Spring!


 I found two of these birdie pillows for my Adirondack chairs and they add a touch of brightness to my patio.  

This past week,  I was privileged to be able to attend the Honor Roll program at the middle school for these two, sweet grandsons.




print recipe

Tea Bag Shortbread Cookies

My granddaughter, Cissy, and I had these at the Evening Tea Party that we were invited to. I bought the recipe cards that they had for sale, and this recipe was included. The ladies at the church put herbs in the cookies, but the recipe didn't include that ingredient. You will also need: a straw or skewer to make a hole in the cookie, kitchen twine or string, custom tea bag tags.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups + 1 tablespoon flour
  • 3.2 oz. cold, unsalted butter, diced
  • 1/2 cup + 1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 3.5 oz. dark chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place the butter and flour in food processor, and pulse until you have a sandy mixture.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add powdered sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt.
  3. Mix with your hands and then turn the mixture onto a work surface and knead until a smooth dough forms.
  4. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  5. Place chilled dough on parchment paper, lightly dust with flour , then roll it out to about 1/4" thickness.
  6. Lay a tea bag on the dough for measurement, and cut out rectangles using a knife.
  7. Again using the tea bag for measurement, cut the tops to give the rectangles a tea bag shape. Poke a hold at the top with a skewer or straw.
  8. Refrigerate cut cookies for 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
  9. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until slightly golden. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  10. Put the dark chocolate in microwavable dish and melt, using 30 second intervals, stirring frequently.
  11. Dip the tea bag cookies halfway in the melted chocolate and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes, until chocolate hardens.
  12. Cut strin about 9" long and thread through the hold in cookie. Use glue stick to cover the blank side of your tea bag tag, place string in middle and fold tag in half, securing the thread ends inside.
  13. Enjoy these cute tea bag cookies!
Created using The Recipes Generator

I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Monday, May 1, 2017

Evening Tea Party

 This past week, my granddaughter, Cissy, spent four nights with me while her Mom was out of town on business.  We had so much fun, and for one of those evenings we were invited to a LA Tea DA! tea party at a nearby church.  All the tables were decorated to a theme, and they were so pretty.

The friend that invited us to the tea party decorated our table.  Doesn't it look pretty?  We all had party favors with a rose corsage in the front envelope of the little box.  Also included in the darling box, were various teabags.

The tables were numbered because we voted on our favorite one.  Cissy and I also loved this one that had a fairy garden theme.  We  had to leave early in order to get Cissy home for bed, and we didn't find out which table won.  Several of the ladies would ask Cissy if she liked a certain a food,  and she was honest, and said, "I'm just a child".  I have to say that her favorite thing was the strawberry mini cupcake.  Our hostess (or "Mum") for our table fixed a plate of sweets for Cissy to take home.    We had a wonderful evening!

Our menu for the tea party was:

Savories:

Tomato Tart
Three Cheese Spiral
Cheese Pennies
Pear Walnut on Cinnamon Raiisin
English Cucumber Mint on White
Curried Chicken Salad on Whole Grain

Scone: 

Strawberry, Lavender & White Chocolate
Devonshire Cream
Strawberry Jam

Sweets:

Apricot-Almond Blondie (GF)
Decadent Brownie Bites
Strawberry & Cream Mini Cupcakes
Herbal Tea Bag Cookies


I am sharing this with these lovely parties:
Thank you for your visit!  xo


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...