That Cheating Cobbler

Let's face it-we all need to take shortcuts. Those of us without Domestic Help.

Dude loves blueberry desserts. Just ask him-his Grandma made the best blueberry pie. Mine is good; hers was divine.

This dessert however was made for another man in my life-my dispatcher Bryan.  I work in a small office-like it is about the size of my living room and there are 4 people in there everyday, sometimes we expand to 6 or 7 depending on the day and what is going on.  We don't have many secrets and we probably share way too much. I wouldn't have it any other way.  I lucked out when I got this job 2 years ago. It was like God was looking down saying "Well, since you can't work with your friends at the bank anymore, let's put you with some more funny people".  This isn't to say that I didn't like the people I worked with at the plant; I did, but not all of us could work on the same phase. If we did, we would have never made cereal because we would be too busy laughing. I can now laugh all day long and still get my work done.

Now, it was Bryan's birthday last week. We are going through this HUGE conversion to a new computer system. It sucks. We can't find the information we need, we don't know what items we are short on, we have drivers waiting for DAYS for their load because of how the carriers can see the loads. It sucks.  To help with the stress-mine and everyone elses-I have been baking treats at least 3 times a week.  On Bryan's birthday I looked in the pantry and there wasn't much I could make quickly.  I had a can of cherry pie filling, some white cake mix, butter, etc.  So I remembered a recipe I had done that was a short cut cobbler.  I brought it in, still warm for the oven........and he hates cherries. Sigh.  It went-everyone else liked it-but not the Birthday Boy.

I woke up early this morning and decided to try it again, but I would use blueberry pie filling instead. The house smelled so good, with blueberries and lemon.  I slid a still steaming serving into a dish for Dude to take to work.  I wrapped it up and brought it into the office.  It was still steaming when I unwrapped it.  I giddily walked over to his desk and told him I was making up for his birthday fiasco of cherry-and had made blueberry. Yep, he hates blueberry too.

Cheating Cobbler

1 can pie filling, any flavor you like, but cherry or blueberry were big hits
1 box white cake mix (I used French Vanilla)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
freshly zested nutmeg
Turbinado sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease baking dish. I used a 7 x 10 stone baker, but 9 x 9 works too. Pour pie filling into bottom of dish, spreading so it is an even layer.  Zest/grate nutmeg-just a little over the pie filling. Zest the lemon over this and then add the juice of half of the lemon.  Sprinkle the fruit with the dry cake mix, leveling out. Sprinkle a little more zested/grated nutmeg over top-just a little. Pour melted butter over the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle the nuts over the top of butter/cake mix. Squeeze some more lemon juice over this and then sprinkle the Turbinado sugar over the top. I used about 2 TBSP.

Set in the middle of the oven and bake for 40-43 minutes at 350.

This is great with ice cream or whipped cream.

As for Bryan, guess I need to go back to chocolate desserts-he always eats those!

On a personal note-I'm so happy to be back. I may have lost every reader I ever had after being gone so long, but I realized it isn't about the comments (which I do love) but it is about the process and recording successes and failures, talking about what makes us happy and sad. It is about cooking for those that we love. And that is the most important thing in the world-for me anyway. Even if Bryan doesn't adore everything I bring in.

Snicker Salad and the Photo that didn't happen

I never thought it would be so hard to photograph a plate of food. I tried inside, I tried outside, with a flash, without-I just couldn't make this look pretty.

But it does taste good!

Snicker Salad

3 medium Granny Smith apples

2 standard size Snicker candy bars, chilled

1 tub of Cool Whip

lemon juice

Cut apples into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with the lemon juice so they don't brown. If you have juice that has accumulated in the bowl, carefully pour it out.

Remove candy bars from fridge. Cut in half length-wise and then cut the each half into small slices. Chilling the candy bars makes them easier to cut.

Place candy bar pieces in the bowl with the apples. Scoop the Cool Whip into the bowl and stir to combine all of the elements.

Lick the Cool Whip spoon.

While it didn't photograph well, it was gobbled up quickly.

Happy Independence Day!

A little late, but we didn't get home until after midnight!

We went into town to spend the afternoon with our friends, eat a LOT of food, light some fireworks off in the driveway and then watch the fireworks show the town puts on. We lucked out and the rain early in the day ended by afternoon and the skies cleared up so we could enjoy our day.

We did a potluck at our friends house, so I brought my ring salad and deviled eggs, and also tried my hand at a blackberry cobbler. Hermit Crab and I went grocery shopping (yes on a holiday weekend and it was scary!) and they had blackberries on sale 2 for a buck, so I knew I had to make something! According to Dude it was 'my best dessert ever' but he was lying-just trying to get me to stop taking photos of him eating! It was pretty well received considering half the people there don't like berries. It sure smelled fantastic and looked pretty.

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and added a couple of things based on some reviews. Here is how I prepared it.

Blackberry Cobbler

1 cup flour

1-1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

6 TBSP cold butter

1/4 cup boiling water

2 TBSP cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. orange zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap a rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Place cast iron skillet on cookie sheet. In a large bowl, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until it is crumbly. Stir in boiling water and stir until it is evenly moistened. Put blackberries in a bowl and sprinkle with a little sugar, the vanilla and the orange zest. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water. Stir in remaining 1 cup sugar and the lemon juice. Stir well to combine and then pour over blackberries; stir to coat all the berries. Pour into the cast iron skillet. Top berries with small spoonfuls of cobbler dough, and spread out dough a little with the back of the spoon. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Me and Dude-he really hates getting his photo taken.

My plate of food-hot dog, beans, chips, deviled eggs and pasta salad. Oh goodness I was full!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day. Thank you to all the service men and women who fight for our freedoms that we enjoy and take for granted. I salute you all.

I think summer is already half gone and I feel like I have accomplished nothing. I did however bake a peach cobbler for work. It was mainly well received, but one person thought it was too dry. Dude thought it was really good-reminded him of his Mom's shortcake.

Peach Cobbler

Cobbler dough:
1 cup flour
2 TBSP sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Fruit filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Cook filling: Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, cinnamon and nutmeg in saucepan. Stir to combine; stir in fruit. Cook and stir over medium heat until it comes to a boil and thickens. Simmer, stirring constantly for 1 more minute. Pour fruit into an 8 inch square pan. Place in oven while preparing dough. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine oil, egg, milk and vanilla. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Remove baking dish from oven and spoon dough in 8 scoops over the top of the fruit mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

It would have been great with ice cream, but we don't have a freezer at work.

Enjoy!

Lemon Cheese Bars

Dah dah dat dah.....! (trumpet sound) I AM CAST FREE!!

Oh sweet Jesus, I am free. Those were the longest 4 weeks of my life. I was shedding like a snake when it came off, and I don't have much range of motion in my wrist and my arm is not able to straighten all the way yet, but glory be, I can move it.

The last few days were the worst, since I knew it was coming off soon. To take my mind off of it for a little while, I looked for a recipe that was easy enough to make pretty much with one hand. I had a couple Meyer lemons that looks close to end of their life, so I found this recipe in my church's cookbook we put out about 5 years ago. I have to say that I love the local cookbooks that churches, community centers, school and service organizations put together. They have the tried and true recipes that people always love. These bars fit this to a tee. I was told by several people at work that I could bring these in every week if I wanted.

Lemon Cheese Bars
from Norma and Marge at St. Marks Lutheran Church

1 box yellow cake mix
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice (I used the juice of two Meyer lemons)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix dry cake mix, 1 egg and 1/3 cup oil until crumbly. Reserve one cup. Pat remaining mixture into bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake 15 minutes. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and lemon juice until light and smooth. Spread over baked crust. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top of lemon layer. Bake 15 minutes longer. When cool, cut into bars.

Easy and delicious. Give 'em a try soon!

We're on a roll now

One day at work I had brought in a cooking magazine and Bob (I've spoken of him many times- I spoil him almost as much as my own husband) saw a pumpkin roll and asked if I could make one of those. I said I would but couldn't find the magazine again. Hmmm, might be time to go through and recycle some. To my delight, Monica at Lick the Bowl Good had posted a pumpkin recipe and had a link to other pumpkin recipes and I found her pumpkin roll. This is my first attempt at a cake roll. I thought aesthetically it didn't look too pretty, but I had 4 people ask if I would make it again. Monica-how do I get it to be not so.....damp? It was a moist cake, but really damp on top too. Your picture looks like a nice DRY top cake. I know the powdered sugar was part of the culprit, but dang it was wet! Probably me just be a newbie at this.

Pumpkin Roll by Monica H. at Lick the Bowl Good

1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves (I used nutmeg-no cloves in house)
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin, not pie mix)

FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
6 TBSP butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
extra powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15x10 jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper and grease and flour wax paper. Generously sprinkle cotton dish towel with powdered sugar. Use like a flour sack type towel so no grooves or fibers get into the cake. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Beat in pumpkin the stir in dry ingredients. Spread evenly in pan and bake 13 to 15 minutes, until the top springs back when touched. Loosen cake and immediately turn out onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off wax paper and roll up in towel, starting on short end. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. When cake is cooled, make filling. Beat the cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake, taking care to not crack it. Spread with filling, wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge at least one hour. When serving, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar if desired.

As I am typing the instructions it occurred to me that I think I forgot to flour the greased wax paper. Could that have caused the top to get so sticky?

I think for my first attempt it turned out pretty good. It can only get better the more often I try.

Thanks Monica for a great recipe and for my baking gift that arrived on Saturday-I can't wait to put it to good use!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Insomnia sucks. Plain and simple. I have been dealing with it for years and the doc prescribed a drug that I am suppose to use 'when you can't turn your brain off, Tami'. That is what she actually said. I sleep pretty good on the days I work-I'm just so exhausted I just fall into bed when we get home. It is those days that I am off that cause the most problem. I had 3 hours of sleep the last two nights (well, days actually). I'm not a woman who can function on that little sleep anymore. How did I do it when the kids were small? I must be getting soft in my old age. When it is 4 AM and you can't fall asleep, strange things run through your mind.
1. Will my eyelashes turn grey also?
2. Why does the cat stare at me when I use the bathroom? What is going through her mind?
3. How can I fashion a makeshift hottub out of cow trough and an air hose?
4. Is that blinking light in the sky really a satellite or a spaceship like my Mom suspects?

Yeah, good times.

What does this have to do with pumpkins you ask? Nothing really, other than I have been trolling blogs and food sites looking for some uses for my pureed pumpkin I just made.

Quick story. Took my Mom out a week ago for lunch and some browsing. Went to a really fun kitchen store in the quaint town of Stillwater. I was drooling over the Le Creuset cookware, the Emile Henry bakeware and the freakin' sweet Viking range in the cooking class area. As we checked out my Mom commented to the woman helping us that she could never get me in the kitchen as a child, but now thinks I need to come there and take some classes to help feed my desire to learn more. I looked at her and smiled while thinking to myself "you wouldn't let me in the kitchen, that was Bren's territory". I did learn a couple things when my parents got divorced and I had to make myself food when my Dad was working or away. I have come a long way from baking chocolate chip cookies and Hamburger Helper. Not far, but quite a ways (is that a word?). Long story short: never thought I would actually try and make pumpkin puree from scratch. It isn't hard, but I'm a little disappointed in this year's batch. The pumpkins didn't give up a lot of flesh and one was just dry as a bone when I finally pried it open.



Slice pumpkins in half. If really large, cut in chunks. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F. until done. There isn't an exact science on timing. I started checking at half an hour, but left in for an hour until they gave easily when lightly pressed.

Peel skin off of the flesh and break into small chunks, about 2 or 3 inch pieces

Puree in food processor until smooth. I added about 2 tsp. of water to each batch to give it a start. The first batch had a hard time smoothing out, so adding the water helped.

I spoon 2 cups of puree into a quart size freezer bag, squeeze out extra air and smooth the bag flat. Freeze flat and then they store upright in a small box easily. I keep a couple small plastic bins in the freezer for my frozen veggies and fruits. It takes up less room and it is easier to find what I am looking for.

Off to stalk some more and find some pumpkin recipes. The natives are work will be restless again soon.

Apple-Pear Crisp

I hadn't baked for quite awhile and everyone at work was wondering if the stove was broken. I told them on Monday that I would bring treats on Tuesday. One co-work met me in the parking lot and saw my hands were empty and said "Hey, you said we were getting a crisp........ahhhh" as he saw he grab my pan out of the back seat. I was a little concerned because I dotted some butter up on top and it just made pools of liquid and the crisp didn't look crispy. It was finished by second break, so it must have tasted fine, or they were being polite!


Apple-Pear Crisp
4 apples, peeled and sliced
2 pears, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup flour
1/2 quick rolled oats
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 butter
cinnamon sugar


Place sliced apples and pears in an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over fruit and shake dish to cover fruit. Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes. Really good with ice cream but I didn't have a freezer at my disposal at work, so they had to eat it plain.



Off to make dinner for Dude. He went to pick up the vehicle we got for Drama Queen to drive. She has been taking my Caddy, which I am not thrilled with, but we sold our 'teen driver' car to our best friends so she needs something until the Jeep gets fixed. Have I told you how many heart attacks I have each day when she drives? Oi vay!

Gobble the Cobbler

Three days of baking. Today it is blueberry pie. I have made many blueberry pies for Dude over the years, but this time I made one from scratch with fresh blueberries. I love the smell of it in the oven! To bad I don't like fruit pie. Or maybe that is a good thing? Today it is all about the cobbler. I have never made peach anything. Dude likes to eat a peach fresh with cream poured over the top, but I thought since the peaches smelled so good I would try cobbler. It turned out pretty good. The only thing the boys said would make it better would be ice cream, but we don't have access to a freezer at work. Sorry boys.

Peach Cobbler from Simply Recipes (who adapted it from Sunsets magazine)

4 pounds fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced 1/2 inch thick slices

1 cup sugar; divided into 2/3 cup and 1/3 cup

1/2 cup quick cooking tapioca (instant)

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1-1/2 TBSP lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1-1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2/3 cup whipping cream

In a large bowl, mix peaches, 2/3 cup sugar and the tapioca, lemon peel, lemon juice and vanilla. Let stand at least 15 minutes or up to 30 to softened tapioca, stirring several times.

In another bowl, combine flour with remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the baking powder and the nutmeg. With fingers or a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cream and just stir until dough holds together. In buttered, shallow 2-1/2 or 3 qt. dish, spread fruit in bottom. Using hands, crumble dough over top of fruit. Bake at 350 degrees F until fruit mixture is bubbly and the topping is golden brown, about 55 to 60 minutes.

I just (like in the middle of writing this) got a phone call from a guy I went to school with (25 years ago!) who lives about 10 miles from me. He wants to get together for dinner and catch up. A blast from the past! I will have to bake something for dessert..........

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

This is the dessert that I brought over to our friends house this past weekend. I saw it in the Kraft Food and Family magazine and drooled over it. I only discovered I like cheesecake about 8 years ago on a family trip to Duluth. We were having dinner at Grandma's (which is an icon in Duluth) after a day spent by Lake Superior. We were treating ourselves to a nice dinner and the Dude ordered cheesecake for dessert. As I have stated in the past, I'm not a really big dessert fan, but I tried his dessert and have been hooked since. I made a half recipe as there were only 6 of us for dinner-plus one for 2 corn casserole-so I made a small pan. Plus, knowing my lack of self control, I didn't want a huge amount in my fridge taunting me every time I opened it and giving in to temptation! I will list the full recipe here. It needs a 9x13 pan for full recipe; I used an 8x8 pan.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake
1-1/2 cups crushed Nilla Wafers (I think you need more as I had to add another 15 to cover bottom of pan
3/4 cup chopped pecans, divided
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
32 caramels, unwrapped
3 TBSP milk
4 packages of 8-ounce each cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
8 squares semi sweet chocolate, divided (I used Baker's-have great luck with it)



Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Mix wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup nuts and butter; press onto bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Microwave caramels and milk in microwavable bowl on MEDIUM (50%) for 4-5 minutes or until caramels are melted and mixture is well blended, stirring every two minutes. Pour over crust; spread to within 1 inch of edge.





Cool. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each until just blended. Melt 7 chocolate squares. Stir into cream cheese batter; pour over caramel layer. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Refrigerate 4 hours. Sprinkle remaining nuts on just before serving. Melt remaining square of chocolate and drizzle over top.




I didn't do the drizzle of chocolate because I left the square on the counter at home. The only problem I had was when I cut the dessert, the chocolate cream cheese layer slid off the caramel layer. I don't know why. The hubs loved the crust and the caramel; not so much the chocolate, but he is not a big chocolate fan. More for me!

Off to have lunch with the ladies from my former shift at the cereal plant. They work days as they have been there for many years. I started as a temp so I was able to work days back then. I of course just got off at 6 and haven't slept yet as the youngest is having a surprise party for one of her BFF's and I had to make a cake and pick up some. After lunch I will frost the cake and take a quick nap so I can handle ten 15 and 16 year olds here. I better make sure there is wine in the fridge!

Cake for my Cutie

This is what it looked like outside today-pretty much matched my mood. Neither one of us slept last night, so we played Parcheesi. No, not really. We watch HGTV and Food Network until he had to get up to leave at 5:30. We watched an episode of House Hunters International with a couple from here in Minnesota. The host lady-cracked me up. This couple lives in a very nice house on Lake Minnetonka. Here in MN we pronounce it "Min-a-tonka" (where Tonka trucks used to be made-cool factory). She pronounced it "Miny-tawnka". But in her defense, if you don't live here, you probably can't correctly pronounce Shakopee, Sogn Valley or Winona either. Two people looking for a 4 to 6 bedroom house with 3 or more bathrooms and deep water access. They ended up with a 10,000 square foot house-FOR TWO PEOPLE on an island by Honduras. So, maybe I'm a little jealous. So we bought lottery tickets for Wednesday! And some tulips to dull the rainy/snow mix we got today.

While shopping the other morning after work, I asked the Dude to maybe give me some ideas of what he wants to eat. If he tells me "I would like _______" I would totally make it for him. No, I'm not a Valley Girl, but yes, I have used the word 'totally' since 1981 and won't apologize for it-or stop using it since it is ingrained in me. Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, whatever he would ask for, I would gladly make. There wasn't much on the list-mainly dairy and veggies, but he headed to the baking aisle and said "I want cake". Meaning, he wants German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan frosting. Nope, nothing from scratch-he likes the box. Since I wanted him to have a treat after his surgery, I gladly put the mix in the cart and continued on our merry way.

I just followed the directions on the box

made the cake

and frosted it

It will go to work with us tomorrow.

I made dinner while he took Drama Queen driving. I'm in such a fog today that I took picture of me making the turkey meatballs-and nothing else. I uploaded my pictures and saw that I had no finished shots with the spaghetti sauce, noodles, garlic bread. Nothing. I wasn't sure how it would go over with turkey meatballs instead of beef, but I spiced them up really well and the Dude and I thought they were great. The girls opted for noodles and a little sauce. Now I have heartburn that is practically coming out of my ears, and am off to search for my Gas-X. Our cart at Target last night looked like we were 90. Gas-X, Icy Hot gel, an ice/heat pack, a pair of arch supports for Dude's work boots and, well, we won't even talk about the last thing :)

I just want to publicly thank everyone for your kind words about my Dude. All the sweet and kind things you said really made me feel better. I know it will be torture waiting for these next two weeks to pass before he can see the next doctor, but fretting about it won't make it come any sooner or change whatever the results are going to be. We are getting together with our best friends this weekend who have been going through hell for the last year. The man of the couple was in an accident and a person died-it has been a life changing year for them and not for the good, except that it made their marriage stronger. We are going to grill out, despite what the weather will be, drink beer, play cards, listen to music and hopefully laugh all night. It has been way too long and I think it will do all four of us good. I'll bring my camera and get pics of food. I'm bringing the Poppin Bacon bread, my 2 Corn Casserole (which I will post) and a dessert that I found that is full of chocolate-y goodness (also which I will post).

I really do appreciate all of you who take time out of your day to stop by and have a look and leave a comment-it brightens my day every time. Thank you so very much.

Peace,

Tami

Spring is here, at least for a few days

We are enjoying some mild temps-around 60-here in southeast Minnesota today. I'm so digging out the BBQ grill and firing that bad boy up tonight. I have a bottle of wine chilling, bought some nice steaks at the butcher and making my grilled potatoes. Of course, my family all seems to be leaving for work and play, so I may be eating the whole thing by myself. Hmmmm, not a bad idea!

However, this post is the about Heather's Lemon-Blueberry Bars. You can find the recipe here.

Just let me say that everyone at work raved about these bars, and my hubby was upset that he only got to have two. These will definitely be brought in again.

Here are my photos

These totally rocked. I wonder if raspberries and lemon would work together?

It made them berry happy

We had dinner last night with our friends Dave and Roxanne. They had moved last summer and invited us up to the new place for dinner and drinks and some good 'ol laughing and catching up. Dinner was super. I was going to take photos, but didn't want to freak them out-I later explained about the blogging. Dave made smothered pork chops in the crock, some mashed potatoes, some kind of bean that was white but tasted like green beans (I don't like beans so I was rude and didn't take any) and rolls. It was delish. The pork chops just fell apart. He said the recipe came about by accident. He had grilled some chops and they got a little dark and I think he said not quite finished and didn't want super dry pork, so he threw them in the crock with some cream of mushroom soup and said he would deal with them later. He check many hours later and fished them out and declared them good. I believe he named them Burnt crock chops, of course, there was wine, Goldschlagger and rum and coke so he have said Nerded sock hops. Dude drove since he has OT tonight.


I made a mixed berry crumble for dessert. I had planned on making Dawn's cinnamon and espresso cake or Heather's lemon blueberry bars, but I couldn't find espresso powder in our local store and the blueberries were 4 bucks a pints and didn't look all that blueberry-ish, so I pulled out the frozen berries. It was a medley of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I am going to make both of the aforementioned desserts as soon as I find all the ingredients :)



Mixed Berry Crumble


3 -12 ounce bags of frozen mixed fruit, thawed and drained
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour, divided
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg





Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pan. Mix drained berries, sugar and 1/4 cup of the flour in a bowl; mix gently to incorporate all the dry ingredients into the berries. Pour berry mixture into the prepared pan.


In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Use a pastry blender or fork to blend the butter into the dry ingredients so you have small pea sized crumbles (I used my hands-it turned out fine). Sprinkle on top of the berries. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.






I saved the juice from the berries and heated it on the stove with a tablespoon of rum, 2 tablespoons of raspberry preserves and about a half of tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in some cold water. I thought it would be good over ice cream with the dessert, but I wasn't feeling well on the way up and didn't want to stop at a store to get some so they just ate it the way it was. The Dude said it was really good, but he thought it would be better with whipped cream. I have some whipping cream in the fridge so maybe I will beat some up for him to take to work tonight.


We spent many hours laughing (especially when we tried Wii boxing. I looked like someone had attached electrodes to my body and they kept pushing buttons to make me jerk and flail about!)
I hope we can see them again soon and not have it be two years again.


Oh, and their new house? Freaking gorgeous! The rooms flow together so nicely and they have really high (two story high in two parts of the house) ceilings and in the living room there are some niches built into one of the walls. Her closet-it was like a boutique. One wall was lined with a grooved type of wall board that she can slide hooks and stuff on. Covered with jewelry and hats. Two sides had clothes on double racks, all in color order and a high rack for her dresses and the other short side had a tall open cabinet with her shoes tucked in. If you saw my rinky dink closet you would know why I have such envy. It was every girls dream come true. I know, envy is a sin, but I'm sure my other sins outweigh this one, so I'm not too worried-hee hee.

Chaaarrreee, cherry baby

My husband was asked at work on Sunday night what treat they could expect this week. He informed the asker that since we were not working OT it would not be until our normal next scheduled day which was Wednesday. I thought it to be quite humorous-John now asks that I bring treats. I get the vibe his wife's cooking may be, well, let's just say I normally see him eat salads or take out. I don't know for sure, maybe she is a terrific cook but doesn't have much time as I know she works. I'm digressing. I wanted to try something new and was inspired by Cathy (at Noble Pig) on the dump-type dessert she made the other day. I found on the side of my pie filling can what they called Cherry Surprise Cake. I'm taking liberties and calling it Cherry Bliss as John was quite blissful after have 4 pieces. I did take a little liberty with the ingredients, but it is based on the can of pie filling in the picture.



Cherry Bliss


1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soft butter (not shown)-I was softening it at photo time
4 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1-21 oz can cherry pie filling
2 tsp cinnamon






Grease 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, oil and butter. Mix together. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add in water and vanilla and beat until creamy. Gradually add flour and baking powder. When all combined, pour a little over half of mixture into pan and spread out. It says to use half, but I used about 2/3-I like to see whats in there. Spread pie filling over base. I spooned it out and dropped it so I could make sure I would get cherries in each piece. Spoon remaining batter over top of cherries.



Combine the remaining 1/4 sugar with the cinnamon; sprinkle over the batter.




Place in oven and bake for approximately 50 minutes. I checked mine after 46 minutes and it was done.






It looks like it is wet in this photo, but it wasn't. It was like a crisp shell almost.


Serve with whipped cream if desired.









I asked for honest opinions and all who tried it really liked it so I asked if they thought they would like it with other fruit too and got a resounding yes. I think I will try it with the last bag of frozen rhubarb I have.

Okay, Lars didn't like, but he doesn't like cherries so he didn't have any. He said "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I am not a fan of cherries. It looks really good though and thanks for offering". Randy laughed-he said Lars was trying to not upset the gravy train so he could have treats next time. What a card!