4th of July Desserts

I love desserts and I love the 4th of July. As I was looking around I found these awesome desserts!

Berry-Lemon Cheesecake Squares

Patriotic Cookie Pizza

Fruit-Tart Flag

Let me know what your favorite 4th of July dessert is!

I love Nutella and when I found this recipe I had to try it out! It is so good but better with ice cream! You can also find the recipe on Food And Wine website.

Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake       

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2. 4 large eggs, at room temperature
3. 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4. 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
5. 1/4 teaspoon salt
6. 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
7. 1 1/4 cups sugar
8. One 13-ounce jar Nutella

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour. In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt.
2. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.
3. Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not overmix.
4. Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.

Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon

My family loves asparagus AND bacon so what better way than to "marry" the two of them.

Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon

4-5 bundles of 5 asparagus' in each

2 slices of bacon for each bundle

oil

pepper

Cut off the end of the asparagus (you can do this by bending the end and when they pop off that is where you cut them). Pour about 2 cap fulls of oil (vegetable or olive oil) over the asparagus' and sprinkle with pepper. Make 4-5 bundles with about 5 in each bundle. Wrap each bundle in bacon (we like bacon so we wrap them from top to bottom). Put over medium heat on grill and grill until the bacon is crisp. Enjoy right after, but it also make a great snack after dark ;)

Cookie of the Month: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

I saw this recipe in one of my Martha Stewart cookbooks and thought I would give them a try. They turned out tasting very good, not sweet at all! But here are a few tweaks...the cook time is about 10-12 minutes or until golden around edges, I would limit the lemon juice to 1/8 teaspoon and not mix the strawberry mixture until the very end and limit the cream to 1/3 cup...if you need more AFTER you add the strawberries then I would add a little at a time. And make sure you cool the cookies on a rack so the bottoms can cool or you will be left with a soggy bottom. The cookies also only last about 1 day. This recipe made about 22 cookies. Let me know how these turned out for you!

ENJOY!

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies

Ingredients

• 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.
   
   
   

Things Get Crazy!

I have taken a little break from making candles due to us moving (again!) and in order to get some other things in order. I have a whole bucket list that I want to focus on....potty training my little one, finishing my recipe book, finishing scrapbooks and then doing some promotional things for my Etsy teams!

I will get back into the candles but in the meantime I will be using this blog to promote other handmade stores, great recipes I find and just the thoughts on my mind!

Yummy!!!

I hope everyone had a great Chrsitmas! I spent the morning opening gifts with my husband and two little girls and then I spent the afternoon making Christmas dinner. This year I made my own stuffing from scratch....yikes! But I found this awesome recipe from "Not My Momma's Meals" and thought I would share with you! Try it out and let me know what you thought of it.

Bobby's Whole Grain Apple Cranberry Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

• Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, hot
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 7 ribs)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and finely chopped

• 6 cups day-old whole grain baguette, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 large eggs, scrambled
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 dried sage leaf, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 11-inch oval baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the broth and cranberries in a small bowl and let soak for 30 minutes.

Saute the celery and onions in the butter in a large skillet until tender, 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl.

Place the baguette cubes into a large bowl. Pour the broth and cranberries over. Pour in the eggs, and then add the salt, poultry seasoning, pepper, cinnamon and sage and mix together.

Mix in the onion and celery mixture. Spoon the stuffing into the prepared dish and bake until the center is set, 35 to 40 minutes.

You can find other great recipes here.

More Bacon Please!

I saw this and thought it looked so yummy! I mean how can you not go wrong....bacon and pancakes together!

Give it a try and let us know what you thought!

Bacon Strip Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 strip of bacon per pancake

pancake batter
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Fry bacon until done over medium low heat. Remove from pan and place on paper towels.
Remove most of the bacon grease from pan or griddle except for a thin layer.
Return bacon to skillet . Spoon pancake batter over bacon. Cook pancake like normal.

**Or you can use a pancake mix....like I do***