Spaghetti Sauce

WOW! Easy! 3 ingredients and we were good to go!!

~Recipe~

1 28 can whole tomatoes
5 Tbsp butter
1 onion halved and peeled

Simmer all ingredients in a medium sauce pan for 45 minutes  Discard onion. Salt and pepper to taste.....Wa-la! Serve over pasta! I added parmesan cheese to the top.... Done! Enjoy~

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

I love the Texas summer fruits! I made a blueberry peach cobbler with the best fresh fruit! The picture doesn't do it justice, but the berries were bursting! YUM! So easy, too! I adapted the recipe form my favorite King Arthur Flour cookbook.

~Recipe~
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 Tbsp butter, soft
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup sherry
4 cups fresh fruit*I used 2 cups blueberries and 2 cups fresh peeled and sliced peaches**
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 baking pan. Mix the flour, powder and salt in a bowl an set aside.  Beat the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar together and then add the butter and milk.  Add the flour mixture and blend until just mixed.  Pour all into the prepared pan.  In a medium pan simmer the 1/2 cup sugar and sherry for 3-4 minutes/  Add the fruit to coat and pour on top of the patter.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream or ice cream! Enjoy~

Trial and Error....Watermelon and Blue Cheese Salad

~In the spirit of the 4th of July I made a red-white-and blue salad.  Watermelon and blue cheese.  Tony came to the table and asked what "that" was....I told him and he said it looked like raw tuna with specks.  He could not get over the look. He tried it and said it was ok...if he hadn't seen it before. The after taste of the blue cheese is wonderful, in  my humble opinion....for what that is worth.  Brenn wouldn't even try it.  I will take it to a BBQ and get other opinions at some point! Try it and see what you think!

~Recipe~
1 12-14 lb watermelon(seedless)
2 Tbsp champagne vinegar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Cut the rind off the watermelon and make into triangles  or chunks.  Place watermelon in a large bowl.  In small bowl whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, drizzle over the melon. Add the blue cheese and toss carefully through the water melon. Enjoy~

Slow Cooker Beans

My contribution to one of the 4th of July BBQ's was these slow cooker baked beans. They  are very easy, I would recommend not cooking them on high as the recipe indicates.  Maybe on high for the first 3 hours, mine were overdone.

~Recipe~

Soak~ 1 pound of dry  great Northern beans in 6 cups of water overnight. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda and bring the beans to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Take the foam off the top of the beans as it simmers. Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.  Put the beans in a slow cooker.

Cook~ 4 ounces of salt pork trimmed of rind and cut into 1/2 in cubes. Put in a large skillet fat side down and cook until fat renders, about 10 minutes.  Turn pork pieces over and add 2 cups chopped onion and cook until slightly browned.  Add 2 tsp minced garlic and cook 1 minute. add all of that to the beans in the slow cooker.

Combine 1/4 cup pure maple syrup with 1/3 cup molasses
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp ground ginger and
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Whisk all together and add to the slow cooker.  Add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved bean liquid. Add hot water to the liquid if you don't have 2 1/2 cups. Cook on high for 5-6 ours.

Stir in 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and salt and black pepper to taste.
Enjoy~

Blue Cheese Potato Salad

YUM.  This was a different take on potato salad.  We loved it and it will become a favorite I am sure!

~Recipe~
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 lbs of  new red potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 bunch of green onions chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 ounces of blue cheese, crumbled
1-2 Tbsp blue cheese salad dressing*note previous post*

Place bacon in a skillet and cook, drain, crumble and set aside
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes.  Cook longer if bigger. Drain, cool and dice potatoes. leave the skins on!
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, green onions, salt and pepper.  Add the potatoes, bacon and cheese, toss to coat all of the potatoes. It is delish warm, room temp or cold. YUM! Enjoy~

Blue cheese dressing

I love blue cheese dressing and I am always looking for new recipes for home made dressing.  I ran across this in Cooking Light magazine.  It was a little runnier than I like...but I blended it in the food processor.  It suggested that for *creamier* dressing throw it all in the processor.  I will not do that again.  But the taste was great and I added it to the blue cheese potato salad I made instead of store bought.

~Recipe~
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter milk
2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste

Whisk together the blue cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and vinegar, season with salt and pepper!  Enjoy~

Happy 4th!

S'mores cake

I thought this would be a perfect dessert to try for the 4th of July weekend! I was right! It just came out of the oven...super quick and super easy! We have a lot going on and a few places to be this weekend and this is one less dessert I will  have to make! YUM!

~Recipe~
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs*I used about 1 1/4 cups for the flavor*
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 jar of fudge topping*I used 1 1/2 jars*
1 small jar of marshmallow creme

Heat oven to 350 and prepare a 9x13 inch pan.  In  large bowl beat the cake mix, graham cracker crumbs, oil, eggs and water on low for 30 seconds and then high for 2 minutes.  Pour into the prepared pan.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the fudge topping.  Drop by tablespoonfuls all over the cake.  Bake for 35-40 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the pan ad allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Drop the marshmallow creme by teaspoons onto the warm cake.  Spread with a knife dipped into hot water if it gets too tough to spread.  Then drop the remaining fudge all over the creme and swirl with a knife.  Cool for 2 hours! Enjoy~