the one that's patriotic

Have you discovered skinnytaste.com? I love it. I made this yummy trifle for the 4th of July. It was as delicious as it was pretty! I hate that I took the pic after taking it out of the fridge because the glass is foggy.

hope you make it and love it!

the one about birthday cake

Beth's birthday was this week. I asked her to request any special treat to celebrate and she asked for ice cream cake. I'd never made ice cream cake before, so I was excited about the challenge! I got the recipe for ice cream tunnel cake from trusty allrecipes.com. I'll give you my edited version here:

you'll need:

• 1 package strawberry cake mix
• vanilla ice cream, slightly softened (I ended up using what amounted to one large bowl)
• cool whip
• fresh strawberries

directions:

1. prepare cake mix and pour into well-greased bundt pan. bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. cool for 10 minutes and then move cake to wire rack. cool completely.

2. slice top fourth off cake; set aside. using a sharp knife, carefully hollow out bottom, leaving a 1 inch shell. eat removed cake. :) place cake shell in freezer for at least 30 min. fill tunnel with softened ice cream; replace cake top. cover and freeze. we ate the first piece after it had been in the freezer 2 hours and the second round at 4 hours. it was better the longer it had been left in the freezer.

this pic is half-way through the ice cream filling phase. I wanted you to see it in process.

here is a view of the tunnel when sliced

3. top each cake slice with a small scoop of ice cream, a dollop of cool whip, and slices of fresh strawberry. yummy!!!
let me know if you make this ice cream cake. it's easy and oh-so-yummy!

the one that's good enough to eat

We were supposed to have communion last Wednesday night at UMin. We didn't and so I have a huge loaf of french bread that's a couple of days old. I made bread pudding tonight. Paula Dean's bread pudding.

It was the best thing I've ever made, and maybe the best thing I've ever eaten.

Here's her recipe.

I made a few changes to the recipe. First, I suggest 4 cups of bread, not three. Mine came out a little runny with 3. I also added a tsp of butter pecan extract with the vanilla. I happen to think that butter pecan extract makes everything better.
I also omitted the pecans because I don't like them, and the brandy because I didn't have any.
Once I made the topping sauce, I poured it on and put the whole thing back in the oven, which was turned off, till we finished dinner. It made for a nice hot dish at the end.

Make it. I promise, its so good you'll pass out.

the one that's not so cute

remember these super fun posts when I was making my own baby food and it was all colorful and precious?

things are not so cute anymore.


I've started making Chloe Belle turkey. It was not fun to puree, it is not cute, and she hates the way it tastes. Who knows? Maybe after all these awesome vegetables, Chloe Belle has decided to become a vegetarian.

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the one where I wonder...

...are you tired of me posting baby food pics? So sorry if you are, but I'm just loving this!
pears and sweet potatoes...mmm mmm mmm.

the one with lots of orange

I made butternut squash for Chloe Belle the other day. It took forever to roast, but it made the whole house smell like heaven.

mmm. homemade baby food is yummy and cute!

She loves it! Look at her diving into that spoon...

the one where I'm cooking

I'm making all of Chloe Belle's baby food. I love knowing exactly what she's eating, and it makes me feel all Betty-Crockerish. She loves it! Eats every last bite!!

the one with yummy pasta

I made this for Supper Club this past Sunday and it was a huge hit. I stole it out of a magazine...don't remember which one now. So sorry.

Creamy Spinach Ricotta Pasta

1 lb rigatoni
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, onions, and garlic
1 cup chopped onions
1 box (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
2 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat oven to 425. Coat 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray
2. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta following pkg directions. Drain; return to pot. Stir in tomatoes and chopped onions.
3. Cook spinach in microwave following pkg directions. Squeeze out moisture. Transfer to bowl. Add alfredo sauce, ricotta, garlic salt and pepper; stir to combine.
4. Transfer spinach mixture to pasta pot; toss to combine. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared baking dish.
5. Mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan, and oil. Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 425 for 20 to 25 min or until golden brown and bubbly.

It's a bit expensive. I used a coupon for the alfredo sauce and ricotta but it was still 13.00 for the whole dish, and that's a bit much for me. Next time I might make my own alfredo to save money. I also just used ritz because I had them in the pantry. I went really heavy on the Parmesan and olive oil for the topping and it was great. I also used the whole container of ricotta (15 0z) and it turned out well.

Enjoy!

the one about chocolatey goodness

This last week I made 6 chocolate cakes-oh the things you'll do to get college students to like you. Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup oil
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
5 oz chocolate syrup
1 pkg butter yellow cake mix
8 oz sour cream
6 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix oil, pudding, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, butter, and cake mix. Add chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. Pour into greased bundt pan; bake at 325 for about one hour.

It is a really super yummy cake. The 6th time I made it this week I used caramel syrup instead of chocolate, and did half chocolate chips and half caramel chips. mmm mmm good.