strawberry-watermelon slush

It's pretty darn simple, and you might already have this stuff around.  Just roughly chop some strawberries.

And juice a lemon

Toss both in your blender along with some cubed watermelon and some sugar,

and blend blend blend.  When its nice and smooth, add ice cubes until it reaches your desired level of slushie-ness.  I think I went for about 4 cups at least.

Pour it into cups and top with an umbrella if you are like me and tiny umbrellas make you happy.

Strawberry-Watermelon Slushie
Recipe from Taste of Home

2 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1 pint fresh strawberries, halved (I actually used a little less than a pint.  Maybe 3/4 of it)
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
2-4 C ice cubes
In a blender, combine the watermelon, strawberries, sugar and lemon juice; cover and process on high until smooth. With blender running, gradually add ice cubes until desired consistency is reached.  Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately.

Yield: 5-7 cups

banana split squares.

First, you layer the ice cream sandwiches on the bottom of the pan, cutting some of them to fit if necessary.

Then you add a layer of bananas,

then hot fudge and caramel, then strawberries or maraschino cherries.

Then I combined the whipped topping with a can of crushed pineapple and spread it on top of everything and added some crushed Butterfingers, although you could also use toffee bits (or crushed toffee bars) or any kind of chopped nuts.

Then you pop this bad boy in the freezer for at least 4 hours so it can set up. When it's frozen, cut into 12 pieces and serve immediately.

It's super easy and fun way to cool off this summer!

Frozen Banana Split Squares

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen

12 3.5 oz. ice cream sandwiches

3-4 medium bananas

1/2-1 c. hot fudge sauce

1/2-1 c. caramel sauce

1 c. chopped maraschino cherries or sliced strawberries (more or less depending on personal taste)

8 oz. frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed

1 small can crushed pineapple, undrained

2 Butterfinger bars, crushed (or 1/2 c. chocolate-covered toffee bits, nuts, etc.)

Line the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish with the ice cream sandwiches, cutting them to fit as necessary. Slice the bananas into pieces about 1/4" thick and arrange over the sandwiches. Spread the hot fudge and caramel sauces over the bananas. Sprinkle with cherries or strawberries (or both, if desired). Combine the thawed frozen whipped topping with the can of undrained pineapple and spread over everything. Sprinkle with crushed candy bars and freeze for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, cut into 12 pieces and serve immediately, freezing any leftovers.

pasta with tomato and blue cheese sauce.

Ingredients

• 1-½ pound Pasta (angel Hair Or Thin Spaghetti)
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole 28-ounce Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained
• Dash Of Sugar
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, To Taste
• ¾ cups Crumbled Blue Cheese
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream
• 4 cups Baby Spinach
• Half And Half, For Thinning
• Extra Blue Cheese Crumbles, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta according to package instructions.
In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. When hot, add minced garlic and cook for a minute. Pour in drained tomatoes. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to low. Stir in crumbled blue cheese. Add cream and stir, then a little splash of half-and-half if sauce is too thick. Cook for a minute or two, tasting and adding more seasonings as needed.
At the very, very, very last minute. toss in spinach. Immediately toss in the cooked and drained pasta. Serve immediately!

stuffed french toast.

Here’s a list of everything you need: a loaf of French or Italian bread, eggs, milk, butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, and jam or fresh fruit (if you’re like me, you’ll use both). I also added slivered almonds just for the fun of it, but you don’t have to … unless you want to. If you do, let me know when and where I can invite myself over for breakfast. Thanks.




Before you can invite me over for breakfast, you’ll need to know how to make this. Slice a loaf of bread in 2-inch pieces. You should get about six pieces all together, not including the end pieces. Using a paring knife, cut a deep slit across the top in the middle of each slice, approximately 4 inches long (as pictured above). This will form your “pocket.” Once you’re done, set the bread aside.




I decided to go with strawberries for the filling. They were almost too pretty to eat. You could use any fruit or no fruit at all, but I highly recommend strawberries.




Wash the strawberries, remove the stems, and cut slices in each one. Turn them a quarter turn and slice them again, adding them to a bowl.




Next, macerate the strawberries, which is fancy way of saying add a little sugar and mix it in. Set them aside and allow the sugar to release its magic.




Next, add jam to the cream cheese and mix both of them until well combined.




The cream cheese mixture now looks like strawberry yogurt. Yum!




Now comes the fun part! Grab a slice of bread and add about a tablespoon (or as much as you like) of cream cheese filling. Personally, I like about 2 tablespoons per slice. Do the same thing with the fresh fruit. Make sure to close the opening by gently pressing the bread together. This will make frying them easier and less messy. Set the filled slices aside.




Now it’s time to make the egg bath. Mix eggs, milk, and cinnamon together until well mixed. Turn the stove top on to medium-high to preheat the skillet. While your skillet is heating up, dip sliced bread in the egg wash for about 20 seconds on both sides. Only dip as many slices as you plan on frying. In other words, if your pan can only fry two pieces at a time, be sure to only coat two pieces of bread a time.




Add a little butter to the surface of skillet. This will help prevent the French toast from sticking. I heart butter.




Fry each slice for about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove from heat and serve.




If you’re interested in making your stuffed French toast a little more glamorous, sprinkle powdered sugar over the tops of the slices and garnish with fresh strawberries and almonds.

bacon and egg mcmuffins.

Here’s the lowdown….press your english muffin inside Texas Size Muffin cups, line inside with bacon, sprinkle inside with cheese, break an egg inside, season with salt and pepper, bake and woo hoo you are done!!  Mmmm!

How cute?!

Bacon and Cheese Egg McMuffin Cups

3 whole english muffins plus one half, split

6 slices ready cooked bacon, not microwaved, just right out of package

1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

6 large eggs

Pinches of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Press english muffins carefully into bottom of  a 6 cup Texas size muffin tin.  Form a little circle with the bacon and place around inside of muffin.  Sprinkle inside with cheese then top with a whole egg in each cup, keeping inside the bacon ring.  Sprinkle with pinches of kosher salt and pepper.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until egg is cooked through, not jiggly

2.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.  Serve as is or with some of your favorite hot sauce and a side of fruit!!

6 servings

cinnamon sugar toasted mini pita fruit nachos.

Cinnamon and Sugar Toasted Mini Pita Fruit Nachos

1 package of mini pitas from Whole Foods, or 6 regular size pitas cut into triangles will work (if you use 6 regular size pitas, make sure you double the remaining recipe except the fruit

3 Tablespoons melted butter

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

3 Tablespoons finely ground pecans

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pint strawberries, washed and chopped

2 Cups chopped fresh pineapple

1 pint raspberries, washed and dried

1 Cup finely chopped good quality chocolate, or chocolate chips

8 oz mascarpone cheese (you can substitute softened cream cheese here if you wish)

2 Tablespoons honey

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place mini pitas and melted butter into a large ziplock bag.  Shake around until all pitas are coated.  Immediately place buttered pitas into a second large ziplock with sugar, pecans and cinnamon.  Shake well until all pitas are coated.  Place coated pitas onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until pitas are crisp.

2.  Place chocolate over a double broiler, stirring until melted.  Drizzle over crisped pitas and transfer to cooling rack.  You can let chocolate harden or serve with it melted.  Place mascarpone cheese and honey into a mixing bowl; mix to combine.  With a small cookie scoop, scoop a dollop of honeyed mascarpone onto the centers of each pita.  Place all fruit into a large mixing bowl.  Spoon fruit over mascarpone and pita.  Serve immediately.

6 servings, 2 or so mini pitas per person

roasted banana cinnamon rolls

Roasted Banana Cinnamon Rolls

2 ripe bananas cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 roll Pillsbury French Bread Loaf
4 Tablespoons softened butter
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 Cup powdered sugar
3-4 Tablespoons heavy cream
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Place banana slices and cut up pieces of butter into a small baking dish.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.  Next, use a fork to smash roasted bananas until well combined.
2.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees F.  Unroll Pillsbury French Bread dough into rectangle.  Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Place dollops of roasted banana mixture evenly over top.  Starting from long end, roll up into log shape.  Using a sharp knife, cut 1 inch slices and place onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until just turning golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
3.  Whisk powdered sugar and heavy cream until combined; drizzle over top of warm rolls.
12 rolls

cheese muffins.

I started by whisking together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Then, according to Fig’s directions, I dumped in—get this—3 cups of grated colby/jack cheese!

That’s just a heckuva lot of cheese, man. But hey—I’m not complaining.

I gave the mixture a quick stir, just to combine.

Next, I mixed the wet ingredients: egg, milk, and melted butter. I made sure the butter wasn’t too hot before I poured it in.

Then I added the wet ingredients to the flour/cheese mixture.

Stirring it together, I noticed how incredibly sticky it was!

And the cheese, I saw, was definitely the chief ingredient in the batter.

Because I’m morally against buttering and flouring pans (not really—I’m just lazy) I sprayed the muffin tin generously with baking spray (the stuff in the blue can). Then I spooned in the batter so it fit equally into the twelve cups of the tin.

Then I popped ‘em into the oven for 20 minutes. When I pulled them out, I stuck a fork into one of them and took a bite. I tasted a slight floury/doughy flavor, so I put them back in for five more minutes.
That did the trick.

And mmmm. They looked—and smelled—wonderful.

Very interesting texture on top…but I couldn’t wait to pull one apart.

The verdict? Completely delicious and delightful, and I’m not just saying that to be nice. They have a ver different texture than an average “muffin”—crispy around the outside and airy and extremely cheesy, on the inside. According to Fig’s directions, the muffins should be eaten warm…and she’s right. Though they’re tasty at room temperature, warm is definitely where it’s at. Thanks, Fig, for your entry.
Fig’s Cheese Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)
Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.
Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 12.