Philly Fondue

My friend Mindy introduced us to this hot pot of cheesy goodness. It's super simple to make and is a total crowd pleaser.  We like it best when used as a dip for french bread, I suppose one could try dipping vegetables into it, but we haven't tried that yet.  Too busy slathering it on soft white pieces of nutritionally devoid pieces of white bread.

Philly Fondue

1 1/2 cups milk
2 pkgs cream cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt

Cut up cream cheese into cubes.  Add other ingredients and heat on low until melted, stirring frequently.  Do not boil.  Serve with cubed french bread.

Karina's toffee apple dip

Last December at a little Christmas party, my good friend Karina brought an appetizer to share with the crowd.

It looked unassuming enough, a plate of sliced apples and a bowl of some sort of brownish dip, and knowing that my friend is both a very good and adventurous cook, I was excited to try it out.

To say my kids and I went crazy over it was an understatement.

Before she parted ways that night, I managed to get the recipe from her, but it sat unused for months because with the New Year and it's resolutions, came my re-commitment do losing weight.  And despite the fact that apples are zero points on the Weight Watchers plan, dips aren't generally known to be low in points.  And while the recipe does call for the reduced fat cream cheese, it's because of it's consistency, not because anyone is worried about fat grams or calories.  And then of course there is more than a cup of sugar added, and almost a cup of crushed up Heath candy bars.  (You don't have to chop them up yourself, they are sold by the bag in the chocolate chip section of most grocery stores.)

Last night it was my turn to host book club, and I had a couple other treats in mind to make, but I wanted something else with the appearance of being healthy, like some fruit or vegetable or something, and this dip popped into my head.

My kids were excited and went to bed praying there would be leftovers.  (There was, and from the looks of it, someone had some for breakfast.)

Karina's Toffee Apple Dip

1 package reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup crushed Heath bar pieces

mix together

serve with 8-12 sliced Granny Smith apples

Lemony Blueberry Streusel bars

I found this recipe awhile back on recipegirl.com.  (here's the link to the original recipe, except I don't think I changed anything.  It's just about perfect.) So yum.  I've taken platters of these babies to several church functions, and they always disappear quickly.  I NEVER have leftovers. In fact, sometimes if I am late hitting the dessert table, I won't even get to try one.  (I've learned to keep a small reserve at home)

Lemony Blueberry Streusel Bars

8 ounces (1 cup) butter, softened
3 cups flour
1 1/3 packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 large egg, separated
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups room temperature blueberries.  (about 13 oz) washed and drained on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 9 x 13 inch metal baking pan with foil leaving a 1 inch overhang on the ends.  Spray foil with cooking spray- bottom and sides of the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers) blend the butter completely into the flour mixture. (I used my food processor, mixing in the oats last, mixing until the oats are just barely combined) Transfer 2 cups of the crumb mixture to another bowl and reserve for the topping.

Blend the egg white into the remaining crumbs, and then press the mixture into the bottom of the pan to form a level crust.  Use the bottom of a flat, wide glass to tap the mixture and even it out.

Bake the crust 10-12 minutes, or until it starts to form a dry top.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk condensed milk, lemon juice, and zest, and egg yolk.  Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.  (It will begin to thicken)

Sprinkle blueberries evenly over hot crust and then drop spoonfuls of the lemon mixture over the blueberries.  Spread gently with a spatula to distribute as evenly as you can.  Bake until lemon mixture begins to form a shiny skin- 7 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle reserved crumble topping over the lemon-blueberry layer, pressing the streusel between your fingers into small lumps as you sprinkle.  Bake until filling is bubbly at the edges and the topping is brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let bars cook in the pan on a rack until just warm, about an hour.  Carefully lift them out of the pan using the foil overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Remove foil and cut into 24 bars when cool.  (If you have time to chill the bars, they're easier to cut cleanly when chilled- plus, I think they taste better chilled.)

Yield:  about 24 bars

Cooking tips- bars may be stored at room temperature for a few hours, but otherwise should be stored in the refrigerator.

Key Lime Pie

John is a huge key lime pie fan. It used to be his favorite until it was upstaged by my raspberry pie, but I think it still occupies the number two slot. That being said, over the years I have looked and looked for a pie recipe that would satisfy him. Mostly his big complaint is that the pie isn't tart enough. Apparently the story goes that he found the perfect pie in Disney World years and years ago.

Over the years I had made several attempts to replicate the elusive Disney World pie recipe but to no avail. It's never just right. Close, but no cigar. (Of course I should mention that most of this searching was before the internet played such a big role in my life- so googling Disney World Key Lime Pie wasn't even a thought) Once, I even cleaned out two stores of their key limes before I figured out I could buy it pre-bottled. I realize fresher is better, but if memory serves correctly I got a hand cramp from squeezing the juice out of those little buggers for over an hour.

And then one day it hit me.

Can you guess what the very first cookbook I ever bought was? "Cooking with Mickey- Vol II- The most requested recipes from Walt Disney World and Disneyland".

I bought it when I was in college, when the most cooking I did was heat up a can of soup.

Guess what recipe had been sitting on my shelf long before I ever even owned a pie pan?

So that's the good news.

The bad news is that it still isn't tart enough. It's the closest to John's memory (I personally think after all these years the pie from his memory is probably better than the pie he actually ate.)

So I'm working on it. I've tweaked the recipe a little bit, and some day I hope to get it right.

Key Lime Pie

1 3/4 sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

4 teaspoons grated lime zest

1/2 cup Key lime juice

1 9 inch prepared graham cracker pie shell

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 fresh lime, sliced

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees

Whisk together egg yolks and zest until light green. (about 2 minutes) Add milk and blend until well combined. Slowly add lime juice, mixing until well blended. Pour into pie shell and bake 20 minutes. Let cool and refrigerate. Top with whipped cream and a slice of lime.

Strawberry Dessert

This was my absolute favorite dessert growing up. To me, one of the best things about summer meant strawberries, and strawberries meant strawberry dessert.

I had sorta back-burnered this recipe for awhile given that for years my kids didn't like strawberries, and John was more interested in raspberry pie.

And then this weekend I decided to dust off the old recipe and give my family a real treat. It's the kind of dessert that beckons to you for breakfast.

It was as good as I remembered. Nick has a new favorite dessert. John really liked it but still prefers raspberry pie. (But is intrigued at the thought of a raspberry version) Madison said she really liked it, but after 24 hours in the fridge, I let Nick eat her last piece. Zach would prefer to eat the strawberries plain. Christopher said "ow" when offered a taste.

The recipe calls for a box of junket Danish Desserts for the glaze, but I've had trouble finding it in Arizona. My mom keeps me stocked from Utah. Never fear, my raspberry pie glaze recipe would work just as well. (I'm not sure that the amounts are the same, but it's better than nothing.) This recipe was adapted by my mom from her cousin who used pie filling (any kind) instead of the fresh fruit and glaze. So, that's always an option as well.

Strawberry Dessert

Crust:

2 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 cubes butter

1 c. oatmeal

Cut together well. Pat in 9 x 13 pan. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees

Optional- instead of oatmeal, use 1 c. chopped walnuts

Filling:

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese

1 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 pkg. (envelopes) Dream Whip

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix Dream whip together as per instructions on box. Fold into cream cheese mixture.

Remove crust from oven. Cool. Crumble. Reserve 1/4 for topping. Pat remaining in bottom of same pan. cover with cream cheese mixture. Cook Danish Desserts following pie directions. Cool. Slice fresh strawberries in half and arrange on top of cheese mixture. Cover with cooled Danish Desserts. Top with remaining crumbs. Refrigerate 3-4 hours. Serves 12.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies.

I broke my cardinal rule with this food blog, and that is that I don't have a picture for this post. I thought I took some, but can't find them anywhere. Oh, well. I could steal one from another blog, but instead I'll just have to promise to add a picture next time I bake these cookies. Until then, you can find the recipe, and good pictures on Baking Like Betty or Picky Palate. Sorry!

I needed to come up with some cookies for an end of year party for one of my kid's classes and I thought these would be fun. I got them from one of the other food blogs I follow- picky-palate.com and they got great reviews on my good friend's blog at Baking Like Betty, so I gave them a whirl.

Mine seemed a little flatter than in the pictures on the other blogs, so I'd probably add a little more flour next time. (but I tend to err on the side of not enough flour- and will probably end up weighing all my flour in every recipe at some future date.)

Despite their flatness, they were still pretty dang yummy and I heard they were a hit in Madison's math party.

Also, on both Baking Like Betty and Picky Palate, they have the recipe for a smaller batch of cookies, but when I bake I usually bake in volume (enough to give away and enjoy ourselves, and if I'm going to take the time and dirty those dishes, I might as well make it worth my while) so I've taken the liberty of doubling the recipe. (Mostly so I don't have to do the math again)

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
16 Oreo cookies, broken in pieces (not crushed)
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined. Mix in Oreo pieces and chocolate chips.

With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto parchment paper or Silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool for about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Chicken Salad

I love a good chicken salad, so when my friend Mindy was serving this a few years ago, I demanded the recipe.

Chicken Salad

2 cups chicken cooked and cubed

2 cups green apple cut into small chunks

2 cups red grapes cut into quarters

1 cup cashews

1 cup celery

2 TBS red onion chopped finely

~~~

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

2 TBS lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Combine top 6 ingredients together and set aside.

Combine bottom ingredients and add to salad mixture and serve.