Rolly Tex Mex Dip

We make this a few times a year.  Super quick and very yummy! Great to put out at a BBQ!

Layer 1

In medium bowl combine:

1 Block Cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 C. Sour cream

2 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning

1 clove Garlic, Chopped OR 1/2 tsp chopped garlic from jar

Layer 2

1 C. fresh salsa, store bought is fine as well

Layer 3

1 C. Guacamole

Layer 4

1/4 of a bell pepper, finely diced (I use red)

Layer 5

1 C. Kraft Tex Mex Blend, grated cheese

Or 1/2 C. each of grated pepper jack and cheddar

Use a glass pie plate or square pyrex dish.  Spread each layer into the dish so it creates separate layers. Don't push down too hard or all the layers will mix together.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.  Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.

Daddy's Day Breakfast!

It was my husbands first Father's Day and Holly and I made him breakfast.  She was excited when i put the bacon on then passed out before the waffle batter could be finished.  Too much excitement in such a short time. hehe
Maple bacon and Buttermilk Blueberry waffles mmmmm. 

Buttermilk Blueberry waffles

1 3/4 C All Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp. Sugar

2 tsp. Baking powder

1/4 tsp. Baking soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs

2 C Buttermilk

1 tsp. Vanilla

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly (if using salted butter omit 1/4 tsp of salt from recipe)

Fresh or Frozen Blueberries (approx 1/2 C.)

Preheat waffle iron and brush with a little oil.

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients.  Add in buttermilk and eggs.  Using a whisk, beat til just combined.  Add in vanilla and then while whisking, slowly drizzled in the melted butter.  Don't worry if butter chills up again in batter.  It will still work out great!  

Fold in blueberries.  Using a 1/2 cup (or less depending on iron you have), pour batter onto waffle iron.  Cook until golden brown.  About 3 min but varies depending on waffle iron.  

Serve right away or keep warm in oven.  

To keep warm:  preheat oven to 225 F. Place a cookie sheet in the oven with a cookie cooling rack on top.  As waffles are done cooking place them in the oven on the rack.  Will help keep them from getting too soft while you finish the others.  

Makes about 6 large waffles

** My hubby loves having chocolate in them too so i toss in a handful of mini-chocolate chips sometimes.  

Maple Bacon

We are hooked on this way of making bacon!!  Less mess and having to watch the stove top for splatter.  Plus its easy to do! I cook our bacon on a rack over a baking sheet.  It stops the bacon from shrinking a lot and curling up. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

1/2 pkg Bacon (8-10 slices)

2 Tbsp. Pure Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 400 F. 

Cover a cookie sheet with foil (helps cleanup afterward) place a cooling rack on top of the sheet.  Line bacon up on rack so they are close to each other.  Bake for approx 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and using a fork, turn over all the bacon so the other side can brown. Brush each slice of bacon with the maple syrup.  Return sheet to oven and bake approx 5 minutes or until it is the color you like.  Be careful to watch once the maple syrup is added.  It can burn if left too long. 

Best Vanilla Cupcake

It's incredibly difficult to find a recipe that you can make at home and it is light like the ones from the bakery.  I have tried a few that ended up heavy and tasting terrible.  Here is one that I tweaked from a Magnolia Bakery recipe I found. They call for adding salt and vanilla isn't mentioned.  The self-rising flour already has salt so you would get an icky salty batter and without the vanilla you lose another flavor.  By losing the extra salt and adding the vanilla they turned out great!!!! 

The world's best cupcake tester!  My Sweet Holly <3

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 C. Butter, unsalted and room temperature

2 C. Sugar

4 Large Eggs,  room temperature

1 1/2 C. Self-Rising Flour

1 1/4 C. All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 C. Milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 F

Line a regular size muffin tin with cupcake liners.  You may want to put non-stick spray on the muffin pan first so the cupcakes won't stick to the top.

Beat together the butter and sugar.  Add in one egg at a time and beat until light and fluffy.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the self-rising and all-purpose flour.  Add vanilla to the milk.  Alternate adding the flour and milk to the creamed mixture on low speed.  Adding 1/4 of each at a time.  This will help avoid lumps. 

Scoop batter into the cups so they reach near the top of the liners.  Place pan in middle of oven and bake until lightly golden on top.  20-25 minutes depending on your oven.  Let cool on rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan and let finish cooling on rack.

Store in an airtight container.

The key to a good cupcake tasting, tasting as well as wearing the buttercream.

Spiced Sweet Crinkles

By using nutmeg and ground cloves these cookies have a nice spiced flavor that reminds me of Christmas.
I tried a few different things to get the taste the way we like it and the ground cloves seemed to do the trick!  Yum!! The dark brown sugar adds a nice molasses taste without it having to be added.  The less ingredients and mess the better!!

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies; depends on size of cookie you want to make.

1 1/4 C. Dark Brown Sugar, packed

1/2 C. Butter, unsalted and room temperature*

1 large Egg, room temperature

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 3/4 C. Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp. Salt

 White Sugar (for rolling cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 F

Add the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla to a mixing bowl and beat until lighter and fluffy.  Add in flour, baking soda, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt.  Beat until everything is well incorporated.  Let the dough chill for at least 30 minutes so it will firm up and be easier to handle.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Roll dough into balls, I use a large tablespoon to portion my dough. Pour a few tablespoons of white sugar into a small dish.  Roll each ball in the sugar and place on prepared cookie sheet.  Cookies should be about 1-2 inches apart since they will spread. Use the bottom of a glass to gently flatten each cookie.

Bake until cookies appear cracked and are lightly browned. Will take approx. 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.

For softer cookie bake for less time.

Depending on your oven the cookies may need longer to bake.

* Note:  If you only have salted butter on hand it will work just fine.  Be sure to omit the salt from the recipe so the cookies won't end up too salty.

Tip:  No need to bake all the cookies at once.  An easy time saving way to have cookies whenever you crave them is to freeze the dough.  Place a long piece of plastic wrap on the counter and spoon out the dough to shape a log.  Roll tight and twist the ends so its secure.  Place in freezer.  When you want to make a couple of cookies just take the dough out, slice off a few circles of dough, pat them in sugar and bake as noted above. No need to let the dough thaw first! They come out the same plus no rolling!

To bake or not to bake....ok, lets bake!!

A new Cupcake shoppe opened in the City and we HAD to try it. Such a beautiful spot and the cupcake I had (the Black and White) and my mother had the carrot cupcake with maple buttercream icing were lovely. Unfortunately, my 4 month old daughter could just stare and drool with jealousy at the sweet treat she is not yet capable of eating.

After having that wonderful treat while out I got the urge to bake my own. Oh the joys of sweet icing and a light cupcake!!! The hunt is on for a recipe that would be just as yummy. Some of the recipes I find for cakes and cupcakes made from scratch end up heavy and tasting dull. As of now I have only one recipe that looks like it might be a decent contender.
I'll post the recipe and results of that one when I am done.

Rolly's Macaroni Salad

This is a recipe I created for my husband. He didn't like the macaroni salads from the deli counter so I tried to make one that would taste better than the deli one. So far everyone has loved this version. It's even better the next day!

1 1/2 C. Macaroni Noodles (uncooked)

1/4 C. White Onion, finely diced (green onion would work well also)

1 C. Celery, diced

1/4 C. Red Bell Pepper, diced

3 Hard-boiled Eggs, chopped

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp Cayenne

2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

3/4 C. Hellmann's Mayonnaise

1/4 C. Sour Cream

1/2 tsp each Black Pepper and Salt

Pinch of paprika

Cook macaroni noodles and let cool. I find rinsing the pasta after stops it from turning into a sticky mess of noodles but you don't have to rinse them if you prefer.

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and folding in the cooled macaroni noodles once everything is well blended. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight so flavors can blend. Keep refrigerated until serving time.

BBQ Sauce

This sauce is thinner than the typical store bought bbq sauces but packs a lot of flavor.
Tangy, sweet and spicy....yuummm!!

1 Small Onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

1/2 C. Tomato Paste

1/4 C. Brown Sugar

1/4 C. Molasses

1/4 C. White Vinegar

1/4 C. Soy Sauce

1/4 C. (real) Maple Syrup

1/4 C. Ketchup

4 tsp. Dijon Mustard

4 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

4 tsp. Garlic Powder

4 tsp. Onion powder

4 tsp. Seasoned Salt (such as Lawry's)

Approx 1 tsp. of Hot Sauce. Depends on the amount of heat you like.

2 C. Water

In large sauce pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat and add diced onion. Cook until onions start to soften. Add all the remaining ingredients into the pot and using a whisk stir together so as to avoid lumps. Simmer for at least an hour on low heat so sauce will reduce and thicken.

Check seasoning to see if you want more spice. Can adjust and add more hot sauce if needed. When done, remove from stove-top and let cool. Transfer to airtight containers.

Can last a few weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. I have also frozen batches of it for later use since Summer is such a big BBQ time!