This is great little appetizer to put out for when you have some expectant guests. It does take some preparation to make sure you have everything you need, but it is very light and pretty when all said an done. With all the great vegetables at the Oshkosh Saturday Farmers Market  right now, this is a real treat. I played around with the new Pillsbury Artisian pizza dough and really like it, but I am sure you can make your own or use a different kind and it will work out just as wonderful

Garden Vegetable Tart

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

New Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust, butter, 2 ears of fresh sweet corn, 1 med zucchini, thinly sliced lenthwise, homemade salsa with large chunks of tomato or (1 pint of cherry tomatoes, tomato paste and water) and 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured pizza pan, roll out pizza dough pressing to a large rectangle. Prick dough with a fork so it does not bubble when baking. Lightly brush butter over the top. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Boil corn for about 10 minutes. Brush zucchini, tomatoes(if using) and corn with 1 TB olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and grill on an indoor grill pan over med heat, 5-7 minutes turning occasionally until tender.

If using tomatoes paste, whisk together paste and water and spread on dough. If not spread  your salsa over the top of the dough. Cut corn from the cob. Top dough with cheese and vegetables. Bake for 10 additional minutes.

This is recipe makes a statement and its ohhhhh so good. Great for a our wine and cheese socials or having a few people over. Not bad for a snack either. We also served cheese, crackers and sausage this day as well.

Strawberry Gorgonzola Bruschetta

3 TB olive oil, 1 TB balsamic vinegar, 12 slices french bread, sliced about 1/2″ thick, 1/4 tsp salt, 6 oz. gorgonzola cheese, softened, 4 TB chopped chives, 2 C thinly sliced strawberries and 1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Heat broiler. In a small bowl, combine oil and vinegar. Lightly brush oil mixture on one side of each of the bread slices. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Place on a baking sheet 6′ away from broiler and brown for 1-2 minutes. Set aside.

In another bowl blend cheese and t TB chives. Spread toasted bread with cheese mixture. Arrange strawberries on top. Sprinkle with remaining chives and pepper.

This recipe reminds me of summer. Chase,  my daughter, asks me to make it once in a while in the winter, but I usually say no. I know, I can be so mean once in a while, but I just think of it for summer for some reason. The key is bake it long enough so it isn’t runny, but not too long so it dries out. Its an easy recipe, but just keep an eye on it.

Lemon Bars Serves 26

Preheat Oven 350 degrees

1 C (2 sticks) butter, ½ C Powdered Sugar, 2 C plus 1/3 C Flour, 4 Eggs, 2 C  Granulated Sugar, 1/3 Frozen Lemonade, and 1 tsp. Baking Powder

Grease a 9×13 pan.

Mix butter, powdered sugar and 2 C flour together and spread in pan. Bake for 20 min.

Beat eggs until light and foamy.  Gradually add sugar, lemonade baking powder and remaining 1/3 flour.  Beat and pour over crust.

Bake 25-30 longer

Cool completely.

Cut into squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Some may call it wine and cheese, but we like to call it Happy Hour! Every Friday and Saturday nights from 5:00-6:00, we enjoy a wine and cheese and more happy hour with our guests. It allows everyone to get to know each other better. Everyone loosens up and after a few minutes, its like we have known each other for years. Kind of like friends coming for a visit.

Every weekend it depends on the size of the crowd on what we serve. Sometimes it is just cheese and sausage and sometimes I like to get more creative. Tonight we will be having a extra sharp cheddar and swiss with summer sausage and crackers, white bean and roasted red pepper hummas (recipe to follow at another time) served with flax tortilla chips and my famous tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and reduced balsamic bruschetta .

Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Fresh Mozzarella (half dollar size, cut in half), fresh whole leaf basil (grilled), cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half, fresh shredded parmesan, 1 C balsamic oil, and 2 TB brown sugar.

Once your fresh mozzarella is cut in half, sit on a plate that you would like to serve from.  Add fresh basil leaf to the top of the mozzarella. I like to grill mine for just a few seconds for a little crunch. If you do this, brush with olive oil first though, otherwise it is just as good without grilling. Add tomato half on top of basil leaf. Sprinkle fresh parmesan over the top and then drizzle or reduced balsamic oil over everything for a touch of sweetness.

Reduced balsamic recipe

Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small pot over medium-high heat and bring up to a bubble. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the liquids until they’ve reduced by about half and are thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes. Save whatever you do not use in a squeeze bottle in the refrig for future use.

This is probably the best brownie recipe I have ever had, hands down. If you like a chewy brownie, this is for you. The nuts give it a bit of saltiness and crunch and the caramel gives you that chewy sweetness that forces you to slow down in eating it before you inhale it and go back for seconds. I hope you enjoy this recipe is as much as I do!

Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel and Peanut Brownies – Serves 12 brownies

1 stick butter, plus a little more greasing your pan, 10 oz of chewy caramels (chewier the better), 1/3 C flour, 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa, 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, 1 oz. of dark chocolate, 3/4 C sugar, 3/4 brown sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 C roasted, salted peanuts.

IMPORTANT! Line the bottom of a 9″ square baking pan with parchment paper. Foil works, but does stick to the brownies. Also and 8″ pan works, but you do have bake a little longer. Paper is important though in cutting the brownies.  Butter paper an sides of the pan. Place caramels, flour and cocoa in a med bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.

In a double boiler, set over simmer water, melt butter. Ad chocolates and stir until melted. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 min.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt until very thick. Stir in chocolate  mixture and peanut until just combined.

Spread brownie batter in pan. Bake for 30 min. Transfer to a wire rack and cool in pan. Refrigerate brownies until chilled, 3-4 hours before cutting.

Last summer I posted a strawberry rhubarb recipe that I thought was pretty darn good, considering I do not like rhubarb. However, that being said, I have just hit the jackpot with this recipe. If this is not the best strawberry ice cream you have ever tasted, I would like your recipe. I’m just saying. This is incredible! I couldn’t stop eating it.

Strawberry Soda Ice Cream -1 Quart

14oz can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 1/2 C half and half, 3/4 C red cream soda or reg cream soda if you can’t find, 1/2 C whipping cream and 1 C frozen, thawed, mashed strawberries

Whisk the condensed milk, half and half, red cream soda, cream and strawberries in a medium bowl. Church in an ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm. When ready to serve, sit out for about 10 minutes. It will be easier to scoop out and taste better too.

This is an easy recipe to make for yourself or for a large group of people. It can be served as a dessert or a fruit cup in the morning.  I  just use red grapes, but I have used red and green  together and it does make a better looking presentation.

Sour Grapes – Serves 12

1 lb red grapes or red and green grapes, 4 Tb cream cheese, 1/4 C sour cream, 1/4 C sugar, 1C walnuts, 1/4 C brown sugar and 2 TB butter (melted)

Destem grapes. If large, they may be cut in half. In a separate bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until creamy. Pour over grapes and stir until combined.  Serve in individual cups.

Combine walnuts, brown sugar and melted butter and sprinkle over grapes. Serve right away.

Have too many bananas and want to do something different? Try this baked bananas recipe. Really easy and a little sweet. I topped this with granola (earlier recipe).

Baked Bananas – serves 1

1 banana, peeled  and sliced diagonally 1″ thick, orange juice, brown sugar and granola

Put sliced bananas in a shallow pan. Pour orange juice over bananas until they are completely covered or they will brown in the oven. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Put bananas in custard cups or fruit glasses. Top with granola.

Another easy fruit cup recipe and perfect timing for strawberry season!

Greek Strawberries

Strawberries, hulled and either halved or quartered, sugar, gingersnap crumbs or graham cracker crumbs, nonfat Greek yogurt, honey, and cinnamon.

Toss hulled strawberries with sugar.

Sprinkle a layer of graham crumbs in bottom of parfait glasses. Top with berries.

Mix 1 C Greek yogurt with 2 TB honey and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Spook over berries.

We served this pineapple salsa last weekend at our wine and cheese social and then again with our salmon and dill fritatta (previous blog recipe)  a few days later.  We served a some blue corn chips to go along with for a pop of color. I hope you enjoy as much as some of our guests did.

Pineapple Salsa – Serves approx. 8

1 large pineapple, peeled and sliced about 1/2 thick, 2 medium tomatoes, diced, juice of 3 limes or about 1/4 c lime juice, 1/4 C olive oil, 1/4 C red onion, 1/4 C cilantro, 1/ C red pepper, diced, 1 tsp. sea salt and tortilla chips for serving.

Grill pineapple over med. heat until lightly charred (about 2 min. per side). I have made this without grilling as well. Great both ways.  Dice pineapple and combine with remaining ingredients, except for chips. Refrigerate about 30 to combine all flavors.

I do a lot of granitas and sorbets in the summer. They are refreshing in warmer weather and I love to pair different fruits with other fruits or herbs. This week I paired some mint that I have growing in a container with some fresh produce pineapple.  This recipe also works well with watermelon, strawberries, raspberries and probably whatever other fruit you want to try.

The difference between a granita and  a sorbet you ask, well let me tell you. Granitas are stirred less often in the freezer and do not require an ice cream maker. They are more crystalized and chunky compared to a sorbet which is stirred more frequently  and has a creamier texture more like ice cream.

Pineapple Mint Granita – serves 4

1 large pineapple, 2 springs of mint and 1/3 C agave syrup(optional)

After pineapple is peeled, puree pineapple in a food processor until liquefied. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing pulp. Set aside juice.

Pour 1/2 C boiling water over mint. Remove springs from boiling water about 10 seconds and plunge into a 1/2 C of cold ice water for an additional 10 seconds. Blot with a paper towel. Chop mint leaves and stir into juice.  To sweeten add agave syrup.

Pour juice into a casserole dish and freeze until liquid freezes 3-4 hours. Using a fork, scrape granita, breaking it up until it is fluffy. Return to freezer until ready to use.

This is an interesting recipe because it came about purely by accident. I don’t have exact measurements for you because I just threw in whatever I thought I might taste good. I am sure this would be good with peaches as well. Chase (my daughter) was having a fundraiser for school, so I ordered a package of cinnamon rolls from her. The day the came in to the office she forgot them at school and did not tell me about it until about 6:00 that evening. The next morning I went into school to get them  and they have proofed, risen and fell out of the package over night. I don’t like to waste anything if I can help it, especially an over priced package of cinnamon rolls, so this is what I did.

Apple Cinnamon Bread-Makes 1 loaf and 5 jumbo muffins

Approx. 30 petite cinnamon rolls cut into pieces, approx. 1 Tb Cinnamon, approx. 1/4 tsp.nutmeg, half a stick of  melted butter, 1 large apple cut into chunks, 1/2 C sugar, 1/4 C brown sugar and chopped walnuts.

Once cinnamon rolls are cut up, put into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands until combined. Add to a loaf pan and muffin cups if desired. Sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar and nuts. Bake approx. 1 hour. Enjoy warm with some butter. This was a wonderful mistake!

You might think that you have seen this recipe before. A few months ago, I posted a recipe for Peanut Butter Cups on here. Two different recipes. The cups do not have to be baked. These bars do. The flavor profile is different, so have fun and try both.

Peanut Butter Bars

Base – 2 3/4 C flour, 1 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 C peanut butter, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 egg, 1 C butter (room temp), and 1 tsp. vanilla

Topping – 1 C chocolate chips and 1/2 C peanut butter

Mix together the base ingredients and press into a 15×10 pan ( make sure it is mixed well).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Do not overbake! They will become too dry and crumbly.

Cool for 5  minutes. Meanwhile, combine topping ingredients and spread on top of warm bars.

Cool completely before cutting.

Creme Brule sometimes intimidates people, but it shouldn’t. It fairly easy to make and tastes so decadent. Chocolate is my favorite and am working on some other flavors, but I will share with you my basic vanilla recipe.

Vanilla Creme Brule – Serves 6

Creme Brule – 1/2 of a vanilla bean, chopped in the smallest pieces you can or vanilla extract, 2 TB sugar, 1 C heavy cream, 1 C half and half, 3 egg yolks, 1 egg, 1/4 sugar and a pinch of salt.

For the topping- 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/2 Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pulverize the vanilla bean and 2 TB sugar in a coffee grinder or skip this step and use vanilla extract ( the bean gives it a really intense flavor). Warm cream, half and half and vanilla sugar or vanilla extract in a saucepan over med. heat just until steam rises (you don’t ant to burn your milk mixture).

Whisk egg yolks, egg, 1/4 C sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Slowly whisk hot cream mixture into eggs to temper. Strain egg mixture with a fine mesh strainer to get out any vanilla bean pieces. Pour into six 4 oz. ramekins. Arrange dishes in a baking pan filled with water. Try not to let bowls touch each other and only fill pan 1/4 full of water. Bake approx 40 minutes. Don’t overlook. They should be slightly jiggly, but not runny.

Remove ramekins from water bath and cool, and then cover with plastic wrap. Chill until completely cold. Overnight is okay if you have the time.

Caramelize each with topping mixture and either burn with a torch or in your broiler for a few seconds (be careful as to watch so they don’t really burn though if you are putting in the oven.

For the topping, pour both sugars onto a shallow cookie sheet pan. After the brules are are down baking, turn off the oven and put the pan of sugars in the oven (no heat). Allow the sugars to dry out. Once the sugars are dried out, put in a food processor or coffee grinder to make a fine sugar.

This recipe is a staple for us. We make it a lot! Repeat guests ask for it often. We find that people who do not  like oatmeal, really enjoy this. It does not have the sticky, gummy texture that regular oatmeal has. What is great about this recipe is that if their are any leftovers, it heats up just as well the next day.

Baked Oatmeal – Serves 4

1 stick of butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 C. Brown Sugar,  3 C Old Fashioned Oatmeal, 2 tsp. Bk. Powder, 1 tsp. Salt, 1 tsp. Vanilla, and 1 C Milk,

Mix all together and Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.

DO NOT OVERBAKE- IT WILL DRY OUT! It should be soft in middle where it wiggles.

Serve with yogurt and any fruit you like

My husband loves this recipe. In fact when I make it, I always make extra because he usually has a huge serving with a big bowl of ice cream. I guess I can’t blame him. It is pretty good that way.

Blueberry Crisp Bars

1 C flour, 1 C oatmeal (quick or old fashioned), 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 C butter,  2 1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries (fresh is better), and 1/4 C sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly.

Press half of the crumb mixture into a bottom of a greased 8×8 pan. Press down firmly. Bake 10 minutes until edges are brown.

Combine blueberries and sugar. Sprinkle over baked crust. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture. Press down firmly.

Bake an additional 35-40 min. until light brown. Cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy with or without ice cream!

Silly name, but seriously good! I have taken these to parties, served them to my guests for desserts and have even enjoyed them myself. They should stay in the freezer until ready to serve.  If you have a food processor, this is super easy. This can be done in a blender as well, but its a lot more work. This recipe comes from my daughter in law. When I first had one, I thought this is good, but then I could not stop helping myself to more.  What is nice is that you can make a bunch and store them in your freezer. Whenever you get that chocolate craving, help yourself. I have not tried using the chocolate or the mint Oreos, but I can only imagine how scrumptious they would be.

Oreo Balls

1 package of Oreos, 8oz. cream cheese, white chocolate and/ semi sweet baking chocolate

Add the entire package of Oreos to the food processor. Process until crumbly.

Scoop out Tablespoons of crumb mixture and form into a ball.  Put on a cookie sheet and store in the freezer until ready to coat with chocolate. (It will be much easier when they are firm like this)

Melt chocolate and either dip the frozen Oreo balls in chocolate or drizzle with the white or chocolate  or both.

30-35 balls depending on the size you make them. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.

This recipe comes from boredom in the kitchen.  I got tired of making the same kind of cookies, so I decided to throw some graham crackers in the mix and why not some caramel too. They are quite the little treasure.

1 1/2 C graham crackers (broken into small to med. pieces), 1 1/4 C flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 14oz. sweetened condensed milk, 1 stick of butter, softened, 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips, 6oz of caramel pieces (bits or chips) and a handful of chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir together the flour and baking powder. Stir in the condensed milk and butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and caramel  and lastly add the graham chunks and nuts.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet and pat down slightly. Bake 10-15 min.

I apologize for this recipe ahead of time. The other day I was in hurry and threw this together, so I really don’t have exact measurements.  I thought that I would have it tweaked by today, but no such luck. I will try to break it down for you better in the next few weeks. I will send out an updated version when I can do that. Therefore, you can play with it on your own if you like or wait for my update. Either way,  I do know that it turned out great.

Okay, just played with this today and have some better measurements for you.

6 oz. shredded hashbrowns (thawed), 1/4 stick of butter (melted), 1/2 C pepperjack cheese, 1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese, 1/2 C ham (chopped), 2 eggs, 1/4 C milk and salt, pepper, horseradish and mustard to taste.

Pepperjack and Ham Hashbrown Casserole – Serves 2

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix thawed out  hashbrowns with some melted butter. Stir together and press into a bottom of a loaf pan, casserole dish or whatever you have. I was only serving 1, so I used a small square casserole dish. Bake for approx 25 minutes until edges are brown. Let cool completely!

Mix together rest of ingredients and pour over cooled hashbrowns and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes

I really like this oatmeal cookie recipe.  The best part about this recipe is that you can cut out the shortening for applesauce. It cuts the calories almost in half and gives you a muffin like texture.

 
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

  3/4 C shortening or applesauce, 1 1/4 C brown sugar (firmly packed), 1 egg, 1/3 C milk, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla,3 C   quick oatmeal, 1 C flour,  1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 C raisins, 1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Scoop and bake 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Everyone I know thinks they have the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. The thing about chocolate chip cookies, is that everybody likes them differently. Some people like them flat and crunchy, others like them fluffy like cake and some people like them in between. Then of course there is always the debate on whether you should add nuts. Well, I make them, like I enjoy them since I am the one baking. Therefore, my personal favorite is the one in between, without nuts, but if you like nuts, that is an easy fix. I also wanted to go above your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and make them into ice cream sandwich cookies. YUM! Here you go with you cookie recipe. Add ice cream when you feel indulgent!

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies (my opinion) with ice cream too!

1 C Sugar, 1 C brown sugar(dark or light), 1 C butter (room temp), 1 tsp. vanilla extra, 1 large egg, 2 1/4 C flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 package chocolate chips ( like dark, but use what you like), 1 C walnut or pecans( I wouldn’t, but your call)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix sugars, butter, egg and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chips and nut(if using) – Mix by hand. It will seem crumbly but that okay.

Drop TBSP. full of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min. until light brown around the edges. Cool slight on the cookie sheet to finish baking and remove after 5 min. Eat warm with milk or let cool where you can add the ice cream between layers of two cookies if you wish. Enjoy!

This is an oldie but a goodie. Its funny sometimes when I make these, I will have guests comment that they have not had them years or that their mother use to make them for them when they were kids. I am glad I can bring back some of those memories.

7 Layer Bars 

1/2 C butter, 1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs, 1 can condensed milk (14oz), 1 bag chocolate chips, 1 bag of butterscotch chips, crushed walnuts and approx. 1/2 C shredded coconut.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 for a glass dish. Melt butter in a 13×9″ pan in the oven. Sprinkle graham crumbs evenly over butter and press down with a spoon. Pour condensed milk over crumbs. Top with chips, coconut and nuts. Bake 25-3.0 min. until brown around the edges. Let cool completely and cut.

This is another recipe from my Grandma. She always made the best desserts. This one I can throw together really quickly and everyone thinks  it took a long time. I cut the pieces a little big this time, but nobody seemed to mind.

Fudgy, Cherry Cake Brownies

Cake – 2 eggs, 1 can of cherry pie filling, and 1 box of devils food cake mix.

Frosting – 5 TB butter, 1/3 C milk, 1/2 C sugar and a half of a bag of chocolate chips.

Mix the cake ingredients. Pour into an 8 1/2 x 11 cake pan. Bake for 30 min until toothpick comes out clean.

After you remove the cake from the oven, start preparing frosting. In a small saucepan, melt the chips, butter, milk and sugar until completely melted and all the sugar is dissolved.  Let cool or serve semi warm. Delicious!