Patriotic Cookie Pops (a little late)

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day!! By the way, I tried to get this post up at least three times yesterday with no success. Our internet was in and out all day. Anyways, we had a laid back day of fun at home, grilling burgers and watching our town's fireworks show last night.A fun day to remember our great country, the freedoms we enjoy and those who defend it!

Even though it's a little late to make these cookies for your July 4th celebration, I thought I would post them anyway. You can adapt them for any occasion and they are super easy to make! They would also make a really cute cookie bouquet.

HERE'S HOW I MADE THEM:
I simply used a sugar cookie mix that I had in my pantry(homemade is even better). I mixed that up, rolled the dough into walnut sized balls, then rolled the dough into red, white and blue sprinkles. Place the dough onto your baking sheet and stick a lollipop stick into the dough. Bake according to pkg. directions or your recipe. Cuteness!

I thought I had a good tip to share with you today...........but my good tip went bad!! I saw it in a magazine and was eager to try it out with my daughter.The tip: use a cupcake liner to catch the drips from popsicles. Just make a small slit for the stick and slide the liner up the stick. Simple enough. I made a tiny slit just big enough for the stick, good to go! As Ivy is eating her popsicle, she says "Mom. Look!" The popsicle had started melting and running through the little slit in the cupcake liner all down her arm.....Fail.I guess if you eat your popsicle really quick you won't have a problem, but this girl takes a while! I was really hopeful for this little tip, but it was not to be. I guess I'll stick to that little plastic thing you put the popsicle stick in. I don't remember what it's called, but it's better than the cupcake liner!

Cool Off With a Purple Cow

Cool off with a WHAT?? ----A Purple Cow! What's that you ask? It's simply a tasty float made with vanilla ice cream and grape soda, like Grapico! Umm...... Yum! Really good for these hot summer days. We've been making it into the upper 90's here in AL, so we need some cool treats!
The kids gave purple cows a thumbs up! Good to the last drop!

Banana Pudding---The Real Thing

I wanted to make my husband a dessert that he really likes for Father's Day and I know he is a big fan of coconut, but I do those desserts frequently,so I didn't want to do that. While I was going through my recipe files it hit me. Banana Pudding! He loves it, but I have only made it for him like one other time, long ago. I think I was content just to eat it at my grandmother's house because she makes it so good anyways and I was probably a little intimidated about making my own pudding, too. I mean it's a classic, so you gotta get it right!

Although, it's not my favorite like it is his, I do like it a lot. I guess you could even call us banana pudding snobs. Both of us will only eat it if it is homemade-like from scratch. By homemade I mean you make your own pudding and meringue. No banana flavored Jell-O pudding with bananas, wafers and Cool Whip on top. No offense to those who make it like that, but it's just so much better the real way! I guess when you've eaten it from scratch your whole life that's what you expect a banana pudding to be. I remember my grandmother letting me layer the vanilla wafers when I was young and her stirring the pudding in the top of the double boiler. Good memories. I also remember the first time I ate "the other kind" of banana pudding. I was probably about 18 years old having dinner at a friends house and we had banana pudding for dessert. One bite went in my mouth and I still remember thinking,"this is not banana pudding." I was polite and choked it down anyway.

I've rambled on and on about banana pudding, but at least you know how I feel about it now! Ha! Ha! Mine turned out pretty good if I do say so. Maybe not as good as my grandmother's, but still good! Will loved it and asked when I could make it again. He so kindly shared with the rest of us and we tore into that pudding like a pack of wolves. I didn't even get a picture of it on the plate! This recipe comes from one I already had and from calling my nanny and asking if it was right.She told me what I needed to increase or decrease and tips on making the pudding. You can get the recipe at the end of this post! I'm also sharing it at Mandy's Recipe Box for Totally Tasty Tuesdays!



I put vanilla wafers(I used mini ones because that's what I already had) along the side just like my nanny does. I think it looks pretty that way, too!

Banana Pudding

1 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs, separated

2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 box vanilla wafers(I used mini ones because that's what I had)

3 to 5 bananas, sliced (Depending on how much banana you like.I used 3)

3 Tbsp. sugar

Mix 1 c.sugar, flour and salt together in top of double boiler. Blend in the 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook mixture uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly with a wire wisk for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened.Do not let it scorch.* Do not let your water in the double boiler boil dry* Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Spread a small amount of pudding on bottom of 1 ½ or a 2 quart casserole dish; cover with a layer of wafers and layer of sliced bananas;to your taste. Pour about 1/3 of pudding over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and pudding to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with pudding. Beat egg whites until they get frothy and add the 3 Tbsp. sugar. Whip until SOFT peaks form. Spread over pudding and broil until lightly browned. *I like to let the pudding cool and put it in the fridge to get cold before it is served.

Father's Day Gifts 2011

After being on vacation at the beach for a week, I'm trying to get back to "real" life and get some blogging in. So, I thought I would share what the kids gave their dad yesterday for Father's Day.
We picked out some hot n' spicy snack mix, imported pineapple soda and habenero hot sauce. All from World Market. I found these retro labels at Martha Stewart.com and adhered them to the containers to make them super cute for Daddy-O! He really liked what the kids picked out and he thought the labels were cute, too! Laci also made a pretty homemade card with some pretty artwork that all the kids signed. Oh, almost forgot! He also got some Dad subway art that I framed so he could put up in his office. I found it in blog land, but don't remember where.
Lastly, from me, he got money to contribute toward his Kindle fund, which is exactly what he wanted, and one of his favorite desserts, homemade banana pudding. Come back tomorrow for the recipe.
I'm so thankful to have such a great daddy myself and a great daddy for our kids. He is the Daddy-O, World's Greatest Dad, and No. 1 Dad! We love you!

Dad Subway Art

Coconut Custard Pie

Today I have a Coconut Custard Pie to share with you and it's a good one! I first tried this pie at my grandmother's house and then made sure to get the recipe from her. This pie was something a little different for me. A different that was good! I've had coconut cream pies and coconut pies with meringue, which I call "calf slobber"( That's what my Pop always called it), but not a coconut custard. It is creamy, full of coconut and delicious! Add it to your pie list!

However, my pie might have had a bit too much nutmeg. When I was making it, something that has never happened in all my time baking or cooking happened. The mixer was going and I was measuring out the nutmeg and dropped the ENTIRE container in the mixer while it was on! What?! The mixer flung my little nutmeg bottle out and it went everywhere. Everywhere! Did I mention it was everywhere! It kinda caught me off guard! Such a mess to clean up! Needless to say, my pie miiiight have had a tad bit more nutmeg than was called for, but it still tasted great! It was all quite comical if I do say so!

Check out Miz Helen's Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday where I'm linking up this recipe, which is at the end of this post!

Coconut Custard Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

1 c. flaked coconut

3 eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 ¼ c. hot water

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425. Toast 1/2 c. coconut; set aside. Bake pie crust 8 minutes at 425 degrees; cool slightly. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Add condensed milk, water, vanilla, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Stir in remaining ½ c. coconut. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Bake 10 minutes at 425. Reduce temperature to 350.Bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool. Chill if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Muffins

I hosted a brunch at my house yesterday for a few friends and I. It's always nice to visit with good friends while enjoying good food. We enjoyed fresh fruit, sausage quiche(find the recipe here) and these scrumptious cream cheese muffins. I discovered this recipe at Your Homebased Mom blog and knew I had to make them seeing as I LOVE most things that involve cream cheese.

The muffins turned out so yummy! They bake up really big and light. So good! I think Leigh Anne from YHM mentions that you must use cupcake liners. I followed directions and used them. Glad I did! The yumminess that is the topping will stick to the pan and you can't get them out very well if you don't use the liners. We wouldn't want that to happen. My friends enjoyed these light muffins with a cream cheese center, as did me and the kids. Definitely on my keeper list! Recipe at end of post.



Cream Cheese Muffins
via YHM blog,originally from Bake or Break

3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners. Mix together the flour, 1 c. of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl stir together milk, oil, and eggs. Combine with the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Combine cream cheese and 1 c. sugar. Gently mix half of this mixture into the muffin batter. Fill muffin tins about 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter. Spoon the remaining cream cheese mixture onto the muffins, with the back of a spoon push the mixture into each muffin.

Topping
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened

Combine ingredients. Sprinkle generously over muffins. Bake 24 to 30 minutes until golden brown.