CEiMB- Peach French Toast Bake

This week's Craving Ellie recipe was chosen by Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen. She chose Peach French Toast Bake.
When I first checked this book out from the library a year and a couple months ago, this french toast bake was one of the 4 recipes I had to make right away.

I made it with blueberries and blackberries, the first time, and have made it multiple other times, even made it into mini individual size servings.
It is fast and easy and I love that you can throw it together the night before. I have used different berries and was lucky enough to use the fresh peaches off my parents peach tree a couple of times when I made this.

Go check out what the other CEiMB-er's thought about this recipe by checking out the CEiMB Blogroll!

Recipe for Peach French Toast Bake

2 Thanksgiving Sides- Autumn Hash and Vegetable Trio with Orange-Thyme Dressing

I love roasting vegetables. I truly believe that any vegetable can taste delicious if you roast it in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. It's true for brussel sprouts, parsnips, beets, cauliflower, etc. I could give millions of examples.
I saw a couple of recipes in the Thanksgiving issues of food magazines and these 2 side dishes really looked delicious. I decided to try both of them and see if they would be a great addition at a Thanksgiving dinner. Both of these would be great for a special occasion, but I also think they would be great anytime. Delicious.

The first recipe comes from Bon Appetit and I thought it looked beautiful with all the different colors and I loved that they included the beet greens, mixing them in with the oven-roasted vegetables. The original recipe calls for potatoes, sweet potatos, yams, baby golden beets, and butternut squash. I changed it a little bit and decided to use red potatoes, butternut squash, golden and red beets. The fresh herbs it uses are oregano, Italian parsley, and rosemary.

I couldn't find baby beets, so I just used normal sized beets and cut them into small pieces.
This was really delicious and a great way to get more vegetables on the table!

Recipe for Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash



The second recipe I found in Ladies Home Journal. It combines acorn squash, carrots, and beets. It also has a fabulous dressing that combines thyme (one of my fave herbs) and orange juice/zest. Delicious! The thyme and orange really go great together and make these vegetables taste amazing.

Spice up your thanksgiving table by adding some delicious color and nutrition with roasted vegetables!


Recipe for Vegetable Trio with Orange-Thyme Dressing

Recipe for Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash

twd-Cran-Apple Crisps

Cran-Apple Crisps were chosen in November for Tuesdays with Dorie by Em, The Repressed Pastry Chef. This pick was for last week, but since we can post out of order this month I am posting these today. You can find the recipe by going to this post on Em's blog.
I love cranberries and apples, but crisps and/or cobblers are one of my least favorite desserts to make and eat. They are so easy and simple, so that is good but, I don't love warm, sugary fruit.
In this case that turned out to be a good thing, because I could take a small bite and walk away without any desire to have another bite.
Another good thing about this recipe was that my 5 yr old and almost 3 yr old (b-day next week) made the crisps with almost no help from me.
I let them mix the topping with their fingers, stir together the filling ingredients and layer them in the dishes.
I made 1/4 of the recipe in 2 small baking dishes. My girls were super excited to eat these, probably because they had made them. They loved them. I tried a bite and thought it was good. I like how the cranberries added tartness, as usually crisps are overly sweet, imo.
I made a couple of changes to the recipe. I used sliced, toasted almonds in the topping instead of coconut+ all whole wheat flour, and let my girls cut the butter into the topping with their fingers, so the topping was nice and oaty/nutty since it didn't get pulverized in the food processor. I also reduced the sugar in the filling, so it wouldn't be as sweet.

My girls loved these. I thought they were good, so if you are a HUGE crisp fan or love apple pie/warm apple desserts & cranberries, you would probably love them.
This recipe would be a good one to serve at Thanksgiving since it is definitely a fall recipe.

Go to the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else made this week!

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

These taste so much better than they look in this picture. I was too eager to photo them and cut them before they had cooled completely.
I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars on Megan's Cooking, a couple of weeks ago and put them on my baking list. I love pumpkin and I am not sick of it yet. I didn't know when I would bake them, and when my mom was here she talked me into it.
Basically this is a thick layer of cookie dough that is topped with a pumpkin pie type filling and then a cinnamon-sugar layer is sprinkled on top. So kind of a twist on pumpkin pie.
I made 1/2 a recipe in a 8x8-inch pan.
My kids loved them. My mom loved them. We each had a small slice and then I packed them up and put them in the fridge. I made my hubby take them to work the next day. They were a hit.
I think these would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert menu, still nice and pumpkin-y but a little bit different.
Megan had a white chocolate drizzle on her bars, which made them a bit cuter, but I didn't have any, so I left it off.
Delish!

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

Recipe by Julia, author Of Dozen Flours

Snickerdoodle Layer

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla

Pumpkin Pie Layer

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

Topping

2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Drizzle

1 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan and lay a piece of parchment paper across the pan, so that it extends the pan slightly. The parchment paper is an optional step, but it will make it easier to get the bars out later

To make snickerdoodle layer:

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish.)

To make pumpkin pie filling:

In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar. A dd the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.
Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. The bars that are closer to the edges of the pan will be more firm.
After the bars are completely cool, place the chopped white chocolate into a bowl or zip-lock bag and melt on low power. When it’s completely melted, add the pumpkin pie spice and mix (or knead if using a zip lock bag). Use a spoon or cut a small corner off the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the bars and let it cool and harden.
Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Place on a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in a covered container.

Celebrating National Bundt Day: Buttermilk Bundt w/ Spiced Vanilla Icing and Chocolate Zucchini Mini Bundts

(If you are looking for a MSC Cupcake, it is posted below this post, I promise)

So, how many of you know that today is National Bundt Day?
I wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for The Food Librarian.

30 Days ago she started her "I like Big Bundt" countdown to National Bundt Day, which means that for the past 30 days, leading up to today, she has posted a different bundt cake everyday. She started with the Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing, which I couldn't resist. I saw that bundt on day 1 and made it immediately.

The past 30 days have brought lots of delicious looking bundts. I really really wanted to make this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, ok, well, obviously, you get the idea.
I love Holiday Baking Magazines and I saw this bundt cake recipe in a special edition of Fine Cooking called Sweet Cakes. The link to the recipe is at the very bottom of this post.
I was very intrigued because this bundt cake contains shredded butternut squash. I have never seen a baked good that called for shredded butternut squash, so I decided I would make this bundt for National Bundt Day.

This bundt was a basic buttermilk cake with nutmeg and ground ginger, both of which I doubled because I like spices (ALOT). The shredded butternut squash is folded in at the end, right before you pop it in the oven. The icing also has buttermilk and nutmeg (doubled again) and I added ground ginger, for a little extra zing. Crystallized ginger is finely chopped and sprinkled over the icing.
I don't have a review on how this one tastes, yet. I wrapped it tightly and shipped it to my family in Utah, because I knew my younger brothers (17, 21) would be able to devour the entire thing in a matter of minutes and their bodies would never know the difference. And because my mom always said that sharing makes it taste better.
I did taste one tiny little crumb and it was good.
My girls were dipping their fingers in the leftover icing that had drizzled down the sides onto a piece of foil and they LOVED it
Of course I had to overdo it on National Bundt Day and make some baby Bundts to join in the fun. I really wanted to make the Chocolate Zucchini Bundt that Mary featured a couple of weeks ago and I happened to have a bunch of zucchini that needed to be used asap. I tried talking myself out of it and finally decided that I would just make 1/2 recipe and make some mini bundts.
When I was flipping through my copy of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, I saw a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake which only used whole wheat flour and which could also be made in a bundt pan, so I went with that recipe instead. The whole wheat made me feel better about making it and eating it.
I made 1/2 of the recipe and it made 5 mini bundts. I skipped the glaze since I was going for a healthier treat anyway and just made a simple powdered sugar/milk glaze instead.
My kids really, really, really liked these mini bundts. I was going to send some to work with my husband, but they just didn't last long enough.
You can tell that they have whole wheat in them, because they do taste a little bit heartier and healthier than normal cake, but it really goes with the whole zucchini thing anyway. Very, very good.

I hope you have a wonderful Bundt Day! Bake someone a bundt and share the love!


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Chocolate Zucchini Cake from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
use 9*13-inch pan or a 10-cup Bundt
Cake:
2 1/2 cups traditional whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (I used dark)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, or vegetable oil (I used butter)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
Glaze: (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 tsps corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the pan of your choice. (I used baking spray w/ flour)
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, powder and salt in a medium bowl (I added 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon to this mixture).
Stir together the sugars and butter (or oil) in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.
Add half the dry ingredients. stirring until evenly moistened. Stir in the zucchini, then the remaining flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched, 45 to 50 minutes. (My mini bundts were done in 23-25 minutes). Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes.
If using a bundt pan, remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.
If using 9*13-inch pan, you can serve from the pan of invert cake onto a platter and drizzle with the glaze.

To make the glaze: Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir in the corn syrup, and keep stirring until there are no more lumps and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake, if desired.

Recipe for Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Spiced Vanilla Icing

MSC-Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

This months MS: Cupcakes Club cupcake was chosen by Karen, who blogs over at Karen's Cookies, Cakes and More.
Karen chose the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes for November. You can find the recipe on page 243 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
These cupcakes are a play off of a popular Thanksgiving side dish, which combines sweet potatoes, pecans, and marshmallows. I am not really familiar with it because we never had it growing up, but I know those are the 3 ingredients.

The cupcake uses sweet potato puree from roasted sweet potatoes and since I knew quite awhile ago that this cupcake was coming up, I froze the leftover sweet potato puree I had from these Sweet Potato Biscuits, so I wouldn't have the extra step of roasting sweet potatoes (even though it isn't that difficult to roast a sweet potato, I planned ahead).
I made 1/4th of the recipe, which ended up being 6 cupcakes. I simplified the cupcake a step further by not making the candied pecans. I just toasted pecan halves in the oven and used those to top my cupcakes.
I was very skeptical about the marshmallow topping. The instructions said to make mounds of mini marshmallows, broil them, and then carefully transfer them to the tops of the cupcakes. I did just what it said and was amazed that perfect little browned mounds of marshmallows came out of the oven.
I quickly transferred the marshmallow mounds to the cupcakes and stuck a toasted pecan half into the warm topping. Perfect.
I upped the nutmeg in the cupcake and had a taste, which was wonderful.
I let my kids try one and they loved the marshmallow topping. I am definitely going to use the marshmallow topping in the future for all sorts of cupcakes. So easy and so cute. Just perfect.
I shared a couple with my hubby's co-workers and they were really well liked.
I think these would make a great addition to Thanksgiving as a dessert or even as a side!
Check out the MSC Blogroll for lots of great cupcakes!

Red Curry Chicken

This is going to be a super quick post. I wanted to get to this sooner, but had a really lazy morning, so here it is.
I saw this recipe on Prudence Pennywise a couple of weeks ago and since I absolutely LOVE red curry paste and this recipe looked super easy, I made it on a random weeknight.
I have made tons of Prudy's recipes and they always turn out fabulously. Always. I had absolutely no doubt that this one would be any different.
I used apricot preserves at the end and they really tone down the red curry paste, so that it isn't too spicy at all.
Prudy suggested that you could sub garbanzo beans for the chicken to make it vegetarian, but I thought it was a great addition, so just threw a can of them in with the mix.
Very good.
Very easy.
Make sure you come back tomorrow for National Bundt Day!

Recipe for Red Curry Chicken on Prudence Pennywise

Cauliflower Fritters

I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine. It was a 5-ingredient recipe and I just thought it was too interesting to pass up. Plus with only a few ingredients, I figured it would be really easy to put together. I really like recipes that use vegetables in different ways than the standard ways they are prepared.

I steamed my cauliflower and tried to mash it with my potato masher, but it was more difficult than I thought.
I ended up transferring the cauliflower to my food processor and it was cauliflower puree within seconds.
I read some of the reviews from people who had tried this recipe on the website and one reviewer mentioned that they subbed seasoned breadcrumbs for 1/2 of the flour called for. I decided to try that, just so the fritters would have a little bit more flavor.

I also reduced the amount of oil the recipe called for to cook the fritters in and coated my pan with cooking spray.
These little fritters were ready within minutes. I plated everyone's salad greens and squeezed a little lemon juice over our greens and then topped it with the fritters.

My kids really liked these. They ended up picking them up and eating them with their fingers, but I was just happy that they liked them.
I thought they tasted really great with the salad and lemon juice. Simple and fresh tasting.

I am interested in using cauliflower puree in other recipes. One of my blogging friends said she has made this recipe for Mac and Cheese, which uses cauliflower puree and it was good enough for a repeat appearance. Looks like that will be appearing on the menu in the near future.

Do you have a fave recipe that uses cauliflower puree?

Cauliflower Fritters adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine

• 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), trimmed and chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbls grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 1 large egg, beaten
• One 10-ounce bag salad greens
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Steam the cauliflower until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, mash and let cool for 10 minutes. (I pureed the cauliflower in my food processor because I couldn't mash it very well).
   

2. Stir in the flour, breadcrumbs, cheese, and egg; season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll 1/4 cupfuls into balls, then flatten into patties, to make a total of 12 to 14. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the patties until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with the salad greens tossed in olive oil and the lemon juice. (I just drizzled my greens with lemon juice)
   

CEiMB- Carrot, Green Apple and Mint Salad- tweaked

I wasn't sure about this week's Craving Ellie recipe, Carrot, Green Apple, and Mint Salad. But it was chosen by Jessica, who blogs over at A Singleton in the Kitchen, and who is my blogging/twitter friend. Her blog is great, lots of yummy recipes and she is in most of the baking/cooking groups I am in, so I decided to look at the recipe again and try it out.

My main concern with this recipe was that it was similar to coleslaw(which I don't like), due to the dressing ingredients, basically a combination of mayo and vinegar. I hate mayo. This is a well known fact to people that know me. I can't stand it in anything. The flavor and the very thought of it is just a no-no for me. Not in salads of any kind or grossly hanging off sandwiches or whatever. No mayo for me. No exceptions. If a recipe calls for mayo, I will sub plain or greek yogurt, but even then I don't like "wet" salads and really don't like the combination of mayo and vinegar and sugar. I love vinegar and sugar, just not mixed together.
Anyway, enough about all that.
I decided to make this salad in a way that would be appealing to me. I spend enough time in the kitchen to know how to tweak a recipe a little bit, so that it is yummy to my tastebuds.

I used greek yogurt, lemon juice and a tad of honey in my salad. (So, basically I just left out the mayo and the vinegar). I also just used whatever apple I had on hand, which was a braeburn, in my salad. I think it would have tasted better with a sour apple, which is why the recipe calls for Granny Smith, but I didn't have one.

I also didn't have mint, so I just subbed in some Italian parsley. Not exactly the recipe that Ellie created, but it was quite delicious to me and that is what really matters.

Check out the CEiMB Blogroll to see what the others thought about this salad!

Recipe for Carrot, Green Apple, and Mint Salad

TWD-Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Tuesday's with Dorie in November is all mixed-up. We were given freedom to mix and match the selections for the month and the dates on which to post them.
These cookies, Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies, to be exact, were chosen by Pam of Cookies with Boys. You should go and check out Pam' s blog. She always features yummy dinners and dessert and has really cute little boys!
She will be posting the recipe on her blog for these cookies sometime this month. You can also find the recipe in Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan. If you still don't own this book, you can also find the recipe online by searching for it. It has been posted on many blogs.

I wasn't planning on making these yet, but Kayte asked if anyone wanted to do a bake-along on twitter and I decided to go ahead and get these out of the way.

All I can say is these are delicious. If you love molasses, ginger-y, spicy, chewy cookies, you have to make these. I made the full batch and baked them for the shorter time noted, so that they would be crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. They were absolutely perfect.
My kids loved them.
I froze most of them, so we wouldn't eat them all in one day and sent some to my family out in Utah, along with a few other cookies.
My younger brothers were very happy that I decided to share. One of my brothers took some to work with him and texted me to email him the recipe for some people at work.

Delicious. Spicy. Chewy. Seasonal.
I will make these again and again. I can't believe I haven't tried them before now. Yum.

Go and check out the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else posted-these cookies, Apple-Cranberry Crisp, a Holiday Bundt Cake, or Chocolate-Caramel Chestnut Cake!

Black Bean Pumpkin Chili with Pumpkin Cornbread

Chili and cornbread. They go together this time of year. Some people don't care for either of them, like my hubby, so I rarely make either.
I saw a post on Real Mom Kitchen about this cornbread, which contains pumpkin puree and whole wheat flour and I was very intrigued. She got the recipe from The Recipe Girl, so I went over to Lori's site and found out that she served the pumpkin cornbread with a pumpkin chili. Sounded like a great combination.
At first I was going to half the recipe for the cornbread, but then my hubby told me some friends were going to be stopping by for dinner and I figured this was the perfect time to serve both of these foods.
I changed the pumpkin chili recipe up a bit. I do not like beef or ground beef, so I thought that I would make a bean chili, but then decided to add some lean ground turkey since there were going to be so many people eating with us.
I also added a zucchini, since I had one I needed to use, and black beans. I changed the spices, so that it would be mild enough for my kids to eat and switched the toppings.
The pumpkin puree in the chili is very subtle- it adds texture, but not so much flavor.

The pumpkin cornbread was fabulous. I love cornbread-I grew up eating it all the time, so I really liked this version. It had a hint of sweetness, great spices and a nice pumpkin flavor. The best part is that my kids all liked it! I couldn't believe it. None of them like regular cornbread, I think because of the texture, but this cornbread was a winner. I was so happy about it.
The pumpkin cornbread also tastes good the 2nd and 3rd day after it is made, which is usually a problem with cornbread because it dries out. The pumpkin keeps this one tasting good for leftovers.

The friends who were supposed to join us for dinner didn't make it, so I actually saved the chili and cornbread and invited some other friends over the next night. Great thing about chili is it tastes better after sitting in the fridge and being reheated. The flavors were great.
If you like a spicier chili, up the chili powder or add a jalapeno.
And try this cornbread, it is really good!
Black Bean Pumpkin Chili adapted from The Recipe Girl

1 Tbls canola oil
1 lb ground turkey (93% lean)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red, yellow, or green bell pepper (I used all three)
1 small zucchini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14 1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp chili powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
dash of oregano
pepper and salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken broth
toppings- greek yogurt, shredded cheese, cilantro

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, onion, green pepper, and zucchini. Cook for a few minutes, until veggies are tender and meat is browned.
Add garlic and cook for additional minute.
Add tomatoes, black beans, pumpkin puree and spices. Add enough chicken broth to loosen it up a little bit, but not too much.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Garnish with greek yogurt, shredded cheese, and cilantro.


Recipe for Pumpkin Cornbread

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for an apple cake to bake. I ended up comparing two apple cakes that were very similar and also got lots of great suggestions for other recipes to try.
Maria shared this recipe from her blog, Apple Streusel Cofffee Cake. It was a cinch to throw together and my youngest could not wait to dig into it. I gave her a little taste and she said "I love this cake!"
I used two types of apples because I had about a cup of chopped granny smith apples leftover from one of the other apple cakes I had made. I layered those in with the batter and then added a cup of sliced apples on top.

This was a really quick, delicious treat. Whip it up if you need a simple breakfast or dessert!

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake from Two Peas and Their Pod

Coffee Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
2 cups thinly sliced, unpeeled apples

Toppings:

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8- or 9- inch round spring-form or 8-inch square pan with non-stick spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, mix well. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blend well. Alternately add flour mixture and yogurt to margarine, beat well after each addition. Spread batter in pan and arrange apple slices over batter.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. If desired, remove from pan. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream! (We ate ours w/out either and it was still delicious)

B-day stuff: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting and brunch from The Pink Princess Book

Here is my little Ry-Bear. She turned 5 on October 25th. She loves the carousel, animals and dinosaurs, but sometimes has a thing for pink and princesses, too.
When we discussed her b-day cake, her first choice involved pink and princess, but she quickly changed her mind to dinosaurs and green frosting. I asked her multiple times and the dinosaur/green frosting combo was the winner.
She wanted to decorate it, so I let her put the little plastic dinos on top and then all the kids help throw the dinosaur eggs (candy-coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds) on top. Kind of relaxing to let the kids do all the work.
I had no problem getting rid of the extra frosting. The recipe for cake and frosting are below. Nothing too spectacular, but good enough for a birthday.
For her birthday brunch, the birthday girl flipped through the pages of Pink Princess Cookbook and chose a menu. The kids helped me prepare all of the food for our brunch.

I was not planning on taking pictures of this brunch, but my mom and husband both protested when I told them I was just going to have a relaxing time with no pics. They insisted. So, I grabbed the camera when everything was on the table (not the usual place for taking pics of food in my house) and I tried to get a decent shot of the brunch. Bear with me on these :-)
Ry chose Mini-Marshmallow Smoothies to start us off. I adapted the recipe from the book and placed 1 sliced banana, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, and 1 1/2 cups skim milk in the blender. I blended it well, then poured it into glasses and added the colored mini-marshmallows. (The adults enjoyed smoothies w/out marshmallows).
Next up
Blackberry Biscuits
1 can large-size refrigerator biscuits
1 cup canned blackberry pie filling
1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed w/ 1/4 cup sugar

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Slice or divide each biscuit in half. Press one half in the bottom of 8 of the muffin cups, covering bottom completely. Leave 4 of the muffin cups empty.
Spoon 1 Tbls pie filling on top of each biscuit half.
Cover pie filling w/ remaining biscuits halves.
Sprinkle tops w/ cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used decorating sugar too
Bake for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.
Fairy Tale Fondue
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot, about 2-3 minutes.
When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Serve with your choice or fresh strawberries, banana slices, pound cake, pretzels, grapes, etc. for dipping
This was Ry's fave thing to help make for the brunch.

Little Ladybugs
12 seedless red grapes
12 toothpicks
12 whole strawberries w/ stems
1 package mini chocolate chips

Place a grape on a toothpick, sliding it all the way to the end of the stick. This is the ladybugs head.
Place a strawberry on the toothpick, stem end first, and slide it down to touch the grape. This is the body.
Lay the ladybug down and carefully push the pointed ends of several chocolate chips into the strawberry to make the spots.
Raspberry Tea Sandwiches
8 slices white bread
1/2 cup soft spread cream cheese
1 Tbls raspberry preserves
1 pint fresh raspberries

Cut bread into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. In a bowl combine cream cheese and raspberry preserves. Spread a thin layer of the mixture on each bread cut-out and place raspberries on top.

Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
1 English cucumber, sliced
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbls softened butter
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes for garnish

Cut crust off bread and cut into shapes with cookie cutter.
Spread butter on each cut-out. Lay cucumber slices on top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with cherry tomatoes


The whole brunch was really fun to prepare and even more fun to share. It was a great birthday!

Recipe for Chocolate Cake

Recipe for Whipped Frosting