Category Archives: Food Holidays

Double Berry Ice Cream Pie

This month is national ice cream month and I knew I had to make ice cream. I love ice cream, but it doesn’t love me back. I know…it’s not fair! I was browsing through the July/August Eating Well Magazine and came across this easy recipe for ice cream pie. It gave a master recipe and then five different flavor combinations. I would recommend making it only a day before you need the pie and not letting it sit in the freezer for an extended amount of time. I found that a couple days after, it started turning icy.

2 cups coarsely crumbled graham crackers
3 Tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
2 cups blueberries and raspberries, pureed

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Process the graham cracker crumbs in a food processor until they are finely crushed. Add the oil and then process until the oil is combined. Lightly coat a pie pan with nonstick cooking spray and then press down the crumbs with the back of a spoon onto the bottom and sides of a pie pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes and then allow to cool completely before adding the filling.

Using a handheld mixer, whip the heavy cream until it starts to thicken. Add in the sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold in the yogurt and pureed berries. Pour the mixture into the cooled crust and then cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for at least 5 hours. Allow the pie to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes until it has slightly softened before slicing.

Source : Eating Well Magazine, July/August 2014

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Cinnamon Bun Glazed Donuts

Today’s National Donut Day! Who doesn’t love a day that revolves around donuts? I have been looking for different varieties of baked donuts, there’s really no end to what can be made. These donuts are delicious! I love the cinnamon bun flavor and the fact that they’re glazed with a delicious vanilla cream cheese glaze. I have a feeling the half dozen donuts I made will be gone in no time at all.

1 cup flour
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Glaze
1 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp (or more) milk, half and half

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a donut pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder and cinnamon. Add in the wet ingredients – butter, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Place the batter into a ziplock bag. Snip the corner and pipe the batter into the donut pan, filling each 3/4 way full.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the donuts spring back and are lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

While the donuts are cooling, make the glaze. Combine all the glaze ingredients and whip together with a whisk. After the donuts have cooled for 5 minutes or so, remove from the pan and dip into the glaze. Place on a wire cooling rack to continue cooling. Devour!

Source: Averie Cooks

It’s National Pretzel Day!

There’s something about a Philly soft pretzel that can’t be duplicated anywhere else. My dad would joke whenever we would see a vendor selling them on the street corner on our way to my aunt’s in NJ about why the pretzels were so good in Philly – all the street pollution. Oh he was a funny one!

To celebrate, here’s some of my favorite recipes using pretzels!

Homemade Pretzel Bites

Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops

Chocolate Chip & Pretzel Cookie Bars 

National Donut/Doughnut Day!

Happy Donut Day! Or is it Doughnut Day?

What’s your favorite donut?

I’m in love with glazed sour cream donuts. I could care less about those jelly filled ones – YUCK, but a sour cream one…oh dear, my weakness!

And some facts about National Donut Day…

  • National Donut Day is on the first Friday of June each year, succeeding the Donut Day event created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I.
  • National Doughnut Day started in 1938 as a fund raiser for the Chicago Salvation Army. Their goal was to help the needy during the Great Depression, and to honor the Salvation Army “Lassies” of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers.

Photo source: Microsoft Office

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I’m getting ready for fresh blueberries with this recipe. It was perfect and the cheesecake is so smooth and the crust was so buttery. Trust me, they’re very addicting! I loved the addition of the orange zest in the cheesecake. And to top it off…today’s National Blueberry Cheesecake Day! PERFECT!

2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted, cold butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour
2 eggs
2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, orange juice and blueberries. Cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens and comes to a bubble. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture is crumbly. Line two 8×8 or one 9×13 pans with foil or parchment paper. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is lightly browned.

While the crust is  cooking, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the flour, eggs, vanilla and orange zest and mix well.

Remove the crust from the oven and pour the cream cheese mixture over the hot crust. Spoon the blueberries over the cream cheese mixture. With a knife, swirl the blueberries throughout the cream cheese. Bake the bars fpr another 20 minutes or until the bars are set.

Let the bars cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Once cooled, refrigerate the bars for at least an hour or overnight. Cut into squares and serve cold.

Recipe: Baked Bree

Eat Whatever You Want Day

I missed it!!!! I had made a note to blog about this yesterday, but somewhere in the mess of my desk, I lost the note! I guess I should start using the sticky note app on my computer!

So let’s pretend today really isn’t Thursday, it’s still Wednesday and we can celebrate EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT DAY! Seriously, this is probably my most favorite “holidays.” 🙂

To celebrate, here’s my list of what I wanted to eat yesterday:

– king crab legs (my husband is highly allergic to crab so I rarely eat it)
– a rare, juicy steak
– a BIG piece of chocolate cake

Starting thinking about your list for next year and come May 11th, you’ll be ready for this day! Throw your diet out the window and indulge one day!

Image from iclipart

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I was hoping to have a new post for you, but the time got away from me. Seriously, how is it already May 5th? This year is already flying by….and it needs to SLOW down!!!! I have one new recipe I’m trying out tonight, although it’s not Mexican, but it sure sounds delicious.

Anyways…here’s some of my favorite Mexican recipes. What are some of your favorite Mexican foods to make?

Beef Empanadas

Chicken Fajita Soup

Family Sized Baked Burrito

National Pretzel Day

Happy National Pretzel Day! MMM…pretzels are my guilty pleasure. That dough, warm, salty goodness with spicy brown mustard…YUM!!

Growing up in the suburbs of Philly, I learned that pretzels are somewhat of a big deal! Whenever we’d go to visit my aunt in South Jersey, we’d always have to drive past my dad’s old house and there would be vendors selling pretzels on street corners. Those pretzels always tasted the best!

Did you know that German monks created the pretzel in the Fifth century as a reward for children who performed good deeds? That definitely makes sense since my little one is always on her best behavior when we see a Pretzel factory or I make these pretzels bites!

Garlic

Happy Garlic Day! I’m a big fan of garlic and I use it a lot in my cooking. There’s report after report of how garlic is good for you and is nothing short of a wonder herb. You mean the thing that can ward off vampire is really good for you?!!? Just kidding, just needed to throw that in to see if you were paying attention! LOL!
There’s been new research about the health benefits of garlic – from helping to treat cancer, reducing high blood pressure, curing ear infections, flushing out toxins and so much more. Though there are some pretty gross side effects of eating too much garlic – garlic breath (who has a mint?), body odor and digestive problems. I guess everything in moderation is ok!
Now on to my favorite recipe highlighting garlic –

If you haven’t tried this recipe yet, you’re seriously missing out!

Garlic photo from istock.com