Dill Dip

This Dill Dip is very good. Quick to assemble.


1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellman's)


1 tbsp. dehydrated onions

2 big pinches of dill


Mix all together. Set aside in frig a few hours. It is better when it sets.

Then serve with your veggies.

Crab Salad (Neptune Salad)

Have you bought the neptune salad at the grocery store. Well, it is quite expensive. My son has created his own. It tastes, I would have to say better than the store.

Ingredients
1 package imitation crab meat ( you find it buy the fish department of the grocery store)
1/2 cup Celery, Chopped (2 ribs)
1/2 small Red onion, diced
1/2 lemon juiced
2 pinches dill
2 pinches parsley
2 big spoonfuls of mayonnaise (Helmans)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brake up crab meat into a bowl to store in. Add remaining ingredients mix and let set in frig a few hours. Keeps 3 to 4 days.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Cookies

I found these cookies over at Simply Anne's. They are amazing. I took them to work today. Everyone really enjoyed them. They have a nice crunch, but not dry at all. They are chewy. Easy to prepare. A must try for sure.

Ingredients

A-
1 cups flour (I use unbleached flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups rolled oats, coarsely chopped ( I use large flake oatmeal)

B-
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. corn syrup
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cups walnuts(I would toast these) You could use any nut you like toasted

Method -

1. In a bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and oatmeal (A). Set aside.


2. In a mixing bowl beat butter with sugar (brown and white), vanilla and corn syrup till light and fluffy. Beat in egg.


3. Add (A) mixture (flour and oatmeal) till well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts
4. Freeze dough till firm for about 15 minutes. (I put the dough into a tin pie plate)
5. Drop by spoonful into greased cookie pan. Bake 350° for 10-15 minutes or until edges
turn brown.




Panel from Work:

Dave:
Excellent texture. Very moist.

Rate: 4

Deb:
Good flavour, Not too dry, Not too moist
Yummy!! In my tummy

Rate: 4

Jessye:

Cookies delicious
Tastes delightful with lots of chocolate in them

Rate: 5

Rosemarie:

Moist
Tasty, Taste Great!! Want more!!

Rate: 4

John:

Very tasty
Yummy

Rate: 5

Photos from my bike rides lately

I try to ride my bike at least 3 times a week. Last year I bought my cruzer bike I had not ridden a bike since I was about 19 I think. The bike is very cool to ride. Riding is so much faster than walking you get to see so much more. Here are a few pictures I have taken on my rides.

Applesauce Spice Bars

This recipe comes from Baking: From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It is easy to assemble. The only thing I think the next time I make them I would add more cinnamon and a bit more allspice. I also made my own applesauce, which I add cinnamon to.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup(packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 tbsp. rum
1 baking apple, finely diced or chopped
1/2 cup plump, moist raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans, (optional)

Preheat Oven to 350 °. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, dust inside with flour. Tap out excess flour and put the pan on a baking sheet.

Directions:

In medium bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt, whisk these together.

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat.

Still working in saucepan, whisk in eggs one at a time, mixing until well blended. Add applesauce, vanilla, and rum. Whisk these ingredients until well blended and smooth. With a rubber spatula gently stir in dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Then mix in chopped apple, raisins and nuts. Scrap the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until bars just start to pull away from the baking pan and a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Transfer pan to cooling rack. While bars are cooling prepare glaze.

Glaze:

2 1/2 tbsp. heavy cream
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

In small saucepan combine above ingredients and cook until combined. I boiled this a bit until it looses some of the liquid. Then let it simmer until the cake cooled. Then pour glaze over cake spread with spatula and put in frig. to set. When set cut into squares and store in covered container in frig. It does say in the recipe they will store at room temperature for 3 days.

Caramel Fjord Brownies

These Brownies were on the Brownie Babe of the Month over at Once upon a Tart. Myriam hosts a food-blog event for brownie recipes. There are so many amazing brownies to choose from. I saw The Left Over Queen Caramel Fjord Brownie and knew I had to try them, as I love caramel anything. I also sent in a recipe to the second event Black Forrest Brownies, they are very good brownies as well.

Caramel Fjord Brownies

Ingredients:

1 store bought German Chocolate Cake Mix (I used Devils Food Cake Mix for this one).
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 stick butter (1/2 cup) (melted)
1 cup chocolate chips ( I used semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips)
1 14 oz. package of caramels (you will need to unwrap 42 caramels)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Take the cake mix put it in a mixing bowl to this add melted butter and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Mix this together until smooth. If using nuts fold them into this mixture.
Grease a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Spread 1/3 of this mixture onto the bottom of the pan, smooth mixture to an even layer. Bake for 6 minutes. Take pan out of oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over warm bottom layer.

Melt the unwrapped caramels in the microwave with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Then pour this mixture over the chocolate chips. Then use the remaining dough and crumble it over the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on baking rake completely. Then put them in frig. for 1 to 2 hours. Then you are able to cut and serve. Keep remaining brownies in fridge or you are able to freeze them.

I would highly recommend these brownies.

Certo Strawberry Jelly

On Tuesday my son Dan made Strawberry Jelly as I am not able to eat seeds. This jelly is really good. He found it on Kraftfoods.

Certo Strawberry Jelly

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups prepared juice ( 3 quarts ripe strawberries)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
7 1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
2 pouches Certo fruit Pectin

Directions:

Bring canner, half full with water, to simmer. Prepare jars for canning; wash in hot soapy water rinse in warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain jars well before filling.

Stem and crush strawberries thoroughly, on layer at a time. Place three layers of damp cheesecloth or a jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drip into bowl until dripping stops. Press gently. Measure exactly 3 3/4 cups juice into 6 or 8 quart saucepan. Stir in lemon juice.

The above step: Dan used the blender to liquefy the berries in about 1 cup batches. Then he put these batches into a sieve lined with 3 layers of cheesecloth and squeezed this mixture in the cheesecloth and then through the sieve, into the pot.

Stir sugar into juice in saucepan. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8" of top. Wipe jar rims. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary) Cover, bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 min. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing the middle of the lids with your finger. (if lids spring back, they are not sealed and should be put in frig).

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes

On the weekends we like to make these pancakes I found on Baking Bites blog. They are the best pancakes ever. I had been making ones from The Betty Crockers' Cookboook page 57. Called Favorite Pancakes which are very similar to these. It is interesting that recipes even though similar taste different.

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
2 tsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour into the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Heat skillet or griddle over hight heat until a drop of water placed on it skitters around the surface. Drop by spoonfuls (to make desired size) onto the preheated pan and cook until golden on both sides, turning once.
Serve with your favorite syrup.

I have also included the recipe from the Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Favorite Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. oil
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Beat egg: add remaining ingredients in order listed and beat with rotary beater until smooth. Grease preheated griddle. Test griddle with a few drops of water. If bubbles skitter around it is just right.

Pour batter onto hot griddle. Turn pancakes as as they are puffed and full of bubbles but before bubbles break. Bake other side until golden brown.

makes 10 - 4" pancakes

Joined Foodie Blogroll !!! :)

Jenn at The Left Over Queen has allowed me to join the Foodie Blogroll. I am so excited about it.
Jenn's blog is amazing. I have tried the Brownies (caramel fjord brownies) which I will be showing you shortly.

Have a great week everyone