Scout cake...

It was the Blue and Gold Banquet last week, and our theme was "Scouting around the world." My boys had to make a cake and they chose the theme of "Antarctica". Not sure if any scout has ever been up there, but my youngest son wanted something that had to do with penguins so we went with it.

Ignore he pretzel rods sticking out of everything. My son thought we needed a South Pole, and then he decided that it would be "more better" if we had more than 1! I gritted my teeth as he punched into my nice fondant, while slowly repeating, "It's his cake, it's his cake!" lol. There's one penguin surfing, one fishing a whale (probably illegally, but oh well!), and one snorkeling. And the little scout is fishing for goldfish.

Try it Tuesday-Oreo Cookies and Cream Cake

I know my picture isn't the best, but that's ok. The first piece of this is always the hardest to remove, and as I was taking this to church, I didn't want to cut out any more from it.

It got rave reviews at our dinner!

Oreo Cookies and Cream Cake

Crust

1 (16 oz.) pkg. oreo cookies crushed (Can reserve 5 for garnish)

2/3 cup margarine (melted)

Mix crushed oreos and melted margarine, and press into a 9x13 buttered pan

1st layer

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened

Spread ice cream over crust and place in freezer

2nd layer

4 (1 oz.) sq. baker's unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. margarine

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups of evaporated milk (almost all of a 12 oz. can)

Cook above ingredients until thickened, stirring continuously.

Cook chocolate sauce and spread evenly over top of ice cream.

3rd layer

Spread 12 oz. container of cool whip on top of sauce and sprinkle 5 crushed oreo's on top. Freeze.

Remove 5-10 mins. before serving.

Here's my step-by-step instructions with pictures, and my two cents worth....

Gather your ingredients....

1. I used my food processor to crush 1/2 a package at a time

2. This is what it looks like crushed. I did reserve 5 for garnish-but I didn't inform the "family" that they were not "leftovers" so they were eaten by the time I got back to use them!

3. Add the butter and mix. This is where I am going to change my recipe next time. I thought it was too much butter. I'll probably melt a 1/2 cup and mix it slowly to add just enough to make it all stick.

4. Press the mixture into the bottom of a "buttered pan". When I used the entire 2/3 cup, there was literally butter sitting on the top of this-so I took a paper towel and soaked up the excess. That's why I would say cut it down to at least 1/2 cup, if not less. But make sure you do "butter" the pan, or it will stick-trust me!

5. Spread the softened ice cream on top of the crust. (I just let my ice cream sit out while I was making the crust and that worked fine-and mine wasn't 1/2 gallon-it was 1 1/2 quarts, which was enough) Get it back in the freezer ASAP or you'll develop large crystals and your ice cream layer won't be smooth)

6. Add all the ingredients for the sauce into your pan and cook it.

7. I'd tell you how long to cook it, but I'm on an electric stove and it takes a lot longer than gas. But I probably cooked it for about 2 minutes after it started to boil and then it thickened nicely. (I think next time I'll do this step first, so it can be cooling while I do the other steps-would save a little time)

8. Once the chocolate sauce has cooled (yes, it needs to be cool or you'll melt the ice cream), spread it on the ice cream layer quickly and return to the freezer.

9. Add the whipped topping and return to the freezer until 5-10 minutes before serving. (The recipe called for cool whip, but I'm not a fan of that, so I used 1 cup of whipping cream-whipped it and added 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar)

I'm not a chocolate "cake" fan, but this is the perfect mixture of chocolate, vanilla, ice cream

and the cookie layer-delicious!!

Cooking for a group (Entertaining) class

Many of you know that I was teaching a class at church this week on "cooking for a group/entertaining". Thanks to everyone that emailed me back with ideas-they were great! And to those of you who said, "I have no clue about...", that helped me to focus in on what might be good to talk about. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Here is a link to my notes: Cooking and Entertaining a Group Notes

I set up a couple tables to show some of my favorite things to use, when cooking, and also did a little display on party favors/desserts-centered around  a "Sweet Treats" theme.

Displayed my chaffing dish, 3-in-1 bowl (punch bowl, cake plate, veggie tray), jelly roll pans, inexpensive cutting mats, etc.

Chocolate covered oreos-so EASY and DELICIOUS! Whipped these out in no time and everyone LOVED them!

"Cupcake" cakepops! Makes a cute, edible centerpiece!

I love to have exta cupcakes in my freezer-just pull out however many you need, frost them up, slap a cute sticker on the cup, add some cello and you're done!

Just grabbed a couple items from around the house to match my Valentine's Love theme.

My Valentine's day flowers this year! Love them! I took a large square vase, put some red hots in it, and added a smaller vase inside, and kept filling with red hots around the edges. Added some tulips and you're done!  The white fabric with flowers on it is a kitchen towel from Target!

My Smore kits! My boys helped me make these as their valentines to their cousins. I used my Cricut to design and cut out a "transparency" box. Used the ole glue gun to make it, added some graham crackers, chocolates and marshmallows, a label and bow and it's done! (Not sure if the marshmallows will be fresh by the time they travel across country, but it's the thought that counts, right?!?!)

So that's what I did for my class! I think it went ok, but I didn't get too much feedback as only 4 women came! Oh well, the youth didn't mind. After class, I let the ladies come grab whatever "Sweet treats" they wanted, and then I took the rest to the youth! I at least scored points there!!

We FONDUE, do You?!?

We had some dinner guests over this week and decided to have a "fondue" night. I don't think we've ever done fondue with our kids before, but have done it several times for adult nights, etc. Tried a couple new cheese recipes and were quite pleased. Here's how we fondue....

First course: Cheese fondue with broccoli, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, carrots, apples and bread

I didn't think the boys would eat the "white" cheese, so I made them this one from www.allrecipes.com

Cheese Please Fondue

Ingredients

• Fondue:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• Paprika (optional)
• Sliced green onion (optional)
•  
• Dipper Ideas:
• Thick Pennsylvania-style pretzels
• Toasted garlic bread
• Apples or pears
• Saltine crackers
• Favorite veggies (celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers)

Directions

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour in melted butter and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk milk into flour mixture and constantly stir until mixture thickens and begins to boil.
2. Lower heat to simmer; stir in Ranch and cheese until smooth. Pour into a fondue pot and sprinkle with paprika or green onion, if desired. Serve with dippers.

This is a white cheese made from swiss. It didn't melt as smoothly as I would have liked (but I rushed it so it may have been my fault) But it tasted great!

Non Alcoholic Cheese Fondue

1 pound Swiss cheese
2 cloves of Garlic
3 T. All-Purpose Flour2 T. Butter
1 1/2 cups Milk
½ T. Lemon Juice
1/8 tsp. ground Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste


Peel garlic and slice the cloves in half the long way so the most inner surface is showing. Rub a heavy saucepan with two halves of the garlic for flavoring. Rub the fondue pot with the other two garlic halves.Grate the cheese and mix with 1 T. of the flour.

Melt the butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add rest of flour. Stir well till smooth. Add about ½ cup of milk and stir till smooth. Slowly add the rest of the milk, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of light cream. Add a handful of cheese and keep stirring. Let the cheese melt and then add another handful and stir until it melts. Repeat the process until all the cheese is melted.

Once all the cheese has been added and the mixture is smooth, you can stir in the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Finally, add the lemon juice. Stir well till the mixture is smooth once again.  Light the sterno and add cheese mixture to the fondue pot. Eat immediately!

Course 2-Potatoes, mushrooms, chicken and New York Strip steak

Since the potatoes take longer, we just opted to throw all the potatoes and mushrooms in at once, while we were cooking our meat. This was vegetable broth-with a little seasoning that my husband added-not sure what he used...

This picture doesn't want to rotate, lol. It's our dipping sauces: barbeque, sweet and sour, dijon mustard and garlic cucumber sauce. The first three just came from bottles. The cucumber one I made. Here's the recipe:

Garlic Cucumber Sauce

125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Plain yogurt
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Sour cream
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Mayonnaise
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Cucumber, thinly chopped
15 ml	(1 tbsp)	Green onions, thinly chopped
15 ml	(1 tbsp)	Garlic, crushed
5 ml	(1 tsp)	Parsley, thinly chopped
5 ml	(1 tsp)	Sugar
		Salt and pepper

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cucumber, thinly chopped
1 Tbsp. green onions, thinly chopped
1 Tbsp. garlic, crushed
1 tsp. parsley, thinly chopped
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper

125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Plain yogurt
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Sour cream
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Mayonnaise
125 ml	(1/2 cup)	Cucumber, thinly chopped
15 ml	(1 tbsp)	Green onions, thinly chopped
15 ml	(1 tbsp)	Garlic, crushed
5 ml	(1 tsp)	Parsley, thinly chopped
5 ml	(1 tsp)	Sugar
		Salt and pepper

1. Mix all ingredients.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Keep refrigerated if prepared in advance.
4. Serve.

---

Course 3-Chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas, fresh pineapple, marshmallows and brownies.

The chocolate sauce is really easy-I think it's 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips to 1 cup whipping cream. Heat and eat!

Other dessert that's great in the chocolate is toasted coconut marshmallows (I couldn't find them in our store) or cheese cake bites.

It takes us about 2 hours to get through the three courses-lots of good conversation, and a belly full of food. Usually about 2 hours after I eat, I'm hungry again, but not here-I was good till bedtime!

Do you have a favorite recipe for fondue?

Pork Chops Primavera

I really think these need another name....when I hear "Primavera", it usually conjurs up a red, tomato-based sauce. These aren't anything like that. Think of the sweet aroma of apples, mixed with a little bacon on the side and you'll have this dish. What I love is that it's quick, easy, doesn't take many ingredients, and it's basically a one-dish meal.



Pork Chops Primavera

Makes 4 servings
Start to finish: 15-20 minutes

3-4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
12-oz. frozen green beans
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 pork chops
1/3 cup apple butter
1/2 cup water
1 cup grape tomatoes

In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp; remove. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels.

Meanwhile, in 2-quart microwave-safe bowl, cook beans in 2 Tbsp. water, covered, on high, for about 4 minuts. Drain and set aside. Brush pork chops with soy sauce. In skillet, brown chops on both sides. Add apple butter and 1/2 cup wate; reduce heat. Simmer, covered 10-15 minutes. Uncover, add beans, tomatoes and bacon; cook uncovered another 3-5, until sauce thickens and chops are done.

Here's a step-by-step:

Step 1: Cook bacon. You can either cut it into 1-inch pieces before you cook it, or after-doesn't matter. After it's cooked, I place the bacon on some paper towels to drain the grease, and then take one paper towel and lightly soak up most of grease in the pan. I leave just enough grease so the pan is lightly coated so my chops don't stick to it.

Step 2: Lightly brush each pork chop with soy sauce-both sides of each.

Step 3: Halve your tomatoes if you want.

Step 4: Brown your chops on both sides.

Step 5: Add the apple butter and water, and then cover 10-15 min. While they are cooking, put your beans in a bowl with a little water, cover them, and microwave for about 4-5 min. Then drain them and set them aside.

Step 6: Add your cooked, drained beans into the skillet.

Step 7: Add the tomatoes

Step 8: Add the bacon and cook until the sauce is thickened-about 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately! It's that easy....

Orange Rolls

If your my family, you're probably saying, "It's not Thanksgiving. You can't have these!" Orange rolls are a "Thanksgiving" tradition-and in my personal house, a Christmas one too. However, this year I'm shifting my focus and trying to make the most of every day. In the past I've always said, "when this happens, we'll..." or "someday". Why do we save the "best" things for special occasions? Why do we pull out our "best" dishes to use only on holidays, or save our "favorite" recipes for special occasions? Don't our families deserve the ''best" everyday? Yes, I know if we have the "best" everyday it may "lessen" it's "wow" factor. But frankly, life it too short to be saving our "bests" for those few and far between occasions. So I pulled out my son's favorite "baked good" recipe yesterday, orange rolls, and just "lived for the moment"-he was sooooo excited!!

Orange Rolls

From the kitchen of Grandma Moore

2 pkgs yeast (4 ½ tsp.)                        ½ cup shortening

½ cup warm water                              ½ cup sugar

½ cup sugar                                          4 orange rinds

1 cup scalded milk

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

Pinch salt

In a saucepan, scald milk. In kitchen aide, add scalded milk and shortening. Set aside. In a ceramic bowl, mix yeast, water and sugar. Let sit 15 min. After 15 min, add yeast mixture to milk mixture. Mix. Add eggs and salt. Blend. Add enough flour to make a soft dough (5-6 cups). Cover and let rise till double. Roll out, spread orange mixture on top, roll and cut. Place in greased muffin tins. Let rise again. Bake at 400 for 10 min. Makes 2-3 dozen.

Here is my best attempt at step-by-step directions (towards the end I was just so excited that I forgot to take pictures!)

Step 1: First, get your eggs out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. I recently learned that when baking anything, like breads or cakes, your eggs should be room temp. Next, scald the milk-heat it on the stove until it just starts to develop small bubbles around the edge-DON'T BOIL IT! (You may ask why we do this-I questioned it too. I guess in the old days they scalded milk to kill the bacteria in their raw milk. So supposedly now you don't need to as our milk is pasteurized. I still do it because it melts my shortening)

Step 2: While your milk is warming, in a ceramic bowl (because it will hold heat), proof your yeast-mix the yeast, warm water (105-115 degrees) and sugar and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

Step 3: Once your milk is scalded, add it to your mixer bowl with the shortening-this will melt the shortening. I used my wire whisk and mixed this up for a couple minutes to help it cool faster. It made a nice creamy mixture. Make sure this mixture is WARM TO THE TOUCH, or cooler,  before you add your yeast mixture or you'll kill the yeast!

Step 4: Combine the yeast mixture with the shortening/milk, add the eggs, salt-mix for a minute until your eggs are incorporated, and then start to add flour. You don't want to go overboard on the flour-just until it's a soft dough. It should pull from the sides of the mixer when it's just right. This picture may look like it needs more flour, but it doesn't.

Step 5: I oiled my hands lightly and turned the dough onto my Silicone mate. With a little working (but no additional flour,I got this soft ball)

Step 6: Lightly grease a ceramic bowl and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap (spray underside of saran wrap with cooking oil so it doesn't stick) and place somewhere warm so it can double in size (I placed my by the fireplace, cuddled up in a chair, and read for an hour)

Step 7: Just before my dough has doubled, I grate my orange peels and make the filling. Mix the grated orange peel with the shortening and sugar, in a small bowl.

Step 8: Didn't get a picture of this one. Divide the dough in two and roll out one. I roll it out on my cutting mat so I have a guide how large to roll it.  My mats are 12 x 15, and the dough is usually around 1/4" thick. Once you've got it rolled out, spread half of the filling over the top. Then roll the dough up, starting with one of the long ends, and pinch the ends when you're done. Then cut the "log" about every 1 1/4". DON'T cut on your silicone mat! Transfer your "log" to a cutting board first!

Step 9: Grease your cupcake tins and place one rolled section into each tin. Then cover with a dish cloth and let them rise again (back to the fireplace and your book!)

Step 10: I forgot to take a picture before they went in the oven so I quickly opened the door and snapped a shot. This shows you how large I let them rise. Then pop them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are nicely brown.

Step 11: I let them cool just for a minute in the pans, and then remove them and place in a bowl that's lined with a kitchen towel. Then enjoy! They do freeze well-just place in ziploc bags after they have cooled-mine are usually eaten before I can get them to the freezer!

Valentine Chair Backers!

If you're a surfer on the craft blogs, I'm sure you've seen these bags by now. The blog, Our Scoop, posted a tutorial back in 2009 on how to make these, and it's gone viral. Of course, how could I resist-they are adorable!

I actually saw the post last year, but I couldn't find any cute fabric, so I've been a little slow to do them. Were they easy? Not really. Worth it? We'll see next week when I bring them out at FHE and have the kids spend a week putting little notes and treats into them.

For some reason, using felt didn't really appeal to me. So I went the cotton route, which meant I had to use interfacing. Tried a really stiff one first, "iron on", and it was way too stiff and the "iron on" made the fabric almost bubble where it didn't adhere correctly. So I went back and got a thin interfacing, sew-in type, and I'm much happier with the results. But, if you're looking for the simplest way, go the felt route. On Our Scoop's website, she links you to the wool felt she used. I'm not sure that I'd pay that much-I'd probably go to Jo-Ann Fabric and use a 40% off coupon and get regular felt on the bolt-but that's me.

Anyway, here are mine....

(Don't mind the dark pink spots on the top of mine-it's wet from me trying to erase pencil mark where I had put buttons, but then decided I didn't like them so I cut them off!)

I probably could have taken the embroidered name a little larger, but I didn't want the name overpowering. And it makes it hard if you have long names, and short names! I ended up doing 1 1/4" tall letters.

Love this stripe from Jo-Ann! It was over in the higher quality "name brand" cottons, but with a 40% off coupon, it was fine with me.

Here is a link for the tutorial:

Valentine Chair Backer tutorial

Happy crafting!!