Not easy, but worth it.

We have new neighbors, not right next to us, but completely diagonal on the same block on the complete other side - so kitty corner, but way on the other side of our actual block. Does that makes sense? We'll go with that for now. Also kitty corner or katty corner? I never know. Let's get even more real, they aren't even that new. They have lived there a year and for a year they walk their dog past and we talk and chat and they are wonderful people! Those wonderful people decided we needed to have a neighborhood BBQ - Yes!! Dang it! We had another party that night too! We decided to double book it! We walked over to chat with them and meet a few people then headed to a birthday party we had to get to too. I made these Mud Pie Bars thinking somehow it wouldn't be too hard to make. Look at all these layers and steps? Are they worth it? Yes! For sure! But oof! On an already busy day, it sure made things interesting. We had a lovely 45 minutes at the neighbors meeting other neighbors and trying to figure out who belonged to what house, then off to the next place. Hopefully next time we won't have to race off and we'll get a chance to hang out more. Hopefully they enjoyed the bars, we had a few left over at home and they sure tasted great to us!

Mud Pie Bars
Crust
200g chocolate wafer cookies or oreos with the filling taken out
70g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Cake
225g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
170g unsalted butter
2 Tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder
250g granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
36g all-purpose flour

Chocolate Mousse
600g heavy cream
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
50g granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
225g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Whipped Cream
360g heavy cream
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
pinch of salt

CHOCOLATE CRUST
Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c.
Grease a 9" x 13" (23 x 33cm) pan and line it with a parchment sling.
Place cookies in the bowl of a food processor and process until broken down into fine crumbs. Move the crumbs to a medium bowl, and pour the melted butter over the top. Use a spatula to stir together until combined.
Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
Keep the oven temperature at 350°f / 180°c.
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Add the flour and mix again until combined. Add the warm chocolate and whisk into the batter until combined. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes.
Pour the cake batter over the cooled, baked crust and use an offset spatula to smooth the top.
Bake the cake until the edges are set and the center jiggles slightly, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Heat 240g of the heavy cream in a small, heavy saucepan until hot.
In a medium saucepan off the heat, whisk the egg yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly add the sugar to the egg yolks, then the salt, and then slowly pour in the warmed heavy cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture registers 160°f. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl and stir in the vanilla.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Whisk the chocolate into the custard until smooth, then let cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or just using a mixing bowl and whisk), beat the remaining 360g heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the chocolate custard to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Transfer the mousse to a large bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.
WHIPPED CREAM
Ten minutes before whipping the cream, place the bowl and whisk from a stand mixer (or a hand whisk) in the freezer and let chill. In the chilled bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt for 30 to 45 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 to 45 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat until the cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume, 30 to 60 seconds. The whipped cream can be made 2 hours ahead and stored in the fridge.
ASSEMBLY
Transfer the chilled chocolate mousse onto the top of the baked, cooled cake. Use an offset spatula to even the top. return the bars to the fridge and let chill for 1 hour.
When ready to serve, cover the bars with the whipped cream. Coat the top with grated chocolate, if desired. Use the parchment sling to remove the cake from the pan, and cut into slices. Bars can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Thanking my weekend self for meal prep

ChatGPT has become my friend. I ask it things that I just can't seem to wrap my brain around and it helps me come up with answers... I tell it some weird issue I'm having medically, and it oddly enough accurately tells me what it thinks is wrong, and more often than not, it's right. So, when we were having dinner guests with picky kids and I just didn't know what to make, I asked it... I told it I needed to make it ahead because my schedule was shot to crap due to over scheduling... and it suggested Baked Mostaccioli. Now, I can't spell that word to save my life but it sure is delicious. I was able to make this a few days ahead and used all sausage instead of ground beef. I added the mozzarella cheese before I baked it because well, I'd run out and had to buy more between making it and baking it, so if you have all of it in hand, good on you for grocery shopping way better than me. This baked up great and was enjoyed by all. Thankful for an easy dinner night for sure! Easy because I did the work to meal prep. I never regret meal prep. I know some people who hate on it, but the early me knows the later me will always appreciate it.

Classic Baked Mostaccioli
48 Oz Perfect Marinara Sauce or 2 jars of your favorite red pasta sauce
½ lb Mild Italian Sausage or Ground Pork
½ lb Ground Beef
1 Yellow Onion Chopped
2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese Grated
1 Cup Asiago Cheese Shredded
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
16 Oz Dried Rigatoni or Mostaccioli Pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Combine Italian sausage, ground beef and chopped onion in a large, deep skillet and mash it into smaller pieces. Cook over medium-low heat until the meat is fully cooked through and no pink remains. About 5-7 minutes.
Add marinara sauce, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, garlic, grated Parmesan cheese and basil to the same skillet along with the cooked meat. Stir to combine and cover and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, cook your dried pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Be careful not to overcook the pasta.
Combine meat sauce, cooked pasta and half of the shredded cheese in a large bowl and stir until combined. Add to a 13x9 inch baking dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Cook on the middle rack until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. About 20 minutes.

Once again a not reading the recipe...

Somehow, we managed to pack in a weeknight so tight from end to end that there was almost no time to actually make the food we'd offered to our dinner guests between piano lessons, orthodontist appointment and a homecoming dance nail appointment. I figured if I premade everything, we'd be in good shape. What wasn't in good shape? These rolls. I made a double recipe and did not pay attention at all to the size of the pan they were suggesting. I also did not have the fridge space to do much more. I lined these babies up in a 9 x 13 pan like a non-reading fool... What I ended up baking was more like French Bread Dinner Roll pull apart Bread. It was honestly? Great!! Next time would I give them the breathing room they likely needed? Sure, make it like it's supposed to be, that makes sense... but this worked out and seconds and thirds were enjoyed! I loved that could make these a few days ahead and then bake them the day of. That really helped me with my zero time buffer we did to ourselves. In the end we had a great time with friends for dinner, it was a nice time before we were back to running around like crazy people.

French Bread Dinner Rolls
1 cup Warm Water Under 110 Degrees
1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1/2 teaspoon Honey
2 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt

Mix water, yeast, and honey in a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Allow to sit for 8 minutes, until yeast becomes foamy.
Add all of the flour, sea salt, and knead on medium speed for about 8-10 minutes or until dough pulls away from the side of bowl, and becomes smooth.
Place dough into a well greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
Fold each side of dough over onto itself on all four sides in the bowl to make a square, and recover the dough.
Allow to rise another 45 minutes, and repeat folding the dough. This is realigning the gluten in the rolls.
Recover dough and rise 30-45 minutes until doubled in size.
Grease 2 (8" or 9") round cake pans, or 9x13 pan with butter.
On a lightly floured work surface divide dough in half. Divide each half into 5. For a total of 10 rolls.
To shape rolls tuck edges of the roll under until rolls become smooth on top and round. Place rolls seam side down into greased pan (5 in each pan if using cake pans), and cover.
Place shaped rolls into the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees and remove rolls from the refrigerator while oven preheats. Allow rolls to double in size.
Right before placing rolls in the oven mist with water.
Bake in 500 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degree and bake 10-15 minutes more until rolls are brown on the outside and hollow sounding when top is tapped.
Remove from oven, and cool 5 minutes.

Spinning up frozen deliciousness

It's September and finally we are spinning things up in the Ninja Creami. It's been a wild summer and apparently, we haven't given much thought to making pints 24 hours ahead. That's the rub with the Creami.... thinking ahead. Yes I want delicious ice cream... but to think 24 hours ahead to make it? Yeah... wasn't happening for some reason... but we decided we wanted to try watermelon sorbet. We've tried it in the past and it was not great, but we tried a healthy recipe. This time I tried it with my normal sorbet plan... pound of fruit and quarter cup of sugar. I buzzed up that watermelon, added sugar and away it went in the freezer. We spun it up last night and decided it was delicious... maybe a little extra sweet but certainly a great treat on a hot night! Time to get more pints in the freezer!

Ninja Creami Watermelon Sorbet
16-ounce container of fresh watermelon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cut fresh watermelon. Place in the bowl of a food processor.
Add sugar to the bowl of the food processor. Puree until smooth.
Transfer mixture to a Ninja Creami pint container and secure the lid. Place on a level surface in the freezer and freeze for 24 hours.
Remove pint container from freezer and remove lid. Place pint into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and lock the outer bowl lid into place.
Secure the outer bowl into the Ninja Creami machine. Press the Sorbet button and let the cycle run (this should take about 2 minutes).
Remove outer bowl from machine and take off the lid. If the mixture appears crumbly, add a tablespoon of lemon juice, then return to the machine and press the Re-Spin button. If necessary, repeat re-spin cycle until desired texture is achieved.
Scoop and serve!

Swimming in apples, frying them up

Cooking in oil is not something I love doing. From frying in pan to deep frying, just lots of spatter and little blazing hot oil droplets all over. Our apple trees are busy dropping apples so when I saw a recipe and lots of helpful hints for apple fritters, I asked Nicholas and we agreed, it was time to try making fritters again. This recipe is very similar to what we've made in the past, but it has way more helpful hints. A spiced flour mix to coat the fritters so fewer apples are lost, ways to portion, just plain good advice. We got our oil to the right temp and did only a few at a time like the recipe said to do. Sure we had some floating apple, and some of our fritters feel apart and we got little fritter nuggets. Once we dipped them in glaze and they cooled... we ate and just smiled... we did so good. We shared them too - we made 13 fritters, that's more than we could eat in good conscious!

Homemade Apple Fritters
Dough
1 cup whole milk, warmed to 100–110°F
1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 6 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
Filling
3 cups peeled & diced apples (about 2 large or 3 medium apples)
1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Shaping & Frying:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1–2 quarts vegetable oil*
Glaze
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions
Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. If needed, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. *If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle!*
Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5–7 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5–7 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly the size of a golf ball) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a relatively warm environment for 1–2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter, which takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
Make the filling: In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch, water, and vanilla until the cornstarch is dissolved. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch slurry. Cook for another minute. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-proof bowl, and cool completely.
Prepare to fill and shape the dough: Cut parchment paper into 12 squares, about 5–6 inches each. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. In a small bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. This will be your “bench flour” for shaping the fritters.
Fill the dough: Sprinkle some of the spiced flour over a large work surface. Turn out the dough and, with lightly floured hands or a rolling pin, press or roll it into a large oval about 1/2 inch thick. Spoon the cooled apple filling over one half of the dough, then sprinkle some of the spiced flour over the filling. Fold the unfilled half of the dough over the apples and seal the edges.
photo collage showing dough with spiced apple filling at different stages.
Cut and shape the fritters: Use your hands to gently shape the filled dough into a long oval, making sure the edges are sealed. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, make 11 cuts across the filled dough, cutting mostly but not quite all the way through. Then make 3–4 perpendicular cuts to create a crosshatch pattern. Sprinkle on more spiced flour as needed to help absorb any exposed sticky filling. Now divide the dough into 12 roughly equal portions. I find it easiest to divide it into 4 sections, then divide each section into 3 pieces. This is not an exact process, so don’t stress. Just make sure you have 12 portions. Redistribute the filling as needed, then gently shape each portion into a lumpy round, tucking in the dough and apples as best you can. Place each fritter on a parchment square and set it in a standard 12-cup muffin pan. Loosely cover and let the fritters rest while you heat the oil. They’ll puff up slightly during this time.
Place a cooling rack over a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Set aside.
Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat and attach a candy/oil thermometer to the pot. Heat the oil to 350°F. This will take several minutes. Keep the oil between 350–360°F as you fry, adjusting the heat as needed.
Fry the fritters: When the oil is hot enough, carefully lower 2–3 fritters, still on their parchment squares, into the oil. Fry for 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip the fritters and remove and discard the parchment. Fry for another 1–2 minutes, flipping once more if needed, until deeply golden brown on both sides. Wear kitchen gloves and use caution if the oil is splashing. Using a metal slotted spatula, transfer the fritters to the prepared rack. Repeat with the remaining fritters, keeping the oil between 350–360°F. Let the fritters cool for a few minutes while you
Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. If needed, add more milk to thin out or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken.
Dunk one side of each fritter into the glaze. Return to the rack and let the excess glaze drip off. Allow the glaze to set.
Fritters are best enjoyed the same day. Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

All the chaos of life and a bottle tossed over the fence

Years ago I would make my good friend's pulled pork recipe but somehow when I'd make it, it was overcook, get dry, sometimes burn. I gave up on it. When I offered to make pulled pork for my dad's birthday, I gave myself no other choice but to find a new recipe, something simple. Thankfully, giant pork butts were on sale at the store, so I was able to get one that could cut down into pieces, like the recipes says to. Mine was about 8 pounds, so I upped my recipe a bit. I had to order liquid smoke because that's not something I keep on hand. Fun fact! Now that we live on a roundabout, or the roundabout lives in front of our house, the Amazon guys are afraid of parking in our driveway or coming to our front door... so they throw packages over the gate onto the sideway in our backyard... it's... charming. thankfully, the bottle of liquid smoke was in some bubble wrap and didn't break. I let the pork cook all day in the crockpot and shredded it. My mom reheated it with some sauce the next day for lunch. I'd tell you what everyone thought but I missed lunch because I was taking Andy's wallet to the airport... weird you might need that traveling internationally... oops. When I DID get back and enjoyed a sandwich, with a scoop of coleslaw. I think it's the best pulled pork I've ever made. Nicholas and I have been working on leftovers and thoroughly enjoying them... here's hoping there's some for Andy when he gets home from his trip! Or I just may have to make it again.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork sirloin roast
1 teaspoons salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
½ teaspoon black pepper (I use coarsely ground)
2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
3 cups BBQ sauce (plus more for serving)

Cut the pork roast into large 4-inch pieces (optional, but helps cook a bit faster and more evenly). Season the pork on all sides with salt and pepper.
Slow Cooker Directions: add water or broth and liquid smoke to slow cooker. Add pork. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours, until the pork is fall-apart tender.
Remove the pork from the slow cooker or pressure cooker and discard most of the remaining liquid (I leave about 1/4 cup or so). Shred the pork using a couple of forks – it should easily fall apart into pieces. Place the meat back in the slow cooker or pressure cooker. Add the BBQ sauce and heat through (or keep on warm for several hours).
Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Make good choices, this is a good choice.

What's the best part of a cinnamon roll? Of course it's the center, if you answered otherwise you are just wrong. Sorry, but not sorry. These little bites are amazing and taste just like the center of a cinnamon roll. These were easy enough to make on a Saturday, toss them in the fridge to bring out Sunday morning to rise in the oven with the light on while I walked. Mix up the goo and warm up the heavy cream, bake them up and you have a pan full of cinnamon roll centers covered in frosting, that is if you add the frosting too, which why wouldn't you? Now don't go telling my doctor about these... she'll want to know how much protein is in them and well... probably not much. Sometimes you just need something delicious to have for breakfast! This was that something.

Best Cinnamon Roll Bites
1 cup whole milk (warmed to about 110°F)
2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast (1 packet)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
4 ¾ cups bread flour (plus more for dusting)
1 Tbsp. lukewarm milk (if needed)
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
Before Baking
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (melted)
4-5 Tbsp. light brown sugar (packed)
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (warmed slightly)
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (softened)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
2-3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm milk, yeast, and granulated sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast looks foamy.
Add the eggs, egg yolk, softened butter, and salt. Mix until combined. (Might look funny at this step but it’s ok it’ll all come together in next step)
Warm milk and yeast being combined, followed by eggs and softened butter, to begin making cinnamon roll bite dough.
Add flour: Gradually add the flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing until a soft dough forms.
Bread flour being gradually added to the wet ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Knead: Knead for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and only slightly tacky.
If the dough feels dry, add lukewarm milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, kneading well after each addition. Avoid adding too much flour.
Soft, smooth cinnamon roll dough kneading with a dough hook in the bowl of a stand mixer.
First rise: Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Cinnamon roll dough before and after the first rise, showing the dough doubled in size.
Make the cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt.
Shape the bites: Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 5-6 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, pinch off small pieces (about 1 inch or roughly 20 g each) and roll into smooth balls.
Risen cinnamon roll dough divided into portions and rolled into small balls before coating with butter and cinnamon sugar.
Coat the dough: Working in batches, place ~8 dough balls into a large bowl. Drizzle with a little of the melted butter and gently toss to coat. Sprinkle with some of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the dough balls and toss again until evenly coated. Transfer the coated dough balls to the prepared baking dish. Repeat until all of the dough has been coated. Arrange the dough balls in 1-2 layers. They should fit snugly together but not be tightly packed.
Cinnamon sugar-coated cinnamon roll bites arranged snugly in a greased baking pan before the second rise.
Second rise: Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes, or until noticeably puffy.
Before baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. It should be a pourable consistency. Pour this over the bites. Then, pour the slightly warmed heavy cream evenly over the risen dough.
Bake: Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the center reaches 190-195°F.
Allow the bites to cool for about 10 minutes before frosting.
Make the frosting: Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined. Mix in the heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is smooth. Spread generously over the warm cinnamon roll bites and serve immediately

Horror movie apples

We have two apple trees, a Honeycrisp and a Red Rome. Our Honeycrisp is full of apples that belong in horror movies... sure we have a few here and there that look good and taste great but wow they are terrible looking. Rotten and bug filled, just very strange. Our Red Rome is filled with giant green apples that blush and are great for baking. I try to pick up the apples that fall but at this time, they fall faster than I can get out there and do something about them. So, my goal is to use them and try to enjoy them as much as we can. I decided to make some fried apples to go with dinner. These would be great in a pie or a crisp, but they are also great just in a bowl with a fork. I'll happily make a big old batch of apple butter and anything else I can with those apples, but more fried apples will be on the plan too!

Southern Fried Apples
4 Tbsp salted butter
8 large Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
1/4-1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4-1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp cornstarch plus additional as needed
cold water

Peel the apples and remove the core, then slice.
In a heavy bottomed skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.
Add apples, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, apple pie spice and salt. Stir with the sugar mixture to combine.
Lower heat to low. Simmer allowing to bubble gently uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until they have a tender texture.
In a small bowl, stir together 1 Tbsp of cornstarch in just enough cold water to dissolve. Increase the heat to medium high then stir the cornstarch slurry into the apple slices. Repeat until your desired thickness and consistency is reached.

Life Saving Measures

Church dessert potluck means a new recipe to try out on a all sorts of people. I had one picked up and ready to roll... The Oreos ready and hiding from one Nicholas because he will eat them all... I went to print the recipe and as he stood over my shoulder he noticed it had one star. Oh man... we read the review and the follow up response from the baker, and it was NOT great. Oh man we need to pivot and now. Bundt. What works better at a church function than a bundt cake? Nothing! I found this Oreo Bundt cake and while I didn't have black cocoa powder, I did use regular cocoa, and it was just fine. I saw several people have a slice and they all told me how great it was, they didn't even know I baked it. Although instinctively my mom knew it was mine, so did a few others. Apparently it was the magic sugar my father needed to up his glucose. Haha! Life saving measures over there! When I asked what he wanted me to bake for his birthday dessert, "Got any more of that chocolate cake?!" Haha! Did I get any? Nope... not a bite. But I'm going off what everyone else said that this one was fantastic and it should be made over and over again. The frosting was surely delicious; I did try some of that. So this one will get baked again so I can have a slice or two. After all… it saved a life!

Cookies and Cream Oreo Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup black cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
18 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

For the frosting:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
12 Oreo cookies, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Add the melted butter, milk, and cocoa powders into a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, continuing to whisk until fully incorporated with the chocolate mixture and no streaks of flour remain, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Make a well in the center of the batter and add the vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Gently stir in the chopped Oreo cookies.
Grease a 12-cup bundt metal pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan over a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely before icing.
To make the frosting, beat the butter on low speed using a mixer until smooth. Add in the marshmallow fluff, continuing to beat until well combined. Slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar, half a cup at a time, followed by the salt and vanilla. Turn the speed up to medium-high, then add in the heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy.
Cover the top of the bundt cake with the frosting. Sprinkle the chopped Oreos on top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving to set the frosting. The cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Cat foot prints not welcome

Vanilla Buttercream frosting, while it is delicious, chocolate is better. I'm saying it. Fudgey frosting is pretty amazing too... but fluffy chocolate buttercream on yellow cake? Yep, amazing. I used this recipe on top of a cake I made just for fun. It was my "I had no cake for my birthday and as a 47 year old person I can do what I want and just make a random cake on a Saturday afternoon" cake... Yes... that's what I did. It's pretty delicious. Everyone in my family at some point has had some of this cake and agreed it was great, even the frosting. Ok... some of them weren't super fans of the frosting... but STILL they humored me and gave it a try. Now the cake sits under a metal bowl because I don't have a cake saver, and I really don't want cat foot prints in the cake. I think that's fair, right?

Chocolate Buttercream
1 and 1/2 cups (339g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (76g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
4–6 Tablespoons (60–90g/ml) heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), at room temperature
1 and 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
optional for decoration: sprinkles

Make the frosting: In a large bowl with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, 4 Tablespoons of heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Do not over-whip. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or 1–2 more Tablespoons of cream if frosting is too thick. Taste. Add another pinch of salt if desired.

Let's have cake!

A funny question I often get asked on my birthday is about cake. Maybe not a question but a comment, "I hope someone makes you a great cake!" Since I make cakes for everyone else, there's this assumption that someone is going to make me a cake. Here's the secret... no one makes me a cake... no one offers or even suggests it. Weird right? Same this year... in fact I even had to pay for the ice cream when we went out for ice cream on my birthday. I was feeling fussy about it and realized I could make my own dang cake. Problem is, the kind of cake I like? My family isn't going to eat... Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I mean maybe the yellow part, but chocolate isn't always their jam. You know? too bad... so three weeks after my birthday, I decided to make myself a birthday cake! Now, I'm NOT one of those people who act like a princess all month "oh it's my birthday month" and all that... I'm 47, not 4. I did say it to be silly... but my family knew I was goofing around. I made this Yellow Cake from scratch, and it was delicious! The wild thing? I had it sitting on the table so the critters didn't find it - and after dinner, everyone said "Are we having cake?!" YES!!! Let's have cake!! SO next year? I’m just going to bake my own dang cake from the start. No fussiness, just make what I want and enjoy it!

Yellow Layer Cake
2 and 1/2 cups cake flour (spooned & leveled)
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 and 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. I recommend using nonstick spray for greasing.
In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the oil and beat for 1 minute until combined. Beat in the egg yolks until incorporated, then beat in the vanilla extract.
Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until combined. Add 1/3 more of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The batter will be very thick. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. Set aside.
In another large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on high speed until fluffy, medium-stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the cake batter. Work slowly and gently, as you don’t want to deflate the egg whites. Pour/spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake for 27–31 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the sides, remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment, and place on the rack to finish cooling. The edges of the cakes can be crumbly; this is normal. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.

Good help was easy to find this time.

This year our fruit trees have had an interesting season so far... Our peach tree had so much trauma I'm sending it to therapy.... Our pear tree provided lots of pears for us, our friends, then a huge storm came through and shook all the rest of the pears off the tree and they were on the grass. Our apples are going gang busters... bug lots have bugs and our baking apples are either really green or barely blushing. I decided to try to usher in some fall weather with the baking apples. Picked a few to make some muffins. Thankfully I have a great helper whose main interest is muffins, but hey, he CAN be bought! With muffins! So he helped me peel and chop them. This muffin recipe is great - easy and they are delicious! I don't keep buttermilk on hand, so instead I use whatever milk I have with a splash of lemon juice - works for me! These muffins were a hit. We baked them on Saturday morning, I was thinking for Sunday breakfast but it's hard to hold the family at bay with warm delicious muffins! So we all enjoyed some for lunch. We have a LOT more apples on that tree, I'm sure we'll be doing more baking this fall. Especially since the weather finally cooled off enough to open some windows! Phew!! Give the A/C and our pocketbooks a break!

Apple Cinnamon Muffin
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups diced apples, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
½ Tbsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Dice about 1 & ½ apples into ½ inch chunks. You want 2 cups diced apples. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine with a fork or spatula.
Gradually mix in the dry ingredients and the apple chunks, mixing just until combined. The batter will be very thick!
Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
For bakery style muffin tops, line a 12 count muffin pan with 6 muffins liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Filling every other well allows the muffins to spread and dome without running into each other. Fill the liners to the top with batter. Yes – to the top! Use a butter knife to smooth the tops of the muffins if lumpy.
Bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF, then keep the muffins in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 350ºF and bake for 16-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Repeat with the remaining batter, making sure to bump the temperature back up to 425ºF.
Once the muffins are cool, assemble the cinnamon sugar topping. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Use a pastry brush to brush the melted butter on top of the muffins. Roll the top of each muffin in a bowl of cinnamon sugar.

Weed whacking in my garden

First day of high school felt a little special so I decided to make some homemade bread to go with our super fancy store bought Chicken Kiev (this was the requested meal). We have lots of basil this year but it's really strange. I've weed whacked it at least once... yes... I weed whacked it... I saw somewhere that if it's bolted, just cut it all low and it'll come back. It did come back... but it's bolting again.. maybe this weekend I'll go back and do the same thing. It could have something to do with the insane amount of rain we've been getting this summer. It's like we live in a rainforest, every day more and more rain, it's getting really old. My rug on the deck is green from just always being wet and hot. Gross. Back to bread. This bread was super easy, super fast rise, and baked up faster than it was supposed to. Remember... if your baked items are 190 inside you are good to go! Less, they will fall, more they'll be dry. Everyone enjoyed this warm from the oven, but I bet it would be great in the toaster as well. First day of high school? Went great! Next week is 6th grade! (as of this writing anyway....) hip hip!

Basil Bread
2 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast (rapid rise works well too)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh basil, minced (measure before chopping)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups bread flour

Preheat oven to 375*F
In a stand mixer add yeast, water and sugar. Mix.
Cover with a dish towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Yeast should poof.
Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper, silicone liner or non-stick foil.
After yeast proofs, add salt, basil and oil. Mix well.
Add bread flour 1 cup at a time, mixing between additions.
Once all flour is added, continue to knead dough for an additional 5 minutes. If dough is still sticking to sides of bowl, add an additional 1/2 cup a little at a time.
Place dough on a lightly* floured work surface
Roll out dough to a rectangle that is about 1 ½ inches thick.
Roll up dough like a cinnamon roll and place on prepared cookie sheet.
Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes. (inside temp should reach 190)
Remove from the oven, let cool, slice and enjoy.

I don't make weird food

The day before high school starts shouldn't have felt chaotic but for some reason it did feel chaotic. There was zero reason for it. One trip there to drop an instrument off, then a return trip to pick up a girl who found a friend and wanted to walk a schedule, then back home to get a few things done at home. Dinner felt rushed but easy. Andy fighting electrical wiring that just wouldn't behave at all. Still won't... not entirely sure what our plan will be on that front, but we'll figure it out. I was trying to sneak around him and get out of his way while making dinner. This dish does make more dishes than I think it should... had I bought frozen broccoli, that would have been easier. I could have tossed the broccoli in with the pasta water at the end... didn't... All in all, it was a very easy dish, with ingredients that were normal and not weird. I don't make weird food... I keep telling people that. Anyway... easy dinner, things that taste good all put together and baked to perfection. It was great. Something we will certainly make again, and it could be meal prepped so you could just toss the breadcrumbs on top and toss it in the oven, even easier.

Ham and Broccoli Pasta Casserole
1 pound of your favorite pasta shape, such as penne, rotini, elbow macaroni, or shells.
4 cups of fresh or frozen broccoli florets.
2 cups of diced cooked ham
1 (10.75 ounce) can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.
1 cup of milk
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, divided into 1 ½ cups for the casserole and ½ cup for topping.
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.
½ cup of breadcrumbs, plain or Italian seasoned.
1 teaspoon of onion powder.
1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Salt and Pepper: To taste.

 
Instructions
Preheat Your Oven and Prepare Baking Dish: Begin by preheating your oven to 375°F (190°C). While the oven is heating, lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. This step is crucial to prevent the casserole from sticking to the bottom and sides of the dish, ensuring easy serving and cleanup later on. You can use cooking spray, butter, or oil to grease the dish.
Cook the Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add your pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente. Cooking the pasta al dente is important because it will continue to cook in the oven as part of the casserole. Overcooked pasta will become mushy and lose its texture in the casserole. Once cooked, drain the pasta thoroughly in a colander and set aside. Running cold water over the pasta is generally not recommended for casseroles as it can wash away some of the starch that helps the sauce cling to the pasta.
Steam or Boil the Broccoli: While the pasta is cooking, prepare the broccoli. If using fresh broccoli, cut it into bite-sized florets. You can steam the broccoli until it is tender-crisp, which usually takes about 5-7 minutes. Alternatively, you can boil the broccoli for about 3-4 minutes until it is bright green and slightly tender. If using frozen broccoli, you can steam or boil it directly from frozen, or thaw it slightly and then steam or boil it. Avoid overcooking the broccoli, as you want it to retain some texture and not become mushy in the casserole. Drain the broccoli well after cooking to remove excess water.
Prepare the Sauce Base: In a large bowl, combine the can of cream of mushroom soup and milk. Whisk these two ingredients together until smooth and well combined. This mixture forms the creamy base of your casserole sauce. Ensure there are no lumps of soup remaining to create a consistently smooth sauce.
Combine Ingredients: To the soup and milk mixture, add the cooked and drained pasta, steamed or boiled broccoli florets, and diced cooked ham. Gently stir all these ingredients together until they are evenly distributed and coated in the creamy sauce. Make sure the ham and broccoli are spread throughout the pasta for a balanced flavor in each serving.
Add Seasonings and Cheese: Sprinkle in the onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the pasta mixture. Season generously to taste, remembering that cheese and ham are salty, so adjust accordingly. Then, add 1 ½ cups of the shredded cheddar cheese to the bowl. Stir everything together until the cheese is melted and incorporated into the sauce, creating a wonderfully cheesy and flavorful mixture. Reserving some cheese for the topping will create a beautifully browned and bubbly crust.
Transfer to Baking Dish and Top with Cheese: Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared 9×13 inch baking dish, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese evenly over the top of the casserole. This layer of cheese will melt and create a golden, cheesy crust as it bakes.
Make Breadcrumb Topping (Optional but Recommended): In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs to the melted butter and stir constantly until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crispy. This should only take a few minutes, so watch them closely to prevent burning. The buttery breadcrumbs add a delightful crunch and textural contrast to the creamy casserole.
Sprinkle Breadcrumbs Over Casserole (Optional): If you made the breadcrumb topping, sprinkle it evenly over the cheese layer of the casserole. This breadcrumb topping adds an extra layer of flavor and a satisfying crispy texture that complements the creamy casserole beautifully.
Bake the Casserole: Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the casserole is heated through, bubbly around the edges, and the cheese on top is melted and golden brown. The baking time may vary slightly depending on your oven, so keep an eye on it. You want the casserole to be heated throughout and for the cheese to be nicely melted and slightly browned.
Let it Rest and Serve: Once baked, remove the casserole from the oven and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving. This resting time allows the casserole to set slightly, making it easier to serve and preventing it from being too runny. Resting also helps to distribute the heat evenly throughout the dish. Serve hot and enjoy this comforting and delicious Ham and Broccoli Pasta Casserole!

Muffining our way out of the Summer

We are about to travel for the last time this summer and it's been a busy summer for travel! This time it's to Wisconsin, so not too long of a ride and no camping required when we get there. Not a bad way to end things up this summer. I try to bring some breakfasty things since Nicholas and I are early risers. It's been a crazy could of months and I just struggled this time to figure out what to make, decided these muffins were it. Also some banana bread muffins because everyone loves those... I'm pretty sure everyone is going to love these too, oh, how do I know? Well... it's possible two didn't fit in the container and well, sometimes you just have to sample your work, so that's what I did and I'm glad I did, these are going to be winner muffins! Heated up with a little butter on them, oh man, delicious! I forgot the glaze too. I was laying in bed last night and realized I forgot the glaze, I don't think you need it. Maybe you want it? Sure! Go for it, but need? Meh... these are good enough without it.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins
Filling & Topping:
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Muffin batter:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup sunflower oil
¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
Glaze:
½ cup powdered confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon light (half & half) 10% cream

Make the filling/topping. Combine flour, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and salt until blended. Add the melted butter and stir it in until it evenly blended and the mixture forms clumps. To make the filling, take ¾ cup of this mixture and place in a separate bowl and stir in the other ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Cover the bowl with the rest of the mixture and set it aside for topping.
Make the muffin batter. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt and whisk to blend well. Press out any lumps of brown sugar so the mixture is well combined.
Combine eggs, sour cream, vanilla, oil and milk in a medium bowl and whisk until completely smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients and gently fold together to combine. Stop right as the batter is uniform, being sure to reach down to the bottom to pull up any pockets of flour. Cover the bowl and set aside to rest for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Preheat the oven to 425°F for tall peaked muffin tops. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Or for extra large muffins, make 10. If making 10 then you definitely need 2 pans so you can space out the muffins every other cup since they will spread out to make large muffin tops.
Use a 1.5 oz scoop to portion batter and add one scoop to each muffin cup. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cinnamon filling evenly over top, then cover with batter so the cups are full. Pile the crumb topping on (really pile it on!). Don't be shy with the topping because it will spread out as the muffins rise in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes. Then, with the oven door still closed, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15 minutes. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer muffins to a cooling rack. They're best served warm but also store really well and stay moist for days!

Gather all the random odds and ends and make dinner

This dish was perfect to use up all sorts of random things I had on hand.
A garden brimming with cherry tomatoes? Check.
Partial box of orzo pasta? Check.
Boursin cheese from the Hope Store for 33 cents? Check.
Lots of herbs from the garden? Check.
Chicken from the freezer? Check.
Left over chicken broth? Check.
The marinated mozzarella balls I bought specifically for this? Almost became victim to Andy's snacking habits. "Any of those left?" um... no, they were for this dish. "Oh I could just eat those no problem. They looked delicious." Saved from Andy's snacking habits... Phew!
This recipe was very easy to toss together while I was busy doing something else, stir a few times, add a few things, but easy to get together and really delicious leftovers too!
I did bake the chicken a few days before with seasoning because I didn't have precooked chicken but you could easy use a rotisserie chicken.

Chicken Orzo Bake
3 heaping cups cooked shredded chicken rotisserie chicken, leftovers, or air fried/baked chicken breast - shredded; about 1.5 lbs raw
2 cups orzo pasta uncooked
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt & ground black pepper to taste (½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; this will depend on your chicken and broth used)
1 (5.3-oz) package Boursin cheese
3 oz spinach chopped
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
splash of cream optional
1 cup mozzarella balls optional
chopped parsley and/or basil, lemon juice, extra parmesan to serve (optional)

Prep: Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
Assemble: Add chicken, uncooked orzo, tomatoes, broth, seasoning, salt and pepper to the prepared dish. Stir to combine. Nestle Boursin cheese in the middle.
Bake covered: Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Carefully uncover, stir in the spinach and parmesan.
Finish baking uncovered: Stir in a splash of cream if you want a creamier dish. Scatter mozzarella balls on top, if using. Bake uncovered for another 5-10 minutes, or until the orzo is tender.
Serve: Let the casserole sit or 5-10 minutes before serving with fresh herbs, lemon juice and parmesan, if you like.

Crowd pleasing with hot fudge and cookies

What's better than just chocolate chip cookie bars? Hot fudge chocolate chip cookie bars... oh my yes, add some hot fudge in the middle and the game has been changed, gooey and wonderful any time you want one, not just warm from the oven! The hardest part of these bars was locating the hot fudge which honestly wasn't that hard, just not at the stores I was looking. This recipe is quick and delicious. Another crowd pleaser for sure.

Hot Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (300 g) brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 ¼ cups (282 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups (364 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar (11 ounces) hot fudge, warm

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
To a large bowl, add butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Using a hand-held mixer, cream ingredients until they are light and fluffy. Add in eggs, mixing until completely incorporated.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix at low speed until combined.
Mix in the chocolate chips.
Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared baking dish in an even layer. Set the remaining cookie dough aside.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove the cookie bars from the oven and place on a heat-safe surface.
Pour the warmed hot fudge over the bars, making sure to get it into every nook and cranny.
Using the remaining cookie dough, form small discs and place them over the top of the fudge. It is okay if there is some fudge showing.
Bake for an additional 20-22 minutes, or until the fudge is bubbling and the cookie is golden brown.
Allow bars to cool to room temperature (about 1 ½ hours) before cutting and serving.

Happy Smiling Blueberries from Michigan

We have this wonderful woman at church who will text us during the summer "How many boxes of blueberries would you like?" Blueberries? Yes please! I mean that's my family’s response, my response is "Why would you eat blue food? Blech!" but I never turn her down. Fresh blueberries from Michigan. What to do with them? What ever shall we do? My family will eat them, Nicholas made some into muffins, I decided to try this yogurt cake for Andy's guys. Sure, I needed help with zesting and juicing, but after that I was good to go. I really wasn't sure how this would go over but I try to make a chocolatey dessert and a fruity dessert each time they come. When the kids and I came home after the meeting - there was one half slice left. Apparently, they loved it THAT much. Wow! Nicholas ate the last half piece and declared we should make this one again. Good thing we have more blueberries, and I have the best zester and juicer in town (Nicholas). We'll get another one in the oven soon.

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

1 ½ cups plus 1 tbsp (224g) all-purpose flour, divided
1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoon lemon zest from 1-2 large lemons
2 large eggs, at room temperature
⅓ cup (80ml) olive oil or sunflower oil (you can also use vegetable oil or canola oil)
1 cup (237ml) whole milk plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (180g) frozen blueberries
Lemon Yogurt Glaze:
1 cup (120g) powdered confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon (15ml) full fat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon (15ml) fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the sides of an 9-inch round non-stick springform pan with a round of parchment paper.
Sift 1 ½ cups (215g) flour, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl. Add ¼ cup (50g) of sugar and salt, then whisk until evenly blended.
Make the cake batter. Place ¾ cup (150g) of sugar in a large bowl. Add lemon zest and rub it between your fingers until very fragrant and pale yellow-colored. This will extract all of the delicious lemon oils to flavor the cake. Add eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the batter is smooth. If it becomes too thick, switch to a rubber spatula to fold them in. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Toss blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and then scatter them over the batter. NOTE: if you use fresh berries, then you don't need to coat them in flour.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool for 20 minutes. Then, remove the sides of the pan and transfer to a serving plate.
Make the glaze. Combine powdered sugar, yogurt and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk until very smooth. Pour the glaze over the slightly warm cake, letting it drip over the sides. Let the icing set for about 15 minutes, then slice and serve!
If you want, you can also add more powdered sugar to make a thicker icing, but I like this donut-glazed effect.

Home improvement week means easy dinners

I have to admit, having a meal you can toss in a pan and then into the oven while you do some home improvement project, then come back to and it be delicious and a full meal? Kind of awesome. Actually, really awesome. We've had this weird issue with our under-cabinet lighting; it won't get very bright. We've had it installed and working great for a while, then suddenly it wouldn't work right. It's on a switched outlet, so Andy swapped the switch - no luck. Swapped the outlet - no luck. We plugged another light into that outlet - same issue! So, something is wonky somewhere in our 120 year old house's wiring and I'm not really interested in figuring it out right now. I've been researching LED wireless under cabinet lighting and found a solution! I was all excited to install it then we had a flush valve in a toilet go out... so I spent 4 1/2 hours on that instead of the fun lighting project... 4 1/2 hours on one toilet is just wrong... thankfully I got the most of it figured out, after 3 trips to 2 different hardware stores (one where the "helpful hardware folks" was a girl half my age who just googled things and said I wasn't trying hard enough). I was very happy the next night to toss dinner into the oven, then do my lighting project with no issues, everything worked and we had a great dinner, then I went out to do a camper improvement project! I will say I get my Boursin cheese at my favorite weird grocery store for 3 for $1... while at Aldi I noticed they are over $5 each! So, if you are stuck paying over $5 - I'm sorry, but this stuff is good!!

Dump and Bake Creamy Sausage Pasta
1 12-ounce box bowtie pasta
1 12-ounce package frozen broccoli florets or about 3 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 13.5-ounce package smoked Polish kielbasa cut into 1/4 inch coins
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 5.3-ounce package Boursin garlic & fine herbs gourmet cheese

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉.
In a greased 9×13-inch casserole dish, add the uncooked pasta noodles, broccoli, sliced kielbasa, chicken broth, milk, and salt; stir.
Remove the cheese from the package and place it in the center of the dish.
Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Uncover the pasta, give it a stir, and bake an additional 20 minutes or until the pasta is soft.
Give the pasta a stir and let it set for 10 minutes. This will help the sauce thicken and coat the pasta beautifully!
Stir once again and serve!

Melted cheese, a dream or a nightmare....

It's been a while since I've made fresh bread for dinner - it felt time. This bread needed caramelized onions, which aren't just cooked onions, they take quite a while to cook slowly in a pan not burning or going too fast. Slow and low, and making the house smell amazing. I used my Kitchenaid mixer for this one since my other mixer I normally use for doughs was being used for something sweet. It's been a while since I hauled out the dough hook and used it rather than using it to make the drawer get stuck opening, because usually that's all it gets used for. This dough rose quite a bit, even on second rise - it was all over the place! I rolled the bread in cheese and herbs, and sprayed my pans but oh man did that cheese stick to the pans. I'm not sure what I could have done differently. Now that I think back, it might have been fun to bake this in bundt pan for perfect slices! But oh the mess of that melted cheese... not sure that would be a dream or a nightmare. This recipe made two very puffy large loaves and they were delicious! Let's have another!

Caramelized Onion Cheddar Bread Savory Artisan Loaf
For the Dough
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 cup Warm
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 cup Milk
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
For the Filling
2 medium Onions Caramelized
1 cup Cheddar Cheese
1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme or Rosemary

Sauté Onions: Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the finely sliced onions and cook for about 10-15 minutes until softened. Reduce the heat and continue cooking for an additional 45 minutes until they are golden and fragrant.
Activate Yeast: In a large bowl, combine sugar, active dry yeast, and warm water. Allow it to sit until it becomes foamy—this means your yeast is active and ready to work its magic!
Mix Ingredients: Stir in milk, olive oil, salt, and the delicious caramelized onions. Gradually add all-purpose flour until just combined; your dough will be a bit shaggy at this stage.
Knead Dough: Transfer the mixture to a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. This step is essential for developing structure in your bread!
First Rise: Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size—this should take about 1-2 hours.
Shape Dough: Once risen, punch down the dough to release the air. Divide it into two pieces, roll each into a rectangle, and generously sprinkle with grated cheddar and thyme or rosemary. Roll tightly and braid your dough for a beautiful finish.
Second Rise: Place the braided loaves into greased pans, cover lightly, and let them rise until puffy—approximately 1 hour. Your kitchen will smell amazing!
Bake the Loaves: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake for about 50 minutes, rotating halfway through for even browning. If they begin to brown too quickly, cover them with foil.
Cool Down: Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Slicing into warm bread is the best part!