Three Cheese Potatoes

I really didn't intend to take that long of a blogging break, sorry! School is about to start up which means that I started doing stuff toward the beginning of August so my time became divided again between school, family, and everything else. Then in the middle of the month we went to Disneyland for 12 days, and upon our return it was time to jump into school full force. Not only am I getting my own classroom ready but our little guy is going to Kindergarten so it's a big transition for us all around.

We actually made these potatoes back in the beginning of the month but as I sit here typing up this post I told my husband that my mouth is watering just looking at this picture and thinking about these potatoes. They were so good! The recipe was a bit different than I initially thought. For some reason I was assuming these were like twice baked potatoes and each potato was wrapped in foil. It turns out that you cut all three potatoes and put them into one large piece of foil. Yes, I would have figured this out sooner had I read the recipe, but instead I looked at the picture and ingredients and had another idea in my head. Don't you love it when that happens? Then when you go to make it you think, whoa, wait a minute this isn't what I was thinking this would be. It turned out great though, and it made way more than 3 servings like I originally thought with three potatoes. Enjoy!



Three Cheese Potatoes
Source:Taste of Home

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced chives
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
 
In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Transfer to a double thickness of greased heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Dot with butter.

Fold foil around potato mixture and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 15-18 minutes on each side or until potatoes are tender.

Carefully open foil. Sprinkle the bacon cheeses over potato mixture. Grill 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Open foil carefully to allow steam to escape.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce

Summer just isn't summer until you have made at least one batch of homemade ice cream, right? I was torn between making a new flavor and going with a known great. I decided that since I was short on time I would go with what was known. You can find the recipe for for Candied Cherry and Toasted Almond ice cream here.

While I didn't make a new flavor of ice cream I did make a new topping to go with it. Ooey, gooey, dark chocolate hot fudge dripping down over yummy ice cream. It was a perfect combination. Enjoy!


Hot Fudge Sauce
Source: Brown Eyed Baker

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup, or light corn syrup
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, divided in half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream, syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt and half of the chocolate to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low (enough to maintain a low simmer), and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate, the butter, and the vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes before using (it will thicken as it cools). Store in a jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until it’s pourable but still thick.

Kiwi Watermelon Smoothie

Most mornings we have a green smoothie for breakfast. And while I am happy with that, I finally decided to open up the cookbook that came with our blender to take a look at some other flavor combinations. I happened to have watermelon in the fridge, and it wasn't the best for just eating plain so I thought I'd try it in a smoothie. I also didn't have any dates on hand so I decided to throw in a handful of raisins instead.

It turned out okay. It was pretty watery. My 5 1/2 year old son thought it was okay. He actually slurped it down pretty quickly (possibly because it was watery and not as thick as our usual smoothies), but I don't think it will be a repeat breakfast at our house.


Kiwi Watermelon Smoothie
1 1/2 cups watermelon, peeled and cubed
1 kiwi, halved, peeled
1 date, pitted (or a handful of raisins)
1 cup ice cubes 

Place in blender in order listed. Blend completely.

Berry Surprise

Have you ever found an instance that you wish you could redo because your spouse always remembers it and brings it up? Yep, surprisingly this dessert is one of those things for me. Let me start at the beginning of this story.

Back when I was first married (maybe even before I was married) someone asked my husband what his favorite dessert was. I, in my naivete, was expecting him to say one of my signature dishes, apple pie, a cherry chocolate cake, you know, something like that. Nope. He tells them about some great dessert that was made many years before by a woman who was kind of like a foster mom to him. Not only did he mention it but he practically drooled while describing it. I was shocked. I was hurt. I was mortified. I was only 19 years old. Now in my much more mature years I have realized that he can have other favorites that haven't been made by me. I can tell you though that it has taken just about the 18 years of our marriage and me saying, "It's okay, you can say you like it even though it isn't mine" for him to feel like he can say he likes another person's dish. Okay, maybe it's not that extreme but sometimes it sure feels like it.

So anyway, for Father's Day this year I decided that I wanted to make his "favorite" dessert but put my spin on it. The recipe that I finally broke down and asked for a year or two ago was tweaked by me to use fresher ingredients and to shrink it down to a size manageable for three people.

The original recipe uses only blueberries in the form of canned pie filing, but I decided that I wanted to use fresh blueberries to make a homemade filling and I wanted to make a raspberry blueberry version. Graham cracker crust, cream cheese filling, a fresh fruit layer, and homemade whipping cream. Really what's not to love about it. Enjoy!   

Berry Surprise

1 3/4 cup graham crackers, crushed (about 10 crackers)
1/2 cup butter, melted
Berry Sauce (see recipe below) or 1 can of pie filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cool whip or whipping cream

Prepare berry sauce if using homemade. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 or 9 inch baking pan (or 4 - 10 oz custard cups for a half size).

Mix the graham crackers and butter; set aside about 3 tablespoons of the mixture to spread over the top of the dessert); pat crust down in pan. Bake for 15 minutes (or about 10 minutes if using smaller portions). Remove from oven and cool crust.

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip. Spread over cooled crust.

Spread the berry sauce over the cream cheese mixture. Cover with remaining cool whip and sprinkle with remaining graham mixture.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving.

Berry Sauce
1 1/2 cups blueberries (or equivalent amount of berries)
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/8 cup water

Heat to boiling and simmer until sauce is thickened.

* A half batch of the entire dessert is enough for 4 - 10 oz custard cups. Double the recipe for a 9x13 pan.

Daring Bakers - Crackers

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love. 

Whew! I made it before the end of July. I know Daring Bakers posts usually happen on the 27th of the month but I'm feeling pretty good about getting this challenge done and posted while still in the month of July. 

This summer has been crazy busy for us. Basically the day after school got out for me we have been going, going, going. I didn't end up doing the June challenge and I thought I might not have time to make this one either but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. Sometimes just thinking about what the techniques are (especially if it is something new for me) and then what flavors to do take more effort than the actual act of making the item.Enough of the explanation on tardiness and on to the challenge. 

This month we had to make homemade crackers using two different techniques. I'm sure there are other methods, but the three presented to us were hand shaping, using a pasta roller, or shaping into a log and slicing into coins. I don't have a pasta roller so I decided to make one batch hand shaped and another batch using the sliced icebox method.

Let's chat about the first batch, shall we. I decided to make the Health Crackers. I had just about everything necessary and they seemed to be easy enough to do. I did end up switching out ground flax seeds for the wheat germ since I don't usually have wheat germ on hand but plenty of ground flax. They came together quickly and I was planning to stick them in the fridge for their 20 minute rest until I realized it was almost 10 o'clock at night. I guess time got away from me, so I decided to leave it in the fridge over night and come back to it in the morning.

I did decide to get the second batch made and refrigerated as well. For that batch I decided to use one cup of cheddar cheese and one cup of Masdammer (similar to Swiss) which we picked up at a local dairy while out on our latest bike adventure. I used almonds instead of the walnuts suggested since my walnuts were old and yucky tasting. I again refrigerated them over night.

The next day I pulled out both batches of dough. The Health Crackers were not super pliable. They have to stay cold otherwise they stick but they don't stay together well if they are cold. Kind of a catch 22. I rolled out one quarter, brushed on the egg wash and then sprinkled with sesame seeds and coarse salt. They cut easily with a pizza cutter and they took about 30 minutes to brown up in the oven.

The Cheddar, Almond, and Rosemary were easy to slice but they took much longer in the oven than the recipe stated. My crackers took about 20 minutes to bake but they were nice and crisp at the end of it. They break apart easily though so be careful where you eat these if you are worried about crumbs. Enjoy! 

Health Crackers

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ (I used ground flax seeds)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 large egg white

Cracker topping:
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, nigella (onion) seeds, salt
Salt for sprinkling

Mix the oats, flour, wheat germ, sugar and salt together in a large bowl or bowl for the standup mixer.

Combine the water and oil and stir into the oat mixture until it comes together and a dough forms.

Form dough into a disk and allow to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes but up to a day if you are making them ahead.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Divide the dough into quarters and work with one piece at a time, allowing the remaining pieces to stay in the fridge as you proceed with rolling out the crackers.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/16 inch thick and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet by carefully wrapping the dough around the rolling pin.

Brush the dough with the egg white mixed briefly with a tablespoon of water and sprinkle with seeds and salt of your choice.

Cut the dough with a pizza wheel and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned. Crackers that are not crispy once cooled may be returned to the oven.

Store in an airtight container and eat within two weeks.

Cheddar, Almond, and Rosemary Crackers

1/2 cup butter, well softened
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

2 1/4 cups grated aged cheddar cheese, firmly packed
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Combine butter, rosemary, and cheese in a stand mixer and beat well (can also be done by hand). Add the flour, salt, and nuts and stir to combine. 

Form the dough into two tight logs and wrap with cling film. Chill for at least an hour and up to several days. (The log can be frozen at this point for several months.)

Heat the oven to 325°F. Slice a log into 1/5 inch coins and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes until golden brown. (Mine took 20 minutes to get brown.)

Store in an airtight container and eat within three days.

Strawberry Cobbler

There are not many people who don't associate cobbler with a feeling of warmth and goodness and a feeling of "home". I usually think about making cobblers in the fall, but who can resist a cobbler with the fresh fruit that abounds in the summer!

Mind you, there is much debate it seems about what is a cobbler versus a crisp. My personal definition is that a cobbler is a dough spread over a fruit mixture whereas a crisp is a mixture of granola, oatmeal or something of the sort and put on top of the fruit. Not a big difference, but a difference for sure.

I've had this recipe in my archives for quite a while, one that was borrowed from my stepmom after sampling one of her desserts. You can use many different fruits, but the original recipe is for strawberry (or strawberry rhubarb). The butter cookie topping sets it apart from a biscuit topping cobbler. Just make sure you don't substitute salt for sugar as I did in one of my cooking gaffs which resulted in us picking the salty dough off the fruit! Enjoy!

Strawberry Cobbler

2 pints fresh (or 24 oz. frozen) strawberries or 10 oz. each rhubarb and strawberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Stem and rinse strawberries. Leave small or medium berries whole, but halve if large. (If frozen you can defrost a bit but they don't have to be completely defrosted.) If using rhubarb, cut rhubarb into 1/2 in chunks.

Prepare Butter Cookie Dough Topping.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix cornstarch, sugar to taste, prepared fruit and vanilla in bowl. Toss to coat. Place fruit in 8 or 9-inch baking pan (9x13 if doubling). Drop prepared dough onto fruit by heaping teaspoons.

Bake until golden, about 45 to 55 minutes (if doubling, about 2 hours).

Butter Cookie Dough Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 large egg or 1 yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl; set aside. Beat butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until just combined.

Breakfast Cookies

I made these breakfast cookies for our consumption while on a camping trip. I was so proud of myself for being ahead of the game and getting these baked right before we left but not so late that everyone was waiting on me. We each tried one for that morning's breakfast and then packed up the rest and hit the road. They were very yummy! They smelled just like an oatmeal cookie while baking in the oven.

You can imagine our disappointment then when two days into our trip some lovely individuals decided to steal all of our camping gear out of the back of our truck. These lovely gems were sitting in there with the other food items. I sure hope whoever got a hold them enjoyed them as much as we did!

They really were easy to make and I will definitely be making them again. You basically mix up all the dry ingredients, then mix up the wet ingredients and combine together. I used a pretty large cookie cutter to form the cookies (you can see that they are basically just a round ball and I don't think they spread much during baking because they didn't change their shape at all). Enjoy!

Breakfast Cookies
Source: Blueberry Girl

1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats
1/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup mixed nuts, finely chopped

1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup dried fruit (I used 1/2 chopped dried dates, and 1/2 raisins)

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sesame oil (many other oils can be substituted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, almond meal, mixed nuts, coconut flakes, and salt. Stir in allspice and cinnamon. Add dried fruit and stir until evenly mixed. Make sure the dried fruit does not stick together in big chunks.

In another bowl, combine sesame oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Take a large cookie cutter and press spoonfuls of the batter into it. Remove cookie cutter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.