Chewy Lemon Cookies

Just before Christmas, a co-worker brought in cookies she had baked.

They were absolutely yummy!

Lemony, chewy, tart yet sweet.

Perfect in every way.

She gave us the recipe, um, can you say easy peasy?!

I decided to make a batch the other day.

Definitely super easy, but I will mention now, it can be a sticky situation fast.

Chewy Lemon Cookies

(From the Kitchen of B.K.)

1 boxed lemon cake mix

1 egg

1 container of cool whip (I used FF)

Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together the cake mix, egg and cool whip; mixing well.  Using a tablespoon, drop cookie mixture into the powered sugar.  Roll the cookie batter around in the sugar until completely coated.  Place on greased cookie sheet.  Pop in the over and bake for 10 minutes.



Strawberry Creme Horns

I promise, this is probably the most difficult finger food I've ever tried.

Kudos to whoever attempts it.

Just kidding.

*haha*

This is as simple as can be.

Ingredients:

1 Package Creme Horns (found in the bakery section)

Strawberries, sliced

Bakers Chocolate

Directions:

Cut the creme horns into coins then lay a sliced strawberry on top.  I used the Baker's Milk Chocolate in the microwavable container (follow instructions on the chocolate on how to melt.)  Then I took a fork and dipped it in the chocolate, which allowed me to "drizzle" the chocolate across the strawberries.  You can also use some White Chocolate and do the same way to make them look a little "fancier".   It's really that simple.

Cuppy Cakes

Who doesn’t love a delish cupcake?

If you don’t, then we might not be able to be friends any longer.

Just kidding, kinda.

Seriously, whoever came up with the idea of a cupcake, in my opinion is a genius.

I know you aren’t dumb, but I love them because they are miniature cakes, which automatically make them cute.

AND I don’t have to worry about cutting a cake.

I’m not sure about you but I hate when I ruin a pretty cake by cutting it and then it falling apart and cake crumbs getting on the top layer of icing.

It’s just not pretty anymore.

O-well, I digress.

As most of you know, World Changers came to Franklin the end of July.

The summer staff, who consisted of 4 fantastic college students w/ a heart for God, quickly became my new friends.

The summer staff had spent their entire summer together, traveling across the US, sleeping in schools/churches on air mattresses, eating cafeteria food, and getting little to no sleep.

I know how it is to be away from home and just long for something to give you a little comfort until you can be back in your own surroundings.

Being that I’m not the greatest at cooking (I’ll leave that to the moms out there who know how to make the ultimate comfort foods); I do have a knack for baking.

I asked the staffers for their favorite cake and icing.

Then I headed for Ingles where I picked up the ingredients.

(BTW – they were from a box….sorry. I am working on this….)

I prepared Funfetti cupcakes with Funfetti icing and batch of Strawberry cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing.

I will say, I tasted one of each and OH.MY.GOODNDESS.

I do believe that, hands down, they were the best made-from-a-box cupcake I had ever put in my mouth.

Too my delight, the staffers thought so as well.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Creamcheese Icing

Funfetti with Funfetti Icing

Grilled Banana Splits

I read a blog called The Daily Dish.

There is always neat recipes and new twists to old recipes featured on this site.

Friday is generally set aside to discuss different grilling recipes.

One particular Friday, there was a recipe for Grilled Banana Splits.

Oh yes, it is as decadent as it sounds.

I decided to try it last weekend on Matt and our friends.

After dinner was over and cleaned up I began cutting up and skewering my fruit kebobs.

Each skewer featured:

2 banana coins

2 whole strawberries

2 pineapple chunks

After they were skewered, I brushed them with a combination of pineapple juice and melted butter.

The grill was fired up and ready to go.

I placed each skewer on the grill for approx 8-10 minutes, turning often.

I asked each guest which flavor of ice cream they would like to have, and then slid the grilled fruit off on top of the homemade ice cream.

The consensus seemed to be unanimous. Delicious.

YAY! I was so excited.

Then I tasted mine.

Oh.My.Word.

I don’t know which was better, the ice cream or the grilled fruit.

I absolutely woofed my bowl down and was tempted to get more.

But alas, I had picked the wrong dairy battle and reluctantly, I waved my white flag of surrender.

Grilled Banana Splits

8 Skewers
2 Large bananas, sliced
¼ Small pineapple, chunks
8 Large strawberries
2 T. melted butter
1 t. pineapple juice
Favorite ice cream flavor
Various sundae toppings (nuts, chocolate syrup, cherries, sprinkles, etc.)
Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes.

Thread banana, pineapple and strawberries onto skewers leaving a small space between each piece of fruit. (I used 2 banana slices, 2 pineapple chunks, and 2 whole strawberries per skewer.)

Combine butter and pineapple juice. Brush over the fruit skewers.

Gas up the grill and set it on medium heat for about 5 minutes before you place the fruit skewers on it.

Place skewers on grill for about 5-10 minutes or until warm and bananas are lightly browned; turning occasionally.

Serve immediately over a couple of scoops of ice cream and whatever toppings you wish to use.

Homemade Ice Cream

A couple weeks ago, I received a feed from Amanda at Kevin and Amanda.

Amanda hails from Alabama and is a sweet girl, who makes all kinds of delicious foods and crafts and whatnots. She goes on cool trips, takes awesome photographs, and has two really cute dogs.

Anyway, she was hosting an Ice Cream Give Away and she posted how to make ice cream w/o an ice cream maker.

*huh?*

Automatically my ears perked up.

If you know me, you know that I LOVE ice cream, sorbet, gelato, pretty much anything dairy and yummy.

You may also know, although never diagnosed by a professional, I believe I am lactose intolerant.

For obvious reasons that I will not divulge into here, I love to enjoy a dairy product like anyone else, but I also know that by consuming them I will spend the next hour or so absolutely miserable.

Needless to say, I pick my dairy battles.

Last weekend we had some friends come into town and we had a cookout planned for Saturday evening.

I had been eyeballing a couple of different recipes that I wanted to try out.

This cookout would be the perfect time!

I had to try this recipe for a no-ice-cream-maker-ice-cream.

It is a quick mix up of whipped heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk and whatever toppings you so choose.

The possibilities are ENDLESS!

I chose to make the Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream that Amanda had made. (You can find the recipe here.)

While I was at the grocery store that morning, I thought I would also make a second flavor of ice cream and was set out to make Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream on my own.  Super Walmart didn’t have any pumpkin and I refused to stop at Ingles.

I opted to make vanilla.  After I got home I realized that I only had enough vanilla for the Cinnamon Bun recipe.

*drat!* 

I was back at square one.   I remembered that I had bought some macaroon cookies.

*yum*

I crushed up about 4-5 cookies,

then sprinkled a little Nutmeg and Cinnamon.

Folded it together,

Put it in a container and stuck it in the freezer.

Done.  Fino.

Took all of 10 minutes if even that to whip up two delicious looking ice cream flavors!

After a trip up to Bear Lake for some swimming off the dock,

we arrived back home and began preparing the feast.

The feast consisted of boneless BBQ Ribs, Grilled Marinated Chicken, Shrimp Skewers, Fresh Green Beans, Baked Macaroni & Cheese and Potato Casserole (the last two provided by Malea at Sassypants in SC.)

Dessert was Grilled Banana Splits…but more on that later.

Scoop O'Macaroon (L) and Cinnamon Bun (R)

Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream

2 c. heavy cream

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (I used FF)

3 T. butter, melted

½ t. ground cinnamon

½ t. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whip cream until it forms stiff peaks.

In another large bowl, whisk condensed milk, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla together, mixing well.

Fold in whipped cream.

Pour into a 2 quart container and cover.

Freeze for 6 hours.

Macaroon Ice Cream

2 c. heavy cream

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (I used FF)

5 macaroon cookies, crumbled

Dash of Nutmeg

Dash of Cinnamon

In a large bowl, whip cream until it forms stiff peaks.

In another large bowl, whisk condensed milk, cookies, cinnamon, and nutmeg together, mixing well.

Fold in whipped cream.

Pour into a 2 quart container and cover.

Freeze for 6 hours.