William Sonoma Gift Card Give-Away!!!

Who doesn't love William Sonoma? I love to just wander through the store and lust over all the cooking/baking items. If you are like me, check out The Clean Plate Club. She is giving away a $50 gift card to William Sonoma on May 1st. You have to have your entry in by April 30 at 5 pm EST though.

I have thought about what I would buy if I won and I've decided on a spring form pan. #1, I don't have one and #2 I've recently seen several yummy looking cheesecake recipes that call for this pan. Plus, winning the gift card would be just another good excuse to spend some time browsing the store. ;)

Happy Easter!

We had a beautiful, yet cold and windy, Easter here in Alabama! We spent it with family and enjoyed the day with people we only see once or twice a year. I took dessert to the luncheon at my grandmother's. I usually take an oreo dessert that comes out of a box that everyone loves. But this year I wanted to make something blog worthy. Strawberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite foods in general, so I wanted to use them in something. The idea of a trifle came to mind, so I looked through recipe books and searched the internet for a Strawberry Trifle recipe. None were exactly what I wanted, so I took a little from several and came up with something of my own.

Strawberry Trifle
Many sources, combined by me

1 1/2 cups sugar
16 ounces cream cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into cubes
2 lbs. halfed strawberries

In a large bowl combine the strawberries and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix well and allow the berries to marinate.

In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar with the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, whip on medium speed until combined. Add milk a little at a time, mixing until you get an icing like consistency.

To build the trifle, line the bottom of a trifle bowl with a layer of cake. Spoon a layer of the cheese mixture over the pound cake (I had to use a knife to spread it out), and then a layer of berries. Repeat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made this the night before and it was really good the next day. The bread will soak up the juice from the strawberries so if you don't want your bread to get soggy, I would suggest serving this after only an hour or two of chilling. My family actually liked the juice soaked bread and this dessert was a hit.

To Die for (or not) Saturday Night Dinner

My in-laws gave us a beef roast that I tossed in the freezer a few weeks ago and this weekend seemed like the perfect time to pull it out. I am not a huge roast fan mostly because I've never had one with a lot of flavor. I searched the internet for a new pot roast recipe and came across To Die for Crock Pot Roast. I love using the crock pot because you don't have to babysit your dish. You just prep it, throw it in and it cooks itself. Perfect for a Saturday when I have a million things to do.

It was ok. I wouldn't say it was "to die for." I ended up adding a little worcestershire sauce to mine and it was a decent dinner. I think it all comes down to my general dislike of the flavor of roast meat. Taylor liked it though. Anyway, my additions/changes to the recipe are in italics.

To Die for Crock Pot Roast
Source: Recipezaar.com

1 beef roast, any kind
1 package dried brown gravy mix
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 package dried ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup water -I added a little more
6 medium red potatoes, quartered - you could add any veggies you want.

Mix together dried mixes in a bowl and use as a rub on the roast. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. You will have some of the dry mix left depending on the size of your roast.

Place potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot. Place beef on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle the left over spice mixture around and over the roast. Pour water around the roast. Cook on low 7-9 hours.



To go with the pot roast, I made a copy cat recipe of Jim N Nicks cheese muffins. My husband and I always order a basket of these when we frequent the restaurant so I decided to give this recipe a try. The recipe comes from my friend Dela's blog, Not Your Mama's Southern Cooking. She has a great blog, you should check it out! These turned out great!! The recipe was really simple and they taste just like the "real thing."

Jim N Nicks Cheese Muffins
Source: Not Your Mama's Southern Cooking

1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp butter, melter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ingredients together and pour into greased muffin pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.

A new spin on cereal for dinner

I have been craving a snack/dessert from my childhood the last few days and tonight I couldn't wait any longer. Cornflake Clusters were a staple at my house growing up. I'm not sure where the recipe originated, but it was one of the first recipes I learned from my mom. I came home and immediately started cooking. Thank goodness these only take about 10 minutes!

Cornflake Clusters
Source: My Mom

1 cup yellow label syrup (you can use any light colored syrup that you have on hand)
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups cornflakes
wax paper

Before beginning set out a large sheet of wax paper.

Place a medium/large sauce pan on over medium heat and add the sugar and syrup. Cook until liquid comes to a light boil, stirring the entire time. Once it begins to boil, cook for an additional one minute. The sugar should be completely dissolved and the liquid should look clear when running off your spoon. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter stirring until smooth. Add the cornflakes a few cups at a time incorporating them into the peanut butter mixture.

Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the wax paper and let cool.




The best part is eating a nice warm bowlful. I get fuller faster these days, so it just happened to become dinner tonight. Yeah, I know it isn't even remotely healthy, but it was worth it! (For those wondering about my poor husband, he had leftovers) ;)

Product Rave!!

When grocery shopping, my husband usually tries to steer me away from the specialty cheese case. He is not a big fan of what he calls "weird, moldy cheeses." To him, this includes everything except Cheddar and American...even if the cheeses are not remotely moldy. I do happen to make it to that lovely piece of heaven every once in a while and I have a new discovery. Alouette spreadable cheese.
It is SOOOO good! I purchased the Garlic and Herbs variety and spread it on some equally wonderful crackers, Parmesan Basil Wheat Thins. Trust me, I can make a meal out of this stuff. I also discovered that Alouette has a website where they have lots of recipes in which to use their products. I will be testing out some of those soon!

If you are wondering where this random, middle of the day post comes from, let me enlighten you. A pregnant woman's brain is always thinking about food. And I happen to have this tub of yumminess in my fridge at home, but I am stuck at work day dreaming about it. Therefore, you have a post to read while I sit here drooling on my keyboard.

A little less talk

and a lot more action! Well, I put my money ( or should I say my cooking) where my mouth is last night and I cooked a real dinner for the first time since the awful pregnancy sickness hit me. ;) I got motivated after browsing some of my favorite blogs yesterday. So, I got home and got in the kitchen! I didn't go overboard though and kept it simple. I made Balsamic Grilled Chicken, which is an easy and familiar recipe for me, and a new spin on roasted potatoes. I forgot to take pictures because I was so excited about cooking again! The potatoes turned out great though, so here's the recipe:

Parmesan Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Source: Me

8 small/medium red potatoes sliced into wedges
Olive oil
Hot sauce - use your favorite kind
2 large cloves of garlic minced
1 1/2 TBSP butter
Sea Salt
Parmesan Cheese - grated

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the potato wedges on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and hot sauce. Use your hands to toss and coat the potatoes. Arrange them in a single layer across the pan and sprinkle with salt. Bake for about 20 minutes. They should be fork tender.

Take out of the oven and sprinkle liberally with grated parmesan cheese. Turn off the oven, but stick them back in for about 5 - 7 minutes. The cheese will melt together and form little parmesan crunchies.

While the potatoes are back in the oven, place minced garlic and butter in a small sautee pan over medium heat. I also sprinkled a little sea salt in there because I like my potatoes extra salty. Let the butter melt and simmer the garlic until it is tender, but watch out and don't let it burn.

After the potatoes come out of the oven place them in your serving dish making sure you get all the parmesan crunchies off the pan and into the dish. Drizzle the garlic butter over the potatoes and toss to coat. You could strain the minced garlic out of the butter if you wanted, but we love garlic at my house so I left it in.

These were really good and I will definitely make them again.

Wow, it's been a while again

I know I said I was back in the last post, but that was nearly 2 months ago. Things have been busy and I still wasn't full force back in the kitchen. I think I just had a good cooking day. :) I can now watch Food Network all day again and actually enjoy it, even if I wouldn't want to eat the food they are preparing. All this to say, I will be posting more often now. I even have recipes I plan to try out this weekend. One for a weekend dinner at home with the husband and one for Easter dessert! Make sure to check back and see how they turn out.