Eggnog Gingerbread Trifle 2012

I first made this back for Christmas 2010.  I wanted a real Christmasy dessert this year and what is more Christmasy than Eggnog!

1 (14.5 ounce) package gingerbread cake mix (and ingredients to make it)
3 cups eggnog
1 (5.1 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make and bake gingerbread cake mix according to package directions. Cool completely.

Place the pudding mix in your mixer's bowl. Pour in the eggnog. Use the whisk attachment and whisk for about 2 minutes until the pudding is thick and creamy.

Refrigerate the eggnog pudding until you ready to put together the trifle.

Place the mixer's bowl and the whisk attachment into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes so that the whipped cream will come together quickly.

Add the cold heavy cream into the mixer's bowl and whisk on high until stiff peaks start to form. Add sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form again.

Cut the gingerbread in half. I like to cube my cake so that it looks prettier in the trifle bowl.

Place half of the gingerbread in the bottom of the trifle bowl. Spread half of the eggnog pudding over the gingerbread cubes. Then spread half of the whipped cream. Repeat layers.

This is so rich but oh so good!

Christmas Dinner - Eye Round Roast

A friend recently shared with me that she made an Eye Round Roast, but cooked at a super high temp for a very short time and then shut the oven off for a couple hours.

Well I had been trying to figure out what to make for Christmas Dinner.  Normally we do a Standing Rib Roast but that just gets pretty pricey even on sale.  Miss V and I went to Sweetbay in Venice on the way home from a play date.  They had the rib roast on sale for $6.99 a pound and Eye Round on sale, I forgot how much.  After much internal debate, I grabbed a 6 pound Eye Round.

I had googled for a good looking recipe with lots of comments and came across this recipe, Perfect Eye of Round Roast.  I loved reading the comments and the bloggers feedback.

Christmas morning we took the roast of the fridge and rubbed it down with lots of salt and pepper.  Let it rest for a long time on the counter.  About 11:30 we put it in the oven and roasted it for 35 minutes.  I am not sure how my oven is at keeping warm, I turned the oven down to 200.  I checked the internal temp after an hour and half and it was perfect for us.  We let it rest for about 20 minutes while we made salad and set the table.

Oh and I did rub down a few HUGE Russet potatoes with olive oil and lots of salt,  Wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven when we put the roast in.  The potatoes came out fantastic!!  Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Look how nice and browned the roast got.  The ends were crispy and when I sliced them off my son snatched them up right away.

I totally forgot to snap a picture of slices, but it was a little more than medium. That is how the female population in my house prefer it.  Obviously the middle was a little more pink, like the male population likes it.

Oh......and the pan juices were incredible!!!  We poured that all over the roast slices and potatoes.  Would I make this type of roast again?  YOU BET!!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (aka Chicken Poop)

This is always a hit when I make it.  I decided to make yesterday for a New Year's Eve party that we were going to.

This technically is a triple batch and you can easily scale it down.

3 - 10 oz cans chunked chicken
3 - 8 oz packages cream cheese (leave out to warm up to room temp for a couple hours)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup Franks Red Hot
2 1/4 cups Shredded Cheddar cheese


Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and sour cream.

Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly.

Serve with Tostitos scoops!

Monkey Bread/Stickey Biscuit Bun Ring

Another idea from Pinterest....

1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits

3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans

 

Preheat oven to 375.
 

Spray a fluted bundt pan with non-stick spray.

Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.

Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring.

Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving plate.

The original recipe stated 15 minutes, which I did then cooled and inverted.  They were clearly not cooked all the way through.  It looked gross and doughy.  So I separated the biscuits and put them on a cookie sheet.  I baked them for another 8 - 10 minutes and then they were done.

Egg and Cheese on Grands Biscuits

We all woke up starving this morning.  I still had a tube of Grands Biscuits so I decided to make up a batch (8) Egg and Cheese sandwiches.

I love the pin I found on Pinterest about baking eggs in muffin pans. 

 Yes the eggs still look tiny on the Grands size biscuits.  The would be perfect on the regular size biscuits.

Snowman Soup

Since we were out passed midnight for New Years, I figured we could indulge this morning for breakfast.

I was making a nice cup of hot tea for me and asked Miss V if she would like tea or hot chocolate.  She smiled and said snowman soup!  Silly girl, that wasn't one of the options, but I will happily oblige her request.

 I am thinking that those marshmallows will not be enough for her.

 Marshmallows and Hershey Kisses all melted.  I even threw in another small handful of marshmallows.

Oh my neglected blog....

I have been severely neglecting my blog.  I just realized I only blogged 94 times in 2012.  I don't make New Years Resolutions, but will vow to blog more recipes in 2013!

Quaker Real Fruit Medley's Apple Walnut Oatmeal

I spotted these at a few local stores recently.  I was a bit hesitant at first because the price ranged from $1.70 to over $2.00 for a single cup.  I know I saw coupons for them on a website, but now can't find them.

Anyway, last weekend I picked up the Apple Walnut Oatmeal at Publix just to try.  There are two ways to prepare it.  One is to add boiling water and the other is to add water and microwave it.

I chose the second option.

I prepared it and waited a little bit while it cooled.  My first thought was that it had a lot of nice texture which in my opinion is much better than the packets of oatmeal.  The flavor was pretty good.  I think I would like just a bit more cinnamon in it.

Would I buy it again, yes if they were on sale or I had a coupon.

Gardener's Hand Scrub - Sample

I made up another pretty sample for the gift making day at our Church.  This time I used the pink Dawn. 

I squirted about 1/2 cup of Dawn into the bottom of the mason jar and then poured the sugar on top.  It mixed much easier this way.  It wasn't as pink as the Pin on Pinterest, so I added a couple drops of orange dye to make it a bit peachy.  I think I might bring the other Dawn soap that I used for my very first sample too.

Peppermint Sugar Body Scrub - Sample

Our church has an annual gift making day for children.  This is the first year that I am involved and I thought it would be nice to make some "spa" type of gifts.

All you need is
Coconut Oil
Small Mason Jar (these are 8 oz)
Granulated Sugar
Fragrance
Liquid Dye (optional)

In each mason jar add approx 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and start with a 1/2 cup of the coconut oil.  I find that if you warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds it will be a nice liquid consistency.

Add a few drops of the fragrance and dye.

Carefully stir it all together.  You may need a bit more sugar and oil.  It should still be grainy.

I then added a few strips of double sided tape and a pretty ribbon.  I just stink at making pretty bows.  I also added a label.  I couldn't get the original striped label to print correctly so I just downloaded a premade label from Avery.

Shortbread Bites

I spotted this recipe the other day on Pinterest.  I absolutely love shortbread cookies.  I also am on my annual hunt for a new cookie to make and bake for a cookie swap.

Well I made these cute little cookies today.

1 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3 tbs granulated sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 tablespoon(s) red and green nonpareils or sprinkles or 1/2 cup mini baking bits

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse flour and sugar until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough begins to come together. Place dough in medium bowl. With hand, gently knead in nonpareils or baking bits until evenly blended and dough forms a ball.

On lightly floured waxed paper, pat dough into 8" by 5" rectangle; freeze 15 minutes. Cut dough into 1/2-inch squares. Place squares, 1/2 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.

 

Bake cookies 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months.

These came out pretty good, I do think it could use 1 more tbs of sugar. 

Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice Drink

I have been searching high and low for the recipe for Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice drink.  There are lots of copycat recipes and then....I stumbled upon the real recipe from an ex-barista.

Here is the link to her blog entry.

The key is you must have the Cinnamon Dolce syrup.  I didn't even have to ask for a pump, the sweet girl working just grabbed one for me.

Ingredients for a single cup
Apple Juice 12 oz
Cinnamon Dolce Syrup 3 pumps or 3 tbs
Caramel Sauce (the ice cream topping kind)
Whipped Cream

I don't understand their sizes at all, I am just not into fru-fru coffee.  Just give me a Dunkies Medium, 2 sugar and cream.

Woops went off topic...Anyways, I decided to make a double sized batch so that Miss V and I could have them in our pretty new glass mugs.

So I poured 24 ounces of apple juice into my big 4 cup glass measuring cup and went to put the handy dandy pump into the syrup and proceeded to spill a bunch.  Why and how?  Well the pump is about 3 inches to long for my bottle so it spilled out the top and all over the counter.

After wiping up the sticky mess, I measured out 6 tablespoons of the syrup and poured them into the apple juice.  I microwaved the juice/syrup for about 3 minutes until it was hot.

I then poured the hot juice into our new glasses.

Then of course we had to have a squirt of whipped cream.

Then a quick swirl of caramel syrup.

The verdict....oh yea!!!  It was right on!  Both Miss V and  I loved it!

Snowman Soup labels 2012

I needed to make some updated Snowman Soup labels for our Christmas Gift Making day for kids at our church and here is what I came up with.

The last one is beachy because we live in SW Florida.  I am not sure which one I should print, or if I should just print a few of each out.  That way the kids can pick which one they want to put with their gift. 

What do you think???