Rustic Plum Tart

With all of the great produce from last Saturday's bountiful basket, I needed to get creative in the kitchen today to use up the last of the fruit. I had about 6 plums left from the basket and decided to make this rustic plum tart recipe that I found on Martha Stewart's website. I have never baked with plums before, so tonight was a first try!

This recipe was easy to make (since I cheated and used pre-made pie crust) and super delicious! I love the idea of challenging myself in kitchen to use produce that I don't usually buy. The bountiful basket is a great way to try new fruits and veggies and at a great price. This recipe went perfectly with vanilla bean ice cream and was so yummy!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! I hope your day is filled with fun and relaxing with family and friends. I hope we all remember the importance of this holiday and say a prayer of thanks to the men and women that protect our country each and every day. We should always have a moment of reflection and gratitude on this holiday and remember that our freedom is not free and should never be taken for granted. I am so thankful to live in this beautiful country and will be celebrating America all day long!

If you are looking for some holiday inspiration, here are just a few pictures from my 4th of July Ideas board on Pinterest. Enjoy!

The cake is gorgeous and a perfect way to display the red, white, and blue!

A beautiful American Flag inspired pie!

A fun treat for the kids and easy to make!

Apple Crisp

I have had a major sweet tooth all day and just happened to have all of the ingredients in the house to make homemade apple crisp! This recipe has been made in my family for years and is so easy and so delicious. It reminds me of a comforting fall dessert, but I am making it while it is 90 degrees outside! Hey, when the baby is craving sweets, sometimes you just have to make something to satisfy the craving :)

Here is the easy and oh so delicious recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts sliced peeled apples
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (well packed)

Topping:

• 1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
• 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

• Place sliced apples in a buttered 9 by 13 inch glass oven safe pan. 
• Combine cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour. (from first list of ingredients)
• Sprinkle mixture over apple slices and lightly toss.
• In a separate bowl, melt the butter and then add oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. (from second list of ingredients)
• Sprinkle topping mixture over the apple slices.
• Bake with foil on for 15 minutes and then uncovered for another 25 minutes in a 325 degree oven until the apples are cooked and the crisp is warmed through.

This dessert is so yummy served hot from the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream... I am in sweet tooth heaven tonight! :)

Banana Cream Pie

This past Saturday we had our friends Laura and Jordan over for dinner and dessert to celebrate their birthdays. Jordan's favorite dessert (and my husband Michael's too) is Banana Cream Pie, so I decided to make it from scratch for the first time. I searched for the recipe on my go to blog for easy recipes, Our Best Bites. 

I found this Banana Cream Pie recipe and could tell just by reading the recipe, that it was going to be a breeze to make. This recipe was super easy to put together and it makes two whole pies (one for dessert and one for Michael to enjoy all on his own)! Jordan and Michael gave their approval and will be requesting this pie again in the future :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

I love when a recipe is so easy that you have time to make a second batch. :) These No Bake Cookies are super easy and full of chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal.

I made these cookies to take with us tonight to our friends' house for dinner and game night. I love spending time with our friends Laura and Jordan and their adorable 2 year old Anela... they are such great friends and so fun to hang out with. I taste tested the recipe already and I am sure they will have the seal of approval from the group tonight!

Apple Pie Cookies and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

After our delicious dinner last night, we needed to end the evening with an amazing homemade apple pie cookie and a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream. I found the recipe for the apple pie cookies on the blog Annie's Eats and these cookies were divine... like a mini apple pie and a cinnamon sugar cookie in one!

I modified the recipe a bit and used pre-made pie crust (so much easier and quicker) and to me the difference wasn't noticeable. I also made homemade ice cream for the first time last night using my new Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that my husband bought me for Christmas. I used a basic vanilla bean recipe that only calls for 4 ingredients (half and half, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla bean). The recipe was surprisingly easy and so delicious. The ice cream was so creamy and decadent... to die for really! It is hard to buy regular ice cream again after having the delicious homemade version... and so easy to make at home!

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Sunday afternoons are perfect for baking and that is exactly what I have been doing today. It is cold and rainy outside and baking something pumpkin is the perfect fall treat and just the comfort food I needed.

These pumpkin pie bites were featured on my blog in September as part of my book club menu. I did not have time to make them then, but still wanted to put this recipe on my list of 'must try recipes'. This recipe was super easy (uses pre-made pie crust) and has built in portion control (bite size pumpkin pie instead of eating the whole pie). If you need an easy to make bite size treat for your next party, try these! Or just make a batch for yourself and have a few each day for a delicious fall treat... enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Which is your favorite? Mine is most definitely treats! Here are a few Halloween Treats to inspire you today or just make you smile! :)

Candy Corn Macarons from the blog Annie's Eats

Candy Corn Cheesecake Mousse from the blog Glorious Treats

Candy Corn Meringues from the blog Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Fall Recipes - Outstanding Reviews!

The relaxing weekend at the lodge was perfect and the recipes I made were a huge hit with everyone and received outstanding reviews!

The chicken tortilla soup was the perfect fall recipe and was nice and filling and great with all the fixins. 

The pear crisp was so delicious that words cannot even begin to describe, but I will try... warm and gooey, toasted pecans, loads of brown sugar, and delicious sweet pears. The reviews from the family on both of these recipes was outstanding and I will definitely be making these again!

The weekends always seem to go by way too fast but we loved getting out of town and enjoying the beautiful scenery up at the lodge!

Cooking with My Dad

This weekend my Dad is visiting from Salt Lake and we always have a tradition of cooking dinner together. With the fall weather here, we wanted to try a new chili recipe and ended up making White Bean Chicken Chili from the Taste of Home website. It was delicious and so easy! Of course we couldn't have dinner without dessert, so I just finished making us Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from Rachael Ray's magazine... oh my, they were amazing!

I love spending time with my dad as we cook together, watch football, and just enjoy each others' company. The perfect way to spend a Saturday!

Pantry Challenge Recipe: Peach Cobbler

I have another great recipe to post today and it fits perfectly into my pantry/freezer challenge for this month. This Peach Cobbler recipe came from one of my favorite blogs called Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.

The reason I chose to bake this recipe this weekend was because I have had 2 homemade jars of sliced peaches in the pantry that a friend gave me and I haven't been able to decide what to do with them. I have never made peach cobbler before, so this recipe was a first for me! And the best part about the ingredient list was that I had everything on hand except the chopped pecans (which I used chopped walnuts instead because they were on sale for $1.49 for 1/2 cup). This recipe fit perfect into my challenge of using up ingredients in my pantry and freezer, because I also have cool whip and vanilla ice cream on hand to top the cobbler with. I can't wait to enjoy this peach cobbler tonight while watching some tv and relaxing with my husband. Enjoy!

Raspberry Fool

Since we were entertaining last night, I also made dessert in addition to a delicious dinner. This recipe is great for anyone that loves raspberries! The only changes I made, were to leave the cookies out and just have the raspberry fool. It was easy to make and beautiful to present in little dishes for our guests. I hope you try making this for your friends and family!