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Dessert

S’mores Pizza

August 25, 2014

 

You know how I went to that blogging conference a few weekends ago and that is all I have posted about since? This is the last one I promise. I just kept thinking so much about the s’mores dessert pizza they served us at the Saturday lunch. Good thing I blog about food, which gave me an excuse to re-create it and share it.

I have to say, that old adage, ‘Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good’ really came into play here. I had daydreams of making pizza dough out of graham flour and scouring some dark chocolate spreads to make this. Plus the restaurant had a wood burning pizza oven which I do not (Gwyneth Paltrow scoffs at my foodiness).

In the end, I just pulled out the obvious essentials and went to town:

I could add that I also made this for my kids breakfast. What can I say. Mom of the year for serving Hershey Bars and Marshmellows to my kids. Really, I was busy packing to go up north and again my thoughts drifted to the s’mores pizza when I saw a bag of dough in the fridge that I was tempted to pack (see this post). Not only would I get to taste that amazing combo of textures and oozy chocolately goodness, but I could check breakfast off my list. S’mores pizza for the double win.

But I am so glad I did because it is amazing.

 

I just put marshmallow fluff on one side, Hershey Bars on the other, and a few marshmallows in for good measure. When I folded it over, I cut three slits on top to allow the air to vent, and sprinkled a few graham crackers on top. I cooked it at 425 for 10-15 min (until marshmallow oozed out the end and the pizza dough was hard).

When it was done, I pulled it out and my daughter came into the kitchen and said, mmmm…what’s that yummy smell?

Don’t let the simplicity keep you from making this – you will thank me!  It is so good! It is a new family staple around here. Just probably not on a school morning 🙂

Katie

 

 

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

July 24, 2013

 

Ok, back in June I was lamenting summer’s busy-ness in contrast to the lazy, slow days of living it is supposed to be (I was reading a lot of Shauna Niequist, who loves summer and spends a month in Michigan on a lake. This post is on how she ranks Fall as her 4th favorite season because it is the end of summer).

Well, since then we have gone to the Cape, had a cookout with friends (so excited to have a visit from my old friend Shannon and her girls), attended a luau party, and had two glorious days of swimming at Grandpa’s beach on Lake Winnisquam (next to Lake Winnipesaukee). And this weekend we are going up for a long stay at our condo in North Conway, NH in the White Mountains, where we will jump off big rocks into the rivers and fish and hike. And before the kids head back to school we will take a long weekend in mid-coast Maine, eating lobsters and swimming in the chilly ocean, so excited.

So I am liking summer at the moment.  Especially when THESE bars are around:

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars.

I spent a slow, lazy morning making 2 batches with the girls, and we brought them to all of our summer events last weekend.  They are like Lemon Bars + Cheesecake + Blueberry Pie.  Just ridiculously good. My husband tasted one and said, ‘what are these devil bars that you made?’.

They are super easy too.  You just take Yellow Cake Mix, add an egg and a melted stick of butter, and stir it together.  You lay 2/3 down for the crust and reserve the other 1/3 for the crumb topping.  Then you mix 2 packages of cream cheese, the zest and juice of 1 lemon (give or take) another egg and 1/2 c. of sugar.  Blend these together and they = Cheesecake. Lay that over the crust, then add 2 1/2  cups of blueberries (or a pint like I did, which is all I had) and then the crumb topping and bake at 350 for almost an hour.

(This was all from memory – like I said, super easy. Here is the printer version of the recipe from Kraft’s Website).

Hope these yummy treats add a nice change to your BBQ/Pot Luck/Picnic Basket rotation.

How do you rank summer on your favorite seasons list? I love fall. It is for sure my 1st favorite season, but I might have to tie it with spring.  And I love skiing, so winter and summer might be tied for #2. But the in between times, when the newness of a season edges in on the one that has run its course, might be my favorite times of all.

Happy summer,

xoxo Katie

p.s. Thanks for visiting, Shannon!! We loved hanging with you and your girls!!

Apple Crisp & Halloween Fun

October 11, 2012

Hey All!

October always seems to fly by but every New Englander I know has been gushing about these gorgeous fall days.  Leaves carpeting the lawns and the mums everywhere make every yard look like a postcard.

This time of year also brings on a heavy debate at our house.  No, not politics.  It is the perfect ratio of apples to crumb topping in apple crisp.

 

My husband has been begging me to make apple crisp like his mom and grandmother did.  So, of course I got the recipe from them. And I made it. And he still said, no, this isn’t quite right. (He just figured out that it was actually another family member who made it his favorite way.)

He holds that the best apple crisp has equal portions apple and crisp.  I like a little more apple, since it is warm, gooey, and a tad healthier.

But I think I found a winner that we can both agree on.  It is from Betty Crocker, you can find the link here.  I should note that I personally love Ina Garten’s Apple Crisp, which you can find here, but my husband doesn’t love all the citrus flavors (she uses orange and lemon).

Apple Crisp

4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I prefer less or no nutmeg, you can leave it out)

Cream or Ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.

Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

 

On another, non-food related but October related note, can we talk about these cute craft projects? I am not very crafty, in fact my kids scrap books each have one page completed and are in a box with all the memorabilia that should be in the scrap book.  But my babysitter Jessi is! She made these ghosts and bats out of the kids hands! Just trace their hands on white paper for ghosts and black paper for bats (the bats you trace the hands attached together as wings.  They are harder to see against the night sky).  The pumpkins are a scissor-using nirvana for my 3 year old since you just cut up pieces of orange tissue paper then glue them on a paper plate.  They make our house feel very Halloween-y too.  Enjoy!