Crab Rangoon Dip with Won Ton Crackers

My good friend Tracee helped me make this to go along with our Asian-themed dinner last night, and it turned out fabulous!

Crab Rangoon Dip with Won Ton Crackers

20 won-ton wrappers
2 T. butter, melted
Parmesan cheese, grated
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
2 T. milk
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 can (6 or 7 oz.) crab meat
1 T. green onions, chopped
1 jar sweet and sour sauce (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375˚.
2. Lightly brush a cookie sheet with melted butter.
3. Cut won ton squares in half (to make rectangles). Arrange rectangles in prepared pan.
4. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown—KEEP AN EYE ON THEM OR THEY CAN QUICKLY BURN! Cool on paper towels. Repeat with remaining won ton rectangles.
5. Place cream cheese in glass bowl and soften in microwave oven on high power 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Stir in milk and garlic powder. When well blended, stir in crabmeat and onion. Heat 1 to 3 minutes longer until thoroughly heated.
7. Spread mixture in shallow serving dish. Serve heated spread with won ton crackers.

Option: Serve with sweet and sour sauce on the side, if desired.

Cannoli Poundcake

Ever since I first saw this recipe, I've always had my friend Emma in mind when considering trying to make this cake. She loved it! (of course!)

Cannoli Poundcake

1 bakery-made pound cake
1 pkg. (4 serving size) instant pudding mix, cheesecake flavor*
1 c. milk
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 t. orange extract
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. whipping cream –OR- half & half (whichever is handy)

1. If cream cheese is still cold and solid, microwave it to soften. Beat with mixer in deep mixing bowl until it is creamy and lumps are gone.
2. Add milk to cream cheese and mix to incorporate.
3. Add pudding mix and orange extract; mix well.
4. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Set aside.
5. Slice pound cake horizontally into 4 layers.
6. Place bottom layer on serving plate, spread 1/3 of pudding mixture on cake. Top with next layer of cake and repeat, using all of the filling…or leaving some for your "assistant" to "clean up" bowl. (ha, ha!)
7. Put cake in fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
   
8. Melt chocolate and cream, and spread on top of cake. You can drizzle it down the sides, too, if you like.
   

* or you can use vanilla, or French vanilla flavored pudding mix.

Raspberry Ganache Pie

This recipe is, obviously, part of Chocolate Pie Month. It sounded really good, and I've been going nuts sorting through so many chocolate recipes. I officially have "chocolate on the brain!"

Raspberry Ganache Pie

1 pkg. (8 squares = 8 oz.) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 c. whipping cream
6 T. seedless raspberry jam, divided
1 graham cracker pie crust
2 c. fresh raspberries
1 T. water
1 t. dark chocolate cocoa for dusting

1. In medium saucepan, heat cream with chocolate until chocolate is almost melted, stirring constantly.
   
2. Remove from heat. Beat with whisk until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Stir in 2 tablespoons of jam.
   
3. Pour into crust. Dust with sifted cocoa.
4. Refrigerate 4 hours.
5. Arrange berries on top of pie.
   
6. Microwave remaining jam and water in glass measuring cup on high for 20 seconds; stir until well blended. Brush/spoon onto berries.
   
7. Keep pie refrigerated!!!
   

Option:
Thaw frozen raspberries to top pie.



...and this is what happens when I play with frozen raspberries that thaw out and get really juicy:

Raspberry Eeeek!!!!!

(a special thanks to Tracee for taking the picture!)

Mom Falone's Hummus

Thanks to our friend for allowing us to have his mom's fantastic hummus recipe!

Mom Falone's Hummus (with roasted garlic)

3 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 T. Tahini (sesame paste)
3 T. water
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 c. olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, crushed/pressed*

In food processor (or blender) start with chickpeas, then add remaining ingredients. Pour onto serving platter and drizzle with more olive oil. Serve with pita bread.

* I substituted several cloves of roasted garlic


Roasted Garlic

1. Break up 1 full head of garlic into separate cloves. Do not peel them.
   
2. In baking pan, drizzle cloves with olive oil and salt, if desired.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, check to make sure they're not getting too browned, continue baking for 5 minutes if they are not soft.
   
4. Once garlic is softened, allow to cool. Press with your fingers and the roasted garlic paste will kinda ooze out. Looks a little gross, but tastes heavenly! The flavor will be a milder, sweeter garlic.

Pita Bread (Easy!)

1 box Jiffy pizza crust mix
1/2 c. hot water
1 T. olive oil
extra flour for rolling dough

1. Mix Jiffy and hot water with olive oil in mixing bowl. Allow to stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Divide dough into 8 equal sections; roll each into a ball.
   
3. Roll each ball flat with a rolling pin into a round mini-pizza-like shape. Thickness of dough will depend on your preference; thinner will result in a crispier pita and thick will be more tender/chewy.
   
4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool on rack. Cut into wedges and serve with hummus.
   

Homemade Schnapps

This was Casey's Saturday project. I think he had fun doing this, and it has been a long time coming. Uncle Keith lives back in Casey's home town in Iowa, and we don't see him & Aunt Diann (a.k.a. "Sarge") very often. Thanks to cousin LeAnn for sending us the recipe again!

Uncle Keith's Homemade Schnapps

1/2 gallon water
3 1/2 c. sugar
Bring to boil—stir until clear.
Let cool for approximately 5 minutes.

Add a pint of Everclear and 1 oz. pure peppermint extract.
Add 1 cup of top-shelf vodka.

Peppermint

Options: Substitute the peppermint with either vanilla (to taste) or cinnamon.

Vanilla

random amusements

This is the patio set that we ended up getting. Of course, it was at the last place we shopped. I'm very happy with our selections and the price.

Patio Furniture Shopping

We went everywhere. And I do mean everywhere! But we found this set and considered it to be the best quality and for just the right price. The chaise lounge you see below isn't the one from our set, but it's very similar. We'll pick it all up from the store this week...

Yeah, I know those cushions don't match!
They don't come with the set, so we still need to go shopping for ones that we like.

List of where we shopped:

1. K-Mart
2. Meijer
3. Sears
4. Target
5. Home Depot
6. Walmart
7. Sam's Club
8. Lowe's
9. Costco
10. American Sales
11. Great Escape

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Patio Progression...












Many thanks to Craig and Matt for a job well done.

Tony's Thai Salad

This is another fine recipe from our good friend Tony. It has been a while since he first made this for us, but I did get the recipe from him. I have used it several times, and it is always a hit.

Tony's Thai Salad

For the salad:
1 head cabbage, shredded
1 c. shredded carrots (measured as shredded)
2 pkgs. Ramen noodles (dry, minus the flavor packet)
2 green onions, minced (optional)
1/2 c. toasted almonds (optional)

For the dressing:
1/3 c. cider vinegar –OR- rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 c. canola oil

1. Prep vegetables and put them in a LARGE bowl.
2. Smash Ramen noodles in their unopened packages (if you went to college, you are probably already familiar with this practice, eh?), careful not to rip open package and rain Ramen noodle bits all over your kitchen. Add them to bowl.
3. In separate mixing bowl, add vinegar and sugar; stir to dissolve. (I had to heat it for 10 seconds in the microwave.) Add in other dressing ingredients and whisk to blend well.
4. Pour dressing over veg-noodle mixture, and slowly turn and stir to mix. My grandma always told me, "there's no need to hurry—it isn't a race." Remembering Grandma's words will keep you from spilling or flipping the contents of the bowl onto the counter or the floor.
5. Taste it and see if it needs more salt. Season to taste.
6. Let this salad stand in the fridge for about an hour before serving. As you may already know, some things taste better once they've had a chance to sit and blend a little, especially when you're dealing with cabbage.

OTHER OPTIONS:
Add some finely diced or shredded cucumber.
Add a small can of crushed pineapple.
(I've tried both in the same batch, with great results; it adds to the sweet-n-sour taste and the crunchiness.)

Bananas Foster Trifle

Because my Fluffy Bananas Foster Pie didn't turn out perfect, I decided to make another attempt in the form of a trifle. This turned out fantastic and everyone loved it!

Bananas Foster Trifle

2 pkgs. ( oz.) INSTANT vanilla pudding
4 c. milk
1 box ( oz.) vanilla wafer cookies (you won't use it ALL)
4 medium, ripe bananas, sliced
2 c. Cool Whip
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping

1. Mix milk and pudding in a large bowl with a whisk. Put in fridge to chill for 5-10 minutes or so.
2. Meanwhile, into another bowl, slice bananas. Set aside a few slices for garnishing the top of the completed dish.
3. Add caramel topping to bowl of sliced bananas, and stir well to coat pieces. Set aside.
4. Take chilled pudding out of fridge and stir in Cool Whip. Scoop out 1 1/2 cups of pudding and set aside in a small bowl. (this will be your top layer.)
5. In deep glass serving bowl, or trifle bowl, make a layer on the bottom with about one cup of pudding. (you don't need that much on the bottom.)
6. Layer cookies on top of pudding—it does not have to look perfect, just do it!
7. Drop about 1/3 of the banana pieces on top of cookies.
8. Repeat layer: pudding/cookies/bananas two more times.
9. Top with reserved 1 1/2 cups of pudding, then layer Cool Whip on top of that.
10. Garnish with banana slices and drizzle with caramel topping.
11. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. It's actually better if it has some time to sit, even overnight in the fridge is fine. Serve by digging in with a large serving spoon, putting heaping gobs into clear bowls for added impact. Mmmmm...
    

NOTES: This dish, and ones like it, get easier to make once you try it and kinda "get the hang of it." It isn't an art form or anything, but after you've done it one time, you understand the distribution of the layers and how the end result will look.
I encourage you to be creative and try different flavored puddings and fruits. I have also made this with cheesecake pudding and pie fillings to make it red/white/blue and used cubed poundcake in place of the cookies.
The possibilities are endless!!!


Resources:
Anchor Hocking Trifle Bowl $9.99

Related:
Fluffy Bananas Foster Pie

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Pseudio

Well, it's not a patio...it's a pseudo-patio...a pseudio. (SUE-dee-oh)

No, not like the Phil Collins song; that was Sussudio.


We're planning on putting in a concrete slab in the back, and above you see Casey measuring out the proposed dimensions. I think it's like 20' x 23' or thereabout.




We set up the table and chairs to give us some perspective with regards to how eventual outdoor furniture would fit, and still allow you to scoot you chair back from the table without tumbling over backwards. I thought that that might be amusing to watch. But Casey was concerned that someone could get hurt. Spoil my fun. [humor]


Our friends who live in that green house you see in the background (above photo) came over to help us do a test run of sitting outside drinking. They did a fine job, lemme tell ya!

When the project is done, I'll post the "making of" photos and the finished product. I'm happy that we're finally getting this done, after being in the house for two years. Next year, I get my garden no matter what!!!

Now all I have to do is find a table and chairs that we like...we are open to suggestions. End-of-summer clearance sales are my friend!


NOTE: You can click on the photos to get a better look at them; then hit the "back" button on your browser to go back.