Strawberry Shortcake Baked Alaska

I was looking for new and exciting Easter recipes ...scrolling through my favorite food blogs and web-sites...and seeing so many beautiful things that my head was spinning...

...everything eas so ornate...delicate...spring-y...artistic...

...and WAY too complicated for the insanely busy Easter weekend I had laid before me. I decided on some simple, but slightly altered, versions of things I would've cooked anyway...and had resigned myself to making a bundt cake or something for dessert when I stumbled upon THIS...

Strawberry Shortcake Baked Alaska

A decadent, delicious, and SIMPLE dessert that would turn heads and seem special without being especially hard to make.

I made just about all of this the day before...getting the ice cream in it's mold, making the cake bottom...so on Easter all I had to do was slice strawberries and whip up meringue.

Talk about easy.

Strawberry Shortcake Baked Alaska

• 4 cups strawberry ice cream, softened (I used a whole carton of Blue Bell's Strawberry)
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 4 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1. Spoon ice cream into a foil-lined 1-1/2 qt. bowl ; pack firmly with back of spoon. Freeze for several hours or over night (I went with the overnight option).

2. Heat oven to 425F. Mix flour, 3 TBS sugar and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in cream cheese with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk until mixture forms a dough. Pat dough into bottom of 8-inch round cake pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, toss sliced strawberries with 1 TBS sugar.

Note: Now...if you do this the way I did...you'd skip slicing the strawberries and just skip to the next step. When the cake is cool, you wrap it up tightly and save it for assembly...whenever that may be. 

3. Cool cake 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

4. Heat oven to 500F. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with mixer on high speed 1 minute or until foamy. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating 3 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

5. Place cake on an ovenproof plate; top with strawberries and juice. Un-mold ice cream; place, flat side down, over cake. Frost ice cream with meringue; swirl with back of large spoon. Bake on lowest oven rack 3 minutes or until meringue in golden brown. Serve immediately.

Bliss...

I'm told you can alter this recipe to host a myriad of different ice cream and cake flavors.

Don't think I won't try it... 

courtesy Kraft foods

Country-Style Ribs Baked in Barbecue Sauce

There is only one way that I cook ribs. And it's not by grilling.

I hear a collective gasp from the masses (also known as the 3 people that read this blog)...because it is INGRAINED in our collective psyche that ribs should be GRILLED...or else they are not to be considered ribs.

But see, several years ago I stumbled upon a recipe in a familiar culinary tome known as The Joy of Cooking (heard of it?)...and it recommended slow-cooking ribs in your oven.

For hours.

And I said...hey, lets try that.

And I did.

And it ROCKED.

And I've cooked them that way ever since.

So here is the INSANELY easy, no-thought , surefire way to have tender, mouth-watering, barbecued spareribs for dinner. Just know that you need 4 HOURS to cook ribs this way...and there ain't no shortcuts, baby. This is NOT a wait-to-the-last-minute-oh-crap-what-am-I-making-for-dinner-hey-how-'bout-these-ribs kind of recipe.

I totally doubled the sauce on this because I cooked eight MAMMOTH beef spareribs, and we ate it with German Potato Salad and buttermilk biscuits. Mmmmm...heaven....

Country-Style Ribs Baked in Barbecue Sauce

4 pounds country-style ribs (pork OR beef)

1-1/2 cups barbecue sauce (pick your poison...we used a Spicy Honey barbecue sauce by Kraft)

1 cup orange juice

1. Preheat your oven to 300. Arrange ribs in a 13x9 inch baking dish.

2. Whisk together barbecue sauce and orange juice in a bowl. Pour over ribs, turning ribs to coat evenly. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 3 hours.

3. Uncover, increase temperature to 350, and bake another hour, turning the ribs once after 30 minutes. Don't worry if they fall apart a bit while turning.

4. Remove ribs to a warmed platter and let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon off fat from the sauce and serve the ribs with the sauce.

5. Resign yourself to the fact that you are NEVER grilling ribs again...

courtesy The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker

Dutch Meatloaf

Okay - after all that chicken this month...I was REALLY craving some RED MEAT (let's hear a hallelujah from our hubbies)...

So I made one of my EASIEST and most trustworthy meatloaf recipes....which is really saying something, because, SERIOUSLY...how hard is meatloaf?

If you're like me, you a ba-jillion meatloaf recipes, but one of my favorites comes from this recipe book...

Don't let the cover full you...it may look all clean and new...but inside....

It's stained and torn and written in...just like any well-used cookbook should be.

I think the reason I like it so much is that my mother bought it for me back when I first got married and COULD NOT COOK, and this book used really familiar ingredients (most of which I already had stocked in my pantry) and delivered excellent and consistent results.

Dutch Meatloaf is the first meatloaf recipe I ever attempted...and it my go-to meatloaf recipe if I need one on the fly...

I don't really double this, as it serves 6...but I buy meat in bulk and separate it into 1 pound increments. So, the recipe calls for 1-1/2 pounds ground beef, but I thaw and use 2 pounds...and then I estimate the rest of the ingredients accordingly.

We served it with roasted red potatoes, canned biscuits, and a lettuce salad.

Dutch Meatloaf

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 medium onion, chopped

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup water

2 TBS brown sugar, packed

2 TBS prepared mustard

1 TBS vinegar (I use apple cider for the extra tang)

1. In a medium bowl, lightly mix beef, bread crumbs, onion, 1/2 can tomato sauce, egg, salt and pepper. Shape into a loaf in a shallow baking pan.

2. Combine remaining tomato sauce with rest of ingredients; pour over loaf.

3. Bake at 350 for 1-1/4 hours, basting loaf several times throughout.

courtesy "Best Recipes from the backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Jars" by Ceil Dyer

Tuscan Chicken Simmer

Last night, I had a bunch of mushrooms to use, so I dug up this recipe that I thought would submit itself well to an addition of mushrooms. And I was right!!

I served this with Fettuccine, store-bought garlic bread, and a little green salad. And I doubled it.

But you knew that.

Tuscan Chicken Simmer

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup pesto

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cup Italian Five Cheese blend shredded cheese

and, if you're me,

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1. Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with Pam on medium-high heat. Add chicken, cover skillet with lid. Cook 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add cream cheese, water, pesto and tomatoes to skillet. Cook, uncovered, 2 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

3. return chicken to skillet. Cook and stir 1 minute or until chicken is coated and heated through. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

courtesy www.kraftfoods.com

Easter Dinner Feast

Here are all the recipes for our Easter Dinner Feast.

It's not as grand a feast as my mother used to put on...it's missing several salads, and a roast leg of lamb, and other goodies...but it is good for OUR little family. My mom used to feed us AND lots of extended family, and I only have to feed US...

And my husband has to work on Easter...and whenever he has to work...I don't feel as festive. There have been SOME Easter's (I'm ashamed to admit) that there hasn't been a feast at all. But I know that it is unfair to my children...after all, it's not THEIR fault that daddy runs a multi-million dollar restaurant that doesn't acknowledge holidays...and THEY deserve to have the same type of Easter that I grew up knowing.

So this is our simple Easter feast. It has an appetizer, a simple green salad, asparagus side, baked ham, rolls, and a dessert. I hope you enjoy it as much as WE did!!!

Jerusalem Artichoke and Spinach Dip

-

2 (10 oz.) boxes frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 (8-ounce) jars artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Baguette bread slices, crackers, or tortilla chips

1. Cook spinach according to package directions; drain well and squeeze out liquid. Saute onions in butter until soft.

2. Combine cooked spinach, onion mixture, cream cheese, artichoke hearts, Monterrey Jack cheese, and garlic salt in a medium bowl; mix well. Place in a greased baking dish. bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

4. Serve with baguette bread slices, crackers, or tortilla chips.

courtesy Essential Mormon Celebrations: Secret Combinations for Holidays, Homecomings, Potluck Dinners, and More

Ham and Orange Soda Sauce

1 fully cooked spiral-sliced ham
3 cups orange soda
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/3 teaspoon ground allspice

1. The ham is fully cooked and ready to serve. It is best served cold or at room temperature to maintain it's natural juices and tenderness. Remove packaging and and transfer ham to serving platter, let stand no more than 30 minutes to bring to room temperature.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saute pan on medium-high. Cook 8-10 minutes or until mixture has reduced by about 3/4's and the sauce begins to thicken. Warm sauce can be poured over the ham, separating slices to evenly coat, or served over ham slices. Carve ham and serve. Promptly refrigerate unused portions.

courtesy Publix Apron's Simple Meals

Bacon and Caramelized-Onion Asparagus

3 slices bacon
1-1/2 lb fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
1/2 TBS water
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup ranch dressing

1. Cook bacon in nonstick skillet 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp, turning frequently. Drain bacon on paper towels. Discard drippings from skillet, but do not wash.

2. Place asparagus in pan and and steam with water. Steam until asparagus is crisp-tender. Meanwhile, add onions to skillet; cook and stir 5 minutes or until golden. Stir in dressing.

3. Drain asparagus; top with sauce and crumbled bacon.

courtesy Food & Family magazine

Little Nests

-

1/4 cup butter
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup Fiber-One cereal
1 small package Whoppers Robin's Eggs

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add miniature marshmallows. Stir until marshmallows are melted.

2. Remove from heat. Add cereal and stir until coated. When cool enough to handle, form into 8 little nests. Place on waxed paper or Pam-coated aluminum foil. After about 1 hour, press in center of each nest to form an indentation. Place three robin eggs in center of each nest. Place on plates, or on 3- or 4-inch doilies and use as place cards, favors, or plate accents.

courtesy Essential Mormon Celebrations: Secret Combinations for Holidays, Homecomings, Potluck Dinners, and More

Seven-Up Cake

(I was so excited to find this recipe...I haven't had this cake since I was a little girl. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!)

1 package of lemon cake mix
1 package lemon instant pudding
3 eggs
1 can 7-up
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Mix well and bake 45-50 minutes at 350 in a greased/floured or bundt pan. Cool and frost (below).


1-1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
3 TBS flour
1 can crushed pineapple, undrained

1. Cook until thickened and clear. Let cool slightly and frost cake.

courtesy Something's Burning...

Chicken Supreme A.K.A. The Perfect Conference Dinner

So, I have this great conference dinner recipe that I am very excited to share with you. I got it out of a cookbook called The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations by Julie Badger Jensen.

It is very similar to one of my favorite personal recipes for chicken. I like to wrap boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bacon (thick-cut applewood bacon, preferably), sprinkle generously with cracked black peppercorns, and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. So when I saw this bacon-wrapped chicken recipe, I knew I just had to try it.

I have that reaction a lot with recipes involving bacon. I just have to make them.

Either that - or I have to add bacon to recipes that don't call for it. Because...well...bacon just makes everything better.

ANYWAY - this recipe updates mine by adding a sauce...which is great.

I made a few changes to it, as well. For example, the recipe asks that the bacon be wrapped around the chicken raw, then you add the sauce, and then everything gets cooked together. But I find that the bacon doesn't get as done as I like it to be that way.

So I start the bacon and get it to the "cooked but not crispy" (so it's still maneuverable) stage, and THEN proceed with the rest of the recipe.

The restaurant secret to those nice flat strips of perfectly cooked bacon is this: they cook it in the OVEN, not in a skillet. I lay my bacon out on a broiler pan with vents so the juices and grease can drip down, and cook at 350 for about 20 minutes (or 400 for about 10-15 minutes, if I'm in a hurry), flipping once half-way through (I cover the pan at the bottom with a couple layers of foil to aid in quick clean-up). It takes a bit longer, but you get far better, and less greasy, results...especially if you're "precision cooking" it for another recipe like this one.

The best part (besides the bacon) about this recipe, is you put it all together the night before, and it cooks while you're away at conference. You put it in before you leave, and you don't even have to rush home...you can stand around in the foyer chatting with people for a few minutes about speakers and such, and then when you get home, you have just enough time to whip up a salad and heat some rolls, and it's done!!

There is no need to double, as it feeds eight!! (another bonus!)

Chicken Supreme

2 (2.5-ounce) packages smoked, sliced, pressed beef (lunch meat...like the Carl Budding kind)

16 slices of bacon (the recipe calls for eight...but since I pre-cook mine, the "shrinkage" means I need 2 strips for each chicken breast)

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups sour cream

2 (10--3/4 oz.) cans cream of mushroom soup

1. Put beef slices in a greased 9x13-inch pan.

2. Roll two strips of bacon around each breast half. Fasten with toothpick if necessary. Layer over beef.

3. Combine sour cream and cream of mushroom soup. Pour over chicken. Cover with aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, bake, covered, at 300 for 3 to 4 hours.

courtesy The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations by Julie Badger Jensen

Chicken Florentine

Did I ever tell you how I love easy knock-offs? You feel like you're fixing something fancy all while cutting down on your time in the kitchen.

Don't get me wrong - there are times that I love slaving over a supreme culinary work of art. But with my family and the amount of distraction I face, it is usually not possible. So - I opt for the knock-off.

One of my favorite websites is http://www.kraftfoods.com/. It has TONS of knock-offs, and I am always delighted to find something that I can make that requires what I already have stapled in my fridge or pantry. I also love their "Recipe Box", where I can not only copy my favorite recipes from Kraft, but also input any I find in magazines or cookbooks. I have almost completed transferring 3 of my most beloved cookbooks into my personal Recipe Box. I only wish they had a better way of categorizing them so they were easier to pull up, and I don't have to go through thousands of recipes to find the one I want.

Maybe I can invent something some day that does just that...

Until then - a knock-off PERFECT for those Sunday Dinners...

This goes great with a veggie side (we're using the rest of my red potatoes to make crispy wedges drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with thyme and pepper). You don't really need a salad because you have the spinach...but if you can't imagine a dinner without salad, buy some extra spinach and make a traditional spinach salad with crumbled bacon, blue cheese, and hard-boiled egg and balsamic vinaigrette dressing (preferably warm).

Double if you're me.

Chicken Florentine

3 TBS Zesty Italian dressing

4 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves 9essentially one salad bag of spinach)

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves

8 slices thinly shaved deli smoked ham

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1. Heat 1 TBS of the dressing in a large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach, cook and stir 1 minute until spinach is wilted. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.

2. Add remaining 2 TBS dressing and the chicken to skillet; turn chicken over to evenly coat both sides with dressing. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side until chicken is cooked through.

3. Transfer to a cookie sheet, and top evenly with ham and cheese. Place under broiler to brown. Spoon spinach mixture evenly onto four plates; top each with a chicken breast.

- a great substitution for the spinach is asparagus. The chicken looks elegant a decidedly

"spring-y" on top of several trimmed asparagus spears.

courtesy Kraft foods

Raspberry-Glazed Pork Chops

(oh my golly's...do you know what I did? I accidentally erased all the pictures of me making this item off my camera...I can't believe I did that!!!! So now you have this recipe...but no pictures!! I am SO SORRY! Please try it anyway...it is REALLY good!!!)

This is a Sunday dinner...but only because of it's looks. It LOOKS beautiful...and maybe even fancy. But just like books...you never judge a recipe by it's photo. This is SUPER EASY.


I'm obviously NOT making this on a Sunday because my whole menu is all screwed up thanks to the Valentines Day Stomach Flu. I'm still categorizing it under Sunday dinners, though...


because I'm slightly obstinate.


This serves four, which means I double. My pork chops are also from CostCo, which means that they are about 1-1/2 inch thick instead of the required 3/4 inch thickness. You can deal with this in one of two ways...you can slice the pork chops in half to make them thinner (easier if the chops are still SLIGHTLY frozen and you use a VERY sharp knife), which will help them cook faster; OR you can cook them longer at a lower heat. You can add a little broth or water to help stave off dryness.


Served great with a wild greens salad and a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Creamy Poppyseed is also really good...just don't look at the fat content. The recipe calls for grated orange peel...rather than waste the orange for a little peel, I'd peel it and serve a few wedges as garnish around the salads edge. Super creamy mashed potatoes (use Yukon Golds for best results) or crispy red potato wedges drizzled in olive oil with some thyme and rosemary will round it all out.


Raspberry-Glazed Pork Chops


1 tsp. butter
4 boneless pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
1/2 cups seedless raspberry jam
1/3 cup raspberry or balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp grated orange peel
1-1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme


1. Melt butter in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chops, cook 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until browned on both sides.


2. Mix remaining ingredients, spoon evenly over chops in skillet.


3. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to glaze consistency and chops are cooked through, turning chops occasionally.


(You can serve these as whole chops, or slice and arrange in fan shapes with extra sauce drizzled over the top. With kids - we do the "fans", and the adults get whole chops and a steak knife)


courtesy Kraft foods

Creamy Chicken & Cranberry-Pecan Wild Rice

Ohhh...this is another of those fabulous FALL recipes. It's a little fancier...so I reserve it for Sundays. Why? Because my mother ALWAYS made a big meal on Sundays...and now I do, too.

This is great served with a salad made of wild greens, roma tomatoes, and maybe some sauteed butternut squash cubes. Add a sprinkling of nuts (hey - use the leftover pecans!!) and a nice vinaigrette, and it's a meal!!

Creamy Chicken & Cranberry-Pecan Wild Rice

2 TBS flour

1/2 tsp each: dried thyme leaves and black pepper

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 lb.)

2 TBS oil

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup pecan pieces, toasted

6 green onions, sliced, divided

1 pkg. long grain and wild rice, prepared as directed on package ( I double the rice)

1 cup chicken broth

6 oz. cream cheese, cubed

- Mix flour, thyme and pepper; coat chicken with flour mixture. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken to skillet; cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

- Stir cranberries, pecans, and 1/3 cup of the onions into the cooked rice; spoon onto serving platter. Remove chicken from skillet, reserving drippings in skillet. Place chicken over rice mixture; cover to keep warm.

- Add broth to skillet; stir to break up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream cheese, cook 2 to 3 minutes or until cream cheese is melted and sauce starts to thicken, stirring occasionally with wire whisk.

-Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with remaining onions. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

courtesy of Kraft Foods