Hooked on Roasting Tomatoes!

Erin, have you cut a tomato before?

Nope!

Well, grab a knife, girl, I'm gonna show you how!

If you're saying you have too many tomatoes, then let me share with you a fast, easy way to use them up!

It's easy. And I just got my daughter and her friend to do it for me (as I guided them).

I love working with kids in the kitchen, especially if they have a good attitude and they want to learn.

Cut up any kind of tomato into pieces. (We have 5 different kinds this year - cherry work great, too!)

Chop fresh basil.

Press fresh garlic.

Add salt, pepper, sugar, and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast at 450 for 45 minutes, or longer, depending on how dry you like them.

Then you can do several things. 

Eat right away.

Freeze in Ziplocs as is.

Puree' and freeze.

Once you try this method, you'll be hooked!

What's your favorite way to eat tomatoes?

Head on over to Julia's at Hooked on Houses and see what she has going on today with her Friday blog party!

Mother's Day Easy Cinnamon Bites!

I remember the distinctive smell of goodness on Sunday mornings when I was growing up.

My mom would take cinnamon and sugar, biscuits and butter combined, baking and serving them hot with gooey maple drizzle on top.  Many times just for our family of 5.  And often when we had overnight guests.

You might recall my Balcony Girls post, where I served this delicious childhood treat with my girls.

And now my daughter has learned to make this breakfast dessert for our family, just like my mom taught my sisters and me to make.

Easy Cinnamon Bites
3 packages of refrigerated biscuits
Cinnamon and sugar, mixed together
¼ cup butter

Maple drizzle (1 cup powdered sugar, 2 T milk, maple extract)

Melt butter in 9x13 pan

Opening biscuits, use scissors to cut into 3 pieces

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes

Drizzle powdered sugar mixture over top while warm

Devour and enjoy!

Why not buy these ingredients for your kids to make for you on Mother's Day?

It will be a treat that your family won't forget!

Roll & Freeze Cookie Dough!

Being a hospitable person doesn’t mean that hospitality has to center on food 

and entertaining!

Being a hospitable person is about being warm and welcoming – wherever you go!

My sister Di is a great example of that. She is hugely involved in her grandsons’ lives, helping her kids out by babysitting – and just by being there for them whenever they need her. She and her husband can’t get enough of these darling kids.  

They want to know these boys. To love them. To be a part of their lives. To influence them, crossing the lines of generations.

Di is also a great cook and her adorable grandsons find her cookies mighty tasty. You can tell by the above photo that they love Grandma’s cookies! And Gavin actually helped make the cookies, as he’s very interested in helping in the kitchen!

Yes, my sister does know what true hospitality is.

Her doors are always open.

It’s a beautiful thing.

Di’s Oatmeal Cookies
1 ¾ c flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ c packed brown sugar
½ c butter; softened
½ c shortening
½ c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C quick or old-fashioned oats
2 C semi-sweet Choc chips
1 c coarsely chopped nuts (I used macadamia nuts)
 
Preheat over to 375.
Combine flour, soda and salt in small bowl.  Beat brown sugar, butter, shortening and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until cream.  Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9-10 min for chewy cookies for 12-13 minutes for crispy cookies. 
 
Di’s Note:  I usually bake 1 dozen cookies and the rest of the dough I roll into balls and freeze. I place the balls in Ziploc bags and keep in the freezer for when I’m ready to make fresh, hot cookies.  Place frozen balls on cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 375.  

Sandy's Note:  My sis and I must think alike!  I do the same thing with cookie dough.  Roll and freeze, just like I did with my Snicker Doodles.

I am blessed by my sis, and her beautiful family.

Do you roll and freeze cookie dough?  It's a yummy, quick and easy idea!

The Perfect Lemon & Lemon Cream Pie

Isn’t it amazing the way God created the lemon?

I love the freshness, zippiness and invigorating flavor. I really love to cook with lemons, and I always keep them on hand in my kitchen fruit bowl.

I also love how vibrant lemons are. 

And someday when we remodel our kitchen, I am thinking about painting the walls yellow. There are so many beautiful shades of yellow – I can’t wait until the time to pick out the color.

But in the meantime, let me show you what’s happening yellow-wise around my house!

Freshly clipped forsythias on my front porch


Dollar store bunch on my hutch


Daffodils picked just today

Lemons hand-picked by a special lady

When my Dad called from vacation to say my step mom was picking lemons – I begged them to bring me some. And that they did – a big brown bag full of Arizona-perfect lemons!

My first thought was to make a Lemon Cream Pie, 

just like my Aunt Lois used to make. 

I have fond memories of dipping my finger into the whipped cream at my Auntie's house.  Oh, and that would be a Sour Cream Lemon Pie, which has a mellower, creamier taste.

This pie is nice and tart, but also has the perfect 

amount of sweetness to it.

Lemon Cream Pie

1/4 cup corn starch

3 T. water

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups water

2 T. butter

9 T. lemon juice

3 egg yolks

2 T. milk

1 (8 inch) baked pie shell

1 cup sour cream

1 pint whipping cream, whipped

Dissolve cornstarch in 3 T cold water.  In a sauce pan mix sugar, water and butter.  Cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Add cornstarch mixture and cook until clear (about 8 minutes), stirring occasionally.  Add lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes.  Mix egg yolks with milk and add to saucepan.  Cook over low heat until mixture boils, stirring occasionally.  Cool.

Pour 1/2 mixture into pie shell and refrigerate.

Add sour cream to the other half of the mixture.  Spread over the top of the first half.  Refrigerate.

  

Top with whipped cream before serving.

Thank you Ginny, for the lemons. 

And thank you Ginny for the hugs. I appreciate my step mom a lot. She was a gift to my Dad almost 12 years ago.

(Ginny hugging my daughter at her violin performance earlier this year.)

Also, I'm curious if you've heard of Orange Limes?  

Visit my friend Linda T, here, and read all about them!

No Rigidity & Upside-Down Chip Cake!

Remember the delicious cake that our guests brought to our house for dinner last weekend? I love how my friend Karen changed the recipe up a bit, to make it less complicated!

But let me back up a bit to that night …

Spot on the cloth
Even though I found a spot or two on my Williams Sonoma tablecloth while setting the table for my guests, I didn’t freak out! I knew that the intimate time we were about to have with our friends, Jeff and Karen, would be our focus – not the spot on the cloth!


Husband comes first
One hour before the guests were to arrive I realized that I had not really spent quality time with my husband that day.

So putting all rigidity aside, I felt the freedom to call our guests and push the dinner time back ½ hour.

Hubs and I were able to connect and relax


Read & talk with classical music playing


Even Haggis hung with us


Let rigidity go
Pushing all rigidity aside, I’ve learned to go with the flow. The table I had set for 7 needed to be changed to 5, as our kids started making other plans for the evening. Our dinner would be 4 adults and one 2nd grade boy! What a combination!


Just in case our “little” guest didn’t eat salmon


Changing the dinner time, (I would not have felt comfortable doing this if my guests were already on their way), re-arranging my table, preparing last minute Mac & Cheese, and living with spots on my tablecloth have helped me realize that things will never be perfect.

I’ve learned that going with the flow actually makes me a more gracious hostess!

Would you have felt comfortable calling your guests and pushing the dinner time back, if it gave you more time for you and your husband to connect?


Upside-Down Chip Cake
3 T butter
½ c. brown sugar
4 t. water
½ c. coconut
½ c. chopped pecans
Preheat over to 350. Melt the 3 T. butter in a 9x1 1/2 in. round baking pan. Stir in the 1/2 c. brown sugar and the water. Sprinkle coconut and pecans in the pan. Set aside.

Cake from scratch
1 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
½ c. milk
¼ c. butter
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
¾ c. mini semisweet chocolate chips
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, gran. sugar, cocoa powder, the 1/4 c. brown sugar, and the baking powder. Add milk, the 1/4 c. butter, the eggs, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. By hand, stir in 1/2 c. choc. chips. Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake feels firm in center when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack for 5 min. Loosen sides, invert onto a plate. Sprinkle remaining mini choc. chips over the topping. Let stand about 1/2 hour before slicing. Serve warm.


Karen’s fast, easy method
Instead of making the cake from scratch, use a box cake mix, making cupcakes with the leftover batter!

With Karen’s easy method, any flavor of cake mix would be very tasty!

Buy the cake mixes on sale and use what you have, right?

Read what Kelly has to say about the SPOT on her TABLECLOTH!

Nettie's Syrup - GIVEAWAY!

These are the best pancakes we’ve ever had!

My kids are not overly complimentary about food, unless they really love it! I guess they've been spoiled by their mama's cooking!

In other words, it had to taste pretty darn good to all 3, to be gushing over this new syrup that I served on their buttermilk pancakes this past week.

Not only did I double our family favorite Buttermilk Pancake recipe that morning, but our family got to try Nettie’s Vanilla Syrup on top!


Nettie’s Syrup history
I grew up in the country on a dairy farm and my mom often made her dishes from scratch. One of my favorites is this vanilla syrup.

When I got married I couldn’t imagine making any breakfast without it. Now my family can’t live without it on their pancakes. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine.

Be creative and try it with ice cream, coffee, or drizzled over sausage. Give the bottle a shake and enjoy! Lynette

3 bottle giveaway
Our family loves this light, vanilla-flavored syrup! So I can’t recommend it enough to all of my readers. In fact, we love this syrup so much - I’m giving 3 bottles away!

You can visit Lynette’s site to find the stores in your area that carry this product, here. OR, see if you can get this product brought in to your local grocery store! Your town will go crazy over it! OR, you can order directly from her website!

Comment to win
I’d love to hear your favorite food item you make with syrup, or serve with syrup! Either one.

Leave me a comment and 3 winners will be announced on Sunday!


Buttermilk Pancakes
4 cups buttermilk
4 eggs
1 ½ cubes butter melted (12 Tablespoons)
3 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking soda
(Large batch – you can cut in ½ if you choose to!)

Wisk ingredients – lumps are ok!


Cook on a hot skillet


Serve with Nettie’s Vanilla Syrup and eggs


I’ve learned to trust my kids when they say something is the BEST! And I’d have to agree on this product!

(Thank you Lynette, for being a contributing advertiser for Reluctant Entertainer.)

No-Flour Barney Butter Cookies - & Giveaway!

Last night I was intent on not burning my Barney Butter cookies!

I followed my family out into the garage, where my husband’s office is, to have a “family discussion.” It’s funny – our kids are going to grow up and reflect back on discussions we’ve had out in our 3rd car garage! Some – well, great! Interactions with good news, answers they want to hear, the positive stuff. And some – err – well, the kids would say they received too many “lectures” from their parents out there – cell phones were confiscated and restrictions were laid out – to their detriment!

It just seems to be a room, away from the house, where there are whiteboards plastered on 3 of the walls, and where we try to give our kids visual life lessons!

Last night’s talk was a positive one. No one was in trouble!

So, out the door I went. I told myself – 7 minutes, 7 minutes, 7 minutes. The cookies will be done in 7 minutes! Why do I think that I will remember these things!?


I’m always burning something
About 30 minutes later – burnt cookies!

I was so mad – because not only did I waste precious Barney Butter – I hate wasting my time! The kids informed me they like burnt cookies (go figure!) and in the morning, there were only 2 left!


What is Barney Butter?
It's just like peanut butter but better because it's made from almonds! My friend Jennifer is the master Barney Butter maker – I’m so impressed! (Check out Barney Butter recipes, here!)

What makes Barney Butter different?
With Barney Butter you get the same kind of peanut butter creaminess you grew up loving (or super-chunk if you like crunchy), only better with less than ½ the saturated fat of peanut butter, and more fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin E and magnesium than peanut butter. And that’s not all – Barney Butter is manufactured in an Almond Only Facility - no chance of cross contamination with peanut dust or peanut particles- which is a great solution for the peanut-allergic. Dieters and athletes love it. But everyone really eats it for the taste.

Barney Butter Giveaway – 3 winners will be picked!
Leave me a comment and tell me if you are a Peanut Butter or Almond Butter family? And what is your favorite way to eat it?

Make sure and leave a viable email address if you do not have a blog. Winners will be announced this coming Monday night.


My family LOVES apples and sandwiches and smoothies and cookies – with any kind of organic peanut or almond butter! But this is our new favorite! And look at the cool snack-sized packets (90 calories) that my kids have taken to school with them? I’ll be sticking some of these into the winners' packages as well!

Spread the word
S-P-R-E-A-D the word, and your name goes into the drawing twice! (Let me know if you post this giveaway on your blog). Also remember that you’re welcome to grab my button on my sidebar of my blog to use on your site! It’s as easy as copying and pasting the code into an html/java gadget on your blog! Click and paste!


No-Flour Barney Butter Cookies
1 cube butter
1 ½ cup sugar
1 ½ cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 16 oz. jar Creamy or Chunky Barney Butter (or peanut butter will work)
6 cups oatmeal
2 ½ tsp. baking soda
1-2 cups chocolate chips
Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl

Mix in the Barney Butter and baking soda


Slowly add oatmeal


Add in the chocolate chips


Roll and place on cookie sheet - flatten with a fork


Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, or until done


Oh, and how does hospitality play into this post? Besides our family devouring these wonderful treats, my neighbors were delivered these little plates, with the sample snacks. (We kept the burnt ones!)

When we make cookies in our home, it’s just what we do – we share!

EXCITING Blissful NEWS!
I am now a contributor for the Blissful Home channel of Blissful Domestic.


Would you take a minute and head on over to check out my “conversation room” post and leave me a comment? It's easy, and I would so appreciate your support!