Can you say... melted?

This is the box of chocolates my mom sent me for my birthday. The Texas heat didn't cooperate with her plan. I love chocolate... what girl doesn't? We did not waste them though... we stuck them in the refrig and have been enjoying them the best way we can. Notice that the caramel did not melt. Hmmm... interesting!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a very nice day today on my birthday. I wanted to post on my birthday to have the timestamp July 14. Call me crazy!

My mom sent me a package in the mail. One of the items was a box of chocolates. I love chocolate, but the Texas heat melted the chocolates in the box! I took a picture of the chocolates when we opened the box. I will post the picture later!

We went to P.F. Changs for dinner. Let's just say... yum.

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm drifting away from recipe's today even though as I write my post, I am waiting for my homemade loaf of bread and rolls to rise before baking them in the oven. I hope the bread turns out half as yummy as the bread my mom makes!

I made a baby quilt this week for our new next door neighbors. They are having their baby on Monday, July 6. Her bedroom has some of the colors that I put in the quilt, so I hope everyone loves the quilt as much as I do! Here are a couple of pictures. It measures around 38" square.

Remington... the horse of course!

I would like to introduce you to Remington, the very tall horse owned by a dear friend of mine, Cheryl Davis. This Friday, June 5, Remington will be measured for the Guiness World Record for the tallest horse. Take a look at Remington's very own blog. Remington and Cheryl were featured in the Dallas Morning News Tuesday, June 3. Read the article here. Leave a comment on Remington's blog since he loves to read what everyone says about him!!

Corn on the Cob... Susan style :-)

Last night I wanted to make some sweet corn on our gas grill, but we were having our house roofed and I looked out on the patio and realized that grilling was a bad idea last night. So... since I had already prepared the corn to cook, I improvised by cooking it in the house on the stove top! Here is the recipe...

5 ears of sweet corn, shucked and rinsed clean

Juice of two limes

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

I used a large square pan and placed the corn in the pan, poured the lime juice over the corn, poured some olive oil on the corn and then sprinkled the corn with kosher salt. That's it! Then I put my flat non-stick pan on the burner, turned it up to medium high. Once I put the ears of corn in the pan, I turned the burner down to medium. Then I placed a lid on the corn -- my lid was smaller than the pan, so it just sort of sat on top of the ears of corn, but it helped keep some of the heat in. I turned the corn several times over the 10-15 minutes that I cooked them.

Seriously, that was some good corn and this is coming from a girl that was born and raised in Iowa... corn country!!

Woolworth's Cheesecake

Some of you may be too young to remember Woolworth's, but many years ago, Woolworth's was the place you went to get your drug and beauty supplies. I don't remember it as well as others would, but I think we would also buy fabrics and notions there.

A friend shared this recipe with me many years ago. Seems that when she was a little girl, every Saturday her dad would go to Woolworth's and sit at the counter and enjoy a piece of this very light and fluffy cheesecake and a cup of coffee while his wife and daughter shopped the store. He always asked the waitress for the recipe, but she never shared it with him until she retired many years later.

Thankfully, we have that recipe and you should try it! It calls for Milnot, which is in a can and used to be found near the evaporated milk. I do not know if they make it any more, but if not, Carnation evaporated milk works also!

1 small package lemon Jell-0

1 cup boiling water
3 T lemon juice

1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese
1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 can Milnot (well chilled and whipped)
1 lb graham crackers (one box)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs and add the melted butter. Mix together and press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into a 9 x 13” cake pan. Dissolve Jell-o in boiling water, add lemon juice and cool. Cream together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Add the Jell-0 and mix well. Fold the whipped Milnot into the Jell-o mixture and then pour over graham cracker crumbs. Sprinkle remainder of crumbs on top before chilling. Chill overnight.

Quiche

This recipe is so easy -- specially if you purchase either a frozen ready-made pie crust or a Pillsbury pie crust!

Bacon and Egg Quiche
I used a Pillsbury pie crust in my favorite ceramic pie plate that my mom gave me a long time ago!

On top of the pie crust, add the following ingredients:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4-5 slices of pre-cooked bacon ,chopped
1 green onion top, chopped

In a separate bowl, mix together:
4-5 eggs
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour into pie plate (on top of the cheese, bacon, and onion)

Bake in 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Variations:
Substitute the bacon with chopped deli turkey or ham. Add mushrooms or broccoli. Use swiss cheese with ham. There are so many variations that can be done with this simple basic recipe!

Susan's Homemade Brownies

The picture does not do these brownies justice,
I am not a great photographer,
so take my word for it, they are delicious!

If you love chocolate, you are going to love these yummy brownies!

In a double boiler melt:
Two sticks unsalted butter
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares

In a mixing bowl, mix together the following ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoons instant coffee powder (optional)
1 Tablespoons real vanilla extract
1 1/8 cups sugar

Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/coffee/vanilla/sugar mixture and stir till well blended.

Add the following ingredients and mix well:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the following and then add it to the batter:
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups diced walnut pieces (optional)

Either grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch cake pan, or my favorite way is to line the pan with parchment paper. If you use the parchment paper, when the brownies are cool, you just lift them out and cut them – much easier than scraping them out of the pan!

Pour the batter into the pan and bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well, and cut into squares.

My new blog!

I recently decided that I wanted to join the world of bloggers! When thinking about blogging, I wanted to do something easy and fun and not too difficult! I love to cook and have so many recipes that I wanted to share with everyone.

Enjoy my recipes and if you have any questions, comments, or requests, please contact me!