Carribean splice ice-blocks

One of the delights of last summer was making ice-cream from scratch. Now I'm not going to share a recipe that you you need to churn for hours and hours (though that's totally worth it!) but this is a quick-fix recipe that you can pour into ice-tups for the kids or ice-cube trays for yourself - fabulous dunked in some cold fresh milk or pineapple juice.

What you'll need

150ml pineapple juice or crushed pineapple

400ml coconut cream

Juice of 1 large or 2 small limes

Ice block moulds (I've use Tupperware Ice Tups, I can seriously never have enough of these!)

Method:

In a jug, mix the juices, coconut cream together, give a good stir.

Pour into moulds

Freeze for at least 6-8 hours

It's really that easy!

You can find more step-by-step cooking from scratch posts and much more at my blog, Frills in the Hills - the fabulous life of our family of five - the fun, the food and the frugality.  Now also tragically on facebook and twitter...

A Confession & Fruitily Fruitful Hand Pies

I'm going to be straight up with you. There hasn't been much making-from-scratch the past two weeks. Remember how I had surgery two Fridays ago? That equals a whole lot of sitting around, not being allowed to do much of anything. Well, unless I want to get yelled at by my Mom/husband/mother in law. Who thankfully have been helping us with my son the Bear - he is included in the list of things I'm not allowed to lift.

Not only have I not been doing much, my camera broke this past weekend. I never realized how attached I am to my camera until I couldn't use it. My Mom came to the rescue yesterday though, and has allowed me to borrow her camera until I can either find one on eBay or figure out how to get mine fixed for an affordable cost.

This week Ok, last night, I was in a panic. What on earth was I going to post about for my MIFs post?!?!? I haven't done anything MIFs-worthy!! So I am going to share what I baked yesterday: hand pies. They're like sweet little calzones; a tidy handful of pie perfect for school or work lunches, quick snacks and even a dessert if you add a scoop of ice cream (or not!).

My husband goes crazy about these and he doesn't like desserts, as a general rule. Previously I'd only made apple, but have always wanted to try other fillings. They are essentially a pie, so whatever you might find delicious in a two-crust pie would work. Obviously fillings like lemon meringue or key lime wouldn't work well in this application but if you let your imagination run wild with fruit and fruit combinations, chocolate or heck, even a savory route would be totally yum (I'm thinking a beef n cheddar...).

I made three kinds yesterday: strawberry rhubarb, blueberry and apple. Just a few of each - I only made one batch of pâte brisée and out of that one batch made about twenty hand pies. I would have been able to make more but on the first go around I was unable to reroll the scraps...it was my mistake and I'm still kicking myself but anyway! Of course it all depends on the size of whatever you are using to cut out your hand pies. I was using a 3.5 inch Cut n Seal (Pampered Chef) that I found at the thrift store for a dollar.

There really isn't a recipe I can share with you - I was just tossing the fruit with sugar, cornstarch/flour, pinches of salt, gratings of fresh nutmeg and splashes of vanilla. For the strawberry rhubarb I added some strawberry gelatin powder to help the fruit set up nicely and not run as much (although they still ran terribly while baking!). Go with your instincts or loosely follow your favorite fruit pie recipes!

My favorite pâte brisée recipe is from Martha Stewart - it's quite rich with butter but comes out so flaky and tender it's worth the extra calories.

What would you put in a hand pie??

I usually blog at Gotta Little Space and Suitable For Consumption, come say hi!

Fast Mini Memorial Day Desserts!

I hope your enjoying a safe, dry and warm Memorial Day weekend!

We are NOT! It’s safe but it’s not warm or dry!

Saturday started beautifully with sunshine and an unusually warm humid 93 degree day. During our peak July summer time heat, we barely read 90 so this was VERY unusual!

We took full advantage of the day driving into the great city of Grand Forks for some fine Chinese dining (I say ‘fine’ because we only have one sit down restaurant which isn’t really great!), grocery shopping (you’ll be glad to know I saved 50% on our grocery bill w/coupons and in-store sales!), then back home for an afternoon of graduation parties!

First we saw it! Off in the distance, low dark gnarly looking clouds slowly, VERY slowly moving our way. The humidity is through the roof but it’s still gorgeous and 93.

Then we heard it! The low grumble of an angry storm!

Then we felt it! A SUDDEN drop in temperature along with some high winds. Just like that, the humidity disappeared and the rains came!

Along with lightening, thunder, intermittent satellite signals and sporadic power flickers. Graduation parties were over…ironically except for the die hard adult party goers!

Today I awoke to lots of standing water in the backyard and a high of 63 degrees but thankfully nothing else worse for the wear. Friends of ours to the east were drenched with thunder and lightening storms coupled with golf ball sized hail! HAIL! Thankfully we had no tornadoes in the area! (BTW, tornadoes are EXTREMELY uncommon in this part of the Midwest!) They’re talking more rain tonight but hopefully it will sweep around us.

I think the bad weather rained on my culinary mojo too!

We’re attending a BBQ later today and was asked to bring a side dish or dessert plus any alcoholic beverages we’d planned to drink. I had planned on taking a mini dessert of some sort. Something easy to eat while you walk around socializing or chasing kids. Suddenly, my mind went blank! I reached out to my new friends at the Momdot Forum for some inspiration and those ladies quickly came through.

I’m altering my original Cheaty Cheesecake recipe making mini version with a pie pastry instead of graham cracker crust. I also plan to make an American version of the Sopapilla. I’m shortcutting the process a bit by using store bought pie dough and puff pastry but it’s a holiday so forgive me! ;)

Sopapillas are really easy and I’m simply putting a twist on Pepperidge Farm’s recipe. Cut sheets of thawed puff pastry into 2” squares and bake according to package directions till golden. Toss warm pastries with a cinnamon-sugar mixture in a paper bag till thoroughly coated. Instead of honey. I’ll drizzle simple icing made with powdered sugar and milk and topped with a sliced strawberry!

Mini Cheaty Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

• pie dough
• 1 (8 ounce) brick of cream cheese softened
• 1 cup of whipped cream plus another cup reserved
• 1 package of instant pudding (either vanilla or lemon flavored)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp of lemon extract
• fresh berries for topping 

Directions

Make mini pie shells. Cut pie pastry into circle large enough to fit inside a muffin tin without any excess sticking out of the top. Score with a fork so it doesn’t bubble while it bakes. Bake at 350 till golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Prepare your filling while mini pie shells are cooking and cooling. Whisk sugar and pudding mix and blend well with softened cream cheese and lemon extract! Fold in 1 cup of whipped cream. Spoon into completely cooled mini pie shells. Top with whole or sliced berries and garnish with a sprig of mint.

*Click to view my original Cheaty Cheesecake Recipe pictured above.

Jenn is a southern girl raising her family with her husband in NW Minnesota. Living on one income doesn’t mean we have to live without! Find coupons, freebies, recipes, parenting strategies, homemaking tips, product reviews, and giveaways at her blog, Frugal Front Porch.

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day,desserts,recipes,cooking,pie

Cool Semi-Homemade Summer Treats – Just in Time for Memorial Day!

Can you tell the difference between these two?

Both have rich vanilla ice cream. Both use a yummy sugar cone. Both have a delicious hard chocolate shell. Both are coated in crunchy peanuts.

Price for the one on the right is $8.73 for 16 at Sam’s.

Price for the one on the left…pennies on the dollar.

Why? The one on the left is homemade! This month’s edition of Food Network’s Magazine features a selection of semi-homemade ice cream truck style recipes. These types of treats can add up…quickly…especially if you purchase them in singles from the ice cream truck, convenience store, or concession stand. Making my own, even a semi-homemade version, will take the crunch out of my wallet this summer.

Start with store bought ice cream, sherbet, or frozen yogurt (or if your really adventurous, make you own). Allow it to soften slightly to make scooping and molding easier. Place a malted milk ball in the bottom of each chilled cone. This helps prevent drippage during consumption! Using store boughtor homemade hard shell chocolate syrup, coat the inside of chilled sugar cones. Allow chocolate to set. Scoop ice cream into each cone. Dip the top in the hard shell syrup and roll in chopped nuts. Place cones in chilled glasses on a baking sheet inside the freezer to allow ice cream to harden, approximately 2 hours. Once ice cream has completely set, place cones in a freezer bag for an ice cream truck style treat anytime!

The Food Network Magazine’s version of the Ice Cream Sundae Cones recipe includes a make it yourself hard shell chocolate sauce I’d like to try for even more savings on our frozen treats.

I also liked their idea about making marbled orange cream popsicles. They used orange sherbet but any flavor will work, vanilla ice cream,  basic cookie cutters, parchment paper and popsicle sticks. I have a popsicle mold that will make this process much easier. Allow the ice cream to soften, then place alternate small scoops of ice cream/sherbet flavors into your mold. After several scoops, use a spoon or spatula to press the ice cream mixture down into the mold/cookie cutter. Add more alternating scoops of ice cream and press down again until the mold is full and smooth. With a popsicle mold, simply add the stick or top and pop back into the freezer till firm.

The cookie cutter method is a bit different and a bit more involved but produces a variety of shapes that’s certain to be a hit at your Memorial Day party. Cover the cookie cutter filled with ice cream with plastic wrap and freeze for an hour. Then remove the cookie cutter, insert your popsicle stick, smooth the ice cream if necessary then place on a secondary chilled baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pop it back into the freezer until completely frozen. I’ll stick with my ice cream molds since they wolf them down faster than I can make them!

Here are some links to other ice cream recipe ideas:

• Strawberry Shortcake Parfait Pops (Food Network)
• Mini Mud Pie Towers (IceCream.com)
• Sushi Surprise (IceCream.com & YES, it’s an ice cream treat presented Sushi style!)
• Ice Cream Truffles (IceCream.com)
• Chocolate Ice Crispy Pie Sundae (Hershey’s Kitchen)
• Ice Cream Taco’s (Hershey’s Kitchen)

I plan to experiment with pureed fruit, fruit juices along some of these tempting ideas. What is your favorite frozen treat?

Jenn is a SAHM with three kids of her own plus two step kids with her fabulous husband. She writes about her transition from 30 years of big city life in Tennessee to small town living in Northwestern Minnesota. Find recipes, home keeping tips, craft ideas, family strategies, plus giveaways and product reviews that help keep her budget in balance.

Payday Candy Bar Cookie Bars

So awhile back a post popped up in my Google Reader about these candy bars that are a rarity even in the country of their origination - the US of A. They're called Payday. Have you heard of them? Or even tried one?

Anyway, the post was a recipe for making a cookie bar type version of the candy bar. It looked delicious; studded with peanuts, chewy from marshmallows and a simple yellow cake base. Easy enough. I bookmarked it to make 'eventually' and promptly forgot about it. That actually happens to me a lot - how about you?

When Papa Bear, the Bear and I went to Trader Joes earlier this month, we stopped at a WalMart on our way home because I had a few free product coupons I wanted to use that were only good in the States. While standing in the checkout line, I spotted it - a Payday candy bar! For just a dollar, I added it to my basket.

Papa Bear had apparently not only heard of them - but has tried them before, so he let me rip the package open and have the first bite. Yep, it's a pretty good candy bar. When we got home, I printed out the cookie bar recipe and made it just a few days ago.

Honestly? These are really good. Almost too good. And they actually do have the flavor and texture of the Payday candy bar. Impressive! Give 'em a whirl:

Payday Cookie Bars
Framed via The Lonely Baker
Makes one 9x13 pan

1 box yellow cake mix
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 bag peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup corn syrup (I substitute golden syrup)
2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups salted peanuts

Mix the cake mix, butter and egg; press into a slightly greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden. Sprinkle marshmallows over top of crust. Bake for another 5 minutes.

Melt chips, butter, rice cereal and corn syrup in a saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in cereal and peanuts. Pour over base and spread evenly. Cool, cut into squares.

I blog regularly at Gotta Little Space - come say hi!