Seize The Moment

Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
~Erma Bombeck

Everything Coconut. Coconut Pancakes;-)

I was reading a fantasy book the other day and the hero ordered coconut pancakes. I had never imagined such a thing, but since I’m a coconut fanatic I decided to find a recipe. Warning! You don’t want to have these every day, they are not low calorie. I used pineapple syrup to top them off, they are pretty great. If you’re one of those coconut haters this meal is not for you. However, it just goes to show that books can become reality.

Coconut Pancakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: SERVES 2-3

Ingredients:•
1 can good-quality coconut milk (14 oz./398-400 ml)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Oil or melted butter
• 1 tsp. coconut flavoring
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• PAM
Mix the coconut milk, shredded coconut, eggs, Oil, and coconut flavoring together, set aside.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together and add dry ingredients. These pancakes need to be cooked on a pre-heated pan at a medium low setting. I use PAM to prevent sticking.

Pineapple Syrup•

1 20 OZ can crushed pineapple
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 and ½ Tablespoons corn starch
In a small sauce pan, add sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch to crushed pineapple, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Ball

This is a sweet spin on the traditional cheese ball. I took it to a New Year's Eve party and it was a huge hit. My friend called me the next day told me she would bring over the ingredients if I would make another one.

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 T brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 - 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup crushed Heath bars (or finely chopped nuts if you prefer)
1 box graham crackers

1. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the sugars and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

2. Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball. Wrap with plastic, and chill for an hour or more.

3. Roll the cheese ball in the crushed Heath bars (or nuts) before serving. Serve with graham crackers. ENJOY!

Note: Do not use low-fat products or the cheese ball will not harden sufficiently.

This picture is actually the second cheese ball that I made. Kassidy was trying to "help" me and held it in the car on the way over and it got pretty mushed and out of shape---it looks a lot prettier in real life--I promise :-)

Tobi's Quiche

In general I'm not a fan of eggs. They just don't appeal to me. But happily at one point in my life someone forced me to try Quiche. One happy explosion of deliciousness in my mouth and I was hooked.

Here is my favorite way to prepare Quiche.

Ingredients

• 1 Frozen Pie Crust
• 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed, well drained on paper towel or you can use fresh
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
•  2 to 3 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Layer ham, cheese, broccoli and onion in the frozen crust pan. In medium bowl, beat eggs and milk with fork. Stir in black pepper and salt. Pour over broccoli, cheese, ham and onions.
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. 

And of course you can put just about anything you want in a Quiche. Because even though I don't love eggs. I must admit they are quite versatile.

Sinfully Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie

We made this for Thanksgiving dinner this year and it was amazingly easy and so delicious!

12 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 T Vanilla
1 (9-inch) Prepared Chocolate Cookie Crumb Crust (or make your own using 1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs and 1/4 cup melted butter)

1. In microwave dish combine chocolate chips and 1/2 of the cream. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Stir in sugar & vanilla. Set aside.

2. In small bowl, beat the rest of the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in chocolate mixture on high speed 1/3 at a time. mix well and spoon into crust.

3. Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls if desired.

Enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

I made these cookies for the Volunteer Dinner at my library and everybody loved them.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze


Cookies:
2 1/2 Cups of flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used low fat)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest from one lemon

with a mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until well mixed. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix thoroughly and add dry ingredients. Spoon the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges. Let the cookies cool and frost with glaze.


Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
zest from one lemon

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, stir until smooth. frost each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon glaze,

Pumpkin Recipes

As soon as the height of the summer heat passes and the days turn cooler, I start craving pumpkin foods! Here are some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.


Pumpkin Pancakes


2 cups flour
2 T sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs--separated
1/4 cup melted butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine milk, egg yolks, vanilla, butter and pumpkin puree. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour onto hot, oiled griddle about 1/3 cup at a time. Cook until tops bubble and turn and cook other side. (Note: sometimes I don't bother to separate the eggs and the pancakes still turn out great!)

These taste great with syrup, but my kids favorite way to eat them is to sprinkle mini chocolate chips on the warm pancakes, let them melt a little bit and then top with a dollop of whip cream. YUM!


Pumpkin Dump
(It tastes better than the name sounds, I promise! It is kind of like a pumpkin cobbler.)




1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves)
1/2 tsp salt1 pkg cake mix (I like vanilla, but the original recipe calls for yellow or spice)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices. Stir in the milk, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Sprinkle cake mix over the pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle on the pecans. Drizzle melted butter over all. Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool.

4. Serve with whip cream, refrigerate leftovers.

I have found that when I drizzle the butter, I sometimes get areas of dry cake mix in the end result, so what I do is take the butter (cold) and slice it thinly and cover the cake mix with the thin slices. It takes a little longer, but I think it is worth it.



Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
(OK, so technically this isn't a pumpkin recipe, but it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, so I am including it anyway)

1 40 oz can sweet potatoes
¼ cup orange juice
¾ cup all –purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place sweet potatoes in a 8x8 inch shallow baking dish and pour orange juice over.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt; mix well and then cut in margarine. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with marshmallows and broil until browned.

Even people who are not sweet potato fans love this recipe (how could they not---let's face it, by the time you add all the extra stuff on top, they can hardly be considered a vegetable!) If you have extra time, I think it tastes better to use "real" sweet potatoes rather than canned. Just peel and slice 2.5 lbs of sweet potatoes, then boil until soft.