Georgia on my mind

For most of last week Mrblocko has been in Atlanta. This post is to taunt him with the tasty treats he missed while he was away.

Below is a photo of Betty Crocker "twice the blueberry" muffins and Oatmeal raisin cookies.

Yeah, I know that some people consider box muffin mixes to be sacrilege, but to that I say a resounding "Plbbbbt." They were quick, easy, moist and full of blueberry goodness. I realize some of you may be thinking blueberry goodness? Mrsblocko doesn't like blueberries. The fact of the matter is I only ever like blueberries in muffin form. OK, scratch that, I also like the chocolate covered blueberries from David and Harry's. That's beside the point.

The oatmeal raisin cookies were cracktacular as usual. It's hard to tell they are oatmeal raisin because I used golden raisins. I find the golden raisins don't get hard as a rock from baking like the purple-y black run of the mill raisins. These cookies spread out more than they usually do and in writing this post I've figured out why. I made Quaker vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies. The problem was that the recipe under the lid of oatmeal calls for 2 sticks of butter and a cup of brown sugar vs. the 1/2 c plus 6 T butter and 3/4 c brown sugar listed on the link above. I think the recipe on the Quaker website is the one I prefer and I followed the recipe on the lid. Mental note: do not follow recipe on the lid of the oatmeal container if you don't want a lace-y cookie. I also think the cookie needs more raisins. Probably a heaping cup would be a good place to start.

Moving right along... I present to you Roasted garlic, poblano and red pepper guacamole.

I do not like peppers, red or any other kind. To me, they have this bitter stinky taste that sits in the back of my mouth that I can't seem to get rid of with toothpaste or mouthwash. Having said that, this guacamole was a big risk cooking wise. I had hoped the peppers would sweeten upon roasting like garlic does. Guess what? They did! Hooray! Will I make this recipe again? Sweet sassy molassy you bet I will. It's definately not a quick whip me up recipe, so it's going to be a special occasion sort of thing. When I make this again I'll use 2 avacados, more lime and garlic. I think a bit of chopped roma tomato would be a good addition too. I think adding tomato makes it more of a salsa than a guacamole, but I don't think there is any shame in that!

Quaker Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (The good recipe)
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer til creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 min til light golden brown. Cool 1 min on sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.


Roasted garlic, poblano and red pepper guacamole from Ezra Pound Cake
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium poblano pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ripe peeled avocado, seeded and coarsely mashed

Preheat oven to 450F. Wrap garlic cloves in foil. Bake 15 min til soft. Let cool lightly; remove skins. Place garlic in a medium bowl; mash with a fork. Preheat broiler. Cut peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 min til blackened, turning frequently. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 min. Peel and finely chop. Add peppers, onions, and next 4 ingredients (through avocado) to mashed garlic; stir well.

STORING: Press plastic wrap against surface of guacamole to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown.

Ask and ye shall receive...

Mrs Thunder left a comment on my Strawberry Cheese Pie post requesting sugar free strawberry drinks. Here ya go girly! I haven't tested any of these so let me know if you've tried them and liked them! I hope they were what you were looking for.

omit the alcohol on these 2:
Sugar Free strawberry daiquiri
Guilt free strawberry margarita

Could make it extra fruity by adding frozen strawberries:
sugar free koolaid slushy

The sugar in this recipe could easily be replaced with substitute:
strawberry watermelon slushy

The ingredients for this recipe are on the left side at the top of the page. For some reason I had a hard time locating it:
monster blood slushie

Use diet soda:
strawberry cherry fizz slushy

You could easily make this into a frozen drink by adding frozen strawberries/ice:
strawberry lemonade

Strawberry Cheese Pie

Sunday we went to visit Mrblocko's best friend and his family for lunch. They have a little boy who is about 9 months younger than the Blockette, so you can imagine the shenanigans had by those 2 little monsters, I mean children.

I asked if there was anything we could bring and they said dessert. Well, that wasn't specific enough for me, so I weaseled out of them that they wanted something strawberry. OK. Want to know what I didn't have any dessert recipes for? Yeah. Interweb to the rescue! I found this recipe for Strawberry Cheese Pie by doing a search for strawberry on Food gawker.

Here is how my version turned out.


Perty ain't it? If only it looked like this when I served it.
Problem #1: I had to put the strawberries on the night before. Since we were going over to our friends' house for lunch we had to leave right after church. There was no other time to do it.
Problem#2: We had a 45 min or so drive to their house. I tried to keep it as chilled as possible with ice packs, but apparently that wasn't enough.
Problem #3:I think their fridge was on the warm side. With the long drive and the humidity I don't think the cheesecake-y part had enough time to set back up to firm.
Even though the strawberries started to get juicy, and the resulting liquid made the already soft cheesecake-y middle separate, it still tasted like strawberry cheesecake. That was the important part I guess. At least it didn't taste like curdled slimy goo.

Next time I make a dessert like this I think freezing it before a long car ride would be the best course of action.
As for the recipe itself, it was very easy to follow. The only thing I changed was instead of a pre-made crust I made my own from here: graham cracker crust . There is a tip in the crust recipe that says if you don't want the crust to stick to the pan, chill the crust for 1 hour. Since the pan went into the oven cold, it took over 30 min for the filling to set properly. I was freaking out about this at the time, thinking the pie would never solidify and the crust would burn in the process. Thank goodness that didn't happen or I might have turned into curdled slimy goo myself.


Graham Cracker Pie Crust from What's Cooking America
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs or 10 to 12 whole graham crackers*
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375F.In small saucepan or microwave, melt the butter. In a medium bowl or a food processor, combine graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter; blend until the texture of coarse meal.

Press into a 9 or 10" pie pan. Try to make the crust about 1/8" evenly all around. If the crumb mix won't stick where pressed them, add another T water. Even crumbs up and make sure there are no gaps or holes. NOTE: If you chill the crust for an hour before you bake it, this will help prevent crumbling when you want to serve it.
Bake 8-10 min. Remove from oven and let cool before filling.

Strawberry Cheese Pie from My Kitchen Snippets
1 9" inch graham cracker pie shell (store bought)
8 oz. low fat cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup of slice strawberry (for filling)
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbs. lemon juice
2 to 4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced (for decoration)
1/4 cup strawberry Jam + 2 tbsp of hot water

In a food processor add cream cheese, eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Blend for a few seconds til smooth. Turn off machine and add in the strawberries for the filling. Mix well and pour into the pie shell. Bake at 350F for 15-20 min. Cool and refrigerate. Place slice strawberries completely over pie top or around the edges, depending on the amount of strawberries you’re using. Heat up the strawberry jam in the microwave until soft and brush tops of berries until thoroughly glazed. Serve cold.

Anheuser Busch Banned in this house

Over memorial day I saw what I thought was a really cool rebate. Here is the wording from the rebate: Michelob: Save $6 via mail in rebate on your purchase of one (1) 6 pack of Michelob Ultra Lime Cactus, Ultra Tuscan Orange Grapefruit, Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry or Ultra Amber and one (1) Michelob Ultra 12 pack or larger, cans or bottles.

See I was thrown by the wording. I saw the "Or" and missed the "and".

I got something in the mail saying I was denied the rebate because I didn't have the correct upc codes. I would have to resubmit the entire thing according to the rules on the rebate but how can I do that when I don't have my original recipt? It's not like I can go out and repurchase the items because part of the rebate was that it had to be bought over memorial weekend.

Yeah, mea culpa for not reading carefully, but there is no way I can get any sort of rebate now and I called Anheuser Busch and there is nothing they can do for me. I'm in a really bad mood today so I am holding a grudge and boycotting. It's no skin off my nose since I only use beer for cooking. It's Mrblocko who will be bearing the brunt of my grudge. It's not like Anheuser Busch is the only fish in the sea when it comes to beer though so don't feel too sorry for him.

I don't back down when I get pissed at a company. Trust me, I've been boycotting McDonald's since 2001. The only time I've been there since 2001 was to poop in their toilet and not flush. Oh, and I drove my car through the drive through so MrsThunder could get some fries. It was the only food place close and I didn't want her to go into a diabetic coma or anything.

So Booooo! Hiss! To Anheuser Busch! I know I'm only a drop in the bucket but it's the only constructive thing I can think of to do, well the only legal constructive thing I can think of anyway.

Choc chip oatmeal and the sweatshop revisited

I went over to Mrs Thunder's house again today to help her make more anklets. I was in a baking mood last night so I brought Crunchy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. These are a crispy cookies, which Mrs Thunder prefers. In the Blocko house we are of the chewy cookie persuasion. MrBlocko grumbled a bit that they were crispy, but I caught him trying to take 4 cookies with him to work this morning.

I think Cookie Madness was on the right track using dark chocolate chips. Next time I make these I'll use dark chips and pecans. I omitted the nuts because I couldn't remember if Mrs Thunder liked them or not. I do know she thinks dark chocolate is double plus ungood. I didn't think it would be very nice if I went to a friends house and said, "Here you go, here are some cookies that you will hate. Watch me eat them. Neener neener." Although...it might be kinda fun. Muhahahaha!


Crunchy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cookie Madness
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups quick-cooking oats
12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream shortening and sugars in bowl til light and fluffy, using electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Blend in vanilla. Gradually stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in oats, chocolate and nuts. Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls or shape into 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart, on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake in 350F oven 12-15 min til golden brown. Remove from baking sheets; cool on racks. Makes 6 dozen.

Cream Cheese Fondue

This weekend I offered to help my friend Mrs Thunder of Wednesday Night Accessories make some jewlery. She is going to be a vendor at the Port Washington Pirate Festival in WI June 5-7. This is her first big show and I am super excited for her! I went crazy on making ankle bells. I think I may be getting the beading bug again. (I blame Mrs Thunder because she always has the coolest beads.) I had so much fun I would definately help out again.

Anyhow, she made us Cream Cheese Fondue for lunch. It was delicious! I don't know where she found it but here is the same recipe, 3rd from the bottom. Not only was this tasty, but unlike most fondues, it won't turn into a gloppy mess. If you have leftovers you can just add a little more cream and reheat, or, I am told, straight out of the fridge, it makes a tasty bagel spread.

Herb and Cream Cheese Fondue from Great Party Recipes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped, or 1/2 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped, or 1/2 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped, or 1/2 tablespoon dried
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 to 1 1/2 cups light cream

In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, sauté garlic in olive oil, just til tender. Add cream cheese, and continue cooking on low , stirring, til cheese is smooth and melted. Gradually stir in cream, a little at a time, til mix reaches right consistency for dipping. (It thickens as it cools.) Add parsley, oregano and basil, and continue cooking 2-3 min to let the herb flavors blend. Transfer to a warm ceramic fondue pot. Serve with cooked, shelled shrimp, tortellini and crusty French bread, cubed. Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, but you will need to add more cream before serving; as it thickens when chilled. Shrimp and scallops cook quickly and dry easily when overcooked, however, so it's best to prepare them shortly before serving this fondue recipe. Serves 6.

Choc Chip Ice Cream Bowls

I made these a while ago, but I always get so excited about eating them that I don't remember to take a pic until I'm done eating. You'd be able to see a bigger contrast between the bowl and the ice cream if someone hadn't eaten all of the chocolate ice cream. Shame on whoever did that!

This is my new favorite way to eat ice cream, esp when it comes to Blockette. She is such a slow eater that most of her ice cream ends up as soup at the bottom of her bowl. With the cookie bowl, all the juices get soaked up by the cookie. It's like dessert for your dessert!

The recipe was easy to put together, but the dough was beastly. I followed the recommended time for chilling the dough, 2 hrs. I don't think a longer chill time would have helped. Once I began to roll the dough out it warmed up very quickly, and stuck to the wax paper. I had to stick the scraps in the freezer before rolling the dough out a 2ND time. I mistakenly put the dough I had already cut out on the inverted muffin pan while I fought with cutting out the remaining dough. Since it took so long to cut all of the dough out, the dough on the muffin pan sort of oozed down which created a few holes in the cups. I had thought I patched them all before baking, but I wound up missing a few.

Next time I will place the cut pieces between wax paper and place them in the freezer until all of the dough has been cut. I will also roll them a bit thicker than suggested. 1/8 of an inch seemed too thin. Then again, I got 12 cookies vs. the 10 the recipe says it makes.

I tested a cookie cup, plain with no ice cream in it and thought, on their own, they were nothing special. I'm used to all butter cookies and I could really taste the shortening. I think an easy fix for this is to use butter flavored shortening. I would not substitute the shortening for butter. I think an all butter cookie bowl would be too chewy. It would get too soggy and fall apart before you finished your ice cream.

Here's the recipe:
Ice Cream Cookie bowls From Gourmet Mom on the Go
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. miniature chocolate chips

Beat shortening, butter, and sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and vanilla. Add baking powder, salt, and flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide dough in half, shape each half into a flat disk and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough at least 2 hrs in the fridge. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Turn two 12-cup muffin tins bottom side up and cover 10 of the cups with aluminum foil (5 on each pan--leave every other cup empty so there's some space between them). Spray the foil with nonstick spray.

Unwrap 1 disk of dough, place it between 2 sheets of wax paper and roll it out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch circles of dough and place each one over a cup bottom, smoothing out any cracks. Repeat with the other disk, re-rolling and reusing any scraps. Bake the cookie cups for 10-12 min til light brown. Let the cool for 10 min then remove the foil and cookies from muffin pan. Peel off foil and let cups cool completely. Fill with ice cream or your favorite dessert and enjoy!