September - High Hat Cupcakes

Let me begin by saying that this is really all about the frosting. It's 7 minute frosting, something I've never made but always wanted to try. So the goal is the frosting; make it and put it on whatever you'd like! I watched Martha Stewart make these and I've loved the idea. The last few weeks of the month should be fairly quiet around here, so I'm thinking I might attempt the entire recipe. Here's the link and you can even watch a video! Happy baking gals.

Watermelon Refreshment

When I first read Gal #1's July treat I was super excited! I LOVE watermelon, so summery and refreshing! It's not a great summer picnic without the sweet red fruit that is nice to your figure! So I went out and got all the ingredients right away, love that it was such a short list! And here we go with the recipe:

 Make sure your watermelon is SUPER ripe and ready to eat. Mine was just ok...this definitely affects the taste of the dessert because there are so few ingredients.

 Blended and ready to go! My blender did an excellent job and I just added the watermelon as I blended it to get 3 cups.

 Here at household #3 we don't drink a lot of cranberry juice so I got this tiny bottle of cranberry nectar to use instead. Because our sorbet didn't have enough flavor for us, I would suggest adding a different kind of juice to add more flavor. Acai or mango might do nicely to add more sweetness.

 Adding it together...

 And the first round of pouring and freezing! It looks so pretty in the pan I was very excited.

 It fit very gingerly in the freezer. I kind of forgot it for 4 hours instead of 2...not sure that would have affected the flavor all that much but we got it out just in time!

 Ready for beating!

Now its nice and creamy and ready to back in. I left it over night and had it with our dinner the next day. Overall it was refreshing and a great idea. The texture was too icy for Mr. #3 and for me I just wanted more richness and boldness of flavor!

 Keep looking Gal #1 for similar recipes. Loved the simplicity of it all just wish it tasted as good as I had imagined!!

Better late than never

I did the July treat, promise! (I was just a bit tardy.)

Step one: zesting and squeezing the limes. It took me about 3 of them.

This was the whipped butter and sugar with the addition of the lime zest and juice. Note: I was reading the directions very literally and only put in 1 Tbsp of lime juice here (it called for 2 Tbsp.). Oops! The dough was a bit dry, but I tried to infuse extra flavor by brushing the remaining lime juice on top of the cookies before baking.

Since I have an awesome kitchen scale and the recipe called for ounces of flour, I used it!

I also managed to find the special sugar at the commissary. For whatever reason, buying the packets was actually cheaper (only $0.89 for the box). But since you only use a single packet for the whole recipe, I might keep my eyes peeled for these little guys while dining out!

The finished product; ready for the fridge to chill for 3 hours!

 I mixed the zest, salt and sugar ahead and kept it in the fridge until I needed it.

Slicing my cookies. It didn't make quite as many as the recipe said it would, but my numbers came out even.

 When I mixed up the ice cream and sherbet I added extra lime juice as well.

The baked cookies cooling. They smelled so mouth watering while they baked! I think I would make these just to eat on their own as well.

The finished product! So pretty. I placed plates of the sandwiches in the freezer for a few hours to harden up, then each sandwich got placed in a fold top sandwich baggie (I just couldn't bring myself to individually cut and wrap...). I've still got a nice pile in the freezer. I really, really love them! Awesome recipe!

August - Mrs. #1 POV

This is my first year to watch "Food Network Star."  They talk alot about POV (point of view) .  It got me to wondering what my POV is.  I love Mrs. Barefoot...but her POV and my POV part ways at the pocketbook.  Barefoot is simple, elegant, delicious,  and expensive.  If I had to choose a POV, I think I would be a Midwest Contessa.  Simple, elegant, delicious and thrifty.  The recipe I chose for August reflects all of these characteristics with a little "borrowing" from Gal #3's frozen treats theme.  Enjoy!

Watermelon Sherbet

5 cups cubed, seeded watermelon
1/2 cup sugar (if you bought turbinado for July's recipe, you could use it here)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cranberry juice

(that's all the ingredients...loving it so far?)

1. Place watermelon cubes in a blender or food processor.  Cover and blend or process until smooth.  (You should have about 3 cups of pureed watermelon).  Stir in sugar
2. In a small saucepan combine the gelatin and cranberry juice.  Let mixture stand for 5 minutes.  Stir mixture over low heat until gelatin is dissolved.
3. Stir the gelatin mixture into the pureed melon.  Pour into an 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Cover and freeze about 2 hours or until firm.
4. Break up frozen sherbet and placed in a chilled mixer bowl.  Beat with a mixer on medium to high speed until sherbet is fluffy.  Return to pan.  Cover and freeze about 6 hours or until firm.
5. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping.  Makes 8 (1/2 cup) servings.

Here's an extra watermelon tip:

• Have leftover melon?  Cut the fruit into cubes, slide on 5 or 6 inch skewers, add a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of chili powder!  

Enjoy!

Margarita or cookie? Why not both!

July was a lot of fun...so much so that you will not see an actual sandwich picture here. They flew fast and with much satisfaction! They were super simple to make but had some tweaking I would definitely suggest for all future bakers out there!

 Let's start with the ingredients...very easy. The cookie was very easy to make and cooked quickly. I didn't see how long the dough had to sit in the fridge so I had already begun thawing the ice cream and sherbert! Don't do that until the very end. I think they would have been better with very little thawing time!

For shaping the logs, make them as flat as possible on the ends because this will really help when you are cutting them into discs. I got to the end of my dough and had to work at getting actually discs for the sandwiches.

Here they are ready to bake! They smelled divine! The combination of the sugars and lime was so yummy and gave the cookie wafer such a unique crunchy bite that you just want to keep putting in your mouth!

Here is a word about the sherbert/ice cream mixture: skip the ice cream. I thought it would have been perfect without the ice cream and had a more intense lime flavor. Also I would have kept the sherbert in the freezer until just ready to make the sandwiches. When thawed out slightly they get too liquid-like and made very flat sandwiches.

Overall though, YUM! We ate them up so quickly...good thing they weren't real margaritas!

Gal #1 Joins the Cool Party!

The Players

I love ice cream sandwiches. They are best when the outsides are crispy and the inside is rock solid.  I was looking forward to this variation.  My first tip: Turbinado Sugar plays a very small role in this recipe and is very expensive.  Don't tell Mr. #1 how little of this I used.  :)  Tip #2: Buy more than two limes.  I could have used more zest.(btw, I read a great tip for using up limes and lemons.  Slice thin, lay in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid.  After frozen, store in a ziplock bag and use them to add to cold beverages.  They add flavor and help keep the beverage cold!)

Mix

Mold & Measure

Slice & Dice (just slice, really)

Adding zest, sugar & salt

Mixing lime and vanilla!

First sandwich finished!

Ready for the Deep Freeze!

Son #1 gave this a "strong 7."  Great flavor, hard to eat were his comments.( The ice cream is rock solid as opposed to a firm custard.)  I would agree with the strong 7 rating.  When I make these again (oh yes I definitely will) I will add more lime and salt. I kept wanting stronger flavor.  I will also try using a better grade of lime sherbet. Lime flavor can taste dangerously close to clorox sometimes (just my opinion of course!)...I think a better name brand (as opposed to our store brand) might have been limier. (not a word)

I made this recipe over two days (I was going to explain this in the post, but working with my computer today has been the most difficult part of July's challenge!)  I made the cookie dough, shaped and refrigerated it one day, baked and compiled the sandwiches the next.

Lovely recipe!  Thanks Gal #3.  (BTW - no rating from Mr. #1.  He asks to be excused from sweets testing.  He says he misses the menus!!!)

Afterthoughts:  I had another sandwich today...and it's better than yesterday.  There's something about the lime, sugar and salt combo that make it impossible to stop eating.  I ate my first sandwich yesterday after a very heavy Italian meal of Bolognese and homemade garlic bread.  Today I ate my sandwich outside where the contrast of the hot sun and the icy cold treat was delightful.  I hereby up my rating to 8.5!

July: Join the Cool Party

Well as usual faithful Gal #2 did a great June- but some of us had a botched recipe--AKA we ran out of time or ideas and as discussed by the Gals we're editing mid-year. We need some guidance people! Find an idea, try it out, call mid-recipe saying "did yours smell like this?!" That was missing these past few months of our delicious dessert year so I am here to get things started. So back to desserts we go...with some guidance.

Ladies, let's face it...baking while its hot- who wants to do it? Pies, cakes and even cookies are just too hot to make! BUT...this treat is going to heat you up and cool you off. Combine sugar and salt, ice cream and cookies, whats not to love?

Introducing Margarita Ice Cream Sandwiches! These tasty treats sound delicious and look simple enough to make even on the hottest of summer days. So indulge yourselves with the everything summer treat and make sure you make enough to share!

Margarita Ice Cream Sandwich