Recipes

[RespectLife]

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@ChiliPepper wrote:

I made a version of this last week. I added a splash of lime juice, you could use lemon too but I had a lime.

I did cut the sugar some because I don't like things overly sweet. 

I did mine in a small Crock Pot.

Very YUM on a plain bagel.

I added some crushed red peppers to a couple spoonfuls & made a sweet/hot glaze for some kielbasa.

Pineapple Jam

Bright and sunny. Sweet and tart. This easy jam is full of pineapple bits and takes only 20 minutes to make.

Cook time: 20 minutes 

Total time: 20 minutes 

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple , with juice
• 3/4 cup white sugar

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, bring the pineapple and sugar to a boil.
• Boil for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the jam is thickened.
• Pour into a clean 8 oz jar.

Nutrition

Serving: 12 Servings | Calories: 60kcal

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@ChiliPepper 

This is super easy!

It doesn't even call for a box of that Sure-Gel!

I wonder if it would work for any fruit?

Strawberries maybe?

[RespectLife]

@ChiliPepper 

BTW- I have a mini crock pot coming any day now!!

[ChiliPepper]

[ChiliPepper]

 

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CHIP DAY

On May 15, we recognize a morsel of a thing on National Chocolate Chip Day! This tiny piece of chocolate makes a big impact to any recipe you add it to! 

 

Have you ever wondered how a single ingredient would change a recipe? If it weren't for one curious baker, it would be hard to imagine where we would be without the invention of chocolate chips.

In 1937, Ruth Graves Wakefield of Whitman Massachusetts must have been curious about what a little bit of chocolate would add to her cookies. While working at the Toll House Inn, she added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestle chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. The cookies were a huge success and in 1939 Wakefield signed an agreement with Nestle to add her recipe to the chocolate bar’s packaging. In exchange for the recipe, Wakefield received a lifetime supply of chocolate. The Nestle brand Toll House cookies were named for the Inn.

Nestle initially included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, too. Starting in 1941, Nestle and other competitors started selling the chocolate in chip or morsel form. For the first time, bakers began making chocolate chip cookies without chopping up the chocolate bar first. 

Chocolate chips originally came in semi-sweet. Later, chocolate producers began offering bittersweet, semi-sweet, mint, white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white and dark swirled. Today, chips also come in a variety of other flavors that bakers and candy makers use creatively in their kitchens.

While cookies may be the first treat to come to mind, imagination is really the only thing limiting how chocolate chips can be used in baking and candy making. Even savory dishes feature chocolate chips in a variety of ways, too. Had Ruth Graves Wakefield never wondered what a few chopped up chunks of chocolate would be like in her baking, we wouldn't even have chocolate chip cookies.  

[ChiliPepper]

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

Get your cheesecake fix with this sweet, creamy, easy to make dip! This no-bake dessert has all the classic flavors of cheesecake yet it's taken to a whole new level with the addition of fresh fruit, cookies and savory pretzels for dipping.

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Servings: 8

Equipment:

Hand mixer

Ingredients: 

• 1 8 oz cream cheese - 1 block at room temperature
• 1 stick butter - room temperature
• ¾ cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Dippers

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and halved
• 1 cup mini pretzels
• 1 sleeve graham crackers
• waffle cones - broken into pieces

Instructions:

• Using a hand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt and mix until blended. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate chips. 
• Place dip in a serving bowl on a serving tray. Add fruit, cookies and pretzels around bowl. Serve!
• Dip can be stored in a covered container in fridge until ready to serve.

Notes: 

Nutritional values provided are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used.

 

Nutrition:

Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 409IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg

[ChiliPepper]

[ChiliPepper]

NATIONAL VANILLA PUDDING DAY

We recognize National Vanilla Pudding Day on May 22 and use it as an excuse to enjoy a delicious dish of cold, creamy vanilla pudding.

 

The puddings we enjoy as desserts today are not what was commonly known as pudding at ancient dinner tables. Most medieval puddings were meat-based and seasoned with herbs and spices. Even sweetened cooks usually served them hot. Toward the end of the 18th century, people more than likely made puddings from grains or day-old bread with nuts, fruit, or meats. They used these puddings to stretch meals for a large family.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but spouses who are chemists are the inventors. When you are Alfred Bird and your wife is allergic to eggs, that is very true. In 1837, Bird invented an egg-free custard powder using flavored cornstarch. The creamy pudding we are more familiar with today is related to the custard, minus the eggs.

My-T-Fine produced the earliest packaged pudding in the United States in 1918. This and other puddings like them still required cooking on the stove. The instant version came along in the mid-1940s.  On its own or as an ingredient in a larger recipe, pudding can be enjoyed in various flavors.

HOW TO OBSERVE VANILLA PUDDING DAY

You can celebrate by enjoying vanilla pudding on its own or making another dessert. A few suggestions include:

1. Layer fresh fruit and pound cake to make a trifle.
2. Poke holes in a cake and pour the pudding over the top to make a poke cake.
3. Use vanilla pudding to make a parfait.
4. Make a pudding pie.
5. What are your favorite ways to use vanilla pudding? Share your recipes using #VanillaPuddingDay to post on social media.

[ChiliPepper]

Homemade Vanilla Pudding

I love pudding and this homemade pudding with vanilla is a rich and delectable dessert. There is no substitute for the butter!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk

• ½ cup white sugar

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form at the edges.

2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a small bowl.

3. Add sugar, cornstarch, and salt mixture to hot milk, a little at a time, stirring until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

4. Remove saucepan from heat, and stir in vanilla and butter.

5. Spoon pudding evenly into 5 serving dishes. For best results, chill pudding in the refrigerator before serving.

Nutrition Facts:

Per serving:

            Calories167

Total Fat 4g

Saturated Fat 3g

Cholesterol 14mg

Sodium 173mg

Total Carbohydrate 29g

Total Sugars 25g

Protein 3g

Vitamin C 0mg

Calcium 115mg

Iron 0mg

Potassium 149mg

[RespectLife]

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@ChiliPepper wrote:

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

Get your cheesecake fix with this sweet, creamy, easy to make dip! This no-bake dessert has all the classic flavors of cheesecake yet it's taken to a whole new level with the addition of fresh fruit, cookies and savory pretzels for dipping.

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Servings: 8

Equipment:

Hand mixer

Ingredients: 

• 1 8 oz cream cheese - 1 block at room temperature
• 1 stick butter - room temperature
• ¾ cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Dippers

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and halved
• 1 cup mini pretzels
• 1 sleeve graham crackers
• waffle cones - broken into pieces

Instructions:

• Using a hand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt and mix until blended. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate chips. 
• Place dip in a serving bowl on a serving tray. Add fruit, cookies and pretzels around bowl. Serve!
• Dip can be stored in a covered container in fridge until ready to serve.

Notes: 

Nutritional values provided are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used.

 

Nutrition:

Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 409IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg

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@ChiliPepper 

This would be a big hit at gatherings!

Thanks!

[RespectLife]

@ChiliPepper 

That vanilla pudding is a great, easy recipe!

Thanks!

I can picture it in a Boston Cream Pie  (which is really a Cake, IMHO)