This Recipe is GRAPE!!

How many of you love the grape salad at Chicken Salad Chick?  It is SO good!!!  I finally found a recipe that’s the closest I have ever tasted!  The hubby liked it so much, he said he’d like to have it with dinner every night!  

Grape Salad with Brown Sugar & Pecans

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups seedless red grapes

2 cups seedless green grapes

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1.  In a large mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth and creamy.

2.  Gently fold in the pecans, red and green grapes until they are fully coated with the creamy mixture.

3. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

4. Scoop into a bowl and enjoy this creamy, delicious, sweet delight!

Cherry Salad

The kids and their spouse or significant other and the grands are coming for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow afternoon.  Who's the most excited?  The grands?  The kids?  The spouse or significant other?  Nope!  ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I get so excited when we are all together!!!  We are having Chicken Crescents, corn, lima beans, cherry salad, gluten free sausage balls, and a chocolate trifle.  And maybe some chocolate chips cookies!  Then after we eat, we get our stockings and OPEN PRESENTS!!!!!  I can't wait to see if everybody likes what they get this year.  We have a big mess of paper to clean up and new things to play with.  SO.  MUCH.  FUN!!!!  My favorite part is the stockings.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because everybody gets excited over little things as much as the big.  

So what recipe am I sharing?  The Cherry Salad!  If you use gluten free marshmallows, you can include this in the gluten free category.  Notice the size of the bowl because it makes A LOT!

Cherry Salad

1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

1 can cherry pie filling

1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained

2 ½ cups of miniature marshmallows

1 16 oz. Cool Whip

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Blend cream cheese and sugar.  Add Cool Whip and mix well.  Sir in pie filling, pineapple, and miniature marshmallows.  Stir in sweetened condensed milk.  Cover and chill.  Best if made the night before. 

 

That's Just Peachy!

ONE, yes one, of my favorite (and easy) desserts is peach cobbler.  Especially when you can top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum.  This is one dish I made for Thanksgiving.  This year Thanksgiving was at my daughter's house.  Everything was delicious and the conversation was outstanding.  Gathering family together is always a good time.

Peach Cobbler

1 stick of butter, melted

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of milk

1 cup of self-rising flour

1 ½  tsp. cinnamon

1  29 oz. of canned sliced peaches.

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a 9x13 baking dish.  Add peaches with juice.  I like to cut the peach slices in half.  Mix well and sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Crust forms by itself.

Apple of My Eye

A co-worker told me how she added baked apples in her yogurt to make a healthy, fulfilling snack.  So I decided to try it and it was delicious!  I have started baking apples, mashing them up, and putting them in CarbMaster Vanilla yogurt (Kroger brand) for breakfast.  To make it a little more filling, I add in about two tablespoons of Kashi cereal.  I can mix it up before I go to bed so the morning isn't slowed down by making breakfast.  Plus, it's one less thing to think about before my brain starts to function.  Hubby tried it and he liked it too!  I bet this will become one of your favorites!!

Baked Apples

4 apples

½ cup of water

Cinnamon to taste

2 – 3 tsp brown sugar

Spray butter

Chopped pecans, if desired

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam.  Peel and core apples.  Slice in half and place flat side of apple up.  Spray each apple half with 2 squirts of spray butter and sprinkle desired amount of cinnamon on top followed by a ½ tsp or so of brown sugar.  Top with pecans, if desired.  Pour a ½ cup of water into the bottom of the baking dish.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

For breakfast or a snack, mash one of the apple halves, add in 1 container of vanilla yogurt, and 2 tablespoons of Kashi. Stir well and enjoy.

I'm in a Pickle and It's So GOOD!

When I was a kid, my mother would serve pickled peaches at dinner sometimes.  They were so good!  I bought a jar from the grocery store a number of years back, but they tasted terrible!  A couple of weeks ago, a friend brought me a jar of pickled peaches using the recipe her mother-in-law used.  I had an instant flashback to family dinners when I was young.  In my mind, I could see all of us sitting around the kitchen table having Sunday dinner.  The peaches were amazing!  I ate half the jar in one sitting!  I begged her for the recipe and she shared it with me.  She gave me permission to share it with you!  Her name is Jackie and she has started her own business called Cricket's Cupcakes & Sweets in Lawrenceville, Ga.  If you ever need cupcakes or some other dessert, you need to call Jackie.  Everything she makes is delicious!  She has some major skills!  She's also on Facebook, so check out her page and like it!  I'm so lucky to have her as a friend!




Pickled Peaches

4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
3 whole cloves or 1 tsp. ground cloves or 3 drops of doTERRA Clove essential oil
3 cinnamon sticks
5-6 large peaches or 10-12 medium sized peaches
3 qt sized sterilized jars

Peel and slice the peaches to the desired size. Pack the peaches in the jars.  Boil all the remaining ingredients (no peaches) with the spices for at least 5 minutes to form a syrup.  Pour the hot syrup (pickling liquid) over the packed peaches in the sterilized jars.  If you have left over syrup. you can process them as well in the hot bath.  Don't throw away the spices. Pack them with the peaches in the jars.

HOT BATH:

Sterilize your jars first. Pack the peaches in the sterilized jars and pour the hot pickling liquid in the jars of peaches. Close and clean the rims with wet cloth. I put water in a stock pot and place a steamer basket in the bottom to lift the jars off the pot.  I also removed the stem from the basket.  Cover the jars with water.  Bring the water to a boil with the jars in the pot. Boil for 15 minutes for small jars (1 pt) and 25 minutes for large (1qt) jars.

                        

Apple-licious Birthday!

My grandson turned 6 years old this past weekend.  I can't believe 6 years have already passed since I held that sweet little bundle in my arms and vowed to love him forever.  My heart melted that day and has been mushy ever since.  He is the sweetest, kindest boy on Earth.  I was kidding around with him this weekend and said, "Jake, I didn't bring you a present."  He perked right up and said with the most sincere expression on his face and said, "That's O.K!"  I LOVE THAT BOY SO MUCH!!!!!  Then when he opened our present, he was SO excited!  He has become interested in Ninja Turtles.  When he saw that he got a Ninja Turtle shell he could wear, a Raphael mask, and Raphael's weapons that actually fit in his shell, he was over the moon excited.  It made me feel good all over to see him so happy!  Being his grandmother is such a joy and such a blessing!

His other grandmother made baked apples and brought them for part of dinner.  I had not had baked apples in years.  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  They were SO good!  I made them as part of my dinner tonight.  They are so easy and delicious, I have to share her recipe.

Baked Apples

Apples
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
Butter or margarine

Wash, core, and slice apples - I sliced each apple into 6 - 8 pieces.  I sprayed the baking dish with butter and put the apples into the dish.  I sprinkled cinnamon over the apple slices.  Use the amount that makes you happy.  I like cinnamon a lot, so I sprinkled it freely on the apples.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the apples.  I probably used a couple of tablespoons.  Next, slice up 1-2 tablespoons of butter and place on the apples.  Mix the apple mixture up and cover the dish with foil.  Bake at 400  degrees for 20 minutes.

The leftovers.  This will be part of my lunch tomorrow!

Say No To Canned Cranberry Sauce!

I know that most people open a can of cranberry  sauce and put it on the table at Thanksgiving.  So did we until a few years ago.  Once an acquaintance gave me this recipe, those days were over.  This is so much better than your typical cranberry sauce.  It makes enough for 2 bowls so you can put a bowl at each end of your serving area.  Make it the day before you need it so it will have time to set and the flavors to blend.  I'm not sure it would freeze well, but you won't have to worry about that once your guests taste it.  There won't be enough left to freeze.  I have been known to eat it without any other food after Thanksgiving.  Yummmmmm!

Cranberry Relish

1 1/2 c. water
1 pkg raw cranberries
1 c. sugar
1 small pkg cherry jello
1 small can of crushed pineapple, well drained
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled & finely chopped
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine water and cranberries in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Mash the cranberries with a potato masher.  Add sugar and jello. Stir. Remove from heat and let mixture partially cool. Add drained pineapple, apple, and nuts. Stir.  Pour into a dish and chill. 

Summer Cooking

Boy, is it ever hot this summer!  Of course, every summer in Georgia is hot.  It wouldn't be summer without numerous days in the upper 90's / low 100's and huge power bills to show for it.  You just can't stand to heat up the kitchen when it gets this hot!  So, what's the solution?  I mean, besides eating out.  You could use the microwave, cook in the mornings when it's cooler, or make recipes that don't require cooking.  Some recipes need to be made in advance for the flavors to blend.  One of the recipes I'm sharing with you today is from my friend Debbie.  She shared this with me a few years ago after I made a pig of myself eating it at a grade level gathering.  This recipe is SO yummy!  Thank you Debbie for giving me this recipe.  I know all of you will enjoy it too!  I'm also including a few other recipes you will like.

Fruit Salad

1 can pineapple tidbits - drain & save juice
1 large can of mandarin oranges - drain & save juice

2 medium Granny Smith apples - peeled and cubed                      

2 Tb. lemon juice

2 Tb. cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

Other fruits you can add:

sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, bananas

Combine pineapple, oranges, and apples in a bowl (or any other fruit you want to add, except bananas and strawberries).  You can use any kind of apple you like.  I prefer Granny Smith for this recipe.

 In a small pot mix pineapple, orange, and lemon juice. Add sugar and cornstarch. Stir and heat until the mixture thickens. Set it aside to cool.  You can put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process.  Once it cools, pour it over the fruit and chill. 

If you choose to add bananas or strawberries, wait to add until it's time to serve.