Apple pie and ice cream by Brooke

 Hi everyone it’s brooke!! so yesterday after dinner i really wanted apple pie and ice cream but we didn’t have any pie. so i decided to make my own apple pie filling/ cobbler to put with ice cream! it was sooooo simple! all i did was cut up an apple into strips and coated them in a brown sugar and cinnamon sugar mixture and put them in a baking dish and cooked them in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes! and then i let them chill for another 15 minutes and then i put them in a bowl with ice cream on top!! hope you try this and enjoy it as much as i did

Loaded Brownies

 Here's a quick follow up to yesterday's 'loaded cream cheese brownie' post - I liked the topping idea of these brownies so much I made them again 2 days later but skipped the cream cheese layer and just frosted baked brownies with chocolate frosting and then piled on the toppings. I should probably call these 'lazy girl loaded brownies' because they are SO easy and yet look great. 

Once again I used a triple chocolate Ghirardelli's brownie mix, baked according to the package directions. Once cool frost with chocolate buttercream (or whatever flavor you like). 

Side note: I make fantastic buttercream frosting from scratch but I was in a hurry and bought a can of frosting at the grocery store (see, I wasn't lying when I said these are lazy girl brownies hahah!!). My sis gave me the tip a long time ago to whip store-bought frosting with a hand mixture for a few seconds and it gives it a way better consistency, and because even tho I'm lazy I still want things to taste as good as possible so I did take the few extra minutes to fluff up the canned frosting LOL. 

After the brownies are frosted, add whatever toppings you can think of - I really don't think you can go wrong here. Any mixture of chocolate chips, broken cookies, sprinkles, m&m's, reeses, chopped rolos, or broken pretzels are going to be delicious - and it looks amazing. Yes maybe a little amazingly crazy, but whatever - I think they look great. 

I did the same for serving as yesterday's brownie post (and still didn't take a photo!), cut in small bite-sized squares and put each one in a cupcake/muffin liner cup. Spreading brownie love not Covid. 

Loaded Cream Cheese Brownies

I made these for Halloween with an orange cream cheese layer (based on a recipe found here) but you could use any color you want or even just leave it white and they'll still be pretty! Love this idea, my only concern is how long they took to bake - recipe says 43-45 but it look much longer. I lost track of how long I left them in but I'd say 55 minutes and even then they looked extremely underdone. As they cooled they did set up a bit more, and if you like your brownies to be on the fudgey side you'll probably find these the perfect texture. The inspiration recipe used broken oreos and chocolate chips on top, I added more things including snow caps, mini oreos, thin chocolate wafer cookies, white chips, orange m&m's, candy eyes, and halloween sprinkles. 

Side note - did you know you can bake oreos on top of brownies? I would have said no, but it worked. What didn't work were the white chips and candy eyes, they turned brown after being in the oven so long - but there was so much going on on top of my brownies you didn't even realize the white chips were no longer white! To serve, in our Covid pandemic world, I cut them in very small bite sized pieces, about 1" squares, and put each one in a small cupcake liner. That way it made for individual single-sized portions and no one touched any other brownie except their own. I also added fresh candy eyes for presentation and a few more sprinkles to fill in any holes. I didn't take a picture of the presentation, use your imagination - bite sized brownies in individual cupcake/muffin liner cups looks just like it sounds :) 

I used a brownie mix (I like Ghirardelli's triple chocolate, but any box that makes an 8x8" pan will work), adding the ingredients called for on the box. Pour it into a foiled lined and sprayed with non-stick baking spray 8"x8" pan. 

For the cream cheese layer: 

• 8 oz. brick style cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar

Mix together with an electric mixture for 2 minutes. Add food coloring of your choice (optional, you could just leave it white) for this orange the recipe called for 10 drops yellow and 5 drops red but that wasn't near enough to get it bright orange. I stopped counting drops and just kept adding a mixture of yellow and red to get the desired color. Use your judgement. 

Add the cream cheese topping in big spoonfuls on top of the brownie dough, carefully spread it to about 1/2" of the edge. Add all the crazy toppings you want and bake in a 350' oven for 43-45 minutes or until set. Note it's hard to tell when the brownie layer is done since there's melty chips and the cream cheese layer to stick a tester thru. Mine were clearly underdone at the 45 minute mark without even having to test. Just keep an eye on them, maybe you'll have better luck with them being done around 45 minutes. 

Here's what it looked like when out of the oven - see how the white chips turned brown? Tasted fine and there's so much shizzle going on no one could even tell.

Tip-sy Tuesday: cast iron pan info

Yesterday I showed you how to make pizza in a cast iron skillet - the most delicious pizza by the way - so thought I'd share a couple tips to use and care for this (previously scary to me) pan:

The pan my mom bought me has already been 'seasoned' - honestly that was the intimidating part of owning a cast iron pan that made me never want one. It seemed like so much work, and that was before you could even use the pan! But having it pre-seasoned means it's good to go right off the bat, and the more I use it the better it will get.

Heat the dry skillet on medium heat for a couple minutes before adding a small amount of canola oil, then heat the oil until it shimmers and sizzles when you put a drop of water in the hot pan. If it sizzles you know it's ready to add ingredients. 

It's recommended to only use canola oil, my sister said she used vegetable oil once and didn't have the same results as canola - it seemed greasier to her. So stick with canola if you can.

Wash the pan with water, you can use a little soap but that might remove the seasoning; so far plain water has done it for me. Use a rubber scrapper or a brush meant for cast iron (not steel wool) if you have any bits stuck to the pan, I let water sit in the skillet for a couple minutes while doing other dishes but don't soak it too long or immersed in a sink of water - you don't want it to rust. You can rub in a little oil after the pan is clean, then buff it off. Dry it thoroughly before storing - moisture is not good for cast iron, the lady at the store told me she puts paper towel under and over her pans to help keep them dry while being stored (once again, they tend to rust if left wet too long).

I bought a fitted pot holder that slips over the skillet handle so it's a little easier to remove it from a hot oven or handle while on the stovetop. 

That's all I know so far - I'm going to experiment with other recipes for sure now that I know how much I like this new pan...I'll keep you posted!

Cast Iron Pizza

My mom bought me a 12" cast iron pan for my birthday, nice right? Except cast iron pans have always intimidated me and I've never wanted one hahaha!! But between my sister gushing about how fantastic her cast iron blackened salmon is, and my mom gushing about how her cast iron pizza tastes just like take-out pizza, I slowly warmed to the idea of owning a scary pan. (Although still secretly wondering if I could find a place to store said scary pan when I never use it LOL.) Cue this first attempt at making pizza and call me a convert!

I can't remember exactly how mom said she makes her pizza, but I do remember her wise advise to 'just google it, there's tons of recipes' so that's what I did. And read quite a few different ways to go about it, so I then did what I tend to do - yep, I winged it.

Preheat oven super hot - recipes say 500-550' but that scared me so I chickened out and turned it to 475'. 

Have the dough shaped and ready to go (I used store-bought, mom makes her own dough), I used the kind in the tube which makes a rectangle shaped crust so I just stretched it into a rough circle. Also have whatever toppings you are going to use on standby - I did pizza sauce, pepperoni, canned (drained) mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. 

Put the skillet on the stovetop over medium heat for a couple minutes, then add some canola oil and let it heat up. Turn off the burner and carefully add the crust, pat it down and press out the best you can without burning yourself (use a spoon if you want). Add the toppings. The heat of the cast iron should get a good crust on the bottom, lift it up a bit to check and if it's still doughy on the bottom turn on the burner for just a minute or two to get it a little golden brown. 

Transfer skillet to oven and bake pizza until crust is golden brown around the edges and cheese is browned and bubbling, about 10-14 minutes. Carefully remove from oven (remember the handle will be hot too!). 

I didn't take lots of pictures since I didn't really know what I was doing, but you guys - this is fantastic and I hope you'll get that intimidating cast iron pan out of the basement and give this a try! Thanks again mom for the pan (I've made blackened salmon twice now and we love it too, so at least I have 2 great things to make with this pan!). 

🔥Around the Campfire (week 46)

 Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at camp in case you missed anything:

Posts ~

11/8: 🔥week 45

11/9: troll costume

11/10: tip-sy tuesday: storage wrap tip

11/11: chessman banana pudding

11/12: pine nut pilaf

11/13: Brooke's coin jar

11/14: picked red onions

What's Cooking ~

rigatoni with homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs, sausage, boiled eggs (thanks Al and Cathy!)

marinated pork tenderloin, rice pilaf, roasted carrots 

stuffed salmon, roasted broccoli

grilled thin cut chicken breast, low carb noodles ("carba-nada"), caesar salad

bbq ribs, coleslaw

chicken enchilada suizas

Very short recap today - been busy working in the basement so didn't have much extra time for any miscellaneous stuff. Hope you had a great week, stop back often to see more fun projects, recipes, and whatever else I can think of (or get other people to do for me) to make! Bye!

Sincerely,

Jill

camp counselor

Pickled Red Onions

While on my pickling kick (along with cucumbers and green beans) I decided I'd like to try pickled red onions - very easy to do and I love them! You can add to sandwiches, chop up in chicken or tuna salad, put on salads or tacos, or just eat straight out of the jar hahahaha. Since I've never done it, and because Dave will not eat them, I didn't want to make too many jars for my first time - I found a small batch recipe and just made 2 small 8 ounce jars of them and I'm wishing I would have made more! Who cares if I have to eat them all by myself - I'm up for that challenge ;)

I changed the recipe a bit so am just going to tell you what I did:

• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 T. pickling salt
• 1 T. pickling spices (you can omit this, or add peppercorns or other spices)

                           

Follow standard canning methods, there is tons of info online for how to can - here's a couple basic things to know: 

*you want the jars sterilized and hot, either by running them in the dishwasher before starting to can (leave them in the hot dishwasher after the load has stopped so they stay warm) or immerse them in a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. I do this right in my big canning pot since you'll also need a hot water bath for processing the jars. 

*put the canning lids into a small saucepan with water and bring up to almost a boil. Turn off and leave covered so they are hot when time to seal the filled jars. 

*have a funnel, ladle, and a wet paper towel handy for filling the jars. 

1. Dissolve the vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.

2. Add the onions and pickling spices or other spices if you're using to the saucepan and simmer on low for 5 minutes uncovered. Remove from heat. 

3. Using clean tongs, pack the onions into each jar. Add the spices from the pan if you're using.

4. Using a ladle, fill the space around the onions with the pickling brine, leaving about 1/2 inch head space.

5. Wipe the rim with a wet paper towel so it's clean, then add a lid from the hot water in the small saucepan. Screw in place with a ring.

6. Process for 10 minutes submerged in the large pot of hot water, make sure there's about an inch of water over top of the jars. Remove carefully with long tongs and set on the counter or a rack to cool - you'll know the jars have sealed when you hear my favorite canning sound, it's sort of a 'ping' or a popping sound. Cool completely.

Store for up to 1 year, once opened store in the fridge for up to a month. 

Coin Jar by Brooke

Hey guys! Today I was counting my coins in my big glass jar. And I thought it was so ugly and boring. So I decided to dress it up a little bit!! All I used was paper, hot glue, and glitter!! The first thing I did was pick out my paper and cut it to my Desired size to be a little bit lower than half on the jar. Then I put hot glue on the end and glued it to the jar. Then I went around the jar with the glue following it with the paper so I could get it as even as possible. Then I let that dry. After it dried I took the hot glue gun and used it around the top of the paper. After I did that I poured glitter on that glue on the top. Then I let it dry again! Then once it was fully dry I poured all my coins back in it and now it’s so pretty! This was so easy and it looks 10x cuter than it did!

Pine nut Pilaf

This recipe is on the inside cover of a pine nut clamshell container from great lakes international trading co (click here), I had all the ingredients on hand so made it as a side with grilled pork chops last night and it is great! I shouldn't be surprised since they bothered to put it on the cover hahaha, but I was surprised none-the-less. Pinenuts are expensive but sooooo worth it in this recipe - click here to see how to toast pine nuts to bring out even more fragrant nutty flavor. 

Apricot Pinenut Rice

 

Print

Author: Jill Wilkes

Ingredients

• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 cup Long Grain or Basmati Rice
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 14oz can Chicken Broth
• ¼ cup Water
• ½ cup Great Lakes’ Dried Apricots, diced
• ⅓ cup Great Lakes’ Pinenuts, toasted
• 1 Tablespoon Basil
• ½ teaspoon ground Cumin
• pepper

Instructions

1. Cook onion in olive oil over low heat.
2. Add rice, salt, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to simmer for 15 to 18 minutes (until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed).
3. Add apricots, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the pinenuts, basil and cumin.
5. Pepper to taste and serve.

note: I omitted the onion and it still has great flavor, and I used dried basil. Yum. 

Chessman Banana Pudding Dessert

Cat brought this dessert to a cookout a while ago and it's so pretty and such a good idea I knew I wanted to share it; I've been sitting on it though because I wanted to ask her more questions but I haven't been able to connect with her so I'm going to share what I know, and if there's questions we'll wing it together ;)

Basically she replaced the vanilla wafers traditionally used in banana cream desserts with chessman cookies (they come in a bag, I think they're Pepperidge Farms? Hold on, I'm going to google to verify...yep, Pepperidge Farms. And while I was googling I found a bunch of recipes for this online, here's one that looks good from Paula Dean titled 'not yo mama's banana pudding' - I don't know if that's the recipe Cat followed but this way we aren't having to guess). Put down a layer of chessman cookies in thee bottom of your dish, top with bananas and whatever filling you like for banana cream pudding, then top with more cookies. Isn't it pretty? 

Here's Paula's recipe ~

Ingredients:

• 1 (12-oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
• 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk 
• 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups milk 
• 1 (5-oz) box instant French vanilla pudding mix 
• 6 to 8 bananas, sliced
• 2 bags chessmen cookies 

Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended.

 Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.