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Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category

Cherry Bars

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Cookies, Desserts, Pie, Valentine's Day, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Cherry Bars plated

If your sweetheart is a cherry fan (or dessert lover in general) these bars are easy to make and taste so good, especially warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Make your sweetie smile and make up a batch for Valentine’s Day.

Cast of cherry bar characters

Cast of cherry bar characters

Cream butter and sugar then add eggs, extracts and mix. Blend in dry ingredients.

Cream butter and sugar then add eggs, extracts and mix. Blend in dry ingredients.

Grease pan and spoon half the dough into the bottom.

Grease pan and spoon half the dough into the bottom.

Spoon in cherries.

Spoon in cherries.

Spread them out to every corner.

Spread them out to every corner.

Top with remaining dough by dropping on top. Don't try to spread. You want blobs and globs.

Top with remaining dough by dropping on top. Don’t try to spread. You want blobs and globs.

While the bars are baking, mix your glaze. Add milk, almond and vanilla extract to powdered sugar.

While the bars are baking, mix your glaze. Add milk, almond and vanilla extract to powdered sugar.

cherry bars glaze

Then when the bars and done and still hot, pour glaze over the top.

Then when the bars and done and still hot, pour glaze over the top.

And try not to eat the whole pan before you can share with the one who makes your heart pitter-patter.

And try not to eat the whole pan before you can share with the one who makes your heart pitter-patter.

Cherry Bars

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. slat

1 (21-oz.) can cherry pie filling

Glaze

1 cup powered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan. (You can double the recipe and bake in a large 15 x 10 baking pan).

Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and mix. Add extracts and blend then stir in dry ingredients.

Spoon half the dough into the baking pan, pressing down lightly. It will be sticky.

Pour pie filling over the dough and spread out.

Drop remaining dough by the spoonful on top of filling.

Bake for 40 minutes, until top is golden brown. Drizzle with the glaze and serve warm. A scoop of vanilla ice cream makes it even better.

To make the glaze – combine sugar with extracts and milk. It should be very thin and pourable and smell deliciously of almond.

She Who Made Her Sweetheart Happy with These Bars

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National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Posted in Musings, tagged , , on January 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

bubble wrapI’m pretty sure you can find a “National Day” for just about anything.

Seriously.

I say that because today is National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

So in honor of this auspicious occasion, go pop some bubble wrap. At the very least, it will make you smile.

She Who Needs to Go Find Some Bubble Wrap

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Banana Cream Pie

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Pie, Recipes, tagged , , , on January 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

banana pie plated

Yesterday was National Pie Day.

On Facebook, I asked the question “What’s your favorite pie?” and got so many yummy responses, I had to make a pie.

Captain Cavedweller loves banana cream pie, so I decided to make one for him (and I may have eaten a piece, too).

This recipe has a few steps to it, but it is easy to make.

 

Ingredients

Ingredients

Melt butter and stir in graham cracker crumbs.

Melt butter and stir in graham cracker crumbs.

Press into a pie pan and bake at 375 for about eight minutes.

Press into a pie pan and bake at 375 for about eight minutes. (Be prepared for your family to wander into the kitchen looking for cookies because the crust does create a warm cookie-like aroma as it bakes.)

Whip two cups of heavy cream with a little vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Set aside.

Whip two cups of heavy cream with a little vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Set aside.

Blend pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

Blend pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

Whip cream cheese until fluffy.

Whip cream cheese until fluffy.

Then mix in sweetened condensed milk and pudding.

Then mix in sweetened condensed milk and pudding.

Gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

Gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

 

Spread a thin layer of filling in the cooled pie crust.

Spread a thin layer of filling in the cooled pie crust.

Top with sliced bananas. (If you want more bananas, cut them into chunks and double the amount.)

Top with sliced bananas. (If you want more bananas, cut them into chunks and double the amount.)

Add remaining filling.

Add remaining filling.

Then top with the remaining whipped cream. Chill for at least an hour. Overnight would be even better.

Then top with the remaining whipped cream. Chill for at least an hour. Overnight would be even better.

And enjoy! We may have cut into this one before it was quite ready, but it was really tasty!

And enjoy! We may have cut into this one before it was quite ready, but it was really tasty!

Banana Cream Pie

For the Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

4 Tbsp. melted butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the Filling:

2 cups heavy cream, whipped

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3.4oz box instant banana cream pudding

1 cup cold milk

8 oz. cream cheese

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 ripe bananas, sliced

toasted coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the graham crackers with sugar and cinnamon then blend with the melted butter. When the crumbs are moist and you can pinch them together, they are well blended. If they still seem a little dry, add a dash of water. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. (I cheated and melted the butter in the pie pan then mixed the crumbs with the butter directly in the pan. One less dish to wash and the pan doesn’t lose any of the butter in transfer.) Bake the crust for approximately 8 minutes then cool completely.

Using a mixer, whip the cream with sugar and vanilla until peaks form. Set aside.

Mix the pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy then add the pudding and sweetened condensed milk, scraping the bowl and beating until smooth. Using a spatula or spoon, gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

In the cooled crust, spread a thin layer of the filling. Top with banana slices. If you like more banana, cut into chunks rather than slices and use three or four, instead of two. Spoon in the rest of the filling then top with the remaining whipped cream.

Carefully cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour (overnight is even better).

To serve, decorate the top with toasted coconut and banana chunks (or a drizzle of caramel or chocolate).

She Who Had a Very Happy Husband When He Tasted This Pie

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Things I Learned in the Last Month

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Musings, tagged , , on January 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Cup Of Hot Chocolate With A Double Chocolate Muffin

In the past month, I’ve learned several things.

Some of them I knew and chose to forget or ignore. Others were bits of new wisdom that trickled into my hard head.

In no particular order, here are the highlights:

1. Even though I think things need to be done a certain way, if they are done a different way, they still turn out just fine.

2. Everything does not have to meet my idea of “perfect” to still be absolutely wonderful. Captain Cavedweller and I spent a couple weeks fighting horrible chest colds right around Christmas. There were so many things I normally do in preparation of the holiday that just didn’t happen because I was just too sick to do them. And you know what? CC told me he had a great Christmas and couldn’t remember when we’d had one that was more relaxed and nice.

3. Saving things for “some special day” isn’t a good thing. CC has given me so many lovely things over the years. Many things I tuck away to “save” for something special. I don’t get any enjoyment out of them when they are tucked in the back of a drawer or cupboard. In fact, I’ve forgotten I even have a few things until I go on a cleaning spree and find them, lingering in the dark recesses of ignored space. Not only that, but CC has no idea if I love a particular item when he never sees me using it. This revelation came about from a candle. Years ago, there was a holiday candle fragrance I absolutely loved and the company quit making it. I bought the few remaining jar candles I could find. When I had only half of one candle left, I stuck it in the back of a cupboard and decided to save it for some “special” holiday occasion. While I was digging through my candles one day before Christmas I found it and decided to finally burn it. The thing is, after sitting all that time, the candle had largely lost the scent that I’d loved so much. Ironic, isn’t it? I decided right then and there to stop waiting for a special day to arrive and to instead treat each day like it’s special. Because it is.

4. Just because things don’t work out according to how I had planned, doesn’t mean we still can’t enjoy the experience. If I let go of my preconceived idea of how something should be and live in the moment, I get a lot more fun and enjoyment out of the experience.

5. I really need to work on getting out of my own way (and out of my own head), especially when it comes to my writing.

6. Gas station hot chocolate, when carefully and thoughtfully mixed with flavored creamers and who knows what else by CC, is really, really good.

7. I have the best husband ever. But wait, I already knew that one.

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