Posted in Desserts, Pie, Recipes, tagged Father's Day, Pie Recipes, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield on June 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
With Father’s Day this coming Sunday, I thought I’d share a few recipes my good ol’ dad enjoys!
He always said he only likes two kinds of pie – hot or cold! So here are a few pie recipes. Make one for your dad or hubby and see if it doesn’t make them smile!
and you need a good recipe for pie crust…
Happy Father’s Day!
Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, tagged Bar cookie recipes, Blackberry Bars, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield on June 8, 2012| 1 Comment »
I needed to make something sweet and wonderful for a group of people who’ll be gathering at my house tonight.
So I found a recipe on Pinterest that sparked my interest, gave it a few tweaks and ta-da… wonderfully delicious Blackberry bars.
These were easy to put together and so yummy.
Captain Cavedweller may have tasted more than his fair share in his efforts to provide quality control over my baked goods.
Ingredients
Mix up crust until crumbly.
Press half of mixture into an 8×8 baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, then cool for about 10 minutes.
While the crust is cooling, whisk eggs.
Add in flour, sugar, sour cream, lemon, almond and salt, blending well.
Add berries to filling.
Folding them in gently.
Spoon filling over crust and top with remaining crumbles. Bake for about 45 minutes or until top is lightly browned and berry filing is bubbly.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Then top with vanilla frosting you have nuked for about 10 seconds to warm. Just pour it over the top in a drizzling pattern.
Let cool completely to serve as bars or scoop out warm and serve with vanilla ice cream!
Buttery Blackberry Bars
Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
Filling:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp almond extract
3 cups fresh blackberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly coat an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick spray.
Combine the sugar, flour, salt and butter, cutting together until the mixture is crumbly. Divide in half.
Press half into the bottom of the baking pan and bake for about 10 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes.
While it is cooling, whip eggs, then add in sugar, sour cream, lemon, salt, and almond extract. Mix well. Gently fold in the berries. Spoon over crust then top with remaining crumbled mixture.
Bake about 45 -50 minutes until mixture is lightly browned and berries are bubbly.
Cool and cut into bars or scoop out like a crisp and serve warm with ice cream!
She Who Liked These Way Too Much
Posted in Comfort Food, Easy Recipes, Main Dish, Recipes, tagged Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield, Spaghetti, Spaghetti Carbonara on June 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The other day I decided to make something different and fun and exciting for our bored taste buds. Digging through my cache of recipes, I decided it had been forever and a day since we’d eaten Spaghetti Carbonara.
I originally got the recipe from my friend Jolene who is a fabulous cook. I tweaked the recipe just a bit and came up with one I like and Captain Cavedweller will eat – a double winner!
It is easy to make and comes together fairly quickly. Serve with warm bread and a crisp green salad and you’ve got a fantastic meal.
Ingredients
Bring salted water to a boil then add noodles. Cook al dente.
Chop bacon into small pieces and cook in large skillet.
Cook until slightly crispy. Save all that wicked bacon grease in the pan. Remove bacon pieces and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
Cook sausages in bacon grease, turning to brown each side. When brown, cover with water and let simmer for about 12-15 minutes until cooked through.
Add cream, Parmesan cheese and beaten eggs to noodles. Stirring quickly to keep eggs from going all weird on you.
Add bacon and return pan to low heat, stirring to coat noodles and cook eggs.
Top with some chopped parsley and enjoy!
Spaghetti Carbonara
1 pound spaghetti
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
6 slices bacon
4-6 sausages
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with salt, add spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain well. Toss with olive oil, and set aside.
Chop bacon into small pieces and fry in a large skillet until slightly crispy. Remove from skillet and drain. Set aside.
Using remaining bacon grease fry sausages until brown on all sides, then cover with water and cook for about 12-15 minutes until cooked through. Italian sausages would be best but you can use whatever you have on hand.
When sausages are nearly finished cooking, add beaten egg, Parmesan cheese and cream to noodles, stirring vigorously to keep the egg from getting all funky on you. Add bacon and return to low heat, stirring to coat all noodles and to make sure eggs are cooked before serving.
Sprinkle fresh parsley (or dried if you don’t have any fresh) over the top and serve with sausages.
Yum!
She Who Needs to Not Love Pasta Quite so Much!
Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield, Shortbread Recipes on May 18, 2012| 2 Comments »
I love shortbread. I love caramel. I’m even learning to appreciated salt on my caramel. So why not combine the three?
This is a quick and simple recipe that will earn you many rave reviews!
Ingredients for Shortbread. Cream butter and eggs, stir in flour and vanilla.
Press dough into an 8×8 baking pan and bake until set.
Ingredients for caramel filling. Mix in a heavy saucepan and follow directions below because I realized after I started making this that my sweetened condenses milk expired a year ago and being the paranoid-freakazoid I am, I just couldn’t make myself use it even though it looked fine. In a panic, I used caramel sauce from a jar, which I would not recommend if you want these to look pretty.
Chill the bars until caramel is set then sprinkle with sea salt. You can also drizzle with chocolate if you desire (which I always do).
Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars
For the Shortbread
1 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick of butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together sugar and butter. Stir in flour and vanilla. Press into a greased (spray with Pam) 8×8 baking pan. Bake until shortbread is set but not brown (about 10-13 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool slightly before pouring on caramel layer.
For the caramel layer
1 sticks butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk
To make the caramel layer, combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue simmering and stirring until the mixture turns an amber color and thickens slightly. Pour the mixture over the shortbread layer, smooth the top, and allow to cool completely and set. Make sure you use a heavy-duty saucepan or you’ll have burnt bits in your caramel.
When cool (I stuck mine in the fridge to hurry things along) sprinkle with sea salt. Cut into squares and enjoy!
She Who Needs to Stock up on Sweetened Condensed Milk
Savvy Entertaining 