Poke Cake

So I heard about this key lime poke cake from Betty Crocker and I was like "oh that sounds yummy, I had something like that when I was little with chocolate" so I went to my trusty google and I googled "poke cake" and sweet jesus the recipes they came from every direction. So I stepped back and took out my handy iPhone with the Betty Crocker application and looked up chocolate poke cake and there it was... only I changed it... so this is the recipe I actually used.

Ingredients:

1 butter cake mix with the ingredients to make it as directed

1 package chocolate fudge instant pudding & 2 cups of milk

whipped cream

Directions:

Cook and cool the cake as directed. Take a wooden spoon and poke holes every 1/2 inch in the cake. Mix pudding with milk and let it firm up a little. Spread pudding over the cake letting it fill in the holes. Cool until pudding is firm. Top with whipped cream.

Refrigerate until served.

Wicked Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

18 eggs

Best Foods Mayo

Yellow Mustard

Del Monte Pickle Relish

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Paprika

Directions:

Place eggs in water and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let set 10 minutes. Place under very cold water and then peel (the change from hot to cold will help the eggs to peel more easily). Cut in half and place all the yolks in a bowl. Throw away 6 eggs worth of egg white (or eat them- whatever).

Mash yolks with a fork. Add 3 tablespoons of relish. Add 3-4 tablespoons of mustard. Add mayo until the texture is creamy and smooth like a deviled egg should be (it's usually around 1/4 cup). Season to taste with seasons listed (and any you want to add)

In the picture (taken with iPhone-sorry) I used a spoon to spoon the mixture into my egg whites. Usually if it's for a BBQ or event I pipe it in using a piping bag. Your choice. Enjoy!

Patio S'Mores

Ingredients:
** I seldom put brands with things but really these make the best S'mores**
Hershey's chocolate bars (1/2 a bar per S'more)
Honey Maid Graham Crackers (1 full cracker broken in half per S'more)
Jet Puff Jumbo Marshmallows (2 per S'more)

Directions:
I don't have a big yard right now so I don't feel comfortable firing up the fire pit. I am also not camping at the moment. But, sometimes a girl just needs S'mores. So these can be done with a BBQ after the food is done. If using charcoal it's a little harder. If you have a gas grill go ahead and fire it up all the way. Place 2 marshmallows on the end of the skewer and hold it over the heat (turning it until it's all soft and gooey and golden brown on the outside). DO NOT SET IT DOWN and WATCH FOR FLAIR UPS.

Place half a graham cracker on the bottom. Then half a chocolate bar. Top with your marshmallows. Then another half a graham cracker. (I usually set the marshmallow on the chocolate and use the top half of the cracker to hold it down while I pull out my skewer).


Eat them warm and without a plate. It's only right. It is a S'more after all!

Sweet Tea

Ingredients:

10 cups of water

3/4 cup of sugar

8 tea bags

Directions:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add tea bags and boil 1 minute. Then remove from heat. Let stand 15 minutes. Add sugar to warm water and stir until disolved. Place concentrate in pitcher and add 7 cups cold water.

(the picture above is a double batch)

Locavore Love

I have become increasingly interested in trying to eat as locally as possible. For produce that's been easy because I am in the Central Valley of California and there is wonderful produce all year long. For other things it might be a little harder.

I added a new blog tag. It's called LocavoreLove and if you click on it you can see recipes made with local ingredients. When possible I'll provide a link to where I got them from.

Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Decided to try out the Pioneer Woman's version of CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza but I used store bought crust and MORE CHEESE...it was yummy...you should try it

Kielbasa & Roasted Vegetables

This is what happens when you can't find a recipe your family will eat and you are tired of the recipe you normally use....you play with ingredients...this one was rather yummy.

Ingredients:

1 Polish Kielbasa (cut into 2 inch pieces)

1 Red Onion (chopped into large pieces)

6-8 Red Potatoes (quartered)

1 Clove of Garlic (peeled)

3 Tomatoes (quartered)

1 Package Button Mushrooms (halved)

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Thyme

Basil

Oregano

Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Mix chopped ingredients with a light coat of olive oil then season to taste. Pour into a 9x 13 baking dish and cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour (or until potatoes are fork tender).