Camping and Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day! We just got back from a couple days camping trip to the mountains. We had a lot of fun! Here is a cake to wish Canada a happy birthday! I love my country! Off to see the fireworks tonight!

For the recipe, visit Kraft Canada

Happy Canada Day!

Colourful Destinations and Summery Cupcakes

As you know, if you have joined me here before, I am a big fan of colour. I saw an article on MSN the other day with these gorgeous photos of colourful destinations. I would love to visit each and every one of them!

Punda, Willemstad, Curacao

Miami Beach, Miami

Manarola, Italy

La Boca, Buenos Aires

I would especially love to visit Curacao. A friend of mine said it was one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Sounds heavenly...

Oh and it's summer! Today! And our weather here sure is living up to the first day of summer. I sat in the warm sunshine with my baby girl today (ok, she is a preschool graduate, not my baby anymore). I can't wait until my twin girls are done school too and we can all hang out in the summer sunshine.

For my baby's 'graduation' I decided to make these cute summery cupcakes. The girls LOVED them. I only decorated enough for each of us to have one but that turned out to be a great thing because the girls were dying to decorate a bunch of their own. They did a great job! **sorry the photo quality isn't great**

I made the cupcakes themselves rainbow colours, just by dividing up the batter and adding food colouring. I used vanilla pudding and cool whip for a less sweet icing. Be sure to add the 'umbrellas' just before eating otherwise they will soften and fall over. : P

Welcome, Summer, I have been waiting for you. ♥

Cool Rooms and Lace Cookies

It's finally springy here, it's been nice enough to get outside and plant my flowers and tomato plants. Of course, spring also means rain and we are supposed to have it all week. I'm ok with it for now because it is greening everything up sooooo nicely!

I was blog hopping and found some lovely photos of both indoor and outdoor rooms that would be fantastic to lounge in for spring and summer.

This is my deck, we hung two baskets off the gazebo, it's fantastic to look out my window and see some green and flowers. You can also see some of my tomato

plants down below at the edge of the deck.

Here is what I WISH my backyard looked like! I love the hanging lights, I might have to look for some of those this spring.

This kitchen is fantastic! Drooling...

Love this backyard!

I love the white porch with touches of colour. So summery!!

I could totally hang out in this room on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine. This is Jennifer Aniston's home. Good taste she has!

This is also Jennifer Aniston's home. I LOVE purple and orange together. I MUST have a room like this. Not sure hubby would go for it. I'll have to work on him. : )

Hubby and I went out to a dinner theater with our good friends the other night and they had these lacy wafer cookies dipped in chocolate. I had waaay too many. Here is a version I found that would be lovely to have while relaxing in your favourite cool room. Enjoy!!

Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Lace Cookies

INGREDIENTS: For the cookies: 1/2 cup oats, chopped in food processor 1/4 cup flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons corn syrup 6 tbsp melted butter (until the foam subsides) 2 tablespoons heavy cream Pinch of salt

For the ganache: 1/4 cup chocolate chips 1 tbsp heavy cream

DIRECTIONS: In a food processor, pulse the raw oats several times until they become small pieces. While that is going, melt the butter in a small saucepan.

Combine all ingredients for the cookies in a large bowl and stir to combine. Spoon onto baking sheets by the teaspoon, placing each cookie at least 3″ apart from others (they spread a lot!). Bake at 425 for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies have spread and are just beginning to brown around the edges. Let them cool completely on the baking sheets before sliding them off with a spatula.

For the chocolate drizzle, melt chocolate chips and 2 tbsp heavy cream for 15 seconds in the microwave on high heat. Stir to combine — if there are lumps, heat for an additional 5 seconds at a time. Spoon the ganache into a squeeze bottle and use it to drizzle chocolate onto the cookies, either on the cooled baking sheets or on a wire rack. Serve!

~ Photos courtesy of Pretty Prowler, Architectural Digest and Sugarlaws

Color Me Happy and Papaya Delights

I absolutely LOVE the colours of the tulips in my supermarket right now. Aren't the colours of spring so lovely?! I have been buying a few bunches here and there and it makes me so happy to see them in my house when it's white (with snow) or brown (no green grass yet) outside.

More colours to love? Fruit! The tropical kind! I never liked papaya before but my parents and my aunt found this great store that always has papaya for a good price. Their trick? Slice it up (cut it in half lengthwise to start and take out the seeds) and then sprinkle some fresh lime juice over it!!! OH so delicious. I also found this recipe that sounds like a winner too. So go treat yourself to some color and a lovely papaya salad!

Lime Basil Grilled Fruit

~ 1 medium fresh pineapple, peeled and sliced thinly into length wise wedges
~ 1 medium ripe papaya, (weighing about 1 lb), peeled and sliced into length-wise wedges
~ 4 tablespoons lime juice (60 ml)
~ 3 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped (45 ml)
~ 1/2 cup icing sugar (125 ml)
~ 2/3 cup water (75 ml)

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine lime juice, sugar and water and simmer until sugar has dissolved and syrup is slightly thick. Take mixture off heat and stir in basil til combined. Refrigerate for 8 hours to allow flavour to infuse.

Preheat grill to 400F.

Generously oil elements on top of grill and place pieces of pineapple and papaya and grill them for one minute on each side. In a glass bowl combine the fruit and the syrup and stir gently until fruit is coated. Enjoy!

~ From foodnetwork.ca

~ tulip photo from bhg.com

Blueberry Crumble Pie

I absolutely love pie! Doesn't matter what kind. My parents brought me a huge batch of blueberries from the farmers market. (Ohhhh summer!) We are eating them but can't keep up! So I thought I'd make a pie, the easy way! Pre-made crusts of course. : ) Mine is in the oven right now. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ingredients:
•2/3 cup sugar
•3 Tbsp. cornstarch
•2 Tbsp. lemon juice
•zest of 1 lemon
•4 cups fresh blueberries (frozen unsweetened blueberries without juice are okay too)
•1 9-inch frozen pie crust, thawed according to package directions

Crumb Topping:
•2/3 cup rolled oats
•1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
•1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
•6 Tbsp. butter


Preparation:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.Place sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add blueberries. Toss gently to combine.

3.Pour blueberry mixture into pie crust.

4.In a small bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture becomes crumbly. Spread over blueberries in pie.

5.Place blueberry pie on a baking sheet. Bake 40-50 minutes until blueberries are bubbly and pie crust is golden brown.

6.Let blueberry pie rest 15 minutes before cutting.

~from About.com

Orange Creamsicle Pie

OH my gosh, this pie is dreamy! I'm not kidding, go make it now!

Not the greatest photo of it but you get the idea.
My sister made this and I believe she got it from Kraft.

~ 1 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
~ 1 cup orange yogurt (we couldn't find orange so we used mango-pineapple)
~ Dash granulated sugar
~ 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
~ 1 small pkg. orange jello
~ 1 cup cool whip
~ 1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (in the baking section)

Beat the cream cheese and yogurt til smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and sugar, continue mixing. Stir in orange jello powder. Beat to blend. Fold in cool whip. Pour into pie crust and chill for at least 2 hours (cover).

**Optional: Pipe cool whip around perimeter of pie. Garnish with an orange slice.

My mouth is watering. Enjoy!

~ Courtesy of Leah C.

Gourmet Gingersnaps

This is a recipe my cousin gave me when I got married 10 years ago. These cookies are so delicious. And my kids have fun rolling them in sugar! I always make them for a girlfriend of mine, they are her favourites! We are having them with afternoon tea today (or juice in the kids case) when my kids get home from preschool.

Enjoy!

~ 3/4 cup butter

~ 1 cup brown sugar

~ 1/4 cup molasses

~ 1 egg

~ 2 cups flour

~ 2 tsp. baking soda

~ 1 tsp. cinnamon

~ 1/2 tsp. each ginger and cloves

~ granulated sugar

Mix butter, brown sugar, molasses and egg just until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, spices). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in an electric mixer. Do not overmix.

Form into small balls. Roll in granulated sugar.


Bake on a greased sheet at 350F for 7 - 10 minutes (mine took 10).



Note: cookies spread out so don't push down (keep in balls). Bottoms burn easily so watch carefully.


TIP: When cool, keep cookies in an airtight container because they will moisten and remain chewy!



~ From the kitchen of my cousin, Jennifer G.

Mango Cheesecake - Someday I will make this...

Doesn't this look amazing? I was watching Giada today, love her. She made this and it looked so easy. (Sure) I haven't tried it but I can't wait to! My mouth is watering...

~ 8 ounces biscotti
~ 3/4 cup butter, melted
~ 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
~ 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese, room temperature
~ 2 cups mango puree (she used frozen (thawed) mango pieces and just pureed)
~ 4 large eggs
~ 3/4 cup sugar

Basil Lemon Syrup:
~ 1 cup sugar
~ 1/4 cup water
~ 1/4 cup lemon juice
~ 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

Special equipment: 9-inch springform pan

For the Mango Cheesecake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Finely grind the biscotti in a food processor. Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom (not the sides) of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack.

Blend the cream cheese and ricotta in a food processor. Add the mango puree, eggs, and sugar and pulse until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the mango mixture over the crust in the pan. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator and cool completely, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.

For the Basil Lemon Syrup: Place the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Cool the syrup completely. In a food processor combine the basil and the cooled syrup. Pulse until the herbs are finely chopped. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve (she didn't do this part - she just poured it over the cheesecake, as is).

Slice the cheesecake and place on a serving plate. Drizzle with the syrup and serve.

~ Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Lemon Shortbread Slices

These would make a lovely gift with some specialty teas!

~ 1 cup butter, softened
~ 3/4 c. granulated sugar
~ 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
~ 2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
~ 1 large Egg white, fork beaten
~ 1/3 c. yellow sanding (decorating) sugar

Cream butter and granulated sugar in large bowl. Add lemon zest. Beat well.

Add flour in 2 additions, mixing well after each addition until no dry flour remains. Roll dough into 3 inch (7.5 cm) diameter log.

Brush log evenly with egg white. Sprinkle sanding sugar evenly on sheet of waxed paper slightly longer than log. Roll log in sanding sugar until coated. Wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 6 hours or overnight. Discard plastic wrap. Cut log into 1/4 inch (6 mm) slices. Cut each slice in half. Arrange halves about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Score each half with knife to make 4 wedges. Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 8 to 10 minutes until golden. Let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool. Makes 6 1/2 dozen (78) cookies.

~ Courtesy of Company's Coming

Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas

Today, my girls and I made these chocolate covered frozen bananas for a sweet treat this afternoon. They were SOOOO good! (They tasted way better than they looked....heehee...) The girls were a bit weirded out by the fact that the bananas were so cold. But once they got over that shock, they wolfed them down.

Here is how we did it:

~ 3 bananas

~ 1 Hershey's chocolate bar

~ sprinkles

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut bananas in half and stick a lollipop stick in center of one end. Put on parchment and put into freezer for an hour and a half to two hours.

Once frozen, melt chocolate bar in the microwave. I then put a generous dollop of chocolate on a plate for each of the girls to dip the bananas into. They then added some sprinkles as well.

Put bananas back onto parchment and back into freezer for another hour or so.

Then EAT!

Mmmm...Smores....

I'm so happy you are dropping by! I don't mean to neglect you but I have been taking short breaks from blogging due to summer holidays. But that gave me an idea! We just got home from camping and my hubby made super yummy smores! What a good blog post that would make! And as my niece suggested, you can even do this in the microwave. Thanks for the idea sweetie.

Here's the how-to for camping:

~ Put chocolate (we used Hershey's bars) on a graham cracker.
~ Put your roasted marshmallow on top.

~ Top all with another graham cracker.

Then, my hubby put the entire thing over the campfire again for a minute to get the chocolate to melt even more. Eat and swoooooooon. Ahhhhhh...camping heaven.

Here is a recipe I found for Smore FONDUE! Oh ya, now we're talkin'....

~ 1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
~ Full Sized Marshmallows (at least 20) for dipping
~ 2/3 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
~ 1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk
~ 3/4 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Over low flame, heat mini marshmallows and evaporated milk while stirring until melted (DO NOT BOIL)
Slowly add chocolate chips while stirring
Slowly add graham cracker crumbs while stirring
Keep stirring until mixture becomes smooth

To Dip:
Full Sized Marshmallows
(courtesy of GoFondue.com)

Hope everyone is having a good summer!

Chocolate Lollipops

My girls and I made chocolate lollipops today. It was so much fun and they are yummy!

Here's how we did it:

~ 1 bag (11 oz) white chocolate chips
~ Food colouring, your choice (we used pink and yellow)

~ Sprinkles or small candies for decorating

~ Lollipop sticks

Melt the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl over simmering water on the stove. Takes about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.

Colour half of the melted chocolate for decorating (we coloured it all using a couple different colours) by pouring chocolate into a bowl and adding a drop of food colouring.

Spoon tinted chocolate into a baggie or pastry piping bag and secure closed. (I used ziploc bags and just cut the corner off for piping.)

Place filled portion of bag into a small bowl of hot water so chocolate doesn't harden while you fill another baggie with chocolate.

Give each child a small sheet of waxed paper and place a lollipop stick on top. Let each child spoon a dollop of chocolate over the top of the stick. Or use piping bag. Use a spoon to spread the chocolate into a circle or oval. Decorate with a different colour of piped chocolate if you wish.

Decorate with sprinkles and small candy. Let sit and harden or pop waxed paper and lollipops into the fridge to harden. Peel away waxed paper and eat!!

~ Courtesy of 'Kids Parties'

Raspberry Tart

So while you've got your puff pastry out, try this for dessert! Use your favourite berry or fruit (strawberries, peaches etc.). My favourite is raspberry and I happened to have some in the fridge. I made a mini one with my leftover pastry. This could not be easier! Have with a cup of hot or cold tea.

Tasty treat! And again, so pretty!

~ Puff pastry
~ 2 Tbsp. raspberries
~ 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Roll out pastry to 11 inch round. Place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle pastry with 1 Tbsp. of sugar. Place raspberries close together in concentric circles starting in middle of pastry. Leave about 1 1/2 inch border around edges. Gently fold the edges of the pastry up and over the filling, pleating as necessary, being careful not to squash the raspberries. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the raspberries.

Bake the tart in a preheated 450F oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve with vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream.

~ Joy of Baking

Luscious Lemon Poke Cake

Wow! This cake is fantastic! My mom made it for Easter dessert. Light and delicious!

She made it in a 9x13 cake pan or you can use 2 round 9" cake pans as the recipe below shows.

~ 2 baked round white cake layers (9 inch), cooled
~ 2 cups boiling water
~ 2 pkg. (85 g each) JELL-O Lemon Jelly Powder
~ 1 cup cold milk
~ 1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Lemon Instant Pudding
~ 3 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Place cake layers, top-sides up, in two clean 9-inch round cake pans. Pierce cakes with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

Stir boiling water into dry jelly powder in medium bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Carefully pour evenly over cake layers. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping; set aside.

Dip one cake pan in warm water 10 sec.; unmold onto serving plate. Spread with about 1 cup of the pudding mixture. Unmold second cake layer; carefully place on first cake layer. Frost top and side of cake with remaining pudding mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

Garnish with candied lemon slices or strips of lemon peel just before serving for an extra little something!

Serves 16

Contributed by Linda K., recipe from Kraft Canada.