Food

Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe

You are going to say OMG when you eat this Cheesy Garlic Bread. It tastes as good as it looks. We use a Boule bread which is a traditional French bread and resembles a squashed ball. Use mozzarella cheese or cheddar, or even Asiago and some spices and you have an easy appetizer, or even dinner. Just add a salad.

Directions for making Easy Cheese Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

a loaf of Sourdough Boule French bread
shredded mozzarella cheese (or whatever type you like)
Melted butter
Crushed garlic
Parsley

Instructions:

Set the oven at 375.
Take a sourdough Boule French bread loaf, or any kind of loaf of bread you like, and cut horizontal and then vertical slits but don’t go all of the way through.
Add your cheese in between the slits. We used mozzarella.
Pour melted butter, garlic, and parsley on top.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Then uncover and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Easy Raspberry Fruit Dip Recipe

Are you preparing a platter of fruit to take to a party of to host a brunch? Try making this Raspberry Fruit Dip instead of the more traditional cream cheese and pineapple dip for a change. It’s super easy.

Easy Raspberry Fruit Dip Recipe

Makes 1-1/2 cups of fruit dip

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed if frozen)
An 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
2 Tablespoon sugar
Assorted fresh fruit (strawberries, peaches, plums, grapes, apple slices, pineapple chunks)

Directions:

NOTE: If you are using frozen raspberries make sure they are thawed or you will end up with a mush of raspberries in the blender that is hard to remove.

1. Place raspberries in a blender. Cover and process until pureed. Strain to remove seeds.

2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

3. Add raspberry puree and beat until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

4. Serve on a platter with fresh fruit chunks and slices.

Crunchy Homemade Granola Recipe

This Crunchy Homemade Granola recipe makes some of the best granola you’ve ever tasted. It’s crunchy, nutty, and just sweet enough. It also has a great crunchy texture to excite the palette. You can modify the recipe and use other dried fruits instead of cranberries, see below. This is a great recipe for kids to make because it’s easy. Just add ingredients, mix and bake.

Granola Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped walnuts or slivered almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup water
1 (6-ounce) package dried sweetened cranberries or other dried fruits such as cherries, raisins, pineapple, or papaya

Crunchy Granola Recipe Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 300º. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, wheat germ, nuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

2. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the oil, honey, and water. Toss the mixture until the ingredients are well combined, then spread it evenly on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake the granola for 40 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes to keep the mixture from sticking. Let it cool completely, then stir in the cranberries or dried fruit. Makes about 7 cups

Alternative and Tips: add 1 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup slivered almonds and omit sesame seeds. After the granola is completely cooled, add half a bag of mini chocolate chips and Craisins cherry-flavored cranberries. Bake it on a sheet of parchment paper to prevent sticking and make it easy to lift it off the pan for easy spread out cooling.

Puree Fruit Easily with Yonanas

Yonanas is a kitchen appliance that instantly turns frozen fruit and other flavorings into a delicious and healthy soft-serve treat. The Yonanas unit combines frozen bananas and any additional fruit or chocolate and instantly churns the ingredients to produce a treat with the texture of frozen yogurt or soft-serve ice cream, but without the additional fat, sugar, or preservatives.

Watch the video from the Yonanas website. It shows the process clearly and may give you some additional ideas for how you can use it. The Yonanas machine runs around $40.00 on Amazon for just the Yonanas machine or $59.99 for the Deluxe Yonanas package (includes extras, see below).

If you like making fresh foods for your baby you can also use Yonanas to puree fruit or even vegetables. Just make sure they are slightly frozen. If they aren’t they will just be a big mush when they come out. Babies will especially like bananas in the Yonanas because they are not only smooth but they are cold and great if they are teething.

The Yonanas works much better at making a smooth fruit treat than a normal food processor or a Vitamix. You will burn out your mixer or blender trying to do what this machine will easily do and the only thing is it designed to do. Kids will love the smooth texture and you will get them to eat more fruit because they think they are eating ice cream.

For an added treat, add in coconut, chocolate chips, or put sprinkles on top for the kids. Try freezing pineapple chunks and use that along with the bananas. You don’t want to put these extras in the machine. It really isn’t designed for that and it could cause problem. I would suggest sprinkling them on afterwards or mixing them in.

The only thing we had a problem with was the noise. The Yonanas machine is super loud and it will definitely scare the cat or your baby. You won’t want to use it while either of them are taking a nap.

The unit seems to be made well and is built of hard plastic and stainless steel. The motor, housing and drive head were powerful in our test. The true test is how long it lasts but it does come with a warranty and you can return it if needed.

It is suggested that you freeze your bananas and other fruit and then thaw them slightly either in a microwave on low or by letting them sit on the counter for a while before you use them. Then turn the Yonanas on, put them down the chute, push the plunger down and watch the smooth mix come out the other end.

We started with one banana and gradually added raspberries and blackberries to make our soft-serve fruit treat. You can use just about any fruit you like and personally, I wouldn’t use bananas most of the time because I would rather have berries.

The best banana to use is a ripe one or as they call it, one with “cheetah spots.” Using the Yonanas is also a good alternative to throwing out fruit that is too ripe that you aren’t going to eat.

As you push the fruit down into the Yonanas machine the integrated spinning blade mashes and incorporates the fruit together. It comes out as a silky-smooth confection with the texture of soft-serve ice cream or yogurt.

You do have to make sure your fruit isn’t too frozen. I can’t stress that enough. We didn’t wait long enough and our final product wasn’t as smooth or creamy as it could have been.

If the banana is too frozen it will come out in the beginning in small chips. As the banana softens, or if you put it out to thaw a bit, it will come out smoother.

A cereal bowl size will required one medium banana with about 4 oz of frozen strawberries or other fruit to fill it.

You can purchase the Yonanas machine or purchase the Yonanas Deluxe Model (901) and you also get the dessert storage container, four Popsicle molds, and recipe booklet. I think the Yonanas would make great frozen fruit pops but we didn’t test that out.

Some Recipes to use with your Yonanas Machine:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Ingredients:

2 frozen ripe bananas
3/4 cup frozen mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
1 Tablespoon room temperature peanut butter

Directions:

Insert one frozen banana into the Yonanas machine.
Add 3/4 cup mixed berries.
Insert second frozen banana.
Stir 1 Tablespoon peanut butter into the bowl and serve.

Key Lime

Ingredients:

2 frozen ripe bananas
1 Tablespoon lime zest
1/3 cup cinnamon graham crackers, crumbled

Directions:

Insert one frozen banana into the Yonanas machine.
Add 1 Tablespoon lime zest.
Insert second frozen banana.
Stir in the bowl to combine.
Sprinkle crumbled cinnamon graham crackers on top.

More recipes are included with the Yonanas unit.

The Yonanas machine plugs into AC outlet. It measures 14″ high x 7-1/2″ wide x 6″ deep and doesn’t take up a lot of space on the counter. It easily comes apart and breaks down to four pieces that are easy to clean. The chute, plunger, and blade are dishwasher safe.

Make A Walkers Shortbread “Outlander” Inspired Castle

Walkers Shortbread is partnering with the hit Starz shows, Outlander for the holiday season, and tapped a baker, Steve and Lisa Marionan of Sweet Lisa’s in Cos Cob, Connecticut to recreate an Outlander castle using shortbread… a “shortbread house,” if you will (the new gingerbread house!)

We are obsessed with the Outlander series in our house. The love of a true Scot (Jamie Fraser) and Claire Randall (Sassenach), who is torn between her husband back in 1945 and her newfound love with Jamie in 1743, is a saga for the ages. Outlander is based on the books by Diana Gabaldon. In April of 2016 the second season will air and we can’t wait!

Lisa and Stephen Maronian, co-owners of Sweet Lisa’s Exquisite Cakes, are the talented, imaginative and innovative master chef entrepreneurs who are responsible for the wonderful success of this truly unique and elite custom couture pastry shop. Their current location is a converted house in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich, just minutes from the New York/Connecticut border. Every exquisite cake, cookie and treat is custom created according to your ideas, your personality, your celebration and every cake and cookie is always made with only the freshest ingredients.

Watch the short 30 second video below to see how the Walkers Outlander shortbread castle was built and then take a look at the step-by-step instructions to make your very own at home.

Here are instructions for how to build a Walkers Shortbread Castle. Click Here to save the instructions in PDF format

Edible Icing Recipe

3 oz Pasteurized Egg Whites
4 cups 10X Confectioners Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Combine all ingredients in a mixer with whip attachment and whip for 8 minutes. Cover the bowl with a damp towel until you are ready to use.