zebra squares

These are my 'grandmother's favorite!' No, really. They are. I would say I had proof but I don't. You'll just have to take my word for it, it is my Indiana Nonna's favorite, except for lemon bars sugar cream pie, and several others. And THAT is where I got my sweet tooth. While making this, I confess that I got to lick the spatulas of both the cream cheese part AND the chocolate part. They were so good. But the best part by far was (other than, of course the eating) was the swirling around of the two frostings. Be careful though: do not get carried away and turn the frosting grey, as that kind of makes the name pointless.

Zebra Squares

1 package fudge brownie mix (see, Grandma's favorite!)
8 oz cream cheese, cut up
1/2 a cup sugar
1 egg
and then whatever the ingredients are on the brownie mix

Begin by following the instructions for the brownie mix as on the package,but DO NOT COOK. Instead, spread half of the mixture in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
While doing this, beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating to combine it. Pour this mixture over the partially baked bottom layer. Then spoon the remaining brownie mixture over this and swirl carefully, making sure not to touch the Bottom layer. It should be marbled.
Return to the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the brownies test done. Cool. Makes 24 small bars.

These were a huge hit, especially good with vanilla ice cream.

lemon bars

I love these lemon bars, they are rich and sweet with a citrusy undertone. The recipe is simple and easy, or, as Elsa would put it, "So easy even a cat could make it!" These are another of 'grandmas favorites'. We were requested to make these and I am glad we did! Jane, my cousin, shrieked when she first tried these and trotted in to see me and insist that I try them. I was playing with a kitten at the time, but these lemon bars made me put the kitten down promptly and go get more. So do enjoy these!

Lemon Bars
(makes 24 bars)

1 box lemon cake mix
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, melted
1 cup unrefined sugar
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs

Mix lemon cake mix and melted butter and press into a 9-inch square pan that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes at 350F.

With an electric mixer or (as I had to) just whipping really REALLY hard with a whisk, mix all remaining ingredients. When the crust comes out of the oven, when it's still hot, pour this mixture over the crust and then bake again for 25 minutes. Chewy, tart, buttery delight. Delight. I mean what I say- it was delightful!!!!!

kittens!

I am going to warn you: this blog will have few posts for some time as we are now host to TWO KITTENS!!!!!!!!!! We are fostering them from the wonderful DAWS, and they are lovely little black kittens! So please excuse me if this blog seems lonely for a while.

avery

elsa and avery's chocolate oat crunchies

When we first made these, our parents were out. I was at Elsa's house, and her siblings Georgia and Fred were upstairs. We had been on the Internet, and were playing a maze game. To our immense shock and surprise, it was a 'scary' maze game! At the end, a horrific face popped up and screamed! Elsa and I were scared out of our WITS. So we made chocolate oat crunchies to stop ourselves from shrieking at every noise.

Chocolate oat crunchies

1/2 of a bar of dark chocolate
14 of a bar of white chocolate
A splash of milk
Brown Sugar
A cup and 1/2 of Oat Flakes
Marshmallows ( for melting)
Raspberries ( to go on top)
Powdered sugar

Melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl inside of a saucepan slowly over low heat. Mix in the white chocolate and a bit of milk. Stir so that the chocolate is even. Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and the oats. Mix well. Melt the marshmallows in another glass bowl, then pour them into the mixture. Stir well and spoon into paper muffin cups. Let cool until it is completely hard. Place a raspberry on each one and sprinkle powdered sugar over them. Mmmmmmmmm!

I am not sure how many crunchies this makes, or how accurate the amounts are. If you make it and it doesn't work out, please comment and tell me how I could improve this recipe. Elsa and I first made this in winter, and we didn't write it down so I only remember the ingredients. But try this recipe- no mater if the amounts are slightly off it will taste absolutely delicious!

elsa's blueberry pie

This is a recipe that my friend Elsa sent me, that sounds fantastic. I have not yet tried to make this, but will do so in the next few days! Elsa's sweet tooth is as strong as mine, so I can guarantee you this will be delicious!! Unfortunately, this recipe is in cups so anyone in England might have to use a converter. According to Elsa, this recipe is very easy to make, and I look forward to doing it! So here it is:

Elsa's Super Easy Blueberry Pie/Tart!

CRUST
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 tablespoon white vinegar

FILLING
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
4 1/2 cups blueberries divided into 2 1/2 cups and 2

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 10 inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine flour, salt and sugar.
Cut in the butter with pastry blender or fork.
Mix in the vinegar.
Pat crust onto bottom of springform pan and 1 inch up side.
For filling, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon.
Add 2 1/2 cups of blueberries.
Place evenly on top of crust.
Bake for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and put remaining 2 cups blueberries on top, lightly pressing them in.
Cool completely.
Remove rim and serve from springform bottom.


This is an unbelievably good recipe! I am ashamed to say, I ate four pieces... not leaving much for our guests!

1. m10
   

renee's million dollar cookies

These cookies are amazing. When Renee came over to lunch, she brought them. Afterwards, we just left the box open and, while chatting, we'd casually reach in and pick up our sixth one. Mentally, we'd chide ourselves. Stop it! You've had enough! Now concentrate on the conversation and... What did I say?? STOP EATING THOSE COOKIES! Our efforts were futile. The box of cookies disappeared very very very quickly, along with our appetites. So here is the recipe:

renees million dollar cookies (aka toffee chocolate chip cookies)

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup Heath bits
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Combine the first four ingredients. At medium speed, mix butter, both sugars, vanilla and eggs until well blended. Add dry ingredients. Mix in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for two hourd. Roll into 1" balls and place on cookie sheets 2" apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

homemade popsicles

These popsicles are delicious, fun and very easy to make. It is great fun to choose your own flavors, my favorite being limeade. Some flavors, however, may not work as well as others. For instance, I made a blueberry smoothie and made a popsicle out of it, and it wasn't very good. I pretended to eat it for a while, making the smallest lick possible and finally surreptitiously threw it away. But all juices will work beautifully, such as lemonade or cloudy apple juice. Be careful: anything with pineapple in it will not freeze at all.

*****
Homemade popsicles

Juice
Cup
Stick
( if you have a special popsicle mould, that works much better)

This is very simple. Just pour the juice into your cup or mould. Let it freeze for two or three hours, then if it is not fully frozen ( if it is, let thaw for a while) push you stick into the middle. Then freeze it until it is very hard. Run hot water overy the glass, and take your popsicle out. Mmmmmm!
*****
Experiment with flavors here, sometimes the unusual can be very good!

cookie crumble sundae

The cookie crumble sundae requires very little preparation, but is delicious and perfect for a hot summer day, equally as good as homemade popsicles! (Recipe on next post!) After a single bite, you will eat this ice cream faster than you can say, ' delicious!' Of course, you will have your cookie crumbs in your mouth so it will sound a bit more like: "mrrrrrrrmmmmmmyyyyshummmmmm!', this of course being accompanied by more mad eating.

cookie crumble sundae

3 scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
2 cappucino cookies ( recipe to come soon)
hot fudge sauce
2 chocolate eclairs
1 maraschino cherry ( optional. if not included, use 3 eclairs.)

Scoop all 3 scoops of ice cream into a very large bowl. Drizzle carefully with hot fudge sauce, and sprinkle all over with cookie crumbles. If you use a cherry, put it in the middle scoop and an eclair on the other scoops. If you use just the 3 eclairs, put one on each scoop.

Keep looking for more great recipes: hint... cappucino cookies and homemade popsicles coming up soon!

cranberry snow

Cranberry snow is a favorite of mine. It is temptingly easy to make but requires some sort of snow, or extremely fine crushed ice. It seems strange to post this in July because of the nature of the ingredients, but frankly, at the moment, I can't actually think of anything else that I don't have to test first. I made this for the first time last Christmas, when it began to snow . At the time I was here in Connecticut and there were none of the usual issues with snow, like pollution and dirt. No, this snow was clean and fresh, so for a snack, I made cranberry snow. Here is the recipe:

*****
Cranberry Snow
Slightly more ice than you think you want, I used a large bowl as one serving.
Cranberry juice. This can be a lot or a little, depending on how strong you want the snow.

Scoop the fresh (!) snow into a bowl. Pour in about 3 spoonfuls of cranberry juice, if the mixture is a very faint pink, add some more. If it is very dark, go and find more snow. Mix these together well, and serve before it melts.

*****
This is a very simple and vague recipe, but never fails to please guests. Be warned: This uses up a surprising amount of juice if you make this for a party.