Welcome my newest nephew into the world!

My sister, Megan, delivered her baby last night and I can't wait to brag. Go to her blog to see more pictures and get the scoop!

Shout Out to Holly

Today I am featuring my cousin-in-law's blog. If cousin-in-law is confusing, here's how we are related: Jeff Stoker is my cousin on my mom's side, he married Holly, hence, she is my cousin-in-law. She has a great blog for recipes and posts way, way more than I do so you need to check it out. It is nicely categorized by type of food and she takes lots of pictures (way better than me). Anyway, I think it's a great resource. Here's a link to her site or you can always find her in the My Favorite Blogs list on my blog under Holly's Recipes. Thanks, Holly, for your great blogging!

Darla Knoxville

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Shadow Saturn
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Ginga' snap
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)M-Wil
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Red Fox
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Darla Knoxville
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Micwi---not sure how to pronounce that
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Orange Milkshake
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Don Earl
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) DKNY Dove
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Jean Don (I think I would do a French pronunciation of Jean so it would rhyme with Don)
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Snoke Sydney
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Summer Dahlia
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Peach Shirty
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Cereal Magnolia
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) "The Cooking Sunshine Tour"

I took this from Jodie's blog. I think she filled in in a little more creatively than I did. I tag whoever else wants to try it. And, I recognize that I still need to do my bag tag.

Updated...Finally!

Okay, I just posted four recipes that I have made lately that are yummy! So keep scrolling down and check them out. I hope this makes up for my lack of posts lately. It's the middle of the semester--what can I say?!?

Cool 'n' Easy Strawberry Pie

Gotta love that name, right? This one was a big hit with my husband's family on Easter. I used a Oreo cookie crust rather than a graham cracker crust like it says. I also doubled the recipe for our large group and made it in a 9x13 Pyrex dish with the crust just on the bottom and it worked well. It sets up nicely so you can cut it into squares. This recipe is from the Jello website. They have lots of yummy looking dessert recipes ending in "pie."

2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
Ice cubes
1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed (Lite tastes fine)
1 cup chopped, fresh strawberries
1 graham cracker (or Oreo) crumb crust
1 cup sliced, fresh strawberries

STIR boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice.

ADD whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in chopped strawberries. Refrigerate 20 to 30 min. or until mixture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust.

REFRIGERATE 6 hours or overnight until firm. Top with sliced strawberries. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Photo is from jello.com

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Chocolate pudding pie is a tradition in my family. We usually do the Jello version but I came across this recipe from Williams- Sonoma's website
before Thanksgiving and I am convinced that it is worth the little bit of extra work. You can use
chocolate chips if you don't have your block of Ghirardelli lying around. I also put it in a regular pie crust (not shown in the picture) because that's how my mom always made it. I am sure it is good with the Oreo cookie crust too though.

For the filling:
2 1/2 cups milk
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into slivers
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cookie crumb crust, made with chocolate cookies (or pie pastry like I use)

For the topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Chocolate curls for decorating

Directions:

To make the filling, in a heavy nonaluminum saucepan over low heat, warm together the milk and chocolate, whisking until the chocolate is melted; the mixture will be speckled.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Add the cornstarch and salt, then the vanilla, and whisk until well blended. Slowly pour the warm chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly until well blended. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it thickens and begins to bubble slowly, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour the filling into the crumb crust and smooth with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until completely cold and firm, 2 to 3 hours.

To make the topping, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, beat together the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream on top of the pie. Decorate with chocolate curls. Refrigerate until ready to serve, but let the pie stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off. Makes one 9-inch pie; serves 8.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies

I got this recipe from Cooking Light magazine and they are pretty yummy. It's a cake-like brownie so don't expect the dense, gooey type. I thinned out the raspberry jam with some water so it would spoon on a little better and they turned out looking just like the picture.

Filling:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white

Brownies:
Cooking spray
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, melted
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
>2 large egg whites
3 tablespoons raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare the filling, beat the first 5 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended, and set aside.

To prepare the brownies, coat the bottom of an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray (do not coat the sides of the pan). Lightly spoon 3/4 cup flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine 1 cup sugar and the next 6 ingredients (1 cup sugar through the 2 egg whites), stirring well with a whisk. Add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spread two-thirds of batter in bottom of prepared pan. Pour filling over batter, spreading evenly. Carefully drop the remaining batter and preserves by spoonfuls over filling; swirl together using the tip of a knife to marble. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Photo: From Cooking Light magazine

Saucy Little Meatloaves

I just made these last night and I would have taken a picture but we already ate all of them! This is a recipe that I got from my Aunt Carolyn. My dad says it's the way his mom has always made meatloaf and it's Matthew's and my favorite. It is super easy and tastes great!

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 c. Quaker Oats
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. diced onion
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp. pepper

For meat loaves, combine all ingredients thoroughly. Shape into 6 individual meat loaves in shallow baking pan.

1/3 c. catsup
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. prepared mustard

Combine all ingredients; spread over top of each loaf. Bake 350 degrees about 35 minutes.

*You can also top them with sharp cheddar cheese. It's kind of like a cheeseburger then, but it still tastes great.