Monday, July 27, 2009

Easy Key Lime Frozen Pie!

The hot and humid weather has arrived. Start Jimmy Buffett on the ipod, sip a margarita (optional) and conga into the kitchen for this quick summer treat.
1 can Eagle Brand
1 container Cool Whip
6T. Lemon Juice (fresh or bottle!)
1T. Lime Juice (fresh or bottle!)
1 packet Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid
Graham Cracker Crust

Dump the cool whip into the mixer and beat smooth. This is easier if the cool whip has sat on the counter for a few minutes.

Add the eagle brand and lime and lemon juices.

Add kool aid!

Continue beating until well mixed - this only takes a few seconds.

Pour into crust and freeze or refrigerate (your choice).

Oooohhh soooo good.

Since I send these treats to work, I usually make a tiny one to keep here at the house. You can find these pre-made mini crusts in the baking aisle near the full size crusts. They're usually on the bottom shelf. They come in a 4 or 6 pack and they're great to have on hand!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Blueberry Cobbler-ish

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This is a recipe from Ruth. The great thing about that fact is that the recipe is so old that I don't know who Ruth is!! This isn't a super sweet treat. It's more of a cobbler though (served with vanilla bean ice cream) than a coffee cake - but I've been known to eat it for breakfast (I'm glad we're friends and keep secrets!).

Let's get started

2 cups blueberries (maybe a little more, maybe a little less if you pop 'em in your mouth like I do!), a splash of lemon juice, 1 1/2c. sugar, 3T butter, 1/2c. milk, 1t. baking powder, 1/2t. salt, 1c. flour, 1T cornstarch, 1c. boiling water (not shown). Flour and sugar are in their canisters in the back. Yes, cornstarch is in that strange container - more on WHERE I SHOP this week!


Spray or butter a 8"x8" dish. Toss in the clean berries and add a splash of lemon juice - you can use a real lemon if you have one!


Cream butter and 1/2c. sugar. This works best if you butter is SOFT. Then add milk.


Add baking powder, 1/4t. salt and flour. Blend well.


Dump over the blueberries. Yikes, look at that glare. See what happens when I only have 2 hands and use the timer on my camera. Seriously - this is difficult!


There, it's all dumped. I'll spread it around a little more evenly.


In bowl add 1c. sugar, cornstarch and salt. Sprinkle ontop of the batter.


Lookin' good!


Pour 1c. boiling water over the top of everything!


Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour (Mine usually bakes for 70 minutes - check it with a toothpick, looking for clean toothpick.)


Oohhhhh, look at it! Try to eat it in a day or two or you get some berry funk.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Ice Cream Cake-ish

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Ok, this was 100% adopted from a great ice cream cake I had last summer. The original cake was made in a loaf pan and cut in thick slices. It was delicious.

This is a quick crowd pleaser. I asked our guests for their favorite ice cream and candy bar. They gave me chocolate and snickers. Here are the ingredients. Cool whip not shown. Notice I allowed the icecream to sit and get soft first.

I also was in a HUGE hurry to make this and needed to get it in the freezer, so I'm using a (cheater) crust. Bonus, I have a stockpile of these crusts, they're great to have on hand. There's usually a coupon for these too (and even better when my store triples my coupons - I get them for nearly free, or less than 20 cents!) I usually use a crushed cookie.

Here's the soft ice cream. I meant it when I said soft. Trust me, you'll thank me!

Gently start smooshing the ice cream. It doesn't have to be perfect. That's the key to this masterpiece!


Now cover the icecream with the topping - chocolate syrup in this project. And use as much (or as little) as you'd like. Other options on this layer are hot fudge, strawberry topping, real peanut butter. At this point, put it back into the freezer and let it freeze. Otherwise, the topping will goo the next layer....

Also, let this set on the counter and get soft. It's much easier to spread. I've taken a spatula and beat it around a bit - again so it's easier to spread.

Remember what I said - this is not perfect! Dump the cool whip and start spreading. I was in a hurry (shocker) so I didn't let the icecream and chocolate syrup refreeze. But that's ok - because I have another cheat that comes in the form of the caramel I'll swirl on the top of the cool whip.

Dice up your candy bar, nice small even pieces.

Add the caramel and the snickers. Here's the final product. Again, let it refreeze to get a solid frozen treat.

Great options:
Chocolate peanut butter cookie crust, peanut butter or PB cup icecream, PB or chocolate syrup, cool whip and reese cups.

Vanilla wafer cookies, strawberry ice cream, strawberry topping, cool whip and fresh strawberries.

Keebler Grasshopper cookies (they're similar to Thin Mints - only year 'round!), mint chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge or chocolate syrup, cool whip, topped with andes mints.

Good luck!