A Pair of Bartletts

Strawberry Pretzel Salad (A light and refreshing Easter dessert)

We are keeping it light and easy for Easter dinner on Sunday.  This salad has been a long time favorite of mine.  It's called a salad, but it's really more of a dessert, but it makes me feel better to still call it a "salad"!  I hope that you will give it a try.  The first time I heard about it, my first reaction was "strawberries and pretzels? what kind of salad is that?"  But I promise you...it's got a wonderfully unique flavor.  The sugar that is cooked with the salty pretzels and then topped with all of that strawberry and cream cheese yumminess (yes, it's a word).....it's divine!

Let me know how you like it!

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

1 1/2 c. crushed pretzels
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. melted butter
1 (6 oz.) box strawberry Jell-o
2 c. boiling water
1 (16 oz.) frozen strawberries
1 (9 oz.) Cool Whip
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 c. sugar

Crush pretzels, not into a fine powder, but just crush them.  You still want to recognize that there are pretzels in the crust.  . Mix together pretzels, 1/2 cup sugar and butter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes in a 9" x 13" pan. Beat together the Cool Whip, cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar. Spread onto the TOTALLY cooled crust. Add boiling water into Jello. When the Jell-o is thoroughly mixed and free of any powder, add strawberries. Place Jello in refrigerator until it becomes partially gelled. Place on top of the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate covered with Saran Wrap. You can place toothpicks around the dish so that the plastic wrap doesn't stick to the top of the pretty dish.

 

Christmas Carrots (A Super Soufflé)

Christmas Carrots

(my adaptation of the Piccadilly restaurant's recipe for carrot soufflé) 

4 pounds of baby carrots (pre peeled in bags)

2 sticks of salted real butter

5 large eggs, well beaten

3 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ cups sugar

4 Tbsp. flour

3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

powdered sugar for dusting

 

1.  Boil the baby carrots until very tender and drain them well.  While the carrots are hot, puree them in a food processor until smooth.  I have a large food processor, so I puree them in two batches.  Divide the butter into how many batches that you are going to puree.  For me, doing two batches, I use 1 stick of butter in each batch.  If you are doing 4 batches of puree, then you would use ½ stick of butter with each batch.  It will depend on how large your processor is as to how many batches of puree that you will need to do.  

 

2.  Measure dry ingredients and add them to a mixing bowl and set aside.  Once you have finished all of your puree, add puree to dry ingredients and mix with a heavy spatula.  Take out 2-3 Tbsp. of the mixture and add to the bowl of beaten eggs to temper the eggs.  Once mixed, add the egg mixture back to the large bowl of the carrot mixture and blend thoroughly.  

 

3.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non stick cooking spray.  Pour the soufflé mixture into the baking dish and bake at 350° for 1 hour.  If using a disposable aluminum dish, choose the 9" x 13" lasagne pan.  If using a dish of your own, a 9" x 13" glass dish works well.  

 

4.  Dust the top of the soufflé with powdered sugar and serve hot.

 

 This dish has become one of my immediate family's favorites, so much so that no one want sweet potato casserole anymore.  I made this on Christmas Eve for an extended family gathering.  It went over very well, especially considering that it was being served to a "die hard" sweet potato casserole crowd!

It's so good that you can even eat it as a dessert!

Enjoy!

 

 

 
 
 

Blueberry Morning Muffins

No explanations necessary...these were DELICIOUS!  If you like blueberries and bananas, then you will LOVE these muffins!  Let me know if you try them!  Mine turned out so pretty!

BLUEBERRY MORNING MUFFINS

3 cups all purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 large eggs 3/4 cup real butter (salted), melted 3/4 cup milk 1 very large extra ripe banana (or 1 and 1/2 small very ripe bananas), mashed 1 tsp good (real) vanilla extract 2 cups fresh, whole blueberries 1 cup chopped walnuts   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, beat the eggs, banana, melted butter, milk and vanilla until smooth.  Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and gently mix with a "spoonula" or a wooden spoon until "just" combined--do NOT overmix (this is a very thick batter, so don't be worried at the consistency).  Fold in blueberries and walnuts.  Using a muffin scoop, place one heaping scoop in muffin pan that has been lined with foil lined baking cups.  Bake at 375 degrees for exactly 20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes exactly 18 muffins.

Bombshell Breakfast Casserole--For Supper!

BOMBSHELL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
1 1/2 pounds sausage 10 slices fresh white bread 2 cups shredded Danish Havarti cheese (or your favorite hard cheese, like cheddar) 7 eggs 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream (double cream if you have it) 1 teaspoon dry mustard 4 ounces mushroom pieces, drained (optional) 1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced (optional) 1/4 cup green onion, diced (optional) Beat eggs and mix with milk, cream, salt and mustard (and any of the optional ingredients listed).  Brown sausage, drain. Layer bread in bottom of 9 x 13-inch well-greased baking pan, overlapping each slice of bread on top of the other. Sprinkle 1/2 of the sausage over the bread. Pour 1/2 of the egg mixture over the layer you created.  Then repeat with another layer of bread, then sausage, cheese and ending with the remaining egg mixture.  Bake at 350F for about  40 minutes.  Adjust your cooking time and temperature based on your oven.  The casserole should puff up like a souffle and should be set all the way through the middle, golden brown on the top--don't over cook.  Note: Other ingredients may be added or substituted for the vegetables. Serving Size: 8

I was looking for something quick and easy last night for dinner and this casserole was "the bomb", hence the name above.  I know that cream makes it richer, but you won't be sorry.  It makes the casserole smooth and velvety.  Also, since there is no butter this dish, the Danish Havarti cheese gives it a buttery flavor without adding actual butter to it.  If you like cheddar, then chances are that you will like Danish Havarti cheese.  I buy it in a huge block at Sam's and use it for all kinds of things throughout the week.  It makes yummy cheese toast and it's also quite yummy in Mexican dishes too....I know,Danish cheese in Mexican food?  Trust me....it works! 

I hope that you will give this a try.  Rob loved it and wanted seconds.  Since he can be is picky, I know that I've picked a winner if he wants seconds!  Let me know what you think!  Sorry that I was so busy that I forgot to snap a picture....but please feel free to send me pictures of yours!

Bon Appetite!

Fort Morgan Trifle

I love to come up with creative ways to make things around the kitchen stretch...kind of like the "Semi-homemade" style. I don't go this route for everything, since I do love to make things totally from scratch. But, when we're at the beach, I like to try and do some new things that use up the items we have bought, so that we don't have to bring home too much. So, out of this came "Fort Morgan Trifle".

We always stop at Burris Farm Market on the way to the beach to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies to take with us. One of my purchases happened to be some BIG, BEAUTIFUL, RUBY RED Baldwin County strawberries. I also picked up some things at Sam's Wholesale before we left town. One of my purchases there was a really good looking lemon bundt cake.....it was SO yummy and moist. After having a friend of ours over to the condo, along with some of our family that came for the day on Saturday, there was a chunk of the cake left. When I was making a list to get a couple of things at the grocery store on Sunday evening, Rob specifically asked for some vanilla pudding for after Sunday night supper. Well, since I love to cook, it's really hard for me to make "just pudding". So, while on the way to the store, my mind started spinning on what I could do with vanilla pudding that would give it a little more zip. There you have it folks.....Fort Morgan Trifle. Since I knew that there wasn't a trifle bowl at the condo, I had to come up with something that would be pretty and that would hold these thick ingredients. Here are the ingredients that I used, but I didn't really include measurements, since it would depend on how many that you need to make. They were really easy and you could come up with any variations that would make it your own. I happen to love the flavor combination of the lemon, vanilla and the strawberry. I hope that you will try these out! If you do, send me a picture of yours so that I can see your unique variations!

FORT MORGAN TRIFLE
Lemon poundcake or bundt cake, cut in 1" cubes
Vanilla pudding, prepared by directions for thick, pie style filling
fresh strawberries, sliced (or your own seasonal favorite fruit
Cool Whip topping, or fresh whipped cream

Cut cake into 1" cubes. Make layers beginning with cake on the bottom, pudding next, slid sliced fruit around sides of the glass, follow with whipped topping. Repeat for another layer and end with whipped topping. Add a pretty berry slice to the top for a garnish. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to allow everything to "get married" and soak together. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!