Garlic Smashers for Tasty Thursday & Favorite Ingredient Friday

Tasty Thursday hosted by Pumpkin Patch
Favorite Ingredient Friday hosted by hosted by Overwhelmed with Joy
SMASHERS

6-8 small YUKON potatoes, skin on
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 stick butter, melted
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
olive oil

  • Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  • Scrub potatoes
  • Boil potatoes until tender
  • Generously spread olive oil on cookie sheet
  • Space potatoes a couple of inches apart
  • With a potato masher, SMASH each potato
  • Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika
  • Melt butter and mix butter and garlic together
  • Pour a tablespoon of butter mixture over each potato
  • Bake 30 minutes or until tops are crispy

final blog signature.

Cream Cheese Cookies

CREAM CHEESE ORANGE SLICE COOKIES COOKIES

COOKIES
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • Beat cream cheese and butter together until well creamed.
  • Add sugar and blend again.
  • Add flour, orange peel and soda.
  • Mix well.
  • Shape into a log.
  • Chill 30 minutes.
  • Cut 1/4 inch slices.
  • Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 15-18 minutes until edges begin to golden.
  • Cool on rack.

DIP
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon orange liqueur

  • In a small saucepan melt melt chocolate chips, orange juice and orange liqueur together until smooth.
  • Dip 1/2 of each cookie into the chocolate mixture.
  • Cool on wax paper until chocolate mixture hardens.

Tamy

Wordless


CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURES!

The people that owned this car came out to get in in while I was taking the picture – how embarrassing! They were good sports about it though when I explained why I was taking it. They also told me they had driven from 95 miles away and it was still intact. They live on a large piece of land with several vehicles and lots of trees so all of their vehicles look similar they said.

Tamy

Give Me Five ways to fit exercise into your life

The Give-Me-Five Monday meme is hosted by Becca and is designed to share fun information in a short list. This week’s topic was suggested by Joyce at Mom’s Musings.

Give Me Five ways to fit exercise into your life.

  1. Start by rearranging your schedule so you make time for 30 minutes of exercise each day. You can always find 30 minutes if you try hard enough!
  2. Walk the dogs around the block or a couple of blocks.
  3. Take several quick trips up and down the stairs several times a day.
  4. Park as far away from the entrance to any store as possible.
  5. Do leg lifts or free weights for your arms while you’re watching TV at night.

Tamy

National Ice Cream Month and National Blueberry Month

LEMON ICE CREAM with BLUEBERRY SAUCE

ICE CREAM

5+ medium lemons (3/4 cup +1 teaspoon for sauce)
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
12 egg yolks, save the whites for a great omelet
2 cups heavy cream

  • Juice lemons until you have 3/4 cup of juice.

  • Zest lemon peels until you have 2 tablespoons. Be sure to zest only the bright yellow as the insides are more bitter.

  • Chill the juice.

  • In a small saucepan, heat the milk over a medium heat until it begins to bubble.

  • In a larger saucepan whisk the sugar, salt and lemon peel into the egg yolks. until well blended.

  • Gradually whisk in the warmed milk mixture. Cook and stir continuously with a wooden spoon over medium heat until mixture thickens (about 15 minutes).

  • Transfer to a large bowl and immediately cool the custard mixture by placing the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water for 5 minutes or so. Stir constantly while it is cooling.

  • Add in the lemon juice.

  • Freeze according the manufacturers directions.

BLUEBERRY SAUCE

2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 cups fresh blueberries

  • Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Stir in the water and lemon juice until all dissolved.

  • Add blueberries and cook over medium heat until bubbly and starts to thicken.

  • Cook a few minutes more until desired thickness.

  • Transfer to a pitcher and bring to room temperature before serving.

Tamy

Menu Plan Monday

MONDAY ~ Taco Ring Salad
TUESDAY ~ Sweet & Tangy Chicken & Salad
WEDNESDAY ~ Chicken Marsala & Salad
THURSDAY ~ Hot Dogs & Chili
FRIDAY ~ Chicken Noodle Bake & Salad
SATURDAY ~ CORN*
SUNDAY ~ Seafood Salad & Parmesan Rolls

*Clean Out Refrigerator Night ~ I found this over at Home Ec 101 and thought it was a great acronym that needed sharing.

I do the memes: Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie, Favorite Ingredient Friday hosted by Kathryn at Overwhelmed with Joy, Freezer Food Friday hosted by MJ at mjpuzzlemom, Scrumptious Sunday hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks, Tasty Thursday hosted by Pumpkin Patch, Watchin’ What We Eat hosted by Lorie at Honey I Shrank Myself and Slow Cooking Thursday hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Doing them all make great additions to help keeping me on track and finding so new recipes!

Tamy

Scrumptious Sunday collides with Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday – Picnic Edition


BONUS SCRUMPTIOUS SUNDAY

Watchin’ What We Eat Wednesday hosted by Lorie at Honey I Shrank Myself
It is National Blueberry Month!
BLUEBERRY PUDDING CAKE with LEMON SAUCE
My great aunt Louise made this for me every 4th of July when the family would land on their doorstep for a pool party, BBQ and fireworks.

CAKE
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Jumbo egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Grease 9 inch baking dish.
  • stir together water, lemon juice, cornstarch and 1/2 of sugar in a small saucepan.
  • Add blueberries.
  • Bring to a slow simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
  • In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar.
  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg, milk, butter and vanilla until well blended.
  • Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture and blend quickly until just combined.
  • Spread evenly in pan.
  • Top with blueberry mixture evenly.
  • Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and top is golden.
  • Top with lemon sauce and serve.

SAUCE

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon flour+
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon butter
Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the water and beat vigorously. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and butter. Cook 2 more minutes. If too thin sprinkle in a bit more Wondra flour until desired consistency is reached.

Swap Day Galore!

I received these wonderful boxes on the same day!!
What a great treat!!

Breanna was my partner for the My Favorite Things Swap. She sent me this awesome box of her favorite things. We must have more in common than we thought, because they are my favorite things too. She is about to make a major household move, so I thought it absolutely amazing how organized she must be to do a swap in the middle of it! Speaking of organization, she sent me this awesome leather organizer, which I so desperately need for my desk. I have been looking for something just like it for weeks! There is also a copy of Real Simple, one of my favorite magazines for ideas AND to make it more special she started me a subscription, which is sooooooo wonderful as I hadn’t started a new one since we moved! There was also a copy of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and I haven’t read it yet, some Hot Cocoanut Victoria’s Secret lip gloss, a bottle of my absolutely favorite Aveeno Moisturzing Lotion, a superbly decadent and YUMMY package of Ghiradeli Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter squares, a box of Crystal Light Cherry Pomegranate Immunity vitamin enhanced drink mixes which will be great for this immunity challenged girl, the cutest little post-it note book (I’m addicted too Breanna!, you should see my stash, but I didn’t have one of these adorable books!), a package of my favorite Pilot retractable gel ink rolling ball pens, an awesome Initial book mark, some great felt flowers that I will build a project around and some adorable thank you cards of which she will get the first one! I too am addicted to cards and notes Breanna! One of the things I loved the most were her sweet little notes explaining everything!

Ceekay was my partner for the Sweet Goodness Parasols, Pink Lemonade & Polka Dots swap. Ceekay sent me this fun box with a terrific straw bag, a 1/2 dozen colorful bath sponges, an adorable drink and parasol trinket tray, refreezable ice cubes in pink, purple, aqua and teal, a pedicure set, a pink polka dot journal, polka dotted post it notes and polka dot pen, a magic towel, Wyler’s Pink Lemonade singles box, pink swirled polka dotted napkins, a ginger lemon air freshener, a set of parasol summer plates with matching polka dot glasses and beautiful silver ice tea spoons, polka dotted paper clips and push pins, Country Time Lemonade hard candy, water squirters and bubbles, polka dotted coasters and cocktail napkins, drink parasols for garnish, canvas art set with paints and wonderful scrap booked frame. Ceekay made the adorable tags too as well as the frame. She loves to scrap book.

Thank you so much to both of you!

Tamy

Camera Critters – Thumper

My Friend Misty started this great meme.
Who can resist critters? Come join us and have some fun.
You can get more information at Camera Critters.


A couple of years ago someone let a couple of
domestic bunnies run loose and we have
had a neighborhood full since.

Thumper chowing down in our neighbor’s yard on some fast growing grass from all our rain!
Now he’s headed over to the shade of a big tree in the park for a nap.

Tamy



Happy Independence Day!

“Posterity – you will never know how much it
cost my generation to preserve your freedom.
I hope you will make good use of it.”

~John Quincy Adams

Tamy