Category Archives: 4th of July

BLT Bites

Posted on March 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Last month my brother-in-law and his fiancée got married. I’m sure Michelle got lots of advice on wedding related things, but I told her my most important piece of advice is to make sure she gets a plate of food set aside for her to bring home! I didn’t get to eat anything at my wedding reception, though I hear the food was fabulous!

Well this time I wasn’t the bride, just a bridesmaid. So I got to eat! There were many yummy things but there was one thing that stood out. It was so unassuming, these little tomatoes on a platter. I didn’t get one because I wasn’t sure what they were stuffed with and my plate was already full! My mom got a few though and she told me to try one. Heavenly! They taste exactly like little bite-sized BLTs, full of creamy bacon flavor. I went back for more for myself and they were all gone A few days later I went off in search of a recipe to make them and found it on Taste of Home’s website. It was a huge hit at a jewelry party I had, I can’t wait to make them (and eat them!) again!

BLT Bites

BLT Bites
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:
1 package grape or cherry tomatoes, washed
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

Carefully cut off the tops of the tomatoes and very carefully scoop out the insides. Give a little thought beforehand to how you’re going to scoop them out – I used the round part on a jalapeno corer. You don’t want to tear the outside of the tomato and you don’t want to scoop all the way through.
Place all the tomatoes on a plate and put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped and mixed. If the filling is too “firm” then add a little more mayonnaise and mix well.
Scoop into a ziploc bag fitted with an icing piping attachment (or just make a small hole in the tip of the bag) and gently squeeze the filling into the tomatoes.
Cover the tray and place in the refrigerator a few hours to firm up.
Serve cold.

Scooped-out tomatoes

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Posted in 4th of July, Appetizers, Birthday Party, Christmas, Easter, Holiday, Mardi Gras, Menu Ideas, New Years, Thanksgiving

Flag Cake

Posted on July 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last week was July 4th so I felt like baking something fun and patriotic. My decision on what to make was done when I saw the flag cake on Crafty Mama blog. It was not your typical flag cake.

At first I was intrigued. How on Earth did she do that?? Then after reading the instructions, it made sense. I had to try it for myself. I didn’t do anything from scratch. I figured it would take enough time to create, so I just used store-bought cake mix and frosting. It was a success, everyone loved it!

I didn’t take step-by-step pictures, which you need to make this. So rather than write out how to do it, I’ll just direct you over to Crafty Mama.

Flag Cake

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Posted in 4th of July, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts, Holiday

Oven Hot Dogs

Posted on January 19, 2011 | 2 Comments

Hello, my name is Christen and I’m a hot dog-a-holic. I don’t know what it is, I could be planning to cook a nice steak dinner but if I see a hot dog? It’s all over. I gotta have one. It’s like a sickness.

So that’s pretty much what happened this past Sunday. I was surfing the net, looking at blogs and trying to decide what to cook for dinner that night because Sundays are our “cheat days” at our house. I saw a picture for oven hot dogs. Search over. I had never had one before and now, this is how I will always cook my hot dogs. The bun gets sort of crisp (not hard though). I recently had some dental work done so I was scared to bite into it and cut mine with a knife and fork but no matter, it was still amazing. AMAZING. Let’s just let the picture speak for itself. (see picture below recipe.)

Oven Hot Dogs
Inspired By: In the Wabe

Ingredients:
8 hot dogs (I use the nitrate free ones)
8 hot dog buns
1 recipe hot dog chili (or you can use the canned stuff, whatever floats your boat)
Mayo – lots of it
Mustard – we used coarse ground variety
shredded cheese
diced onions

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

Line a 9×13 casserole with foil. Spread mayo generously on the inside of the buns, then to each add a hot dog, a squirt of mayo, a generous helping of the chili, lots of cheese and some onions. Squeeze them into the dish, and kind of smoosh down so your cheese doesn’t get stuck to the foil you’re going to put on top. And that’s the next step, cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes (seriously) then remove and use a spatula to remove them. Sigh in pleasure after your first bite.

Oven Hot Dogs

Note: If there are other toppings you like, feel free to add those too!

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Posted in 4th of July, Casserole, Holiday, Pork, Soups, Stews, Chili and Gumbo

Red, White and Blue Tart

Posted on July 5, 2010 | 1 Comment

So no cooking blog is complete without the post about a red, white and blue dessert, right?? Well you won’t find that jiggly jello mold stuff here, something about my food jiggling just skeeves me out. I’m more of a tart type of person. And this tart definitely delivered the goods. The custard tasted somewhat like that of a tart-a-la-bouille pie. The crust was just perfect, even if I DID forget to add the walnuts! This was a pretty easy recipe to make, though my abnormally large tart pan did present a challenge or two! I think a standard size one might have to be on the wish list soon!

It was so good that there is only one slice left…and it’s got my name on it!

Red,White and Blue Tart
Sources: Tart Dough - Williams-Sonoma, Pastry Cream - Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Custard/Pastry Cream:
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

Tart Dough:
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp VERY cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, cut into cubes
1 Hershey’s chocolate bar
2 tbsp nuts, ground (optional)

Fruit of your choice for topping

Method:

Custard/Pastry Cream:
Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, yolks and salt. Whisk in cornstarch, 1 tbsp at a time.

Bring milk and 1/4 cup sugar to a simmer, whisk a little of the milk mixture into the egg mixture to slowly warm it up. Slowly add in the rest, whisking the whole time. Return to the pot and bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thickened.

Remove from heat, whisking until very thick and cooling, about 2-3 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl, press plastic wrap onto the surface and refrigerate until completely chilled at least 1 hour.

Tart Dough:
Preheat oven to 400.

Stir together the egg yolk, vanilla and water – set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat beater, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and beat on med-low speed until coarse with butter no larger than small peas. Add the egg mix until the dough pulls together.

Transfer to a floured work surface and roll into a ball. Flatten with a disk and gently press into a greased tart pan. Cover with foil, pressing the foil to mimic the shape of the tart and add rice, dry beans or baking beads on top. Bake 20 minutes, remove the foil/rice and prick with a fork all over the surface. Continue baking another 5-10 minutes until golden brown.

Once cooled some, melt the chocolate bar and spread lightly over the crust. This will prevent the crust from getting soggy once the custard is on it.

Allow to cool completely before filling with the pastry cream and topping with the fruit. Keep refrigerated.