Just sharing a picture of the birthday cake I did this morning. It’s Olaf, from the movie Frozen. He is so goofy and cute. The cake is actually made up of cupcakes. The little birthday girl was here this morning with her mom, to pick up the cake and she was happy! That of course made ME happy. Happy Birthday Sophia !!!

I have a confession……I am addicted to the game Frozen. I play it all of the time on my ipad. Silly game, but relaxing. hahahahaha.

Don’t you just love the zestiness of sun dried tomatoes? M-mmmmm-m. I love them. I love a good sun dried tomato pesto. There are so many things to do with pesto, but I like it as a snack with some good crackers. Then of course you have to have a nice glass of wine too. OHHHHH yesssss. I know most pesto’s are made with basil. I think I am the only person out there that doesn’t like basil. Cannot stand it! So, when I make a pesto that calls for basil, I will replace it with arugula or spinach. Yep. But that’s just me. You just go ahead and add all the basil you want.

Sun dried Tomato Pesto

1 cup of sun dried tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil, spinach or arugula (I left it out altogether in this recipe)
2 cloves of fresh garlic
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup olive oil ( I use LIGHT olive oil)

In a food processor, chop the tomatoes till very fine and crumbly. Add everything else. Blend till smooth. How easy is that!!!??

Eat it as a dip, mix it with pasta, mix a spoonful in your mashed potatoes, or mix with scrambled eggs, stuff a chicken breast…..So many things to do with it, I’m tellin ya……

I really like making coffee cakes. There is so much you can do with them. Some coffee cakes have fruit, some have the crumbly sugary topping, some have the drizzled glaze. I like mine pretty simple. Both of the cakes here, are both my basic go to coffee cake recipe, but one has dried sour cherries, and the other has fresh blueberries. Both have a powdered sugar glaze. Both are very good. If you can’t find dried cherries, you may want to try dried cranberries. But I love the tartness of the dried cherries. So yummy.

Dried Cherry Coffee Cake:

Blueberry Coffee Cake:

Dried Cherry or Blueberry Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of fresh blueberries, raspberries,  or your favorite dried fruit

Cream butter, sugar and egg. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Alternately add the milk and the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.  Gently fold in fruit. Butter or spray a 9×13 baking dish and spread batter evenly. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Or pour batter into a bundt pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or when done. allow to cool and then drizzle with a glaze.

Glaze

2 cups of powdered sugar
milk or water

Mix enough milk or water into your powdered sugar until you get your desired consistency. Drizzle over the cake. Alllow to set up for  a bit.

Just sharing pictures of some cute little jungle critter cookies I painted. I love painting cookies….so relaxing and fun. These are for a baby shower order. I hope they like them!
Hope you do too! Check out my other cookies I have painted, on my Pinterest page (see the red P below) or you can browse pictures here on my blog too, found in the COOKIES tab. I will be painting Halloween cookies soon! Stay tuned.
Happy October!
 

There are so many different kinds of dumplings out there. There are Polish Pierogies, Chinese dumplings, Mexican empanadas, Indian Samosa, Japanese Gyoza, Italian Ravioli. Little stuffed wrappers of goodness. They are steamed, pan fried, baked, boiled, deep fried…..but whatever the method, they are so satisfying and delicious. I love them all. You can stuff them with just about anything! My favorite though, is meat filled dumplings, boiled in a hot chili sauce. OH! wait…no, I take that back. My favorite is lightly fried meat dumplings, then steamed at the last minute. Yes. So good. Here are some ideas for fillings:

-cream cheese and bacon
-cream cheese and crab
-cream cheese and jalapeno
-ground pork/beef and potato
-veggie filling…..bean sprouts, broccoli, spinach, zucchini etc
-potato and cheese
-taco meat and cheese (one of my favorites) served with sour cream and salsa
-ground pork/beef and green onion

See what I mean?? The possibilities are endless! Aren’t you excited? You can roll them up or leave the tops open, as I did here.
The ones pictured here are a mixture of ground pork and ground beef.

Pan Fried/Steamed Meat Dumplings

Packaged won ton wrappers (found at most grocery stores) there are about 50 wrappers in 1 pkg.
1 lb ground pork and beef (use whatever ratio you want)
2 green onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch (helps the wrapper stick to the filling)

Mix the meat, onion, garlic, corn starch and soy together. Lay the won ton wrappers out, and place a heaping teaspoon of meat mixture in the center of each wrapper.
For the open top method:
Bring up 2 opposite sides and the the other 2 sides. Using your fingertips, gently squish all sides together around the mound of filling mixture. Slightly press down so the bottom is flat. Repeat.
For the rolled enclosed method:
Slightly shape your mixture into a little oblong. Bring 2 opposite sides up on top of mixture. Roll from the bottom of the wrapper to the top. Dab the top corner of wrapper with water to seal it to the dumpling.
Into a skillet, pour approx. 3 tablespoons of oil, on medium heat. Place the dumplings in there and cover the pan. Cook until the bottoms are lightly browned. CAREFULLY and quickly pour in about ¼ cup of water. Quickly put the lid back on. They will cook quickly…just a couple of minutes. Remove from pan and they are ready to eat.
Note: for the open top dumplings, sometimes the wrappers will come apart from the filling. It’s ok! just eat them anyway. 🙂

Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
grated fresh ginger
hot chili paste, to taste… optional