This is such an easy recipe to make and you will get rave reviews from your guests.

I do not like pies with graham cracker crusts.  I enjoy graham crackers, but not in a crust.  I don’t know why.  This pie has a pecan crust.  Can you imagine?  I love pecans!  This pie has pecans and butter mixed together to make the crust.

This pie is great for summer gatherings.  The only problem is that it needs refrigeration.   I always hate taking a dessert that needs refrigeration to someone’s house because I never know if they will have enough room in their refrigerator.  I tend to save those types of desserts for when people come to my house.

Kansas City Mud Pie

Source: Kraft Foods

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups finely chopped PLANTERS Pecans

3/4 cup  flour

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

2-2/3 cups cold milk

2 pkg.  (4-serving size each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

 Instructions

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix pecans, flour and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 20 min. Cool.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer until well blended. Gently stir in 1-1/2 cups of the whipped topping; spread over crust. Beat milk and dry pudding mixes with wire whisk 2 min. or until welll blended. Spoon over cream cheese layer.

REFRIGERATE several hours or until set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen dessert; remove rim. Top pie with remaining whipped topping just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Yesterday, I told you about the cupcakes that I made from scratch for Easter.  I hadn’t planned on making them, but another dessert not turning out caused me to do so.  I topped my made from scratch cup cakes with buttercream frosting.

This frosting is much like the buttercream frosting that is used on decorated cakes.  The difference is the recipe that I used for decorated cakes frosting is the addition of shortening.

As a child, I decorated cakes.  We didn’t have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer like I have now.  I had to beat all the icing with a hand mixer.  My Mom complained that I had frosting all over the kitchen cabinets, walls and floor.   I think the stand mixers help with that problem.  Stand mixers definitely make mixing things much easier.

Buttercream Frosting

Source: Pillsbury

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter, softened (margarine is not recommended)

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla (I like to use almond extract instead)

2 to 4 T of half-and-half or milk

Instructions

In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy.  Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well.  Beat in vanilla and half-and-half, adding enough half-and-half for desired spreading consistency.

I made a cupcakes from scratch for Easter. It really wasn’t that difficult to do. It took a little longer than making a cake from the box. It was kind of fun making a cake the way my grandmother made hers.  It has been several years since I made a cake from scratch.

I also made the icing from scratch.  I used a basic butter-cream icing, but instead of using vanilla extract, I used almond extract.  I have always liked the way that almond extract tastes and I love the smell.

I think the cupcakes were a hit and having the almond extract in the icing, was a surprise to the taste buds.

Basic Yellow Cake

Source: Pillsbury

Ingredients

2 1/2  cups all purpose flour

3 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

3 eggs

1 cup milk

Instructions

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8 or 9″ round cake pans.  In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  In large bowl, beat sugar and margarine until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs; blend well.  Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beating well after each addition.   Spread batter evenly in greased and flour pans.

Bake for 27 t0 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans.  Cool completely.  Fill and frost as desired.

I am taking dessert to my family’s gathering for Easter.   I decided to take my Magic Peach Cobbler as well as a Triple Chocolate Cherry cake.  As I was making the peach cobbler, I realized that I bought the wrong type of peaches.  I purchased peach pie filling instead of regular canned peaches.  I decided to use them anyway.  I rinsed off the peaches and placed them in the dessert.  As the dessert baked it really smelled delicious. I checked on it once and it looked fine.  I was shocked when the timer went off.  The dessert turned a dark brown.  It is not suitable to take anywhere.  I tried it and thought it tasted burned.  My husband said it tastes fine.  It looks terrible.  I should take a photo of it for you to see.

I had to scramble to figure out what else to make.  I found a recipe for a basic cake.  Imagine that, I made a cake from scratch.  Actually, I decided to make cupcakes with butter-cream icing.  The problem is that the only cupcake holders I have are from Thanksgiving.  I live too far from the store to buy new ones, so I went ahead and used them. I’m sure I will be teased for using them.   I’m concerned that the cupcakes may have been baked too long.  My husband ate one and said it was fine.  I hope so.

I added too many eggs to my Triple Chocolate Cherry cake.  I noticed that last time the batter was more like a brownie and this time it is more like a cake.  That is why I am calling it a cake and not bars.  I hope it will be okay.

Hope everyone else had a better day in the kitchen than I did.

I found a recipe in the All You Magazine last year for making hard-boiled eggs, so I guess I’m not the only one who had issues making them.   Yes, I used to have a hard time making hard-boiled eggs.  I used to boil the eggs in hot water, but that makes them rubbery.  This recipe works every time for me.

This is what I do.  I place eggs in a single layer in a sauce pan.  Cover the top of the eggs with an inch of water.  Place a lid on the pot and heat over medium heat.  Remove the pan from the heat as soon as the water starts to boil.  Let stand for 15 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, if you want soft boiled eggs then the time is 1-4 minutes.  Drain the water from the pan and then run cold water over the eggs.  I do this until the egg is cooled.  I then refrigerate until I am ready to serve the eggs. That’s it.  The shells do not seem to crack doing it this way.

Good luck and enjoy!

 (Photo Courtesy of Betty Crocker)

Aren’t these cupcakes cute?  When I first looked at the picture, I thought that they looked very complicated to make.  I read the instructions and they seem easier to make than I first thought.  I think the hardest part will be making the bunny ears and that doesn’t seem that difficult. It may take a few practice cuts since you will be cutting marshmallows.

Can you imagine the squeals that you will hear when the children at your Easter gathering see these?  The woman will all say “Oh, isn’t that cute?  You made these?  No, you didn’t, you bought them.”  You will just smile and say that you made them in your own kitchen and it was easy.

Bunny Cupcakes

Source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow or white cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
Pink food color
2 containers Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting
5 large marshmallows
Pink sugar
Candy decorations and sprinkles, as desired

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make and cool cake as directed on box for 24 cupcakes.
2. Stir a few drops pink food color into 1 container of frosting. Frost cupcakes with pink frosting.
3. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoonful white frosting on center of each cupcake. To make ears, cut each large marshmallow crosswise into 5 pieces with kitchen scissors. Using scissors, cut through center of each marshmallow piece to within 1/4 inch of edge. Separate to look like bunny ears; press 1 side of cut edges into pink sugar, flattening slightly. Arrange on each of the white frosting mounds as shown. Use candy decorations and sprinkles to make eyes, nose and whiskers as shown. Store loosely covered.

Do you dye eggs for Easter?  I haven’t done it in years, but I used to enjoy doing it.  I’m pretty sure that if I had children, we would be dyeing eggs this weekend.

So, after all those eggs are dyed, what do you do with them?  I think as a child we would eat hard-boiled eggs for at least a week after Easter.  I hate to think how long those eggs sat out without being refrigerated.

Here are a few things you can do with the leftover eggs:

1) slice up the egg for a salad

2) make egg salad

3) turn them into deviled eggs

4) try Scotch eggs - Hard-boiled eggs are wrapped in sausage, breaded, and deep-fried. Great for breakfast or as an appetizer

5) pickled eggs - not my favorite, but many people like them.

My favorite is just eating a hard-boiled egg as a snack.

What do you do with your hard-boiled eggs?

Since it is less than a week before Easter, I am now scrambling to figure out what I will take to my family’s get together.  I ran across this recipe on the Pillsbury site and thought that the rabbits were really cute.  I have not made these before, but they look pretty easy.  There is a diagram at the bottom of the page to show you how to do it.

I really do not like rolling out sugar cookies, but I love the look of them.  This is not a roll out cookie, but it just got me thinking about them.  I wish that I wasn’t so lazy.  I used to do the roll out cookies when I was younger.  I also used to decorate cakes, but not any more.  I need some of my youth back.

(Photo Courtesy of Pillsbury)

Rabbit Cookies

Source: Pillsbury

INGREDIENTS:

Have you ever noticed that when you eat at a buffet that you eat things that you normally don’t eat?   Sure you may eat special foods that you don’t normally keep in your house such as shrimp, fried clams and things of that sort but that is not what I am talking about.  I am talking about pudding and jello.

Last Friday night, hubby and I were camping and we went to the camping lodge for dinner.  It was a buffet.  I knew that hubby would eat the shrimp, clams, catfish, salad and potatoes.  I was surprised when he came back to the table and said that he thought he saw some chocolate pudding and orange jello on the buffet, but now he couldn’t find it.  I reminded him that he never eats jello and that we had some chocolate pudding back in the motor home.  He said he wanted to eat if off the buffet.  I thought that was odd and then I started thinking about the things that I eat on a buffet that I normally don’t eat at home.  Are you the same way?  What is it about a buffet that makes us eat things we normally wouldn’t?

My dogs love the frozen treats that are sold in the grocery store.  I used to buy them all the time for Jack.  After I adopted Scout, I found that it was just too expensive.  It was always expensive, but adding a second dog really made it so.  I started making my own treats for them and they love them.  All I have to say is “Frosty” and Scout starts crying.  She wants it now!

I purchased small plastic containers that are freezer safe for the treats.   The containers are reusable, so it’s perfect.  I noticed that yogurt just went up in price.  It was $2.07 and now it is $2.48.  It is still a bigger savings than buying the frozen treats in the store which come out to about $.97 each treat and the ones I make are a little more than $.20 each.  I’m not sure the exact cost because I have never figured out the cost per tablespoon of peanut butter.

Ingredients

1 large container of Dannon Vanilla Yogurt (2 lb)

2 Tablespoons of peanut butter

If your dogs like fruit such as bananas, throw that in.  Scout likes it, but Jack will not eat bananas.

Instructions

Place half of the yogurt in blender, add peanut butter and then add remaining yogurt.  Blend well.  Pour into containers and freeze.

I have found that the Dannon yogurt blends faster than the generic yogurt I had been using.  I actually am able to make 12-14 treats from the Dannon yogurt as opposed to the 10 treats I was getting from the generic yogurt.

Watch your dogs enjoy their homemade treat.