Blueberry Cream Cheese Tartlettes

 "I always end up with plenty of dough left over when I make pie crust.  When the kids were little I would lay them out on a cookie sheet and add cinnamon and sugar and bake them.  I called then Crusties and the kids loved them.  This time I thought I would get creative.  I made this to go with the Santa Fe Pot Pie to finish off the meal and my hubby loved them."

-Recipe by Miss Ivy Breen

My mini muffin pan makes square muffins - yours is probably round.

I lined the pan with the crust and in each one I placed 3-4 fresh blueberries.

Then I went to the hall closet to get my mixer.  Why do I keep my mixer in the hall closet?  Well that's another story.

Using the small mixing bowl, mix the following until smooth:

1 package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
Sweeten to taste
Cinnamon

Pour this mixture into the muffin tins, sprinkle with cinnamon.

 

Bake at 350 degrees until done - about 20 minutes. It's done when a knife inserted comes out clean.

To serve I added a dollop of whip cream.

Santa Fe Pot Pie

 Recipe by Miss Ivy Breen

Ingredients:
1/2 onion -  copped
a little oil
2 lbs hamburger  (you don't have to be too particular with the pounds, just a good size package)
1 lb sausage  (again, don't worry about the exact size)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can kidney or pinto beans
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning

Pie crust - either homemade or store bought
1 can green beans
shredded cheese

Mashed potatoes
A good tablespoon of sour cream and butter
Salt, pepper and any other seasoning you like (I used basil)

In a skillet saute onion with oil until it starts to get translucent.  Add hamburger and sausage and cook until done.  Drain the grease.  Add tomato sauce, salsa and taco seasoning and beans.  Salt and pepper it to your taste.  Set aside

Peel and cube your potatoes and get to boiling.

Make your pie crust or use a premade pie crust. Using a fork, poke holes in the crust and bake it until it is just slightly cooked - about 10-15 minutes, you don't want it to brown at this point, just set up.  Precooking your crust will keep it from being doughy when you layer the meat into it.

Add your meat mixture to the crust

 Layer on the green beans

Top this with grated cheese

When you mash your potatoes, I added lots of Basil seasoning, butter and sour cream.  Whip it good (no pun intended).  Because your meat mixture is so flavorful, I think the mashed potatoes needs to be extra flavorful in order to hold up with the meat flavor so be generous with your seasoning.

 

I then took a spoon and made mounds of potatoes to ring the pot pie with.  Put it back into the 350 degree oven and bake for 1/2 hour to heat through.  I added a dollop of sour cream to the top of each piece when I cut it.  This recipe will serve 6 people and it reheats well if you have leftovers.

The Whip It Good Challenge

Have you seen the movie Julie & Julia?

A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in Julie & Julia, the
true stories of how Julia Child's life and cookbook inspired fledgling writer Julie Powell

to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days.

This movie was adorable and the blogger Julie completely transforms her life by taking the challenge.  

So how about we have our own Whip It Good challenge?  

 

 The challenge is to cook up one of the recipes from the blog each week!  Who's with me?  Feel free to leave a comment about the dish and your experience below the recipe.  Maybe this won't profoundly change our lives like Julie Powell's......but we will be building our arsenal and starting a fun new culinary adventure!

Banana Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

-Recipe by Miss Shannon Staker

Check out Shannon's amazing craft blog Shannon Makes Stuff

"These were sooo good. A great way to use your really ripe banana's besides plain old banana bread. They are really moist and are like a cupcake not a muffin or bread!"

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, bananas and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to banana mixture. Fill 18 paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Now for the Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Frost cupcakes. This is how I did it. I put the frosting in a ziplock bag and cut off one of the corners. Then squeeze it out in a circle starting from the outside edge of the cupcake to the center.

Broccoli Chicken Curry

Recipe by Miss Liz Stark

9 x 9 pan

preheat oven to 350

1 bunch of broccoli

1 can cream of chicken soup condensed

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt-1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)

1/2 cup bread crumbs (italian, or regular)

1 tbsp. melted butter

2 cooked chicken breasts (cut into pieces)

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 tsp curry
1/2 cup grated cheese

*place broccoli pieces in dish with chicken pieces on top
*combine soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry, salt & pepper. pour over chicken.
*sprinkle with grated cheese
*combine bread crumbs with melted butter & sprinkle on top

bake @ 350 for 30 min or until bubbling
serve alone or over pasta

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Recipe by Miss Shelby Shelton

1/2 c. chopped strawberries or strawberry preserves
1/2 c. strawberry cream cheese (softened)
8 slices thick bread (texas toast or french bread)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. milk

Preheat lightly greased skillet. Combine strawberries and cream cheese in a small bowl. Butterfly each slice of bread. Spread 1/4 cup mixture into butterflied bread. Close bread. Combine eggs, milk in a flat bowl. Dip both sides of bread in egg/milk mixture. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar. Garnish with cut strawberries.

Clever Ideas Worth Knowing

Submitted by Miss Christina Vance

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

 

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm.
This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up.
Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.
Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size.
You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster. 

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.