Gourmet Raspberry Rolls with Lemon Vanilla Icing

Recipe from food-of-love-mmm.blogspot.com. I just added lemon extract to the dough of my regular cinnamon roll recipe, and used their filling and icing. So yummy!
Dough:

1 egg
1 c hot water
¼ c sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ c canola oil
½ c cold water
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4-1/2 tsp lemon extract (I added 1/4 last time. Try 1/2 tsp next time.)

3-4 c white flour

Crack egg in mixing bowl. Pour hot water over egg and beat till egg is mixed in well. Add sugar and salt. Mix again a few strokes. Add oil, cold water and mix again. Add yeast and mix again. Let sit for 15 min, then add lemon extract and flour till it looks like a sponge (touch it w/your finger. If you can touch it lightly without sticking too much, it’s good. It’s better if the dough is a little sticky.) Scrape down sides of bowl and cover bowl with a towel. Let it rise 15-20 min, and then punch it down. Repeat the rising and punching. 

Filling:
12 oz pckg frozen raspberries, not thawed (I used fresh)
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp cornstarch

In a medium bowl, toss the raspberries with the sugar and cornstarch. Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the rolled-out dough. Tightly roll up the dough into a long tube and slice with a pizza cutter into 12 pieces (1-1.5" thick). Arrange on a greased cookie sheet cut sides up. This will get messy if using fresh raspberries. Scrape any berries and juice from the work surface into the baking pan between the rolls. Let rise till rolls look bigger (20-30min). Bake at 350° for 15-20 min or until the tops brown slightly. Cool. Drizzle with lemon icing.

Icing:
1 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients until thick and spreadable. Top rolls with icing and enjoy!

Peach-Orange Smoothie (Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

2 c fresh orange juice (or good-quality store-bought)


1 c peach yogurt


2 c frozen sliced peaches


2 Tbsp honey


¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

My smoothie turned out much thicker than the beautiful one pictured on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I would call mine "luxuriously smooth and thick," though. I loved it! I left out the nutmeg at first, and sprinkled a bit in later. I liked it both ways. I don't think it's necessary to measure out the ingredients. Just using this combination of ingredients makes for a great smoothie! 

Peach Slushi (Julie Lloyd)

3 c water

2 c sugar

½ c lemon juice or juice of 3 lemons

20 oz can crushed pineapple

3 c mashed peaches (~7 peaches)

Sprite or 7-Up (¼-½ c per serving)

Bring water and sugar to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Pour lemon juice, pineapple and peaches into a large blender.* Add sugar syrup. Blend well. Pour into quart Ziploc bags (~3-4 c per bag). Freeze. Bring out of freezer about an hour before the meal to soften it (don’t want it rock-hard). Mash with a potato masher or re-blend. Add Sprite or 7-Up. Stir.

*The original recipe stirred the lemon, pineapple and peaches into the sugar syrup. Frozen portions were divided into bowls, Sprite poured on top, and served with a spoon. My family liked the blended version better.

Valentine Fruit

Many fruits make great heart shapes: strawberries, kiwi, bananas, apples, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, etc. Just slice and cut with a small, metal cookie cutter or shape with a sharp knife.

Most sliced strawberries are naturally shaped like hearts. Some slices were too large and didn't look very "hearty" so I used a small cookie cutter on those.

Kiwis also make great hearts!

My bananas were too small for the cookie cutter, so I shaped them by hand with a knife (a little time-consuming. Combine all 3 for a yummy fruit salad!

Healthy Hearts (Family Fun)

The only negative is that watermelon is not in season during February, so ours didn't taste very yummy (the kids gobbled it up and ate tons more, but I didn't love it). The oranges on the other hand, were delicious!

Apple Dippers and Yogurt

Slice an apple so the seeds are in the center of the circle. Cut out the seed part with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Serve both pieces with strawberry yogurt for dipping. (We didn't like to eat the pretty star-shaped centers, but used the center as a little handle for dipping.)

Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip & Chips (Our Best Bites)

I halved this recipe from Our Best Bites' version.

Fruit (tart Granny Smith apples)

4 oz cream cheese (you can use light)

3/8 c brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

A pinch of nutmeg

¾ tsp vanilla (you can add more to taste)

Toffee bits (look by the chocolate chips)

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla with an electric mixer. When ready to serve, stir in about ¼ a bag of toffee bits with more sprinkled on top. Serve in a hollow pumpkin with the spooky cinnamon chips and fresh fruit.

Cinnamon Chips

Flour tortillas

Butter, melted

Butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon sugar

Metal Halloween cookie cutters

Flour tortillas

Butter, melted

Butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon sugar

Metal Halloween cookie cutters

Preheat oven to 350°. Brush one side of each tortilla with melted butter. Cut into Halloween shapes and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle shapes with cinnamon sugar. Optional: spray over cinnamon with cooking spray. Bake 8-10 min. Repeat with any remaining tortilla shapes. Allow to cool ~10 min.

Healthy Halloween Snacks

Orange Pumpkin Treats (Blue Skies Ahead)

Insert a slice of celery into an orange.

Banana Ghosts (anotherlunch.com)

My bananas were overripe, but still cute with their mini chocolate chip eyes.

Halloween Sandwiches

Since cookie cutters aren't sharp, I placed them on top of my bologna and cheese sandwiches, then used a sharp knife to do the cutting. I took one for the team and ate the left-over sandwich scraps.

Jack o' Lantern Quesadillas  (inspirationforcelebration)

Stack multiple tortillas and cut out the face with a sharp knife. Lay out the same number of tortillas, add grated cheese, then topped them with the jack o' lantern faces. Bake in a 450° oven for about 2 minutes, but watch closely so the top doesn't burn. They are done when the cheese is melted.

Apple Cranberry Sour Cream Pie (Emily Koller)

The flavors in this pie are amazing! I'm not a pie lover, but I will go for this pie served warm with ice cream on top. Oh wow!


1 egg
1 c sour cream
1 c sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
2 -2½ large cooking apples
1 c cranberries
½ c flour
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ c butter
1/8 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Beat egg slightly. Add sour cream, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla & salt. Peal and cut apples in thin slices (to help it bake evenly). Wash & drain cranberries. Add apples & cranberries to sour cream mixture and pour into pie crust. Place pie on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (the pie ends up full and will spill over). Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly but moist. Stir in walnuts. Spoon mixture onto pie and press lightly. Cook on bottom rack for 10 min at 425°. Reduce heat to 350° and bake for 50 min. If the top of the pie starts to get too dark, cover it with foil for the last several min. Makes 1 pie.

Whole Fruit Strawberry Syrup (Jennifer Lund)

I created this recipe in search of a low-sugar, tasty option for syrup. I love that it is almost all fruit! Simply mashing the fruit didn't hit the spot - it still needed to be cooked into syrup. The results are delicious!

5 c strawberries, tops cut off

1¼ c sugar

1 c water

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Blend strawberries and sugar (should be ~3 cups). Add water and cornstarch. Blend. Pour into a large pot and boil for 2 minutes.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (Betty Crocker)

¼ c butter

½ c brown sugar, packed

7-9 slices pineapple, drained

7-9 maraschino cherries without stems (optional)

1¼ c white flour

1 c sugar

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¾ c milk

1/3 c shortening

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350°. Melt butter over low heat in a 9x1.5” round layer pan or in a 9” square pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Place pineapple slice in center of pan. Arrange remaining slices around middle pineapple. Place a cherry inside each pineapple ring. Prepare cake batter. Pour evenly over fruit in pan. Bake 35-45 min or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert onto plate. Leave pan over cake a few min. Serve warm.

Rainbow Fruit Kebabs

10” Skewers

Assorted fruit in the colors of the rainbow:

Red - watermelon balls, strawberries, or cherries


Orange - orange sections, cantaloupe balls, mango, or papaya


Yellow - pineapple cubes or banana slices


Green - green grapes, honeydew melon balls, or kiwi fruit slices


Blue - large whole blueberries


Purple – purple grapes or cubed plums



Clean and cut fruit and place in separate bowls if you want the kids to make their own Rainbow Ribbons. Place fruit on skewers in order listed to make a rainbow.

Serve extra fruit on a tray in rainbow order.

Green Smoothie (Vitamix)

A.K.A. "Leprechaun Smoothie"

St. Patrick's Day was a good excuse to get my family to try green smoothies. This was a big hit even after I told the kids about the spinach! (I did have them try it first.)

¼ of a pineapple (without the core*)

1 large bunch of green grapes

1 banana

2 cups fresh spinach

1 mango (optional – I didn’t have one)

1 scoop natural vanilla ice cream like Breyers (optional)

1/2 c ice

1/2 -1 c cold water

Blend all ingredients in a Vitamix until smooth.

*Including the pineapple core gave it a coarser (pulpy) texture.

Strawberry Syrup

1 c sugar

1 c water

1½ c strawberries, chopped

In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Gradually add chopped strawberries and return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pancakes or waffles.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars (melskitchencafe.com)

These cheesecake bars were divine! I have decreased the cream cheese layer in my recipe below. Mel's original recipe for that layer is double what I listed here.

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, finely chopped

2 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 c firmly packed light brown sugar

1 c all-purpose flour

½ tsp cinnamon

½ c quick cooking oats

½ c butter, softened

Base:

2 c all-purpose flour

½ c firmly packed brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1 c butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer: (½ of original recipe)

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened

¼ c sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 c caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9x13” baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 min or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with ½ cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set. Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

Caramel Sauce:

4 Tbsp butter

1 c firmly packed light brown sugar

½ c half-and-half, cream, or evaporated milk

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, dairy, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5-7 min, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.

Apple Tort Cake (Beverly Nye - OH)

This cake was delectably moist. The hot caramel was de-lish! Ice cream added just the right touch.

2 c sugar

½ c butter

2 eggs

4 c grated apples (I used Honeycrisp)

2 c flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 c chopped nuts (I omitted)

¼ tsp salt (I’ll add next time)

Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat well. Add apples and dry ingredients. Mix. Bake in 9x13” glass pan at 350° for 45 min. Drizzle caramel topping over top.

Caramel Topping

2 Tbsp butter

2/3 c brown sugar, packed

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 c evaporated milk

½ tsp vanilla

Heat butter in 2 quart saucepan until melted. Stir in brown sugar, salt and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil while stirring for several minutes if topping needs to thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Apple Butter

This apple butter is the most divine thing I've ever tasted! Well, for apple butter, that is. For the record, there is no butter in "apple butter." It should really be called "apple jam." The first batch I made turned out really dark (left) the second really light (right). I might have added some jonathan apples in the first batch. I know I cooked that one longer and added more sugar. But my preference is the second, lighter batch. Here is that recipe:

*This made 5.5 pints of apple butter. Since the canner fits 7 pints, the parentheses show the amounts I'll be trying next time to make 7 pints.

5.5 lb apples, peeled, cored, chopped* (try 7 lb)

2 c white sugar (keep at 2c?)

2 tsp ground cinnamon (try 2.5 tsp)

¼ tsp ground cloves (try ½ tsp)

¼ tsp salt

Prepare apples** and place in a slow cooker (I start with 2 slow cookers and combine when the apples are cooked down enough to fit in one). Stir in sugar, spices and salt. Cover and cook on high 2 hours. Reduce heat to low and cook 5-6 hours more, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. If needed (if mixture is too runny), uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk (or handheld blender) to increase smoothness. Spoon mixture into hot pint-sized jars leaving ¼” head space. Add lids and rings and process in hot water bath 20 minutes.

*I used Golden Delicious apples. I weighed them before peeling and coring. (1^st attempt: 3# after peeling and coring made 3 pints. 2^nd attempt 5.5 lb before peel & core = 5.5 pints.)

**Rather than peeling and coring the apples, you can quarter them, cook them in an inch of water in a pot on the stove until soft and run them through a food strainer, or in other words, make applesauce first and then cook it down.

Grapesicles

What do you do with your grapes when you have too many?
"Grapesicles" is one of my favorite treats! It brings me back to my growing up years, and for some reason I think of my sister Nancy. Maybe we froze grapes together?

I don't know that I can really call this a "recipe" since there's no mixing of anything involved. Simply wash your grapes, lay them out on a small cookie sheet or dish (big enough to fit in your freezer) and freeze. Serve these for an after school snack or any time. I keep my extras in a Pyrex bowl with a lid in the freezer. They keep for a really long time this way.

I love, love, love grapesicles!

You might be able to spot the few Concord grapes on the left. I think those tasted even better than the generic green grapes I love so much. I was happily surprised by that.