Birthday Cookie Celebration

Today is my Birthday and to help me celebrate some of my blogging friends have shared their cookie recipes with me.  Please click on the name of the cookie so you too can visit each blog and see these delicious treats!  Thank you ladies for making my day so special!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing by Simply Gloria

Take4 Chocolate Pudding Cookies by Frugal Foodie Mama 

Vanilla Pudding Snickerdoodles by Mom's test Kitchen

Best Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies by A little CLAIREification

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries by Cooking on the front burner

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies by Cooking with Curls

Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies by It Bakes Me Happy

Almond Crunch Cookies by Call Me PMC

Mom's Thumbprint Cookies by My Life as Robin's Wife

Monster Cookies  by The Mandatory Mooch

Brownie Waffle Sundae

Happy Birthday Emily.  I made this Brownie Waffle Sundae for my blogging friend Emily.  She is celebrating her birthday on her blog It Bakes Me Happy with a brownie recipe round up.  Make sure to go over to Emily's blog to see all the wonderful brownie recipes (click here to go to Emily's blog)

This brownie sundae was super easy to make.  I used a boxed brownie mix that was for a 9 x 13 pan.  I made the brownies according to the package directions.  After mixing up the batter, I heated up my waffle iron.  When it was ready I spayed the waffle iron (both sides) with Pam cooking spray.  For my waffle iron it said to use 3/4 C batter.  I put the batter on my waffle iron and cooked until it was done.  It was a little tricky to get off the iron so I unplugged mine and then flipped the brownie waffle out onto a plate.  My mix made 3 1/2 waffles.

To assemble my Brownie Waffle Sundae I scooped on a big scoop of ice cream, poured melted caramel sauce over ice cream and brownie, added whipped topping and blue sprinkles.  You can use any topping or sprinkles that you wish.

Easy Apple Dumplings and a Giveaway

This recipe was given to me by my friend Brenda D.  I met Brenda at a cooking competition at our County fair. Brenda entered these Easy Apple Dumplings in the dessert category in 2006.  She placed 3rd with these delicious Apple Dumplings.

I like that you do not have to make pie dough for the dumplings.  I need practice on pie dough.  I have not mastered that yet.  It looks so easy but I seem to fail whenever I try.  With the crescent rolls you just roll a quarter of a peeled apple in each crescent roll, that is super easy!  The Apple Dumplings have an ingredient you would never know was in them ........... Mountain Dew.

I have been busy making apple sauce, fried apples and these apple dumplings.  My in-laws have apple trees and we have lots of apples, so keep an eye out and you may just see another apple recipe in the future.

Some of my awesome blogging friends and I are helping a blogging friend of ours celebrate her One Year Blogaversary.  So be sure to enter below for your chance to win.  You can click here and go visit Claire at her blog a little CLAIREification

a Rafflecopter giveaway

These Easy Apple Dumplings are being shared at:

Easy Apple Dumplings

2 pkgs crescent rolls
4 apples, peeled and quartered
1 C butter
1 1/2 C sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 12oz can of Mountain Dew
Caramel sauce and ice cream to garnish

Roll each quartered apple in a crescent roll, starting with the flat end of the roll.  Put into a greased 9 x13 pan, mix butter, sugar and cinnamon.  Melt on stove until boiling, stirring occasionally.  Spread mixture over the dumplings, then add Mountain Dew.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until brown.  If desired serve with ice cream and caramel sauce.
Makes 16 servings

Loaded Potato Soup

Happy Fall.  Fall is my favorite season of the year.  I love the cooler nights, bonfires, soup, apples, pumpkins, the World Series and football.  When fall comes it just seems like time slows down a bit for me. The kids are back in school and it is just Bill and I again.

This time of year we can finally start getting out more with the Corvette before we store it for the winter. Today Bill and I went to a car show in Russells Point.

Here is Bill with our top 25 trophy that we won today at the car show

I really liked this loaded potato soup but Cally was not such a fan.  It was creamy and cheesy.  I also loved the ham in the soup with the bacon on top.

Loaded Potato Soup

1 lb bacon

2 garlic cloves, shredded

8 potatoes, cubed 

4 C water

4 t chicken soup base

1/2 C butter

2 T flour

1/2 t onion powder

2 C milk

1 C diced ham

2 cans evaporated milk

8 oz sour cream

12 oz cheddar cheese

cheddar cheese, for garnishing

green onions for garnishing

Peal and cube potatoes.  Put potatoes in a large pan.  Add 4 C water and 4 t chicken soup base to the pan and boil the potatoes until tender (do not drain), set aside

Cut bacon into bite size pieces ( I use my kitchen shears) and brown in a skillet.  Remove bacon once cooked. 

Remove all but 2 T of the bacon grease from the skillet.  Heat the skillet and add the shredded garlic cloves.

Put butter in skillet and melt the butter.  Once butter is melted add the flour and onion powder and stir until it is pasty.  To the skillet add the 2 C milk and stir until paste is dissolved.  

Add the milk mixture into the potato mixture.  Now add diced ham, 2 cans of evaporated milk, sour cream and cheddar cheese.  Simmer soup for about 30 minutes until it thickens.

Serve with bacon, sliced green onions and cheddar cheese on top

This soup is being shared at the following parties:

Julie's Birthday Pumpkin Scones

Happy Birthday to my blogging friend Julie.  For Julie's birthday I have made her Pumpkin Scones.  These scones would be awesome with your morning cup of coffee.  They are soft inside with a thin layer of sweet pumpkin goodness on the outside.  I also spiced up the glaze and added birthday sprinkles for Julies celebration.

For Julies celebration several other blogger friends have also made her pumpkin treats so make sure to go and visit the other blogs for some more amazing pumpkin recipes.

Julie's Birthday Pumpkin Scones

3 C flour
2/3 C white sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 sticks butter, cold
1 egg
1 vanilla bean (scrape out the seeds and discard the outer part of the bean)
1 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C pumpkin puree
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/8 t allspice
1/4 t ginger

Glaze
5 C powdered sugar
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1/2 C International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice coffee creamer
1 vanilla bean (scrape out the seeds and discard the outer part of the bean)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt,cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs.  set aside

In a bowl combine the cream and the vanilla bean seeds and mix until the seeds are mixed throughout the cream.  Then add the egg and beat the egg by hand into the cream mixture.  Finally add the pumpkin into the cream mixture and mix it in well.

In the bowl with the dry ingredients make a well in the center and pour in the cream mixture.  Mix until combined.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inches thick.  Slices your scones as you wish.  I did mine in a triangle shape (well I tried a triangle shape when they bake they took on a shape of their own..lol)

Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.  Put on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes before glazing.

Glaze
Place the powdered sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.  Put the cream and creamer in a bowl and add the vanilla seeds and mix well.  Pout the cream mixture into the powdered sugar mixture and mix until well combine and a thin consistency for dipping the scones in.  If you need to add more coffee creamer to thin out the mixture.

Dip each scone into the glaze and place back on the cooling rack.  I placed freezer paper under my racks to catch the dripping glaze.  Allow the glaze to crisp up and enjoy

Oktoberfest Chicken Chili

Fall Beers was the secret ingredient for the Spiked Recipe Challenge this time.  I chose to use Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer.  When fall comes around I love to have soup and sandwiches.  I wanted to make a spicy chicken chili.  When I think of chicken chili I think of a white chili with great northern beans.  I also like to crunch up tortilla chips to put in my chicken chili instead of crackers.

Make sure to go over to This Gal Cooks and the Frugal Foodie Mama to see all the other amazing beer creations! 

Oktoberfest Chicken Chili

 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded
2 15.5 oz cans great northern beans
1 15.25 oz can corn
1 10 oz can rotel tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro
1 4 oz can chopped chiles
4 C water
4 t chicken flavored soup base
1 12 oz Yuengling Oktoberfest Beer
2 t chili powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t oregano
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 t cummin
2 T sugar
1/2 C whipping cream
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 block (4 oz) cream cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
5 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves
olive oil for sauteing

Heat some olive oil in a large sauce pan, add chopped onion, chopped jalapenos and grated garlic cloves. Saute until tender. Add the Oktoberfest beer and continue simmering for about 5 minutes.  Add water and the soup base, continue simmering until the soup base is all melted and resembles chicken broth.  Next add the rotel tomatoes, green chilies, corn, great northern beans and chicken. Mix into the chili all the spices (chili powder, cinnamon, oregano, cayenne pepper, cummin, and sugar)  Continue to simmer the chili for 20 minutes.  Just before serving stir in the whipping cream, sour cream and cream cheese until all melted into the chili.  Serve with shredded Mexican blend cheese and crushed tortilla chips.

White Chocolate Wonderful Bars

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's No Bake Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Cookies.  Instead of using Peanut Butter I used White Chocolate Wonderful.  You can buy White Chocolate Wonderful in with the peanut butter in your favorite grocery store.  These cookies were sweet, crunch and peanut buttery.

White Chocolate Wonderful Bars

1 Cup light corn syrup
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 Cup white chocolate wonderful (or peanut butter)
2 teaspoon vanilla
4 Cup rice krispies

Place corn syrup and sugars in large sauce pan over medium heat and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Stir in the white chocolate wonderful and mix until well combined.  Quickly stir in the vanilla and Rice Krispies.  Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Cool and slice into squares.