Food Recipes

A treat that will make your Valentine go “YumYum!”

February 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

With Valentine’s just one day away, you may have waited too long to order that special someone something sweet. If so, then this recipe is just for you. Cherry Yum Yum is a quick, easy dish that can be whipped up in minutes.

Cherry Yum Yum

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Stick Butter, melted
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Milk
12 ounces Whipped Topping, thawed
1 can Cherry Pie Filling

Instructions

Mix Butter and with 2 cups of Graham Cracker crumbs.
Spray a 9X13 dish with non-stick spray. Press the graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom of this dish.
Mix cream cheese, sugar and milk together. Fold in whipped topping.
Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over crust.
Pour pie filling over the cream cheese layer.
Spread the remaining cream cheese over the pie filling.
Sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs.
Refrigerate overnight.

First, spray a 9X13 dish with non-stick spray. For the crust, mix two cups of graham cracker crumbs with the melted stick of butter. Once this is mixed well, press into the dish. I find it easiest to do with my hands.

The next layer is the best layer. Mix cream cheese, sugar and milk until all ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in the whipped topping. Spread half of this mixture over the crust.

Next, pour the pie filling over the cream cheese. Spread the other half of the cream cheese mixture over the pie filling.

Sprinkle top with remaining graham cracker crumbs or you may get creative with a little art!

Refrigerate overnight. This will give the layers time to set up so when you cut that first piece, you will see all layers distinctly.

💗Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy!💗

~Sugar Pie Recipe this way…~

This post was written by Macy, the incredible mother & mother-in-law of the bloggers here at Puppies & Piña Coladas. She loves spending time with her daughters, granddoggies and grandkitty. She is a phenomenal southern cook and will be posting her secret recipes and amazing crafts regularly on the site.

Romantic Valentine’s Day Cake Pops (& Why I’m Never Making Them Again)

January 9, 2018 Leave a Comment

Have you ever made cake pops? My attempt at Strawberries and Champagne Cake Pops was my first ever attempt at cake pops. While the feedback on these was fantastic, I am absolutely never making them again. I had no earthly idea how complicated and long of a process cake pops can be! Unless you are skilled at working with candy melts, you may feel my pain of battling the mystery that is candy coating.

If you are a seasoned cake pop pro, you are a unicorn in my book! Please share any tips you have in the comments. I made these for New Years as a compliment to champagne (and a midnight snack!), but they would make a great Valentine’s Day Cake Pop Bouquet.

On a side note, working with Wilton Pearl Dust was so much fun! I ordered mine on Amazon a while back (you can find different colors here) but you may be able to find it at Michael’s as well. The pearl dust turned out great and worked way better than Wilton sprays. The recommended extract to use is lemon extract but I cannot bear lemon so I used vanilla extract to mix it with. The combination created a very thin and runny texture so be sure to really tap the brush on a bowl so your design doesn’t run.

Recipe adapted from: Sugar and Soul Co

Romantic Valentine's Day Cake Pops

Strawberries and champagne cake pops are perfect for New Years, Valentine's Day or any romantic occasion.

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

1 Box Strawberry cake mix
1 1/4 Cup Champagne
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
16 oz icing

Cake Pop Candy Coating

2 Bags Wilton Candy Melts
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Wilton Pearl Dust (optional)
1 tsp extract (lemon, vanilla, etc.)

Instructions

Cake Pops Instructions

Follow the cake instructions according to the box but also add 1 1/4 cup of champagne to the cake batter.
Bake according to package directions. Keep in mind that champagne has been added so the cake may take longer to bake (mine took almost 30 minutes for a 9x13).
Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool, then slice into small squares. I waited around one hour for my cake to cool.
Crumble the cake into a large bowl or stand mixer bowl with a whisk attachment.
Add icing to the cake crumbles and mix with a whisk attachment on a stand mixer until mixed thoroughly.
Place bowl in the refrigerator overnight OR in the freezer for 2 hours.
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Form small round balls by rolling quickly in hands and place on cookie sheet. Once the balls are finished, place the cookie sheet(s) in the refrigerator for at least two hours (the freezer works better if you have room!).

Candy Coating for Cake Pops

Melt the candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. Stir in the vegetable oil (start small with the vegetable oil but you will likely have to add more than 2 tablespoons).
Remove the cake balls from the refrigerator or freezer. Dip into the melted candy with a spoon or a fork then transfer back to the cookie sheet.
NOTE: If you are putting the cake pops on a stick, dip 1/4 inch of the stick into the candy melt mix then place about halfway through cake pop. Dip cake pop into the candy melt mix to coat, then transfer to cookie sheet.

Pearl Dust Coating

Mix the pearl dust and extract (I used vanilla) in a small bowl and paint the balls. Since my candy did not coat evenly, I just painted the flaws with the pearl dust and had a blast! I just washed an unused paint brush since I did not have a brush specifically for food. These dry fairly quickly but be sure they are dried completely before storing. I had to make two batches of pearl dust mix because one was not enough for my preference.
Transfer cake pops back to freezer and/or refrigerator to store until ready to eat. I kept mine chilled the entire time until ready to eat.

Romantic Valentine’s Day Cake Pops Tips

(If you haven’t abandoned the cake pop ship yet)…

Use vegetable oil to thin out the candy melts. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons but you may need a tad more. Just add slowly because once you add too much, you cannot turn back.
Make room in the freezer for these (the refrigerator just doesn’t cut it)
Save yourself a couple of hours by finding an already made cake at the store
If you are making these for an event, make a few days in advance. Cake pops take a long time to make due to all of the cooling, so allow enough time before you need them.
Grab an extra bag of candy melts if you budget allows for it. This allows room for error (I had to toss one batch!).
If you want sprinkles in your pops, dip the cake pops into a bowl of sprinkles right after dipping them in the candy melts. Once the coating is dry, the sprinkles won’t stick.

More recipes and flavorful finds this way…

Sugar Pie for My Sugar

February 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

Sugar Pie is the Perfect Valentine’s Day Recipe!

It’s February and what is everyone reminded of clearly, almost right after Christmas, is Valentine’s Day! All this month we will be showcasing delectable sweets. All are easy to whip up but your Valentine will think you worked hard all day in the kitchen for their sweet!

I have always seen the recipe for Sugar Pie but never was brave enough to try til now. Be forewarned, you will only need small servings as this dish is mainly sugar. But what’s not to love about sugar, right?

Sugar Pie Directions…

For most of the pies you bake, you can’t go wrong with the refrigerated dough you roll out. You can find it in the dairy section, usually with the canned biscuits and breakfasts pastries. the freezer ones are okay if you can’t find those or you can make from scratch if you are so inclined. I used to do that but have found the store bought ones are now just are good and less trouble as homemade. I don’t say that about many foods but for this, oh well, time is short and we have a pie to bake.

For the refrigerated crust, be sure you spray your pie pan liberally. Because you are essentially double baking the crust, these kinds of crusts really like to stick. It would be a shame for your beautiful pie to be ruined when the piece you try and serve comes out in pieces.

Bake it..

After your piecrust has been placed in the pie pan you can pop your pie crust in a 350º oven for about 15 minutes. This will partially bake so your pie won’t have a soggy bottom. A trick my mom taught me was before your crust goes in the oven, take a fork and prick the crust all over the bottom and sides. This will take care of any bubbles rising up, which is steam forming. When this happens, your pie may not get done all the way. Also, make sure your pie pan is on a cookie sheet. The extra heat from the cookie sheet will ensure the pie bottom will be well cooked from underneath.

While your piecrust is baking, you can mix the pie. Sift together the sugar and cornstarch. In a small saucepan, melt four tablespoons of butter then add your heavy cream. Once this is incorporated, add the cornstarch mixture. Stirring constantly, over medium heat, bring to a low boil until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, stirring well. Your piecrust should be ready and out of the oven. It does not need to be cooled before you add the pie mixture.

Add the mixture to the prepared crust, smoothing out with a spatula.

Sugar Pie Topping

The topping is what makes this pie so decadent. You will melt the other four tablespoons of butter and to this add 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir this until the sugar is mixed well and add cinnamon.

Now drizzle sugar mixture over pie until it is completely completely covered. Place back in the oven for 25 minutes and then turn the oven to Broil for one minute. Please watch carefully, not letting it go beyond the one minute. The broiler gives the pie that nice warm glow and also hardens the sugar surface almost giving it a creme brulee type of texture.

All that’s left now is to put on the Four Tops and hit the dance floor with your sugar pie!

Sugar Cream Pie

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 26 minutes

Total Time 36 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

1 Deep Dish Pie Crust
4 Tbsp. Cornstarch
3/4 Cup White Sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter, Melted
2 1/4 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
4 Tbsp. Butter, Melted for Topping
1/2 Cup White Sugar for Topping
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon for Topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Place piecrust in oven for 10-15 minutes until bottom of piecrust is partially baked. Remove from oven and sit out.
Mix the sugar and cornstarch together until blended. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and heavy cream over medium heat, stirring continuously. Slowly add cornstarch mixture. Let this simmer until it has thickened.
Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Pour mixture into piecrust smoothing out with a spoon or spatula.
For the topping, melt the other 4 tablespoons of butter and add the 1/2 cup of sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and add cinnamon.
Drizzle over pie, completely covering.
Place on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 25 minutes.
Turn broiler on for 1 minute watching pie carefully, then remove.

Next week we will make Cherry Yum Yum!

Winter Slow Cooker Series #4 — Beef Stew

January 26, 2018 Leave a Comment

Finish off the winter with this cozy Beef Stew…

In the last of our slow cooker series, I am making Beef Stew. Winter has finally decided to come in with a blast of cold, windy temperatures and nothing warms a body up quicker than a bowl of steamy, Beef Stew.

Need a St. Patrick’s Day Recipe?

This is a staple in the wintertime and especially around St. Patrick’s Day, but since I was doing a slow cooker series, I though I would post it now.

Beef Stew with Vegetables

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 25 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pound stew beef
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
3 tsp tomato paste
5 medium russet potatoes
3 large carrots
4 cups beef broth
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Put the first four dry ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Add the stew beef in the bag and shake vigorously to ensure all pieces are coated.
Add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to a large saucepan and turn on heat to high. Once your pan is hot, add the stew meat. Keep turning the pieces until they are all browned. Transfer the meat to the slow cooker.
Prepare the vegetables by washing thoroughly and dicing the celery, onion and garlic. Saute these in a small frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. Once this step is complete, add to the slow cooker.
Scrub the potatoes and carrots. Dice into bite-size portions and add to slow cooker.
Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning to the mixture, stirring well.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

This is a fairly easy recipe to put together it just takes a little prep time for getting the ingredients ready. For a basic stew beef dish, I only put in potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. I also have other spices and flavoring items. You may find recipes that have sweet potatoes, squash, eggplant and many other veggie selections. That is what makes this such a good dish. You can tailor make it to suit your family’s tastes.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large ziploc bag.

Give the bag a good shake to ensure the items get mixed together. In small handful, add the stew beef to the bag and shake vigorously coating the meat well. In a large saucepan, add the oil and heat on high.

Add the meat, turning each piece until they are browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate.

After you have the meat browned, it is ready to add to your slow cooker.

This recipe calls for beef broth. I didn’t have any so I made gravy. This really is better I believe. To make the gravy, I use cornstarch.

Once the cornstarch is dissolved in the water, add to the meat drippings. Stir over medium heat quickly til the ingredients are mixed. Slowly add two cups of water, stirring well. The cornstarch thickens very fast so make sure you turn the heat down to low when the water is added and keep stirring until you are ready to add to the slow cooker.

Add the gravy to the meat in your slow cooker. You can go ahead and turn it on low if you are cooking all day. Oh, boy this is smelling so good already it is going to be difficult to wait 8 hours to eat this!

Next, the veggies are to be prepped. For this, wash all the items. Dice the onions, celery and garlic into small pieces and saute in a pan with a small amount of butter and olive oil. Once these are done, add to the slow cooker.

Wash and peel the potatoes. Dice them and add these into the slow cooker.

Now, I thought I had carrots, but the ones in my refrigerator were very out of date so I found a can in my cabinet that I will add about 30 minutes before I serve it. All the carrots really need is just to be heated and let the tastes marry together.

Cooking is like that. Sometimes you have to find a substitute. It’s okay put your own taste to the dish.

I like to serve this dish with sweet potatoes and cornbread, but a simple salad is really all this meal needs.

I hope your family will enjoy this wintertime favorite. Next time we will be gearing up for the “lovely” month of February.

Check out my slow cooker country style steak here…

Winter Slow Cooker Series #3 — Country Style Steak

January 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

For our third slow cooker installment, I will be making one of my favorite southern dishes — Country Style Steak. There are different names to the way this meat is prepared — Chicken Fried, Fried Cubed Steak, Country Style. This meat is very inexpensive and not as tender as a t-bone, that is why there are so many variations in cooking it.

I usually bread the steaks and brown them in a cast iron skillet before I slow cook them in the oven. But for this recipe, I am going to skip that step. They will be in the crock pot so long, any breading the meat would have on it would get cooked off.

In preparation for this dish I pat the pieces dry with a paper towel and then place them in a crock pot that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Trust me, clean up will be so much easier with the crock pot if you use the spray. I find the liners are more of an expense than they are worth.

Slow Cooker Country Style Steak

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

2 pounds cubed steak
1 can Cream of Onion soup you can substitute other flavors such as cream of mushroom or cream or celery
1 packet Onion dip mix
1 Beef Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
Seasoning salt and butter to taste

Instructions

Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray. Place cubed steak in slow cooker.
In separate bowl, mix all the other ingredients well then pour over the steaks. Make sure liquid completely covers all the meat. If not, you may add water until it does.
Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8. Stir once while cooking.
You may remove meat pieces and drain onion if desired and thicken liquid with a teaspoon of cornstarch mixed in a small cup of warm water. When cornstarch is dissolved, whisk in the meat liquid until all is dissolved.

The next step is to add the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. I like doing this separate because it gets mixed better this way. Once everything is mixed together, pour over your meat. It is important that the meat is completely covered with the liquid. If it is not, it is quite alright to add water until all the meat is covered. This is to insure it doesn’t dry out. You will see in the image below how a few of the pieces are poking out above the liquid. Those will be dried out if they aren’t under the water so make sure the get covered.

In this image you will see everything is well covered and I have added a little more salt and, oops, you caught my favorite sneaky addition, butter. I don’t think you can ever have enough! These steaks were very lean and since I didn’t fry them, I thought they could use just a little.

This needs to cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. If you choose to make gravy, It will be easier to remove the meat and strain the onions from the liquid.

Once the meat is done, I like to make gravy with the steak. Since this liquid is a little watery, I will thicken it up with cornstarch. I like using it better than flour because it dissolves better. I will take about a tablespoon and place it in roughly one cup of warm water. Once this has been dissolved I pour in the meat liquid.

Using a whisk, stir the cornstarch mixture and liquid until they are blended. I then add the meat back in. Now all you need is rice or mashed potatoes. I had rice in the cupboard so rice it is.

This is an easy, affordable winter dish that is truly a comfort your family will grow to love.

Use up leftovers in this Slow Cooker Soup Recipe…

Winter Slow Cooker Series # 2 — Cheesy Mac ‘n Cheese

January 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

Being from the South, your recipe collection isn’t complete unless it has one for macaroni and cheese. Now I know everyone has there own way of making it, myself included. But I have always wondered about the slow cooker method.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Mac 'n Cheese

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and stir, making sure all items get coated. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours, stirring every hour.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound medium elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups grated American cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups whole milk
12 ounces evaporated milk
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. onion powder
salt and peppar to taste

Instructions

Add all ingredients, stirring until all are coated. Cook on high for 31/2 hours, stirring every hour.
If the mixture is too thick, you may add a little more whole milk.

So I am trying it for you today. This is not only delicious, it is so easy to make. All you do is dump all the ingredients in your slow cooker, give it a stir every hour, and your family will be begging for this dish all the time!

You can substitute any types of cheese in place of the ones I have listed. Just make sure they are grated.

I even found a special mac ‘n cheese blend at Food Lion but I got the last bag!

I really like the convenience of a slow cooker. You can throw all the ingredients in before you go to work. This recipe wouldn’t work for an all day cook but getting back at lunchtime to start it and coming home to a hot dish of cheesy deliciousness, you will be so glad you took a few minutes of time for this recipe.

Use up leftovers in this Slow Cooker Soup Recipe…