For a while now, I've been contemplating what to do with the cranberries I had in the fridge.  I have an abundance of apples on hand, so I decided to do a variation on apple crisp.  It turned out very well.  Not too sweet, not too tart, just perfect!  I served it with vanilla bean gelato, but it would also be tasty with a dollop of whipped cream.

I failed to take a photo plated, so I quickly took one of it in the pan before packing the leftovers for the fridge.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees Fahrenheit

Serves 12

Ingredients:

Filling;

4 cups of apples - I used 1/2 Granny Smith and whatever other apple I had on hand)

4 cups of fresh cranberries, rinsed (I used the whole bag, so this might vary a little)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of cloves

pinch of salt

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 cup oats

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter melted

Instructions:

Prepare the Filling.

• Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until everything is well coated.
• Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Turn the mixture into the pan and spread evenly.

Prepare the Topping:

• Using the same bowl, add all the dry ingredients.
• Melt the butter and pour over the ingredients and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.  Mixture should be crumbly.
• Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the filling.
• Bake in a 325 degree oven for an hour.

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's  ~  Enjoy!

 Christmas Fruitcake

Fruitcake.  You either love it or you hate it.  

While fruitcake is often the dreaded Christmas gift and the butt of bad jokes, I think this recipe might change the perspective of fruitcake haters!  This fruitcake is not baked so you don't have to worry about burning anything.   It looks difficult, but is really easy to make.  Ingredients are typically easy to find with all the holiday baking goodies at the local grocery.

Holiday time often triggers childhood memories.   This year it was the memory of making fruitcake with mom at the kitchen table in this huge pan.  It was a treat because it requires a lot of ingredients that are seasonal, such as candied fruit and combined with nuts, dates, raisins, etc. it becomes quite expensive to make.  Growing up, we had this for many years and the first year we didn't have it, I remember mom saying that the ingredients cost too much. 

This week I set out on a mission to find my mother's fruitcake recipe and recreate some memories.  This fruitcake doesn't contain any spirits nor is it baked, but rather made with a prebaked spice cake that gets crumbled up and mixed with all sort of goodies and packed into a 9x13 pan.  I was able to get all the ingredients at my local Walmart with the exception of candied red cherries.  I called and visited multiple stores in a two county area and no one had them!  Well, I was not about to have my plans derailed!  I bought some maraschino cherries and made the candied red cherries myself!

I learned that the recipe mom used is a Betty Crocker Recipe that originated in 1957 and was called Mystery Fruitcake.  I took a few liberties with the recipe, making some modifications to the quantity of some of the ingredients to avoid waste.  I also added a container of candied pineapple as well.

Give this recipe a try and create some new memories and start a new tradition!

Low Carb Cinnamon Bourbon Pecan Ice Cream

I've been on a roll making ice cream as summer time rapidly approaches.  After making the Mint Chip, I barely had it in the freezer before I was dreaming up the next  flavor combination. 

My thoughts really went down the path of Fireball with toasted pecans, but Fireball has too much sugar for low carb, so I went with straight bourbon and added a healthy dose of cinnamon to it. Bourbon will help reduce the iciness of the finished product and adds just a little flavor.   Be sure to toast the pecans, it adds a flavor depth to the ice cream.

I already have the next batch in mind but that will need to wait until I reduce the quantity of low carb ice creams I have in the freezer right now!  In the meantime, enjoy this one!

I would be remiss to not credit Carolyn Ketchum at All Day I Dream About Food for her recipe which inspired the base for my ice creams.  She's probably has no clue as to the monster she's created!  

Low Carb Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ice Cream, we all love it.  We have our favorite flavors as well.  I was wanting some mint chip ice cream not long ago and while working on the recipe, I had, well, let's say an accident measuring out the mint extract and suffice it to say, my breath was minty fresh after eating a bowl.  No chance of throwing it out, nope, not when it was edible.

I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook regarding some commercially available low carb ice creams.  I've tried them and honestly, I like making my own.  Yes it takes more work, but not much and  I know exactly what is in it.

My second attempt of this ice cream was today.  This time, being careful with measurements!
I am happy with the results and excited to share it with you.

Also want to give a shout out to Carolyn at All Day I Dream About Food.  Her recipe here http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2014/08/low-carb-mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-cake.html was the base inspiration for this recipe.

The weather is heating up and I know you all are anxious for a cool and cream treat!

Low Carb Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

This recipe is an updated makeover of one I posted back in 2011.  Since that time I've shifted to a low carb way of eating to help lose a few pounds and yet satisfy my sweet tooth now and then.

I've also learned some new techniques since that time that will make this ice cream easier to make for beginners, since it doesn't require tempering the eggs.

Before you get started you will need to make a batch of Low Carb Snickerdoodle Cookies.

Let's make some ice cream!

Mom's Snickerdoodles

I've been obsessed with Snickerdoodles lately.  I've made regular ones, low carb ones and ice cream!
All have been tasty and the regular ones that I took to work disappeared in minutes!

The low carb ones, I used in an ice cream recipe that I'll be posting soon.

Here's my go to recipe for Snickerdoodles.  It is the one we always made at home.  I have always had success with it and hope you enjoy it to nosh on with your hot tea or coffee!

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Peanut butter lovers, this one's for you!  This is my most requested cheesecake ever!  I took this to work once, was asked the recipe, then later requested to bring it to a meeting, which I did. The last time I made it I had to tag that friend for a copy of my recipe with notes because I couldn't find mine.  By putting it on my blog, I should not have that problem ever again....of course, unless I forget that I posted it! But we won't talk about how good our memory cells are or aren't right?

Today we had our monthly potluck at work and I decided to make this one rather than the chocolate one I posted recently.  This cheesecake continues to get rave reviews.  I didn't bring home a single crumb, which was significant because there were a lot of folks taking off today for their 4th of July holiday.  Others were working from home.  Given the number of folks in the office, I was fully expecting to be bringing half, if not more, of the cheesecake home with me. I'm thrilled that my prediction didn't come true.  

This cheesecake is a little extra work but worth every ounce of effort.  Your family, guests, friends or co-workers will love love love it!  I know a few of my followers who will almost lick the screen when they see these photos and read the recipe.  

I can only say it is a very rich, but amazingly yummy cheesecake. Try it, you'll like it!

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

In preparation for a potluck at work, I found a recipe on the web at epicurious.com for a dark chocolate cheesecake.  Since I'm a lover of dark chocolate, I was immediately interested.  After reviewing it, I decided I would make a few alterations and bake a trial cake to see if the alterations worked and determine if  it lived up to my high standards and was worthy to take to work to share with my team and other co-workers.

The original recipe called for only bittersweet chocolate.  While I am a huge dark chocolate fan, I felt that using a little semi-sweet chocolate to help smooth out the edge of the bittersweet chocolate would be best for those folks who aren't real dark chocolate fans.

The result was a very rich and decadent cheesecake that lived up to exceeded my expectations.
I am sad to say that I have opted to not make it for our potluck.  Why?  If it is that awesome why would I deprive others of the shear ecstasy of indulging?  Well, I fear a large amount of waste resulting from folks taking more than they can eat and a good portion of this lovely truffle like cheesecake ending up in the trash and that would be such a tragedy.

However, I am going to share my recipe with you.  Just be aware of how rich it is and exercise portion control!  

Note that this recipe is for a small size cheesecake, only 6 1/2 inches.  Even this small size was too much for me to envision consuming within a reasonable period of time, so my neighbor was gifted half of the cheesecake.  If you want to make this in a standard 9-inch spring form pan, just double the ingredients.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Do you love strawberries?  Do you love rhubarb?  How about mixing those two into a pie filling?
My rhubarb plant is flourishing and begging to be used.  So I added strawberries to the grocery list and headed off to the grocery.  Once home, I harvested a bunch of rhubarb, tied on my favorite apron and got busy in the kitchen.

Once the pie filling was mixed, I made the pie crust.  Yes, I made the crust. I'm not a fan of readi-made crusts but will admit that I've used them in a pinch, but nothing beats homemade pie crust.
Lard makes the best pie crust, so add that to your shopping list and ditch the hydrogenated oil (Crisco).  You will be amazed at how tender and flaky your crust will be.

In case you don't have a rhubarb plant growing in your garden, I noticed at the market that they had a nice supply of rhubarb, so if you'd like to try the recipe you should be able to find both the rhubarb and strawberries at your local market.

Low Carb Strawberry "Pretzel" Salad

Crunchy, salty, creamy, sweet.  All these flavors come together in the traditional Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

I've taken the traditional recipe and tinkered with it to turn it into a low carb delight!
There are several steps, so don't be intimidated, just be patient and soon you'll have a dessert that is pretty darn close to the original.

Low Carb Rhubarb Custard Crisp

I'm a skeptic.  Yep, it is just my nature.  This recipe was one that caught my eye and I adore Rhubarb and they had a lovely supply at the local Sprouts market that I couldn't resist buying.  I had pinned this recipe that I wanted to try and alter just a bit for carb reduction.  However, the fact that the fruit filling contained cream cheese had me a little unsure whether I would like it or not.  I like cream cheese and all, but I just wasn't convinced it was a good option for mixing into the filling.  Well, I conquered my skepticism and gave the recipe a try and while it is not like your traditional "crisp", it is very good. The recipe really is more like a light custard pie with a crisp-like topping.  This is another recipe that I adapted from http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/.  I find her recipes to be very dependable on results and taste.

I'm anxiously awaiting spring and seeing the rhubarb in my garden push it's way through it's winter blanket of compost.  I will be coming back to this recipe when I have my first spring rhubarb harvest!

Persimmon Pudding

This recipe is from Grandma Burkhart's collection or recipes. In the collection, there were several persimmon pudding recipes but this one was marked as the "best".  The only notable change to the recipe she had made was to increase the amount of butter. I used her revised version that contains more butter.  Butter makes everything better, right?

As I mixed this recipe, I used an old family crockery bowl and grandma's metal 1 cup measuring cup.  I used grandma's kitchen timer to track my baking time.
Today's foray in the kitchen was nostalgic.  I had a humorous moment during the preparation. While I was sifting the dry ingredients, my battery powered sifter stopped.  I giggled thinking that my grandmother, born in 1900, would have never imagined that there would be such a thing as a battery powered flour sifter!  And you know what, her old hand crank model always worked and didn't require batteries.

Hopefully, you live where you can find persimmons to collect and make your own pulp, or can purchase the pulp at a local market.  I scored pulp on my last trip back to Indiana and was pretty excited because I've been craving Persimmon Pudding since last fall and there doesn't seem to be persimmons here in Kansas, or at least not that I've seen or heard about!

This recipe is quick and easy to mix up and delicious.  For me it is extra special as it is sweetened not only with sugar, but with memories of my grandmother.

Grandma's Recipe

Apple Strudel

Apple Strudel

Ingredients:

2 medium to large apples, cored and sliced  into 1/4 wedges
1 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 package puff pastry, thawed

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle roughly 22 inches long and 18 inches wide (making sure the length will fit on your baking sheet.

Once dough is rolled, transfer it to the baking sheet.  Make angled cuts approximately 1" in width from the edger, cutting about a third of the way to the center on both sides of the dough.

Wash, core and slice the apples.

Toss the apples with the lemon juice.  Add the sugar, cinnamon and flour and toss to coat the apple slices.
Arrange the apples down the center of the dough. Top with the chopped walnuts.
Starting on one side, bring one of the cut strips to the center, repeat with the following side and continue,
covering the apples to the end.  Sprinkle the top with sugar.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is brown and the apples are tender.

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Rhubarb Blueberry Skillet Pie

This recipe came along as a whim because I have a flourishing rhubarb plant in my landscaping around my back patio and a couple of pints of blueberries in the fridge.

Fresh rhubarb is one of my favorite parts of spring.  I always anxiously await those first stalks breaking through the ground.    I like strawberry rhubarb, so I thought why not try mixing it with the blueberries and see what happens.


I'm a huge pie fan.  Given a choice, I'll pick pie over cake any time.  I have to admit I was blown away by this combination as was by boyfriend.  He's pretty used to my cooking and baking, and will often comment that something is good.  However, last night when he had his first bite of this pie, he exclaimed "Wow, this is good!".  So there's your endorsement!  Grab your iron skillet, harvest some rhubarb from your garden, farmer's market or local grocery, and make yourself a skillet pie!

No Crust Apple Pie

How about a dessert that you can easily whip up with ingredients you have on hand?
You know, for those times when you need something in a hurry for a drop in guest or when you are just in the mood for something sweet.  Sound good?  Yes?  You will find this recipe quick and easy.  I acquired it from a cooking class during last year's trip to Italy.

Recently, a good friend and I have had some fun debating whether this recipe is a pie or a cake.  You see, the name in the recipe is pie and it is made in a pie plate, implying that it is a pie.  However, it doesn't have a crust, which for me is essential for pie and the texture is more cake like, so I say it is a cake.

The result of our  cake vs. pie debate?  We  agreed on one key point....  It is Delicious!!
I'll leave it to you to decide for yourself!

Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts

I was inspired by this recipe that I found on one of the blogs that I follow.  This tasty treat is low carb and gluten free, and honestly just down right tasty!

For me, blueberries and lemon embody spring and freshness.  Both the  lemon and blueberry flavors  marry nicely in this tart.

I don't own small individual tart pans so I "made do" by utilizing  a cupcake pan.  I had a few shells that didn't come out easily but most of the did, and I used the crumbly ones to mix into the remaining filling for a quick decadent snack from the fridge.

I did modify the recipe a bit since my last errand stop was the grocery and there wasn't any Mascarpone cheese (seriously Target....come on!).  As a result, I opted for cream cheese and modified the recipe just a little.  

New York Style Cheesecake

Say Cheese.....Cake!

I can see a big smile spreading across your face right now.  Doesn't this look amazing?
Other adjectives that come to mind for this cheesecake are luscious, creamy, delectable, light, fattening, heavenly, lemony...you get the idea, feel free to add your own to the list!

I'm a big fan of cheesecake.  I have several different recipes and I'm here to tell you that this one is awesome.  This recipe also omits the crust, and while I'm lamenting the absence of the buttery sweet  baked graham cracker base, I'm not missing the calories it would add...and honestly, this cheesecake doesn't need it.  It can stand on its own merits.

Serve it plain or dress it up with some fresh berries, chocolate ganache or with a dollop of fresh whipped sweetened cream.  I added a little spoon full of lemon curd I had stashed in the fridge and it put it over the top!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

Unconventional?  Yes!
Easy?  Yes!
Tasty?  Yes!
Good for you?  Yes

I will admit that I don't keep avocado as a staple in my kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good guacamole as much as the next gal, but it isn't something that I eat often.  As for slicing one up on a salad or adding a few slices to a sandwich, I've never done it.

I found this recipe pinned on Pinterest while looking for low carb treats.  It is all over the place with various variations so I'm not clear who deserves the credit for this decadent creation but my hat is off to them!
I have to admit that I was intrigued and skeptical on how you could successfully make a tasty chocolate pudding from avocados.  So my next trip to the grocery, I bought 3.  Yep, I was hopeful!

Did I like it you ask?  Absolutely!  It provides me with a sweet treat during the week that I don't feel guilty about eating since avocados are nutrient dense.  A single avocado will make 2 servings so do keep portions in mind when you make this.  I've found that a single serving is plenty as it is a rich and creamy indulgence at the end of the day.

...now avocados are a staple at my house!

Lemony Gooey Butter Cake

Lemon.....ah, my favorite flavor.  I love anything lemon and I've read about gooey butter cakes and I don't recall if I've ever had one.

I got a new stove yesterday and I needed desperately to try the oven.  Well, okay, so maybe not desperately, but I did want to try it out.

I decided that a lusciously lemony gooey butter cake would be just the ticket.  I found this recipe of Paula Deen's and decided since she's know for good southern cooking and desserts laden with butter, it has to be good, right?  I can tell you from the sample that I tasted during the photo session that it is awesome!    Continue on for the recipe.

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies

How about opting for a little change this holiday season and  putting a new spin on a traditional cookie recipe?  I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  I love the nutty taste of browned butter and couldn't help but think these cookies would be wonderful.  I was not disappointed.  Matter of fact, I think I'll pour myself a big glass of milk and have a cookie or two right now!