Garlic Rolls

I love bread. And I love pasta with garlic bread. Not the best for me, but oh is it tasty. My Achilles heal so to speak. I wanted some for dinner tonight but all I had was Rhodes bake and serve. So I improvised. Here is what I did.

Place 20 frozen rolls in a 9x 13 inch pan for 3 hours. To defrost and to let rise.

Place in oven at 350 for 10 minutes.

About halfway through the cooking time (after the 10 minutes) take
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of melted butter with
1 Tbsp. garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

And drizzle it one the rolls. Then put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

They were delicious. I used 1/2 cup of butter and the bottoms were pretty buttery. I may to less, but don't get me wrong, it tasted wonderful.

Ruth's Chris Banana Cream Pie

We recently went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. Matt took me there for Mother's Day. And on a whole I'd say it was paying a whole lot for cow. But the one thing I told Matt I'd gladly go back and overpay for is the Banana Cream Pie. Oh was that so yummy and the textures were fabulastic! But it occurred to me, I have no problem making this dessert on my own. So I looked up a recipe. And here is Groovy Mom's.

Vanilla Custard:

1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. salt
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Bring sugar, corn starch, salt, egg yolks and milk to a boil in a heavy sauce pan. Whisking constantly, boil for 20 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Chill for 2 hours, covered in refrigerator.

For pie:

Use baked pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. If you want the same shape as the Ruth's Chris version, shape crust in a Corning ware bowl. Once crust has cooled, line with 3 sliced bananas, overlapping. Sprinkle with sugar and put until 475 degree broiler or use a cooking torch to caramelize the sugar and bananas.

Limonata

I went to Cafe Paeson with my mom and wanted to try this lemon soda that they had. I loved it. And since I loved it, of course I had to look up a recipe for it. Especially since it is hard to find in the United States because it is an Italian drink. So I looked up a couple recipes on the internet. I hope they taste good.

Limonata (done the freshest and most traditional way):

2 cups lemon juice (10-12 lemons or use bottled lemon juice, see above suggestions)
2 cups Basil Simple Syrup (need 1 bunch of washed, fresh basil added as you are cooking the Simple Syrup then removed/strained out prior to cooling the Syrup)
2 cups water
2 liter bottle of sparkling soda water
1-2 lemons sliced thinly for floating on the surface

1) Combine the lemon juice, Basil Simply Syrup and water and chill in the refrigerator, along with your bottle of soda water, for several hours.

2) Just prior to serving, slowly add the soda water to your mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the lemon slices and serve.

Variation: The Basil does add a particular flavor and can be omitted, if preferred. You could also make a Lemon or Lemon-Lime Simple Syrup to add more lemon flavor or an unflavored Simple Syrup all using the same Simple Syrup recipe as above.

Limonata ‘Punch’ (non-alcoholic) done the easy way for a crowd:

1 can frozen lemonade, prepared as directed
1/2 cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1 2 liter bottle of lemon-lime soda
1-2 lemons sliced thinly for floating on the surface

*I have to admit I am much more interested in the traditional recipe than that cheater recipe. But who knows. They might both be awesome...

Shrimp Dip

My sister recommended a couple of appetizers as well. This is the first one. I wasn't sure because shrimp is not my favorite. It was tasty, but I have to confess that it will never be a favorite of mine. However, some of my friends LOVED this dip.

1 lb. roll of round bread (a bigger, harder bread bowl)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated SHARP cheddar cheese
1 cup (1/2 lb.) of small cooked shrimp

--Cut of top of bread bowl and hallow out. Microwave onion and butter for three minutes. Stir into mayonnaise. Add cheese and shrimp. Fill bread with mixture. Put lid on bread, bake filled bread at 325 for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with baguettes, crackers or tortilla chips.

*Heather told me she didn't have good luck with cooking it in the bread bowl. So she cooked it in a bowl and then put it in the bread bowl later. This is what I did and it worked out fine.

Mormon Champagne

My sister, Heather had this at her baby shower. It was a little sweet, but I found it refreshing. So I asked her about it. She said it was sweeter than usual because the proportions were wrong. So she gave me the recipe. Sans a title. Because I was putting it up here I decided to find a name for this tasty drink. And the most common name was "Mormon Champagne." So this is what I am using. You can call it what you want, but I'm good with this name.

2 (2-liter) Fresca
2 cans white grape frozen juice concentrate.
1 can white grape peach frozen juice concentrate
pebbled ice

*I don't have a punch bowl, so I halved the recipe and put it in a metal bowl.

**Also, the pebbled ice I got from Sonic. We just drove up and asked for a bag and they gave us a 5-lb. bag for $1.82.

Easy BBQ Sauce

My neighbor Adam gave me this recipe. He's given me some before and it is tasty. I don't know if I'm going to make it for the whole ward, BUT I will make it for me.

Easy BBQ Sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 to 1 teaspoon hot sauce, (recommended: Tabasco)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

White Chocolate-Raspberry Trifle Cake

What you need:

4 squares BAKER'S White Chocolate, melted

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup cold milk

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

1 pkg. (10.5 oz.) frozen prepared pound cake, partially thawed, cut into 30 thin slices

1/4 cup raspberry jam, warmed

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

BEAT chocolate and cream cheese with mixer until blended. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; beat until well blended. Whisk in 1 cup COOL WHIP.

ARRANGE 10 cake slices on bottom of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap; brush with half the jam.

COVER with half the pudding mixture. Repeat all layers. Top with remaining cake.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours. Invert dessert onto plate; remove plastic wrap. Top with remaining COOL WHIP and berries.

Cranberry-Pear Crumble Pie

1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust
24 Nilla wafers, crushed (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup shopped cranberries
2 large fresh pears, sliced
1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Line 9-inch-pie plate with crust. Bake 5-6 min. or until lightly browned; cool. Meanwhile, mix wafer crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with half the wafer crumb mixture. Combine fruit in large bowl. Add dry pudding mix and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon into crust; top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and crust is golden brown. Cool completely. Serve topped with cool whip.

Number of Servings: 10

Easy Oreo Truffles

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided
• 2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Directions:

• MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

• SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

• REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

You know when you get those little cookbooks from a sponser and the recipes look lame so you throw them away? Well, I got one of those books from Philadelphia/Nilla/Jello and all the recipes look pretty good. And since I want to throw the book away, I'm going to put my favorites here to try later. Because that is what this blog is for.

• 37 NILLA Wafers, divided
• 4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
• 2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
• 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. cold milk, divided
• 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

• STAND 16 wafers around inside edge of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap. Melt 3 chocolate squares as directed on package.

• BEAT pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP; pour into prepared pan.

• BEAT cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of the remaining COOL WHIP; spread over pudding. Top with remaining wafers. Refrigerate 3 hours.

• MEANWHILE, shave remaining chocolate square into curls. Invert torte onto plate; remove plastic wrap. Top torte with remaining COOL WHIP, berries and chocolate curls.