Fabulous Blueberry Buckle - A Tribute to my mom

My beautiful, precious mom passed away on July 13th, she took with her a piece of my heart that will never be replaced.  She taught me lots of things, she taught me to love life, embrace it, spread happiness, always be respectful and most of all the love of food and how important it is to prepare with passion.  We never sat at her table with just one dish.  We had courses, side dishes and beautifully presented dessert.  Mom never went half way, it was always all or nothing.  She loved to hear the compliments of her culinary masterpiece where she lovingly used her hands to bring ordinary ingredients to extraordinary.

     Mom at 17

She was a great mom

Are you digging those great hats?  Guess which holiday...

A wonderful mom-mom to my daughter

Her little doll

Loved and cherished her summers in Wildwood with her children and grandchildren

Summer lovin-had me a blast....

My wedding day

She was so proud and happy to gain another son

So blessed to have this photo,  5 generations!!!

Great grandmom Olivia
Grandmom Pauline
Mom
Me
My Alana
All first born and all were girls

Beautiful person inside and out

Always and forever in my heart, heaven gained a true angel!  RIP mom until we meet again!!
I love you!!!

My daughter got to know and love her.  Most of all, she got to be loved by her.  We cried together on the sofa, I promised Alana we will always keep her memory alive.  

My mom was everything to us, she was loving, caring, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good and gentle.

She was perfect.

She was my mother.

I will love and miss her every day for the rest of my life and I thank God for every second I spent with her!

Here is one of the wonderful desserts she would make to end her delicious meal.  Believe me, you wanted to save room because her desserts were scrumptious!  This requires a 9 inch square baking pan, use  9  X 13 if you want to double it.  This recipe serves 4-6.

Moist, sweet with a crunchy topping!

Preheat the oven to 375

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Butter - Softened

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Cups Fresh or Frozen Blueberries

Topping:

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/3 Cup Cold Butter - Cubed

1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts - (Optional)

Directions:

In a small bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour into greased 9 inch square baking pan.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and cinnamon.  Cut in butter until crumbly, add the chopped nuts and mix.  Sprinkle over blueberry mixture.  

Bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool a wire rack.

Pumpkin Bars, Baked With Love

I dedicate this recipe to my mother, my best friend, my inspiration!

My mother has been fighting non-hodgkins lymphoma, she was once in remission, but it reared it's ugly head again in January.  She has now finished her grueling chemo treatments, 8 rounds of radiation, and is now gearing up for a stem cell transplant.  Her strength and attitude have been nothing short of amazing!

Throughout my life, my mom has been my rock, she was always someone I looked up to.  Her positive attitude and love for life have always been contagious.  I always remember our phone ringing off the hook with people calling to talk with her.  My friends chose my house to hang out because my mom was just like us, full of free spirit and laughter.  In short, my house was the place to be!

Now, I am all grown up, married and raising my own child.  I still cannot imagine life without her, and knowing she is fighting cancer for the second time is so scary.  There are times when I face it head on, and that is not a good idea, I simply cannot accept it.   It is much to painful to stare at, so I choose to pray and tell myself it will be ok, it simply has to be!

My love for cooking started in my mother's kitchen, watching, and helping her every night.  She is a fabulous cook, and great baker.  This is one of her signature desserts.  I only ask that when you decide to bake this up, you say a prayer for the woman who this is dedicated to, my MOM!  I love her so much!

My daughter Alana and my mother are extremely close and she will often draw her loving cards to keep her spirits up.  It touches my heart to know my 8 year old is aware of the love my mother needs right now.  Here is Alana after carving her own pumpkin, she is so proud of it!  I figure, I will include it here since we are on the pumpkin subject.

My cousin Gina is on the food advisory board for the local newspaper, the Daily Journal.  She wrote and dedicated a wonderful article for my mom featuring her pumpkin bars.

I thought it would be the perfect time to add this to my blog and share with you.  Gina is like a daughter to me, and another mother to my Alana.  I truly don't know what I would do without her.  She does so much for me and my family.  There are no words for the gratitude and love I feel for her!  Gina Fiocchi, love ya, miss ya, call ya!  You are my best friend, I could not do, what I do every day without you!  You are such a wonderful, thoughtful person, and our family is blessed to have you!!

Here is the article:  http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20131009/LIFESTYLE/310090048

God bless you mom, as you take the next step towards recovery.  You will beat this again, but this time for good!  We have lots of fun things to do yet so stay strong, focused, and positive.  We all know you will win again!!

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter
2 Cups Sugar
1 16 oz. Can Pumpkin
4 Eggs
2 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Cup Walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Greased and floured 15 x 10 Pan

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Blend in pumpkin and eggs.

Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

Spread mixture into pan.  Bake for 30 to 35 mintutes.

Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (3oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Cups Confectioners Sugar

Combine softened cream cheese, butter and vanilla, mixing until well blended.

Gradually add sugar, mixing well after each addition.

Spread over the cake and top with chopped walnuts.  Cut into bars.

No Fail Apple Crisp

Going to continue with another apple recipe.  I made this yesterday for company and it turned out great.  It is not like me to stay with the same ingredient, but since apples are so plentiful right now, I just had to share.  We will just call it our theme for the week.  It was so easy and the taste was divine!

Serve it warm and top with vanilla ice cream.  Pure heaven!!

Any variety of apple will work, I used golden delicious.

Topping:

6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon nutmeg
5 Tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened
1/2 Cup Oats, or Walnuts, or Pecans finely chop nuts if using

Filling:

6 to 8 Apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Cinnamon to taste
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

For the topping:  Mix the flour, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg.  Add the butter and toss to coat. Pinch the butter chunks and dry mixture between your fingertips until the mixture looks like crumbly wet sand.  Add the oats or nuts, and toss to incorporate. Refrigerate the topping for at least 15 minutes before baking.

For the filling:  Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the apples, sugars, sprinkle on cinnamon, and the lemon juice together and place in an 8 inch square glass or ceramic baking dish or a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. Distribute the chilled topping evenly over the fruit.

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes.  Let cook on wire rack for ten minutes before serving.

Super Easy Apple Cake

Apples are so plentiful right now and we are always looking for new ways to use them.  I am fortunate I have two apple trees in my back yard and this year was the year for them to flourish, thanks to my husband giving them extra TLC.  We planted our trees the year Alana was born, in fact I was pregnant when the little trees arrived.  They looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  So bare and so small.  I thought it would be a miracle if we ever took a bite out of an apple.

Thoughts of Julia Roberts were swimming in my head when she was in the movie Sleeping with the Enemy, she rented a home in the South with an apple tree in the back yard.  I watched her pick, and gather the apples that she placed in a pile in the front of her country style dress.  She then returned to her kitchen to make a homemade apple pie, and I thought how great it must be to walk in your own back yard, pick apples and immediately bake them up into something wonderful.

My dream came true and I had the most beautiful apples this year, so I did what I always wanted to do, I picked the apples and baked a wonderful dessert.  Take a look at my apples, still basking in the sun, aren't they a beauty?

This dessert is so easy and you won't believe how fast it is to do.  If you don't have beautiful apples growing in your yard, don't fret,  just stop by the store and grab a few.  You will only need 3 for this dessert.  Seriously, this cake is so moist and no one will ever know you used boxed cake mix.  Perfect for times when you have to make a dessert with little time and so few ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a tube pan

Ingredients:

1 Box Super Moist Yellow Butter Cake Mix
1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Apples, peeled, cored and finely diced
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions.  Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla extract, then fold in the chopped apples and nuts.

Pour the batter into prepared pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake come out clean.  Allow to cool.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Here is the finished product, doesn't it look yummy?

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This will melt in your mouth, it is so good!  Bring it to your next party and watch it disappear!  It is so easy to make, smells so good while it's baking and tastes wonderful.

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 Cup white sugar
1 tsp Mexican vanilla extract, can use regular
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 Cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey (optional)

Directions:
Preheat and oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.

Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9 x13 rectangles.  Press one piece into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the dish then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.  Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Dot the mixture over the top of the cheese cake.

Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and drizzle with honey.  Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Luscious Bananas Foster

A little piece of Heaven

The first time I tasted this my taste buds were singing.  I immediately sought out a recipe so I could make it at home and WOW my guests.  Of course I added my own flair and the results were amazing.  It worked, they were raving and the best part, it's so, so easy.

Here's what you will need for 4 servings:

4 Large Bananas, cut into slices
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Stick Butter
1/2 Pint Bacardi Rum
2 Tablespoons Banana Liquor, optional
1 to 2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
4 Large Scoops Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream, frozen solid
4 Large Bowls

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Add the brown sugar, rum and banana liquor. Stir well reducing heat to low.  Add the bananas and cinnamon.  Stir until bananas are evenly coated.

Place one large scoop of ice cream in each bowl and spoon the banana mixture over the ice cream.

Serve immediately, the ice cream melts fast.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Fool Proof, Delicious Apple Pie

First off, I apologize for being away so long. I have been crazy busy with the job that helps pay the bills due to hurricane Irene! I work for an Insurance Company and since the storm hit I have been dedicated to the policyholders insured with the Company and have had no time for the loved ones and/or hobbies in my life. I am back and I am so happy to have caught up a bit.

Here is a great recipe for this time of the year since apples are now in season. I do not make my own pie dough, I think I still have flour in my kitchen from the times I was experimenting. There is no need to go crazy when Pillsbury Pie Crust is right in your grocers refrigerator ready for you to roll into your pie plate. No one will know it's not homemade unless you tell them. Follow my technique with the topping and whoever takes a bite of this pie will swear you spent hours making it. Only you and I will know the difference, your secret is safe with me!

This is my husbands favorite. Alan, I dedicate this one to you. I love you!

Ingredients:

1 Pillsbury Pie Crust, Room Temperature
6 Cups Golden Delicious Apples, Sliced
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar, plus more for topping
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
Cinnamon, To Taste
1/8 Tsp Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 9 Inch Glass Pie Plate
Cooking Spray
Milk for Top of Pie

Preheat oven to 425

Directions:

Remove the two curst from the box and set aside. Leave the crust in the wrap until ready to use.

Place the sliced apples in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and salt. With a spoon stir until thoroughly blended, Set aside.

Spray the pie plate with cooking spray and unfold one of the crusts. Roll the crust with a rolling pin until slightly larger then the pie plate. Lay the crust in the plate and sprinkle the bottom with a little sugar (this will keep the bottom crust from being soggy). Pour in the apple mixture and dot with butter.

Unfold the other crust and roll that slightly larger then the bottom curst. Place on top of the apples and crimp the side marrying the top and bottom crust. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with a good amount of sugar. This will make the pie shiny and beautiful. Here is where you fool even the toughest critics!

Cut a few slices on the top crust to allow the steam to escape and bake for 30 to 40 minutes on the lowest rack in your oven until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender. Place on a cooling rack for an hour then serve, can be served with ice cream for an extra treat!