Category: Desserts

Last, But Certainly Not Least

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Our international culinary tour wouldn’t be complete without a dessert. And Miss A wouldn’t have eaten that fish without the promise of a sweet treat! So we wrapped up our Libyan meal with a Libyan recipe for Baked Apples and Honey. The recipe is simple and doesn’t need a lot of ingredients or work. We started by dissolving some sugar in water and then dropped in some red food coloring. Mr. N then poured the syrup over a couple of peeled and cored apples in a baking dish.

Next we baked the apples at 350F for 40 minutes. Once they were soft (not squishy), we removed them from the oven and let them cool. Continue reading →

Warning: May be Habit Forming

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I’m not kidding. This dessert is seriously addictive in both its original form and my adapted version. Either way, I don’t know if I can ever get enough. It all started when Greg over at Rufus’ Food and Spirit Guide linked to this recipe. I had never been a big fan of lemon bars, but I needed a dessert that was easy to serve at a potluck and as we learned from our Minnesota cooking adventure, bars were the way to go. So since it was my first time making these and I was about to feed them to other people, I had to sample them. Then I had to eat the ones that didn’t cut out of the pan quite right. Then at the dinner, I got in the dessert line as fast as I could hoping anxiously that there would be a few left by the time it was my turn. Then I filled my plate with my own homemade dessert – nothing else. I think I have a problem, and all it took was one bite.

I was still thinking about those lemon bars last week when I came across this recipe for Strawberry Lemonade Tarts. I had a brainstorm – what if I added strawberries to my new favorite dessert. So I did. I used the original recipe for the crust.

It’s a short bread crust that on its own is delicious. You mix all the ingredients together in the bowl and then press it down into a greased baking dish. Continue reading →

Shoo Fly Shoo

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Our work began early this Memorial Day. Both dad and grandpa (my dad) were outside by 7:30 working on the swing set, the Cedar Summit Panorama from Costco.

They braved the 90 degree temps and humidity, and worked tirelessly through lunch. By early afternoon the rest of the barn raising crew came by to help finish things up (and break things in!).

Continue reading →

Third Time’s the Charm? Quest for the Best Banana Bread.

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Tonight the kids and I whipped up the third banana bread recipe for our quest. This particular version is adapted from Martha Stewart’s banana bread and was sent to me by an old high school friend. Thanks Liz! The major differences in this recipe compared to the first two are that it uses only white sugar and replaces the oil with sour cream. Until now, I had never seen a banana bread recipe with sour cream, so I was intrigued.

We started by mashing the bananas – Miss A was on hand to help in what has become her new favorite outfit (a princess nightgown), worn both day and night.

Continue reading →

Boo-Yeah! Baklawa!

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Ever since last month when Dawn over at First Look, Then Cook posted her recipe for baklava, it’s been on my mind. I instantly thought of an ice wine we have that would match this dessert perfectly. Not to mention I’ve never worked with phyllo before and it sounded like a challenge I needed to tackle. So when we were looking for Egyptian desserts and came across the recipe for Baklawa, the Egyptian version of the dessert, I knew it was time to get to work.

The main differences between Greek baklava and Egyptian baklawa are that the Greek version uses honey in the syrup and almonds in the pastry. The Egyptian form of the dessert uses sugar and orange blossom in the syrup and omits the almonds. Either way, the dessert sounds intriguing to me and dad, and one that we thought even Mr. N and Miss A would enjoy.

Miss A helped me out early in the process. She was very excited to see the mallet coming out again and was eager to crush the walnuts. Continue reading →

Dessert for Breakfast and Other Infidelities

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We wanted to try an Egyptian dessert this week. We also wanted something healthy so that our waistlines didn’t explode after that Georgia Peach Cobbler. We found a recipe for a strawberry dessert on Tour Egypt and while it’s fairly healthy, I have to say that I’m not really convinced it’s an authentic Egyptian dessert. I’m also uncertain whether it’s a dessert or if it’s breakfast. I think it can easily be both; and if not, well then we just ate dessert for breakfast. I suppose there are worse things that could happen.

The recipe is easy – combine raspberries and sugar in a sauce pan and heat, stirring gently, until a syrup forms.  Continue reading →