I’m back!

Hiya!  I’m back! Sorta.  :)  I’m trying to get the kids ready for school so I haven’t done any baking.  (I am working on a challenge with Monica and Michelle but more on that at a later date.) Along withback to school shopping we’re also finishing up our summer reading and projects.  Any thoughts on required summer reading?  Mine will not only be taking a test on their book the first day of school, but the twins also have a massive project! Why, oh why does the school district think that summer projects need to be turned in on the first day of school?  Can you imagine?  Your first day of school, you’re struggling to find classes, and you have to carry around a huge tri-fold project board?  Yeah, I don’t think that was well thought out.  LOL, thanks for letting me vent!

Here are some photos of our visit to North Carolina.  The town my parents live in is so small it doesn’t have a post office or police station!  There are only 302 people that live there. Btw, there is also no cellular service.

Bears in the woods.

The view on the way up to my parents’ cabin on Yellowtop Mountain.

Butterfly in the butterfly plant.  There are probably a 100 butterflies and bees in it.

My dad, Papa!

I love these guys!  Jalen, Joe, McKenna, & Devon!

My parents’ cabin on Yellowtop Mountain.

The sign leading up my parents’ very steep driveway.

My raspberry recipe lovin’  Mom, Linda!

A farm we pass driving into town.

McKenna, Joe, Jalen, Mom, Dad, Joe’s brother Butch, his Dad Sonny, and Devon.  I’m behind the camera.

I LOVE this tree!  The whole scene is kinda surreal looking. This was at the cabin Joe’s dad, Sonny rented while we were there. 

The fire pit where lots of s’mores would have been made had it gotten the slightest bit cool.

This photo was taken with the camera on Joe’s phone the rest of the photos were taken with my new camera.  

See these guys?  They are what keep me from baking, blogging, and reading as much as I want! :)

I’m submitting this post to Household 6 Diva’s Mamarazzi Monday!

Thanks for sticking around! I know this was a little long.  I’ll be back soon with a yummy recipe. Oh, and before I forget MANY, MANY thanks to my guest bloggers Michelle and Monica! Both of whom shared some delish recipes with you. Ones that you wouldn’t normally get here; cookies and chocolate!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream & Brownie Sundae

Hi, everybody! I'm Michelle from One Ordinary Day and I'm excited to be Ingrid's guest blogger today. She's off enjoying her vacation, and while she's away it seems like the perfect time to make something dark and chocolaty. Are you with me?

There's a lot of pressure when you're writing for someone else's blog... I don't want to spell any words wrong. I want to share a great recipe with you. I want to make my friend happy. And I really want to make a good impression. With those things swirling around in my head, I just couldn't quite make up my mind about what to bake. My indecision turned out to be a good thing, because instead of posting only one recipe, I'm sharing two! It's a two-for-one! Come to think of it, if I give you the recipe for my chocolate sauce then you're really getting three recipes. Woop!

Let's start out with the brownies. You can definitely use a boxed mix, but if you have the time to make Ultimate Brownies, you won't be disappointed. The name says it all. They are seriously good and pair perfectly with this ice cream. Come to think of it, they pair perfectly with anything and everything. But since you can find that recipe on my blog, let's move on and meet the real star here. Chocolate-peanut butter ice cream. Hello, new best friend.

I love peanut butter. My kids and I could possibly starve if peanut butter was taken from us. I swear, at least one person eats a peanut butter sandwich in our house every single day. And chocolate? I can't even describe my baby girl's love of the stuff or how smitten Sam and I are with anything dark and fudgy. Jim's got a sweet tooth too, and he would surely never turn down dessert. So it comes as no surprise that this sundae was a hit with all of us.

This chocolate-peanut butter ice cream recipe comes straight from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. The man knows his ice cream. His recipes never disappoint, and this one has the added perk of requiring no eggs and very little prep time. And, people, I can't even put into words how delicious this ice cream is. Is it appropriate to use the word "luscious" when you're describing ice cream? Yes? Good, because this is absolutely luscious!

Don't let summer pass by without building a big, beautiful sundae with all the trimmings. It's the perfect way to end a sunny day.
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Recipe: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 c. half and half
1/4 c. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 c. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter

Whisk together the half and half, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil. (It will start to foam up.) Remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions. (I find that chilling the ice cream mixture in an ice bath is the fastest way to get to eat my ice cream. I fill a big bowl with ice and water, then set my saucepan inside. You can also just use the fridge, but when I'm craving ice cream, I want to use the fastest method I can!)

Makes 1 quart.

Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Syrup

1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. water
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Whisk cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a pot until combined. Add water and whisk or stir until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove syrup from heat and allow to cool. When cooled completely, stir in vanilla extract until well combined. Pour syrup into an airtight container and refrigerate.

Makes approx. 1 3/4 c. of syrup and will keep nicely in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

Guest Blogger: Lick The Bowl Good

Hello Everyone! I am Monica from Lick The Bowl Good and I was asked by Ingrid to be a guest blogger here on her blog while she's away on vacation. Ingrid and I have become great friends over the last year and a half, so of course I said YES! I am honored to be here and thank you for having me.

Originally I wasn't sure what recipe I wanted to share with you. Would I share something savory? Or would I treat you with cookies (which he doesn't like to make) or chocolate and raisins (which she despises)? In the end, I wanted whatever I featured on this blog to reflect Ingrid's personality and her blog style. I also still wanted her to be my friend and I knew if I made something with raisins in it, that she'd stop talking to me. ha ha!

So today I have a special cookie for you. I made these for McKenna's 11th birthday last month. I made snowflake sugar cookies for them over the holidays and they all really enjoyed them. So much so that Ingrid decided to make some for the dessert table at her brother's wedding. She used the same recipe I did, but for some reason McKenna claims mine were better. I'm not sure if that's true or if that's just what Ingrid told me so she wouldn't have to make them again :-) Either way, McKenna asked nicely so I sent her some in a surprise birthday package.



Ingrid said I could make and decorate them in any way I wanted, so I decided to turn to my Message In A Cookie Cutters that I got from Williams-Sonoma. I planned on doing pink and purple and was immediately shut down. Ingrid told me she's not a girly girl and that she prefers blues, greens and yellows. I still wanted them to be somewhat feminine, young and fun so I settled on purple, lime green and a dark peacock blue. I cut them into hearts and scalloped rectangles then accented them with white royal icing for contrast and added sweetness. They were then bagged and tagged with these sweet embossed stickers given to me by my friend Janet. I think this completes the package- thanks Janet!

Rather than typing out the recipe, I'll just link to it back on my blog since it's lengthy. The recipe for the sugar cookies can be found HERE. Thank you all for allowing me to share a recipe and photos with you. I hope you enjoy them. Ingrid has a picture of McKenna with her cookies so maybe if you ask nicely she'll share it with you when she returns!

Recipe: Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Some News & A Crisp

Hi!  Before I tell you about this super yummy blueberry crisp that I adapted from Jonna’s recipe at Get Off Your Butt And Bake I have to tell you some news.  Good news!

First bit of good news.  I was contacted a week or so ago by Rebecca at Frigidaire’s online store inquiring about my interest in submitting a recipe to be featured on their site.  After mulling it over for a few days I responded with a happy yes, so be on the look out for more information on my recipe submission.

Last Tuesday was my birthday and for my birthday I convinced my honey to let me get a fancy schmancy new camera.  I pulled one of the kids’ tricks and called him while he was distracted at work.  LOL  Here’s the one I got.  With the camera I also, ordered two “how to” books.  A Dummies one (Thanks for the recommendation, Ann Marie!) for learning how to use my particular camera and one for learning how to use Photoshop Elements. It was time.  I’ve had the program for a so long they’ve come out with a new version.    :(  Hopefully over the next several months you’ll see a gradual improvement to my photos.  Along with the camera I got a few other gifts, one in particular was from a sweet friend who gave me 4 mini Le Creuset pie plates.  They’re absolutely lovely and will be putting in an appearance here at 3B’s in the near future.

Next up.  It’s vacation time, baby!!  (10 glorious work free days. Well, 2 driving and 8 of rest.)  This coming Friday we’re hitting the road and heading out of Florida to visit our parents in the mountains of North Carolina.  Normally I would not post anything while I was gone but this time I asked Monica and Michelle if they would write a guest post and they both agreed!  Aren’t we lucky?!  You’re in for a treat and from our email exchanges I think that they even have plans to load you up on some chocolate goodies.  Please make them feel welcome and say hi when they visit.  :)  Now for that blueberry crisp I promised you!

I found this terrific crisp recipe at Get Off Your Butt and Bake and as soon as I saw it I got off my butt and baked!  This was crazy fast and so easy to put together.  I even baked mine in my toaster oven on the bake setting.  I did have to improvise a bit as Jonna’s was a peach and raspberry crisp and I didn’t have either fruit.  What I did have was some blueberries but not enough to make the full recipe. I had to cut the filling recipe into thirds but I only halved the crisp topping.  Pretty smart of me, huh?  Crisp topping gooood!  :)  Instead of giving you the recipe I’m going to send you over to Jonna’s.  She whips up some good looking food that is sure to get you off your butt and into the kitchen. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!  I appreciate the time you take to do so.  Unfortunately I won’t be commenting much on your blogs while I’m on vacation and maybe not at all.  I’ll catch up with you guys when I get back after the first of August and please, this would be an ideal time to post all your chocolate and raisin filled posts!  HA! :) See ya!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

For years I’ve drooled over photos and lusted after sticky toffee pudding.  To help nudge me along this year I even bought the dates for it, but  it wasn’t until I saw Julie’s from The Sporadic Cook that I finally bite the bullet and made it myself.  Was it everything I thought it would be?  I’m not sure.  I don’t know if I hyped it up too much in my head or if I  messed up the recipe (the very center of my pudding didn’t cook through) but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

In trying to write this post and looking back at it all now….yeah, it was me.  I was expecting to take that first bite and be totally blown away. But instead of taking a bite of the whole thing put together, I tried just the  plain “pudding”.  And well, let’s just say the “pudding” on its own was nothing spectacular.  The toffee sauce on the other hand was good but it still wasn’t until I put the two together that the sticky toffee pudding magic happened.  Topping it with unsweetened whip cream added another layer of yumminess and it got even better as it sat. 

In all fairness to my sticky toffee pudding dreams I would make this again but with some changes.  I wouldn’t use all dark brown sugar.  (Julie used half white and half  brown.)  I’d poke holes in the pudding after it came out of the oven and pour half of the toffee sauce over it.  After pouring the sauce on, I would let it sit and soak it up before digging in.  Lesson learned!  :)

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Wanna learn a little more about Ingrid?  Check out Julie’s Seven Sporadic Questions and my answers!

Raspberry Lime Snack Cake

You guys have probably seen the blueberry version of this that went around a couple of weeks ago.  If you haven’t check out Monica’s. It nudged me into the kitchen.

With all the beautiful berries that can be found right now I definitely recommend trying this cake.   It’s very good, especially if you don’t bake it in a dark colored pan and forget to adjust the oven temperature 25 degrees.  I managed to “save” it by making a powdered sugar lime glaze.  :)

Raspberry Lime Cake, adapted from Southern Cakes

• 1  2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1   1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar (reserve a TBSP) 
• 1 egg, room temp
• 1/3 cup milk, room temp
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (do not thaw)*
• the zest of 1 lime**

Heat the oven to 375F and generously grease a 9 inch square or round pan.  (I used a round 9” springform pan.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and stir with a fork to mix well. In a medium bowl, rub the lime zest into the sugar. Then add in softened butter and beat with a mixer at high speed until well combined.  Add the egg and beat well for 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl, until the mixture is light and smooth.

Stir in half the flour mixture then half the milk, mixing just enough to keep the batter fairly smooth and well combined. Add the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk, mixing gently. Gently stir in the raspberries.***

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread into corners The batter will be thick.  I wet my fingertips and gently spread the batter towards the edges of the pan as best I could.  Sprinkle reserved sugar over the top and bake at 375F for 25 minutes or until the cake is golden, springs back when touched gently in the center, and is pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Serve a square of cake right from the pan, warm or at room temperature. If its round, let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for 10 minutes and then turn it out to cool, top side up.

*I used fresh raspberries and set them in the freezer on a sheet pan while I waited for the butter, egg, and milk to come to room temperature and prepped everything else. 

**Whenever zest is needed for a recipe I always rub it into the sugar and allow it to sit while everything comes to room temp.

***Next time I will try pressing the berries into the batter after I have spread it into the pan. 

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a

safe & delicious

4th of July!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Hey, guys! Check it out two posts in one week and it’s not even a holiday.  Ingrid’s getting crazy!  There have been a few comments left about me only posting on holidays and not posting much, so I’m hoping everyone’s happy now.  The commenters might also be the very same two people who are also posting about Cinnamon Swirl Bread  today.  :)

Cinnamon Swirl Bread was actually Monica’s challenge choice for May but we got a late start and pushed it back to June.  She chose Peter Reinhart’s recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

Eaten straight out of hand, the kids and I were a bit unimpressed with the flavor but when we toasted and buttered a slice it went from “just okay” to delicious.  Add in some cinnamon and brown sugar to the butter and we’re talking serious cinnamon heaven!  (So good in fact, Jalen asked me to make more bread and we hadn’t finished the two loaves I just made!)  Besides using the bread to make some kicked up cinnamon toast I also made bread pudding.  Some very good bread pudding though if you ask Devon he’ll tell you it would have been better with bananas.  :)

With my lackluster photos and post I haven’t really done this bread justice so hop over to Michelle and Monica’s blogs to check out their bread (&  get the recipe).  FYI, Michelle might have mentioned something about cinnamon chips and you know Monica will have some amazing photos.  Get going…..