Raspberry Trifle

I have a love for berries and cream cheese. When you combine the two, I'm in heaven.When I found this recipe, I knew it would be magic. I made a few adjustments, which made it even better. Fresh berries make every recipe better.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup white sugar

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup white sugar

1 (16 ounce) family size package prepared pound cake

2 (8 ounce) packages fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

In a medium bowl, beat cream with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, cream together cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar. Fold 2 cups of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Reserve remaining whipped cream.

Slice pound cake into 18 - 1/2 inch slices. Line the bottom of a 3 quart glass bowl or trifle bowl with one-third of the cake slices. Spread one-fourth of the cream cheese mixture over cake. Sift one-fourth of the cocoa over that. Sprinkle with one-third of the raspberries. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture, whipped cream and sifted cocoa. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

Vegetarian Pizza

I have a seriously obsession with Round Table's Gourmet Veggie Pizza. It is truly amazing. I decided to try my own variation and was quite please with how it turned out.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 cup sliced zucchini

1/2 cup raw spinach

1/2 can artichoke hearts (chopped)

1/4 sliced yellow onion

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes

1 Trader Joe's 100% whole wheat pizza dough

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 (or temperature listed on pizza dough package). Roll out pizza dough according to instructions on package. Mix olive oil and garlic together and apply with a pastry brush across the dough. Sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on the dough. Arrange toppings on dough. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on the dough. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes until done.

*For the vegan/dairy free out there, you may be able to omit the cheese in this recipe. The vegetables alone are very tasty on the bread.

Peach-Plum Jam (Frozen)

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped fresh peaches (2 large peaches)

2 cups chopped fresh plums (about 9 plums)

Ball® freezer jam fruit pectin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Peel and chop fruit. I like my jam more liquefied than chunky, so I pulsed the chopped fruit in my magic bullet. Combine lemon juice and fruit in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then add Pectin, sugar, and cinnamon to the fruit. Stir for 3 minutes. Place jam in jars and allow to set for 30 minutes. Refrigerate or Freeze. Refrigerated jam can be stored for 3 weeks. Frozen jam can be stored for 1 year.

Plum Jam (cooked)

Ingredients:
5 cups of plums, chopped and pitted
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 packet powdered fruit pectin
1 cup honey (depends on the sweetness of the plums. Increase/decrease as per taste. I used honey instead of sugar to try something new, but you can use sugar)
1/2 cup water


Mix the plums, pectin and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on medium heat. The plums will start liquefying slowly. While slightly mushy, add 1/2 cup water, stir well and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove the foam that forms on the top (mine didn't actually have very much foam, so I just let it be). Add the honey or sugar, mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes until it all starts coming together as one thick syrup consistency.

The Canning Process (if you've never canned before, this is a great place for a tutorial):

Alternatively with soapy water, clean the jam can well, along with the lid. Lightly dry it and then drop them in a big pot of water. Bring them to a boil. Make sure your jars are submerged well.

Lift them carefully and lightly dry them with paper towels. They should be hot so that the bottle does not break when you pour the boiled jam inside. Slowly pour the jam into the jar and leave a 1/2-1/8 inch space between the jam and the top of the jar.

Close the lid tightly and invert the bottle to help the Jam set for about 5 minutes.

Now slowly place the jars, straightup, inside the hot boiling water and leave it for another 5-8 minutes. This is necessary to kill the bacteria in the jam. If you live in higher altitudes, then leave the jars in for about 10min. Keep in mind, too much boiling can make the jam runny.

Remove and refrigerate the jars once completely cooled.

Serve on toast or with toasted Trader Joe's ciabatta bread and Brie cheese. Yum!

Butter-Cream Cheese Frosting

For the 4th of July I made some amazing cupcakes with some delicious frosting. This is the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

1 box Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

Add dry pudding mix to dry cake mix. Prepare cake mix as instructed on the box.

Frosting:

1 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blend butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed in Bosch or Kitchenaid mixer for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and add remaining powdered sugar, beat for 2 minutes. The frosting was not as stiff as I usually like, but I didn't want to open up a new box of powdered sugar - and everyone loved the frosting, so I posted as I made it :)

Spinach Pasta Salad

I found this recipe on a friend-of-a-friend's blog. I ended up making a few adjustments because I forgot to buy everything.

Salad:

1 small package of fresh spinach

1 – 8 oz package of bowtie pasta – cooked, drained and cooled

2-4 TBLS sesame seeds

½ cup sliced toasted almonds

3 chicken breasts – seasoned heavily with lemon pepper seasoning, grilled and cut into bit sizes. (I used the rotisserie chicken from Albertsons and then seasoned with lemon pepper)

1 cup bean sprouts (I forgot to buy these and the salad was great without them)

Mix all ingredients and toss with the dressing just before serving it.

Dressing:

½ cup oil

½ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 TBLS soy sauce

2 TBLS rice vinegar

½ tsp sesame seed oil

1 tsp grated fresh garlic (about 2 cloves)

1 tsp grated ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)

Blend in blender or Magic Bullet. Let dressing warm to room temperature before tossing into salad.

This salad could very easily be made into a vegan or vegetarian dish by not including the chicken!

Blueberry Muffins (from scratch)

Sunday morning I had a craving for blueberry muffins. I had previously purchased a ton of blueberries and didn't know what to do with them, so I froze them. Next time I think I'll double the recipe. The cinnamon topping on this was so delicious. I may even substitute the blueberries for a different type of fruit.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Yield: 9 muffins