Goofed Blueberry Muffin Trifle

So I made blueberry muffins for my kids the other day but they didn't turn out so well.  The bottoms were burnt but the tops and the insides were fine.  So, not wanting to waste them, I scooped out the part of the muffins that were okay and put them in a storage container.  Then for MOPS this morning I made a trifle with the muffin pieces, some vanilla yogurt, and fresh blueberries.  It was such a hit  there was none left at the end of the meeting.  So remember, just because you bake something and it doesn't turn out quite right that doesn't mean it can't be used to make something fantastic!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My father's side of the family is very Irish.  I grew up having corned beef and cabbage with carrots, potatoes, and irish soda bread every year on March 17.  We would also get together with family and other Irish friends to celebrate.  Unfortunately, I haven't tried to make corned beef on my own yet but I may try it this year or next.  I definitely want my children to grow up with that tradition, especially since my husband has some Irish blood in him.  The one thing I have made is Irish Potato Candies.  They are little coconut candies that look like potatoes.

They are very easy to make.  If you would like to try the recipe, here it is.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1-1/4 cups flaked coconut
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.

Valentine's Day Breakfast

I don't know if you know or have children who don't like to eat very many fruits and vegetable but I have two. They will eat a few fruits and one won't eat any vegetables. So I'm always trying to come up with ways to sneak them in. This morning I decided we'd have pancakes. Now usually I add applesauce, pureed pumpkin, sweet potatoes or fruits. When my son stopped eating baby food like peaches and pears, I used that so it wouldn't go to waste. Today I decided to try something different.



I had just bought some Strawberry Banana V8 Fusion to see if my son would drink it. My daughter loves pink so I thought, "I wonder if they'd eat pink pancakes." I use Krusteaz pancake mix so all I have to add is water. So today instead of water I used the V8 juice. They both seemed to like it and my daughter loved that they were pink. Then I thought, "These would be an easy Valentine's Day breakfast, especially if you shape them in hearts." You could also used pureed strawberries for this.

If you aren't very good at creating shapes with pancake batter one solution is to take a squeeze bottle (I bought one at Walmart and cut the tip some to make the hole bigger) and put the batter in there. It makes it easier to create different shapes because you can control how much and how fast it comes out much easier. I used this method when my daughter stopped eating pancakes. I started with a Mickey Mouse shape and moved on to hearts, flowers, smiley faces, guitars, dogs, and basically anything she likes to try to get her to eat them. It worked. She loved the shapes. Now she doesn't mind if they are round so I do shapes on special occasions. Others have suggested reusing sqeezable ketchup bottles. This didn't work for me.

Also, some brands end up clumpier than others so they may not work very well in the squeeze bottle. Mine tends to get clogged using the Krusteaz brand. Another tip is to NOT fill the bottle all the way. If you fill it to high, it may cause the lid to pop off or overflow out of the hole as it sits in the bottle.

The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Recipe EVER!

This is a sample of the cookie next to a Hershey Kiss so you can get an idea of how big it is.


As many people know, my husband LOVES chocolate chip cookies so I've experimented with a variety of recipes. He has selective taste so I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that (with my new favorite recipe) I make the best chocolate chip cookies of everyone he knows (and he knows a lot of people who use different recipes). I must admit that I got the recipe from Alton Brown of "Good Eats" on Food Network. The man is awesome! Every recipe of his that I've tried has gotten rave reviews. So here is the chocolate chip cookie recipe:

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes per sheet

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Yields 2 1/2 dozen.