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Monthly Archives: July 2008

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

July 24, 2008 – 11:11 pm


I haven’t taken many pictures of the kids this week as I’ve been cleaning like a mad woman and just haven’t taken the time to pull out the camera. I spent 3 and half hours in the playroom weeding out toys, cleaning and sorting. I moved onto the office and scraproom and spent 2 days in there – a total of at least 6-7 hours. The entire upstairs got an overhaul too. Soooo, since I finished all the cleaning, I decided to bake. :)
I had a neighbor over last night for a girls night in of mini homemade pizzas (hoping to post that recipe next week), pigs in a blanket and Toll House Pie with Haagen Daas Vanilla Bean ice cream. YUM!
Here’s the recipe that I found on Bakerella’s Blog :
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
Serve with ice cream (optional)
Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.
NOTE: If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.
By admin | Posted in Recipes | Comments (1)

My Favorite Meal of the Week: Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork

July 21, 2008 – 9:52 pm

While I don’t normally post much about it, I love to cook and bake. I’m thinking about maybe posting some recipes here and there when I try something new that’s a big hit.

When we went to the fair a couple of weeks ago, one of the new food vendors this year was BBQ’d pulled pork. It was the absolute best – it wasn’t overly salty, had lots of flavor but wasn’t too hot, etc. Since then, I’ve been determined to try this at home but when looking for recipes, I kept running into the “dump a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce into shredded pork”. I’ve made it like that before and neither me or Joe really cared for it. It was too salty and way too overpowering taste wise – you couldn’t even taste the pork. I finally came across a recipe that called for McCormick’s Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning packet. I decided to give it a try!! Here’s what you want to look for in your spices/seasonings aisle:

The recipe:
PREP TIME: 10 minutes

YOU WILL NEED:

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast, well-trimmed or boneless pork loin roast
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. PLACE pork in slow cooker.
2. MIX Seasoning, ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar until blended. Pour over pork. Cover.
3. COOK 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. Remove pork from slow cooker.
4. SHRED pork, using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker; mix and heat with sauce before serving.
Makes 10 servings.

IMPORTANT: For best results, do not remove cover during cooking.

This was the exact same seasoning that they used at the fair. And it tasted even better than the fair! I actually used a Boston Butt roast and while it worked well (just fell apart, super moist) it was a little too greasy for my taste. And since you remove the pork, shred it and return it to the drippings in the crockpot, next time I will buy a leaner cut of meat if possible.
Oh yeah, and it makes a TON! I used a roast that was a little less than 3 pounds (had a small bone and a huge hunk of fat) and we ended up with enough for dinner last night, a lunch for Joe for today and dinner for tonight for me and there was still some left over!!
By admin | Posted in Recipes | Comments (31)

Today’s Artwork

July 21, 2008 – 9:41 pm

Here’s Maddie’s masterpiece – she called it “daddy”. You can totally see the resemblance; the hair, the goatee, the winking eye and the lopsided grin. Not sure about the inflamed foot though. :)

And Mr. Nate’s work – daddy’s Husqvarna (thus the big H on it) lawn mower with attached bagger filled with grass. And he added his John Hancock.
And Miss Lexi Lou’s beautifully colored tractor scene. I love that she colored the pigs blue.
Nate is finally holding his crayons/pencils with the correct tripod grip (mostly). His contol has MUCH improved over the last year. And in the last 2 months, we’ve really noticed the girls hand control improving as well. Both girls (especially Lexi) have perfected the tripod grasp on crayons and can do pretty well staying within the lines. Maddie, who’s leaning more and more towards being a lefty, sometimes has trouble deciding which hand she should use. She has better control with her left (in my opinion anyway) but there are times she’s insistent upon using her right. Who am I to tell her not to? So she switches back and forth! :)
By admin | Posted in Kid Updates, Lexi, Maddie, Nate | Comments (21)
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