Delicious Ice Cream Cake

Here's a delicious ice cream cake that is perfect for a cool summer treat.

Ice Cream Cake

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened

20 oreo cookies, crushed

2 c. homemade hotfudge (see recipe below)

1 package Heath Chips (or 6 heath candy bars, crushed)

1 large container of Cool Whip

Soften ice cream with hand mixer until smooth. Place cookie crumbs in bottom of a 9X13 container, perferably plastic. Save few for garnishing on top.

Pour softened ice cream over cookie crust and free for approximately 1 hr. Pour homemade hot fudge sauce over ice cream. Sprinkly crushed heath bar over hot fudge.

Top with cool whip and garnish with crumbs and drizzle with hot fudge. Place back in freezer till ready to serve. Sure to be a favorite for both children and adults!

Homemade Hot Fudge

1/2 c. butter

4 sq. unsweetened chocolate

3 c. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 lg can evaporated milk

Melt butter in sauce pan or double pan boiler. Add chocolate and melt. Add salt and mix well. Add 1 1/2 c sugar slowly. Mixture will appear very sugary. Add milk slowly, stirring throughout; alternating with the rest of the sugar. Stir until sugar is all dissolved and it's well mixed. Cool. Store, covered in refrigerator. Take out as much as needed, heat and serve hot over ice cream or any dessert.

Yield: A little over 1 quart.

Broccoli Salad

Well it's been awhile since my last post, that definately doesn't mean I haven't been cooking, just means I haven't had the chance to blog about any of my cooking.

Here is one of my favorite salads to make. It's definately a good salad that goes well with a good steak on the grill. It's easy enough to make quick before a neighborhood BBQ or make it for the family!

Broccoli Salad

Bowl full of broccoli (approximately 2-3 stalks)
1/2 c. raisins
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
8-10 slices of bacon

onions optional

Cut up broccoli into small bite size pieces.

Raisins

Cut bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy. Remove from grease and blot dry with paper towels. When bacon is dry, add to broccoli. Add sunflower seeds, raisins and onions (optional).

Dressing for salad

1/2 c. miracle whip

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. white vinegar

Cream together miracle whip and sugar together. Add vinegar. Mix until creamy. Add more ingredients to the taste that you like.

Pour dressing over broccoli mixture and mix until dressing covers broccoli mixture.

Enjoy!

Amazing Strawberry Margarita

So who doesn't like a nice refreshing strawberry margarita on a nice hot day by the pool, or rather a cool evening with good friends playing bags! Either or, this is sure a magnificent cool refreshing drink that is perfect for sipping on.

I have to thank my friend Michelle for showing me the blog that I got this cool refreshing drink from. Check out the How Sweet It Is blog. There are plenty of recipes that I'm sure are delicious to try.

Strawberry Margaritas
Recipe is for one 8 oz margarita

2 oz Grand Marnier
1 1/2 oz Tequila
2 oz lime juice
2 1/2 oz. Strawberry Daquiri/Margarita Mix (the original recipe calls for strawberry simple syrup that can be made by clicking here.
Fresh limes - slices
Fresh Strawberries
Salt and sugar for rim of glass

Rim the ridge of your glass with a lime wedge and dip in the salt/sugar mix to rim your glass. Fill the glass with ice. Combine tequila, grand marnier, strawberry mixture and lime syrup and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake for approximately 30 second. Pour over ice and garnish with fresh limes and strawberries.

Pictures to come! Forgot to take a picture the first time I made it.

Crazy Queso

Well, nothing like a good taco night at work to have a good excuse to make a delicious queso dip. This weekend I threw together a queso dip that would be perfect for any gathering. I always love experimenting with recipes, tweaking them and adding different things for a different flavor.

As I thought about what to put in my queso, I decided that a little bit of everything would be good and the girls at work are always honest so they would let me know if it was good or bad.

It got a thumbs up from Jenny O.!!!

Crazy Queso
1 lb hamburger
1 lb Italian sausage
1 can chili without beans
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 can green chilies
1 lg box Velveeta cheese

Brown hamburger and sausage together and drain. Mix together with all other ingredients into crock pot on low and stir often until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips!

Other ingredients that could be added for a little spicier queso could be:
Jalapeno peppers
Jar of salsa
dash of chili powder

Caramel "Crack" Corn

Well I thought I would start with the recipe that gets the most use in my kitchen. I make caramel corn quite a bit due to the fact that my co-workers request it on a daily basis :). Nothing like a good dose of sugar on the night shift around 3a.m. (if it makes it that long). When I get to work at 7p.m., if i put it in the break room, it might make it till 8 or 9p.m. if we are lucky.

The history behind this recipe was I always remember my mom making caramel corn and she always made it in the oven and had to stir it often. I was unable to get my mom's recipe so I just did a google search and chose the first one I found that I had to bake. I would give credit to the site that I found it but it's been probably 2 years since I found it and have no idea where I found it at.

I hope that you find this caramel 'crack' corn as delicious as my friends, family and I do. Please give feedback!

Caramel Crack Corn
1 roaster pan full of air popped popcorn
1 jar of peanuts (optional)

1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Fill a roaster pan with popcorn. Mix peanuts if desired at this time. Melt butter, brown sugar and Karo syrup together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add baking soda. Pour over popcorn and stir till popcorn is evenly covered with the caramel. Bake popcorn for one hour; stirring every 15 minutes. After one hour, remove popcorn from roaster pan immediately as it comes out easier. If you let the popcorn sit, it will be a HUGE hassle to get out of the pan.




If you find yourself out of Karo Syrup, as I did once after getting everything popped and the butter melting on the stove, you may try using 1/4 c. Karo Syrup and 1/4 maple syrup. It gives it a different flavor that was complimented on by many. It's never to late to be spontaneous and experimental in the kitchen. That's when the best recipes are found (as long as you remember what you did :))

Enjoy and don't forget to leave feedback!

Here goes nothing.

Well I've thought about doing this for a long time and finally got around to it. I would love to share all my wonderful kitchen creations with you. I've always loved cooking and baking ever since I can remember. My mom put my sister and I in a cooking class one summer and the rest is history.

I am married to a wonderful man who has blessed me with two awesome children. I work as a registered nurse at the local hospital on the labor and delivery floor and absolutely love bringing little miracles into this world.

The idea behind this blog is to share wonderful recipes with everyone and your feed back would be wonderful. I will try to take pictures of finished products and maybe a few inbetween, depending on how my helpers (Abby, 3 and Jacob, 1) are behaving. Glad to have to along for this "tasty" adventure.

Stay tuned for the Famous Caramel "Crack" Corn!