Cherry Cheese Danish - Breakfast Is Served

Cherry Cheese Danish - Breakfast Is Served

Hi everybody :)

Don't you just enjoy breakfast in bed at least once a week?... Of course you do. Breakfast is my favorite meal. If you're following me on Pinterest, I'm sure you can tell that from my Breakfast, Brunch, and Brinner board. If you're just tuning in to my blog you're in for a special announcement: I've decided to do a Breakfast Is Served Sunday :) So every Sunday I will post a breakfast meal just for you :)

Today's recipe is a pretty special one. I won a contest on Michelle's Blog, Brown Eyed Baker for a gift basket of jams and jellies by Sugarcrafter Sweets. Two really GREAT blogs, you must check them out! As soon as I heard the news, my mind went into overdrive, thinking about what I can make with my delicious goodies.

Jams from Sugarcrafter Sweets.

One of the jams was Bourbon Cherry Jam. Cherries are my favorite fruit, so I  knew I had to use this one first. When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be perfect for the jam!

Cherry Cheese Danish adapted by Life as a Lofthouse

Recipe By: Pillsbury

1 tube (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

8 teaspoons  Bourbon Cherry Jam

Glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk

Sliced Almonds, optional

Directions:  Separate dough into four rectangles. Seal perforations. In a small bowl whisk together cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread 1/4 of the mixture onto each rectangle. Roll up from long side; pinch edges to seal. Holding one end, loosely coil each.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Top each coil with 2 teaspoons of jam. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or golden brown.

For glaze, in a bowl, combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and milk. Stir until smooth and drizzle over each danish.  Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired. Makes 4 danishes

What I Think:
The danish was delicious, AND THE JAM, OH BOY, WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD !!! I could just eat it by the spoonful. I'm thinking of what I going to make with it next. So stay tuned in you don't want to miss it! :)

BTW, this is my own opinion; I'm not being paid to say any of this.

ENJOY! Come again.....

Cream Cheese-Biscoff Swirled Brownies

Cream Cheese-Biscoff Swirled Brownies

 
Hi everybody :)

Today's recipe starts off with a brownie mix....ssshhhhh, I won't tell anybody if you don't ;) Mixes come in handy when you're pressed for time. So this is perfect for when you need a dessert in a snap :)

Recently, I stocked up on Biscoff, because at first they didn't sell it in my area :(  When my daughter came home law school, she would bring me some. Last week, while shopping at Winn Dixie, I SPOTTED BISCOFF!! :) YEAH! (If you can't find it in your area it's sold here and here.) The price here is a little bit higher than where my daughter attends school, but that's okay. The caramel cinnamon taste had me at one spoonful :) So, this put me in my creating mode, and I  decided to add it to a brownie mix along with cream cheese.

For the Brownie:
2 bags (19 - 21 oz.) Brownies Mix (I got my mix from Sam's Club and doubled the recipe for a 13x9" pan.)
Ingredients to make mix (eggs, water, and oil)

For the Cream Cheese Layer: adapted from Kraft
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To Make the Cream Cheese Layer:
Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy add sugar, egg, and vanilla; mix well.

For the Biscoff Layer: adapted from Martha Steward
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup smooth Biscoff spread
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
SEE NOTE

 To Make the Biscoff Layer:

Stir together butter, powdered sugar, Biscoff, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.

Prepare brownie batter as directed on the package, spread half into a greased 13x 9'" pan.  Drop dollops of cheese filling and Biscoff filling by tablespoonfuls of  over brownie batter and spread remaining brownie batter over the top. Repeat.

Working quickly so that batter, cream cheese, and fillings don't set, drag a butter knife back and forth through the layers with the tip touching the bottom of the pan.

NOTE: I think the next time I make these, I will add a little cream or milk to the Biscoff Filling because it wasn't so creamy when I added it to the batter.

What I Think:
NOTE: Make sure to swirl more if you want the marbling to show up better. I didn't :(

BTW,  for those of you who don't know what Biscoff spread is: go here for detailed information.

Despite the fact that I did get the creamy look of the Biscoff Filling or the marbling effect I hoped for, these brownies were DELICIOUS!!! So this will be a repeat.

ENJOY! Come again.....

Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Friday @ Alli-n-Son
The Better Baker Weekend Potluck

Gardening - Potatoes In A Barrel

Gardening - Potatoes In A Barrel

Potatoes In A Barrel

Hi everybody :)

Do you love gardening? I do. The only thing I don't love about gardening is weeding. While pinning on Pinterest, I  stumbled upon a solution ...Drum-roll: container gardening! For example, did you know you can grow potatoes in a barrel? I sure didn't. When I saw this Easy Gardening System I knew I had to give it a try. 


 UPDATE NEW PICTURES:
Luckily I had an barrel, so all I have to do was clean it,  and get the PVC pipe.  To start, drill circles in your barrel about the mouth of a small drinking cup, making sure to space them out.(Unlike  hubby did in this picture, we learned the hard way)

Next, you will need a PVC pipe about a few inches taller than your barrel, make sure to get one with a circumference wide enough for a water hose.

Drill holes in your PVC pipe so water can reach your plants. Place pipe in the center of barrel. Add soil to hold the pipe in place. Do not put any soil inside the pipe.  Start adding potatoes seedlings thorough the holes as you continue to add the soil.

You now have your very own easy garden system ! No more weeding, YEAH!!!

about 3 weeks old

I decided to plant White Superior and  Russet Potatoes. I bought my potato seedlings and soil. And went to work. I was so excited to see how this would turn out. The picture above is how it looked after about a few weeks.

2 months old

As the weeks and months went by ...my potatoes grew.... and  GREW! Soon it was so big and bushy. I had to get something to help me prop them up. I was afraid some of the plant would get so big that the weight from it hanging from the barrel would cause them to break.  Some of them did : (  This is how it look after about 2 months.

potatoes in about 4 months

Freezing Potatoes

freezing potatoes

 Freezing potatoes is very simple. To keep the potatoes at it best, you would want to blanch them as soon as possible.  According to Wikipedia: Blanching is a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process. After blanching, you would want to put them in freezer bags or containers. I think the bags are better because you can squeeze out the air before closing them or you can vacuum-sealed them. 

freezing potatoes

For more info about freezing potatoes go here.

ENJOY! Come again....