Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle!

Remember my "Pharmacist" friend Michelle? The friend I call when my children have a funny rash, or my hubby has out-of-control poison ivy - or whenever I was starting a new round of chemo - I relied on my friend Michelle. Not only is she a wonderful addition to my back pocket of friends, her hubby is an outstanding baker, BBQ'er and cook. It's like getting 4 for the price of one with this friendship.

At Christmas Roy made a decadent Trifle - And about 2 weeks ago- after much asking the recipe came my way. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!



RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE TRIFLE

16 oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar

1 angel food cake, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
2 quarts fresh raspberries, strawberries or thickly sliced peaches (I often use a mixture of fresh and frozen berries)
3 Tablespoons sugar

In a large mixing bowl, blend cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Add the sour cream, vanilla and almond extract. In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cake cubes and coat well. Drain raspberries and add the sugar. Mix well. Layer into a trifle bowl, starting with a layer of raspberries, then a layer of cake/cream cheese mixture. Continue layering, ending with raspberries (five total layers). Cover with plastic wrap and chill well before serving. Garnish with mint leaves and/or whole berries.



Thanks Michelle and Roy for your desserts, friendship and your wealth of information you always graciously share with us!
We love you guys!

Michelle's Mac-n-Cheese

Just when you thought it was safe to put that crock pot away - DON'T! This is a great summer BBQ dish that the kids will be sure to enjoy. You can fix it - forget it - and get on with the grilling! This is another wonderful dish from my dear friend Michelle - she is certainly helping me out here while I get over my "Summer Blogging Blues". It is hard to get motivated to blog when the sky is sunny, the children want to play, and I do too!

Michelle's Crock pot Mac and cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk 12 oz size
1 stick of butter


Cook macaroni in salted boiling water on stove until slightly al dente, drain DO NOT RINSE, and pour into crock pot with stick of butter. Stir to coat. Pour in milk and evaporated milk. Stir in cheese. Turn crock pot to high for 30 minutes, mixing once. Turn crock pot to low and cook for 1-2 hours mixing 1-2 times. Mix before serving.

Feeds 10. OR in my house feeds 5!!!!

GG's Summer Sauce

Where has the time gone? Between the last week of school, and recovering from the last week of school - my little blog has been sorely neglected. I hope this will make it up to you. My good friend Michelle brought my family dinner last week. How lucky was I? I picked her daughter up twice a week from school this year and she wanted to thank us by providing dinner - with all the works! Boy were we lucky when she decided to share her mother's sauce recipe with us. GG (as we all call her) certainly knows what she is doing when it comes to sauce. Thank you Michelle and GG for sharing your family's sauce recipe with Kitchen Klique!

GG'S Sauce Recipe


3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions - finely chopped
2 celery stalks - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
2 peeled carrots - finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
64 ounces crushed tomatoes canned
1 bay leaf


In a large pot, heat oil, onion, and garlic over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add carrots and celery and heat for another 10 minutes. Stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper. Cook another 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaf and simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour. Discard bay leaf and enjoy. Makes 8 cups.

Michelle ALWAYS make at least a double batch and freezes the sauce in containers!!!!

Michelle said it tastes like her childhood - to me it tastes like a big bowl of friendship and sunshine....You be the judge!

Bobi's Bites: Chocolate Drop Cookies!

My dad has only been at the cabin for about ten days but he already feels the need for some comfort food. He asked my mom to bake some of his Grandmother's Chocolate Drop Cookies. Not a problem for all the ingredients were on hand except those "squares" of bitter chocolate. This happens to my mom more than you want to know but in the "Substitutions for Emergencies" section of her TRUSTY recipe book she located the substitute:
1 sq. (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate can be replaced with
3 tbsp. cocoa plus 1/2 tsp. shortening.

Onward with the recipe

Grandma Low's Drop Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 squares melted chocolate
or 6 tbsp baking cocoa and 1 tsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla.



Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 325-350 ten to twelve minutes until cookies spring back
when touched lightly.

Frost with confectionary sugar icing and decorate as desired.

Global Race for the Cure - 2009

I promised you pictures from the Race for the Cure that took place this past Saturday June 6th 2009! God gave us a BEAUTIFUL day and the company couldn't have been better! Below is my daughter's teacher. We did the race for her this year!






We all agreed - we couldn't wait to do it all over again next year!!!

Washing Sea Creatures?

Ok - not really, but doesn't it look like I'm whipping up some mysterious octopus pie? They are really shirts for the "Global Race for the Cure" I am walking in this Saturday June 6th, 2009!



This is my third year to walk in this wonderful race. The first year all my girlfriends (plus some lovely hubby's) walked for me, last year we walked for our daughters and Mothers, and this year we are dedicating our walk to a sweet little teacher at my daughter's school - Ms. Chanel! Each year I throw a "Tie Dye" party. By coloring our shirts - it helps us locate our team at the race. The above picture shows our shirts right after we rubber banded them. The below picture shows them in the "Sea Water" for a 45 minute soak.



Here is the table - all ready for our marathon rubber banding! I put out baskets of rubber bands so everyone can reach them easily. The color of our shirts this year is blue - so I put out those little umbrellas they put in drinks - to show everyone the completed color.



Since only about 1/2 the team could make it - we all rubber banded at least 2 shirts a piece. We threatened those who couldn't make it. We told them we would tie dye targets on their chest area! In the end we ended up being very nice!



I just had the ladies do the rubber banding that night - and I tie dyed them the next day. No one really wants to mess up their nice clothes anyway. I returned the completed shirts the next school day. Didn't they turn out great?


Check back Monday for pictures from the big day! Susan G. Komen - Here we come!!!!!

Sweet and Sassy Muffins with Faithgirlz!

Jensie's church group, The Faithgirlz, met the other day at my house. I knew exactly the lesson I wanted to teach them...
My object lesson entailed making these Sweet and Sassy muffins.



We started the meeting off with one of my favorite childhood bedtime stories. My mom, Bobi, used to read this one to me a lot. I must have needed to hear it FREQUENTLY! The story comes out of Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories.
This story is about a little girl, Carolyn,who is nice at school, but turns into "Number Two Carolyn" at home. By this I mean - she shows love and respect while she's away - but at home she sasses her mom (Sound like anyone you know?)



The muffins we made use the same batter and you just change the ingredients to determine if they are going to be sweet or savory. Just like "Number Two Carolyn" - you can determine if you are going to be sweet or sassy - depending on what you put inside.



Sweet and Sassy Muffins
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg, milk and oil to dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Do not overmix. Grease or line muffin tins with paper baking cups. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

Add in's for Sweet:
1 cup blueberries,1 cup dried apricots, 1 cup chopped and peeled apples, 3/4 cup chopped dates, 1 cup mashed bananas, 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 cup pecans, 1 cup flaked coconut, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup peanut butter chips, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup shredded carrots, 1 cup drained canned pineapple.

Add in's for Sassy:
1 can chopped green chilies, drained
Small can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup grated cheese (Cheddar, Muenster, Swiss, or Monterey Jack)
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1/2 cup chopped green onions.

We added Chocolate chips to our sweet muffins and Bacon, Pepper Jack Cheese, and Green Onions to our Sassy muffins.
The girls loved making them and many even learned a lesson I hope...
"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" - Abraham Lincoln.

A Tussy Mussy for Jensie!

This weekend my youngest had her LAST dance recital EVER! Did you hear me - FOREVER! I am actually doing the happy dance - because my daughter is done with dance! Oh it started how everything else starts - a begging girl pleading with me to LET her do dance, and by the end of the school year me pleading with her to "finish strong and with a smile"! Jensen - or Jensie as we call her - is my one hit wonder. She tries everything once - and then wonders why she ever signed up for it. I don't know who was happier today - her or I? In celebration I made her a Tussy Mussy to give her after her performance. I only used 6 roses for this one - but I have made them in the past with up to 2 dozen! To make -I just take all the leaves off the roses, arrange them to my liking, cut stems to same size and then rubberband them together. I then start with my ribbon at the top, criss cross all the way down and then criss cross all the way up again ending with a big bow at the top. Put a damp paper towel at the bottom of a tall container and rest flowers, at least for a few hours, in container.

This is Jensie doing her best surprised look when I handed it to her - do you think Drama Club is next for us?