Happy Pancake Day!

Can you believe it? This morning I woke up and made one of my kids' favorite breakfast treats - Pancakes. I was into my third pancake when I flipped it over and this is what I saw- Mr. Happy Pancake face looking right at me. Of course I had to run and get my camera, show my kids and hubby, and jump for joy! Now how can you have a bad day when this is looking up at you from the breakfast skillet?

Mint Chocolate "Cupcake"

This dessert was one of my childhood favorites. Well- sort of. The original dessert was to be made in a 9 x 13 dish. I wanted something a bit more elegant and individual and tweaked it to resemble the picture above. Doesn't it look like a dessert Mary Poppins would serve at a tea party?



The ingredient list is simple but the flavor is "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"!



I must admit - Even though the ingredients are few- it took me a while to locate the pillow mints and the chocolate wafers. I think I hit 4 grocery stores before I stumbled upon everything I needed. Rest assure...the trip was well worth it!

1 box Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies
1 pint Whipping cream
1 cup miniature marshmallows (I found very tiny ones, as shown in picture)
1/2 cup crushed Pastel Pillow mints

Make whipping cream. Fold in most of crushed pillow mints (reserve some to sprinkle on top), and mini marshmallows. Place one chocolate wafer cookie on bottom of cupcake liner. Add small dollop of whip cream mixture. Do three more layers till you have 4 cookies. Add whip cream to top and sprinkle with crushed pastel pillow mints. Let stand in fridge AT LEAST 4 hours and up to one day to soften cookies. Enjoy this "Practically Perfect" treat!



To make on a larger scale for a large group here is the original recipe:

Pastel Mint Refrigerator Dessert
32 Chocolate Sandwich cookies with cream filling, crushed
2 cups miniature Marshmallows
1 pt. heavy cream
1 cup pastel pillow mints

Put 1/2 crushed cookies in bottom of a 9x13 pan. Whip cream and add mints and marshmallows (no need to crush the mints for this size recipe). Spread over bottom layer. Sprinkle rest of cookie crumbs on top. Refrigerate 2 days before serving! This ensures pillow mints are nice and soft!
My mother made this at Christmas time - but it is the perfect refreshing summer dessert to "Beat the Heat"! When I asked her why she only made this at Christmas she said because she didn't have room in the refrigerator and could just leave it out in the freezing garage. A 9x13 pan requires prime real estate in the fridge!

Lemon Basil Dip

If you have Basil coming out your ears about now - this is the perfect way to use it up! My next door neighbor Jennifer first introduced me to this delicious dip about 6 years ago and it has become one of my favorite dips to serve with cold shrimp, cooked and cooled tortellini, or lightly cooked asparagus. I had not thought about it in a while - when low and behold, my friend Merry (who is just as happy as her name) brought it unexpectedly to a get together. I told her I was going home and putting the recipe on the blog!



1/4 fresh lemon juice (don't forget to "Beat the Lemon")
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup mayo

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients except mayo. Process until smooth. In a medium bowl, whip mayo until creamy. Stir in herb mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This dip SCREAMS summer!

B.L.T. or Bust!

The older I get the younger I feel sometimes - let me explain. I look at my children when I tell them they can't have something, and you can just see those wheels a turning. They are concocting plans, and thinking of schemes to attain whatever it is I have told them they can't have. Well - I feel the same way. When that tomato scare was happening, and all you heard on the news was "you shouldn't eat tomatoes" - all I wanted were TOMATOES! Let's face it, I had been patiently waiting all winter to have my first summer B.L.T.! Oh I know I could make one with one of the plastic like red things the stores try to pass off in the winter - but I'm talking about a REAL tomato! You know the ones - even their skin smells of the garden. Well the scare was not quite over, but I had reached my boiling point. I couldn't wait any longer. Rindy's Inverse rule of Desirability had run its course. I was done!



My hubby had just been to San Fransico and had brought me back the biggest loaf of Sour Dough I have ever seen. I went down to my local farmers market and bought the yummiest bunch of tomotoes, grabbed my jar of Hellmann's and the rest was history. My itch was scratched, my tummy full and my heart was happy! Long live the B.L.T.! What food do you fix to get your fix?

Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

Quite frankly, I don't know a better way to start a day then to incorporate an Avocado into your breakfast sandwich. Now, I know, I have already lost some of you - those of you that can't appreciate that light green slice of heaven snuggled between that salty crisp bacon and sharp cheddar cheese. It's ok - check my blog tomorrow - I won't be talking about Avocados!
My kids and I are back up at my folks cabin and their sweet little neighbor owns an Avocado grove in FL. She packed these suckers in her luggage to bring up and share with the neighbors. Needless to say - she went over the 50 pound weight limit.



Miss Charlotte, is the "Jolliest" (if that is a word) little lady you could ever meet. She has wonderful stories to tell about White Lake since she has been coming here since childhood. I don't dare ask when it began - but just trust me - she is an original up here! One story that I just marvel at is this: When she was a little girl living in New York City, her mother would send her down to her Aunt's house in Florida on the train- by herself. (I am the mother of two little girls - 10 and 8 - and raising two little girls in this day and age- it is hard to think about sending them on a train with each other - let alone by themselves!) She had only been there for about 2 weeks and decided she had had enough of the hot, hard life! She wrote a note of goodbye and thanks, left it on the bed and at the crack of dawn walked to the train station. She got there in the early morning, bought her ticket home and ended up on her mother's doorstep! She said her mother had always taught her not to talk to strangers, so she did not say a word to anyone the entire one and a half day trip home. No big deal she said. Can you imagine?
Oh- the good old days. I can't let my kids ride their bikes in front of our house alone and at 8 she was buying a train ticket in the early morning? Crazy!

No wonder lugging 10 tons of Avocados through airport security was no big deal to her! We love our Miss Charlotte for her stories and Avocados!

Rindy's Greek Pasta Salad

I love Trader Joe! I admit it - I've told my hubby and he has come to terms with my love affair with "Joe". We don't live particularly close to one, but once in a while I make the trek to get my "Joe" fix. One of my family's favorite pasta salads is this Greek inspired concoction mostly made with Trader Joe ingredients. I try to have on hand at all times the four ingredients that make this luscious salad.



I simply boil 1 pound of tri-colored Trader Joe's pasta according to the box directions. Rinse off in cold water for 1 minute.
Throw in entire bottle of Artichoke Antipasto, 1 bottle, drained, Greek Kalamata Olives, and 1 can, drained, Artichoke Hearts.
Toss together and chill!



This would also be yummy with marinated Artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, or small marinated mozzerella balls. I have made this many ways and have yet to find a way I didn't enjoy it.



What would you put in this salad?

Aunt Ruthie's Blueberry Buckle

I found myself in Blueberry heaven the other day. My mother had brought me a big bag of blueberries from "Mr. Ward" - My father's childhood friend from the Catskills. He has amazing blueberry bushes which he allows us to "dine" on once in a while (Picture below is of my dad and my daughter Jensen dining Ala Carte in Mr. Ward's garden). Sometimes he even does the picking for us and gives them to my dad when they meet up for golf. We like those even better!





I don't have to think long when I am given a beautiful bag of blueberries. I usually reach for my homemade cookbook from my Aunt Ruthie and start to gather the ingredients for her blueberry buckle! It's hard to even utter those words without getting a little pep in my step. My heart thinks - yeah - we're having blueberry buckle for dessert! Yeah me!!

Aunt Ruthie's Blueberry Buckle:

Grease well an 8 inch pan. Put in 2 or more cups (I use 3) blueberries and juice of one lemon.
Cream together:
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
Sift:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add alternately with 3/4 cup milk. This will make a very thick batter.
Spoon batter over berries.



Then combine 3/4 cup sugar with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch. Put this on batter.



Pour 1 cup hot water over top.



Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Sometimes I make this in 2 loaf pans. This ensures a nice crust on all sides. I find that with an 8 by 8 pan, sometimes the middle just can't seem to get done. Serve with vanilla ice cream or real whip cream.
Enjoy your own blueberry heaven!