Monthly Archives: May 2015

May31

Weird name for a cake, but easy and delicious!

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Weird name for a cake, but easy and delicious!

If you do a little web search, you’ll find that Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis tradition.  (And that’s the actual name of it).  Some friends of ours initially brought it to the lake, and it’s like HEAVEN.  Super delicious starts with this:

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It starts with a boxed yellow cake mix, and butter recipe is even better!  The only thing I learned to do differently is to actually mix the cake in the baking pan.  If you don’t, it’s nearly impossible to get this sticky mess to stay in the pan.  Once you get the cake ready, you’ll use your mixer for the next layer.

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Pour it over the top, and bake.  Follow the baking times pretty closely…..the outside will be crunchier and the middle gooier, but it’s all really yummy.  Some recipes say sprinkle with confectioners sugar, but I stop while I’m ahead.  Here’s the final product, cooling.

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We just call it “Gooey Butter”

Enjoy!

~Connie Kaye

Gooey Butter Cake

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Ingredients:

1 pkg yellow cake mix
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 8 oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups conf. sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In 13 x 9 pan, mix cake mix, melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 eggs with a spoon. Pat down.
Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla with mixer. Slowly beat in conf sugar. Pour over cake layer.  Bake 40-45 minutes.  Let cool before cutting for best results.

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May31

I’m back! (with alcohol)

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Thanks for hanging in there with me….been swamped and no time to blog.  I have some amazing recipes I’ll be sharing this week, but first want to share a delicious drink.  Well, a delicious shot.  Yes, shots are delicious but the end result isn’t always something to write home about, so proceed with caution!

Some friends recently returned from a vacay in Mexico, and while there, had “Little Beers”.  Here ya go:

little beer

“Little Beer”

Yep, that’s heavy whipping cream.  I had to search for some tall clear shot glasses, but your liquor store should have “43” which is a Spanish liqueur.  Add desired amount of liqueur, then finish slowly with heavy whipping cream.  It will resemble beer with a frothy head as shown in the pic.  Be sure to shoot it all at once, and it’s like a milkshake 🙂  Yum!

~Connie Kaye

May11

A quick & easy appetizer for a crowd

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Since graduation, prom and wedding season are upon us, I thought this might be a good time to share a really easy appetizer, that’s also easy on the wallet.

We’ve all had MANY versions of appetizer meatballs, and probably the easiest is dumping BBQ sauce with frozen meatballs in your handy dandy crockpot.  I’m not arguing that, however, if you want real Swedish Meatballs, they are equally as easy to make.  My brother taught me the correct way to make these back when our restaurant was doing a lot of catering.  So, follow the super simple directions below to save time and money!

~Connie Kaye

Easy Swedish Meatballs

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Ingredients:

1 jar Chili Sauce
Equal amount grape jelly
Small frozen meatballs

Melt chili sauce and grape jelly in crockpot, add meatballs.  The end.  Delicious!

May10

Delicious cookies from a family friend! (with a smoked sausage surprise)

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Look at this delicious little morsel:

carrot cookies

Carrot cookies with orange icing!

When I met my husband, Mike, I didn’t realize how I was really getting the whole package.  By that I mean I gained a wonderful mother and father-in-law.  Two of the nicest people you will ever meet!  Over the course of the years, Debbie has brought some delicious treats to my house.  (One that we never let her forget is her homemade dinner rolls until now since I’ve stolen her Kitchen Aid :))  So back to the cookies — I didn’t realize that these yummy delights were the product of her friend, Betty.  Recently I had the opportunity to snarf a few of these and request the recipe.  Today is kind of a cooking day at the casa, because we are smoking a bunch of meat, so I thought I might brew up these cookies.

It calls for boiled, mashed carrots.   So, I started with boiling water and just threw in a whole bag of baby carrots.  What I didn’t use I ate:

carrots

I threw them in my (Debbie’s) 🙂 Kitchen Aid and within just a few minutes, they were ready for the oven:

carrots ready to bake

Don’t let the carrots scare you….there’s just a hint of taste and combined with the light flavor of the orange juice, they are delish!  A really nice light-textured cookie.  And, I SUCK at making cookies, pretty much, and these came out really good.

Also, I wanted to share a really yummy invention that we threw on the smoker, that’s super delicious EASY!  We buy the cheapest 1 lb. roll of breakfast sausage at the grocery store, and wrap it in thick cut bacon, securing with toothpicks soaked in water.  Next liberally douse it with a Wild Cherry Chipotle seasoning (we purchased at a grilling store) and throw on the smoker at 225-250 degrees for about 4 hours.  When it comes out, place on a rack to cool, then wrap it in plastic wrap, then foil and freeze it.  Once it’s frozen, it makes it easy to slice.  Just remove from freezer and let it defrost.  GREAT with cheese and crackers.  And, a word of advice:  be sneaky when it comes out and score a little piece of the bacon…WOWSER!  Here’s a pic:

sausage

Thank you, Betty, for the recipe, and Debbie for being a wonderful part of our family!

Enjoy,

~Connie Kaye

Carrot Cookies

  • Servings: 24
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Ingredients:

1 Cup shortening
3/4 C white sugar — mix these two together.

Add:
1 egg
1 C cooked mashed carrots
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix and drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

FROSTING
Mix the zest of 1 orange and enough orange juice with confectioners sugar to frosting consistency.

May8

HMD to a fabulous lady!!! (Delicious Fish Tacos coming this weekend)

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Well my post today was going to be about the amazing fish tacos we devoured last night, but I was too full and sleepy to type, so you’ll have to wait a day!  The recipe will come to you with edits from me (of course), but originated on Food Network — The Kitchen.  LOVE that show and the hosts.

Anyway, the day to honor us moms is about on us, so I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to MY mom, Colleen.

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I’m not even going to tell you how old she is, because it doesn’t make a diff.  She’s a feisty devil, and this apple didn’t fall far from the tree.  She lives in a residential care center and is THE social butterfly!   Her best friend, Hazel, is 103 and just like her.  They are extremely ornery and usually doing something they shouldn’t.  They are a pair!

Mothers Day does makes me a bit sad, because it reminds me that I cannot celebrate Fathers Day with my Dad.  Unfortunately he passed in 2001, but it’s pics like this that bring back such fond memories.  My parents have always ADORED my kids, as you can tell from this picture:

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Brice and Brandi hanging with Grandma and Grandpa!

Note that Brandi appears to have a swimsuit on — my dad taught them both to swim in their pool.

So, hats off to all of you Moms out there, and I hope you are loved up by those around you!  If you cannot see your mom this weekend, call her while you can.  Life is toooo short!

Tune in this weekend for those fish tacos!

~Connie Kaye

 

May6

Apple Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

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Now that some really good, sweet fruit is available in the grocery store, I love to brew this salsa up.  However, the cinnamon chips are sooo delicious that you want to be sure to make plenty.

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This will please even the most finnicky of eaters, and you can throw in additional fruit to your liking.  I’ve also made it when kiwifruit isn’t available, and it’s just as good.  Enjoy!

~Connie Kaye

Apple Salsa w/Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients:

SALSA
2 medium tart apples, chopped
1 Cup chopped strawberries
2 medium kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
1 small orange
2 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP apple jelly, melted

CHIPS
8 flour tortillas
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Combine apples, strawberries and kiwi.  Grate orange peel to measure 1.5 tsp; squeeze juice from orange.  Add peel and juice to apple mixture, and stir in brown sugar and jelly.

For chips, brush tortillas lightly with water.  Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over tortillas.  Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges.  Place in single layer on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool.