All American Trifle

For the 4th of July I wanted to make a patriotic dessert that was a little more original than the classic sheet cake with berries arranged in the shape of a flag, and this is what I came up with. Not only was it super easy, it was super delicious!

I prepared a boxed white cake according to package directions, and whipped a pint of heavy cream and added confectioner's sugar to taste. I hulled and quartered a package of strawberries, which was the first layer. The next layer was the whipped cream, followed by the cake, which I cut into pieces and kind of crumbled up (I didn't use quite the entire 9X13 cake). I then added another layer of whipped cream and topped that with a package of fresh blueberries. I didn't do any additional preparation with the fruit, so the desert wasn't too sweet.

I'll definitely be making this again!

Summer Rigatoni

A few weeks ago I was completely lacking in inspiration for dinner, so I went to the store, picked up a few things, and ended up with this. It's quick and delicious and became an instant hit in our family.

1 box rigatoni (1 lb.) cooked according to package instructions
1 package (5 links) sweet Italian sausage
1 large zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 bottle marinara sauce
Mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, brown Italian sausage and onion. Add zucchini and squash and cook until just soft. Add meat mixture to cooked rigatoni and stir in marinara sauce. Mix well. Top with fresh ground pepper and shredded mozzarella .

*This makes a pretty big portion. For our family I freeze half and still have enough left over for lunch the next day.

Almond Tortes

FOR CRISPS

3/4 C finely chopped almonds

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C butter

1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp heavy cream

FOR FILLING

1 1/4 C chilled heavy cream

2 tbsp packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp Saigon cinnamon

1 dash nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Fresh berries

To Make Crisps:

Preheat oven to 375 with rack on lowest shelf.

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until butter and sugar are completely dissolved.
Set aside and let cool for 15 minutes.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop teaspoons (not tablespoons!) of batter about 6 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets on rack for 5 minutes, then transfer individual crisps to rack to cool completely.

To Make Filling:

Beat cream until it begins to form soft peaks. Add remaining ingredients.

To Assemble:

Place half the crisps on a serving tray. Top each with a spoonful of cream and a few berries. Top with additional crisps, a small spoonful of cream and a few more berries.

**To get my crisps uniform in shape, I used a round cookie cutter to score them as soon as they came out of the oven. Once they cooled, I was able to break off the excess around the scored edges.

These are really easy to make and really delicious!

Chocolate Sour Cream Layer Cake

Yesterday I was in the mood to bake something, so I gave this a try. It was delicious! I loved that it was chocolatey without being too sweet.

I don't have a double boiler, so I improvised with a saucepan and a glass Pyrex bowl that fit on top of the pan. It worked perfectly. Also, I only had salted butter, and it worked just fine.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream (I used fat free)

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 sticks (1/2 lb.) unsalted butter at room temperature

Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-by-2-inch) round cake pans.

Make chocolate cake:

In a glass measure, whisk together cocoa and boiling water until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until well-blended (mixture will be dry). Add eggs one at a time, beating well on medium speed after each addition. Scrape down bowl. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture in 3 parts alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour, just until blended, scraping bowl when halfway done. Add cocoa mixture and blend. Evenly divide batter between pans.

Bake cake for 30 minutes or until a tester inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cakes on racks for 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; remove pans. Let cakes cool completely.

Make chocolate frosting:

Melt chocolate in a double boiler, whisking until smooth. Whisk in 2 Tbsp. water. Set aside.

In another double boiler, cook sugar and egg yolks, whisking, until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm, 3 minutes.

Whisk sugar mixture into chocolate mixture; stir in vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 minutes. Beat in butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until smooth.

Assemble cake:

Place 1 cake layer right side up on a serving plate. Spread 1 cup chocolate frosting evenly on top. Place remaining cake layer on top; frost cake all over with remaining frosting.

Anchorage Country Store Whole Wheat Bread

I found this easy and delicous bread recipe here. (I would post the recipe, but it has a copyright warning, blah, blah, blah). It's the first time I've found a homemade bread recipe that could actually take the place of store-bought bread in our house.

I would love to find a bread recipe that uses only whole wheat flour (no white flour) but until then, I'll be sticking with this!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cans of canned chicken or 1 1/2 lbs. cooked chicken

2 cans Cream of Chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 can corn

1 can Ranch Style Beans

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can Ro-Tel

(I also added a few dashes of Tapitio hot sauce)

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot and simmer on medium heat to a boil.

Serve over tortilla chips and sprinkle with Mexican cheese

*I found this recipe on one of the blogs that I read regularly, and I really love it because other than the tortilla chips, I have all of these items in my food storage. I would suggest, however, looking for some of these items in low sodium varieties since canned foods are notoriously high in sodium. Next time I will try frozen rather than canned corn and see if there is a low sodium cream of chicken.

Creamy Crockpot Chicken

Easy, delicious and kid friendly!

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
6 oz cream cheese softened
1 pkg Good Season Italian Dressing

Place chicken breasts in bottom of crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken breasts. Cook for 8 hours on low or 3 1/2 on high.

*I found some Archer Farms brand Basil Linguine at Target that I served with this and it was a great addition.