May102010

The Princess & The Tomboy

By Country Gal | May 10, 2010 | Posted in Children, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , | Comments (5)

It’s quite a dichotomy.

Within a 48 hour period in 2 different Goodwill stores in 2 different states – my daughter bought these 2 very different shoes.

One is a pretty and quite feminine pair of black heels.

The other is a clunky pair of insulated army boots.

And she loves them both!

I’m glad that she is comfortable as a pretty princess in pumps and as a tomboy keeping up with her brothers on the snowy trails.

I hope she never outgrows either one!

But I’m even more glad that she is comfortable – and even excited – to go shopping at a thrift store.

She’s not only a pretty princess and a tomboy – but she’s also a treasure hunter! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , | Comments (5)
May072010

Make Ahead Fruit Salad

By Country Gal | May 7, 2010 | Posted in Cooking and Food, Salads | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Fruit Salad It’s been a busy week.

And it doesn’t stop yet! We’re packing up to head out for some special family time at my niece’s bridal shower.

In the midst of all the busyness – my girls are working on some preparations for a special Mother’s Day lunch for me on Sunday.

I’m not sure everything that is on the menu – but I have seen some Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes in the fridge along with this luscious fruit salad.

We love this salad because it not only tastes great – but it is fast and easy to put together – and it stays well in the fridge for several days.

I originally got the recipe from my mother-in-law and we have served it often – to rave reviews.

It travels well, – trust me on this one! I have served it at a funeral meal and a political gathering in the last 2 weeks!

I have substituted the drained pineapple juice for the orange juice and tried a variety of fruit!

Make Ahead Fruit Salad

2 -1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
juice of one orange and grated rind (about 1/4 cup)
1 can pineapple chunks
1 can mandarin oranges
Assortment of fresh fruit

Drain the pineapple and mandarin oranges well and put the fruit in a large bowl.

Wash and cut the other fruit into bite sized pieces. Add to the bowl with the pineapple and oranges. Set aside.

Mix together the cornstarch, sugar, water, orange juice, and grated orange rind. Cook on medium heat until the mixture is thick and clear.

Pour over the fruit when the mixture is hot.

Cover and refrigerate.

Keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.

You can use a variety of fresh fruit in this salad — apples, grapes, melon balls, strawberries, bananas or blueberries, but if using blueberries and bananas add them just before serving.

You can add as much or as little fruit as you wish – my kids like it really juicy, but I prefer it with more fruit.  This is one of those recipes you just can’t mess up!

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Salads | Tagged , , | Comments (4)
May072010

Hot Fudge Sundae Pie

By Country Gal | May 7, 2010 | Posted in Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Pies | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

My quest to find the perfect chocolate pie recipe continues…

And with my sister and niece coming – I considered it the perfect opportunity to try yet another chocolate pie recipe.

This time I choose a hot fudge sundae pie – a dense rich chocolate pie topped with ice cream and other toppings.

Yummo.

The crowd loved it – declaring it “most definitely a keeper”.

Hot Fudge Sundae Pie

2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup Hershey’s coca
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
ice cream – any flavor
ice cream toppings – bananas, maraschino cherries, peanuts, whipped cream, etc…

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa, stir till smooth. Remove from heat.

Stir together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the cocoa mixture and stir with a whisk until smooth and slightly thickened.

Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and salt; stir with a whisk until smooth.

Pour mixture into the unbaked crust.

Bake 30-35 minutes until the edge is set (the center will be soft). Cool about 2 hours.

To serve, cut a slice and top it with ice cream and other toppings.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Foodie Friday at Design’s by Gollum and at Chocolate Friday over at Stop n Smell the Chocolates.

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Pies | Tagged , , | Comments (3)
May052010

Fishy, Fishy in the Brook…

By Country Gal | May 5, 2010 | Posted in Children, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

Fishy, fishy in the brook, Buddy caught them with a hook….

There’s the little guy with his big catch! (Papa Jim actually caught some of them – and he did all the cleaning!)

Buddy fried them in the pan…Well…actually Buddy set the table and mashed the potatoes and cooked the green beans while Mom did most of the frying!

But Buddy did do some – he especially enjoyed dipping them in the flour and putting them in the pan.

Then Buddy shared them like a man!

It was a feast of fish thanks to Buddy and Papa! Now that’s one proud country kid!

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (6)
May042010

Chocolate Ice Cream Layer Cake

By Country Gal | May 4, 2010 | Posted in Cakes, Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Desserts | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

Oh dear…the Chocolate Lady has been experimenting… again!

This time I was attempting to duplicate an Ice Cream Cake at Dairy Queen.

They look so simple – layers of cake followed by layers of ice cream – right?!

I can do that – right?!

Well – maybe not.

It sure tasted wonderful – but it didn’t look nearly as nice as the ones on TV!

I started with an Oreo cookie crust in the bottom of a springform pan.

When that cooled, I added a layer of softened chocolate ice cream and put the pan in the freezer. An hour later I added a layer of softened vanilla ice cream and refroze the pan.

I repeated this 2 more times until I got to the top of the springform pan.

I should have stopped there and just frosted it with Cool Whip – but no – I had to get creative.

I whipped up a chocolate sauce recipe – thinking that it would be the perfect topping. It tasted wonderful as I licked the spoon – but when I went to put it on the cake it became a gloppy mess! It never stuck to the top of the ice cream and slip off in little piles.

Oh dear!

I refroze it thinking (alright – hoping!) that it would stick. But alas – it didn’t work. The chocolate glaze remained a mud slick.

To serve the cake, I removed the side of the springform pan and cut the cake into wedges – then carefully pressed the chocolate glaze on the top before plating.

Everything tasted wonderful – you just had to overlook the fingerprints in the chocolate mud slide!

When the Chocolate Lady makes this dessert again – I will frost it with Cool Whip and make cute chocolate drizzles on the top with fudge sauce from a jar!

I may even get adventurous and trade out the ice cream flavors – wouldn’t a layer of coffee ice cream be delish with the chocolate? Or maybe a strawberry layer?

I sure do love to experiment – especially when it involves chocolate!

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cakes, Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Desserts | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)