Perfect dessert for the summer's end

I'm all about making desserts a little healthier than their original version, mainly so that I can have seconds.  My recent fruit crisp kick started when my friend Lacey made a delicious cherry crisp. Since then, I just had to have this dessert every weekend and since peaches are in season I supplied myself with a few pounds at the farmers' market. I found this great recipe for a crisp that could be served for breakfast, which of course I consider a great concept! The recipe mentioned that the dessert can be served with Greek yogurt instead of ice cream and after implementing this idea I am happy to report that it tasted great! I used a plain non-fat yogurt because I like my desserts a little less sweet but I bet it would taste great with any flavor!

The addition of lemon zest keeps it fresh while the nutmeg and cinnamon remind me of the fall season to come. A perfect combination for the summer's end.
Since the recipe belongs to another blogger I will not post it but instead you can head over HERE to access her blog.

Everything pumpkin

I didn't grow up with pumpkins. They are not very popular in Eastern Europe, I think nothing could take place of the ever reigning potato. Pumpkin pies, soups, pumpkin patch and calling your significant other a "punkin' " - those pleasant traditions were not very difficult for me to adapt and I would truly miss them if I ever lived in Europe again!
When looking for easy yet impressive recipes on Pinterest, my new and already favorite website, I had many to pick from, yet I choose recipes that incorporated already pre-made Betty Crocker cake mix, in fact one of them WAS a Betty Crocker recipe. I know, I know... does that count as homemade then? Well, I will argue that we all need some extra help in the kitchen sometimes and as long as it was not purchased in the store, I am very happy with what I got! So here are the 2 tasty pumpkin recipes that you just MUST try!

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes (from Betty Crocker Website)

• 1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake mix - the recipe posted online asks for yellow cake, you can really choose any flavor, I picked vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients and bake cupcakes 19-24 minutes at 350.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 stick unsalted butter or margarine
• 1 lb powdered sugar

Warm up cream cheese and butter so that it's easy to add and mix in the powdered sugar. It's that easy! You can really make this simple frosting into any flavor you want by adding some flavoring, looking back I wish I added some orange zest, but the cupcakes were delicious regardless.
Now, if you toast some finally chopped pecans with sugar, they could serve as a pretty garnish on your cupcakes!

Pumpkin Layer Dessert

This one is found on Pinterest as well, and it comes from another blogger, so I will let you just go to her blog for the recipe, just click HERE! The recipe is easy and very delicious and I will be making it for Thanksgiving in lieu of a pumpkin pie.

The cake

One of the dessert staples at my childhood home was the famous apple cake. Not just any apple cake, but the one made by my mom, often present in the house for any and every occasion. So simple, yet delicious.
Since I like to change things up a bit I often make it with fruit other than apples. Peaches, strawberries, blueberries... any berries will do! It makes a fantastic, fluffy and summery cake. If I make it in winter I stick with the apples, add cinnamon and the smell itself just creates the atmosphere of Christmas.

Apple Cake
1c sugar
3 eggs
Mix those two ingredients. Add:
1.5c flour
1tsp vanilla
2 sticks of non-salted and softened butter
1 tsp baking soda
fruit

Pour the batter in the pan. Place peeled and halved apples (about 4) on top of the cake. Bake about 40 minutes at 350F. If I use fruit other than apples I just mix it in the batter. I often sprinkle with powdered sugar once the cake has cooled off.

The batter is light and fluffy and so if the cake. Now, go lick your spoon!

Bake it like you're French

Since Barefoot in Paris cookbook by Ina Garten was one of my Christmas presents, I try to utilize it in my kitchen and bring a little class to my Polish/American cooking. Slowly, but surely, as they say...
Chef Jeff cooked an amazing Valentines Day dinner, as you may see in the previous post, but now it was my time to shine my talents in the dessert making portion of the evening. I am actually not a big baker - I have couple cake recipes that work out pretty well for me, but most of the time I feel that my baking skills are not what they could be. Regardless of this, I decided to make Pear Clafouti, which is a cake made of fruit covered by flan-like mixture and baked. Traditionally it comes with cherries, but the recipe called for pears, since they are in season more often. I think that I succeeded! The dessert was not too sweet, as most American desserts are, and it truly reminded me of the taste of my home. To sweeten it up, however, you may add some ice cream to it, as I did - I used banana ice cream. I also added frozen fruit on top to add some color.
This recipe is available online here as well as in the cookbook I mentioned.

When life hands you limes

This weekend I was making cupcakes for my friend Megan's big 3-0! I often reach for Ina Garten's simple and elegant recipes and this was no exception. Her vanilla cupcakes were reviewed as moist and fluffy, and indeed they were. Reading the list of the ingredients, however, I felt that they lack something and I added zest of one lime to each the batter and the frosting. Now, I LOVE lime and keep it on hand to use in my water or margaritas and now I found a new use for it!
The birthday girl and her family loved the cupcakes and the extra-little--zesty-something, too!

Gobble goodness

Due to recent weather conditions we did not make it to Jackson Hole for Thanksgiving. Instead, we got together with all the friends stuck in Grand Forks, ND for a delicious dinner followed by long hours PS3 Rock Band and my favorite Catch Phrase. The appetizers included squash soup and delicious lobster ravioli.

Jeffrey made Paula Deen's sweet potato balls. They did not contain large quantities of butter, instead there was a marshmallow hidden inside.
Joe's very moist turkey waiting to be devoured. The feast also featured two other turkeys, one of which was smoked!Other yummies included a cheesy potato bake, perfect mashed potatoes with gravy, asparagus, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole prepared from scratch and my favorite creation - corn bread bake.
Desserts included a home made from scratch cheesecake (which I devoured about a half of) and a spin on a traditional pumpkin pie - with cream cheese bottom!
Since I don't have a recipe for my favorite Corn Bread Bake by Boyd, I will enterain you with a very simple yet delicious recipe for Cranberry Sauce. You will need:

1 bag fresh cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cur brown sugar
1 teaspoon of each: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger

Heat the orange juice and dissolve the sugar in it. Once dissolved, add the cranberries and the spices. Take away from heat once cranberries start to pop. Leave in a pot for couple of minutes and stir occasionally to help the breakdown process. You can skip the spices if you don't want the sauce to taste a little Christmassy!

The best hot chocolate

While in Jackson, WY my family and I visited the new chocolate shop Atelier Ortega opened by a chocolatier and pastry chef from Mexico. In addition to beautiful pastries we also enjoyed a cup of Mexican hot chocolate on an equally hot summer day; but it was worth it!

Twarozek and Nalesniki - try pronouncing that!

When asked about my favorite foods I often forget about this one - "twarozek" or farmers cheese. And no, it isn't the yellow farmers cheese in a plastic wrap that you can find in a store. It is so much more than that!
Unfortunately, the grocery stores up here do not carry it. Apparently there aren't enough Polish people around! Thinking I could make couple people convert to natural farmers cheese, I decided to make it myself. Gallon of milk and half a cup of vinegar later, voila, I am now a proud farmers cheese maker! I boiled the milk and added the vinegar, which created slimy curds. You need to make sure that you stir it well so that all the milk fat is creating the curds and the fluid left around the floating soft curds is very watery. Pour the fluid onto a cheese cloth spread on a coriander and squeeze gently to get the watery fluid out. The mass you're left with is the Polish farmer's cheese. Now it wasn't that bad, was it!
Next I made some "nalesniki", or Polish crepes, and filled them with the mixture of the farmers cheese, sugar and raisins.To make the crepes you will need:

•  2 eggs
• 1 cup flour 
• 1 cup milk 

Simply mix the ingredients and fry on an olive oil prepped pan. Polish crepes are thicker than the French ones, but you can make them any way you'd like!
Now, that's the flavor of my childhood!

Piece of Italy

Thank you, FoodNetwork, for this little piece of goodness...
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups strong espresso, cooled
2 teaspoons dark rum
24 packaged ladyfingers
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish
Giada De Laurentiis' directions are as follows; beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.In a small shallow dish, add remaining espresso and rum. Dip each ladyfinger into espresso for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom. Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.
ANNA'S TIP: When Giada says that dipping ladyfingers too long will cause them to fall apart, she means it, people! Take that advice to heart, especially if you're unable to purchase ladyfingers and need to settle for nilla wafers - dip for 3-4 seconds. Otherwise, you will end up with a tiramisu soup... Also, the directions state to keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours; I think it takes more than that for the mascarpone mixture to settle. I have tried to cut it up before after 2 hours and ended up with a soupy cake - leave it in for at least 3 to 4 hours!

Do they have these in Heaven?

Or maybe only Canadian Heaven? Nanaimo bars' deliciousness is well known for over 40 years when a house wife submitted a recipe for a magazine contest. I had the joy of enjoying these little delectable bars during our trip to visit the Canadian side of the family. I was lucky to take this photo before I devoured it!
The recipe according to the city of Nanaimo website (http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/visitors/NanaimoBars.html) is as follows:

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

Birthday Breakfast

The best two things to do on your birthday is to have a party (check!), and to have dessert for breakfast. Thanks to Nicole for taking me to the Dakota Harvest for some delicious baked oatmeal followed by Napoleons!

Pearl Street Meat and Fish Co, Jackson, WY

Today, Lynne Marie and I went out for lunch to a wonderful little shop, which not only included a deli, but all kinds of other products that you may not find elsewhere.

Admiring the delicatessen.
Home-made soups and breads. Famous chili was featured. After a long time of pondering what I should have for lunch I opted for a sandwich with one of my all time favorite foods - smoked salmon.
Cakes! Too bad I did not have room in my tummy for dessert...
Left upper corner - seaweed salad. The clerk offered a sample and it was delicious!

More candy, please!

Before going to the play of "Alice in Wonderland", Melissa, her friend and I stopped by candy store, Yippy I-O and picked out a good snack for the following few hours at the theater!