"S" is for Strawberry Streusel Bars

I've been thinking about "S" week for quite awhile, actually.  I had someone in mind to be our recipient but just hadn't mentioned it to her yet.  I even had the chance to say something to her about it earlier in the week when I saw her, but something in me just wanted to wait.  I just wasn't sure. 

I browsed once again through our church directory and a different name seemed to leap off one of the pages to me.  A sweet homeschooling mom of seven kids (oldest of which is nearly as old as me, youngest is nine), precious, quiet, humble lady.  I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of her before.  I called her and explained what we were doing and asked if we could bring her a treat to church last night.  I could hear her delight in her voice.  She almost sounded like she was going to cry at one point.  Tears of happiness.  

Annika and I got right to work making these bars.  They're very easy.  The base is just a lovely sugar cookie dough...baked in a bar form.  I loved the texture of it....and might sometime just make it by itself!  Lots easier than rolling out sugar cookies.  I loved the strawberry layer, simple and fruity.  The topping, I don't know.  Mine did not turn out like Sweet Kat's did....that's for sure.  Her's looked crumbly and beautiful....mine stayed flat and refused to get browned at all until I turned on the broiler for a couple of minutes and nearly burnt it.  

I think I would prefer a streusel topping with oats and brown sugar, a little flour and softened butter.  But maybe that's just me.  Anyways, these did turn out yummy and so simple to make.

When we delivered them to our friend, she said that she had been having a rough day and hearing from me just turned it all around for her.  She was so blessed.  Not to mention glad that her name starts with "S".  

It felt really good to make someone so happy by such a small gesture.....never underestimate the power of giving!

Recipe: (from Sweet Kat's Kitchen)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 (10 oz) jar strawberry preserves (or desired flavor)

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter, cold

Preheat oven to 350°.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add egg and mix well. Gradually stir in flour until well combined.  

Press the mixture into a buttered 13 x 9" pan.  I found it helped to put a bit of flour on my fingers to press it in; the dough is very sticky.

Put the preserves into a microwave-safe bowl and heat until nearly melted.  Spread over base.

For topping, combine ingredients until crumbly using a pastry blender or two forks.  Sprinkle evenly over preserves.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 24 bars.  

To see the rest of our Alphabet Service Projects, click here! 

Conversation with a 3-year Old

Annika:  "Mom, I wish I were a grown-up just like you.  And I wish I was your mom!"

Me: "Well, God made me to be your mom....but someday you'll have children of your own, the Lord willing."

Annika:  "And I"m going to name her Flowy, if my husband agrees."

"R" is for Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

We're finally back to our Alphabet Service Projects.  If you've been following along, you may notice that we skipped "Q".  Well, I taught the letter "Q", and we actually do know a little girl from church who's name begins with Q, but I struggled to come up with a recipe that started with "Q" (other than Quiche, but that sounds like a C or a K, which makes it just too confusing for a 3-year old).  Plus I was feeling lazy.  Shame on me.  Maybe we'll come back to it.


Back to the letter R.  We decided to have some friends over for dinner who's last name begins with R, and I made Baked Rotini, Romaine salad with Ranch, Buttered Corn, French Bread Rolls, and these fabulous Raspberry Cheesecake Bars.  Let me just say, the dinner was great, but this dessert was phenomenal.


The slightly tangy raspberries complement the creamy cheesecake and dense chocolaty brownies perfectly.  They're rich, but not so much that you don't want another one.  Like right away.  For my raspberry chocolate loving husband, these were bound to be a new favorite, and they met and exceeded all his expectations.

Update June 2013: Blackberries are equally good in this recipe - I made that version for Father's Day 2013 and Grant couldn't have been happier.  I bet even blueberries would be delicious!


Recipe: (adapted from Cooking for Seven)


1 stick +5 T. (7 oz)  butter, softened
2 cups sugar, divided (I used very scant cups)
5 eggs, room temperature, divided use
7 oz dark chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup flour, sifted (I used white whole wheat)

1/4 t. salt
2 t. vanilla extract, divided use
2 (8 oz pkgs) cream cheese, room temperature
5 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen


Directions:

For the brownie batter:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 13” x 9” glass baking dish.

2) Beat the softened butter with 1 cup of sugar until slightly fluffy. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3) Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Let cool slightly. Stir into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the sifted flour, salt, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract and carefully fold it in.

For the cheesecake batter:

4) Put the cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the 2 remaining eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat until it’s a smooth, creamy mixture.

Putting it all together:

5) Spread 2/3 of the chocolate mix on the bottom of your baking tray. Pour the cream cheese on top and spread it out evenly. Now drop little pieces of chocolate mix on top of the cream cheese. Lightly work it in with a fork—like you’re marbling a cake. Push the raspberries into the cream cheese.

6) Bake at 350°F (175C) for 40 to 45 minutes or until the cake feels set when gently touched in the center. Let the brownies cool off completely, then refrigerate several hours,  preferably overnight, before cutting them in squares.

This post is linked to the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Chocolate. and Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Work in Progress

Dear Faithful Readers,

If you can't tell, I'm working on re-designing and updating my blog's look.  Since I have no experience with such things and don't have much of a clue what I'm doing, it may take awhile (cause I do have other obligations, like four children and a husband, ya know!) and things could possibly will be a bit messy.  Please bear with me and hopefully things will be much cleaner and user-friendly when I'm done! 

Thank you for your understanding!

Rebekah

Giveaway Results!

I had so much fun reading through your responses!  Sounds like KitchenAid has some very loyal followers out there, myself included!  I literally can't imagine my kitchen without my mixer.

So without further ado, let's get down to business and announce the winner of the awesome cookie scoop.

Marissa (5) was very excited to help me pick a winner today.  I wrote all the names on paper and put them in a plastic cup (and shook them quite vigorously). She proudly reached in without looking and pulled out the name....

Congratulations, SnoWhite!  I hope you enjoy the scoop as much as I do!  

Email me with your address and I'll get it to you ASAP!

Thanks to everyone who played along!  And I won't wait another 400 posts before doing another giveaway, I promise!

Time for a Giveaway!!!

See this?  It's an Oxo Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop.  I got one for Christmas and I love it!  I've actually only used it for cookies so far, but I plan on using it for meatballs and mini-ice cream scoops for cute desserts and filling mini muffin tins and all sorts of things.

In honor of my 400th post today, I have decided to give one away.

If you would like to win this wonderful kitchen gadget, leave a comment on this post telling me what one of your favorite kitchen tools/gadgets is!  Only one comment per person, please!

Deadline for entry is Saturday @ noon.  Eastern time.

Winner will be picked at random and announced hopefully by Saturday evening!

Good Luck!

Zannie's Black-Eyed Pea Dip

Trying desperately to stay a smidgen true to my southern roots and eat black-eyed peas for New Year's Day, I bought a can of them and intended to serve them plain (or drizzled with ketchup, which believe it or not, is really good).  Then I saw this recipe on the Pioneer Woman Cooks and realized that I had all the necessary ingredients and by golly, it sounded a lot tastier than plain black-eyed peas. 

Oh, it was.  Grant was a bit skeptical, I think, but he and I really enjoyed this dip.  So did my sister and her boyfriend, who got to help eat the leftovers a few days later. 

I had lots of bean dips, but never one with black-eyed peas.  While I'm sure that this one would be tasty with pinto beans or black beans, I thought the flavor of the black-eyed peas was really unique and delicious. 

Recipe:

1 (14-15 oz) can black-eyed peas

1/4 of an onion, chopped fine

1/4 c. sour cream

8 slices jarred jalepenos

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 T. salsa

Hot sauce, to taste

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°.

Drain black-eyed peas and partially mash, leaving some whole.

Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Spread into a 1-1/2 qt. baking dish (I used a 9" square pan) and bake for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: If you have them available, you can use canned black-eyed peas with jalepenos.  Then you can omit the extra jalepenos.  I've never seen them here.