::4th of July Jello::

Going to a 4th of July party and need something to bring? Maybe something a little festive? Well this might be it! It is easy to, just takes a little time to "make," meaning time for the jello to set! I found this recipe off of the Brown Eyed Baker (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/) and after the pan was made she used a star cookie cutter to cut them out. I had a star but it wasn't big enough to work! Anyways, this recipe is a creamy jello flavor and tastes wonderful. It's perfect for bringing to a get together or to the lake; as it is a "light" dessert and I don't know about you but when i'm at the lake or in hot weather, I usually don't feel like eating a huge piece of chocolate molten cake?! Also, if you don't want to make this for the 4th but are looking for something that is still festive, try making fruit pizza and decorating it with just blueberries and strawberries. Whatever you do/make, just use your imagination with colors! Enjoy!

::4th of July Jello::

4 boxes (3-ounces each) Jello (or store brand gelatin dessert) in different colors

14-oz can sweetened condensed milk2

envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox)

Water
1. For each flavor, dissolve one box of Jello in 1 cup of boiling water. Pour into a square container that is about 6 to 8″ square and chill at least 3 hours, or overnight.

2. After chilling the flavors, cut them into small blocks.
3. Carefully mix the blocks in a 9×13-inch pan.
4. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin into ½ cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1½ cups boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and let cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over Jello blocks in 9×13 pan. Skim off any small bubbles that are created when you pour the condensed milk on the Jello pieces. Chill overnight or at least 3 hours until firm.
5. Cut into blocks or shapes and serve.

The pans!

(I had to use three cause the one was really small!)

The jello! I love the smell of Berry Blue!

All set up and ready to cut.
I made sure to spray the pans with Pam so that the Jell-0 would be easy to remove.

Sweetened condensed milk.

I have never used this before, but to be honest, pew, it stinks.

So pretty and festive!

Close up!

If I were to do this again, and I suggest this to you...

instead of just pouring the white mixture over; stir it all together in a bowl.

I just poured it over like this, and it still tastes good but the creamy mixture didn't get between all the jello layers so it didn't stick them all together..it wasn't so bad, just would have been better mixed!

Picture of the bottom of the pan! So pretty!

How festive with the colors? And imagine this cut out into a star?!

YAY for our freedom!...and to the people who helped us get it and the people who are still out there fighting for our country...Thank you...this Jell-O's for you! :)

::Pork Chops O'Brien::

Looking for something easy to prepare but something that is good, hearty, and homemade? This is a great recipe for that; ::Pork Chops O'Brien:: It serves about six people, depending on the size and the amount of pork chops you can fit in the pan. This is a great recipe that blends pan seared pork chops, and a creamy seasoned potato base. A great addition to these is the french fried onions that are used; they add some added crunch and saltiness. I don't think I can ever put enough of them on for Jamyson! The past two Christmas' Jamyson's parents have given us a pig, so we have pork in our freezer all year long; which is so nice! I highly suggest that if you are able to get your hands on fresh pork/beef, that you get it, instead of the store bought stuff; it's SO (and that's an understatement) much better! Enjoy!

::Pork Chops O'Brien::

6 pork chops
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese
French fried onions
1 package frozen O'Brien potatoes, thawed
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown pork chops in oil; set aside. Combine the soup, milk, sour cream, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 cup f.f. onions; fold in potatoes. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Arrange chops on top; sprinkle with salt.
Cover and bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until pork is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and f.f. onions. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Fresh chops!


Ingredients.

...and the milk...



Sear the chops on each side and I seasoned with some seasoning salt.

Mixing up the coating for the potatoes.

Close up.

The creamy mix-up!

Potatoes! I didn't let them unthaw and it turned out fine.

Potatoes and creamy mixture.

My favorite baking dish!

Potato layer...

...then the pork chops...cover and bake...

then add the f.f. onions and cheese.

close up of the goodness!

Ready to serve!...

Once again, I didn't take any pics after this because there were others eating besides Jamyson and I :)

::Creamy Dried Beef & Vegetables with Pierogies::

I usually come up with recipe ideas while i'm grocery shopping. The other day while in the frozen food section I come upon pierogies and started thinking "hmm, I bet these would be great in something." So this is where the recipe for ::Creamy Dried Beef & Vegetables with Pierogies:: starts. Most people I have met haven't heard of pierogies or haven't tried them. If you are one of those who hasn't, pierogies are a pasta filled with a potato filling. The ones I bought for this dish are "mini" ones and are potato & cheese blend pierogies. Growing up, my dad usually made these by boiling them and then frying them up a little. They are wonderful to say the least! I used some ingredients that I had already had at home and this dish didn't take long to make, not to mention very tastey! Enjoy!

::Creamy Dried Beef & Vegetables with Pierogies::

1 cup purple onion
1 cup peppers

1 can dried beef (rinse with water and squeeze out excess)

1 can corn

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

garlic powder and onion powder (sprinkle 4 times across the pan)

garlic salt and onion salt (sprinkle 2 times across the pan)

olive oil

salt/pepper

Saute onions and peppers with olive oil until tender. Add corn, crm. of mushroom soup, sour cream and milk. Rinse out dried beef and squeeze the excess water off. Cut beef into chunks and add to the mixture and heat through. Add frozen pierogies to the pan and cover for about ten minutes. Then stir, cover, and let sit again. And again until pierogies are heated through. Serve & enjoy....and remember who made up this recipe! :)

The ingredients!

Dried beef is usually found in the isle that has the tuna.

I used purple onions and a mix of red and green peppers; but use whatever you have or want.

Added the canned corn!

Roughly chopped dried beef.

Add the mushroom soup, sour cream, and milk...

Makes it creamy!

Next, add the dried beef and seasonings. Add a little salt and quite a bit of pepper. The dried beef is so salty the way it is, that is why I rinsed it off. So once the dish is done, you may have to add a little salt depending on how salty the dried beef made the dish.

Dump the frozen pierogies on top...

And cover, make sure the heat setting is on a low setting, so that you don't burn the creamed mixture.

Then mix and cover and do this until the pierogies are heated through.

And eat!
This dish is so yummy and creamy and has meat, potatoes, and veggies, with a great seasoned taste!

::Prize #2::

Hey everyone! Remember me? The one who does all the posts and has not had anything up since Tuesday? Yep, that'd be me. I worked three 12s Wed-Friday, so there is my excuse for the lack of blogging (please let it be a good excuse, up at 3:30am and home at about 9pm leaves me a little sleepy). Anyways, back to the ::Giveaway:: in relation to submitting your favorite Kuchen recipe. I was going to give away two prizes and I revealed the prize of what one of the winners won. And now for what the second winner won...

A bottle of Watkins Vanilla...my favorite!

I will be posting a new recipe tonight...so until then...stay faithful followers! ;)

::Banana Cookies::

OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

If I were able to gather enough overripe bananas, makes these cookies, and hand deliver them to each of you, I would in a heartbeat. There is absolutely no way to describe these cookies. You will want to but bananas, not to eat them, but hoping no one eats them so that you have an excuse to make these! Amazing, wonderful, magnificant and any other word you can think of doesn't even come close. These cookies are moist, sweet, but not too sweet, and have the perfect compliment of frosting. You just HAVE to make these and you will see! I got this recipe from a cookbook that my sister had that her fiance got at a meeting of his where he works. Ever since then, when I see I have overripe bananas I immediately think of making these cookies instead of banana bread.

Today, I made these cookies for someone else. At a little get together a friend of mine had, I brought these. My friend has a young son who fell in love with these cookies and especially gave me overripe bananas the last time I was at their house so that I could make these for him. So tomorrow, I will be making a special delivery!

These are so good that Santa will be coming back every night instead of just on Christmas!

Enjoy!

::Banana Cookies::

2-3 overripe bananas

3/4 c. shortening

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

2 c. flour

Frosting:

4 T. butter

4 T. cream

6 T. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

Powdered sugar

1. Mix together ingredients & bake cookies 8-10 minutes at 350 degreees.

2. To make frosting put ingredients into a saucepan & boil. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency. Pour over cookies.

After you try this recipe, you'll no longer throw out the bananas when they look like this, instead you will treat them like gold!

I beat the shortening, added the bananas, and then added the rest of the ingredients.

Brown sugar!


My favorite brand of vanilla!

Adding the other ingredients. I mixed everything except the flour together.

Once it's all mixed, add the flour.

And it will look something like this. Kind of like banana bread batter.

Don't forget to use parchment paper!

I used a heaping Tbsp. to make sure the cookies were evenly sized (it's that darn OCD again)!

All ready for the oven.
Once the last pan is in the oven I start to make the frosting.

On the cooling rack.

Another pan fresh from the oven! Don't overcook them. I bake just until I see the bottoms turning a golden brown and the tops don't look doughy.

All the ingredients ready for some heat.

Pre-boil stage.

Once the mixture has boiled, remove from heat and add the powdered sugar.

I beat the p.sugar in with a mixer. I start with adding 1 cup, beat that and then add a little at a time until it's the right consistency. You don't want it to be a frosting where you spread it on, but one where you spoon over, but that it's still thick enough that it won't all run off the cookie (that sounds confusing).

Perfect consistency.

I take a regular spoon full of frosting and pour it over each cookie.

If you only could grab the cookie out of your screen and gobble it down. I wish you could. Seriously.

Getting them all frosted.

The batch made about 25 cookies. Yummy!

Thank you to the person who submitted this to the JLG Architect cookbook.

I always want to note where or the person whom I retrieved my recipes on here from. When creating a recipe, alot of hard work goes into it in making sure that it is good enough to submit to a cookbook or serve to others and in making sure that other's know who created that damn' good recipe! :)