This past holiday weekend I went home with some friends.  Since having people over to my tiny apartment is really not an option, I thought I would take advantage of space at home and I do enjoy cooking with my mom.  One of my friends who came had just finished business school, now I know she worked very hard but I also know she become enriched from her travels. Her suggestion was that we grill some rum soaked Pineapple for the BBQ.  That this is what she had done every/one night on one of her vacations in school.  While it was served as a snack at this bbq – it also serves as a great topping for burgers and grilled chicken sandwiches.  What we also found out that some people liked the burned wedges since some of our slices were not perfectly cut. This was a brilliant idea and a huge success they were loved by all!

1 Whole Pineapple (with skin removed and sliced ½ inch thick)

1 Cup of Dark Rum

¾ Cup of Brown Sugar

Fresh Ginger Zest about 3 Teaspoons

½ Cup of Water to dissolve the sugar in

Combine all ingredients into Pyrex dish and let pineapple marinate for at least 1 hour. Grill pineapple on each side for 1 minute.

Other ideas for flavoring: Honey, Lemon, Lime, Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, and Vanilla.

This is a different take on Pound Cake with Whipped Cream and Strawberries. This was a perfectly portable dessert that I made to bring to a picnic.

1 Stick of Butter

½ Cup of Vegetable Shortening

1 ½ Cup of Sugar

3 Eggs

1 ½ Cup of Flour

½ Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Cup of Milk

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Preheat Oven 350

In a mixing bowl mix together Butter, Vegetable Shortening, and Sugar for about 2 minutes. Mix one egg in at a time and vanilla.  Add the Flour, Baking Soda, and Milk alternating between the dry and wet ingredients. Fill cupcake cups about ¾ of the way to the top and bake for 18-22 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before topping them with whipped cream. Makes about 15 Cupcakes.

Strawberry Whipped Cream

1 Pint of Heavy Cream

1 Cup of Marshmallow Fluff

7 Medium Sized Strawberries

2 Teaspoons of Sugar

Dice up the strawberries and in a bowl toss them with the sugar- let stand for just a minute or so. In a separate bowl add the Heavy Cream, Fluff and Strawberry Mixture and beat until light and fluffy. Note: the cream did splatter a lot with the Fluff. Top each cupcake with whipped cream; I finished them off by topping them with a chocolate cover strawberry.

I went to tea and one of the treats served was a strawberry piped with whipped cream. I thought this was an ingenious idea. Cut off stem so strawberry can stand flat and then cut an X on the other end of the strawberry and with a pastry bag pipe in the whipped cream.

Blueberry Maple Muffins/Cupcakes
I was making a dessert for a friend’s birthday and I told her I would come up with something original. She told “don’t go crazy” I guess people who know me, know I have a tendency to be slightly over the top. Anyway while I was trying to come up with something new I started looking at the ingredients that I had available that might be fun. I had two jars of Maple syrup. This lead me to think about pancakes and blueberry pancakes…well then why can’t I do the same with a blueberry muffin. So I tried it. I used my Blueberry muffin recipe and added ½ cup of Maple syrup. I was so pleased with them I quickly called home as I always think of my mom when making Blueberry Muffins.
Well, that was not enough. Since the cupcake has taken over the country/world I had to make a frosting. I decided to go with a Maple Buttercream. It would be too much and for me to say that, it must be too much if the icing was globed on like a traditional cupcake. I just piped a little out on top of the muffin and topped it off with a blueberry. Now I had blueberry pancake cupcakes!

Maple Frosting
1/2 Cup of Maple Syrup (Can add more if desire more maple flavor)
1 Stick of Butter Softened
1 Box of Powdered Sugar (1 pound)
3 Tablespoons of Milk

Whip all ingredient together until light. fluffy, and smooth.
Place a dolop on each now cupcake.

President Obama and U2

Okay so for the past week it has been really cold. I know it is bad when I wear a wind proof fleece, a down coat, a hat and ear muffs! This past weekend I went to DC for inauguration and in the event needed some something warm to drink. Inspired by my Hot Chocolate from Atlanta. Here is a version for Coffee. So this is perfect for a cold winter night inside or if you are standing outside for many hours and need to warm up!

1 Cup of Coffee
1 oz. of Khaluha
1 oz. of Brandy
1 oz of Cream
Whipped Cream Options

Mix all ingredients together in a mug except whipped cream.
Then add a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

1 Cup of Milk
¾ oz of Khaluha
1 oz. of Pepper Vodka
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
A pinch of Cinnamon
Whipped Cream to Top

In a saucepan add milk, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir and heat milk to a comfortable hot temperature and pour into a mug. Stir in Vodka and Khaluha and top with Whipped Cream. Enjoy!

The Holidays are quickly approaching a time in my family where there is always an overload of baking. These are a little different to the traditional Madaleine and perfect for this Holiday Season.

Hazelnut Madeleines

2 sticks of Butter
6 Egg Whites
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Cup of ground Hazelnuts (about 5 ounces)
½ Cup of Flour
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

Preheat 350

In a sauce pan melt the butter and melt until turning slightly brown then strain the butter and let cool. In a mixing bowl add: sugar, flour, nuts, vanilla, salt and on medium speed slowly add the egg whites followed by the melted butter. With PAM spray the Madeleine tray ( tried using butter and serious nightmare to get them out the PAM was incredible) Spoon batter into madeleine tray and bake for 8-10 minutes and remove from tray immediately to cool

Now these could also be served dipped in chocolate. I say this cause Hazelnut and Chocolate is one of my favorite things in the world!

Recently, I went apple picking or should I say apple hunting there were very few apples left. But it was nice to get out of the city and I was in good company. A few weeks ago, someone brought a Carmel apple into work and it was delicious. So when I had these few precious apples I wanted to do something special with them. Carmel Apples seemed like a very good idea. I think they are fun for a few reason it reminds me of childhood, even though I only made them once as a child and there are fun variations you can do with them. Add nuts, chocolate bits, Marshmallows, raisins, cookie crumbs, what ever you like, I guess.
These were fun and simple and of course I did not have Popsicle sticks readily available.

8-10 Apples
2 Cups of Heavy Cream
1 Cup of Dark Brown Sugar
1 Cup of Sugar
4 Tablespoons of Butter
½ Cup of Light Corn Syrup
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

In a pot mix place all the ingredients except the Vanilla and Apples. With a candy thermometer bring the mixture to 255 degrees and remove from heat. Stir for about 30 seconds and then mix in vanilla.
Place a silplat onto a cookie sheet.
Now carefully dip each apple into the Carmel. (I then place them in the freezer let harden a little and then re-dipped.
Let the apples cool and ready to eat!