"Dawnini" (Berry Bellini)

I don't drink alcoholic beverages and I don't think those that do should have all the fun. So in good fun I made a "drink" to celebrate the release of Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. I was going to make it Saturday night, but I did it tonight instead. Oh well...what's a few days!!!



6oz mixed frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
zest of 1 medium orange
juice from 1/2 of zested orange
1/2 bottle (give or take) of your favorite sparkling apple juice.

Put frozen berries in blender. Add orange zest and juice. Blend for about 30 seconds. Add the juice and blend until frothy and the berries are well blended. Pour into glasses and then top off with more of the juice. Garnish with orange slices from the left over 1/2 of orange.

It's a bit sweet with just enough pucker to make it really good. You can also strain it if you don't like the seeds from the raspberries. Personal preference.

Apple Pie Cheesecake

Yep I did two of them. Like I said, we can't get enough of cheesecake around here!

Crust:

2 cups cookie crumbs, LORNA DOONE Shortbread Cookies

4 Tbsp butter or margarine

1/4 cup sugar

Cheesecake Batter:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese and 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

Batter Flavorings:

1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix-In's and Toppings:

1 cup mixed into batter and 1 cup spread on top apple (pie filling)

3/4 cup mixed into batter and 1/4 cup sprinkled on top walnuts (nuts)

CRUST: Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix Crust ingredients; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min.

BATTER: Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Stir in Mix-Ins. Pour over crust.

TOPPINGS: Add Toppings.

BAKING: Bake 60 min or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake. Cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

My mini peanutty cheesecakes

We LOVE all things cheesecake in this house. So I made my own recipe (with the help of Kraft.com). It's so good and luscious in all it's cheese-cakey goodness.

Crust:

1 cup cookie crumbs or 12 whole cookies, OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

3 Tbsp butter or margarine

2 Tbsp sugar

Cheesecake Batter:

1 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese and 1 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Batter Flavorings:

1/3 cup peanut butter

Mix-In's and Toppings:

1/4 cup mixed into batter and 1/3 cup sprinkled on top peanut butter cups (candy), coarsely chopped

1/2 square, coarsely chopped, mixed into batter and 1/2 square, melted and drizzled on top BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

CRUST: If using whole cookies, place 1 cookie on bottom of each of 12 (2-1/2-inch) paper-lined muffin cups. Otherwise, mix Crust ingredients; press evenly onto bottoms of 12 (2-1/2-inch) paper-lined muffin cups. Refrigerate until ready to use.

BATTER: Beat cream cheese, sugar and Batter Flavorings in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping and Mix-Ins. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filing each two-thirds full.

TOPPINGS: Add Toppings.

REFRIGERATING: Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Fudge

I just wanted to share my sis-in-law's fudge recipe. It's so easy and looks so good! Happy Eating!

FUDGE (it's not just for Christmas anymore!)

3/4 cup butter

5 oz can evaporated milk

3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 small jar of marshmallow cream

Add butter, milk and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Heat on medium, until234 degrees. or until softball form in cold water. Remove from heat. Add vanilla, stir. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add marshmallow cream and stir until it is all mixed together. Line a 9x9 or 9x13 pan with butter or Pam spray. Place in pan. chill until firm.

Egg Tip

When making hard boiled eggs, have you ever found yourself struggling to get the shell off the egg?
Well here's a tip for you!

After the water has come to a boil and the eggs have cooked for about a minute add a heaping handful of salt to the boiling water. It won't flavor the eggs at all, and it will make it MUCH easier to remove the shell after they have cooked and cooled.

Very easy Pasta Salad

We got invited to some friends for dinner last night and were asked to bring a side dish. So this is what we decided on. It was super yummy!!

Very Easy Pasta Salad

1 pound box thin spaghetti
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 bag salad shrimp (optional)
1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Drain.
In the meantime, mix olive oil, garlic and basil in a large serving bowl. Add tomatoes and onions. Once pasta is ready add it and stir. Finally add the salad shrimp and toss lightly. Top with Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

*the longer this one sits the better it gets. all the flavors meld together and it just gets so yummy! this dish is perfect for an outside gathering because you don't have to worry about it spoiling. *

Zucchini Couscous

I love, love, love, zucchini. All things zucchini. So I thought that i'd make couscous and add zucchini to it. So easy really!! I used a whole wheat couscous that included a Parmesan cheese packet. Of course it's really up to you what you'd like to do. I thought the cheese would add some extra flavor but you could certainly leave it out or buy couscous that was plain. (This particular one was on sale-that's why I chose it.)


ZUCCHINI COUSCOUS
In a large stock pot bring 1 1/4 C of water or broth to a boil (I used homemade chicken stock but if you don't have homemade, store bought it fine, just make sure it's low sodium)

Once at a boil, turn off heat and add couscous, stirring to incorporate all couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, in a small skillet put 2 med. zucchini's cut up in 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Stir and cook for about 5-7 minutes until the zucchini are tender.


Once zucchini are cooked, check on the couscous and fluff with a fork. Add the zucchini and viola! You have a scrumptious side dish that the whole family will enjoy. (I could eat this whole pot by myself).


* The cheese packet in my couscous made it slightly saltier than I like. I am not a big salt eater. So if you don't mind it you can use the whole packet. I think next time I will only use 1/2 of the packet.