Citrus Glazed Fruit Kabobs

Today is National Eat Something on a Stick Day, so what better to post for your delight than some fruit kabobs! I discovered this while searching for some kiwi recipes for a recipe tag group I belong to. So I had to share this one with you all!

Citrus Glazed Fruit Kabobs

1 C. vanilla yogurt
1 T. chopped fresh mint
1/4 t. ground ginger
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. lime or orange juice
dash ground cinnamon
2 kiwifruit, peeled, halved and thickly sliced
1/2 C. each fresh peach, apricot, plum and nectarine wedges
1/2 C. thickly sliced ripe banana
1/2 C. cubed fresh pineapple
1/2 C. cubed peeled mango

For sauce, in a small bowl, combine the yogurt, mint and ginger; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For glaze, in a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, lime juice and cinnamon.  Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat.
On 8 metal or soaked skewers, alternately thread the fruit, brush with half of the glaze.  Grill uncovered over medium low heat for 12-16 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally and basting frequently with remaining glaze.  Serve warm with yogurt sauce.

Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day

Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day? I thought I'd share a couple recipes related to the day. These are a couple fun recipes and not your main meal. Enjoy!


St. Patrick's Day Popcorn

Serves: 24
Source: Country Woman

Ingredients:
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
8 to 10 drops green food coloring
Instructions:
Place popcorn in a large roasting pan; keep warm in a 250° oven. Meanwhile, in a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugars, water, corn syrup, vinegar and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer reads 260° (hard-ball stage).
Remove from the heat; stir in butter until melted. Stir in food coloring. Drizzle over warm popcorn and toss to coat. Cool. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

I LOVE Country Woman Magazine. The recipes in it are always good ones IMHO. Next up is another reliable source, Reynolds Wrap company.



St. Patrick's Day Cookies

Source: Reynolds® Parchment Paper

COOKIES:
1 package (16.5 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2/3 cup flour

SUGAR COOKIE ICING:
1 box (1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder (powdered egg whites)
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon flavoring extract, optional
Green, neon green, black, yellow, red, orange, and blue food coloring

DECORATIONS:
Dark green and neon green sugar crystals
Yellow and green mini candy-coated chocolate candies
Miniature marshmallows
Chocolate frosting
PREHEAT oven to 350°F.

COOKIES:
LINE cookie sheets with Reynolds Parchment Paper; set aside. No need to add extra grease or spray your cookie sheets.
KNEAD flour into sugar cookie dough until well blended.
ROLL out half of cookie dough at a time to 1/4-inch thickness between lightly floured sheets of Parchment Paper. Using circles, shamrocks and leprechaun hat shaped cookie cutters, cut out cookies; place on parchment-lined cookie sheets.
BAKE 7 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies or until the edges begin to brown. Let stand one minute on cookie sheets. Slide Parchment Paper with cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

DECORATING SUGAR COOKIES:
BEAT powdered sugar, meringue powder, water and extract in a large bowl,
with an electric mixer, on high speed until smooth and thick, about 1 minute.

DIVIDE icing into 8 small bowls. Keep one bowl of frosting white. Stir food coloring in remaining frosting to make green, neon green, black, yellow, blue, orange, and red icing. Cover icing tightly when not in use, icing dries quickly.
PIPE outlines of cookies with contrasting colors of icing using a decorating bag with tip. Or, place icing in plastic zipper bags. Snip off one corner with scissors and use to pipe icing.

FOR SUGARED OUTLINES, sprinkle heavily with sugar crystals while icing
is wet. Lightly shake off excess crystals. TIP: Sprinkle over Parchment Paper to catch excess for reuse.
TO ICE INSIDE OUTLINES, add a little water to thin icing, if necessary. Spoon a small amount of icing onto outlined cookies. Using a brush, small spatula or your finger, spread icing up to outline to fill in spaces.

FOR SHAMROCKS, follow directions above for outlining and icing the
cookies with green outlines or neon green outlines and icing.
FOR POTS OF GOLD, pipe black icing onto unfrosted round cookies to outline the handle and the shape of the pot. For the "gold", use yellow icing as the glue to attach yellow mini candy-coated candies. Tip: Dots of frosting can be substituted if yellow candies are not available in the quantities that you need.

FOR RAINBOWS, pipe curved lines of colors of the rainbow around the top
edge of round cookies. To make the clouds, use scissors to cut miniature
marshmallows in half. Press the cut edge down on the ends of the
rainbows.

FOR LEPRECHAN HATS, follow directions above for outlining and icing the
hats with green frosting. Pipe chocolate frosting across cookies for a
hat band. Pipe a square of yellow frosting for a buckle on the hat band.
When icing is dry, pipe details of hat with green frosting.

FOR MESSAGE COOKIES, follow directions above for icing the cookies.
While the icing is still wet, add a border of coordinating mini candy-coated chocolate candies; let dry. Pipe messages with either contrasting color icing or chocolate frosting.

REYNOLDS KITCHENS TIPS:
- Cover icing at all times. Icing can dry out quickly.
- Let icing dry before adding a different color of icing. If icing is still wet, colors will blend.

Powdered Sugar Magic!

You can work a little magic in the kitchen with some powdered sugar! Have you ever tried this? For me, it's a "WHY didn't I think of that?" trick!

CHOCOLATE POWDERED SUGAR

2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa

In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa.

NOTE:
Chocolate Powdered Sugar is quite light in color.
Dark chocolate cookies show it off best.

OTHER VARIATIONS:
Make strawberry with strawberry quick powder.
Make lemon with lemonade mix.
Use koolaid packets to make rainbow colors with just a hint of flavor!
Add a pinch of cinnamon to the chocolate mix if you like!

This is just toooo simple and should be fun! Enjoy!

Pudding Mix with Variations

Pudding Mix

1/2 C. cornstarch

1 C. flour

1 1/2 C. Sugar

1 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients well and store in sealed container.

Vanilla Pudding:

3 C. Milk

3/4 C. pudding mix

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tblsp. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

In medium saucepan, beat eggs and add rest of ingredients. Bring to boil, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Cook for 1 minute.

 

Chocolate Pudding:

3 C. Milk

3/4 C. pudding mix

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 C. sugar

2 Tblsp. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

5 Tblsp. cocoa

 

In medium saucepan, beat eggs and add rest of ingredients. Bring to boil, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Cook for 1 minute.

Who doesn't like pudding? The Jello mixes DO come in sugar free and I LOVE them. Pistachio is my fav and I really like the Watergate salad with it, SF whipped topping and crushed pineapple! But now and then, we are out of the convenience packages or would like to make our own from scratch. So I hope these recipes can help you out. I think I should try it with Splenda!

ENJOY!

National Days!

You will be very busy celebrating all of these today!

National Acorn Squash Day

One of my favorite ways to make Acorn Squash is to cut the squash in half, clean out the seeds and fibers and place on a baking sheet. Then fill the cavity with what ever sausage is on hand, cover with foil, and bake until the sausage is done and the squash tender. I like to put grated cheese on top just as I take it out of the oven so the cheese has some time to melt while the squash cools just enough to eat.

National Napoleon Day

The Napoleon Dessert! Oh my! I had no idea this was food. I went to see if I wanted to take this out so I had more room for recipes but instead it's staying! I've learned something new and I WANT SOME! So, what is it, you ask? From "the Examiner", "The Napoleon is a french creme filled pastry that is famous for its silky texture amongst a light buttery crust." I do think we should "keep" this for recognition!

I don't have a photo to share, so while you're reading this recipe just envision layers of toasted puff pastry with a sweet filling, topped with a drizzle of honey or syrup and whipped toping! YUM!

The Napoleon Dessert

Ingredients:
•17-ounce package frozen pastry
•chocolate or vanilla pastry cream*
•1 cup powdered sugar
•2 tablespoons water
•1 ounce semisweet chocolate, melted

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lighly flour bread board and rolling pin. Roll dough to 13 x 17 inch triangle, 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to cookie sheet. Prick dough with fork. Cover with another cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove top sheet and continue to bake for 5 more minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.
Cut pastry into thirds, lengthwise. Mix powdered sugar and water. Stir until smooth. Turn over 1 pastry strip on rack. Pour sugar glaze over strip. Smooth with spatula. Quickly pour stripes of chocolate over glaze. Drag knife over top to make decorative design. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes.

To assemble: Place one unglazed strip on serving platter. Spread half of pastry cream on top. Top with the other unglazed strip. Top with rest of pastry cream. Top that with glazed strip. Chill until firm, about and hour. (Don't chill longer than 3 hours. It may get soggy.) For serving, cut with serrated knife.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/grand-marnier-in-arlington

Vanilla Creme Filling Ingredients:
•2-1/4 cups milk
•4 egg yolks
•2/3 cups sugar
•1/4 cup cornstarch
•1/4 cup flour
•2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preparation:
Boil 2 cups of milk. Beat yolks with sugar and remaining milk. Whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch and flour until combined. Gradually whisk hot milk into egg mixture. Return to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce to low and stir for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a shallow disk. Cover with plastic wrap. (Make sure wrap touches surface to prevent a skim from forming.) Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Makes approximately 2-3/4 cups.

National Salami Day

I had a salami, cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwich for lunch on whole wheat bread. I've not had any lunch meat for months and salami has always been my favorite lunch meat. I'll have to repeat it tomorrow while that salami is still fresh!

National Strawberry Sundae Day

Is there anyone who might not know what a strawberry sundae is? I don't think I know of anyone who doesn't! This is a wonderful way to end a day.... Ice cream with strawberries and topped with chocolate syrup, nuts and a dollop of whipped cream.

Yum!

National Coffee Ice Cream Day!

National Coffee Ice Cream Day just has to be a WONDERFUL day. Any day we are suppose to eat ice cream is a good day in my book!

Coffee Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (decaf unless you want the caffeine in your ice cream)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon finely ground coffee (press grinds through a fine mesh sieve)

Method
1 Heat the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is quite warm and steamy, but not boiling. Once the mixture is warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
2 Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set on ice over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.
3 Reheat the milk and coffee mixture, on medium heat, until again hot and steamy (not boiling!). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
4 Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes.
5 Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Then discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and finely ground coffee, and stir until cool.
6 Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Makes one quart.
Source: SimplyRecipes.com

Coffee Ice Cream

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
6 egg yolks
Chocolate curls, for garnish

Directions
Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and coffee in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After the ice cream is made, transfer to an airtight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. Garnish with chocolate curls. 1 Quart
Source: Emeril Lagasse

And, speaking of "my book", it's also Read A Book Day!

National Blueberry Popsicle Day!

It's National Blueberry Popsicle Day!

Have you ever made blueberry popsicles? I haven't made blueberry and I'm not sure why not! I guess I probably just didn't think about it. Here's a few recipes to get you started!

Blueberry Bliss Popsicles

Ingredients:
2 cups blueberries
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
9 small paper cups
9 wooden craft sticks

Directions:
1. Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Mash everything together with a potato masher, squeezing as much out of the blueberries as you can.
3. Place a strainer over another bowl and dump the blueberry mash into the strainer. Use the back of a large slotted spoon to push through the strainer as much juice as possible.
4. Throw away the blueberry skins left in the strainer.
5. Pour the contents of the bowl into a pourable measuring cup.
6. Line up the cups and pour the blueberry mixture into each one. Fill them up about 3/4 of the way full.
7. Place a wooden craft stick in each cup.
8. Put the cups in the freezer for about 4 hours or until frozen.
9. Peel off the cup from the frozen pop and enjoy!

Blueberry And Vanilla Parfait Pops

Source: Food.com

Perfect for a hot day, and so yummy. Great way to get rid of canned or frozen
fruit! You can mix and match the flavors of yogurt and types of fruit, too:
cherries and chocolate is my favorite.

Ingredients:
2 cups low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt, slightly melted
6 wooden popsicle sticks
6 popsicle molds, as large as possible

Directions:
1 Pour 1/3 cup of blueberries into each mold. Cover the molds with tinfoil, insert the popsicle sticks so that the tips are inside the blueberry mixture, and freeze overnight.

2 Take the molds out and remove the tinfoil (not the sticks!) Spoon in 1/3 cup of vanilla frozen yogurt into each mold, making sure not to pull out any sticks while doing so. The softer the yogurt is, the easier this will be. Put in the freezer for two hours or so to allow the yogurt to settle and refreeze slightly.

3 Take the popsicles out and enjoy!

Banana Blueberry Swirl Popsicles

Source: Martha Stewart

Perfect for hot summer days, this frosty treat showcases swirls of creamy
yogurt, sweet blueberries, and bananas. Although Martha uses Stonyfield Farm
BaNilla lowfat yogurt, you can substitute your favorite flavored yogurt in this
recipe.
Makes 10 ice pops

Ingredients
3 to 4 ripe bananas (1 pound)
1 1/2 cups yogurt
3 tablespoons sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions
In the bowl of a food processor, puree bananas until smooth. Add yogurt,
sugar, and lemon juice; pulse to combine. Remove half of the yogurt mixture;
set aside.
Add blueberries to processor, and pulse until just combined. Layer blueberry
and reserved yogurt mixtures into ten 1/3 cup ice-pop molds. Using a wooden
skewer, swirl the two flavors together. Insert ice-pop sticks. Transfer to
freezer until frozen, about 8 hours
Dip molds quickly in hot water to unmold.

Blueberry Fruit Pops

Source: US Highbush Blueberry Council

Ingredients
1 can (15 ¼-ounce) fruit in heavy syrup* such as pears, peaches or apricots
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh, frozen or canned drained blueberries

Instructions
In a blender, puree the canned fruit with all the syrup and lemon juice. Transfer to a large measuring cup or pitcher. Return ¼ cup of the fruit mixture to the blender. Add blueberries
Blend until pureed.
Holding a 6- or 8-ounce plastic cup at an angle, spoon in a layer of fruit puree then a layer of blueberry puree. Repeat to make 4 layers filling the cup about two-thirds
Set cup upright and insert a plastic spoon or wooden ice cream stick in the center. Repeat to use all the pureed fruit and blueberries.
Place cups on a baking pan for support and freeze until firm, 4 to 6 hours.
To serve, place pops at room temperature for 5 minutes then twist from cups.

Quick notes
Per pop: 50 calories; 0 g protein; 13 g carbohydrate; 0 g total fat; 1.4 g fiber
* Note: Fruit canned with less sugar will produce frozen pops that are more
solid
Number of servings (yield): 8

Blueberry Equivalents
One dry cup (8 fl oz.) of fresh or frozen blueberries is equal to:
90-129 large blueberries
130-189 medium blueberries
5 ounces by weight (3 cups to a pound)
2/3 cup pureed
1/2 cup pureed and strained
2/3 cup after simmering 5 minutes with 2 tbsp. water
1 cup frozen blueberries = 2/3 cup thawed blueberries

I hope you enjoy those recipes and might be able to make some popsicles. IF you don't have the ingredients needed, you could make popsicles from blueberry juice. You could make some lemonade with blueberries mixed in or mashed blueberries. I would think one could use blueberry jello and add a bit of lemon juice or mix with some lemonade too.

Enjoy! They sure sound good to me and today is definitely a popsicle day! It's 90 out and HUMID!

National Marshmallow Toasting Day

National Marshmallow Toasting Day OR Toasted Marshmallow Day !

Which is correct? I see it both ways and don't know which is the right way. I guess for the moment it will remain a mystery and I'll try to figure it out! Then it will give me something to post about next year! Yes, next year. I plan on being here! Don't you?

Did you know you can make your own marshmallows? It's TRUE! NO joke! Here's proof!

Homemade Marshmallows

2 tbsp unflavored gelatin
3/4 c cold water
2 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 c boiling water
1 tbsp vanilla
Chopped nuts or toasted flaked coconut for coating (optional)

Soften gelatin in cold water 5 minutes; then dissolve by stirring over hot water. Combine sugar, salt and boiling water in 2-qt. heavy saucepan; cook, stirring until sugar dissolves, to the soft crack stage (280). Pour into mixing bowl along with the gelatin mixture and beat at low speed for 3 minutes; continue beating at medium speed for 10 minutes or until mixture is fluffy and creamy. Add vanilla and pour into an 8" square pan dusted witn confectioners sugar. Cool 1/2 hour or until set, then cut in 36 spuares with knife moistened in water. Roll in nuts or coconut. Place in airtight container and put in refrigerator,freezer, or other cold place until ready to use.
Source: Farm Journal

I haven't tried these yet, but would love to try them. Maybe if I made them for a hoiday I could take them along and then have a sample and not overload on sugar.

Can I pretend you heard it here first?

National Days!

National Trail Mix Day! I LOVE trail mixes and cereal snacks!

Brownie Crunch Pretzel Trail Mix

Source: Betty Crocker

Cocoa Puffs® brownie cereal and Golden Grahams® cereal come together in this delicious snack mix that's ready in just 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS4 cups Cocoa Puffs® brownie crunch cereal
2 cups Golden Grahams® cereal
1 1/2 cups tiny pretzel twists
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup candy-coated chocolate candies
1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts, if desired
1 In large bowl or gallon-size resealablefood-storage plastic bag, mix all ingredients.
2 Store tightly covered or sealed.
1 Serving = 1 Cup
Nutrition Information:
Calories 230(Calories from Fat 50),Total Fat6g(Saturated Fat 3g,Trans Fat 0g),Cholesterol 0mg;Sodium 240mg;Total
Carbohydrate 43g(Dietary Fiber 2g,Sugars 24g),Protein 3g;Percent Daily Value*:Vitamin A 10.00%;Vitamin C 4.00%;Calcium 10.00%;Iron 25.00%;Exchanges:1
1/2 Starch;0 Fruit;1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate;0 Skim Milk;0 Low-Fat Milk;0 Milk;0 Vegetable;0 Very Lean Meat;0 Lean Meat;0 High-Fat Meat;1 Fat;Carbohydrate
Choices:3;*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Fruit Loops Trail Mix

1 (15 ounce) box Fruit Loops cereal
1 15 ounce) bag mini pretzel twists
1 (1 pound) bag M&M's
1 box raisins
1 can salted peanuts

Mix all together and store in airtight container

Eat Outside Day!

What can you do to enjoy the day? A Picnic,
cookout, trip to a park, pool party, block party (talk about impromptu), or other favorite spot?

Will you kick back, bike, hike, ride, drive or what?

Will you need a packed lunch, potluck or BBQ?

Who will you take or invite?

If you can celebrate the day, have fun! Make some memories? Just try to take some trail mix along, either homemade or purchased due to the short notice!

National Cherry Popsicle Day

It's National CHERRY Popsicle Day. Not strawberry, not any other flavor, JUST cherry!

The good news is that you can make them or buy them. If you make them you can use cool aid, drink mix, cherry juice, or marchino cherry juice. You can combine any of these in any amounts.

I've never heard of popsicle police so if you wanted to mix flavors, I'll never tell!

Something I've never tried but think might be interesting would be to use the liquid off of canned beets into popsicle makings. It would sure give a richer color and it would add some nutritional value from the leached vits/mins. That would also help take away from the lack of good stuff if cool aid or drink mix are used. I would start with small amounts of course and then add to one's taste preferences. Doctor Oz is pushing his red juice which is a beet, apple and carrot combo so beet juice added to popsicles would probably even impress him! Why not try it?

I'm going to have to wait and see if there are National Popsicle Days for the rest of the flavors!