The hiatus is over!

After a much needed summer hiatus I am back with tons of new recipes to help get you through the busy holiday season. I spent the summer vegetable, herb, and flower gardening so I am trying to incorporate a fresh element to a lot of my recipes. I also spent the summer geo caching so I tasted some very ummmm interesting food at times some of which I'm still trying to forget!  However, some was down right delicious and has been the inspiration behind a few new dishes. Today I am feeling in the holiday spirit so I am going to bake a sweet and savory ham roast and some creamy Mac and cheese. These recipes and pictures of the finished product will be posted later so make sure you check back! Happy holidays now lets eat!

Banana Bread

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups smashed ripe banana (3-4 bananas depending on size)
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (see recipe)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 350° and grease 9x5" loaf pan. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix together banana, yogurt, eggs, butter and vanilla. Fold banana mixer into dry ingredients using a rubber spatula until the batter looks thick and chunky. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for one hour until the top is golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

New York Style Crumb Cake

Topping:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar (see recipe)
2 sticks butter
1/8 cup cinnamon
Dash salt

Cake:

1 box butter yellow cake mix
1 stick butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk (see recipe)
3 eggs

Make the topping first. Whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt. Stir in butter a tablespoon at a time until topping forms small clumps when pressed together. Set aside. In a separate bowl mix together butter, eggs, and sugar until smooth and creamy. Slowly stir in box cake mix and buttermilk alternating between the two until everything is mixed in and there are no lumps in the batter. Spread batter in a greased 9x13" pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over all the batter. Do not stir! Leave as two separate layers. Bake on 325° for one hour. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Baked Mac n Cheese

1 block Velveeta diced
8oz's cream cheese
12oz's sour cream (see recipe)
1/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1lb elbow macaroni
1/8 cup olive oil
Dash salt
Dash onion powder
Dash garlic powder
Dash pepper

Bring a pan of hot water, dash salt, and olive oil to a rolling boil. Add macaroni and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat drain water and place cooked macaroni in a 9x13" greased baking dish. In another pan on medium heat melt diced Velveeta, cream cheese, sour cream, & milk together stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and immediately pour over cooked macaroni. Put a dash of salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder on top. Mix cheese sauce into the macaroni thoroughly. Sprinkle top with shredded cheese. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

16 strawberries
8oz cream cheese
1 cup marshmallow fluff
2 Graham crackers crushed

Cut tops off of strawberries, scoop out middle with melon baller, and cut tips off to make stand up. Mix together cream cheese and marshmallow fluff using mixer beat on high for one minute. Put mixture into a gallon bag and cut off tip with scissors. Fill each strawberry to the top. Sprinkle tops of strawberries with crushed Graham crackers. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Colored Sugar

I hate buying colored sugar in the store because it is ridiculously priced, over $2 for a quarter cup of sugar. If you're like me colored sugar is a staple in cookie and cake decorating. So I thought why not just make it at home and save tons of money in the process? I am also not limited to the small color selection in store anymore I can make any color under the sun! So if you have a few minutes to spare and want to make some beautiful colored sugar check out the recipe below!

Colored Sugar

1/4-1/2 cup sugar for each color you want to make
Liquid food coloring (see color chart)
Wax paper
Small air right storage containers

Put strips of wax paper down then pour piles of sugar at least 6 inches apart. One pile for each color you want to make. Put 4-6 drops of food coloring per pile and stir thoroughly with a fork until you reach your desired color. Leave sugar on the wax paper to dry for 10 minutes then store each color in a separate air tight container. It has a forever long shelf life too. Have fun decorating!

Thick and creamy Cream Cheese Icing

Cream Cheese Icing

16oz cream cheese
4 table spoons butter
4 cups powdered sugar (see recipe)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Food Coloring (optional see chart)

Let cream cheese and butter soften at room temperature. Once soft put cream cheese, butter, and vanilla into a bowl and mix on high for at least 2 minutes. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all mixed in continue to mix with mixer on high for an addition minute until thick and creamy. Makes enough to icing two round cakes or a 9x13" cake.

Cooking with leftovers: Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding

2 cups cooked rice
3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Mix rice, whipping cream, butter, sugar and salt in sauce pan over medium heat until boiling. Reduce heat add vanilla and raisins (if using) Simmer for 30-40 minutes until most of the cream has been absorbed or evaporated. Remove from heat. Add cinnamon and nutmeg. Serve warm or chilled. Makes 4-6 servings.