Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream - TWD

Way back in August of last year this blueberry ice cream was chosen. It was originally chosen by Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 434 in Dorie's cookbook.

I was not part of the group at that time. But last week I found an ice cream maker and decided to practice and use it for the first time with this recipe.

Maybe I shouldn't have got an ice cream maker. I really should be concentrating on my diet and exercising. But...this was really good. It was also fun to make. Ben and Brock loved it and were disappointed that it only made a pint. I assured them that they would have ice cream again within the next 2 weeks. That peach honey choice is going to be good!

Crispy Fish Fingers - CEiMB

Living in Wisconsin....I value a good fish fry. I love going out for dinner on Friday nights and getting a good fish fry (although it doesn't have to be beer battered) with french fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and of course a nice soft marbled rye bread. YUMMY! I was very excited to make these fish sticks when I saw that it had been chosen.

Anne of rainforest recipes chose the Crispy Fish Fingers. You can find the recipe HERE or HERE. Be sure to check out Anne's blog though. She actually lives in a Guatemalan rainforest. I don't think that I could ever do that. OK. I know that I couldn't! I don't even like to go camping longer than 2 days in a row.

I am sure that some of my fellow Ellie pals really enjoyed these fish fingers which have a very healthy spin on them. I just did not! First, I couldn't find any flounder filets at the store. I went with the mix of northern and walleye fillets that my dad had given to us from one of his fishing excursions. Oh, I wish that I hadn't of wasted them on this recipe. I even doubled the recipe because I had close to 2 lbs of fish thawed and didn't want to waste any. Sigh.

I am thinking the reason I didn't like them was due to the whole wheat flour. I thought that they didn't have any flavor and were just bland with a slight nutty taste. Very, very bland. I guess if you are going to eat a fish with breading, it should be deep fried. The one thing good about this recipe though is the mock tartar sauce. It was quite tasty and would taste great with some other fish.

You Capture. Family

Obviously this is not my family. But a family nonetheless! I captured this "family" out and about earlier this week! I tried to get closer but didn't want to get hissed at.

I probably should have made a better attempt to get a picture of my family but all of my guys have been sick around here. In fact at least one of us has been under the weather at one time for the past 2+ weeks. I didn't want to cheat and dig into my archives or more to the point - I hate having my picture taken.

Don't forget to head over to Beth's and check out everyone's You Capture for Family this week.

Anadama Bread

No....I didn't go ahead and join another baking group. Besides, I couldn't if I wanted to because it is already closed. But I had to get in on the action with all these delicious looking breads popping up everywhere.

Working with yeast always intimidates me even though I have been getting better at it over the past year or so. The part that I don't like about making bread is the kneading part. But with my trusty KA mixer and the bread hook I don't really have to worry about kneading a thing.

The first bread that the group made was Anadama Bread. I was intrigued and decided to see if the cookbook was at my library. Low and behold it was there. After looking at the recipe and the ingredients I convinced myself that I could do it. This is a really nice cookbook too! It has lots of intro pages to teach bread bakers. Add to the fact that I have a huge container of cornmeal and molasses left over from various recipes I decided to give it a whirl.


While I made the bread over the course of two days, I told Ben that I felt like I was completing a science experiment. On day 1 you have to mix water and cornmeal and let it soak overnight. On day two, you add the yeast, flour, molasses and other ingredients to get it to rise and eventually bake it. It was quite simple and fun to prepare.

If you are interested...Nicole (who started the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge) posted a fantastic step by step instruction guide with the recipe HERE for this bread. Check it out and try it. The bread is really good and tastes great as a sandwich bread because of the softness.

I think that I may even try the a few more challenges before I have to return the book to the library.

Chipster-Topped Brownies - TWD

I love brownies....I love chocolate chip cookies. Who wouldn't like them layered together? Needless to say I was stoked to make this recipe! They were even made way earlier in the week than I normally make any of my TWD recipes. While preparing them and getting the ingredients ready I wish that I would have thought to halve the recipe though. This makes an insane amount of brownies that only Ben and I ended up eating. The boys didn't seem to enjoy them.

The recipe was chosen by Beth from Supplicious. It can be found on pages 94-95 in Dorie's book as well.

The only modification I did was substitute peanut butter chips for the bittersweet ones in the cookie layer. I also skipped the walnuts. My brownies baked up strange though. The bottom layer of brownies were fine. The problem came in with the cookie layer. While it was baking the top seemed to get very brown and seemed done. However, when I removed it from the oven and let it cool I noticed that it was still very gooey inside after the top cracked. We still ate it but it certainly wasn't done all the way through. And if I would have left it in the oven more to bake I am certain that the cookie layer would have been black.

While this recipe was fun to make I probably wouldn't make try it again. Although we did eat all the brownies, raw or not...they were good.

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo

I am a fan of the Food & Family magazine I receive in the mail from Kraft Foods. They have really good recipes that are easy to make. And the best part is that the ingredients are simple to find. I usually try several of the recipes each time I get the latest in the mail.

This week I tried the shrimp alfredo pasta on page 35. It is made with cream cheese and chicken broth. I used shrimp and peas but think that it would taste fantastic with chicken too.

creamy shrimp alfredo

Prep: 25 minutes

Makes: 4 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

what you need

1/2 lb. linguine, uncooked
2 Tbsp. Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 lb. uncooked deveined peeled medium shrimp
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. (3/4 of 8 oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

make it

Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. or until shrimp turn pink, adding garlic for the last minute. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon; set aside.
Add cream cheese and broth to skillet; cook until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently. Stir in shrimp and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan.
Drain pasta. Add to skillet; toss to coat. Transfer to platter; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and parsley.

You Capture. Sweet

I participated in another You Capture Challenge. The theme for this week was to capture something 'Sweet'.

Beth is the creator of this fun event and her pictures are always awesome. Her "sweet" pictures today do not disappoint either. You have to check them out and also see everyone's pictures. There are some really good ones and always are.

This is a French Brownie I made a couple of weeks ago doing a catch-up for TWD. They were delicious and sweet. Especially with vanilla ice cream. You can find the recipe HERE.

My last picture is of my youngest son, Brady. He was sharing his popcorn with his rubber duckie today at snack.


Does that get any sweeter?