Buttermilk Biscuits

Bonjour peeps! I trust you are enjoying your summer. After an afternoon of watching Junk Gypsies.....I decided to try making biscuits from scratch.

Recipe: Preheat oven to 425*

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
7 TBSP unsalted butter chilled in freezer,cut into thin slices
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
2 TBSP buttermilk for brushing on top of biscuits before baking.

Whisk flour,baking powder,salt and soda in mixing bowl. Cut in butter. Make a well and pour in buttermilk.  Stir turning dough onto floured work surface. Pat into rectangle, fold into thirds, flatten out into rectangle X 3. Roll 1/2" thick and cut out 12-14 biscuits. Brush with buttermilk and bake 425*'for 15 minutes.

I baked mine on a seasoned Pampered Chef stone.

Notice I did not brush the middle heart biscuit.

It made a difference.... you can see in the bottom photo. The buttermilk blends all the stray flour and browns the tops nicely.

They tasted great.....even my husband approved!

I think I have plenty to share with the neighbors!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a splendid summer!

~Lynda~

Dessert Party Pizza

Happy July 5th! I made this yesterday for a get-together we had with a couple of families. It turned out great so I thought I would share the experiment. I had seen several versions on All Recipes.com but combined several and added vanilla because everything taste better with vanilla! I think they are hard to mess up really.

Ingredients:     1 tube of sugar cookie dough

1 8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

6 oz Cool Whip

2 cups of strawberries and 2 cups of blueberries

1. Slice one tube of sugar cookie dough and spread evenly onto a stone or parchment paper. Bake according to the directions on the package. COOL completely.

2. Wash and slice about 25 berries. Try to slice the berries about the same width. For extra large berries you can get four slices. Dry on paper towel.

3. Wash and drain 2 cups fresh blueberries. Dry on paper towel.

4. Beat 1 pkg. cream cheese until soft. Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar + 1 tsp. vanilla and mix together. Add 1/2 tub (about 6 oz. )of Cool Whip still blending with mixer.

5. Spread mixture on baked and cooled cookie dough. Arrange berries beginning with a star. Wrap with plastic saran wrap and cool in refrigerator until ready to slice and serve. I used a pizza cutter.

The flavor has that "WOW" factor. Summer is a great time to enjoy fresh fruit. Even my husband liked it.

This gal made it to a different party. She was printed from the Country Living Magazine website on July 4th crafts. I added the angel wings, made a Brave rosette and placed both in a peat pot with a July 4th sign. What I wanted to make was a banner with burlap.....ran completely out of time for that! Perhaps next year.....

~Lynda~

Ready for 2011 Christmas?

Well, here we are just a few short weeks from Christmas...or days.....are you ready? I am getting there at a snail's pace. It is time for some Christmas card crafting. Why is it I choose to make Christmas trees?

Wired fancy "Fuzzy Cord" ribbon from Walmart's Holiday Time collection fit the bill. Add a few gold bells, a red top with button and gold bling. Martha Stewart's cup cake punch for the bottom of the tree. Side panels of poinsettia ribbon and we are done with this model.

White fuzzy cord for this tree on the blue background works. The topper is a ready made white rose that came in some pack I bought some time ago....hey, it's about using what you have!

The 3rd model is made with fancy paper from Graphics 45. Fold the top edge and secure with flower. The flower was made from 3small flowers -Martha Stewart punch, and a Tim Holtz flower die cut (smaller 2 of the lot) for a total of 5 petals, secured with a small black brad. The tag punch is Creative Memories stamped with blue ink scripture from Luke 2:4.

Our Christmas family card was made the Sunday after Thanksgiving under the oak trees. Douglas set up the tripod. We did not attempt to film the 4 dogs with us.....so without our extended family...

Merry Christmas to all.....and to all a good night!

P.S.  A recipe for you: Cherry Salad

From: A Taste of Victory ( Our church women's ministry cookbook)

1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

1 can crushed pineapple in its own juice

1 can red pitted cherries in water, drained

1 12 oz. container Cool Whip

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Combine first three ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add remaining ingredients to the first mixture next day before serving. Garnish with extra nuts.

A friend of mine from Bartow makes this every year for her family. They love it! It is addicting and will quickly become a favorite dish! Joyeux Noel!

Linking up with

Rosemary Chicken

This will be a recipe post. I have had numerous request for my rosemary chicken. This is not my recipe. I learned to make it the summer my son and daughter-in-love were living with us while in transition from Tampa to Knoxville....Mandi liked to watch Rachel Ray....so there I was, watching this amazing lady cook a complete meal in front of my eyes in 30 min. I learned a great deal about cooking that summer, but this has been my favorite recipe from Rachel. You can look it up on her website but it is not listed.

I use fresh Rosemary.....either from Publix or the garden....

chop rosemary fine....wash 3 plump chicken breasts and drag into rosemary...

Cook in Olive Oil....or as Rachel would say " EVOO"......when chicken is done, drain on a paper towel.....cut into small, bite size pieces.

Extra light....since I have been on Weight Watchers.....

As the chicken is cooking, unwrap a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls......

I pull the triangle and broaden the base as much as possible, without tearing holes in the pastry....

Next....place a few small pieces of chicken on the triangle, then add a tablespoon of fig preserves....

any brand of Fig Preserves will do....and Havarti cheese....hopefully the husband will not have used it all on his ham sandwich.....

Top with the cheese.....I did run out of Havarti....so later I substituted Parmesan (fresh) and my husband could not tell the difference.....

Pull the triangle together and seal the sides....edges so the fig will not escape....

I cook these in pampered chef stoneware, approx. 20 min while the pastry cooks.

what is funny is.....I forgot to take a pic of the end result. So later, I placed the left overs on a plate to photograph....I had already put up the vegetables I served with the meal....but you can use your imagination. Serve with a salad, green beans and squash for a delicious treat.

YUM!

I have taken this dish to folks who needed a lift....they always call and say " What in the world is in that pastry?" They usually can identify the chicken, but not the other ingredients.

Bon Appetite! 

Linking up with parties this weekend!

Salad recipe

Happy January! It was a 70* day in sunny Florida. I decided to link up with a blog that is sharing recipes today.....salads as a matter of fact so here is one of my favorites from "A Taste Of Victory" our church book that was published years ago.

The ingredients: 1 can sweetened condensed milk
                         1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
                         1 can re pitted cherries(drained)
                         1 12oz. container Cool Whip
                          1 cup chopped pecans
                         1/4 cup lemon juice
Combine the first three ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add remaining ingredients to first mixture next day before serving. Garnish with extra nuts.

I made this tonight,, but did not refrigerate it. It was not bad, just not as cold as I like it. Ya'll enjoy!

I forgot to place the cool whip in the first picture of the ingredients.....

I like to strain the cherries. How do you like my new strainer???

Don't you just love new kitchen gadgets?

I served it as dessert in a footed glass sherbert dish. It makes it taste better. I have a friend, Ruth that makes this each year. She adds red food coloring to make it pink.....Ya'll come back now and then....

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