Oreo Ice Cream Dessert


Crust:
10 oz. crushed Oreo cookies                 1/4 c. melted butter

Mix above together, reserving 2/3 cup for topping.  Press remaining mixture into a 13x9 pan and chill in freezer.

Torte Layer: (I double this recipe so I have sauce for layering both on the cookie layer and on top of the ice cream.

4 oz. German sweet chocolate bar (I use Bakers brand)        2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter                                                                         1/8 t. salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk

Place the above ingredients into a 2 quart saucepan and cook 4 minutes after it reaches boiling and thickens.  Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Allow to cool slightly.  Pour over chilled cookie crust (reserve some for pouring on top of ice cream) and chill in freezer.

Top with 1 gallon of your favorite ice cream flavor after it has softened a bit.  Sprinkle reserved cookie crumbs and pour over reserved sauce.  Freeze.  Remove from freezer 5-10 minutes prior to serving and Enjoy!

Peppermint and Chocolate Chex Mix

3 cups Rice Chex cereal
3 cups Chocolate Chex cereal
 1 bag (12 oz.) white vanilla baking chips (2 cups)*
1/2 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy canes (16 miniature)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips*

Mix cereals in a large microwaveable bowl. Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper. Crush candy canes.
In separate microwaveable bowl, melt white chocolate baking chips following package directions.
Mix half of crushed candy canes into white chocolate. Pour white chocolate mixture over cereals and stir to combine. Spread mixture evenly in single layer on cookie sheet and immediately sprinkle with remaining crushed candy canes.
Melt dark chocolate chips in microwave following package directions. Drizzle over top of cereals. Let stand until set.
Gently break into clusters and store in airtight container.

*I used Ghiradelli white chocolate and dark chocolate melting chips and doubled this recipe to make 13 portions.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I omitted this when I made it just because I didn't have any)

Essentially you just need to mix all the ingredients together, but I found it works best if you mix everything but the Cool Whip together really well and then mix in the Cool Whip at the end. Refridgerate for at least two hours and serve. 

The recipe says to serve it with Nilla wafers, but I like it with cinnamon graham crackers.

Corn & Black bean salsa dip

This is taken from a dip recipe using the Tastefully Simple Corn and Black Bean Salsa. But I make my own salsa.


For salsa mix together:

Chopped tomatoes
chopped onion
chopped bell pepper
fresh cilantro
fresh corn on the cop-cooked and cut off of the cob
1 small can of green chiles-I use mild
Penzy's fajita spice-to taste
1 can of black beans rinsed and drained


8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. finely shredded 4 cheese Mexican blend

Spread 1 8 oz. block  or tub of cream cheese in the bottom of a microwavable or oven safe 8X8 dish OR large pie plate.
After mixing salsa together, you will want to strain it, or it will be very runny, as there is a lot of juice in fresh tomatoes.
Top cream cheese with salsa. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top.
This can be microwaved to slightly melt the cream cheese and shredded cheese on top. If you prefer a hot dish, it can be baked, uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cheese on top is completely melted.
Serve with tortilla chips or crackers of your choice.

Taffy Apple Dip from June

8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)

Mix all together and enjoy with sliced apples. Keep refrigerated.

Online Cookbook Index

I have yet to add a promised recipe to this blog, but that will definitely happen.

Realizing that this is a liiittle out of scope for this blog, I need to add this link to:

CookbookRecipeDatabase

Posting the link here is just more practical than emailing it to a list of people.

This site is an index of cookbook content. It includes no recipes, but can provide very good access to the guts of one's print cookbook collection.

I have nothing to do with the site's creators, and know nothing about them or their business model.

What I do know, is that I just searched the keyword 'edamame', and it kicked out a results list of a bunch of cookbooks with recipes using edamame -- which included a bunch of titles that I own. Registration permits one to create a list of all of one's cookbooks; and the search engine includes a checkbox permitting one to limit search results to those titles. I've not yet created an account on the site, but I plan to. This is the first such site that I've seen that doesn't appear to require a paid subscription to permit the addition of more than a few titles to one's personal list -- but there may be others, and if not, there probably will be soon.

Anyway. In case you end up with a CSA delivery of, like, a bushel of okra... This site might help you quickly decide how to use the okra, so you can devote more of your time to prepping the okra. I enjoy physically paging through my cookbooks; but sometimes I'm as shredded as the kale in the crisper drawer, and need to just do something with said kale before it turns to compost.

The Database doesn't have a mobile app, nor does a mobile version of the site appear to exist. (Yet?) But the full site appears to be fairly mobile-friendly. And as noted above, it is just an index, providing references to books that one would need to grab off of the shelf. (Unless one has begun assembling a significant collection of cookbooks in Kindle format...) (I can imagine searching the Database on my Kindle Fire, while standing in front of the bookcase. Kind of like 'Mattel Home OPAC'.)

Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn with Chocolate Drizzle

For the original recipe, see http://realmomkitchen.com/3688/after-school-peanut-butter-and-honey-popcorn/

• 2/3 cup unpopped popcorn
• coconut oil
• salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup + another dollop of peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• half a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips, minus a few handfuls that were devoured as a late-night snack

Melt a tablespoon or more (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add one kernel of popcorn to the pan and cover with lid.  When the test kernel pops, add 1/3 cup kernels, cover the pan, shake to coat kernels with oil.  When popping slows down, remove from heat.  Dump popped corn into a large bowl (try not to add too many unpopped kernels) and repeat with the remaining popcorn.  Add salt to taste while still warm.

Put honey and sugar into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 2 minutes or until the sugar is all melted and smooth.  Stir in the vanilla (so much fun to watch the alcohol bubble and fizz), then remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until it's all melted.  (I used Skippy, but I bet this would be delicious with unsweetened PB or even almond or cashew butter.)  Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir until it's all coated.

Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute.  Stir (keep stirring until the chips start to melt into one another and the bottom of the bowl isn't quite so warm).  Heat for an additional 10-15 seconds on full power, stirring and repeating until nice and smooth.  Drizzle chocolate over popcorn in a decorative criss-cross pattern.

Eat too much, but feel virtuous anyway, because popcorn is a whole grain and chocolate has antioxidants.  If you used local honey, feel even more virtuous for supporting local farmers and saving the environment.