Happy Blogiversary to me and a GIVEAWAY for you!

WOW! It has been one year since I started this blog. I can't believe it! I started blogging with the gentle nudging of my friend, Monica. She had suggested it a few times, but I kind of shrugged it off. Then after being sucked into the world of following food blogs, I decided to start one of my own.

It all started with a cooking challenge. I challenged myself to make at least one new recipe per day for an entire month. I ended up making 56 new recipes that month! 56!!!! It was so much fun finally pushing myself to make new things. I have always tried new recipes, but this challenge gave me the chance to chisel away a bit at my "to try" file.

Another wonderful part of blogging has come from the great groups that I am a part of - The Daring Bakers, Tuesdays with Dorie, Cookie Carnival, Cheese of the Month, and Sweet Melissa Sundays. Believe it or not, I will also be joining fellow bloggers in a cupcake baking group! I enjoy being told what to make and discovering new favorites and/or techniques. Plus, I am never short on desserts! :)

I wanted to post about my favorite recipes from the past year, but the problem is that I have too many. I couldn't even begin to narrow it down if I tried. I hope that you have all enjoyed my recipes as much as I have. It always makes my day when I read that someone has tried something I posted about.

Throughout the last year I have enjoyed being a part of this blogging community. I appreciate all the people who stop by and comment on my blog. I am so grateful to everyone who reads my posts. I am looking forward to starting another year and sharing more recipes!

To celebrate one year of blogging, I am going to give away one of my favorite things. Have you heard of Tastebook? It is a fantastic website that allows you to purchase pre-made cookbooks or create your own. My friend, Erica, told me about these earlier in the year. I have made one already and have two more in the works. They are wonderful books and look great! Each book can hold up to 100 recipes and if you don't fill up the book at the time of purchase, you can add more later. Easy, convenient, and super cool!

One lucky person will win their very own Tastebook (25 recipes; shipping not included)! All you have to do is leave a comment here by midnight EST on Sunday, August 2nd. I will announce the winner on Monday, August 3rd.

Good luck and thanks again for making this past year awesome!

Tangerine Glazed Pork Belly & Mushroom Rice Pilaf

I have only used pork belly for one recipe - Sweet and Sour Pork. When I last made it, I purchased two packages of pork belly thinking that we would have company over. I ended up not needing two and needed to find another recipe in order to use up the extra.

This is the first recipe I came across and once I saw it I knew there was no need to keep looking. I don't watch Emeril often, but I know this man knows his pork! The only change I made in the recipe was to use orange juice instead of tangerine. It was what I had on hand and it worked perfectly.

The pork was so moist and incredibly delicious. We really enjoyed this recipe! I served it with a yummy mushroom rice pilaf. Sorry I don't have an individual picture of that, but if you squint a little, you can see it in the pork belly shot! :)



Tangerine Glazed Pork Belly
Emeril Lagasse


4 to 5 pounds pork belly, cut into portions about 4 1/2 by 3-inches each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
4 cups tangerine juice, divided
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
3/4 cups sugar

Adjust oven setting to broil.

Using a sharp knife, score the fat side of the pork belly, diagonally, and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Place onion, carrots, and celery in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the pork belly, scored side up, on top of the vegetables. Broil until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn the pork flesh side up and continue broiling for 10 more minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Turn the pork back to the scored side up and add the chicken stock, 2 cups of the tangerine juice, light brown sugar, thyme, cloves, and allspice to the roasting pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 2 hours. After 2 hours, fold back the foil to create a vent and continue to bake for another 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.

While the pork is braising, prepare the tangerine glaze. Using a fine wire-meshed sieve, strain any pulp out of the remaining 2 cups tangerine juice. Combine the juice and 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook until the glaze is thick and syrupy, about 30 to 40 minutes. (The finished glaze will form dime-sized bubbles while simmering and will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.)

Remove the pan from the oven and let the pork cool slightly in the braising liquid. Adjust oven setting to broil. Remove the pieces of pork belly from the braising liquid and pat dry. Using a pastry brush, baste the pork belly on all sides with the glaze. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil for 4 to 5 minutes, or until crispy around the edges and golden brown.

Drizzle pork belly generously with any remaining glaze and serve.


Mushroom Rice Pilaf
Allrecipes

1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 teaspoons butter
1 (8 ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper

In a saucepan, saute green pepper and onion in butter until tender. Add mushrooms; heat through. Stir in the water, rice, bouillon, parsley, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 14-16 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Sweet and Sour Pork

This is one of my favorite meals to make! It is one of my unhealthier meals, but it is so worth it! This sweet and sour pork is better than any I have had from a Chinese take-out. WAY BETTER! Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Pork
Yan Kit-So

1 lb lean pork belly, skinned and trimmed of excess fat
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp thin soy sauce
1/2 egg, lightly beaten
3 TBSP cornstarch
Peanut or corn oil, for frying
2 1/2 TBSP peanut or corn oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 green pepper, diced
4 oz canned pineapple chunks, juice reserved

For the sauce:
2 tsp potato flour (can also substitute corn starch)
4 TBSP water
4 TBSP pineapple juice
3 TBSP rice or wine vinegar
4-4 1/2 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp thin soy sauce
2 TBSP ketchup
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cut the pork into pieces about 1 by 1 1/4 by 3/4 inches. Put into bowl.

Add the salt and soy sauce and let marinate for 30-60 minutes. Stir in the egg to coat thoroughly.

Dredge the pork, piece by piece, with the cornstarch, making sure it is evenly coated. It is not necessary to use up all the cornstarch.

Half fill a wok or deep fryer with oil. Heat to 350 or until a cube of stale bread browns in 60 seconds. Add the pork and deep fry for about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels. This step can be done ahead of time.

Prepare the sauce. In a bowl, dissolve potato flour in water and pineapple juice. Add remaining ingredients and stir to blend.

Heat a frying pan (or another wok) until hot. .Add 1 1/2 TBSP oil and then add garlic and onion. Stir, then add green pepper. Stir fry for about 2 minutes and season with salt, if desired. Add pineapple chunks. Pour the well stirred sauce and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reheat oil for deep frying. Add pork and again deep fry for about 2-3 minutes, to ensure that the outside is crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels.

Reheat sauce and stir in remaining 1 TBSP of oil. This prevents the sauce from being gluey. Pour the sauce over pork. Serve immediately.

July Daring Baker Challenge

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

We had the choice of making one or both of the cookies, plus the option of making homemade marshmallows for the marshmallow cookies. I had every intention of making all three items and was actually excited about it.

So, what happened? I didn't even read the recipe until yesterday. Oops. Not so smart on my part.

I decided to start with the marshmallow cookies and debated for a good hour about whether or not to make the marshmallows from scratch. Even though I do want to try my hand at making marshmallows, time was not on my side yesterday. I had marshmallows in the cupboard and ended up using those.

I cut the recipe in half since I was going to make the Milan cookies, too. I ended up with 30+ marshmallow cookies (with a half batch!!!). This is when I decided that I wouldn't make the Milans. There is no way Nathan and I were going to eat that many cookies.

The marshmallow cookies were fantastic, though! I will definately make them again, and hopefully next time I will make my own marshmallows!

Mallows

Gale Gand

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter

• 3 eggs, whisked together

• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows

• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.

2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.

3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.

4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.

8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.

10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.

12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.

13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade Marshmallows

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar

• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin

• 2 tablespoons cold water

• 2 egg whites , room temperature

• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.

3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.

4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.

5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water

Seasoned Tilapia

Fish, fish, and more fish. This seems to be what is happening in my house lately. While I wouldn't say that I am enjoying eating fish, I am enjoying trying new things and seeing my family excited about fish.

These tilapia fillets are great and Nathan really enjoyed them. Anya didn't like them as much because of the amount of pepper. If you aren't a pepper fan, I would cut back on the steak seasoning and/or omit the black pepper. If you love pepper, like Nathan, I think you will really enjoy this fish.

Seasoned Tilapia

Simple & Delicious May/June 2009

2 tilapia fillets (6 oz each)

1TBSP butter, melted

1 tsp steak seasoning

1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Dash garlic powder

Place fillets in greased baking dish. Drizzle with butter. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients; sprinkle over fillets.

Cover and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-8 minutes longer, or until fish flakes easily with fork.

*NOTE: Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your fillets. Mine were pretty thin and were done cooking in about 10-12 minutes.

Butterfinger Cake Balls

I used to make cake balls a lot a few years back. I loved how easy they are to make and that there are so many different variations. I'm not sure why I stopped making them, but I know that it has been a long time.

When I saw these Butterfinger Cake Balls on A Blog About Food, I knew I had to make them. Butterfinger's are Nathan's favorite and I knew he would love these. When I showed him the blog post, he asked me to make them for Father's Day Thanksgiving (yes... that's how far behind I am in posting!).



They were so delicious and didn't last long. Thanks so much to Teresa for reminding me how wonderful cake balls are!

Butterfinger Cake Balls
Teresa - A Blog About Food


1 yellow cake mix
1 tub chocolate frosting
1 large bag milk chocolate chips
3-4 large Butterfingers bars, crumbled

Bake yellow cake according to directions. Once mostly cooled, crumble into a bowl. Stir in chocolate frosting until completely combined into a dough. Roll into small balls. Insert toothpicks for easy dipping and freeze for 1-2 hours.

Once the cake balls are hardened, melt your chocolate. Right after dipping them in chocolate, dip the tops in the candy, and place on wax paper, candy side down, for at least an hour to dry.

White Chocolate and Lime Scones

It's been way too long since I have posted about scones. I think I may lose my "Scone Queen" title because of this. ;)

I came up with this scone recipe over the weekend because I had WAY too many limes that needed to be used and Anya had been asking to make Daddy something with white chocolate since that is his favorite. So... White Chocolate and Lime Scones were born.

Let me tell you, these were awesome! And I'm not just tooting my own horn. I really enjoyed these a lot. There is a subtle coconut flavor from the coconut extract, but if you aren't a coconut fan, you could substitute vanilla extract.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate and Lime Scones

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp lime zest

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, chilled

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoons coconut extract

1/2 - 1 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Rub lime zest and sugar together. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly.

In seperate bowl, mix together milk, egg, and coconut extract. Add to flour mixture and combine. Stir in white chocolate.

Pat dough into circle and cut into 8 triangles. Alternately, you could drop the scones directly onto baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Cookie Carnival: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Lemons are awesome! Seriously, you can do so much with them. Any meal of the day can have a lemon involved in some way. Lemon was the star of the Cookie Carnival this month and I was stoked about the choice!

Don't be worried about the ricotta in the cookies; you really can't taste it. These cookies were cake like and very moist. The glaze on top was fantastic, too. I will make these cookies over and over again. Seriously, they are so good!

Enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookies:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.

No TWD this week....

No blanc-manger here today. It just didn't seem appealing to me.
:(

On a side note, Happy 8th Anniversary to my wonderful husband! He is in the Netherlands this week doing a 100 mile road march, so we celebrated a little early before he left. I love you, Nathan! Thanks for an amazing 8 years!

SMS: Whole Orange Poppy Seed Cake

Poppy seed bread is one of my favorite quick breads to make. It is almost always a lemon poppy seed bread and it doesn't matter what recipe I use... I love it! I was really excited to try this SMS recipe and see if I liked poppy seed bread with orange instead of lemon.

The most interesting part of this recipe is that it uses the ENTIRE orange. You plop the orange, skin and all, into the food processor and pulverize. I loved how there were teeny, tiny chunks of orange peel throughout the bread. It tasted a lot like candied orange peel. YUM!!!

The bread (or cake. Who are we kidding? :) ) gets brushed with a lemon/orange glaze straight out of the oven. It made the bread so moist!

I really enjoyed this recipe and will definately be making it over and over again. It also makes me want to try it with an entire lemon and see if it works that way, too!

Thanks to Melissa of LuLu the Baker for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

TWD: Brioche Apple Tart

This week's TWD selection is Brioche Plum Tart and as you can tell from my post title, I opted to use apples instead. The recipe calls for 14 plums and there is no way I would be able to get 14 ripe plums from my commissary. I know I've said it before, but it really doesn't hurt to repeat it. The commissary here is not known for its great produce. Ahhh... moving stateside in September will definately have its benefits! :)

The tart is made with brioche instead of a traditional tart crust. I loved the subtle sweetness of the dough. The apples on top were soft but not mushy and paired well with the brioche. My only complaint about this is that it really needs to be eaten on the day it is made which isn't the easiest thing to do unless you eat it for every meal!

An awesome bonus to this recipe is that it helped me figure out what one of my favorite pastries is made of. There is an amazing almond bread/cake at the local bakery here in Baumholder and I could never quite figure out what it was made of. While eating this tart yesterday, my husband pointed out that the bread is very similar to the almond cake. So now I am on a mission to transform this brioche tart into the fantastic almond cake. Hopefully it will be similar so I won't have to miss it too much when we leave!

Thanks to Denise of Chez Us for choosing the Brioche Plum Tart. Head to her blog for the recipe!

SMS: Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake with Crumbly Cornmeal Crust

Mmmmm... cheesecake! I can't get enough of it. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. I was excited to try this weeks recipe mostly because of the crust. I usually make a graham cracker crust for my cheesecakes and was interested in how a cornmeal crust would taste.

Surprisingly the crust was delicious. I really enjoyed it. The cheesecake itself was good, but not great. There wasn't anything that made it unique to me. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it. You'd be hard pressed to give me a cheesecake that I won't eat. I probably won't make this particular one again, but I will try the cornmeal crust again.

I quartered the recipe and made mini cheesecakes and they all sunk in the middle. I am not sure why they sunk so if anyone has any insight on how to make that not happen in the future, I'm all ears!

Thanks to Eliana of A Chica Bakes for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

I also wanted to share a few pics from the ball Nathan and I went to Thursday night. We had so much fun! It was a blast getting all dressed up and dancing with my hubby! :)

Me and Nathan

The McGrewe's (Us and our best friends Monica and Travis)

Steak Pizzaola

Tonight my husband and I are off to the ball! It is a military ball that is being held by Nathan's unit. I am excited to get all dressed up and spend the night out with my hubby. My nails are done and for the most part I know how I'm going to do my hair. Now if only the rain would stay away then I'd be great! My hair + rain = MAJOR FRIZZ! :)

I love steak. Usually if we go out to a restaurant, I order a nice big steak. You just can't beat it. YUM YUM YUM! I have been making this for years now (not sure where the recipe came from) and it is one of Nathan's favorite meals. If you like steak, you'll love this!

Enjoy!

Steak Pizzaola

2 rib eye steaks

Salt and Pepper

3 TBSP olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp red pepper flakes

12 mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

Pepperoni slices

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup-1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup parmesan

Heat oil in large skillet. Season steak with salt and pepper. Add steak to pan and brown on both sides. Set aside.

Add more oil to pan; add garlic through pepperoni. Cook 5 minutes, then add wine to deglaze. Add tomatoes and oregano; season to taste with more salt and pepper. Place steak back in pan and cook until desired doneness is achieved.

Serve with parmesan.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Yep. You read the title right. Salmon. On MY blog. I'll give you all a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor! :)

I don't eat fish. Honestly, I don't eat seafood at all. I just don't care for it. Sure, I'll eat a tuna fish sandwich every once in a blue moon but that is where it ends. So why the sudden change? Nathan LOVES seafood. He would eat it all the time if he could. After almost 8 years of marriage, I decided it would be nice if I actually made him fish. Plus, Anya will inhale salmon. She says she likes salmon more than steak which is saying a lot for my carnivorous child!

I still don't eat much of it. I will take a bite or two of the fish and load up on the side dishes. I figure I can eat a meal that I don't care for all that much once a week in order to give my family something they really enjoy.

I did like this salmon. Not enough to eat more than a few bites, but it was good. Nathan and Anya (and Eric, too!) loved it and there wasn't any leftover. I think that is a good review!

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Taste of Home

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 tsp butter

1 tsp honey

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 TBSP soy sauce

1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 salmon fillet (2 1/2 lbs)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the brown sugar, butter, and honey until melted. Remove from heat; whisk in the oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Cool for 5 minutes.

Place salmon in a large foil lined baking pan; brush with brown sugar mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

*I cooked it at 400 for about 10 minutes per the suggestion of a friend. (Thanks, Monica!)*

TWD: Katherine Hepburn Brownies

Today Nathan went back to work. :( 30 days of vacation went by WAY too quickly, but at least I know his work is 2 minutes down the road and not in Iraq! Now it is back to the daily grind and trying to get back into a routine here at home. Nathan is such an awesome husband and father and has done so much in the last month. I think I maybe changed Eric's diaper all of 5 times since Nathan has been home! HEE HEE! I'm a lucky woman!

Part of getting back into a routine is getting my blog back up to speed. I have a plethora of recipes and photos waiting to be posted. Now all I have to do is sit down and write the posts!!

This week's TWD pick was Katherine Hepburn Brownies. There are a ton of recipes with this name and, to be honest, I'm not quite sure of the history of this brownie or why it is named after Katherine Hepburn. Oh well... What I do know is that these brownies are good!

I usually leave out any coffee or espresso powder from my baked goods even though I have heard that it enhances the chocolate flavor. I decided to go ahead and add it this time. When I first tasted the brownies straight from the oven I could really taste the coffee and didn't care for them. The next day, though, the coffee flavor all but went away and I was left with a really fudgy, delicious brownie. The bit of cinnamon in the batter gave these brownies a little something extra.

Nathan enjoyed these brownies, too, and combined my SMS and TWD recipes for the ultimate dessert.... Brownie topped with Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream and Butterscotch Sauce. Decadent and so delicious! I wish I would've gotten a picture of that!

Thanks to Lisa of Surviving Oz for hosting this week. Lisa won TWD's logo contest and you can see her creation on my sidebar. Way cute, no? Oh, and don't mind the horrible picture. It was the last brownie and I took the picture at 9 o'clock at night while playing games with friends before it was eaten. So, needless to say, it was a VERY quick snapsot!

SMS: Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream with Butterscotch Sauce

Sweet Melissa Sundays is definately sweet this week! The recipe choice was Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream with a choice of either Hot Fudge Sauce or Butterscotch Sauce. I love ice cream and you can't really ruin a vanilla ice cream.

I enjoyed this recipe because it calls for brown sugar instead of white. The recipe also uses vanilla extract and vanilla bean for double the vanilla flavor. It was a unique vanilla ice cream which we really enjoyed!

The only change I made to the ice cream recipe was substituting French Vanilla powdered creamer for the powdered skim milk. The commissary only carries the HUGE boxes of powdered milk and it just wasn't practical to buy that for 1/4 cup. Plus, we are moving in 2 1/2 months and can't take food, so it would really go to waste. The creamer worked wonderfully and the ice cream was incredibly creamy. Mmmmm!

As for the butterscotch, it was great! Really easy to make and an excellent topping for the ice cream!

Thanks to Karen of Karen's Cookies, Cakes, and More for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.