Simple Yet Gourmet

When it comes to summer, I pull out all the lemon and lime recipes.  Ask my family, I love lemon anything!  Who doesn't love a key lime pie?  Here is a recipe for your favorite pie in cake form.  I took it a step further and created key lime cupcakes.  The recipe is for a 3 layered cake, but I found these cute cupcake holders that I had to use.  Plus, I was able to share these yummy treats with more people in cupcake form.   Don't let all of the steps scare you, it just takes time but I promise it will be worth the wait!  Graham cracker crust on the bottom, moist lime cake in the middle, a yummy layer of homemade lime curd and topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream.  I hope your family and friends enjoy this amazing summer treat as much as mine did.

These bars are fantastic!! S'mores bars have all the flavors of a classic S'more with a graham cracker base, marshmallows, and chocolate that we all love, but you don't need to go make a fire to enjoy one of these yummy treats!  I brought these bars to a ward party and every last one got eaten before the surrounding treats were gone.  Good thing I saved a few for us to enjoy later!  Kinda wish I'd saved a few more though ;).  Homemade marshmallow creme gave these bars a huge upgrade so if you have a few minutes to make your own, do it! You will NOT regret it. Besides being a ton easier to spread around the taste is so much better than store-bought.  I'll take these bars any day over regular old s'mores! 

I love grilling, and these Kabobs are on of the best things to come off of the grill this Summer!  The chicken marinates in a delicious concoction that is sweet and spicy with a little kick of ginger and garlic.  Once grilled, they get basted with some more sauce boosting the flavor of these even more!   These are a family favorite! One of those "unicorn" meals that everyone loved and wanted more of!!  We love eating these with rice and broccoli, with some extra sweet and spicy sauce on the side and a little soy sauce for drizzling over the rice.  

This Creamy Vanilla Frozen Custard is absolutely Heavenly!! I've been making it left and right this Summer to go with everything from Cobblers to Pizookies or just to eat on on a cone.  It's my absolute favorite Vanilla Ice Cream! So creamy with an intense Vanilla flavor.  Since I've started making this I've pretty much given up on buying it.  It's cheaper to make and I honestly like it much better.  The base is so easy to make and churning it is a breeze with an electric ice cream mixer.   There are quite a few no-churn ice cream recipes floating around on the internet and we even have one on our blog, but guys, those recipes just don't compare in taste and texture to Frozen Custard, in my opinion.   So basically what I'm saying is if you don't have an Ice Cream Maker now is the time to go buy one so you can experience this deliciousness! 

I recently celebrated my Birthday and made this scrumptious cake to celebrate! Yes, I made my own cake- not because I had to but because I wanted to! I've had my eye on this recipe for awhile now (it's my favorite kind at the Cheesecake Factory), but it's so involved and requires enough ingredients to designate it to the "special occasion" category.  Well, I figured my Birthday was a special occasion so I went for it.  It was SO worth it! Every bite was pure bliss.  A chocolate lover's dream.   To make this, a moist chocolate cake is topped with decadent chocolate frosting, creamy Oreo Cheesecake, Oreo Mousse ( or not-more on that later ), more chocolate frosting, stabilized whipped cream, crushed Oreo's, and mini chocolate chips! Talk about sinfully delicious!  Since this cake has several layers it helps to make the individual layers ahead of time to break the work up.  All I did on the day of my Birthday was to assemble and decorate the cake. ...

I have always loved the 4th of July! The fireworks, parades, flags, feelings of Patriotism and love for our amazing country, Red-White-and Blue everywhere you look.  It's no wonder that I also love food with patriotic colors mixed in.  And if it also tastes amazing? I'm sold. This Patriotic Popcorn mix fits the bill.  Lightly salted popcorn, pretzels, and M&M's are coated with white chocolate and a few added sprinkles for an extra festive touch. It's simple to prepare and addicting to snack on! It's salty and sweet and perfect for munching on while watching fireworks!  So, good!  Note:I used Skinny Pop popcorn to make this, but you can pop your own if you prefer, and any type of pretzels will work as well. 

These sliders may look unassuming, but they are seriously tasty!  The meatballs are flavored with Hoisin Sauce, fresh ginger, and a small amount of scallions. Once they are baked they get coated with a hoisin/rice vinegar sauce making them extra juicy and flavorful.   Not only are these sliders delicious, they are SO easy to make! In fact, the first time we ate them my daughter Brynlee made them by herself.  She "gets" to make dinner for us every now and then and this is a recipe she picked out from one of her cookbooks.  I’ll admit that I didn't have high expectations for them but we were all pleasantly surprised by how good they were, and have made them a few times since.   To make these extra easy and fast, store-bought potato rolls can be used, but if you have a little extra time and/or want to save a little money, our Homemade Hamburger Bun's recipe is easily converted to make the perfect slider.