GARLIC PARMESAN CROUTONS

3 CUPS 1/2-INCH CUBED BREAD (ITALIAN, FRENCH, SOURDOUGH, ETC)
1 STICK BUTTER, MELTED
1 TABLESPOON PARSLEY
2 TEASPOONS GARLIC POWDER (NOT SALT!)
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
3 TABLESPOONS PARMESAN CHEESE
Preheat oven to 350

1. Melt butter in microwave. Add to large bowl, butter, parsley, garlic powder, salt and cubed bread. Toss and stir to make sure all bread is nice and coated. Once bread is coated, toss with Parmesan cheese.
2. Spread evenly on jelly roll pan in a single layer. Bake for about 15 minutes. Watch and make sure they don't burn, they are done with they are nice and golden brown.
3. Store in a Ziploc bag until ready to use.

This recipe is great to use for any left over bread you have. Especially to use those round ends that are on french and Italian loves that are so hard to use. Store the ends in a plastic bag in your freezer until you have enough to make a batch of croutons with. Don't be afraid to mix flavors of breads either. I used two kinds of breads to make these croutons shown.
Old dry bread is great to use to make croutons too, so don't throw it out! Add it to your bag of bread ends in the freezer until you get enough to make a batch. With summer salad season coming upon us, its a great time to have a bag of fresh croutons on hand :)

TOFFEE BREAD PUDDING W/ CINNAMON TOFFEE SAUCE

Well since we had a tie between two desserts in my recent poll, I am going to make them both. I started off with the bread pudding recipe since it said it was best the day it was made. Which turned out NOT to be true, I think it tasted even better the next day... and the day after that!

I went off and left the actual recipe at home, so tonight I will add the recipe to this post.


3 CUPS MILK
4 EGGS
3/4 C SUGAR
3/4 TEASPOON GROUND CINNAMON
3/4 TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT
6 TO 6 1/2 CUPS 1/2 INCH CUBES FRENCH, ITALIAN OR SOURDOUGH BREAD
1 CUP HEATH BITS-O-BRICKLE TOFFEE BITS, DIVIDED

CINNAMON TOFFEE SAUCE (RECIPE FOLLOWS)
SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM OR ICE CREAM (OPTIONAL)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Mix together milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in large bowl with wire whisk. Stir in bread cubes, coating completely. Allow to sit 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup toffee bits. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup toffee bits over surface.

3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until surface is set. Cool 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile prepare Cinnamon Toffee sauce. Cut pudding into squares; top with sauce and sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

CINNAMON TOFFEE SAUCE: 3/4 C Heath toffee bits, 2/3 C whipping cream and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon in medium sauce pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until toffee melts and mixture is well blended. (As toffee melts, small bits of almond will remain).


Let me start off by saying this is THE BOMB BABY!! No diggity no doubt! I am a fan of bread pudding to start with but this was the first time I have ever made one. This was just so awesome, I really hope you guys make this. If you have never had bread pudding before, I strongly suggest you try it. I didn't eat it for a long time because I thought the name was gross sounding.



I picked out a loaf of french bread to use.




You need to cut it into little 1/2 inch squares. I didn't end up needing the whole loaf, so don't cut it all up unless you want to make croutons out of the left over pieces. It doesn't have to be perfect. I was concerned about leaving the crust on, and honestly it doesn't "stick out" like you think it might when it is cooked. Sometimes the crusts on these types of bread can be so tough and have a stronger flavor, but it wasn't noticeable in the finished dish.




Next add the milk and eggs and cinnamon and sugar mixture to your bread and let it soak for about 10 minutes.



While the bread was soaking I decided I wanted to add a little butter to this recipe. I mean butter just goes with bread and cinnamon - right!!?? So I added a stick of cut up butter to this recipe :) I just left it in little chunks and mixed it in with the toffee bits.



Pour it into your greased dish and you are ready for the oven.




How good does this look?? This smelled SOOOO good cooking in the oven. I am super glad that I added the butter, it really helped crisp up the edges and added a really good flavor. I had to pull a corner off and taste it and I almost melted into a pile right there on the kitchen floor.....it's that good!



Now you are ready to make the sauce for the pudding. It is three simple ingredients - heavy cream, toffee bits and cinnamon. This sauce will knock you off your feet girls! This would be a great sauce for lots of stuff not just this dessert!



And since I had quite a bit of the heavy cream left over, we made homemade whipped cream (Thank you Sir Mix A Lot!!!). We put the cream in a chilled mixing bowl, added some sugar and vanilla and let it mix for several minutes. This cream lasted several days in the fridge. I just left the left overs in the bowl and placed some wax paper over the top, pushing it down to touch the top of the cream and it has held up very nicely.





This was so simple to make and honestly one of my favorite dishes I have made. I will be making this quite a bit from now on. I really hope one of you all tries this and lets me know if you feel as strongly about this as I do. Enjoy!

YOU PICK IT - I MAKE IT!

I'm starting a new fun little thing here. I'm going to list several choices for what I should make next, let you all vote on it and then I will make it. So please check out the poll at the top of the blog and make your selection!

MY BIRTHDAY DINNER

Yesterday was my birthday :) My Mom made me a most excellent (Bill & Ted's shoutout!) dinner. And Little really helped her get it prepared too. Little added the cut strawberries to my cake:





For dinner Mom prepared Reuben Sandwiches, Scalloped Cabbage, Green Beans and new potatoes and corn on the cob. It was as tasty as it looks in these pictures!




Thanks for the great dinner MOM!

EASY STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

Sometimes the best things only need a couple of components. This is one of them. Simple. Easy. Cheap. TASTY!

Strawberries
Sugar
Pound Cake (or angel food)
Whip Cream

Cut the hull off the berry and then cut into fours; put in a Tupperware bowl or bowl with a lid. Pour sugar over the berries - the amount depends on how many strawberries you have - just eyeball it. Mix well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, enough for the sugar and berries to make a nice syrupy liquid.

Place your sliced cake of choice on a plate, spoon strawberries over top, finishing with a dollop (or several) of whip cream.

It doesn't get any easier or tastier.

WHITE CHIP LEMON & CHERRY STREUSEL BARS

1 Can (14 oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
½ C Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
1 (12oz) pkg White Chips, divided
2/3 C Butter, softened
1 C packed Light Brown Sugar
1 ½ C All Purpose Flour
1 ½ C Rolled or Quick-Cooking Oats
¾ C Toasted Pecans*
1 ½ C Frozen Cherries, roughly chopped, divided
¼ C Sugar
1 C Toasted, Shredded Coconut
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
½ teaspoon shortening (don’t use butter, margarine or oil)

*To toast pecans: Heat oven to 350◦F. Spread pecans in thin layer in shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally, 7-8 minutes or until golden brown.

1. Heat oven to 350◦F. Lightly grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Combine sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon peel, sugar, and 1 cup of the chopped cherries in medium bowl; set aside. Measure out ¼ C and 1/3 C white chips, set aside. Add remaining white chips to lemon mixture.

2. Beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, oats, pecans, baking powder, coconut and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well. Set aside 1 2/3 C oat mixture. Add egg to remaining oats mixture, blending until crumbly; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Gently spoon lemon cherry mixture on top, spreading evenly. Add reserved 1/3 C white chips, and the remaining ½ C chopped cherries to reserved oats mixture. Sprinkle over lemon layer, pressing down lightly.

3. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Place remaining ¼ C white chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Drizzle over baked bars. Allow drizzle to set; cut into bars.

********************

I got this recipe out of this book:

I changed the recipe a little bit though, and the recipe above reflects the changes I made. This turned out super yummy and was actually pretty easy to make.

Start off by getting your oats mixture ready, butter and brown sugar - what a combo, right!



I just toasted my shredded coconut on the stove, it only takes a few minutes, so watch it closely to keep it from burning.



Mix the flour, oats, pecans, baking powder, coconut and salt.



Add the oat mixture to the butter and brown sugar.



After dividing mixture according to the above directions, you will mix in an egg to the reaming mix. This will resemble a cookie dough like consistency.



Press this in the bottom of your prepared baking dish.




Now mix your lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk together.



These are the cherries I used. I got them from the frozen food section.



Add the sugar, white chips and the roughly chopped cherries to the lemon mixture.



Pour over the top of the oats mixture in your baking dish.




Add the remaining chopped cherries and white chips to oat mixture.



Sprinkle over the top of the lemon mixture in your dish. Lightly press down.




Drizzle with melted white chips and cut into bars. I found it was easier to score the bars while they were still warm, then refrigerate and let cool before removing the bars from the pan.

COMING UP....

I have recipes coming up for these two desserts plus a recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Be prepared for a week of Dessert postings :)