This morning I got a baking hair up my butt, so decided to make these.   The recipe has been taped up to my kitchen cabinet for a few months now.  I was looking at it while refilling my coffee cup, and realized I had all of the ingredients, especially that sour cream, which needed to be used before it went bad.  I grabbed all my little containers and began to make a mess.

 
  The recipe says it yields 6 muffins.  I used my standard 12-cup pan and had just enough batter to do so.  So, use whichever pan bakes the size muffins you like! 

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1&1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut (I used sweetened coconut)
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used regular sized)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
additional sugar (I forgot that)



Directions:


1.  In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, butter and almond extract.

3.  Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until moistened.

4.  Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.  I also folded in about half of my almond slices, too.

5.  Fill prepared muffin cups two-thirds full.  Sprinkle with almonds and additional sugar.  Bake at 375* F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. 

  *Notes:
   The muffin is a bit pasty.  While I do like the almond and coconut together, I don't think I care for the chocolate chips.   Both my boyfriend and I agree that it would be a great lemon-blueberry batter.  Or even just add blueberries instead of the chocolate. 

Tonight's dinner was Sloppy Joes.  This is the first time I've ever made them from "scratch".   I got this recipe from Taste Of Home.   I didn't have any onion powder, so I just used a crapton of garlic powder.  The sauce came out very thick, so if you are a fan of that (I kind of am), then you will be pleased with this.  It was kind of sweet, but not too much.  I liked it.  My daughter (11) did not, but my son (14) did, although he didn't eat a bun.   My boyfriend really likes it.  

I apologize for the crappy pictures this time around.  My boyfriend wasn't here, so I took the photos, and I am not anywhere near as talented. 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds hamburger
• 1 cup ketchup
• 8 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 4 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  hamburger buns

Directions:

1.  In a saucepan, cook beef until no longer pink inside.  I let mine stay a little bit pink, so that the rest would cook out during the simmer process.  Do whichever makes you happy.

2.  Meanwhile, assemble the rest of the ingredients.  When finished, it should look something like this:

3.  Drain meat.  Add all the ingredients except the buns.  

4.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Doesn't it look delish?  (No, not really... it looks like what it might later, actually.  But trust me.  It came out tasting much better than it looks!)

5.  Spoon meat mixture over top of buns.  I prefer mine toasted, but forgot to do that, so I just used regular ol' buns.  Enjoy!

 

Is there really any better way to start off a food blog than with cheesecake?  How about Oreo cookie cheesecake?  How about Oreo cookie cheesecake cups?  Do I have your attention yet?  These little morsels are a cupcake-wrapper full of heavenly sin.  As a matter of fact, in the time it took my boyfriend to take these delicious pictures, I had devoured 3 of these bad-boys.  I will pay for that on the treadmill later, but my-oh-my are they worth it.  

  I guess this recipe is originally from one of Martha Stewart's cookbooks (go figure), but I found it here.   It is super easy to make, and absolutely divine.  I halved the recipe, and used a standard 12-cup muffin pan.  The halved recipe gave me 18 cheesecakes.  I think I may have found a new family-gathering dish.

Ingredients:

• 42 Oreo cookies (or any similar cream-filled cookie), 30 left whole and 12 crushed
• 2 pounds cream cheese (according to my math, that's 4 8-oz boxes), room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch of salt

Directions:

  1.  Preheat the oven to 275*F.   Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners.  I don't know how well this would turn out without liners.  If you try that, let me know!  Place one whole cookie at the bottom of each liner.

2.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese on high speed until creamy, scraping the edges as needed.  Add sugar, and beat until combined.  Add vanilla.

3.  Add eggs a bit at a time, and beat well, again scraping sides as you go.  Add in sour cream and salt and beat until mixed.  Stir in crushed cookies by hand (well, with a big spoon or something.. I wouldn't recommend using your hands, although you'd have lots of yummy gooeyness to lick off!)

4.  Spoon cheesecake batter over cookies in cupcake pan, filling cups until they are almost full.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until cheesecake is set (it doesn't wiggle when you jiggle it).  Remove from oven and let cool completely.  Transfer to the fridge and let set for about 4 more hours or more.  I highly recommend you go find something outside to do during this time, since the anticipation can be insane!

5.  Devour.