Cinnamon Pepsi

JODI!!!!! I never heard back from that one Elder's mom on her exact measurements on how to make the Cinnamon Cubes. Anyway, I did my best remembering on Christmas Eve and they turned out great. This recipe was a tradition at this certain missionary's home every Christmas. We wanted to make it for him when he ate at our home last year. Once my kids tried it they told me it's OUR new tradition, so here's the recipe........although it IS the only time of year you will see me drinking Pepsi over a Coke. ;)


Obviously have Pepsi on hand. We opt-ed for Caffeine-free since it was at night when I DIDN'T want them full of caffeine and not sleeping before Santa came. It didn't change the taste at all.


For the Cinnamon Cubes. You need ice cube trays on hand. We used four for 12 of us eating. (The REAL taste is when there's 4 cubes per cup)

15 boxes of Hi-C orange juices (those boxes that come in packs of ten that people throw in lunch boxes)
2 boxes of Red Hots

Warm the Hi-C in a saucepan on med-high and then add both boxes of Red Hots. Stirring most of the time so they don't burn on the bottom. They need to melt in the Hi-C orange. You can adjust the temp as needed. When done, pour in ice cube trays until hard. (we made them the morning of the dinner and they were ready)

Here's the tip we learned. Put the ice cubes in the Pepsi EARLY on. We filled the cups probably 10 minutes before we ate. You don't get the cinnamon flavor unless it sits in there together for a while.

Now the above measurements ending up making 8 ice cube trays full, so you may want to half or fourth for you measurements....but we wanted to make extra for after Christmas Eve dinner too. In fact, I'm drinking a cup right now. :)

Peach Smoothies

These peach smoothies have been a favorite around our house the last couple months. I know I'm kind of past peach season here, but maybe next year....

1 peach (pitted)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice

Put in blender and mix it up! 

Suzie's Peach Pie

A couple years ago, I was on a mission to find a great peach pie recipe. I made a few pies and none of them tasted very good. I gave up thinking there just wasn't a good peach pie recipe out there. This year, my friend Suzie convinced me to try her recipe. When I first looked at the recipe, it looked just like all the others I've tried, but I made it anyway because I told Suzie I would. It was actually good!! The entire family loved it. Livie said "it was money." So, Melissa as promised, here is the recipe.....

As Suzie says, your pie will only be as good as the peaches you use, so use some nice ripe, juicy peaches!!

5 large peaches

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2/3 c. water

1 3 oz. package peach Jell-O

1/3 c. orange juice

1 9-inch pie crust

Make & bake regular pie crust (or just buy one in the freezer section and follow the directions).  Cool completely.

While pie crust is baking, stir sugar and cornstarch together in a small or medium saucepan.  Add water and whisk together.  Cook over medium-high heat and while stirring/whisking constantly and bring to a boil.  Continue to whisk and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in Jell-O until dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

Peel, pit, and slice peaches (after peeling I cut mine into 8th's or 12th's) and put in a bowl with the orange juice, stirring occasionally to keep all peaches coated.

Once the Jell-O mixture has cooled to room temperature (don't let it sit or cool too long...it'll thicken too much), pour it over the peaches and orange juice and gently stir/mix well.  Spoon peaches into the pie shell and refrigerate at least a few hours prior to serving. There is a lot of the jello mixture, so put all the peaches in, but if you don't get all the mixture in, that's ok! (Suzie uses a slotted spoon because she doesn't like too much of the gelatin mixture, my kids liked a little more)  

Top with whipped cream & enjoy!

Sticky Buns

Here's the recipe for the breakfast we always had growing up on Christmas that I blogged about.

20-24 frozen Rhodes Rolls
1 box butterscotch pudding (NOT instant)
1/4 cup melted butter (I used a little more for added flavor)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Place the Rhodes Rolls in a well-greased bundt pan and pour the entire butterscotch pudding packet evenly over them. Mix the melted butter and brown sugar together and pour on top. Add the chopped nuts last spreading them evenly across everything else.

Cover with saran-wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, like Pam and let raise overnight or 8-9 hours. 

Remove saran-wrap after raising and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, covering with foil the final 10 minutes. Place a cookie sheet or foil beneath the pan in the oven as some of the mixture may fall out.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pie

I have actually NEVER cooked a Thanksgiving meal before. We've always been invited and asked to bring a side or something. Last year was the first time we where having Thanksgiving at our home and my parents ended up coming to visit and took care of the whole thing.  This year I really thought I was going to prepare our first Thanksgiving meal at home but again, we where invited somewhere. This time I was asked to bring a few things one of them being a pie. I have also never ever made a pie before (isn't Gabe so lucky to have married me? Poor thing.).  I've had this chocolate pie recipe for about a month now and still haven't made it, so I thought I'd make it for tomorrow.  So yes, I have never tired this recipe but it looks easy and delicious. I'm excited to try it. And this pregnant lady has really high hopes for this pie so it better be everything it's said to be!!

Ingredients

• 1 whole Pie Crust, Baked And Cooled (or Can Use Oreo Or Graham Cracker Crust)
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Whole Milk
• 4 whole Egg Yolks
• 6-1/2 ounces, weight Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped Finely
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
•  Whipped Cream, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir or whisk together.

Pour in milk and egg yolks, and whisk together.

Stir over medium heat until the mixture just barely comes to a boil and becomes thick, about 6-8 minutes (maybe less, maybe more; just watch it!) The second it starts to bubble and thicken (note: It should be thick like pudding!) remove it from the heat. Add the chocolate, vanilla, and butter, and stir until everything is beautifully combined.

Pour the pudding into the pie crust (if there is extra, spoon it into small dishes) and place in the fridge to chill for 4 hours uncovered.

Cut into slices and serve with whipped cream!

Flat Apple Pies

Normally I wouldn't post something I haven't tried, but this looks delicious and easy. I'm going to make this for us this week (that should tell you that I think it will be easy!). I'll just make the pie dough in advance and put it in the refrigerator. I got this recipe off of The Pioneer Woman.

Perfect Pie Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

 

Perfect Pie Crust Directions
Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter and shortening. Using a pastry cutter, gradually work the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles tiny pebbles. This step should take 3 or 4 minutes.

Lightly beat the egg with a fork, and then add it to the mixture. Next, add in the cold water and vinegar. Stir the mixture together until it's just combined, and then remove half the dough from the bowl. Yield: dough for 2 crusts.

 

(See below for directions on rolling out the dough prior to making the pie)

 

Ingredients for Apple Pie Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 recipe Perfect Pie Crust, recipe follows
6 tablespoons butter

 

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In large bowl, stir together the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice. Set aside and see how long you can keep from sneaking a slice of apple.

With a rolling pin, begin rolling out the Perfect Pie Crusts into large circles. Roll the dough from the center outward. Be gentle and patient, it'll take a little time to get the dough completely rolled out.

If you think the bottom is really sticking to the surface below, use a nice, sharp spatula to loosen the dough and sprinkle some extra flour on top. Then flip it over to finish rolling. Remember to roll from the center in single, outward strokes, no back-and-forth rolling.

Again with a spatula, loosen and lift the dough and carefully place the circles on large baking sheets.

Place half the apple mixture on one crust and the other half on the other crust. Fold over the edges of each crust so that it covers 2 to 3 inches of the apple mixture. No need to be artistic - the more rustic the better. Dot the tops of the pies with chunks of the butter.

Bake until the filling is golden and bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes. If the crust appears to brown too quickly, cover the edges with aluminium foil for the remaining baking time.

Allow to cool slightly, then slice into wedges with a pizza cutter. Eat 'em on the go!

**I'm going to add pecans to the filling, drizzle caramel sauce on top when it's finished and serve/eat with vanilla ice cream.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/flat-apple-pie-with-perfect-pie-crust-recipe.html

Yogurt Fruit Salad

I can't believe I haven't posted this before. It's one of my favorite fruit salads and I have made it the last few Thanksgiving's. It's easy and delicious! I made this salad up based on a fruit dip my mom makes, so the measurements are rough estimates of what I usually do. 

1. 1/2 a tub of cool whip (I think it's an 8oz container)
2. 1 individual sized lemon yogurt
3. 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
4. Pick 3-4 fruits that you like and dice them up
5. Add a handful of chopped pecans (optional)

Just mix the cool whip, lemon yogurt and lemon juice together, then add the fruit and nuts. Mix well and serve.
 
**I almost always use apples as they had a nice sweet crunch and mix them with 2 other fruits, like grapes, clementine slices, bananas, pineapple, mango, pears, strawberries, blueberries...ext. If you use pineapple use it sparingly as the acidity can overwhelm the taste of the other fruits.

**I've tried this with different flavors of yogurt and don't like it nearly as much. Lemon gives a nice amount of acidity without taking away from the taste of the fruits, but it's still yummy with other flavors too.