Coconut Clouds

    If you are looking for the perfect gluten free Christmas cookie, look no further! These are great! They are light, chewy, and full of coconut! Imagine that a coconut macaroon had a baby with a meringue, that's what I think these cookies resemble. Be careful whipping the sugar into the egg whites, take it slowly. Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday!

Coconut Clouds

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) package of sweetened coconut

- 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 4 cold, fresh egg whites

- 2/3 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of chocolate chips for drizzle

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Set that mixture aside. Next, whisk the sugar slowly into the egg whites. It's easiest to use an electric mixer. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Once just combined, scoop into tablespoon mounds on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Once baked and cooled, microwave the chocolate chips in 30 second increments until melted and smooth. Drizzle melted chocolate on top and enjoy!  

Beet Salad Bites

    So, this last week has been a super busy one! Between work and prepping for our little class of 2006 reunion party, I am completely worn out! I wish more of my classmates had made it this weekend but we did have a nice time visiting with the friends that were able to attend! If you know me, you know that I am a goat cheese fanatic! I got a little excited when I found this recipe! Be generous with the honey and make sure your beets are roasted until tender!

Beet Salad Bites

Ingredients:

- 1 pound of fresh raw beets

- fresh baby spinach

- 7 ounce package of plain goat cheese

- 1 cup of roasted walnut pieces

- honey to garnish

- plastic skewers or toothpicks

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start by peeling and chopping the beets into bite-sized pieces. Toss the cut beets in a little olive oil and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Top them with salt and pepper and bake until tender. If you can't find dry roasted walnut pieces, you can roast them yourself in the oven with some salt. Once the beets have cooled, you can assemble them. Take about a teaspoon of goat cheese and roll it in the nuts, skewer on a toothpick with the beets and spinach. Drizzle with honey and enjoy!

Class of '06!!

Key Lime Snowball Cookies

    I have been slacking in the blogging department! November was a very stressful month. It was mostly busy! Catering for the holidays in Dr. Phillips has been INSANE! (Insanely awesome!) Anyhow, I am back just in time for National Cookie Day! Over Thanksgiving, my family took a visit to The Showcase of Citrus in Clermont where we picked oranges, lemons, and key limes! I decided to turn some of the key limes that I brought home into some cooler cookies that will make an excellent addition to your holiday baking!

Key Lime Snowball Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of softened butter

- 2 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, divided

- 1/4 cup of key lime juice

- 2 teaspoons of key lime zest

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 egg yolk

- 3 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip together the butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Next, mix in the lime juice, zest, vanilla, and egg yolk until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 3 increments. The dough will be on the dry side, press together to form a large ball. Pack cookie dough into a small cookie scoop and scoop cookies out onto a greased cookie sheet. If you don't have a scoop, you can form the dough into 1 inch balls. Bake for 15 minutes. Once the bottoms of the cookies have begun to turn golden, remove them from the oven and immediately toss in the remaining powdered sugar. Let cool (or not) and enjoy! 

Citrus picking with my family!!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

    I must be the definition of basic because I am obsessed with all things pumpkin spice! I've decided to dedicate the month of November to all things pumpkin! My first glorious recipe in my pumpkin-a-thon is a brownie recipe with luxurious swirls of pumpkin cheesecake. I loved them! They were very rich and moist. Oh, and they are super easy to make!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Ingredients:

- 1 family sized brownie mix (and ingredients to make)

                    or your favorite 9x13 brownie recipe

- 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

- 1 cup of pumpkin puree

- 2 eggs

- 1/3 cup of sugar

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare the brownie mix according to directions and pour the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Pour the pumpkin mix on top of the brownie batter already in the baking dish and swirl the batters together. Bake for about 40- 45 minutes or until no longer jiggly and the top is starting to brown.

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

    I am completely obsessed with this recipe! Acorn squash has to be my favorite of all squashes! I had an old friend from high school over for dinner last night and decided to try something new! The original recipe called for mushrooms, but Frankie is not a fan. I decided to use eggplant in my recipe instead! Ok, so I started drinking wine before I finished cooking and I forgot to add an egg to the stuffing but I loved it the way it was without it so I left it without the egg in the recipe hahahaha. You are going to absolutely love this recipe!

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

- 2 large acorn squash

- 2 tablespoons of melted butter

- 2 teaspoons of minced garlic

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground sage, divided

- 3 large Italian sausage links, cases removed

- 1/2 of a large onion, chopped

- 1 cup of cubed eggplant

- 1/2 cup of celery, chopped

- 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

- 1 cup of panko bread crumbs

- 1/ 2 cup of fresh grated parmesan

- salt and pepper to taste

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the very ends off of the squash, careful not to hit the seeds. Then, cut them in half and scoop out the seeds inside. Place them in a casserole dish or on a cookie sheet with the middle side up.  Mix together the melted butter, minced garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground sage. Season the squash with salt and pepper. Then brush on the butter mixture evenly. Roast the squash in the oven for about an hour, or until it is fork tender. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a skillet, once cooked, remove the meat but keep the rendered fat. Add the eggplant to the pan with a pinch of salt. Let cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally and then add the onion, celery, and the rest of the ground sage. Cook until the onions start to soften and then add the garlic, apple, and some salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes until the apples start to soften. Add the panko bread crumbs and the parmesan. Stuff each baked squash half with the stuffing and top with a little bit more parmesan. Bake for another 20 minutes and then enjoy!

Coconut Cookie Bars

    I found this recipe months ago after my visit to Massachusetts. My plan was to make it for my family while they were visiting for the wedding be cause my Uncle Phil loves coconut! Well, to my disappointment, he was unable to make the trip. That's ok, it didn't stop me from making it for him anyways! With a shortbread cookie bottom and a chewy coconut top, it's everything a coconut lover is searching for in a dessert! I bet it would be great with some melted chocolate drizzled on top!

 Coconut Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

  For the shortbread layer:

- 1 cup of butter, room temperature

- 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

  For the coconut layer:

- 2 cups of shredded coconut

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

- 1 large egg

- 1 teaspoon of coconut extract

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, flour, and salt until the mixture resembles wet sand. Press this mixture into the bottom of prepared baking dish and make in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. While it is baking, mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg, and extract. Once the bottom layer comes out of the oven, pour the coconut mixture over the top and gently spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Fresh Cucumber Salad

    Talk about a crazy weekend! My little brother was supposed to get married on Friday but Hurricane Matthew had other plans. Stephen was called away to serve in the National Guard. We were very fortunate that the storm stayed off of the coast Thursday night and we remained out of harms way. There are still thousands without power that need your prayers. On the slightly brighter side, we had a lot of family time while bunkered down for the storm. My dad smoked a couple of pork butts and a huge brisket in the smoker over night. Saturday we had a cookout and the weather was perfect. I made my famous corn casserole and it was a hit. I tried this new cucumber salad recipe too! It is the perfect side dish for a bbq on a hot day!

Fresh Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

- 3 large cucumbers, cored and sliced

- 1 medium white onion, sliced

- 1/2 cup of sour cream

- 1/4 cup of mayo

- 3 tablespoons of white vinegar

- 2 large tablespoons of chopped fresh dill

- 1 teaspoon of sugar

- salt and pepper to taste

    In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayo, vinegar, dill, sugar, salt, and pepper. Once combined, toss the cucumbers and onions in the mixture. Chill until ready to serve.

Family Time!!!!!