Cucumber Dip

Note:   I can't believe summer is almost over and I haven't made cucumber dip.    I am solving that today.    Cucumber dip is one of my favorites.     So simple, so refreshing, so addicting.    
Cucumber Dip

Ingredients
3-4 cucumbers (firm not soft)
2 8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp mayonnaise
Garlic salt, to taste

Directions
Peel your cucumbers and cut them in half.    Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds.    Take paper towels and pat down your cucumbers really well to absorb the moisture.    Don't skip this step or you will have soggy dip.     Chop your cucumbers into bite sized pieces.    Sprinkle with salt.     Place softened cream cheese in a medium bowl and sprinkle with a little salt.    Add mayo and garlic salt.   Mix until creamy.     Fold in cucumber pieces.    

Yummy served with baquettes, Wheat Thins or on bread for a sandwich.

12 Bones Blueberry Chipotle BBQ Ribs

Note:   Everyone said we had to eat at 12 Bones while we were in Asheville.   They have won all kinds of awards for their ribs... specifically their blueberry chipotle bbq ribs.     We went and gave them a try and they were as delicious as everyone said.    Good Morning America recently had a "best bites" contest and they won.    I found their recipe on the GMA website.

Blueberry Chipotle BBQ Ribs


Ingredients:
2.5 lbs. blueberries (Dole or similar quality product)
8 7oz. cans chipotle peppers
2 cups honey
2 qts. tomato bbq sauce (any brand)
1Tblsp. ginger powder

Procedure:
Puree chipotles and blueberries. Combine all ingredients and slather on ribs.   Cook!

Tomato, White Bean and Shrimp Salad

Note:   Another great restaurant in the Asheville area is the Early Girl Eatery.    This is southern food at its best.   Biscuits with tomato gravy.    Peanut butter pie.    Apple stack cake.   Grilled pimento cheese sandwiches.      This is a southern girl's food heaven!

Tomato, White Bean and Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

2 Cups White beans (cooked)
2 Large tomatoes (sliced)
15 Large shrimpv
2 Stalks celery (fined diced)
2 Carrots (fined diced)
1 Red pepper (fine diced)
2 Tbs Fresh Basil
3 Bay leaves
2 Tsp Paprika
1 Tbs Olive oil
Salt
White pepper
Mixed greens


Directions
Poach shrimp in pot of boiling water with the bay leaves and paprika. Drain and cool. In mixing bowl combine white beans, celery, carrots, red peppers, salt, white pepper and olive oil. Add shrimp and basil and finish tossing. To set up plate, put down bed of mixed greens, topped with tomato slices and white bean and shrimp mixture.

The Biltmore's Bread Pudding

Note:  We visited The Biltmore on our vacation.    There were so many wonderful little restaurants, cafes and shops to eat at.     However, if I see bread pudding on the menu I so want to try it because it is just one of my favorite desserts.    


Biltmore's Bread Pudding

Ingredients

8 cups cubed day-old bread
9 eggs
2-1/4 cups whole milk
1-3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon




CARAMEL SAUCE:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Place bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour evenly over bread.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture turns a golden amber color. Stir in butter until melted. Add cream. Remove from the heat.

Serve with bread pudding.

TMTT: Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spiced Pecans and Peach Butter

Note:   My hubs and I just returned from Asheville and celebrating our 20th anniversary.     We ate at so many great restaurants, but one was the Tupelo Honey Cafe.     I seriously have never had a better tomato sandwich.    And these sweet potato pancakes are to die for.... or at least worth driving back to Asheville to eat!

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spiced Pecans and Peach Butter

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large sweet potato, roasted and cooled
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Spiced Pecans, recipe below
Peach Butter, recipe below

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter, and then add this to the dry mixture. Peel and mash the sweet potato, place it in a bowl, and then add the honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix it well. Add this mixture into the pancake batter. Let the batter stand for 1 hour (or you can make it a day ahead of time).

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add batter by the ladleful and cook the pancakes, in batches, until golden brown on each side. Serve immediately with Spiced Pecans and Peach Butter.

Spiced Pecans

Ingredients
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon tupelo honey
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add all the ingredients and cook until the pecans are lightly brown and caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and store in an airtight container.


Peach Butter

Ingredients
1/2 cup peaches, peeled and diced
1/2 pound butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch sea salt

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.


Join me over at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for even more delicious recipes.    It is always my favorite stop when making my grocery list for the week!     Say hey to Lana and Lisa from me.

Coffee Filters... More Than For Just Coffee

Someone sent me these tips through email and I thought they were too great not to share!     I was hooked after the first one.     Paper towels always seem too big for placing over items in the microwave, don't they?


1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave.  Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China - separate your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skilletto absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filterto prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.    Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?   Use strips of coffee filters..

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries,chicken fingers, etc. on them. It soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backingfor embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.

18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.

19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20. Hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.

21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.

22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.

23. Use them to sprout seeds. Simply dampen the coffee filter,place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place flowers between two filters and put them into a phone book.

25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.

Easy Blueberry Cake

Note:    My next door neighbor loves this blueberry cake.     About once a week he says, "If you feel like making a blueberry cake, I sure would eat it!"       I also gave this recipe to my sister-in-law and she has gotten a lot of mileage out of it using it for Sunday School breakfasts and giving it to friends.       I love the fact that it is so easy and turns out delicious every time!

Easy Blueberry Cake

Ingredients
1 yellow cake mix
1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
16 ounces of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 tsp vanilla


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream the cream cheese.   Add eggs and then oil.     Mix in yellow cake mix.     Fold in blueberries and vanilla.        Spray a bundt pan VERY well with nonstick spray.    Sprinkle pan with sugar.     Pour mixture into bundt pan.   Bake for about 40 minutes or until done.