Here, have a cookie.

There's been a lot going on around food stuff lately. First, at random, I made and took to work some of the oh-so-popular Fresh Island Cookies. Basically, cookies that are made with milk chocolate chips (instead of semi-sweet), coconut flakes and pecans. They're always well-received.

 

Then, at work, we had our second annual chili cook-off contest. And, wowser, were there some amazing chili dishes served up! There was a very delicious Habenaro Chili, a Chorizo Chili, and a chili that had a fun name that I can't remember and was made with several different meats (steak, bacon, etc) and pork stock. There were others as well, and they were all fabulous!

I did not participate by making chili, but I did make cornbread muffins. Lots and lots of miniature ones. It was very basic cornbread, but I added in a handful of corn so there was the occasional kernel surprise.

Also, a while back, I tried a new twist on an old favorite. I took the Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe and added a layer of deliciousness to it. The twisted recipe goes like this.

You need:

2 8 oz cans of crescent rolls

2 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese, softened

2 cups of sugar, divided

2 tsp vanilla, divided

1 can apple or cherry pie filling

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup margarine or butter

ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 360. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Spread one can of crescent rolls to line the bottom of the pan and pinch the hold closed to form a crust.

 

Blend together cream cheese, one cup of sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla. Spread mixture over the dough, but not too close to edges. Spread pie filling over top of the cream cheese mixture. (I suggest maybe not using all of the "sauce" that is with the pie filling and focus on getting mostly the fruit with some of the sauce to avoid it turning out too wet.) Sprinkle chopped nuts over the pie filling.

Top with the 2nd can of crescent rolls to form a top crust.

 

Melt butter and blend in one cup of sugar and one tsp of vanilla. Poor evenly over crust. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and back at 360 for about 30 minutes until bubbly and crust is slightly browned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Let cool completely and refrigerate (for at least 4 hours but overnight is best) before cutting into squares. 

 

And, even though I've been short on time, I've decided on a new undertaking that I am excited about. I was recently introduced to National Novel Writing Month, in which participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, during the month of November. I just came up with my idea of what I want to write about this morning and I'm going to draft an outline of my thoughts to make sure it'll work. Oh, excitement!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! More to come soon!

Traci

"With the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible."- Julia Child