Black Raspberry Picking and a Yummy Crisp

The kids and I went black raspberry picking at a local farm this week.  We are all about u-pick farms and try to do as many as we can each year including black raspberries, red raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and apples.  I think I had the most fun on this trip as the kids quickly got tired of being poked and scratched by all the thorny bushes but I would still call the day a big success.  We got lots of black raspberries. Enough to snack on, freeze some, and make a yummy crisp for dessert!

As always, I now turn to Pinterest when I am in need of a certain kind of recipe.  I found this great recipe for a peach (which we also had laying around) and black raspberry crisp.  It was super easy to throw together and made the house smell so good.

After dinner tonight, we topped it with some vanilla ice cream and it was de-lish!!!! I just love all the fresh fruits and veggies that come with summer time!

Peach and Black Raspberry Crisp

Source: Inaccurate and Unreliable

Fruit Portion:
6 medium to small size peaches (or 4 large ones)
1/2 pint black raspberries
2 T. corn starch
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon

Crisp Topping:
1/2 c. room temperature butter
1/2 c. flour
1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. old fashioned oats
1/4 t. cinnamon

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice peaches. Mix corn starch, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss sugar mixture with peaches and black raspberries. Put fruit mixture into 9×9 pan.

In a mixing bowl, mix thoroughly (with two hands) the butter, flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon together. Cover peaches and black raspberries with oat topping by crumbing the topping over the fruit.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until the crisp topping is a golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling. Enjoy alone or add some vanilla ice cream!

Grape {Dessert} Salad

We got back last night from visiting my family in Indiana.  Just in time before the big snow hit!  It's been snowing...and snowing...and SNOWING today! School is already canceled for tomorrow and the kids and I had a blast sledding today in all this fresh white snow before the temperature drops tonight/tomorrow. 

We had a great time in Indiana and got to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.  The kids loved the extra time with their grandma, grandpa, and cousins!  For our family get-together I wanted to try this grape salad recipe that my uncle emailed me a few weeks back.  It was a huge hit and super delicious.  It's super sweet so it's more like a dessert than a salad.  The crunchiness of the pecans and toffee were the perfect combination with the grapes.  I halved the recipe when I made it and there were no leftovers by the time we were all done. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Tim! It was a big hit!

Grape Salad
Source: Tim H.

2 lbs. red grapes
2 lbs. green grapes

Mix together:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Fold in grapes and chill.

Just before serving add:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. chopped pecans
8 oz. package of Heath Toffee Chips

Mix and serve.

Banana Jam

This great find came from Pinterest!  As many of you know, I make strawberry freezer jam every summer when the strawberries are fresh and the kids and I can go to a local u-pick farm.  I had never heard of banana jam before! The best part about banana jam is that bananas are available year-round. My kids and I gave this 6 thumbs up and we often times will eat it right on crackers during snack time!

Banana Jam
Source: Mom Foodie at blommi.com

5 c. Bananas, sliced
2 1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Orange juice
2 T. Lime juice
Generous pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Put all ingredients in large pot over medium heat. Once the jam starts to bubble, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly.

While the jam is cooking, place jars, lids and any equipment that will come in direct contact with the jam into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then shut off oven, but leave items in there until you are ready to use them.

Once jam is cooked, ladle it into the jars and place lids and screw tops on. As jam cools vacuum will be created and lids will seal (you will generally hear a pinging sound when the seal happens).

Yield: 4 standard jelly jars

Unopened jam can be stored in cupboard.  Refrigerate once opened.

Apple Nachos

With lots of apples left from our trip to the apple orchard several weeks ago, I needed another apple idea. This cute idea for Apple Nachos comes from Taste of Home. Instead of slicing apples in wedges, cut them in circles to resemble nachos!

We learned how to make a really good caramel sauce in my Baking and Pastries class so I used that to drizzle on top then sprinkled them with mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Caramel Apple Salad

Fall is officially here. My preschooler automatically associated the beginning of Fall with apple picking and so off to Wasem Fruit Farm we went! We love picking our own apples at the apple orchard. They had Gala, McIntosh, and Prime Gold ready to pick so we picked some of each. Note to self: Don't forget the bug spray next time! The mosquitos were literally swarming around us in herds!

My sister introduced me to this recipe this summer. I love it! It can be served as a side dish or as a dessert. Anyone can make it...the only direction is "Mix together and refrigerate". Doesn't get any easier than that! Enjoy!

Fresh Pineapple Salsa

Kudos to my sister for making this amazing salsa for us. It was such a great change from ordinary salsa and it tasted wonderful. There was sweetness from the pineapple and a kick at the end from the jalapenos.

Freezer Berry Jam

My in-laws and I took the kids raspberry and blackberry picking at Makielski's Berry Farm. There is nothing better than fresh picked berries! They are a lot sweeter than the average berry you find at the grocery store. We ended up bringing home 2 gorgeous pints of raspberries and 2 pints of blackberries. We made a big dent in my strawberry freezer jam this summer so I thought what's better than to make than some Raspberry Freezer Jam. Yum!!! It will provide lots of sweetness to our family all winter long.

Quick & Easy Strawberry-Blueberry Freezer Jam

I had so much fun making strawberry jam that I decided to make another kind this summer - Strawberry BLUEBERRY jam. It turned out just a well as the strawberry batch and so far we've really enjoyed eating it on top of Ritz crackers and with our peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.



While shopping at Meijer, I found that Ball now makes these plastic freezer containers. They come in three different sizes and are perfect for freezing homemade jam. They have locking lids and unlike glass jars, these won't break if little hands get a hold of it and accidentally drop it. I love these and picked up several packages before making my jam.

Quick & Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam

Strawberries are in peak season here in Ann Arbor, Michigan so my preschooler and I headed to a local U-Pick farm to pick some red beauties. There's nothing better than freshly picked strawberries! They are so much sweeter than the ones you find in grocery stores.

We ended up with a HUGE box full of big, juicy, bright red strawberries! They were just dying to be made into something delectable! I am going to call this Strawberry Week on Kathie Cooks so that I can share all the yummy things I made with our strawberry pickings.



The very first thing I made was homemade strawberry jam! My mom used to make homemade jam all the time when I was a kid. We never had to go to the store to buy more jam when ours depleted. We just went to our freezer and grabbed another jar of my momma's homemade jam. It was so good and tasted just perfect on our morning toast.

One thing many people don't realize is that jam is super easy to make. There are even no-cook recipes out there now, which is what I made. You can have a batch of jam made in less than 30 minutes! I ended up making 2 batches. Hopefully that will last us until strawberries are in season again next year.

Fruit Granola Bars

This recipe came from my cousin's wife. For my bridal shower (more than 6 years ago) everyone was to bring a recipe card with one of their favorite recipes written on it. (This is such a great idea if you know of anyone getting married any time soon!) I loved reading through everyone's recipes and trying them out...knowing that they picked this one out just for me.

These granola bars are delicious! I've made them several times usually either with raspberry or blueberry fruit spread. They are great for breakfast, for dessert, or for an afternoon snack.

Sunshine Salad

I made this for dessert the other day. Very easy to throw together and my 3 year old loved it. I on the otherhand thought the lemon pudding was a little over-powering. Might have been better if I would have made the pudding with milk instead of the fruit juices, not sure. Give it a try, just because I don't give it two thumbs up doesn't mean you won't.



Sunshine Salad
Source: Taste of Home

1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges
1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding
1 c. fresh strawberries, quartered
1 c. sliced bananas, sliced

Drain pineapple and oranges, reserving liquid. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix with reserved fruit juices. Fold in pineapple, oranges and strawberries; chill for at least 2 hours. Add bananas just before serving.

Frozen Banana Pops

Sorry for the long break in between postings lately. We've been busy getting settled into our new house and all the time-consuming things that go along with it. I was also delaying this next post until my hubby got his new camera because I knew it would make them look even cuter!

Seriously, how cute are these? It has been so darn hot here lately that I thought these would make a wonderful afternoon treat. You can use really any toppings you would like. I used a variety of sprinkles but some other ideas could be nuts, crumbled cookie crumbs, and coconut.

Leave a comment for me if you make these and let me know what kind of toppings you used!

Frozen Banana Pops
Source: Craftzine.com



3 bananas not overly ripe
5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
5 oz white chocolate
3 t. shortening
Rainbow sprinkles
Chocolate sprinkles
6 popsicle or lollipop sticks

Peel the bananas and cut each in half. Push a popsicle stick part way through the cut end of the banana so it looks like a popsicle. Set the popsicles on a cutting board or plastic plate, and place them in the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Having the bananas cold will help the chocolate harden faster.

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Set out sprinkles. Put semi-sweet chocolate and 1½tsp of shortening in a bowl. Microwave the chocolate at 100% power for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat. Repeat a third time, if necessary, until the chocolate is completely melted. Repeat the process with the white chocolate.

Take 1 banana out of the freezer at a time. Place it on the parchment paper and pour your chocolate of choice over the top. Turn the banana to coat all sides.

Decorate the banana with the desired sprinkles. Hold it for about a minute so the chocolate can set, then replace it in the freezer. Repeat the coating and decorating process with the remaining bananas.

After all the bananas have been covered in chocolate and decorated, keep them in the freezer for 45–60 minutes. Enjoy!

Recipe makes 6 chocolate banana pops.

Baked Pineapple

What a sweet delight this dish is! When I first heard of this recipe I honestly thought, "Ewwwwww! Gross! Those ingredients don't go together!" This is one of those recipes that you really do have to try in order to believe. I love this dish! I served it as a side with sandwiches last night but it is so sweet that it could be a dessert as well!




Baked Pineapple
Source: Barbie F.

1 fresh pineapple or 2 cans (I prefer using fresh!)
3 T. pineapple juice/apple juice
3 T. flour
1/2 c. sugar

Topping:
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cut pineapple up into bite-size pieces. Stir together pineapple, juice, flour, and sugar. Spread in 9 x 13 dish.

Mix together crackers, melted butter, and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle mixture on top of pineapple. Bake at 350 for 30-45 min.

Fruit Pizza

By request, here is the recipe for a delicious Fruit Pizza! Growing up, I remember my Mom making this all the time for our big family gatherings. To this day, I still love eating it, only now I make it for my husband and son.

Blueberry Salad

Blueberry Salad

1 lg. box blackberry jello
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
1 can blueberries (packed in water)

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to make 2 cups. Heat juice/water mixture to boiling; dissolve jello in it. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water, drained blueberries and pineapple. Stir. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Let set overnight.

Topping:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Cream together. Spread carefully over top of salad. Allow to chill thoroughly before serving.

Easy Fruit Salad

I often times struggled to find a good recipe for fruit salads. Never knew what to use for the glaze. Until now - the secret is all in a can of Peach Pie Filling! So delicious, yet so simple.