Delicious Dish Tuesday... Gram's Coffee Cake

When I was younger my Gram used to make the most delicious coffee cake whenever we were visiting.  I remember as a kid getting up early so that I could help her bake it.  I also remember that we always had to make more than one because everyone loved it so much.  This past weekend we had friends spend the night at our apartment, so on Sunday morning when I woke up I decided that it was time to bring back Gram's recipe because a) who doesn't love coffee cake on Sunday mornings? And b) I don't think I had ever made this for M in all the years we have been together, so it seemed like a perfect breakfast idea.

This is my Gram and me at my bridal shower in September 2013

So this week for Delicious Dish Tuesday, where I am linking up with Mary from Eat, Drink and Be Mary, Alesha at Full Time Mama, and Amanda at Coping with Frugality, I am going to share with you my Gram's Coffee Cake Recipe!

Gram's Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 1/2 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. Bisquick

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease and flour an 8" square or 9" round pan
3. Beat all cake ingredients in a large bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

4. Beat on medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. Pour into pan.
6. Mix together all of the topping ingredients with a fork, making sure to break up the butter.

7. Add topping.

8. Bake for 32 minutes or until golden brown. (Insert knife into the middle and if it comes out clean, it is done)
9. Cool.
10. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Italian Pasta Salad

After taking a week off from recipe posting, I have decided that it is once again time to participate in another Delicious Dish Tuesday with Mary from Eat, Drink and Be Mary, Amanda at Coping with Frugality and Alesha at Full Time Mama.  Be sure to check these ladies out and see what fabulous recipes they have for us this week!

A few weeks ago we went to a BBQ at my parents house and I decided that I was going to try my hand at making an Italian Pasta Salad.  No BBQ is complete without some sort of pasta salad, and since M and I both don't eat mayo, I figured an Italian pasta salad would be a perfect addition to the BBQ menu!  So off to Wegmans I went in search of the perfect ingredients for my salad.  I think it turned out really well and it is definitely something we will be making for future BBQs!

Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 Box Rotini

3 medium bell peppers (I used red, yellow and orange)

1 small red onion

1 small can sliced black olives

1 block Monterrey Jack cheese, cubed

1 block Mild Cheddar cheese, cubed

Grape tomatoes, halved

Sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters (we used a hot 'n spicy pepperoni)

Italian dressing
(*Note* You can use any kinds of veggies, pepperonis, cheeses, etc... I just played to my audience... more onions, less tomatoes, etc.)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box.

2. While pasta is cooking prepare all your other ingredients... cut up the peppers, onion, tomatoes, pepperoni, cheese... and put them in a big bowl.

3. Add the pasta to the bowl and mix everything together well.

4. Add 3/4 of the bottle of salad dressing to the pasta and mix well.

5. Chill for approximately 2 hours before serving

6.  Add the remaining salad dressing to the pasta salad just before serving

7. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Elizabeth's Infamous Sangria!

Blogging has definitely been on the back burner for me these past couple of weeks as life has been completely crazy with lots of things going on.  That being said, what better way to get back into the swing of blogging than participating in one of my favorite link-ups!  That's right... I am back with you today to participate in Delicious Dish Tuesday sponsored by... Mary at Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Amanda at Coping with Frugality and Alesha at Full Time Mama.  As a welcome back to blogging I have finally decided to share with you all my infamous Sangria recipe!  I learned how to make this sangria when I was studying abroad in Granada, Spain and it is ALWAYS a hit.  In fact I went to a BBQ at my parents' house a few weeks ago where my mom's friends specifically requested it.  Now, this recipe might not make it taste exactly the same as mine as I don't actually measure anything out when I make the sangria, but this is definitely my best guess as to the measurements!

Elizabeth's Infamous Sangria

Ingredients:
1 bottle of red wine (I used J. Lohr Cabernet this past time... but really any red wine will do)
2/3 c. Bacardi Limon
2/3 c. Cointreau (or any other orange flavored liquor)
1/3 c. Brandy
1/2 c. sugar
Half of a 2L Bottle of Ginger Ale
Various Fruits, cut into pieces (this time I used lemons, limes, oranges, apples and strawberries)

Directions:
1. Cut fruit into small pieces and throw into a big pitcher.

I always cut extra and put it into a container so that if I need to make another pitcher or people eat the fruit I don't have to spend more time cutting it... but that is just me

2. Add wine and liquors to the pitcher.
3. Add sugar and mix all together.
4. Top with Ginger Ale
5. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

It's that time of the week again... Delicious Dish Tuesday!! I am back once again participating with Eat, Drink and Be Mary, Coping with Frugality, and Full Time Mama for their weekly recipe link up.  This week is once again extra special because Alesha over at Full Time Mama has picked my peach crunch recipe to be her featured recipe this week!  Thanks so much Alesha!  I am so excited that you loved my Gram's Peach Crunch Recipe enough to share it with everyone!  I am also noticing a trend that when I am going to be picked at the featured recipe I always seem to have a recipe post that doesn't involve many pictures and has to do with cupcakes planned for that Tuesday.  Because yes, today I am going to share with you all my famous Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes recipe!  I have no idea where I originally found this recipe as I have been making it for a few years now... but I do know that EVERY TIME I make them they are a hit with my friends!

A little Car Bomb Inspiration for Cupcake Baking

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 c. Guinness
1 c. butter, at room temperature
3/4 c. cocoa powder
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2/3 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1 Tbsp. Jameson (the original recipe called for 2 tsp, but I crossed it out and wrote 1 Tbsp.)

Bailey's Frosting:
2 c. butter, at room temperature
5 c. confectioner's sugar
8 Tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream (the original recipe called for 6 Tbsp, but I crossed it out and wrote 8)

Directions:
Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line 24 cupcakes cups with liners
3. Bring the Guinness and butter to a summer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat.
4. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth, cool slightly
5. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine.
6. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined.  Then add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat to combine.
7. Reduce the speed to low to add the flower mixture, beating briefly.
8. Fold the batter until completely combined using a spatula
9. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners and bake for 17 minutes.
10. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.
Whiskey Ganache Filling:
11. Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a pyrex bowl
12. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it overt the chocolate.  Let it stand for 1 minute.
13. Stir the chocolate and cream mixture until smooth
14. Add butter and Jameson and stir until combined
15. Let the ganache cool until thick
Filling the Cupcakes:
16. Use a cupcake hole cutter (I have this little gadget that hollows out cupcakes) or a 1" round cookie cutter, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes (you are going to want to go about 2/3 of the way down)
17. Spoon the ganache into the centers of the cupcakes

Filled Cupcakes

Bailey's Frosting:
18. Whip the butter using a whisk attachment on medium-high speed, scraping the sides of the bowl occassionally
19. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated
20. Add the Bailey's increasing the speed back to medium-high and whipping for another 2-3 minutes until the icing is fluffy.
21. Frost the cupcakes.
22. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Fresh Balsamic Bruschetta!

Once again I am back participating in Delicious Dish Tuesday presented by Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Coping with Frugality and Full Time Mama.  This week I am keeping it simple with an easy Bruschetta recipe.  Of course I didn't get a picture of the bruschetta all put together... it got eaten too fast!  But I did get a bunch of pictures of the process... so you can get the idea!

Fresh Balsamic Bruschetta

Ingredients:

4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

8 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced

3 tsp. garlic

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Seed and dice the tomatoes

2. Stack, roll and thinly slice the basil

3. Combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt and balsamic vinegar.

4. Toss gently to combine.

5. Enjoy! 

PS, Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures... my phone and I were not getting along the day that we made this recipe!

Delicious Dish Tuesday.... S'Mores Cupcakes

Once again I am back participating in Delicious Dish Tuesday presented by Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Coping with Frugality and Full Time Mama.  This week is an extra special week because Mary over at Eat, Drink & Be Mary picked my South-of-the-Border Mac 'n Cheese to be her featured recipe!! Thanks so much Mary... it is definitely an honor to be featured on your blog!  This week is also special because it is the first week my recipe will NOT contain a ton of pictures.  Reason being is that I made these cupcakes for the cupcake baking competition at my husband's family reunion.  Now that might not seem like an excuse to you, BUT the real excuse is that I decided to make these cupcakes at 2:30pm on the day before the reunion when I had to leave for work by 3:45pm.  I also had the husband pick the cupcake recipe and didn't realize how time consuming they would be to make, so needless to say I didn't have time to take pictures for you all.  That being said, although these cupcakes were SUPER time consuming to make... they also tasted delicious and won me best looking at the competition!

So without further ado....

S'Mores Cupcakes
(recipe adapted from a recipe found on Pinterest via Baker's Royale)

Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Layer:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
7 Tbsp. butter, melted

Chocolate Cupcake:
1 c. flour
1 c + 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, melted and warm
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. instant coffee
1/2 c. hot coffee

Marshmallow Frosting:
5 egg whites (I used extra large eggs)
1 1/2 c. sugar

Chocolate Glaze:
2/3 c. dark chocolate (I used Nestle Dark chocolate morsels)
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
4 Tbsp. powdered sugar
4 Tbsp warm water

Directions:
1. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350.
2. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of graham cracker crumbs and pour the rest into a bowl with the melted butter.  Mix to combine.
3. Add approximately 1 Tbsp. of mixture to each cup (12 cups) and firmly press crumbs down.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. While graham crackers are baking... add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl, mixing thoroughly.
6. Add in the butter, eggs and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
7. Add in the instant coffee and hot coffee, beating for 30 seconds until the batter is smooth. (Batter will be thin enough to pour)
8. Divide the batter evenly among the graham cracker crusted cups.
9. Bake 18-22 minutes. (ours took about 22 minutes)
10. While the cupcakes are baking, make the marshmallow frosting... combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water.
11. Bring mixture to 160 degrees while whisking constantly.
12. Transfer mixture to a bigger bowl and mix using a mixer with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed until mixture cools and doubles in volume (takes about 12-15 minutes).
13. Place dark chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water and let sit for 2-3 minutes to melt chocolate without stirring.
14. Slowly stir mixture to combine.
15. Add powdered sugar and mix to combine.
16. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached.
17. Set aside chocolate glaze to cool.
18. Using approximately 1/4 of the marshmallow frosting, add a thin layer of frosting to each cupcake.
19. Dip the frosted cupcake in chocolate glaze until covered.
20. Dust with graham cracker crumbs.
21. Use the remaining 3/4 of the frosting to frost the cupcakes on top of the chocolate glaze.
22. Use a torch of some type (my husband used a small propane torch, but you can totally use a kitchen torch if you have one) to "toast" the marshmallow frosting.
23. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday... South-of-the-Border Mac 'N Cheese

Since finding my cooking mojo again I have decided to make this recipe thing a weekly occurence and will once again be linking up with Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Coping with Frugality, and Full TIme Mama for their Delicious Dish Tuesday link-up. 

South-of-the-Border Mac 'n Cheese

Ingredients:

1 box cooked rotini pasta

2 c. cubed Colby Jack cheese

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

2 c. cubed sharp cheddar cheese

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

2 tsp. chili powder

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box.

2. While pasta is cooking, cube cheeses and dice tomatoes.

3. Grease crock pot (I forgot this step and had a lot of cheese stick to the walls of the crock pot)

4. Combine all ingredients, except tomatoes in slow cooker.

5. Mix well.

6. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours stirring occasionally.

7. Stir in tomatoes.

8. Enjoy!

Delicious Dish Tuesday.... Firey Chile Beef

Since finding my cooking mojo again I have decided to make this recipe thing a weekly occurence and will once again be linking up with Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Coping with Frugality, and Full TIme Mama for their Delicious Dish Tuesday link-up.  I participated last week for the first time and definitely came across a few recipes that I am hoping to try out on the hubby in the upcoming weeks.  Don't worry, I promise to let you know how they turned out so that you can share in some of the deliciousness that comes from finding recipes from my fellow bloggers!  Speaking of, last week we made this delicious Cheez-It Chicken Fingers recipe from my friend Elizabeth over at Elizabeth Loves... you should definitely check it out!

Elizabeth's Cheez-It Chicken Fingers with a side of mac 'n cheese... delicious!

Now, without further ado...

Firey Chile Beef

adapted from the Slow Cooker cookbook

Ingredients:

1 flank steak (about 1-1 1/2 lbs)

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp. garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 can chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce

1 tsp. adobo sauce from the can

8 flour tortillas

Shredded Mexican cheese

Sour Cream

Any additional toppings you may desire

Directions:

1. Cut flank steak into evenly sliced pieces.

2. Place flank steak, tomatoes with juice, beans, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, and black pepper into a greased slow cooker.

3. Dice chile peppers.

4. Add peppers and adobo sauce to slow cooker and mix well.

5.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

6. Serve with tortillas, Mexican cheese and sour cream (or any additional toppings you desire)

7. Enjoy!