(no title)

Berry Whip Parfaits

July 18, 2013 Nicole

For Independence Day I decided to make this wonderful parfaits. Oh boy did they turn out delicious! The only problem was the red, white, and blue theme I was going for… didn’t exactly turn out so red white and blue.

Although they didn’t give you the Americana feel I was going for they turned out delicious seriously delicious!! I used broken butter cookies in between each layer of delight and let me tell you the crowd went wild.

Although I would have loved to have a nice bright red and blue color for each of these layers I wasn’t going to add food color to pull of the affect.

So simple and so delicious!

Ingredients:

Red Layer:

Puréed Fresh Strawberries
8 ounces of whip topping

White layer:

Sweetened coconut flakes
Coconut extract
8 ounces of whip topping

Blue layer:

1 can of black berry pie filling
8 ounces of whip topping
Butter Cookies (or Biscotti, Nilla Wafers, or ANY plain cookie)
Stevia as needed

Directions:

Pretty basic directions here. For each container of whipped topping combine enough fruit to make sure that the whipped topping has a generous amount of fruit. Test to make sure the whipped topping is sweet enough. If not add some stevia.
With the white coconut layer add a few tablespoons of coconut flakes, then start adding the coconut extra slowly. I would suggest about ¼ of a teaspoon at a time. Keep in mind you can always add more you can never take it away.
Crumble butter cookies still leaving them a bit chunky so that they will not get too soggy.
Start off by layering from the bottom blackberry, cookies, coconut, cookies, strawberry, cookies, or the other way around. It doesn’t matter what you do to it… its delicious!
I topped mine off with a cute pretzel butter cookie.

var pfHeaderImgUrl = ”;var pfHeaderTagline = ”;var pfdisableClickToDel = 0;var pfHideImages = 0;var pfDisablePDF = 0;var pfDisableEmail = 0;var pfDisablePrint = 0;var pfCustomCSS = ”;var pfBtVersion=’1′;(function(){var js, pf;pf = document.createElement(‘script’);pf.type = ‘text/javascript’;if(‘https:’ == document.location.protocol){js=’https://pf-cdn.printfriendly.com/ssl/main.js’}else{js=’http://cdn.printfriendly.com/printfriendly.js’}pf.src=js;document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(pf)})();
Check Out Our Online Recipe Book: www.CafeChatterbox.com

Recipes

Triple Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

July 16, 2013 Nicole

This mac-n-cheese is delicious. It’s a pain to make if you are thinking of boxed mac-n-cheese, but let me tell you its well worth all the work. It’s so creamy and delicious.

This recipe is very decadent and rich. If you are wanting something plain and simple this recipe is not for you. The only I could suggest is leaving out the Gouda cheese, but I wouldn’t!

If you want to serve it right away leave the bread crumbs off and sever right from the stove top. You can’t beat this mac-n-cheese.

Ingredients:

4 cups Dried Pasta
1/4 cup unsalted Butter
1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
3 teaspoons Dry Mustard
2 ounces Smoked Gouda grated
8 ounces Cheddar Cheese grated
6 ounces Mozzarella Cheese grated
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Plain Bread Crumbs

Directions:

Cook pasta about 4 minutes shy of package directions then drain and set aside.
In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly.
Pour in milk, and mustard, then whisk until smooth. Cook until very thick. Reduce heat to low.
Add in cheese and stir to melt.
Add seasoned salt and pepper.
Pour in cooked pasta and stir to combine.
Pour into a buttered baking dish, top with plain bread crumbs, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Original Recipe Source

Recipes

Waffle Iron Hash Browns (and Grilled Cheese)

July 14, 2013 Nicole

I was reading a post by One Good thing by Jillee when I came across one of her normal wonderful ideas that was a “must try” for me. I never would have come up with this idea, but leave it to Jill… Hash browns using a waffle iron. Brilliant!

Not only are your hash browns done in under five minutes but they are perfectly golden brown and extra crispy just the way I like them. I will tell you that my waffle iron will alert you when your “waffles” are ready which helps when you are ~~patiently~~ impatiently waiting for your hash browns to be done. If you don’t have any alert or light indicator on your iron no worries just keep checking them. You don’t want your potato goodness to burn or be under cooked.

You can use either frozen hash browns or tatar tots. I used the tatar tot rounds (they are thinner than your regular tatar tots) and to me they came out perfect. I have a nonstick waffle iron, but I still sprayed it down with some cooking spray, then added a little seasoning just for extra flavor. As the hash browns are cooking you will need to keep squeezing the top and the bottom of the waffle iron together. As they defrost you will want them smashed as tight as possible for the crispiness.

In under five minutes I had the perfect crispy hash browns. This is a wonderful time saver, and it’s a great way to keep the house cooler during the summer too! Great idea! Thanks Jill

But hey why stop at hash browns? I made a grilled cheese too. Once again there is no need to turn on the stove when you can use your waffle iron.

Recipes

Parmesan Roasted Sweet Potatoes

July 12, 2013 Nicole

These sweet potatoes were delicious! I loved them made this way because the roasting processes brings out the sweetness and gives the potatoes a nice caramelized stickiness. They are bursting with flavor and will be great made again in the fall. I think this would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving Day table.

The only change I will make next time is to make them on parchment paper for easy removal. Foil was a fail!

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position oven rack to middle position. Line the bottom of a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray well with cooking spray.
In a medium sized bowl, place the prepared, cubed sweet potatoes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, dried thyme. Distribute the ingredients evenly to cover the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the sweet potato mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread out the potatoes so that they are in a single layer.
Roast in oven for about 40 minutes or until tender.
Set the oven to broil and broil until the tops of the sweet potatoes start to brown and get crispy about 5-10 minutes but be sure to watch them because they will burn.

Original Recipe Source

Recipes

"Like" Chili’s Loaded Mashed Potatoes

July 11, 2013 Nicole

Obviously there is no science to these mashed potatoes but I have to admit I just love them. Chili’s has the best loaded mashed potatoes I have ever had. They are so good and so creamy and loaded full of ooey gooey goodness.

Here is my rendition of this wonderful pillow of potato fluff. Take about 2 pounds of potatoes, wash, peeled, sliced, then boiled. Once they are cooked add some salted butter, and sour cream to taste.

Now to the good part: Add a large spoon full of mashed potatoes to your plate, make a well in the middle of the potatoes (halfway hollow it out) add a generous amount of cheddar cheese, and bacon bits, then top with green onions (missing from the picture) then a little salt and pepper to top it all off. Delicious!

Like I said no science involved here! Just simple and delicious!