Ma What's For Dinner?

So today we have guest post part deux…and you’re in for a treat.  A sweet ice cream treat with the fabulous and wonderful Anne at Annie Bakes.

She is adorable and I love her.  She’s always cooking up something fantastic for her along with her hubs and two sons.  I realize that I’m not being fair to all the wonderful mothers of daughters out there, wait’ll you see tomorrow’s guest post, but for now you’ll have to excuse the son-love.  If you’re new here, welcome, welcome, I apologize for being a poor host and dashing off.  The kids and I are off to shoot a television pilot based on our blog and cookbook and so the beautiful Anne will be here in my stead.  She’s a doll, I know you’ll all love her…

I am so thrilled that Alex asked me to be the Featured Blogger here at Ma, What’s For Dinner?  And since I’m spending the day, I thought I would bring dessert, cuz who doesn’t like dessert?!?  This recipe is super easy to whip up–in fact it wasn’t really a recipe, but just a few of my favorite ingredients thrown together.

But the best part is the toasted, salted pecans!!  We used to have a Dairy Queen and I LOVED their turtle sundaes and always asked for half of the chocolate and caramel, but double the pecans!  Mmmm, but now, sadly, we no longer have a Dairy Queen so I am left to my own devices when it comes to salted pecans.  If you’re a little weirded out by salt in your dessert, have no fear, that’s what makes the chocolate come alive!  It’s just like french fries and a chocolate shake…

Turtle Ice Cream Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:

8-10 ice cream sandwiches

1- 8 ounce container lite cool-whip-thawed

caramel ice cream topping

chocolate ice cream topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the pecans and toast, but do not burn for about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with the Kosher salt and let cool completely.  Meanwhile, spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with a little cooking spray and line with Saran Wrap (this will allow you to pull the dessert out neatly to cut it when it is frozen).  Layer the bottom with ice cream sandwiches and cut some to fit if you need to.  Layer with cool-whip, drizzle with the caramel and chocolate and sprinkle on half the pecans.  Add another layer of ice cream sandwiches, and layer with cool whip.  Freeze for at least one hour.  Remove the dessert from the pan using the Saran wrap and cut into pieces.  On a dessert plate, drizzle chocolate sauce, set the dessert in the middle, then drizzle with caramel and top with the pecans.

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe!  Even though I’m spending the day here, I still welcome you to check out my blog www.anniebakes.net.

And Alex–Good luck, and I hope I didn’t make too much of a mess in your kitchen, I promise to clean up before you get home!  Anne

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Today is my very first guest blogger. I’m so thrilled to bring you a super cool and exciting Mommy/Foodie Blogger by the name of Julie over at Mommie Cooks. And why now, are you wondering, do I have a guest blogger? Well I’m just bursting to tell you. We have some very exciting news around here at Ma, What’s For Dinner. The boys and I are off to shoot a television pilot inspired by our blog and cookbook! So cross your fingers that we’ll be popping up on TV screens near you soon. In the meantime I’ve lined up a series of gals that should keep you more than satisfied. I hope you enjoy them, I know you will, I adore them.

First up…

She’s the best. Great recipes, awesome photography, and three adorable little boys. So without further delay, heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Julie….

When Alex asked me if I wanted to guest blog over at her site, I was thrilled to have the opportunity! You see, I sort of view Alex as my “foodie” sister. We have so many things in common; we both have three boys, we both love to cook and eat, our boys even share a birthday! She’s a great blogging buddy with an incredible site to boot and I’m so thrilled to have met her and gotten to know her better over the past couple of months. Thanks so much Alex for letting me spend a day on your blog!

With the start of summer officially here, I thought it might be fun to blog a bit about my memories of summer growing up in the Midwest. Do you have any favorite memories of summer from your childhood? It might be strawberry picking with your brothers and sisters, or playing at the pool with your friends. Perhaps the annual vacation to the beach, or maybe it’s just playing outside with the neighborhood kids well into the evening hours.

One of my favorite memories from my childhood was the neighborhood ice cream man. I can remember playing outside with the neighbor kids, usually some form of kick the can or freeze tag, when the familiar tune of the ice cream man would start singing through the streets. All the kids would immediately stop whatever game we were playing, run to our respective homes, and proceed to frantically beg for “just a dollar, PLEeeASE” to get our hands on some of that ice cold goodness.

Once our parents relented, and they almost always did, we’d go running back to the street, chasing after the truck with the sweet tune, already formulating the exact piece of ice cream we planned to buy. Such sweet memories. Here’s a picture of my my brother, a couple neighborhood kids and myself after successfully chasing the ice cream man down. My brother and I are the two in the middle.

I love that, in the neighborhood I live in, the ice cream man still comes today. My kids get to hear that same sweet tune I heard as a kid. The neighborhood still runs to their parents for a dollar and the lines still form to get some of that ice cold goodness. The choices may be a little different today than they were when I was a kid, but the memory is still the same and I’m glad that my children are able to experience a little bit of the same happy memory that I had as a child. What are your childhood memories of summer?

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The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. -William Havard

The Fitzpatrick family would like to take a break from the Backyard BBQs and Parties to take a moment thank the brave men and women, and their families, who have sacrificed their lives to save our freedoms.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts….

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

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Fairy Wands

Serves: 12                        Prep time:  20 minutes                        Cook time: 20 minutes

24                                     pretzel rods

2 11 oz                                    white chocolate chips

24                                     caramel candy squares

1 T                                    vegetable oil

colored sugar sprinkles

chopped nuts

mini chocolate chips

Pour white chocolate chips and oil into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes stirring once halfway through, set aside.

Using the heat from your hands roll a candy square between them until it is pliable.  Once easily workable wrap the caramel around the top of the pretzel rod and wind around leaving a 2 inch space at the bottom.  Dip the caramel covered part of the pretzel and roll in the white chocolate to coat.  Then sprinkle with sugar sprinkles, chopped nuts or mini chocolate chips.  Place on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet to set.  Cool in fridge for 20 minutes.  Repeat with remaining pretzels.

Tasty Tidbit:  Decorate these with green and red sprinkles or blue sprinkles for Christmas and Hanukkah, or the pink, green and yellow you see here for easter.  Or you can make them in your kid’s soccer team colors.  Everyone will ask you to bring this one to parties for years to come!

Meaty Morsel:  They also make a great gift wrapped up in cellophane and a ribbon!  Or they’d be a best seller at your next bake sale!

This recipe is always a huge hit.  My sister in law got this idea from her sister in law and around holiday time none of us can go a party without the hostess asking us to whip up a batch of “THE pretzels.” You’ve been warned, be careful who you make them for because they’ll be asking for them all the time too.

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Fitzpatrick’s St. Patrick’s Day Feast

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 8 hours

1 3-4 pound corned beef brisket (with seasoning packet)

1 lb potato cut into bite sized pieces

1 bag baby carrots

2 onions quartere

2 garlic cloves

1 can beef broth

3 T apple cider vinegar

2 T brown sugar

2 T soy sauce

2 garlic cloves minced

S&P

1 head cabbage cut into 6 wedges

Toss potatoes, carrots, onions, and 2 whole garlic cloves into the bottom of a slow cooker.  In a large measuring cup combine beef broth, spice packet from the corned beef brisket, cider vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, S&P and stir to combine.

Place the brisket, fat side up) on top of vegetables in slow cooker.  Lay wedges of cabbage around brisket.  Pour beef broth mixture over corned beef and cabbage.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove corned beef from slow cooker and slice thin on an angle.  Serve with yummy veggies or alongside the Potatoes Fitzpatrick…

Potatoes Fitzpatrick

3/4 pound boiled potatoes, sliced

1 head cabbage sliced

1 medium onion sliced

2 cloves garlic mined

1 T olive oil

2 T butter, divided

S&P

1 T apple cider vinegar

In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter over medium high heat.  Add in onions, season with S&P and allow to cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.  Toss in your cabbage and garlic and cook until cabbage wilts down, another 6-7 minutes.  Remove from pan.

Toss in another tablespoon of butter and lay in your potatoes in an even layer along the bottom of pan, don’t touch them, let them crisp up a bit.  Once they’ve browned add the cabbage and onion back in and stir to combine.  Let the mixture brown a bit more then deglaze with cider vinegar and season with S&P to taste.  Delish!!!  This ain’t your nana’s cabbage!

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