Warm Autumn Apple Dumplings

This is a delicious dessert that is quick and easy to prepare, and your guests are guaranteed to love it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples or fresh peaches.
• 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Ground Cinnamon, To Taste
• 1/2 of a 20 oz. bottle of Mountain Dew Soda

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples.

Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Aaron's inside-out burgers...

I actually give Mr. Berry all the credit for this one. While watching Aaron McCargo's "Big Daddy's House" on Food Network, he decided to try these burgers because they looked so good on-screen. Definitely not the healthiest choices, but it's a good 'company food' to entertain family with. With Spring now in bloom, there's usually an emergence of backyard barbecues, picnics and family reunions to partake in. Try out this "inside-out" burger and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
• 8oz Cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced OR diced red onions if you're like me, and don't like mushrooms.
• 2lbs Ground chuck
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 2tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4oz Swiss cheese, cubed
• 4 Hamburger buns

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare swiss cheese and mushrooms (or onions) and slice bacon.

Add bacon to skillet, and cook until done. Once bacon is done, drain all fat, except for 1tbsp.

Add mushrooms (If you're using them) and sauté in pan for a minute or so. If your'e using onions, add them at this time. Set mixture aside.

Add ground check to a large bowl.

Add salt and pepper and 2tbsp Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Divide into 8 equal parts and make patties.

Combine the cheese into the cooled mushrooms and bacon mixture. Take 1 patty and top with 2-ounces of the filling.

Place another patty on top and pinch around the edges to make sure that the filling is totally covered. Make the rest of the patties the same way.

Over medium-high heat, heat a large skillet with grapeseed or olive oil. Once hot, add the burgers and cook for 2 minutes per side. Place the pan into the oven and cook for 4 to 6 more minutes for medium burgers.

Click here to view video from food network

Mama O's Warm Lemon Butter Pound Cake

My grandmother used to make the best pound cake every Sunday. She would send half of it home with me (despite my mother's dismay) lovingly wrapped in lots of foil paper. I miss my grandmother, and I miss her pound cake, among other things she would prepare in her kitchen just for me ;) This recipe is dedicated to my "Mama Ophelia", whom I'm sure has attributed to the 20+ pounds I've gained over the years. Disclaimer: I suggest that you bake this right before you have house guests over; Otherwize, it's likely that you'll eat the entire cake on your own...


Ingredients:


2 sticks of butter (room temperature)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whip butter while gradually adding sugar.

Mix until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time to butter/sugar mixure.

In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

Gradually add dry ingredients and milk (about a 1/2 cup at a time of dry ingredients and 1/4 cup of milk alternating until all ingredients are mixed together) to butter/sugar mixture.

Add vanilla and lemon extracts.

Grease with butter and flour a 10" bundt pan (or tube pan if you prefer).

Bake one to one and a half hours or until toothpick or knife tests clean.

Let cool for ten minutes and remove from pan. Dust with powdered sugar (optional).

Serve warm :) Enjoy!

Cocoa Cake Squares

Last night after dinner, I had a sweet-tooth. I looked around in the pantry and cupboards to see what I had on hand, then surfed online to find recipes. I found this recipe online and modified it a little. It actually came out very moist, light. fluffy, and surprisingly not too sweet. It was a perfect cure to my sweet tooth, and Mr. Berry liked them too.


Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nonfat milk (I used 2%)
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a square Pyrex dish or baking pan with a thin coat of Pam.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl. Add milk, eggs, oil and vanilla. ("always pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients"- I can hear my mom saying that in my head :)





3. Beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Add water; stirring with spoon until well blended. 4. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.



6. With a spatula, loosen cake from edges of pan.

7. Place square baking dish upside down over a cake plate. Cool completely. Cut cake into squares.

Optional: Sprinke with powdered sugar and/or garnish with whipped topping infused with grated orange peel.

(I apologize for the photo below being sideways; You get the picture, I'm sure.) Thanks for viewing! Feel free to comment here.

Doc's Spinach Artichoke Dip

Happy 2010 folks! Hope you all had safe and happy holidays! This next recipe is also cause for a celebration. I've served it at parties (okay, well...two so far) and for intimate get-togethers.

I appropriated the recipe from a friend several years ago, and have used it ever since. Mr. Berry and I actually try spinach dips at restaurants in an attempt to compare them to this recipe, and some have some close, but most have failed. Try it, and you'll see what I mean. Comments welcome :)

Ingredients:

2 10 oz. packages of chopped spinach
8 oz sour cream
8 oz monterrey jack shredded cheese
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 onion (chopped fine)
1 stick of butter
4 oz of philadelphia cream cheese (fat free or light will do)
2/3 c fresh parmesean cheese
garlic to taste (I used two cloves)
Tortilla chips

optional : ground cayenne pepper for garnishing

Directions: (see pictures below)

• Gather all ingredients from the list above.
• In a large pan, slowly melt the stick of butter as shown below.
• As butter is melting, chop onions.
• Chop garlic. Add onions and garlic to pan. Saute for a few minutes.
  
• Remove spinach from package(s) and place in small, microwaveable bowl.
• Place spinach in microwave for a minute on high power or until no longer frozen. It should still be bright green in color.Set aside.
• Remove artichoke hearts from jar. Chop artichoke hearts finely (or cheat like I did and use the food processor.)
• Onions and garlic should be well sauteed in butter.
• Add spinach, stir, and cook for ten minutes on medium heat.
• Add cream cheese and mix well.Add sour cream and mix well.Add artichoke.
• Remove from heat;
• Add parmesean cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Add to casserole dish; Add Monterrrey jack on top.Heat in oven on 350 degrees until cheese is melted on top.
• Once cheese is melted (I like mine to have a tinge of brown crust on top--but that's just me :)
• Let cool for five minutes and serve with tortilla chips. *I also like to add a sprinkle of ground cayenne pepper on top of my serving for an extra KICK.