School starts in two weeks from today. Jacob is so ready to go back to school and is it bad if I say that I am really ready for him to go back to school? Kelly will be in school all day (last year it was just half day Kindergarten) and I’m really not ready for her to be gone all day. She is a better mom than I am and is a huge help with the girls around the house. She has a patience level with Ella that I just don’t seem to have all the time.

We had a big long list of things we wanted to do this summer, and unfortunately, that big long list still has a lot of things not marked off. I feel like I need to soak up these next two weeks and cram as much summer fun as I can into it.

I am feeling the same way about the fresh berries of summer. Summer is almost over, so I feel like I need to hoard and buy up all the berries I can and make all those recipes I haven’t had the chance to get to yet this summer. The May/June 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen has some great berry recipes in it. (Incidentally,  this is the first issue of this magazine I have ever read and it has some great recipes. Is it always this good, or is this just a particularly good issue?)

If you are trying to cram the last of the summer berries into your escaping summer, this Raspberry Parfait recipe is a great one to try. Refreshing, rich and delicious, not to mention beautiful, you can eat it and savor the final days of summer just a little bit longer.

Raspberry Parfaits (from the May/June 2010 Issue of Cooking with Paula Deen Magazine)

3 pints fresh raspberries, divided

½ cup sugar, divided

1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries for garnish, optional

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 pints raspberries and ¼ cup sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for 8 minutes or until raspberries have softened. Press mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, discarding solids. Cover raspberry sauce, and chill thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining ¼ cup sugar at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Add cream, and beat until soft peaks form. Fold in sour cream and vanilla.

Layer cream mixture, raspberry sauce, and remaining 1 pint fresh strawberries in four parfait glasses. Garnish with fresh raspberries. Makes four servings.

(The folks of at The Times News used strawberries in this recipe with great success too!)

The post Berry Overindulgence (Recipe: Paula Deen’s Raspberry Parfaits) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

As much as I love to cook, making dinner with this little one constantly under my feet or into something has become a bit of a challenge. I have to either make the decision to 1) let her get into anything and everything, which will make her quiet and happy but triple my cleanup work or 2) hold her and entertain her while I also stir, sautee, slice, boil, steam, etc. Since she is the fourth kid, I’ll admit that I probably let her get into things just to keep her quiet more often than the alternative (and now that I have the joy of older kids, they get to come and clean up after her! Parenthood is paying off!)

Instead of spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, I’ve been going for those dinners that are quick and easy to put on the table, simply so I don’t have to do the dinner disco with Leah under my feet. The crockpot has been taken out of the cupboards and dusted off for use more often. “Fast Foods” (like shrimp, polish turkey sausage, pasta) are making a regular appearance on our weekly menus. Anything I can do to get dinner on the table without a lot of time devoted by me is pretty much what is happening anymore.

This recipe from the May / June 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen magazine caught my eye for just that reason. It is quick, easy, hearty and since I was going to be cleaning red marker off of Leah’s face, I might as well let her get all down and dirty with the red sauce from this dish.

What are your tips for keeping the kiddos out from under your feet while you cook dinner?

Skillet Ravioli (adapted from the May / June 2010 issue of Cooking with Paula Deen)

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat for 8 to10 minutes or until browned and crumbly; drain. Return beef to pan, and add tomato sauce, paste, parsley, basil, and garlic salt; cook 6 minutes or until heated through.
Add cooked ravioli to tomato sauce. Sprinkle with cheese, and serve immediately.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Paula Deen and I appear to have something in common. We both believe that if you are going to make dessert, you might as well just go all out. Bring out the butter, pour on the sugar… none of this Splenda and light this and that business. Everyday cooking, you need to lighten up, but dessert? If you can’t making something indulgent, why make anything at all?

Now, listen carefully because there is a significant sequence of events that have led me to have to say goodbye to Paula for awhile. Even though I love Ms Paula, a few words “from the mouths of babes” have encouraged me to re-think things a bit. Maybe there is a reason those of you who post about light desserts are skinny. Maybe, just maybe, you are on to something.

Written here, is the sequence of events that have certainly changed my immediate future as I know it.

• On a whim, I saw Paula Deen’s Best Desserts on the magazine stand and I picked up a copy
• As soon as I got home, I thumbed through the magazine and dog eared page, after page, after page of delicious dessert recipes
• Fast forward a few days and I am in the shower. In to the bathroom walks my 3 year old. She glances at me and says “Mama, why are your boobies laying down on your tummy?” To add insult to injury, I thought for sure I had misunderstood what she said, so I  had her repeat it. Nope… word for word, spot on. No denying what she said.
• Just a mere two days later, my 6 year old walks into my bathroom, again, while I am in the shower. She looks at me and her face turned to the most excited expression and she shouts “Mom? We’re having another baby??!!!!” Yeah… thanks a lot. She was immediately cut from the will.
• I quickly decide that #1 – I need to get a door on the master bath so my insulting kids can’t come in and verbally assault me anymore while I am helpless in the shower and #2 – I need to buy an elliptical.
• Elliptical purchased, kids banned from my bathroom, and my dear, Paula Dean Best Desserts magazine sits staring at me, day after day…taunting me to make something – anything.
  
• Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Paula Deen and I meet again. I had an occasion to make a dessert. Is it a sin to make something of Paula’s light? I think so. I’m pretty sure it would have been #11 in the Ten Commandments had they had room on their stone tablet for one more.
• Made Cookies & Cream cupcakes and <gasp> did cut down on the powdered sugar by a couple of cups, but otherwise kept all of the butter, sugar, cream, in tact.

These Cookies & Cream cupcakes from Paula Deen’s Best Dessert Special Collector’s Issue (which should be banned from butter lover’s anonymous because there is a lot of butter in this book. Paula must have something special going on with the National Dairy Council.) They may have a lot of calories, but they are worth every last little bit. And if your kid starts to comment on the size of your behind, just stuff a cupcake in their mouth. That should take care of it.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes from Paula Deen Best Dessert Special Collector’s Issue

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 14 coarsely crushed cream-filled chocolate wafer cookies (Oreos)
• Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
• Garnish: miniature cream filled chocolate wafer cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 28 muffin cups with foil liners.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Stir in crushed cookies. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread or pipe Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over cupcakes. Garnish with cookies, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Makes 6 cups… I only needed half of this recipe for the cupcakes)

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 9 cups confectioners’ sugar (I only used 6 cups and the frosting was great)

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Beat in cream until combined. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

The post Sequence of Events (Recipe: Paula Deen’s Cookies & Cream Cupcakes) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

We met at a well known restaurant in Chicago called “Greek Islands”. As we all sat together chatting, a rustling began to happen in the room. All of a sudden, most of the women stood up, armed with their cameras, and began clicking away like a mass of paparazzi. I, along with other patrons in the restaurant, all looked perplexed…did Brad and Angelina just walk into the restaurant? Maybe it was Oprah? Craning my neck to see what all the excitement was about, I had to let out a chuckle when it all became clear. Coming near our tables were several of Greek Islands finest, armed with – you guessed it – our first course!

Yes, those of us who food blog may be a bit strange to those of you who just don’t get it, but I have never felt more at ease with a group in my life. For those of you who do “get it” and love the art of food blogging and food photography, I have a new event that is taking place over at Culinary Snapshot called “Through My Lens“. Check it out and I hope you’ll participate!

Did I mention that I met Paula Deen at “the conference that you are probably tired of hearing about?” While she was chatting with all of us, she mentioned a recipe from one of her cookbooks called Black Pepper Shrimp. It sounded so good, I had to make it as soon as I got home! I didn’t have any shelled shrimp. I am sure that would make the recipe all the better, but it was great with what I did have.

For a list of the wonderful food bloggers who I met at the Greek Islands dinner, please jump down below the recipe.

Black Pepper Shrimp, from Paula Deen

20 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 6

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Rinse and drain shrimp and place in shallow baking pan.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
4. Add the garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Pour the garlic butter mixture over shrimp and toss to coat.
6. Sprinkle about half the pepper over shrimp until they are well covered.
7. Remember–don’t be afraid!
8. Bake until pink (about 5 minutes).
9. Turn shrimp over sprinkle with remaining pepper and bake a few minutes longer.

Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen, Elise from Simply Recipes, Kathy from Panini Happy, Kristen from Dine and Dish, Maris from n Good Taste, Cora from Cora Cooks, Deb from Lunch in a Box, Gudrun from Kitchen Gadget Girl, Jennifer from Savor the Thyme, Ree from Pioneer Woman Cooks, Jaden from Steamy Kitchen, Sandie from Inn Cuisine, Alanna from A Veggie Venture, Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy, Kelly from Barbaric Gulp, Stephanie from Iron Stef, Stephanie from A Year of Crockpotting, Anne Marie from This Mama Cooks, Hetal and Anuja from Show Me the Curry, Roni from Green Lite Bites, Jayne from This Week for Dinner, Kim (and Roger) from the Building Blocks Show, and Krista from Londonelicious,

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