Cheesy Herb Alphabet Breadsticks

Kids will love making Dad these cheesy breadsticks for Father's Day. This easy recipe for kids is perfect for little ones to show off their skills as they spell out D-A-D using bread dough. The best part of this gift is that they get to help Dad eat it!


What You Need

1 package - 8 sticks - refrigerated garlic breadstick dough
(or plain breadsticks if garlic is not available)
1 egg
2 tsp water
1/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. dried Italian seasonings
1 tsp. garlic power (if using plain breadsticks)


What You Do

Preheat oven as directed on breadstick package.

Tear dough into 8 pieces (already precut). Unroll one piece at a time and then fold in half from tip to tip. Gently roll the dough sticks on a lightly floured table to remove the square edges. Lay the dough directly onto the baking pan as you are forming the letters. Form the letter "D" by using 2 breadsticks for each one (4 total) & the letter "A" by using 2 1/2 breadsticks. With the leftover dough you can make "#1" or an "!" to go along with DAD.

Make an egg wash by beating together 1 egg + 2 tsp. water in a small cup. Brush the egg wash over each letter. This will be the "glue" to hold the seasoning onto the breadsticks.

In a small bowl, mix together Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic (if needed). Sprinkle on top of each letter.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes on baking sheet. Serve warm with a side of spaghetti sauce.

Spicy Turkey Burgers

Tonight's dinner was quick to put together and very delicious. My spicy turkey burger recipe is sort of a spin off from Rachel Ray's Southwest Turkey Burger.

Spicy Turkey Burgers

2 lbs ground turkey - I used a mix of dark
and white meat to keep the burgers moist
2 tsp. of minced garlic
3 tsp. of Montreal steak seasoning
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 medium onion, chopped fine
Pepper Jack cheese
onion buns
lettuce
Sweet Baby Rays bar-b-que sauce

Mix all ingredients together just until everything has been incorporated. Do not over mix.

Shape into 6 large burgers or 8 smaller burgers. Grill for 3 -5 minutes on each side, over med-high heat. Top with cheese, close the lid and grill just until the cheese melts.

Serve on onion buns with lettuce and bar-b-que sauce.

To go along with this, I made wacky mac pasta salad.


Wacky Mac Pasta Salad

2 bags of wacky mac pasta, cooked and drained well
1 bottle of Italian dressing
Salad Supreme seasoning
Colby Jack chunk cheese
tomatoes
cucumbers

This is a mix-to-taste salad where there really are no set amounts for the ingredients. For all of this pasta, I used about 3/4 of a lg. bottle of Italian dressing, 1/2 bottle of Salad Supreme, 1/2 block of Colby Jack cheese cut into small pieces, 3 plum tomatoes and 1 large cucumber.

Happy Birthday Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

My family has a lot to celebrate during the month of May. There's Mother's Day, my nephew's birthday, my daughter's birthday, my birthday and Memorial Day. That was a lot of family get-togethers when we lived in Pa. ...not so much here. Boy do we miss it.

Since we are planning a carnival birthday party in 2 weeks for my daughter, we decided that we would make one birthday cake this weekend for both of us to share to celebrate our birthdays.


She asked for a chocolate cake with white icing. Since I like chocolate frosting better, we compromised and made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

I found a recipe for Chocolate Sour Cream Cake w/ Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting in a Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking cookbook.

The instructions are simple to follow. The recipe calls for baking the cake in 2 round cake pans. I dug out my cake pans to discover that they were rusty in spots....AAAKKK! My back up plan was to bake the cake in a 9 x13 pan, cut the cake in half and stack it, making a nice, neat small rectangle cake.

Let's just say that my idea didn't pan out. The cake seemed to do fine in the oven, taking 36 minutes to bake. I took it out of the oven and allowed it to cool completely.

In the meantime I whipped up the icing --chocolatey delicious!

Fast forward.... Now it's time to remove the cake from the pan. Not happening!! The cake was stuck in the pan. I'm not sure why. I greased and floured it like I was supposed to. The cake wasn't burnt so that's not why it stuck to the pan. I kept turning the pan over and tapping on the bottom of it, hoping that it would just decide to come loose. Well, it did....in pieces. **Update** I'm sitting here laughing at myself because I totally overlooked the directions that said to line the pans with waxed paper!

I surprised myself and didn't scream about it. Instead, I stuck the pieces back into the pan and decided to frost it in the pan and not tell anyone about it. I didn't need any more family ribbing today. I'm already getting tons of it from my fall in our front yard the day before - but that's another story that I would love to be able to forget very soon! The scrape on my leg is enough of a reminder but having a 6 year old remind you about it every time you step outside is almost too much to contend with. They don't forget anything!

Back to the cake. Sprinkles, Jimmies, candy toppings...whatever you call them...they are a magical tool in decorating to my family. Thank goodness. I managed to save face by sprinkling on some red, white and blue Jimmies.


We sang "Happy Birthday" and ate the cake. It was good. That's all that matters, right?

Pillsbury Chocolate Sour Cream Cake w/
Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 oz unsweetened chocolate

Heat oven to 350. Grease & flour two 8" or 9" round cake pans; line bottom with waxed paper.

Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, & baking powder. Stir well & set aside.

In large bowl, combine remaining cake ingredients; add dry ingredients. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at highest speed.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes our clean.

Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans & cool completely.

Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar - I added about 1 1/2 C. more p. sugar for a stiffer icing
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup softened butter or margarine
3 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz unsweetened chocolate

In small bowl, combine all frosting ingredients at low speed until moistened; beat at highest speed until smooth & creamy.

Place 1 cake layer top side down on serving plate; spread evenly with about 1/4 of the frosting.

Top with remaining cake layer, top side up.

Spread sides & top of cake with remaining frosting.

Makes 12 servings.

Summer Fruit Kabobs with Dip

For your next trip to the beach, pack these easy to make fruit kabobs into your cooler for something healthy to munch on.

Who says that fast food can't be healthy or nutritious?

Kids will love to make this easy fruit recipe!


What You Need
Assorted fruit pieces of your choice (choose from the following):

watermelon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew
deli turkey, cubed
cheddar cheese, cubed
bendable drinking straws
wooden skewer

What You Do
Cut fruit into bite-size pieces. Use a wooden skewer to make a hole through the center of each piece of food before layering them onto the straw.

Turn a drinking straw upside down and fold the bendable part of the straw around, creating a handle. Slide a piece of food onto the straw, pushing it to the bottom and onto the hooked part of the straw to secure the handle. Continue layering the meat, cheese and fruit until the straw is full.

Serve chilled alongside fruity cream cheese dip.


For Dip:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 pack Dream Whip Topping, mixed according to package directions
1-2 tsp sugar free drink mix - strawberry or lemon work really well

Mix Dream Whip Topping and chill until needed. Beat cream cheese and drink mix until creamy and fluffy. Fold in Dream Whip. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

***Important Note: If you are making these kabobs to take on a picnic or to the beach, make sure to pack them in sealed, plastic containers and that they are kept well chilled.

Spring Bug Cupcakes

Do you have kids who are crazy about flying bugs? These sweet treats are made from their favorite candies. One look at them and who could resist smiling? They'll bring out the bug lover in all of us!


What You Need
1 box white cake mix + ingredients need to prepare mix
cupcake liners
vanilla frosting
paste food coloring in bright colors

Candies for Bugs
sour gummi worms
gumdrop fruit slices
mini jawbreakers
pull-a-part licorice
mini chocolate chips

What You Do
Prepare cupcakes as directed on box using cupcake liners. Cool completely.

To Assemble Bugs:

Butterfly:
* Body - one gummi worm
* Wings - 4 fruit slices cut in half. Use tops of each fruit slice only for the pretty decorated lines
* Head - mini jawbreaker
* Antennae - licorice

Frost the top of cupcake white before assembling butterflies.

Lady Bug:
* Body - vanilla icing tinted black
* Wings - 2 red fruit slices, cut in half -use tops only. Use a toothpick to dig out tiny holes for the mini chocolate chips. Press chocolate chips into the holes in the fruit slices.
* Head - red icing. Mini chocolate chips for eyes
* Antennae - licorice

Frost the top of cupcake red before assembling ladybugs.

Dragon Fly:
* Body - 1 piece of pull-a-part licorice, end rolled into a point. Colored icing for dots on body.
* Wings - 4 sour gummi worms trimmed to fit
* Head - mini jawbreaker
* Antennae - licorice

Frost top of cupcake green before assembling dragon flies.