Pretty is

...My Life and Style

You are here: Home / Archives for Recipes

Friday Favorites

I’m so glad to see you!

Its Friday Favorites time!

On Wednesday I published a post about this past weekend.  A lot of my favorites for this week I briefly mentioned in that post.

Favorite # ONE

This

FROSTING SHEET

I purchased it from a company that helps to support research for childhood cancers.

You can find them at their website Cakes For Cures or on their Facebook page.

~

On Sunday I created a new recipe for Superbowl

Favorite # TWO

Roasted Red Pepper DipIt was GOOD!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

8 ounces softened Cream Cheese

1 Cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

One Cup Pepper Jack Cheese

1 Roasted Red Pepper

1/4 Onion

Toasted baguette slices or crackers for dipping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a food processor, finely chop the roasted red pepper and onion.  Mix the cheeses and pepper/onion mixture together.  This is easily done in a stand mixer when the cream cheese is room temperature.

Place all the ingredients in a round pie plate and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve and ENJOY!

~

Monday was

Valentine’s Day

and LB did not disappoint!

Favorite # THREE

PRESENTS

Who wouldn’t say YES to flowers, candy, and jewelry?

And later that evening we went to the Alhambra for dinner and a show

Favorite # FOUR

The McCartney Years

When LB learned about this show, he bought 6 tickets and told me to invite my kids.

Richard and Emily weren’t able to join us, so instead of returning the seats, LB said “lets invite Gina and Stuart”.

The music was great.  There were many songs from Paul McCartney’s BEATLES years and many from WINGS.  My favorites were “My Love” and “Hey Jude”.

We all had a fabulous time!

Favorite # FIVE

Fun Times

with some of my favorite people

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Banana Pudding

In case you didn’t know, banana pudding is a southern delight.  It is a dessert that typically consists of layers of vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, and sliced bananas and can be prepared baked or refrigerated, topped with meringue or whipped cream.  My daddy’s aunt Fran used to make the baked version, but the refrigerated method is the most common. Many home cooks chose to cover the top of the dish with Cool Whip (faux whipped cream made with hydrogenated vegetable oil).

Recently I found a recipe by Eagle Brand and decided I needed to try it.  I’ve always thought instant pudding and whole milk were somehow lacking, even if covered over the top with Cool Whip.  The sweetened condensed milk makes a big difference.

I followed the recipe for the most part, but I doubled it.  Also, the recipe called for vanilla instant pudding, but I used one package of vanilla instant pudding and one package of banana cream instant pudding… because that was what I had in my pantry.

It turned out to be the best banana pudding I’ve ever had (if I do say so myself).

 

This is the recipe I used from the Eagle Brand website.

 

Banana Pudding

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

•             1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

•             1 ½ cups cold water

•             1 (3.4 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix

•             2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream, whipped

•             1 box vanilla wafers

•             4-5 barely ripe bananas, sliced

Directions

Whisk sweetened condensed milk and cold water together.  Add pudding mix and whisk until well blended.  Chill 5 minutes.  Fold in whipped cream.

Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into serving dish.  Top with one third each of the vanilla wafers and bananas .  Repeat layering, ending with pudding mixture.

Garnish as desired.

Chill thoroughly for several hours.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday and Happy Summer!

Today is the First Friday of summer 2021!

Let the rain begin!

Yes the season officially changed on Sunday, which was also Father’s Day.

I didn’t write a new post about Daddy this year, but I’ve written a lot about him in the past.  You can read some of my other posts here and here.  Needless to say, I did think about him on Father’s Day.  LB and I stopped to leave flowers Sunday afternoon.

~

Favorite # ONE

I thought they were very summertimey.

~

Something else that I did on Sunday took place in the kitchen…

Favorite # TWO

A one-pan recipe from RuledDotMe

 

Roasted Chicken Thighs in Red Pepper Sauce

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • 4 ounces roasted red peppers
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. At the same time, preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
  3. Add coconut oil to the preheated skillet. Once the oil has melted, place the chicken  into the skillet. Sear for 5 minutes on each side or until the chicken is browned.
  4. Puree the roasted red peppers, garlic, and olive oil in a blender. Pour the heavy cream into the pepper mixture, then blend thoroughly.
  5. Remove the skillet from the stove, then pour the sauce over the top of the thighs. Flip them over to ensure that both sides are coated.
  6. Crumble the goat cheese over the top of the sauced chicken. Transfer the skillet to the oven then bake for 10-15 minutes.
  7. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

 

 

~

My son and his family came to town this week.

On Wednesday night we got together with the whole for dinner and birthday cake.

Favorite # THREE

Artwork and personal notes, addressed by Lydia are one of the many perks of being a Glammy.  Or a Glamme.  However she chooses to spell it.

~

At my family gathering on Wednesday evening, it was insinuated [once again] that I am a conspiracy theorist.  Lucky for me I’m not the only American “guilty” of this.

But in my defense, I feel that if you live above ground in the Unites States of America, you should know that there is a forensic audit being conducted in Arizona (Maricopa County) because there was massive election fraud in the November 3, 2020 election.  I mentioned it in this post.

Favorite # FOUR

Conspiracy Theory or NOT

Somewhere between 3 and 4 AM on November 4th, I woke up, looked at my phone, and saw a dramatic change had taken place.

Michigan totals revealed added votes for Biden, which is typical when counting votes, but votes for Trump were SUBTRACTED.  How could the tally show a reduction in the number of votes?  That was when I began to question our electoral system.  I found out that I am not the only one with questions.  I’ve included an example below.

As you’ll hear in the following video, “votes are always additive and should never go negative”

There are other videos, but you won’t likely find them in a Google search or on YouTube because Big Tech is complicit.  Check out Rumble

~

Favorite # FIVE

Rockin’ on the River

with LB at Azaleana Manor in Orange Park.

Rockin’ on the River was the name of the event.  We attended on Thursday evening for dinner and entertainment by two bands.  One of the bands was the 77ds.  The other was The Chris Thomas Band.

This is Chris Thomas and his band.

Mr. Thomas is fabulously talented.

We had a great time!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Frozen Banana ‘Ice Cream’

First and foremost…

Don’t throw away those ripe bananas!

When the banana is ripe, it will be soft, sweet, and ready to freeze.

Peel the bananas and slice. It really doesn’t matter what size as long as the pieces are small enough to blend.

Put the bananas in an airtight container. Place in a freezer-safe glass bowl or freezer bag.

Freeze until ready to use, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pulse the frozen banana pieces in a food processor or blender. Transfer the frozen banana pieces into a food processor or high-speed blender. (The more powerful the better.) Pulse to break up.

Keep pulsing At first the banana pieces will look crumbly. I’ve found that sometimes adding a little cold water is helpful.  Scrape down the sides of the blender.

Switch from pulsing to blending. At first it looks unappealing, but hang in there. Scrape down the sides of the blender.

This takes a little while. Keep blending. The banana will become smooth.

As the last bits of banana smooth out, you’ll see the mixture change from blended banana to creamy, soft-serve ice cream texture. Blend for a few more seconds to aerate the ice cream. (If additional mix-ins are desired, like peanut butter or chocolate chips, this is the time.)

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until solid.

You can eat the ice cream immediately, which is my preference, or drink like a milkshake. You can also transfer it into the airtight container and freeze it until solid, like traditional ice cream.

 

Frozen Banana Ice Cream

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Instructions

  1. Peel the bananas and slice. I cut mine into four pieces. It really doesn’t matter what size as long as they are pieces are evenly sized and small enough to blend.

  2. Put the bananas in an airtight container such as a freezer-safe glass bowl or freezer bag.

  3. Freeze the banana pieces for at least 2 hours until ready to use, at least 2 hours or overnight.

  4. Pulse the frozen banana pieces in a food processor or blender. From the freezer, transfer the frozen banana pieces into a food processor or high-speed blender (the more powerful the better). Pulse to break up.

  5. Keep pulsing. At first the banana pieces will look crumbly. Sometimes a little cold water is needed.  Scrape down the sides of the blender.

  6. Switch to blending.  It may look unappealing, but hang in there. Scrape down the sides of the blender.

  7. Keep blending — this takes a little while. Keep blending. It will become smoother but still have chunks of banana. Scrape down the food processor.

  8. Watch the magic!  As the last bits of banana smooth out, you’ll see the mixture shift from blended banana to creamy, soft-serve ice cream texture. Blend for a few more seconds to aerate the ice cream.  If additional mix-ins are desired, like peanut butter or chocolate chips, this is the time.

  9. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until solid or you can eat the soft ice cream immediately. If you transfer it back into the airtight container and freeze it until solid, like traditional ice cream.

     

Notes

Food processor vs. blender: It is likely that a food processor works best for this, as it is larger and allows for the banana to get quickly creamy and aerated.  I make it in a blender, one banana at a time since my blender is not powerful enough to process several frozen bananas.

Mix-in Ideas
While the one-ingredient banana ice cream is low in calories and easy to make, it doesn’t take much effort to zhuzh it up by making it two– or even three– ingredient ice cream. Here are some mix-in ideas…

  • Peanut butter
  • Honey
  •  Chocolate chips
  • Nuts
  • Nutella
  • Frozen berries
  • Tablespoon of cocoa powder
  • Half a teaspoon of cinnamon

Or make a sundae…Just the way LB likes it!

 

 

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Yes we made it through another week!  I feel certain that there are more hours in a workday than in a whole weekend.

I may not love working, but I recognize that I should be grateful because I am blessed to be one of the fortunate people who has kept her job during the last year.  There are many things that I am grateful for such as my family, my home, my health.

And I’m grateful to have made it through another good day of not having a stranger vaccinate me for or a virus with a 99% + survival rate using an experimental mRNA vaccine that was quickly concocted to combat a Fauci funded a bat coronavirus project in Wuhan, China.

There.  I said it.

I’m also grateful for friends that will get together for a spur of the moment St. Patrick’s day party.  The food was great, if I do say so myself

and one dish was particularly cute

Favorite # ONE

A Rainbow

made of fruitwith a pot of gold at the end.

In addition to my artistic fruit platter, I made Reuben sliders.  With a corned beef brisket in the refrigerator, I needed to come up with a recipe to get this beef eaten.  So I made

Favorite # TWO

Reuben Sliders

It appears that this is primarily a food post.

 

Ingredients

  • 12 potato rolls
  • several ounces shredded corned beef
  • 1 package of baby Swiss cheese
  • shredded cabbage/Cole slaw
  • Russian Dressing ( I use the dressing from this recipe)
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F
  • Cut the rolls in half separating the top and bottom.
  • Place the bottoms of the rolls in a 9×13 pan (spray with PAM for easy removal).
  • Spread dressing on rolls. Top with a layer of cheese, Cole slaw, corned beef and another layer of cheese.
  • Top with the other half of the rolls and brush tops with the butter mixture.
  • Bake  25-30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the tops are lightly browned.
  • Enjoy!

 

Although I didn’t try one myself, I understand they were very good.  I’ll have to make them again next year.

Other than the rainbow fruit platter and Reuben sliders, everything else was green.  Including these

Favorite # THREE

I may have eaten the whole bag of green pea snacks by myself.

We asked our friends to come to our St. Patrick’s Day event dressed in green.  Some of them went all out.

Favorite # FOUR

Dressing Up

 

Favorite # FIVE

Wrapping up the party with

A Group Selfie

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

HEY EVERYBODY!

What a WEEK it has been!

 

Do Not be alarmed by the following images.

They will not hurt you.

My website went down on Wednesday and again on Thursday.

If you tried to check out my blog on Wednesday, you may have seen this.

I called Bluehost and they told me WordPress had updated something or other and I would need to change my DNS.  For awhile everything was okay.

  The next day I got this…

So I called Bluehost again and was told my DNS IP was wrong.

SMH.

I think we’re all straight now.

But, alas, there was more technological trouble to come…

My company PC has been giving me trouble.  Yesterday it altogether gave up the ghost.  I had to go to Fleming Island to exchange it for a new one.

It was quite strange being in that building.  At one time it was [in my opinion] overcrowded.  While I was there, I saw only three people.  Most of the lights were out and it was eerily quiet.  Very strange.  It has been almost a year since I packed up to start working from home.  I can honestly say that I don’t miss it!

Favorite # ONE

Working from Home!

Clearly I had to start with that!

I posted often last spring and summer about how I like working from home, starting with the post

QUARANTINED!

that you can read about here and another here.

~

Favorite # TWO

This Face Scrubby ThingI’ve used it everyday since I received it.  It was a Christmas Stocking Stuffer and although I know what to do with it, I don’t know what it is called.

~

Favorite # THREE

Recently I learned about a recipe for a vegan

Sushi Bowl

  Since I don’t like raw fish, I thought this may be something I would like.  And who wouldn’t?  It is a bowl of jasmine rice topped with cucumber, carrots, edamame, avocado, and a sesame seed sprinkle (which I thought was a nice touch).  I didn’t follow a specific recipe, but a good one can be found here.  That recipe includes a few sauces and dressings as well.  To my sushi bowl I added some soy sauce and since I had no chopsticks, I ate it with a fork.

~

Favorite # FOUR

Red Lentil Chili

I discovered the recipe on The Stingy Vegan’s website here.

Since Thursday was National Chili Day I posted the recipe so I would be able to refer back and make it again.

Recipe here

This is turning into a food blog.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Lifelong Friends

There was a time when LB was a BellSouth phone tech and some of the gentlemen that started out as his co-workers became his good friends.  Many of those same good friends have remained friends for the past 30+ years.

This isn’t a typical Friday favorite, and it doesn’t make me happy to report, but it is important to remember a dear friend that LB said goodbye to this week.  David Gardner was a good friend to LB and a member of the Three Musketeers. 

David will be missed.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

National Chili Day

Today is

National Chili Day!

This is not my first chili post.  I’ve posted a chili recipe on this blog before.  You can find it here and it is very tasty.

It is my Cave Girl chili and the one LB likes the most.

But this year [on Super Bowl Sunday] I tried a new recipe:

Red Lentil Chili

Red Lentil Chili

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 onion diced
  • 6 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 red pepper diced
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste 
  • 2 bay leaves 
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano 
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin 
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder 
  • 3 teaspoons smoked paprika 
  • A large can (27.5 oz) whole or diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup (215 grams) red lentils rinsed
  • A large can (20 oz) kidney beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup vegetable stock 
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • Pepper to taste

Directions

  • Sauté the onion and garlic in a pot with 1/4 cup of water over medium heat. Once soft add the red pepper and cook for a few minutes to soften.
  • Once most of the water has evaporated, add the tomato paste, herbs and spices and stir for about 30 seconds to release the flavors of the spices.
  • Add the tomatoes, lentils, beans and vegetable stock. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Allow the chili to simmer very gently until the lentils are soft – about 30 minutes. If too much liquid evaporates, add a touch more stock or water.
  • Finally, stir in the brown sugar, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your taste.
  • Serve with fresh lime to squeeze over and your choice of toppings.

 I discovered the recipe on The Stingy Vegan’s website here.  My recipe was doubled and tweaked just a bit.  The texture of the lentils was not to my liking, so I simmered in the slow cooker for several hours.  All day, in fact.

Eventually, I loved it.

Sadly, I was the only one who loved it, so I packaged it up in small containers and put it in the freezer.I’ll be making it again!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Connect