Category: dessert

Basic Economics of the Freezer or What is that and how long has it been in there?

Spaghetti & Cheese Snack Pie
Spaghetti & Cheese Snack Pie

The other day I was reading some of the comments that we received on our Facebook Page and I came across a link from a very interesting Facebook Page called On The Homefront.  On her page she issued a Pantry Challenge.  I thought it sounded interesting, so I spoke to Yes!Chef! about it and he was on board.  Here’s the challenge:  See how long you can go with just making meals out of your pantry and freezer.  Go to the store only to buy necessary perishables like veggies, fruit, dairy.

So, since April 1, we have been scouring our freezer and pantry for long forgotten items to see how creative we can be.  Unfortunately, we have also discovered things that are of unknown origin and they look too scary to eat.  (Here’s a public service reminder to label and date things when you stick them in your freezer.)   But, mostly things have been labeled pretty well.

Continue reading “Basic Economics of the Freezer or What is that and how long has it been in there?” →

Karen Schmautz11 Comments

Black Bottom Peanut Butter Mousse Pie or maybe we should call it “Fat Bottom” Pie

Black Bottom Peanut Butter Mousse Pie
Black Bottom Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Spring has sprung at the Schmautzhaus and, here in the Sierras the weather is bi-polar.  One day it’s beautiful, warm and calling me to open the windows.  The next day the clouds roll in, the lighting and thunder and hail and rain come pouring down and the heater comes back on.greenshoes_newshoots Continue reading “Black Bottom Peanut Butter Mousse Pie or maybe we should call it “Fat Bottom” Pie” →

Karen Schmautz10 Comments

Dulce de Leche Filled Shortbread or Does Caramel Make You Swoon?

Shortbread Filled with Dulce de Leche and cold milk
A cold glass of milk and Shortbread Filled with Dulce de Leche

I was cruising around the internet a couple of months ago and I read about something called Dulce de Leche in a jar.  I don’t remember where I saw it or even what the recipe was, but I stored it away in the back of my mind and then didn’t remember it until I saw a jar of it in one of my favorite stores, World Market.  I went ahead and bought it because…well…as I said, I had stored away the memory of it in the back of my brain.  I thought I would just take it home and it would speak to me about what I should do about it.

You are probably thinking, “Why didn’t she just hand it over to Yes!Chef! and say, ‘make something magic with this'”.  I thought about that myself and when I brought it home I said something like, “Look what I found at World Market!!!”.  He didn’t know what it was and really had no interest in it.  I think I’ve mentioned before that he stays away from desserts because he had a bad experience with the first one he ever made (over 30 years ago.)  I was on my own for this one.

Continue reading “Dulce de Leche Filled Shortbread or Does Caramel Make You Swoon?” →

Karen Schmautz10 Comments

Say “Cheese” or maybe “Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Chocolate Ganache”, please.

a spoonful of Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Chocolate Ganache
a spoonful of Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Chocolate Ganache

What is Valentine’s Day without Chocolate?  It’s an incomplete Valentine; that’s what I say.  Add strawberries and cheesecake and do you know what you have?

Guilt!

Continue reading “Say “Cheese” or maybe “Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with Chocolate Ganache”, please.” →

Karen Schmautz17 Comments

Please, sir, May I have S’Mores?

S'more Cookies with Homemade Marshmallows
S’more Cookies with Homemade Marshmallows

So, yesterday was the Superbowl of foodiness…oh, and also a really good football game. (We will not talk about the Niners loss…)

Continue reading “Please, sir, May I have S’Mores?” →

Karen Schmautz3 Comments

Orange Macadamia Cream Cheese Bread or That Name is Too long!

Orange Macadamina Cream Cheese Bread with Orange Syrup
Orange Macadamia Cream Cheese Bread with Orange Syrup

Well, here we are again.  Blogging twice in one week has to be a record.  But while we were at Lake Tahoe and a little cooped up because of the snow, I decided to make a sweet bread.  It wasn’t particularly cold (40’s during the day), and we were able to get out every day and take Obie T. Dogg for a walk around the block, but we couldn’t really walk around the forest or go to some of our other favorite haunts, because there was just too much snow and some of the roads are closed during the winter. Plus, it was a three day weekend in a ski resort, so there were people everywhere!

Continue reading “Orange Macadamia Cream Cheese Bread or That Name is Too long!” →

Karen Schmautz7 Comments