Fruit Pizza Like Never Before

For those of you not blessed enough to be here for our Father's Day/Baby Girl's 3rd Birthday Bash, you seriously missed out on some good treats.

If you think I'm tooting my own horn too loudly, don't.  I copied the recipe from this blog, almost to a T.  With just a tiny (but I think excellently yummy) tweak.

And lest you think I'm overdoing it with the praise for this recipe, Blake has requested the same fresh peach pie for his birthday dessert every single year since I began dating it (and even before that, but it was his mom who made it back then).  He has now requested that I switch it up and make this instead.  That is huge, friends.

In case you're too lazy to click the link, here is the recipe:

Sugar Cookie Crust*

1/2 C unsalted butter
3/4 C sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Cream butter for one minute in a large bowl or stand mixer, then add sugar on medium speed and beat until fluffy and light in color.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Scrape sides as needed.

In separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 different parts.  Once completely combined, cover the dough tightly and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (mine wasn't very firm by this time, so I left it for about 1 hour) and up to one day.  Without chilling, the dough may spread over the sides of the pan in the oven.

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 12-inch pizza pan, or line a baking stone with parchment paper.  Remove chilled dough and press onto the pan in an even flat circle.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned.  Over-baking will make a hard crust.  Allow crust to cool completely before decorating.

*You might be thinking you already have a yummy sugar cookie recipe.  You probably do.  But, it's not like this one.  The cornstarch makes it deliciously chewy and perfectly suited as a crust.  YOU MUST use this cookie recipe when you make this fruit pizza!!!!

Topping

8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 C. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 C. powdered sugar
1-2 T milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Assorted fruit

In a medium bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the powdered sugar and 1 T milk.  Beat for 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla and 1 more T milk, if needed.  Here's where I got crazy--I added in 4-5 drops of Wild Orange essential oil.  It was really subtle, but amazing.  Beat for 1 minute.
Spread over the cooled sugar cookie crust and decorate with fruit.

It's really helpful to have your sister there to help with the fruit decorating.  She has excellent ideas on how to make it beautiful, is fun to talk to, and really reduces the time when you're making three of these at once.

Korean Beef-wrapped Asparagus

When I posted this photo on Facebook, it caught a few eyes.  And taste buds.  This recipe is from the book Against All Grains, it's a paleo diet cookbook, so feel free to substitute "normal" ingredients for the ones that are different, if you don't have them on hand.

1 lb. lean flank steak
3 T coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1 T unsweetened pineapple juice
1 T sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. fish sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1/8 tsp. dried red pepper
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
25 stalks asparagus, trimmed
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. sesame seeds

Place the steak in the freezer for 45 minutes to make it easier to slice (do not skip this step!).

Meanwhile, make the marinade.  Place the coconut amino, pineapple juice, sesame oil, garlic, honey fish sauce, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a bowl.  Mix well, and set aside.

Remove the steak from the freezer, then cut across the grain into very thin strips, about 1/8-inch thick.

Place the steak in a dish, pour the marinade over it, and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat.

Rub the olive oil over the asparagus and wrap each stalk with a strip of beef.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sesame seeds.  Grill the beef-wrapped asparagus for about 6 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure even cooking.

I ended up grilling mine on my George Foreman because I have really crappy knives and wasn't able to slice my beef thin enough, therefore was not confident the beef would stay wrapped around the asparagus.  It worked out completely fine, but I do think it would have tasted even yummier grilled on a grill.

Sweet Potato & Quinoa Chili

I made this tonight and it got rave reviews from the grown ups and mixed reviews from the kids.  I totally plan on making it again though, because I loved it.

1 T olive oil

1 onion, diced

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can tomato paste

1 1/2 T chili powder

1 T cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

dash garlic powder

dash onion powder

salt, to taste

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

4 C. broth or water

1 large sweet potato, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 C. uncooked quinoa

In large pot, heat oil.  Saute onions until starting to brown.  Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Next add tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add tomatoes, beans, broth, and sweet potatoes.  Stir to combine, then add quinoa.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover with the lid slightly off, then cook for 40 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and the sweet potatoes are as soft as you like them.  Add salt to taste and feel free to add more water if it's too thick.

I got this from this website.  As I said, we really liked it, but I did add at least a cup of extra water and I cooked it longer because the sweet potatoes weren't as soft as I wanted them.

Cherry Coconut Bars

• This is one of Dad's favorite Christmas goodies that his mom used to make.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• FILLING:
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup quartered maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut

Directions

• Combine flour and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Press into a lightly greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. 
• For filling, in a small bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the egg mixture and mix well. Stir in walnuts, cherries and coconut. Spread over crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen.

Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cherry-coconut-bars/print#ixzz3MfAqMFlU

Kolach Dough from Dad's Aunt Emily

1 c evaporated milk
1 1/2 c warm milk
6 Tb shortening
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 pkg yeast dissolved in warm water
1 Tb salt
5 1/2 c flour or more

I have this a copy of this recipe in your dad's Aunt Emily's handwriting.  Kathy added the following:

Kolache dough needs 7 cups of flour.
Let dough rise for 70 minutes. Cut into circles, let rise about 5-10 min, cook at 400 F for 18 min.

I don't know if any of you remember eating these; Aunt Emily put a prune filling in some and I can't remember what else she used.  They are quite tasty.  The circles are maybe 2 inches in diameter.

Enjoy and feel your roots!

Banana Blueberry Flax Muffins

Healthy and yummy!

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
2/3 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. ground flaxseeds
3/4 C. wheat bran
1 C. mashed over-ripe bananas (2 large)
1 C unsweetened almond (or other) milk + 1 T lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C oil (I used coconut)
1 C blueberries, frozen or fresh

Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl.  In another bowl thoroughly blend eggs and brown sugar.  Add in flax, wheat bran, bananas, milk, vanilla, and oil.  Blend again.  Mix in dry ingredients, just until combined.  Fold in berries.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1  1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour ( I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini, I used the smallest side of my grater b/c I like it small.  ( I did not really measure this. I used 1 med zuch.)
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Place grated zucchini in a strainer and drain as much liquid off as you can. Set aside.

Cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Blend well. In a separate bowl, mixdry ingredients together. Mix dry ingredients into the butter mixture well. Add grated zucchini, and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin pan lined with paper liners or greased well. Bake at 325 degrees F  oven for 18-20 minutes.  Makes 24 muffins.

*I made these last year and they were so rich and moist that I made them again this year.  **WARNING:  They are more like a dessert than a muffin.