I made 2 lbs of candied pecans to serve throughout the week with coffee and tea. 2 lbs of candied pecans only made it until Tuesday...
Sugar Coated Pecans (Link to original recipe)
Ingredients
2 egg whites
2 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Pour in the sugar mixture bit by bit while stirring until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.
MONDAY
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Link to original recipe here)
I talk about these all the time. I have a bit of an obsession with chocolate and absolutely love these!
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine baking soda, flour and salt and stir into batter. Stir in chocolate chips and drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10-14 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.
TUESDAY
Cheesecake!!! I was so excited to serve it and I was so excited about how easy it was that I never took a picture!!! I was at Costco and there was a sales booth with a gentleman selling various cheesecakes. I chose the 16 slice cheesecake with Pineapple, Blueberry, Strawberry and Cherry flavors. The cheesecake was so big that we were able to serve it twice! Once for dessert and then the following day I cut it up into bite-size pieces to serve with coffee and tea.
WEDNESDAY
I decided to throw in a low-calorie, light dessert. We prepared such heavy breakfasts and dinners that I didn't want to send all of my relatives into cardiac arrest. After all, we were in Deep Creek. And one of my close doctor friends was recently sent to Deep Creek for her "Rural Physician Rotation"... I'm sure all the doctors have a full set of teeth. But I wasn't willing to find out.
So, I brought some Angel Food cake mix and a couple cans of crushed pineapple.
Pineapple Angel Food Cake (Link to original recipe here)
Ingredients
16 oz Box of Angel Food Cake Mix
20 oz can of crushed pineapple
Directions
1) Open the box of Angel Food Cake Mixe
2) Open the can of crushed pineapple
3) Mix and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
And that's it!! You can serve it with whipped cream or ice cream if you want. We served it plain and it was just as enjoyable. By the time dessert rolled around, I just wasn't ready to get all complicated in the kitchen!!
THURSDAY
Thursday was originally scheduled to be Oreos night. But I got a wild hair up my derrier and started peeling and cutting apples for an Apple Crisp. My Aunt Liz jumped right in and helped me assemble them early in the afternoon so we could set them to bake during dinner. Since Aunt Liz helped me out, I also decided to make a couple bags of the Ghirardelli brownies from Costco - but with a secret ingredient!!
And while we were working, my older brother whipped out a box of Rice Krispies and a bag of marshmallows and made Rice Krispie Treats. They were gone before I could even find my camera. To say my family has a sweet tooth would be a gross understatement...
Apple Crisp (Link to original recipe here)
We cut the butter and sugar and had a delicious result. See the link above for the full dessert directions!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour (We didn't have any flour so we skipped this! Our oats burnt a tiny bit and we had to pick them off. I recommend using flour!!)
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly.
4. Pour apple slices into pan and cover with the crumb mixture.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender.
And the brownies!! OOOOOOHHHH the brownies. I will dream of these often until I make them again. I made them per the box directions but instead of vegetable oil, I used my newly bought Coconut Oil. I have never made anything with coconut oil before but I am now completely sold!
We served both with vanilla ice cream.
THURSDAY
Thursday was my niece's birthday! So we didn't have to worry about dessert. It arrived as a gift from my crazy Uncle Bernie. He's the best!!
Earlier in our trip I had recounted a story to Uncle Bernie that is permanently etched in my memory. When I was about 9 and my little brother was 5, we arrived to Uncle Bernie's house in Port Hood, Nova Scotia. A few minutes after we arrived Bernie told us, "Hey Michael and Lisa, run out to the fridge and pick one. You get one all to yourself and you don't have to share with anyone." We ran out to the fridge and opened it up. Inside were two huge cakes: One chocolate (obviously meant for me) and one vanilla and strawberry (obviously for my little brother). We couldn't beLIEVE it!!! We pulled out the cakes, grabbed some forks and went to town. My mother was of course mortified and made us stop about a quarter of the way into our cakes. We were done anyway though and we ran outside to play and work off all that sugar. Best day of my life!!!
It never occured to us that he bought the cakes to serve to everyone. We were convinced that he purchased each cake with us in mind. Uncle Bernie just has a way about him that makes everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside!!
When I told this story to Bernie, he just looked at me and said "Oh really? I don't even remember that. But I'm sure glad I did it!"
Leah was sweet enough to share her cake with us. I was definitely not that nice when I was 8 ;)
Links to other meals from the week
Breakfasts
Lunches
Dinners
Snacks
Menu and Grocery Store Lists
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