Fruit Based | Mommie Cooks!

Peach Pistachio Praline Trifle

August 23, 2011 By Julie 19 Comments

August is a month I look forward to for more reasons than one. Aside from sending the kiddos back to school (love ya boys but I can’t argue with education), we enjoy the much anticipated arrival of fresh, local peaches. Let me reassure that living in the South, you quickly learn to appreciate a tasty stone fruit. In recent years Georgia and South Carolina have pitted themselves against each other, both claiming that they produce the better yield. All I can say to that is; you won’t see this mama taking sides. I’ve had peaches from both ends of the border and can safely declare that both are winners in their own rite. But if you decide you still want to perform a bit of your own research on the subject, the New York Times put out an interesting article highlighting their take on the situation. I also found a fun video from the CBS Early Show discussing the heated rivalry.

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Chocolate Cherry Cinnamon Buns

May 24, 2011 By Julie 34 Comments

Who among us loves a good ol’ fashioned cinnamon bun? How about chocolate? Or maybe even chocolate covered cherries? If that was you that just shoved your significant other out of the way (in a very loving manner of course) to get a better look at this confection, then this is your lucky day. Meet the chocolate cherry cinnamon bun. Not for the faint of heart, this bakery frontrunner combines all the classics into one swirled delight.

I’ve wanted to try my hands at cinnamon rolls for sometime now, but if you know me at all, then you know I wasn’t about to do it up without a twist. When Oregon Fruit decided to share a few containers of their wonderful canned harvest with me, I garnered the inspiration I needed. I would add fruit; cherries to be exact. The whole experiment still felt a bit “been there done that” to me though, so I did what I always do when I need to kick it up a notch. I added chocolate. You can thank me after you take your first bite. Trust me on this one.

Time to make the doughnuts. Or should I say the cinnamon buns.

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Grandma’s Creamy Lemon Pie with Boysenberry Sauce – A guest post with Lyndsay from Pinch of Yum

April 20, 2011 By Julie 24 Comments

Lyndsay is one of my favorite food bloggers. I’ve been following her recipes for awhile now. She always seems to know exactly what I’m in the mood for and then she seals the deal with gorgeous shots that would make anyone crave a bit of what she’s just created. If you don’t believe me, check out this incredible lemon pie. And when you’re finished oohing and ahhing, head over to Lyndsay’s blog; Pinch of Yum for more taste tantalizing treats.

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Calling all lemon lovers! And all non-lemon lovers! It really doesn’t matter what your thoughts are on lemon desserts, because this is a dessert in a league entirely of its own.

I will be the first to admit that I typically don’t like lemon-y sweets. Lemon bars, lemon pies, lemon curd? None of it really appeals to me. However, I absolutely love this pie. That’s my testimonial for all the non-lemon lovers . Just give it a try. I dare you not to like it.

And why wouldn’t you try it, since you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now?

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Family Friendly Fridays: Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

March 25, 2011 By Julie 39 Comments

I was supposed to be making a tart with my brand new tart pan. At least that was the original intention. In the end it turned out more like a bar made in a tart pan. This is the second time that my attempts at “tart creation” have been thwarted. The first time involved rhubarb and wouldn’t you guess, cream cheese. It was a sloppy finish and in the end I had to mix the whole concoction together, throw it in a pie crust and freeze it. The pie was delicious, but it definitely didn’t qualify for tart status. I swear, one of these days I’m going to set out to make a tart and succeed. Until that day comes though, this bar definitely suffices and serves to calm my ever nagging sweet tooth.

Think cookie crust with just a hint of lemon zest meets smooth as silk almondy cream cheese middle and hug it all together with a slightly tart red raspberry sauce that serves to balance the overall sweetness of the confection. Combine this melody of flavors and what do you have? One harmoniously empty plate, that’s what.

I’m assuming you can’t get to the kitchen fast enough to whip a plate up for yourself, so let me end the suspense and show you how it’s done.

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Kick Butt Apple Pie and a Lesson in Latticing

November 22, 2010 By Julie 40 Comments

Saturday I had the privilege of meeting up with two fellow foodies who’s blogs I love and admire. I headed up to Childress Vineyards in Lexington NC for an afternoon of wine, food, and conversation with Prerna from Indian Simmer and Rebbeca from Chow and Chatter. The wine was amazing and the conversation even better. There is just something so gratifying (and cool!) about meeting up with the people of the blogs you follow. Putting a face to a name always makes it more personal and reminds me of one of the main reasons I started blogging in the first place. Community. There are so many incredibly talented and amazing bloggers out there. Meeting other bloggers through conferences and outside meet-ups has quickly become one of my favorite aspects of blogging. Thanks for a great afternoon ladies!

But, of course, the reason we’re all here milling around is for the recipe of the day. And I definitely have a good one. Because in case you need reminding, Thanksgiving is coming. And with Thanksgiving comes eating. Lots and lots of eating. And when you’re done eating your delicious feast, you’re going to need a pie. A kick butt good pie. This is that pie. I’ve even gone so far as to put myself out there for my first ever vlog on how to easily lattice a pie. I can almost hear my mom now… “put on some make up and brush your hair! Look pretty for goodness sake!” Ok mom, I didn’t get all dolled up for my opening show, but I still did a pretty decent job of showing how to lattice a pie.

And in a first ever Mommie Cooks blunder, I completely and totally forgot to take a picture of the ingredients for the inside of the pie. I’m not sure what happened. Probably a combination of sleep deprivation, lack of caffeine and three kids talking to me simultaneously as I attempt to do pretty much anything. I did manage to snap a picture of the dough ingredients, so I at least got half there. Let’s bake a pie.
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Caramel Apple Bread Bake with Brandy Cream Sauce

September 29, 2010 By Julie 36 Comments

Do you ever have one of those days? You know the one; you wake up late, rush around to get everyone ready for school, forget to eat breakfast yourself, get everyone strapped into their car seats, go back in to the house to grab the keys….. only they’re nowhere to be found. So, trying not to panic you start slowly looking around the house in all the hiding spots that come to mind. When no keys turn up and you’re now officially going to be late to school drop off, you begin to get a little more frantic. You start running around the house, looking in the same places three or four more times, hoping you just weren’t paying attention the first time, breaking a fingernail and stubbing your toe along the way. You never do find the the keys and you end up getting your kids out of the car, heading back into the house, and declaring that some days deserve a do over.

That was my day today. And no, I still haven’t found the keys, so if anyone has any other ideas for where to look, I’m all ears. The upside to being trapped at home, is the ability to cook up a tasty dessert. And that’s exactly what we did. Foodbuzz is currently having a competition to see who can make the best dish using Nature’s Pride bread. Everyone receives a free coupon for a loaf of bread and the winning recipes receive a paid trip to San Francisco to show off their creation at the Food Buzz festival. Now that’s my kind of prize!

When thinking about what I could put together using bread, the first thing that came to mind was a dessert. It’s apple season and, for me, nothing goes better with apples than caramel. Pair it with some bread and a cream sauce and you’ve got one killer dessert for the masses. I can say that this dish would be tasty with a scoop of ice cream as well, but seeing as it’s fall now, I figured the brandy cream sauce would warm the palate a bit better than a cold scoop of ice cream. Now that I’ve sufficiently gotten your mouth watering, let’s get started!
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