Grilled Coconut-Glazed Corn

As you know I'm a sucker for anything coconut...

Take ordinary corn on the cob and add a coconut glaze with a smoky grilled flavor...so good.

Getting their grill on...

Coconut Grilled Corn

adapted from Eater's Digest

Printable Recipe

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 tbs. light brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. salt
4 ears sweet corn, husked or husk stripped back and tied together to form handle

*The handle idea is cute in theory but mine burnt on the grill and flew everywhere so if you tie the husks back hang them off the grill so they don't burn or just take the husks off all together.

1. Combine coconut milk, sugar, bay leaf, and salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Let simmer gently until sugar dissolves, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste for sweetness, adding more sugar if necessary. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool to room temperature.

2. Preheat grill to high. When ready to cook, brush grill grate clean and apply thin coat of oil to grate. Place corn on hot grate; start basting with coconut milk mixture after a few minutes. Baste several times as it grills until nicely browned on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side, 8 to 12 minutes in all, turning with tongs.

3. Baste corn one final time, transfer to platter or plates, and serve.

My Green Diet Book Winners

And the 2 winners of the My Green Diet book by Mary Jolley chosen by http://www.random.org/ are:

JULI - "I love quinoa! This recipe sounds delish!! Thanks!"

LISA - "I see quinoa everywhere, read about it, am told to try it. Now I finally know what to do with it! I would love to incorporate more whole, natural foods into my family's meals, this book would help me do just that! Thanks for the opportunity."

Thanks everyone for participating in the giveaway and for your sweet comments! Enjoy your books!

Meatless Monday with Mary - Mexican Quinoa and a Giveaway...

Today, a friend I've known for years, Mary Jolley, is guest posting and will be sharing a new recipe with us all. Mary has a website called My Green Diet with lots of information and wholesome recipes. I know my blog doesn't exactly focus on nutritious recipes but we all need to indulge every once in a while and when you do...I'm your girl. But I've said it before...believe it or not in general we eat pretty healthy around our house and what I post is our occasional indulgence. I get bored easily and am always looking for new recipes to change things up to make healthy eating fun.

It's bathing suit season and heaven knows we all could be eating better so today I'm giving away 2 copies of her book below that have great recipes that are good for you! To enter leave a comment before tomorrow at noon June 29th, EST.

Also available on Amazon

                

Now here's Mary...

................................................................................

Thank you, Christy, for inviting me to contribute to you beautiful website, you do such a great job with the recipes. I am grateful for the chance to share one of my recipes with you.

I eat and advocate a whole foods plant based diet. I do my best to eliminate meat, dairy and sugar and instead focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. While I was researching The Green Diet, I grew passionate about sharing healthy eating habits with others. I love to help people take their next step toward eating Greener, whether that is Meatless Monday or cutting out candy. The summer is a great time to enjoy fresh produce, as many delicious varieties are in season. This Mexican Quinoa Salad is great to make for a picnic or outdoor party because it will hold up well in the heat.

Mexican Quinoa Salad (Vegan)
by Mary Jolley at http://www.mygreendiet.com/

1 cup quinoa, washed and drained (I used 1/2 cup red quinoa and 1/2 cup white quinoa)
2 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 2 fresh limes (3 if they are small)
3/4 tsp cumin
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
5 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped (not shown in the picture)
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the quinoa and add to a saucepan with the water, cover, bring to boil and reduce to simmer - cook until all water is absorbed. 10-15 min. Turn off the heat and leave it alone for 10-15 minutes. Remove lid, fluff with a fork and pour into a large bowl. Add black beans, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and avocado.

Separately, whisk together extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, cumin and red pepper flakes. Add salt and pepper.

Toss dressing with quinoa mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

This salad can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Serves 2-4.

*Quinoa can be found at your local grocery store by the rice or by the oatmeal/grains.

Mary Jolley
http://www.mygreendiet.com/

Healthy Strawberry Lemon Smoothie

 Every night after my kids are finally in bed I ask The Man Who Ate Everything the same question...

.....get your mind out of the gutter...

The question is.....

"Honey, do you want a smoothie?"

We literally drink this smoothie every night when we are trying to eat healthy to satisfy our sweet tooth. If you've been over to my house past 8:00 pm you've probably been offered one. You've probably been surprised how such a simple smoothie could be so good. I was. It's really refreshing and only a mere 45 calories. My sister-in-law Kim introduced us to it and we've been making it every since.

On a side note, if you are anything like me and have a Digital SLR and still feel like you don't know anything about it then try this fun tutorial on how to take the above picture of the strawberry in water. I've tried to read my manual and photography tips online when I have time...which is never...but this little project took all of five minutes. My 5 year old helped me drop the strawberry until he got bored and I did it myself. I saw this originally at the Idea Room but the tutorial is here.

It's actually an HCG diet friendly smoothie but is great if you aren't on the diet. My drink here is actually a little melted...it usually is more icy.

Strawberry Lemon Smoothie

Source: Kim Denney

1 handful of strawberries, stems cut off

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1-2 handfuls of ice (about 3/4 cup)

water (about 3/4 cup)

2 packets of Truvia (all natural sweetener that can be found by the regular white sugar at the store)

Here's how I do it: I grab a handful of strawberries (as many as I can fit in my little hand). I wash them and then cut off the stems and throw them in the blender (Kim actually uses frozen strawberries). I juice half of a lemon into the blender. I add 2 packets of Truvia. Truvia comes from the Stevia plant and is and calorie free. You could substitute 2 teaspoons of white sugar here but it will have more calories. Then I add water until it almost covers the strawberries. I add 1-2 handfuls of ice. Adjust water and ice to your preferences on thickness and sweetness. Blend well. I double this if making it for my husband too.

Sugar Cookie Bars

I love getting recipes from readers. I feel like if someone takes the time to email you a recipe, they must really love it. I have acquired quite a few recipes over the last couple of months and I'm determined to try all of them as time and my thighs allow it. BreeAnn emailed me this a while ago and I finally tried them and loved them. It seems like I've seen them bouncing across the food blogs a ton just recently so I may not be the first but here's my go at them. They are dangerously easy and great for holiday themed cookies or baby showers with half of the effort! No rolling and frosting individual cookies.

Someone couldn't wait for me to chill these and dug right in...

They should be less work although my kids were being high maintenance and wanted half yellow, half pink...and half normal icing, half almond flavored frosting. I actually preferred the almond frosting.

Sugar Cookie Bars

Source: BreeAnn Fankhauser

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and stir with a whisk to combine. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread on a greased baking sheet (use a 13 x 18 pan). Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean (they won't look done so do the toothpick test). Cool completely and frost.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 of an 8 oz block) softened
1 tsp vanilla (I used almond extract for half of the frosting)
¼ tsp salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
food coloring (if desired)

For frosting combine butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined, then add milk a little at a time and mix until smooth and spreading consistency. You may not need all the milk! Spread over cooled cookie bars.

Rice Pudding

Happy Father's Day! Hopefully today you guys are spending time celebrating the men in your life.

I know what you are thinking...rice pudding? I had never heard of it until I married my husband. This rice pudding is a family recipe that has been around for years. It was a recipe from my husband's great-grandmother who always made it for breakfast not dessert although traditionally people now eat it as dessert. It's good cold or hot.

In fact a couple of interesting food choices surfaced when we were first married. John loves Grape Nuts with straight cream on them...something his mom grew up doing. When we didn't have fresh cream he would put a generous shot of whipped cream out of the can on top of his cold cereal. I about gagged the first time I saw him eat chicken livers and smelly oysters. It doesn't stop there. John's dad enjoys peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches. I love peanut butter anything but even I have my limits!

So to the fathers in my life...today enjoy a chicken liver, peanut butter Miracle whip sandwich doused in cream. You deserve it!

And although you may not appreciate this recipe...

our family does...

and today is all about families.

Rice Pudding

from Sheri Denney

2 cups rice

4 cups water

1/2 tsp. salt

Cook the rice first. Start boiling the water and add rice and salt. Cover with a lid and lower the heat to simmer (low) for about 15-20 minutes.

4 cups milk

1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/3 cups sugar

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups raisins

In a large pan, scald the milks together. To scald milk turn heat to medium high and watch really close. As soon as the milk starts to look a little foamy like it's getting ready to boil (don't let it boil), it's scalded. Be very careful not to burn it. Remove from heat to keep it from boiling.

Add all of the sugar, salt, and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Blend well. Stir into the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat until thicker and smooth.

Add pre-cooked rice; reheat to a full boil. Remove from heat. Pour a little of the hot mixture (1/2 cup) into the beaten eggs while stirring rapidly. This warms the eggs ups so that when you add them to the rice mixture they don't scramble. Return egg mixture to hot milk and rice. Stir until thickened (about a minute or two). Stir in raisins, spices, and vanilla. It will thicken the longer it sits.

Dad Food: Creamy Peanut Butter Ice Cream...

I GIVE UP! It's impossible to photograph ice cream in Florida. I literally had this ice cream outside for 20 seconds and it turned into this!

This peanut butter ice cream is my brother-in-law Ryan's favorite and he introduced it to us a couple of years ago and we've been making it ever since. This is my favorite ice cream. I'm all about texture and this is the creamiest ice cream you will ever eat. It's so easy and most likely you will have all the ingredients on hand. What? You don't always have a pint of cream in your fridge like me?

I used to think that every ice cream recipe I made would be fabulous because I first started making homemade ice cream with this recipe and my Oreo Cheesecake ice cream. Over the years I've been making other ice cream recipes and they have suffered greatly in comparison. So I am sticking with these tried and true recipes. This recipe is just for plain peanut butter ice cream but I had a couple (more like 20) extra peanut butter cups lying around from my peanut butter cup trifle (see honey I told you I would find them a home) so I threw some in to make it more decadent.

Creamy Peanut Butter Ice Cream

from the Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow (a couple of minutes). Set aside.

Bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and beat in the peanut butter. Pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the peanut butter custard to cool slightly. Stir in the cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard then freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturers instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Add 1 cup of crumbled peanut butter cups to the machine when the ice cream is semifrozen. Allow the machine to mix in the candy.

Dad Food: Southwest Burger

Why does it seem like all dads like nuts, butter pecan ice cream, and spicy food?

Okay maybe that's just our dads.

My friend Heidi told me this was one of the best burgers she's ever had. Those are big words to live up to...but they did. This burger has amazing flavor and the chipotle peppers give it some nice heat which my husband loves (remember those leftover chipotle peppers I told you to keep from the Roast Beef Hoagies). Then it's served with a Chipotle Lime Mayo. Oh wait...I have a confession...this is a turkey burger. Yes, I served a healthy turkey burger with loads and loads of Chipotle Lime Mayo and Queso Fresco cheese. I didn't have any beef...give me a break. I'm sure a beef burger gives it a little more oomph but if the turkey burger version was this good I can only imagine.

Southwest Burger

by OurBestBites

Burgers:
1 1/2 lbs ground chuck or ground sirloin (turkey burger is good too)
1 1/2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, cut up
1 1/2 T adobo sauce (from the chipotle chili can)
1/4 cup grated onion (I just minced mine with my food chopper)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Chipotle-lime Mayo:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp adobo sauce (from the canned chipotle chilis)
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

4-6 good quality buns
1 tomato, sliced
1-2 avocados, sliced
lettuce

optional: jack, cotija, or queso fresco cheese (or your favorite sliced cheese)

To make the mayo, just put ingredients in a small bowl and mix together. Place in the fridge until ready to use. You can also make this ahead of time.

Gently crumble meat into a bowl. Add the other ingredients and gently work together. They give a great tip that if you overwork it, the meat gets a gross texture, so just mix until it is worked through.

Then divide into 4 patties (or 6 small patties) and place on your preferred cooking surface, be it grill, indoor grill, or skillet.

In the last few minutes of grilling, add your cheese. When done, remove from grill and let cool for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, toast your buns and lather the prepared mayo on both sides. Then place burger on bun, add avocado, tomato, and lettuce and eat away into bliss!

Dad Food: Roast Beef and Gorgonzola Hoagies

I thought I would kick off this week with some Dad food for Father's Day coming up. Here's the story on this sandwich...the girl who came up with this recipe, Melissa Stadler, grew up in my Arizona hometown and was friends with my older sister. She created the recipe for the Pillsbury Bake-Off this year. This is a super easy recipe and %100 of the people who reviewed the recipe said they would make it again. It's a hot hoagie topped with tender roast beef, onions, and Gorgonzola cheese then dipped in a broth. The adobo chiles and lime add just the right amount of flavor in the sauce. These were not spicy like I was anticipating so my kids loved them.

Roast Beef and Gorgonzola Hoagies

by Melissa Stadler at Pillsbury

Printable Recipe

2 cans (11 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crusty French loaf (I just bought fresh hoagies from my bakery)

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

1 can (14 oz) beef broth

1 1/2 lb cooked roast beef (from deli), thinly sliced
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (from 7-oz can), diced
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (4 oz)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place both loaves of dough, seam sides down and 3 inches apart, on large cookie sheet. Using sharp knife, cut 4 or 5 diagonal slashes (1/2 inch deep) on top of each loaf. Bake 22 to 26 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat (I added less butter and oil here). Add onion; cook 15 to 18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in broth and beef; cook 4 minutes. (I like to break up the beef here so it's not in big slices of beef) Remove from heat.

3. In small bowl, mix mayonnaise, chipotle chiles, lime juice and pepper. (Save your extra chipotle chilies for a recipe later this week!)

4. When bread is done baking, set oven control to broil. Cut each loaf in half horizontally, cutting to but not completely through one long side; place cut sides up on cookie sheet. Spread 1/2 cup mayonnaise mixture over cut sides of each loaf. Using slotted spoon, remove beef and onion from broth mixture, reserving broth mixture. Top each loaf with half of the beef and onion; top with cheese.

5. Broil with tops 6 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted. Cut each sandwich into 3 pieces. If desired, skim fat from broth mixture and serve broth with sandwiches for dipping.

6. Makes 6 sandwiches.

Monkey Squares

Bananas are a hot commodity in my house. My husband snags them when they're still green and freezes them for his protein shakes. Something I don't really understand but I'm sure he's explained to me the scientific reason why underipe bananas are better for his workout shakes. Then there's my little baby Wes who eats one for breakfast every morning.

This week Wes boycotted bananas and the bananas sitting on my counter were too ripe for John's muscles so I found myself looking at a bunch of overipe bananas getting more ripe by the minute. My usual go-to is my favorite Banana Bread. Ohhh, it's good. But today I made these Monkey Squares. It's supermoist sour cream banana squares topped with a browned butter frosting. I found the recipe from a comment from a reader on another blog. I love finding recipes in obscure places. It's a family favorite recipe...my favorite kind of recipe.

This picture does not do them justice. I LOVED them. They are good warm, cold, and room temperature. Browned butter anything gets me everytime. Make these...

Monkey Squares

from TheWelcomeMat 

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool and frost with Browned Butter Frosting (recipe below).

Banana bread option: instead of spreading into jelly roll pan, this recipe will make about two regular loaves of banana bread, or about four small loaves. Regular loaves bake about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Small loaves will bake about 25 minutes on 350.

Browned Butter Frosting

½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it boiling, and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread.

Poppy Seed Chicken

The type of food most searched for on this blog is "Casseroles" which tells me that you are just like me in the fact that sometimes you just need an easy casserole to feed the troops and call it good. Now I know that casseroles aren't fancy but sometimes you just have to get 'er done.

I'll be honest...some days I'm lucky if I get a shower and others I'm more together and want to put a little more effort into dinner. So I've included the basic poppy seed chicken recipe which by itself is awesome...and then additional ingredients I like to add to make it a little bit more fantastic when I have the time. Oh yeah, and kids love this which makes for a tantrum free dinner table.

Poppy Seed Chicken

base of recipe adapted from Allrecipes

Printable Recipe

5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 cup sour cream

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 T poppy seeds

Additional Ingredients to make it fancy:

1 tsp Worchestire sauce

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp minced garlic

1 T lemon juice

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil raw chicken breasts with salt and pepper until done. I like to boil it with half an onion cut into large chunks to give it more flavor. Let chicken cool slightly and cut into one inch cubes. Place cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish.

Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. If you wish to add the additional flavorings stir in the worchestire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Pour over the chicken.

In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve plain or over rice. We like to eat it with steamed broccoli and we mix it all together.

Chocolate Sauce Topping

Sorry I haven't posted...my husband and I were at the Miami Dolphin's annual fishing tournament weekend. I've been busy NOT catching fish and NOT winning a personal cooking class with Paula Deen. Yep, the fishing was S ~L~O ~W. Eight hours on a boat and about four tiny fish to show for it.

There was a silent auction at one of the parties and one of the items being bid on was a personal cooking class with Paula. I bid on it and was outbid by a girl who was hovering over the list giving dirty looks to anyone who she thought might bid. As I went to bid again she threatened, "Just so you know, I will bid really high. My mom really loves Paula Deen."

I really should have been a little more aggressive dangit. I mean it's not my mom that loves Paula, I love Paula! It makes me sick even now just thinking about it.

Anyway, I was really excited to make this Cake Batter ice cream but was disappointed when it ended up tasting only like vanilla. Thank goodness I made this chocolate sauce which saved it. This recipe was emailed to me by one of my husband's friends that he grew up with, Andria. She said I had to have this recipe and I'm so grateful she gave it to me. She likes to use it in crepes or for dipping strawberries. I used it to top our ice cream here and then for an Eclair Cake just the other day. It's great by the spoonful too. Did I mention that my husband can't stand the taste of Hershey's chocolate syrup? So this will be replacing it with this sauce in any dish I make from now on...

Chocolate Sauce Topping

by Andria McQueen

1/4 cup cocoa

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir cocoa and sugar together well. In a saucepan combine milk, butter, salt, and vanilla. Stir in dry mix. Heat, stirring until it reaches a boil and is thick. You want it to coat the back of a spoon. If you want it to be thicker, for a crepe filling for example, boil it a little longer. I boiled mine for two minutes whisking constantly. It will still be thin once you are done with this step. Don't worry once you let it cool down a bit it will thicken. It will thicken a lot when chilled.
 
Makes around 1 cup of sauce.

The Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

How do you like your potatoes? Fried, baked, mashed, au gratin? Everyone in my family likes them different. Everytime I my husband to the grocery store with a list he comes home with the everything on the list plus at least one bag of chips. He can kill a bag of chips in a sitting. I, on the other hand, can take or leave chips. I don't HAVE to have them. French fries baby...that's my downfall. Whether it's Chick-Fil-A's waffle fries or McDonald's thin crispy fries...they find a way in my mouth. The ironic thing is that I'll never order them because I know how bad they are for you but somehow they disappear from my kid's Happy meals.

Our friends the Clarks have brought these over for dinner a couple of times and they are always a hit. These are actually a batch that they made. I wish this computer had a scratch 'n sniff button because these smelled incredible as I was taking the pictures. This is coming from someone who is not a huge fan of baked potatoes!

The Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

from The Clarks and found on allrecipes.com

4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour. You can just microwave the potatoes instead because it is way faster and they taste just as good. About three minutes per potato, just check for tenderness. Make sure to poke holes in the potatoes with a fork before microwaving so that they don't explode.

Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh so the potato maintains it's shape; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 the green onions, and milk (start adding 1/2 cup of milk but you may not need to add it all depending on the consistency you want. You don't want them too runny). Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.

Bake for another 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Poppyseed Bread from the not so Desperate Housewives

My mother-in-law Sheri has a large tight knit group of friends that have been together through the thick and thin of each other's lives. They remind me of the Desperate Housewives without the desperate part. Okay so the only resemblance to the Desperate Housewives is probably the fact that they all live by each other and know everything about each other. The women from Steel Magnolias would be a better fitting description.

These women have such a history together and know the in and outs of each other's family, kids, hobbies, work, fears, and loves. They've been together through babies, marriages, deaths, and even cancer. These women have been through it ALL and have been there to support each other along the way. They are all incredibly STRONG women with strong values and opinions. After marrying my husband they've now invested in me, my life, and my kids. They've taught me what it takes to be a good friend and I appreciate that.

There's something special bond between the women over there in Thornton that can't be fabricated. Whether it's camping out together for the Nordstrom opening or taking lunch to a friend that's having a bad day...they do it together.

Last time I was home I went to a bridal shower where once again they were all there supporting each other and I started eating this bread. Almost a loaf later shoved in my mouth, I stopped and had to find out who had made it. The butter and almond flavor is to die for. Our family friend Susie Powers made it and offered to give me the recipe. She said it's a staple at all of their functions. I laughed when she emailed me the recipe because she gave two of her friends credit for the recipe. They not only share lives...they even share recipes!

The best part of this bread is the crusty glazed top. Mmmm!

                    

Poppyseed Bread

by Karen Easdon and Martha McMullin

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 1/8 cups cooking oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 T. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp butter flavoring extract (or 1 1/2 tsp melted butter can be substituted)

Mix all together. Pour into greased and floured baking pans. Makes 6 small loaves or 2 large loaves. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes for large pans and less for smaller pans. If you have a dark metal pan make sure to bake it for less time at a lower temperature. I overdid this batch a little bit because I used a dark pan. I like the disposable foil bread pans the best.

Glaze:

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp butter flavor extract (or 1 1/2 tsp melted butter can be substituted)

Pour all ingredients into a small saucepan and let cook on stove on medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove bread from pans and pour glaze over warm bread. Use knife or spatula to bring the glaze that has run off up and over the warm bread until it stays on.