Take Along S'mores

A wonderful way to start off the weekend is by taking in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

MGG and I love the Bowl.  We try and go two, three, sometime four times each season.  Last night was our first adventure this season, and what a beginning to what we hope is a great summer filled with great music.  

Last night's program was call Frozen Planet.   It's a co-production of the BBC and Discovery Channel.  A wonderful film of the two polar regions, the film's debut and and a live orchestra playing the accompanying music.  The composer, George Fenton, conducted the orchestra.  The film was stunning.  Beautiful scenery, and wonderful antics mixed with harsh reality of the animals that live in the regions.  

See the tiny Hollywood sign way up in the right?  Very cool.  So a major part of the fun in going to the Bowl, is in taking a picnic and some wine to have before the concert.  Since it was Friday night and we had to go right after work MGG ordered us two hot meals from Zach's Italian Cafe to take along with us.  Another of my favorite places to eat!  Wonderful Italian food and a restaurant that is set up in an old bungalow house.  

Since I didn't have time to cook, I decided I'd love to at least make us dessert.  So I came up with this wonderful dessert in a jar called Take Along S'mores!  It's so easy to transport since the dessert is in two 8oz mason jars.  I just love that!  And, who doesn't love s'mores?  A favorite of mine since childhood, this dessert has all the flavors but using slightly modified ingredients from the original.  Perfect for the Bowl, a picnic, or even to take a treat for work!

My s'mores consist of crumbled Soft Paws (Teddy Grahams) for the graham cracker flavor, Chocolate Fudge pudding (instead of a chocolate bar), and marshmallow fluff (for the roasted marshmallows).  All layered in a cute little mason jar!

I hope you will try these soon.  What is your favorite dessert in a mason jar?

Take Along S'mores
serves 2

2 (8 oz) canning jars with lids
1 (.4 oz) package of sugar-free Chocolate Fudge instant pudding, prepared according to package directions and chilled
2 Teddy Graham soft paws, crumbled
4 T Marshmallow Fluff
2 T mini marshmallows

Prepare the pudding according to package directions ahead of time, chill in medium bowl until set.

To assemble your jars begin with placing 1/4 of the crumbled graham crackers soft paws in the bottom.  Follow with a layer of pudding, followed by 2 Tbsp of Marshmallow Fluff. Repeat with another layer of Soft Paws and pudding.  The jar should be almost full.

Top with mini marshmallows, place on lid and seal.  Keep in the refrigerator until ready to take with you!  

Strawberry Angel Cake

Did everyone have a wonderful 4th of July?

We had a beautiful one, but I'm tired now.  Who thought of putting a holiday in the middle of the week anyway?  Don't get me wrong.  I love the work 2 days of 1 day and work 2 days.  I think I could get used to that...but not when that one day off is a late nighter....watching fireworks and all!  We had a nice time grilling and swimming, then going over to one of the studio back-lots for a fireworks show.  Lots of fun!  How did you all celebrate?  I'd love you to share your stories.

On to today's post.  This one is for all those that are experiencing HOT HOT weather right now.  During the summer months I try to keep the oven off as much as possible.  But we still want to have dessert on occasion.  One that is light, tasty, and uses fresh ingredients such as seasonal fruit.  This Strawberry Angel Cake is just perfect for that!

I had in mind to make a favorite cake of mine called Angel Lush Cake from Kraftrecipes.com which takes a angel food cake, cut into 3 layers, and filled in with vanilla pudding and pineapple and topped with strawberries..yum!

Then I was looking around on Cookinglight.com and found a similar idea for a Strawberry Angel Cake  which uses a strawberry and cream cheese mixture as the filling.  It was beautiful because it was actually "iced" with non-dairy whipped topping!  This stuck in my head.  It was so simple, but just beautiful looking.  The very next day, I got a post from Robyn of  Add a Pinch and it was her version of the Cooking Light Strawberry Angel Cake!  Robyn has a gorgeous site!!  You should all take a trip over there and say "hi!"  Anyway, Robyn made this even simpler  and I was overcome by the need to make this.

This is a no bake recipe, that you can put together in under 20 minutes.  Taking some help from a store bought angel food cake, you are halfway there!  Don't you just love those types of recipes? 

I went a step further with her version and modified it a bit by making it a little more carb friendly.  I bought a sugar-free angel food cake.  Tastes just as good as the sugar version, however, the carb count is dramatically reduced which helps with the diet you know!  

This turned out so light and refreshing, just perfect for a summer dessert.  A no-bake dessert, that would be perfect for the a holiday, or any other nice occasion.  It looks so pretty too!  Like you spent a lot of time, when in reality, you didn't!

Enjoy!!



Strawberry Angel Cake Recipe
adapted from Cooking Light

serves 10

1 pint strawberries 

1 T. sugar

1 prepared sugar-free angel food cake
1 (8-ounce) container lite Cool Whip

Hull and slice strawberries placing them in a bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon of Sugar and mix. Allow to sit for 10 min while you start to prepare the cake. Slice the cake in half and spread a layer of lite Cool Whip on the bottom layer of the cake.  Top with the sliced strawberries, being generous with you layer.  Place the top of the cake back on.  Taking your lite Cool Whip frost the top and sides of the cake.  Lightly cover and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to set up.  Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers

Happy 4th of July!

Time to celebrate America's independence.  How will you celebrate?  Do you have a big BBQ out back, go to someone house with some potluck food?  Have a great pool party, or just stay low key and watch some fireworks?

The 4th of July has always been special to my family.  Growing up we had neighborhood parades that I proudly participated in, my bike all decked out in flags, and red, white, and blue streamers.  So many memories!  Then we would always have a great afternoon grilling and eating great food, followed by going to the local firework display.  A long and super fun day!

These days, I sill like to celebrate.  Although I don't decorate my bike anymore (hehe!) I do love to break out all the patriotic dishes, and decorations and make piles of food!

Grilling on this holiday means "All American" food to us.  Hambugers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, and grilled corn all fit the bill.  So with that in mind I decided to make you a burger.  Not just any 'ole burger, but a stuffed burger.  Stuffed with Blue Cheese!  Oh my!  This is such a great combination for a burger.  I'm usually a purist with them, but not this combination.  It is excellent!  Truly!

Stuffed burgers are everywhere now on the internet.  They are easy to do.  You just make take the amount of meat that you would make in 1 whole burger and split in it half to form two thin patties, of the same size.  Place your stuffing ingredients, in this case Blue Cheese, on the bottom pattie, and top with the other one.  Crimp the edges to make a tight seal and your done!  A stuffed burger.  That's all there is to it, but the payoff is amazing.  Trust me!

 

Doesn't this look good?  Cheesy gooeyness!

So get out all your holiday decorations....

Try my Land of the Free Lemonade...

Try some killer side dishes

Grilled Romaine Salad 

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Grilled Greek Potato Salad

Heirloom Cherry Tomato and Grilled Corn Salad

AND....have a Blue Cheese Stuffed Burger!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers

serves 4

1 lb ground sirloin

salt & pepper

1/2 c crumbled blue cheese

Divide ground sirloin into 4 sections.  Take each section and form to equal sized patties.  Place 2-3 tablespoons of blue cheese crumbles and place it on one of the patties.  Top with the other pattie crimping edges to seal.

Cook on a preheated grill over medium heat.  Cook for 8 minutes total turning once halfway through.  Serve on toasted buns with your favorite burger toppings.