Kahlua Fruit Dip

Every single night after dinner, Mr. Devilish Dish says, "Good Dinner Mom."  Now before you start thinking he's sweet as sugar you should A) Be forced to pick up his socks and B) Know that he says this every night.  Even if we are eating take out or tv dinners.  Then he follows that up with, "What's for dessert?"  Sometimes this is annoying.  Especially after I have worked on a meal all day, literally from start to finish.  I'm talking homemade bread, homemade salad dressing, etc...I'm thinking, "After all that did you really think I stood over the stove and made dessert too???"  Don't get me wrong.  I love to make dessert.  That's probably my favorite thing to cook.  But sometimes I secretly want to say, "Go prowl around the freezer for a Nutty Buddy cuz there ain't no dessert."  Other times when he inquires about dessert I'm proud when I actually have something sweet I've made.  And this was one of those times.  This dip is AWESOME.  Especially if you are a fan of Kahlua.  Something about the coffee liqueur flavor really goes well with fresh fruit.  I served it with bananas, strawberries and some fancy little waffle cookies.  Try this one out next time someone asks you, "What's for dessert?"

This one is a keeper!

Only 4 ingredients...
Gotta love that!

Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Slowly add in Kahlua.

Add sugar...

And evaporated milk.

Chill until ready to serve.
Enjoy with fresh fruit and cookies
for dipping!

1-2-3 Orange-Pineapple Ice Cream

It's been darned hot around here lately.  I probably shouldn't complain because I think we just hit 100 for the first time this week.  Normally it's at least 97,000 degrees in Oklahoma in July.  It's been darned hot up in Nebraska where my friend Michaela lives too.  She has a food blog also, An Affair From The Heart.  Anyway, to beat the heat, Michaela decided to have a little virtual ice cream social over on her Facebook Page.  She invited other food bloggers to share their recipes for staying cool.  Lots of yummy cold drinks, frozen pies and popsicle recipes were passed around.  Since it is socially unacceptable to lick a computer screen, I decided that instead of staring at frozen treats all day on the computer, I would head in the kitchen and whip up a frozen dessert of my own to share with Michaela.  1-2-3 Orange-Pineapple Ice Cream is super simple.  Why 1-2-3???  It only takes three ingredients.  And goes together about that fast.  The only patience you'll need is waiting for it to freeze.  Enjoy, and be sure and visit Michaela's page for some additional ideas for keeping cool!

I Scream!
You Scream!
We All Scream for
1-2-3
Orange-Pineapple
ICE CREAM!

Only 1-2-3 ingredients.

Mix condensed milk and pineapple well.

Place in ice cream freezer.
Add orange soda.

Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Enjoy!
(Check out that SWANKY pineapple swizzle stick!)

Monkey Bread

A while back, I was letting my niece look through some of my recipes.  You know since she's my baking assistant.  She even says we're going to go on Cupcake Wars together.  But then I'll have to be her assistant.  We've even brainstormed what to name her cupcake shop.  She's a pretty ambitious 11-year old.  One of our favorite things to do together is bake.  She stumbled upon my recipe for Monkey Bread, and exclaimed, "Monkey Bread?  What's Monkey Bread?"  to which I answered, "Monkey Bread would be perfect for you because you are one."  And it was decided that our next baking adventure would be Monkey Bread.  There are ten gazillion variations out there, but this in my favorite.  Boiling the brown sugar and butter together creates a caramel-like texture and a toffee-like flavor.  Try it.  You'll go bananas for it!

You'll go bananas for it!

The Line-Up

Combine cinnamon and sugar.

Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and
roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Drop pieces into Bundt pan.

Melt butter and add brown sugar.
Boil together for 1 minute.

Pour over biscuit pieces.

Bake for 25 minutes.
Let cool before turning out of pan.

Grab your little monkeys
and enjoy!

BOMB POP 4th of July Tye-Dyed Shirt

I love the 4th of July.  Besides being a former Air Force Wife and loving this country and all those who have fought for it, it's a special holiday around here for many reasons.  For as long as I can remember, Mr. Devilish Dish has played in an annual July 4th golf tournament.  It lasts for three days.  Usually golf is about as exciting as watching bumpers rust on cars, but this tournament is different.  Normally golf tournaments are stiff and structured and quiet (golf clap) and basically BOR-ING.  But not this one.  It's lots of beer, hot dogs, loud music, bug spray and out and out FUN!  Folks that we see only once a year come from all over the state to play in it.  We have very good friends that come from the East Coast this time every year.  So it's a little like a mini-vacation for us.  We get to see lots of family and friends and have a good time.  I don't play. But when it comes to riding in the cart, drinking a cold one and having a good time, I'm in the Masters Flight.  (That would be golf lingo.)  Since it is all about staying cool and being casual and fun, I decided to try my hand at tye-dyeing a festive 4th of July shirt to wear!

Isn't this the cutest???
I'm feeling super patriotic already.

What you'll need for this project:
red dye
blue dye
(I found red & blue dye in a kit at
Michael's with the bottles, rubber bands
and gloves included...)
white 100% cotton shirt
(I got mine at Kohl's for $6.00!)
rubber bands
gloves
plastic wrap or bags
old sheet or something to lay under
your project

Get the shirt totally wet.
Then wring it out.

Scrunch it up and rubber band it so you have
three sections.
NOW:
Set up a place outside to do this.
Even if you think you are being super
careful, it is a little messy.
And you don't want your craft
space to look like a scene from Dexter.
(Don't tell Mr. Devilish Dish but I
tye-dyed part of the deck and patio table.)

Put on your gloves and mix up the
dye according to the manufacturer's directions.
Hopefully you will remember to put the gloves on.
Unlike me.  I put them back on for the pictures. 
I forgot at first...

Saturate the top section of your shirt with red dye.
If you like the look where some white is showing in there,
leave it all scrunched up.  If you want it more solid,
then spread out the shirt and get the dye on there.
Be sure and get the sleeves.
Stop dyeing when you get about an inch away from
the rubber band.  The dye will bleed to that point.
That's how you get the cool tye-dye look.

Do the same thing on the bottom half of the shirt
using the blue dye.  If I had it to do allover again,
I would have wrapped the white middle section
with plastic because I splashed on the white part
a little bit.  Don't panic if you do though.
IT WILL STILL LOOK GOOD!

Now wrap the sections carefully in plastic.
I used Saran Wrap.  Use a garbage bag or Wal-Mart sack or
whatever you have.  I placed it on a towel just in case.
So it wouldn't get on my counter.
Let it sit for 6-8 hours.
This allows the dye to set in.

See what I mean about the gloves?
I swear this is dye.  I did not just finish
acting out a scene from Criminal Minds.

When the 6-8 hours is up, rinse the shirt.
Rinse and rinse and rinse.
Until the water runs clear.
I left the white section wrapped and just rinsed
one end at a time.

Now put the shirt in the washing machine.
Set it for a large load, even though you are just
washing 1 shirt.  Leave the rubber bands on.
Use a small amount of detergent and wash it.
Wash in HOT water with a COLD water rinse.

When it has finished washing, remove the
rubber bands. Now you can dry your shirt.
I will continue to wash mine by itself,
just in case it decides to bleed.
Don't need my other laundry to be red, white and blue.
(NOTE: I took an old white cloth, with a bit of bleach
on it, and dabbed at some of the spots that were on
the white section of the shirt.  Then I washed the shirt
a second time in cold water, with a little bit of OxyClean.
It really lightened those spots and made the white section brighter!)

Firecracker Coleslaw

So I consider myself a pretty good cook.  My family considers me a great cook.  I'm really flattered they believe that, and even more so when they ask me for recipes.  My Aunt Sue has a cabin at the lake, and does a lot of casual entertaining there.  Since she gets together with her lake friends on a regular basis, she's always on the lookout for something new to wow her friends.  Just the other day my Mom said, "You know the 4th of July is coming up.  Aunt Sue and I need some new recipes."  At that point it was early in the morning, I was brain dead and not yet had my first Diet Coke of the day.  I mumbled, "I don't have any new material."  Later I decided I had better get on the ball and get some new summer-savvy recipes on the blog.  Firecracker Coleslaw is perfect for the 4th of July, not only because of the name, but because of the little kick of spice in the dressing.  It's a tangy, crisp slaw, that's ideal for hot weather.  Gotta go.  Gotta call Aunt Sue and tell her to check out this recipe!

Colorful and perfect for your summer cookouts!

The Line Up.  Don't worry.  It looks like a lot of
ingredients, but most of them get thrown together
as the dressing!

Whisk together vinegar, sugar, jalapeno juice, salt,
pepper, mustard seed, celery seed and olive oil.

Cut carrots, red bell pepper and red onion into
matchstick-sized pieces.  I'm lucky.  Mr. Devilish Dish
is really handy with a knife!

Combine veggies with coleslaw mix.  Pour dressing over
and stir well to combine.  Allow time to refrigerate.

Happy Fourth of July!

30 BLOWS Thirtieth Birthday Gift

A while back, we had a good friend turn 30.  His dear wife planned a really fun evening complete with Beer, Barbecue and Beer Pong to celebrate.  I didn't want to come empty handed, but the invitation didn't really indicate whether we needed to bring a gift or not.  I decided I wanted to bring something that would be funny, but not all black and "over the hill" themed.  I've seen variations on this type of treat using suckers that say, "40 Sucks."  Had the gift been for a woman, I might have gone with the sucker theme and used a really cute flower pot.  But guys?  They like beer, baseball, sunflower seeds and bubble gum.  The big bucket of gum reminds me of baseball.  The bucket even says, "Team Tub."  Perfect!  It was a hit, and needless to say our friend did not need to buy any bubble gum for a while.  So another guy we know is celebrating his 30th birthday this weekend and I decided to repeat my idea.  Stupid me didn't bother to save the printable last time, so I had to measure and come up with a label all over again.  I decided that was a lot of work and I would definitely save it this time, for future use.  I even decided to share with you, and I've added a generic "30 BLOWS" label at the bottom that you can print out and use yourself!  I hate to admit my age, but thirty really doesn't blow.  And forty doesn't suck.  You're as young as you feel so get out there and enjoy.  Bubble gum and all!

A Big Bucket of Bubble Gum Birthday Fun!
(Say that five times fast)
Happy Birthday Noah...
Welcome to the Over 30 Club!

What you need for this project:

Tub of bubble gum
Full-sized printable adhesive labels
ribbon
scissors

Print out your label.
Cut carefully and it should fit the lid of the bucket,
just enough to cover up the writing...

Tie some fun ribbon onto the bucket handle.

Wish the recipient a Happy Birthday!
Assure them 30 really isn't so bad...

Grilled Cabbage

I hated cabbage when I was a kid.  I didn't like cabbage of any kind, including sauerkraut.  When I went to college and had sauerkraut as an adult for the first time, in a quaint little German town, I realized I liked it.  A few years later, I was visiting my friend Jenny and we went to her grandmother's house for lunch.  She was one of these dear little ladies, and great cooks that insisted on filling your plate for you.  And you know you'd better eat everything on it.  Much to my dismay was a large helping of boiled cabbage.  One thing my mother did teach me was good manners.  So I made up my mind to be polite and power through the cabbage on my plate.  And guess what?  I liked it.  Loved it.  Now we have cabbage in some form pretty often.  Little Devil thinks I'm trying to poison her, but Mr. DD and I like it.  I served with cabbage wedges with my Slow Cooker Kielbasa.  It was the perfect compliment and made a great meal, but this would make a great side dish to any meal, year round.

Grilled Cabbage
Shown here with Slow Cooker Kielbasa.
"It's like a de-constructed hot dog."