Cherry 7up Bundt Cake

We recently celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday.  My brother got a Big Green Egg for Christmas, and ever since then he's been a barbecuing fool.  So when he invited the family over for a pulled pork and ribs birthday dinner I immediately volunteered to bring dessert.  Since she has a February birthday, I knew something with a Valentine flair was an ideal choice.  Something pink and fun but  not too fussy to complete a barbecue meal.  I decided to guinea pig my family and and create a new version of an old recipe.  I've made the traditional lemon Bundt cake before with lemon cake mix, lemon pudding mix and 7up with great results.  It's a very simple cake to prepare that everyone enjoys.  But how do you make a lemon and 7up Bundt cake with a Valentine theme?  Simple.  You start with Cherry 7up and go from there.  The traditional version of this cake calls for powdered sugar and lemon juice as the glaze but I opted to use maraschino cherry juice instead.  It provided the perfectly pink color I wanted, and a sweet cherry flavor.  To make it just a little more special I decorated it with some buttercream stars and maraschino cherries.  The cake was a huge hit.  Not only did it look wonderful, it was the softest, moistest cake ever.  Ideal for a February birthday barbecue and splendid for your Valentine sweetheart!

Cherry 7up Cake
A pleasantly perfect sweet for your sweetheart!

Isn't this a cute cake?
And very simple to make.

I love the pale pink color

Super moist and delish!
Give it a try...

Circus Circus Cotton Candy Pizza

I was invited by the fun folks at Vegas.com to create a pizza recipe for the upcoming International Pizza Expo, which is the largest pizza show in the world, held yearly in Las Vegas. The challenge was to create a unique pizza inspired by one of the many fabulous Las Vegas Hotels.  If you've been lucky enough to visit Las Vegas, then you know finding creative inspiration is no problem.  The Vegas.com website was my first stop.  There you can find information and book shows, hotels, tours and more.  Wanna see a show while you're in Las Vegas?  Well there's everything from Britney Spears to Zombie Burlesque.  You can book the Bright Lights Big City Tour and enjoy the view of the gorgeous lights from a bright pink Jeep!  There's even a Walking Gourmet Food Tour.  That has my name written all over it  You know how much I love to do dessert.  And Las Vegas does over the top desserts like no one else.  From King Kong Sundaes with 16 scoops of ice cream to Cupcake ATM machines that dispense cupcakes, Las Vegas has every indulgence you can imagine.  So it should come as no surprise to you that I opted to create a dessert pizza.  My inspiration?  The Circus Circus Hotel and Casino.  What comes to mind when you think of the circus?  Cotton Candy of course.  It's the quintessential circus treat.  I envisioned a sweet cookie pizza topped with mounds of fluffy pink sugar floss, sprinkles like confetti and animal crackers of course.  Don't forget the popcorn and peanuts either.  This pizza is a bright as the Las Vegas lights, as sweet as winning on the black jack tables and as pink as the roller coaster inside the Adventuredome at Circus Circus

Cotton Candy Pizza
Inspired by:  Circus Circus Hotel

Here's the sign that helped me channel my inner
Willy Wonka.  Complete with giant lollipop!

Speaking of Willy Wonka, How this for some
"pizza toppings"???

The ultimate in Circus Food:
Pink cotton candy, circus peanuts, animal crackers, and popcorn

Here's that pink coaster at Circus Circus.
As pink as cotton candy!

To get started, you'll want to make the sugar cookie crust.

After it cools, frost with ooey gooey
homemade buttercream frosting.

Check out that "pizza crust"

Now comes the best part:
Decorating.
Think Las Vegas.  Think over to top.  Think indulgent.
There's no such thing as too many pizza toppings
when it comes to Las Vegas.

Slice and Serve.
Wouldn't this be fabulous for a circus-themed party?
Or a slumber party full of screaming girls that
love candy and anything pink?

Sprinkles.  Extra Sprinkles. 
It's like confetti sprinkled on the plate.

Enjoy a little taste of the Circus Circus Experience...
Check out all the delicious pizzas, including
this one at:
https://blog.vegas.com/las-vegas-dining/international-pizza-expo-in-vegas-inspires-hotel-themed-pizza-recipes-64118/

King Cake Bites

Mr. Devilish Dish had some gumbo a while back that he really enjoyed.  When it came time to create the menu for our Super Bowl party, he suggested gumbo.  I really liked the idea of Cajun-themed meal since Mardi Gras is currently going on and it's Fat Tuesday!  King Cake is traditionally associated with the Pre-Lenten or Mardi Gras/Carnival season.  Many years ago the cake started out as a French-style bread with sugar on top.  It's evolved into many variations including a puff pastry filled sweet filling topped with colorful sugar.  The colors on the king cake symbolize justice (purple), faith (green), and power (gold).  They honor the Three Kings who visited the Christ Child the 12th day after Christmas.  After researching the history of King Cake I started looking for  recipes.  Normally I love to cook the long, complicated version of things but in this case I needed something simple and party perfect. This quick version isn’t the real thing, but these little bites are so tasty and they are similar to my Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe, and using crescent roll dough speeds up the process.  These were so good and fun, I can promise you I'll be making them again and I will not be waiting until Fat Tuesday to do so. 

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

That big game is coming up.  You know the one that everybody watches whether they like football or not?  The one everybody watches so they can talk about the commercials and the half-time show the next day?  Yeah that big game.  Buffalo Chicken Wings are ubiquitous when it comes to football.  I don't know anyone that doesn't enjoy a good hot wing during the game.  But face it, they are a little bit hard to eat.  Now I know that guys don't mind sitting around like cave men gnawing the meat off the bone and licking sauce off their fingers.  And I certainly don't mind doing that in the privacy of my own home.  (Don't judge.)  But if we're talking watch party then those kind of eating manners rank right up there with squirting whipped cream from the can into your mouth.  (Not that I know ANYTHING about that.)  So that's where Buffalo Chicken Meatballs come in.  All the flavor of buffalo wings minus that cave man dining experience.  Dip them in some HOMEMADE BLUE CHEESE DRESSING and you've got the perfect game day appetizer!  (And by game day I mean commercial-watching, halftime show-judging appetizer.)

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs....
Just like wings, only neater!

Serve with some Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
and some carrots and celery sticks...
The traditional way!

Can't beat the tanginess of Frank's RedHot!

Enjoy the big game!
(AKA Commercial Watch Party)

Santa Fe Stew

It's no secret that I'm in love with all things Santa Fe.  If you've followed my blog for any amount of time you know I'm obsessed with The City Different.  And by obsessed I mean I email real estate links to Mr. Devilish Dish on a daily basis.  It's free to dream right?  When I found this recipe that belonged to my sweet "Aunt" Judy who recently passed away I knew I had to try it.  The name, Santa Fe Stew immediately caught my eye and I prepared it the next night.  Only 7 ingredients and one pot makes this the perfect weeknight meal.  It's like a cross between Taco Soup and Green Chile Stew (minus the green chiles!)  Add a side of cornbread or some flour tortillas and you've got a superb, simple Santa Fe-style supper!  (Say that five times fast!)

Santa Fe Stew
Only 7 ingredients to a superb supper!

Feel Better Bag

The flu hit Oklahoma hard last year.  Everyone I know was sick at least once in 2015.  Mr. DD, Little Devil and I spent our fare share of time on the couch.  Fortunately we weren't all sick at the same time, so we were able to take care of one another a little bit.  All kinds of respiratory illness, as well as stomach bugs were going around.  It's no fun to be sick, but it's even worse when you are a kid, and home from school bored.  A while back my BFF and her daughter were both sick.  I knew Mom felt awful, and I figured they could use a little pick me up.  Having been sick twice already (once in Las Vegas--read HERE) I left the bag hanging on their door knob, rang the bell and ran to my car.  No amount of Lysol would have gotten me through that door.  I had enough already and now I stay in hiding until Spring arrives.  I included all of the obvious things in the bag: ginger ale, crackers, and chicken noodle soup, but I also included a few fun things for my Devilish Assistant Emily.  I added a couple of Blow Pops, some Peanuts buttons and a small sock monkey cross stitch kit to keep her busy.  It was a much appreciated gift, and gave both of them a little lift.  If you know someone that's under the weather, throw together a little Feel Better Bag for them.  It really will make them feel better, and you'll feel better for doing it.

Gifts from the Kitchen: Cattleman's Salad Dressing

The recipe for Cattleman's Salad Dressing is one of the most popular on my blog.  We routinely make this dressing, especially when we grill steaks.  Now I know everyone in Oklahoma is familiar with this dressing, but for those of you outside the Sooner State, The Cattleman's Steakhouse is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Oklahoma.  Cattleman's Cafe opened in 1910 and has been filling folks up ever since.  Aside from steaks that don't even need a knife, and their famous "lamb fries" Cattleman's is probably most known for their house salad dressing.  It's creamy, cheesy, garlicky and oh so good.  It mixes up in minutes with just a few ingredients.  The perfect holiday gift from your kitchen...

My pal Amy lives in Arkansas.  She's a busy mom of two boys and a college girl.  Plus she works full time and travels for her job.  Needless to say she doesn't get to spend much time in the kitchen, let alone making homemade gifts.  Every year for Christmas I come up with a unique idea for Amy for her co-workers, neighbors, and children's teachers.  We've done all kinds of crafts, including gifts from the kitchen like my Mexican Restaurant Relish  We settled upon homemade Cattleman's Salad Dressing as our craft for 2015.  I cut and measure all of the fabric and string for the jars, print and hole punch the tags and create a recipe and shopping list for Amy based on the quantities she needs.  Then I put it in the mail to Arkansas.  Amy shops for the jars and ingredients, whips up the dressing and assembles the jars.  Her boys really enjoy taking part as well.  She puts a check in the mail to me and EVERYONE WINS! 

Since I've had Cattleman's Dressing on the brain from helping Amy, I decided to whip up a batch myself for my husband's co-workers.  I've even included a sheet of FREE PRINTABLE TAGS for you to print out should you decide to whip some up too!  I hope each and every one of you has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I hope you get the opportunity to whip up something handmade this year.  Send me a pic and I'll share it on my Facebook Page.

Click on the image to enlarge.  Right click
and save to your computer.  Open with the software
of your choice and print onto cardstock. 

These images are my exclusive artwork.  Please
be courteous when using these printables and
remember they are for personal use only.