Blackberry Pound Cake With Vanilla Custard Sauce

I am a fruit picking fool lately.  There is something about going out to a farm and out in the fields and picking your own personally selected berries and fruits.  For me, I get a real sense of peace being out there and picking fresh berries with my family or just by myself.  Recently, I decided to go blackberry picking because I had simply never been.  It was a challenge finding a place to go, and then I found a place about 20 miles from me and off we went!  I actually frequented the blackberry patch twice in the last two weeks.  The first batch went to make seedless blackberry jam and the next was to get more and find some things to make with them.

My first recipe was a blackberry pound cake with a vanilla custard sauce that was simply to die for! So, I thought I would share the recipe I used.  I de-seeded the blackberry puree because I didn’t like the seeds in it, but you can do either way.

Blackberry Pound Cake

Ingredients

Raspberry Fudge

I have never before in my life made fudge of any kind.  In fact, I have never really eaten it.  Over the weekend I tried some raspberry fudge at one of the vendors and I instantly had to buy some.  They were completely out of it with the exception of two small blocks, and I told them to discount it and I bought them.  I took them home with the idea that these tiny blocks of fudge would last me a few weeks, but sadly they were gone in two days  LOL.  Since the farmer’s market is only on Saturdays, in my desperation I decided to make my own.  I scoured the internet and came up with several recipes and decided to give it a try.  This is the raspberry fudge recipe I used but I changed the amount of sugar to 2 cups instead of 2 and 3/4.  To me fudge is rather sweet, so I wanted to experiment and it came out ok as far as I can tell, you can go all out with the sugar or experiment.  I also added a little more of the raspberry flavoring because I like it.  I would recommend using an oil which I found at a cooking supply place.  The imitation stuff at the store is too liquidy (is that a word?).

Here is the Cast of Characters

Recipe

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine or butter
• 1 5-ounce can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk
• 1 7-ounce jar Marshmallow Cream
• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 2 cups or 2  3/4 cups sugar(depending on personal preference)
• 1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts – optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 drops Raspberry Flavoring

Lightly grease a 13-x9-inch or 9-inch square pan.

Mix margarine or butter, sugar and milk in a heavy 3-quart saucepan; bring to a full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly.

Continue boiling 5 minutes on medium heat or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.

High Altitude: Decrease recommended temperature (234°F) 2 degrees for every 1,000 feet above sea level. (Who pays attention to this?)

Gradually stir in chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat.

Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour into prepared pan.

Cool at room temperature.

When cooled, cut into squares.

Makes about 3 pounds

ENJOY!!!

This is the end result and it turned out pretty yummy for my first go around.  The nice thing about fudge is it will last you an eternity if you exercise self control.  I am personally trying to diet, so just a tiny piece of it, is enough to curb my chocolate cravings so I don’t fall off the wagon.  What is your favorite chocolate recipe or fudge recipe?

John Morrell Allergen Free Meats

Allergies are big deal here in my house.  I have always suffered the occasional sniffles and sneezes that come along with allergy seasons, and as a child had a milk allergy.  Since having the boys, I have always been concerned that they might acquire some of my husband’s allergy problems.  As babies, I was always a little on edge when trying new foods, because you just never know when a food allergy would pop up.

There are a whole host of food allergies that run in my family.  I actually have an Aunt that is severely allergic to beef.  They aren’t certain if it is an allergy to the hormones that are used to treat the cattle or not, or if it is something else.  Often times when you read a food label, there are a myriad of food preservatives or other ingredients that could potentially trigger a food allergy  in them, so having foods available that offer an allergen free alternative is always nice and choices may not be as limited.  Plus, when you read that some foods my not actually have nuts in them, but have been processed in places that do use nuts, it makes you even more concerned and more limited on the foods you can buy if your child or family has food allergies.

We recently were given the opportunity to try John Morrell Allergen Free Meat.  John Morrell makes their brand hotdogs, smoked sausages, and bologna now 100% “worry-free”.  This means that they are free from allergens of milk, nuts, egg, soy, wheat, gluten, and MSG!   They even went a step further by making their hot dogs, smoked sausages and bologna in a completely allergen-free facility.   We tried their hotdogs on a weekend trip to the lake and grilled out.  They were a big hit and I didn’t notice any taste difference, and I could be happy knowing that I was avoiding some of the potential things that could possibly trigger a  food allergy.  It is also nice when you have people that have allergies to foods, that you can have them over and not feel like you have to exclude them from your meal, or make separate a separate food choice. 

If you or your family has food allergies, John Morrell Allergen Free Meats may be a great choice for you and your family to enjoy without the worry.  If you or your family would like to give John Morrell Allergen Free Meats a try you can visit their facebook page and get a $1 off coupon towards your purchase! 

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Centralon behalf of John Morrell and received a free coupon for John Morrell products to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice Healthier Choice Without Compromising Taste

As a Mom, it is always a challenge to come up with things to feed your family.  It is even harder to come up with creative ways to slip healthy dinner choices into your family’s diet, especially if you have picky eaters.  One of my boys will eat just about anything, but my other, you have to convince him that the food you put in front of him is good.  Making subtle changes with healthier variations is what I found to be easiest when attempting to put something good for us on our plates.

I will be the first to admit that I tend to skip over the healthier version of a favorite food because it has been burned into my mind that it just won’t taste as good or taste the same, but I am usually willing to try it, if you put it in front of me..  My husband is a very anti-healthy anything, and if the label even mentions whole grain foods or whole wheat anything, he won’t touch the stuff.

I was recently given the opportunity to try Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  We use a lot of white rice with various dishes in the house, so I figured that making a switch would be a good idea in the long run.  We were able to try a few different varieties Natural Whole Grain Brown, with the traditional cook time (40 minutes), plus Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice and Boil-In-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice (both ready in 10 minutes).  I am a big fan of the boil in bag rice but we tried the Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice.  I was serving a pork dish with a sauce that I dumped over the rice, but because rice is so versatile you can incorporate it into many dishes.

The rice definitely has a distinct taste, and you can taste the whole grain, but everyone seemed to really like it, and I can see switching to use it in place of just using white rice, although I don’t think I will give it up completely.  Uncle Ben’s also has some really  great recipes to try using their Whole Grain Brown Rice, such as: Chicken & Brown Rice Sloppy Joes (this is next on our list to try); Tex Mex Rice with Shrimp, Corn and Lime; Chicken, Apple and Walnut Brown Rice Salad; and Mediterranean Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms. This makes it really easy to incorporate healthier choices and please even the pickiest palate.

All in all, we really liked Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain Brown Rice and will be keeping it as a staple in our pantry.  I can’t wait to try their Sloppy Joe Recipe!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Uncle Ben’s and received samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Walmart Makes Christmas and New Years Meals You Can Afford

With the holidays comes all the family gatherings and meal preparations to feed what seems like an army of people.  I know how easy it is these days to go to the store for just a few simple things and you wind up spending nearly a hundred dollars and feel like you come home with next to nothing.  With the current state of the economy, I think families are truthfully struggling to keep food on the table and finding ways to make a holiday meal and or party memorable on a budget can sometimes be tough.

Walmart is helping families celebrate without breaking the bank and they are offering fresh and affordable holiday meals to help eliminate some of the stress that comes from footing the bill in hosting a large gathering.  Walmart’s Christmas Dinner for Eight under $30 provides all the ingredients necessary for a traditional meal, including a 10-lb Spiral Cut Half Ham, three cans of Del Monte green beans, one 10-lb bag of russet potatoes, Sara Lee dinner rolls, and a pumpkin pie! The New Year’s party basket for 10 for under $40 includes a Shrimp Tray, Vegetable Tray, Hillshire Farms Little Smokies, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Land O’Lakes Egg Nog, and a Red Velvet cake. And to give your recipes some pizazz Aaron Sanchez of Food Network is sharing some cooking tips and unique, delicious recipes he created with Walmart’s basket of holiday and New Year’s ingredients.  I am amazed at how much you can get for under $40 to make a really great event!  Not only that their holiday meal pages offer some great recipes and tips.

We do a lot of our pantry staple items at Walmart simply because they offer prices that are well below the supermarkets in our area.  I think that offering meals that the whole family can enjoy without the additional stress of finding out how to pay for all of it is a great way to give families a leg up.  One less worry makes our job as Moms a little easier so we can enjoy the holidays as well.

DoubleBugs, Walmart and Mom Central would love to give two lucky readers a $30 Walmart gift card to buy the perfect celebration meal for your family and friends.

Here’s What You Gotta Do!

Tell me what your favorite family meal or tradition is, tell me what you love about Walmart’s prices and meals for under $40

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Contest Starts December 18, 2009 and Ends December 31, 2009

Good Luck!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Walmart. In addition, I received a Walmart gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate and two to offer as a giveaway.”

Ultimate Party Meatballs A Crowd Pleaser For Any Occasion

It is that time of the year when holiday festivities are about to be in full swing.  Every year my husband and I are invited to at lease several events that involve bringing a favorite appetizer or dish.  If you are a busy mommy like me, my ambitions are usually greater than my energy level in creating some new found masterpiece to bring to a gathering.

Over the weekend we were invited to a football party and it was a “bring a favorite dish” type party, so I found myself thinking about what I should bring. I quickly remembered that I had a new recipe to try, and I had all the ingredients to give it a test.  Heinz and Ocean Spray have teamed up to create a really easy yet great tasting addition to any holiday gathering.  Their Ultimate Party Meatballs recipe takes three ingredients and they taste unbelievable.  If I had known how easy this was all along, I would have been coined the meatball lady at all these parties!

I chose to do the crockpot method of preparation.  All you do is throw in a bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce and Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce, and two sof frozen meatballs and put your crockpot on high for four hours and you are good go.   They smell totally awesome and they taste even better.  I couldn’t stop stealing meatballs from the crockpot,  at least I made a double recipe. They have the perfect combination of salty and sweet tangy zip that make you want to keep coming back.  I came home with just a few lone meatballs left.

Here is the official recipe

If you like a little bit of a kick to your meatballs you can add a dash of tobasco to them to give them a little kick. I refrained from adding it this time because some people might not like the spicy. They were so yummy that I took the last of the meatballs and made a sub out them for my late night snack.

Whether you are heading out to a party this holiday season or if you are looking for something easy to make for an appetizer. Ultimate Party Meatballs by Heinz and Ocean Spray are a perfect addition!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Paula Deen I Have A Dream

I absolutely love Paula Deen, in a very I want to stand in the kitchen with her and cook all day, sort of way.  I am a comfort food girl and being a mom to twin three year olds, and a husband that doesn’t cook, I rarely get to eat what I call good home cooked food.  For me, I can cook some really good dishes, but it never tastes the same as when someone else helps with the meal or cooks it.  I’m not saying that Paula should come and cook a meal for me, but I would love to be in her kitchen for a week and learn some new ideas.

I love the way she says “Pie” and I was in tears laughing when she dropped the bowl in the mixer on the Oprah show!  She strikes me as a down to earth person, who I could easily get along with.  I am the quiet sort of gal, but I am sure she could make me forget about that.  My dream would be to have her in my kitchen, although I would be embarrassed about my lack of cookware, shoot it wouldn’t have to be my kitchen, I don’t think I would care if Paula Deen was there.

If I could have anyone in the world cook for me, it would surely be Paula Deen.  I missed her appearance at Blogher and I was pretty bummed.  Oh and is cooking really that neat or is that for television only, because I make a darn mess when I am cooking!  They make it look so pretty on tv that I would never have to clean my kitchen.  Give this mommy a spa, 12 hours of sleep and a meal with Paula Deen.  A girl can dream can’t she?

Cool Way To Peel A Potato

I make potato salad a lot during the summer and grew up eating it because we made it for family functions.  We always boiled the potatoes, had to let them cool and then peeled them.  I was just sent a really cool video on how to do this, and I am gonna try it the next time I make potato salad. I must be living in the dark ages to have not figured this one out sooner.   So cool!

Brownies, Are You An Edge Lover?

Brownies have to be one of my all time favorite treats, especially when I am craving something chocolate.  It is no secret in my house that I am an edge lover.   I will sheepishly admit to making a whole pan of brownies, and eating only the edges.   By the time I get done it looks like some one tunneled a path around them.   After that the brownies are fair game because I won’t normally eat anymore.  Anyone who wants to call out the corners, well you got to beat me to them first!

Then it happened….   A true love affair.   There just so happens to be a pan especially for smitten edge lovers like me!  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I ran across the Baker’s Edge “Edge Brownie Pan.”   It was love at first site, and I don’t think I will ever use anything else.  At first, I thought, this is too good to be true, but when I took it out of the box and made my first batch of brownies, my heart went pitter pat.   Not only does the pan work well, it makes the best double edged brownies ever!  Each brownie has the perfect combination of slight crust on the very edge and that wonderful chewiness  with substance.   And as if two edges weren’t enough, there are the two double cornered brownies at the end reserved only for mommy.

Features

• Two delicious, chewy edges on every brownie or bar cookie (individual serving)
• 70% more edge (side) surface area than a conventional 9”x13” pan
• Sized to fit most box mixes with no adjustments necessary
• Perfect for moist and chewy brownies, bar cookies, and breads

Better Baking from Edge to Edge

• Patented interior sidewalls circulate heat evenly throughout the pan
• Better performance – fewer undercooked middles and burned edges
• Premium nonstick coating and round, easy-to-clean corners
• Heavy-gauge cast aluminum construction for superior durability
• Recessed handles allow pan to be easily gripped when turned upside-down
• Lip on underside helps to prevent fingers from slipping
• Custom mini-spatula and recipes/instructions insert included

This pan would also make a perfect gift for any cook in the family or definitely brownie lovers. It is extremely easy to use, and the spatula that comes with the pan is perfect for getting the brownies out. There are even some recipes that came along that you can try. The pan itself will fit most standard boxed brownies our favorite is Ultimate Fudge Brownies from Betty Crocker yummy! I love this pan….thank you Baker’s Edge for an awesome product!

In The Kitchen With Calphalon

One of my most favorite things to do is to get in the kitchen and cook, especially if I can open up a recipe book and find a new dish. They always say that the kitchen is probably one of the main hubs of the home, and having a family to feed, means I am in there at the very least, three times a day.

We just recently went apple picking with the boys and of course this means that there is baking to be done! I went right to work looking for the perfect apple pie recipe to try with my new Calphalon ceramic deep dish pie pan. I have almost always associated the Calphalon name with my pots and pans that I own, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that they had a new ceramic bake ware line. I had the chance to try out their pie pan and 9×13 covered dish. Of the things I use most, it would have to be the 9×13 rectangular baking dish (perfect for casseroles). I currently do not own one with a lid however, so this was something unique to me. I know that there may be others, but this is the first time I have laid eyes on one and I love this feature! Not only that, their ceramics can go from fridge or freezer and straight into the oven or microwave. This is great for make ahead dishes, then all you have to do is take it out of the fridge or freezer and just pop it in the oven. Calphalon ceramics are dishwasher safe, which is also a nice feature especially for families like mine who are always on the go.

Calphalon Ceramics Features

• Contemporary Design for sweet and savory baking

• They can go from the freezer, to the oven, to the table, to the refrigerator…allowing for complete versatility through the cooking to storing process

• Glazed interiors — red and cream exteriors

• For oven, broiler and microwave cooking

• Dishwasher safe

• 10 year warranty

Calphalon ceramics would make such a wonderful addition in any cook’s life and is simply a must have if you enjoy cooking as much as I do. My Beef shell pasta casserole turned out awesome in the 9 x 13 dish and the leftovers, I just put on the lid, and shoved it in the fridge for the next day.

As if Calpahlon’s ceramic line wasn’t enough, I got the privilege to experience their LX series cutlery line. And I say experience, because it was the ultimate pampering session while I was using their 8 inch chef knife. If you are one who loves to cook, you can appreciate a good knife. My husband could hear me ohhing and ahhing from the kitchen while I was chopping my onions for the chili. I am simply in love with these knives and I actually tossed out my old chef knife because it pales in comparison. Chopping through that onion was like chopping through melted butter! I couldn’t believe what I have been missing all these years with my 10 year old knife set. You would think a knife is just a knife…but it isn’t and Calphalon’s LX Cutlery will prove the point. It even fits comfortably in your hand and you just know that you are holding a well made piece of cutlery simply by the sheer weight and feel of it. I am completely spoiled now, and I don’t think I will ever go back to my old knives!

Features

• Each knife is made from high carbon German no stain steel

• sharpens more easily than stainless and maintains it’s edge longer. The ergonomic handles has each knife’s identification etched on the bottom of the handle for easy knife selection!

- Blade:

• German steel—high carbon, no stain steel with Molybdenum and Vanadium

• One piece of metal for blade, bolster and tang

• Fully forged blade

• Full tang for balance and strength

• Fully tapered from cutting edge to spine and from tip to heel for superior strength

• Tempered- heat hardened to 1000 degrees C
  
• HRC 54-56 (Hardness Rockwell “C” scale – a standard measurement of hardness)
  

- Handles:

• Full tang—first ever ergonomic handle which shows the full tang
  

• Made from fiberglass reinforced poly-resin—won’t split, crack or harbor micro-organisms

• Ergonomic handle

• Knife identification etched on the butt of the handle

• Classic triple riveted handle updated with modern ergonomic design

Lifetime Warranty
I am thoroughly impressed with both my Calphalon ceramics and cutlery. These would make perfect holiday gifts for the cook in your life and come backed by the Calphalon name you can trust. I still have my pots and pans that are at least 10 years old and they are still just as wonderful as the first day I used them.