Nutty Bacon Popcorn

How many of you know that Scentsy used to have 3 lines of products? We all know about Scentsy for the home. wickless candles, gorgeous warmers, amazing scents...you all know this. Then they used to have a line of purses, wallets, and accessories called Grace Adele. Their 3rd line was Velata Chocolate and Cheese Fondue. Had cute warmers with silicone bowls, and even a tabletop gridle called a Raclette. It was SOO GOOD and I MISS IT!! I was almost busier with Velata than I was with the Scentsy. Well, they had monthly recipes and I LOVED making them for shows and for family of course. This Nutty Bacon Popcorn was my TOP FAVORITE!!! I recently had a facebook memory come up with this recipe and it brought me back to it and wanted to make the popcorn again. So a quick goodgle search, a YouTube video and I'm a happy girl once again! I'm SO MAKING THIS this weekend! Maybe even send a batch to South Carolina for the kids and one for the other kids here in GF. So here we go... Nutty Bacon Popcorn 3/4 c. butter 1 1/2 c. brown sugar 6 TBSP corn syrup 1 tsp sea salt *mix those in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until boiling. Let it heavy boil for 2-3 minutes. Then add: 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp baking soda This mixture will foam up. Pour over: 20 c popcorn (yes, you can use store bought!) Mix well. Add in: 1 package crumbled bacon 1 c. almond slivers spread on a large cookie sheet and drizzle with dark chocolate. Cool and enjoy!

Monster Cookies

1/2 c butter flavor crisco 1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter 1 c brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar **cream this mixture Add: 3 large eggs 1 TBSP vanilla 2 tsp baking soda 4 1/2 c oatmeal 1/2 c m$m's 1/2 c chocolate chips Bake at 350 for approx 8-10 minutes

White Chocolate Cranberry Bars

This is a recipe I found online but it's SOOO amazing! It's from the Betty Crocker website so I do NOT take photo or recipe credits for this one. Other than the fact I found it online and tried it ;)

White Chocolate Cranberry Bars

Ingredients:

1 Box Betty Crocker White Cake Mix
1/3 c. melted butter
2 TBSP water
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. dried cranberries
1 c. white vanilla baking chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray the bottom only of a 9X13 pan with Pam spray with flour.

Mix the cake mix, bbutter, water, and eggs until a thick dough forms. Add in the cranberries and chips.

Bake for 22-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

6 Week Bran Muffins

This is my husband's FAVORITE recipe! I got it from my sister in law who got it from their mom. He had these all the time growing up and was excited for me to get this one! This batter can be kept in the refridgerator for up to 6 weeks. It's makes approx 4 dozen muffins for a regular sized batch, so it can easily be halved.

6 Week Bran Muffins

2 c boiling water
4 c. Kellogs All Bran cereal

Pour boiling water over All Bran and let sit while you mix the other ingredients together.

1 C PLUS 2 TBSP shortning
4 eggs
3 c. sugar
1 qt buttermilk
5 c flour
5 tsp soda
1 tsp salt

Mix above ingredients and add the bran. Store batter in the fridge up to 6 weeks. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Uff da! I need to catch up!!

I have had MANY recipe requests lately so will try start getting them up here! Expect quite a few recipes to come!

We interrupt this regular scheduled post

to let you know that today I WON A COACH PURSE ON THE RADIO!!!!!!

I LOVE my new purse. It even comes with it's own sleeping bag. And a TON of other stuff! Some bath products from Bella Boutique, a coffee mug and re0usable shopping bag form Lite Rock 104.3 (the station I won this all from), a $29 gift card to Jake's Restaurant, 1 month tanning from I-Beach tan, $20 to LArie Boutique, $20 to the Sioux Gift Shop, $100 from the Lighting Gallery, a 7 1/2 inch sterling silver heart bracelet from Riddles Jewelers, and $200 towards Designer Sunglasses from Lifetime Vision Center.

I can not even put into words how excited I was for this! :)

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

If I haven't said it before, I am a blog stalker. This recipe comes from another favorite blog called Annie Eats. Her site just makes me drool!! I made these over the weekend for my "neice's" graduation and they were a huge hit!

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

For the lemonade syrup:
1 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:
1 cup fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
18 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For garnish:
Fresh strawberries
Lemon slices

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir together with a fork and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until smooth. Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended. Fold in the fresh strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lemonade syrup. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in. (Place wax paper underneath your cooling rack so you don’t make a mess!)

To make the frosting, puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Strain the puree through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds, and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Mix in strawberry puree, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve your desired texture and flavor of frosting (I added about 7 tablespoons of puree). Frost cupcakes as desired and garnish with fresh strawberries and lemon slices.

NOTES:
To me, this frosting wasn't nearly thick enough. For this light cupcake, I wanted a light and fluffy frosting, but this one was too light. I like my frosting to hold their form just a bit. Anyway, for this recipe, I did add about 1 1/2 cup of extra powdered sugar to the frosting and it was perfect!!