Big cookies!

Yesterday morning I was watching Emeril Live on The Food Network...or maybe it was the Cooking channel...now that there are 2 cooking channels I tend to get them confused! Anyway, he made these huge cookies and filled them with ice cream to make ice cream sandwiches.

I never made jumbo cookies before so I ran to the computer to print off the recipe before the show ended. I had like 30 seconds to get there and I made it...whew!

My son and I made the cookies and I added a special treat...maple extract! Wow! They came out tasty. Above is a picture of our cookies. The recipe will be published soon :)

Strawberries!

Each year we go strawberry picking and each year I try something different with the strawberries we pick. Last year I made jam. I had enough strawberries to make 2 batches! I made one with bananas and one with lemon. Both tasted really good!

This year, I did not get as creative with my strawberries. I cleaned them and then froze them. I did leave some out for us to eat...and eat them we did! I have used some of the frozen berries to make smoothies. In addition to the strawberries, I cut cup a pineapple and froze that as well. Have you ever tried a strawberry, pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie? OH...it is SO good!

If you would like to make strawberry freezer jam, here is a recipe for you: Strawberry Banana Jam recipe

If you wouldlike a recipe for a basic smoothie recipe, click here.

Paula Deen at the Durham Performing Arts Center

Saturday afternoon I went and saw Paula Deen's show at the DPAC. What a great speaker she is! She made the crowd laugh and laugh! Her husband Michael was there with her. They are too funny together! Paula actually announced that he is going to start a new career as a stand up comedian.

At the show she had a local chef/restaurant owner make her dishes for her. They made a cherry glazed fried pork chop recipe and a chocolate cobbler recipe, which she called out the recipe for. So, I whipped out my i phone and keyed it in as fast as my little fingers would allow me to. Needless to say...I got the recipe!!! I will be posting it in an Examiner article very soon!

Paula told us that her housekeeper stole all of her jewelry! How sad! Thankfully she never takes off her rings so she still had those. Her agent allowed her to borrow his watch for the show so she could keep up with the time.

Paula felt so bad about us having to wait 4 months to see her (since the original show was cancelled and then rescheduled) that she gave us 30 minutes extra of her time! What a sweet hearted lady!

Enjoy the pictures I got to take. I was so upset because on the DPAC website it specifically said, "NO CAMERA'S ALLOWED". So, I left mine home. Then, everyone started taking pictures!!!! I was so upset! I wanted to take my digital camera to get some close up shots, but thankfully I had my i phone and got a few pictures. I went into http://www.picnik.com/ and tried to enhance them a bit to allow for better photos. I hope you can see them OK :/

I will post the link to my Examiner article about the show as soon as I get it published. I wanted to give you guys the heads up!

No-Bake apple pie!

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I tried a new recipe. It was a no-bake apple pie. I found the recipe in an old Taste of Home magazine. I cut it out a long time ago because the recipe sounded interesting. Finally, this weekend I had an opportunity to try it!

I have to say it was one of the best apple pies I have ever made and eaten. It was easy to make and I allowed it to sit in the refrigerator overnight. I noticed that after about 4 hours, it was still a little watery.

This recipe is definitely a keeper and will be made again. I will post the recipe very soon!