What you need to Pin today.

Last night I was in a baking mood.  This does nothing for one's diet, but it happens from time to time.  It's not stressed induced or anything - just in the mood. The plan was maybe cookies from scratch but the only recipe that I'd have access to was a recipe my husband wouldn't eat.  (He'll eat oatmeal raisin, he'll eat chocolate chip, but oatmeal chocolate chip is...unreasonable?!)

So I asked myself what do I have already?  I have 3 graham cracker crusts my Mom gave me knowing she wouldn't come up with something to do with them before they hit their "date."

And then I remembered a favorite recipe I found on a link party from Tatertots and Jello one evening last year.  It was called the No Bake Cheesecake and I've made it countless times since then.  Why?  Because it is one of the fastest, easiest and tastiest recipes.  And there's nothing I don't love about those three adjectives when it comes to food.

Since I've made it so many times I knew the ingredients by heart.  I picked them up and went home to get started.  Before Pinterest I'd always just tried to remember where I'd seen something - seriously Pinterest is wonderful.  This time I searched Pinterest first because there's no way this recipe wouldn't be on there.  And after clicking through a couple of them it was there!  The wonderful recipe I'd found on Tatertots and Jello so many times before.  This time with much less internet searching.  Of course, I pinned it for safe keeping.  I made it last night and left it to cool overnight in the refrigerator.  It really only need 2-3 hours but I didn't have 2-3 hours last night and I'm saving it for today.

This recipe is from Random Thoughts of a Supermom who posted it originally in August of last year.  Then she linked it and I'm so glad she did!  The post is HERE if you don't have a Pinterest account.  And let me tell you - it's delicious!

Really you can put any topping on this cheesecake but I used the cherries too and I think the flavors really compliment each other.  Trust me this is so simple and delicious - if you like cheesecake at all it'll quickly become your go-to dessert to make or bring somewhere.

Another recipe I have actually made and thought was AMAZING:

Mexican Cilantro Grilled Shrimp!

This was a recipe I saw on a linky party and after clicking through it I pinned it.  The recipe is from the blog "Fresh Plate" and she posted it in May of this year.  I had never cooked shrimp before but this recipe wasn't difficult at all.  It was DELICIOUS!  It has the perfect amount of heat - the taste is amazing and we even used some leftovers to put in soft tacos - which were equally good!  Seriously - you need to pin this as well because it is SO tasty!

This is her original post with the instructions of how to make it.  Trust me on this - you'll want to make it! 

There you have it - tried and true recipes found on the blogosphere.  Having made them myself I can vouch for their tastiness.  Go ahead and pin them - but make sure you pin them off of the original blog posts - that way you can be taken directly to the recipe without having to go through 3 different sites!

Easy Key Lime Pie

Well Friday night I decided to try and make a no-bake lemon cream pie. I was so excited because I was expecting this delicious pie. Have you ever had Marie Callender's Lemon Cream Pie? I was thinking along those lines. But that didn't happen. What happened was me, throwing what I thought sounded good in there and because of that...it couldn't set. I made lemon cream pudding with bits of graham cracker crust and whipped cream. So then I started over.

My husband is a fan of key lime pie and after putting the words "easy pie" in AllRecipes.com, I found a great and easy Key Lime Pie recipe. So I tried again, and this time - it set! Pie happened and not just pudding. I'm thrilled. Also - it's really tasty!!

To begin!

Ingredients:

• 5 egg whites, beaten (#4)
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (#3)
• 1/2 cup key lime juice (#2 - it takes about 3 limes to get 1/2 cup of juice.)
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (#1)

Since I screwed up the first recipe by deviating a...lot. I decided to stick straight to this one. I only added lime zest. I swear!

Next:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Separate 5 egg whites and start beating the ever living out of them. Now, I have a kitchen aid mixer, but it was busy so I had to do this the old fashioned way.

Now, I checked many other recipes and while some called for basically meringue, this one just said to beat the eggs really, really well. So I did. But if you want meringue, you go ahead and knock yourself out!!

Next add 1/2 cup of lime juice, the can of sweetened condensed milk and some lime zest. I didn't measure how much I put it, I just zested until it felt right! Mix until combined and then transfer to your graham cracker crust. (Not pictured.)

Then bake in oven for about 15 minutes...

And leave to cool!

After it's cool you can add lime slices and a little whipping cream if you're so inclined.

This is seriously easy which is why I like it. I'm always a fan of simple recipes.

Also - another recipe I tried this weekend was this recipe from Fresh Plate this weekend. I HIGHLY recommend it - SO, SO, SO GOOD!!!!

Have a happy Sunday!!!

Linking up - see the "I Like To Party" link up top!

TCB, A2Z, TM,

Birthday Cake

his is the closest thing to a recipe as I come...

The Strawberry Shortcake Cake

In reality this is very, very easy.

I originally was inspired (to do the easy version) by The Pioneer Woman. She posted a small, very cute little cake that she whipped up from scratch.

Rarely...and I mean rarely, do I cook from scratch. I applaud the women who do, but my friends, from-scratch is not for me. If I wasn't such a snob about my baked goods, I would seriously buy stuff like this at the grocery store. Luckily for my husband - I like baking.

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist)

Ingredients to complete Betty Crocker super moist: 3 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 & 1/4 cups water

Strawberries. If you're big on strawberries - go nuts and get a ton. I just got one little package.

About 1/4 cup sugar (about...seriously it's all a matter of opinion.

Whipped Cream Frosting - I used this recipe as a guideline.

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 Cups whipping cream

1 package *softened* cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

I used 2 9" round cake pans and followed the cake directions to bake them. *Important: grease the ever-living out of those pans. Last year I attempted this and it wasn't so much cake as it was a heaping mess of cream and cake with strawberries. I learned this year - spray those pans like there's no tomorrow.

After they were done I set them out to cool.

For the strawberries: cut them into slices (or really, do what you want - I sliced mine), and in a bowl sprinkle white sugar over them until it feels right. Note: they shouldn't be covered in sugar - just sprinkled. Then put them in the fridge to do their thing. There's a word for it...and I think PW uses it but I can't remember.

Frosting:

*Make sure the cream cheese is soft. It's important. I put the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract into my mixer first and set the speed at medium. Then slowly poured in the whipping cream. After it's all in, set the speed a little higher. Stop it a few times to scrape the sides and make sure there's nothing sitting at the bottom. Then after a couple minutes you should see it start to "peak," which is a cooking term I never use. It'll start looking like whipped cream, alright? It should be slightly stiffer than you normal whipped cream consistency though.

Putting it all together:

Once the cakes are both cooled, I cut off the tops to make sure they're even enough to stack on each other. On the first layer of cake spread an even layer of the whipped topping and then you can spread on, or place strawberry topping. Then place the top layer on and ice the top and sides until fully covered. It doesn't have to be perfect - this topping wasn't made to be spread perfectly. After it's iced throw some more strawberries on top and you're done.

It's delicious - trust me.

I'm linking up here on Friday:

and here:


and here:

Thirty Days: Pity Party

Sweet Tooth Friday

Little Brick Ranch

Whoa...I'm kind of a link whore...