Coffee BBQ Sauce

Barbeque sauce (henceforth known as BBQ sauce) is a newer food to me. Until I met my husband, I never really even bothered to try it. Now I eat it on traditional BBQ foods, and burgers. Specifically, a burger with melted cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, melt in your mouth sautéed onions, a slice of tomato, and the perfect amount of BBQ sauce that makes the entire burger a big mess. I prefer a sweeter BBQ sauce because I'm a straight up wimp when it comes to spicy foods. However, this BBQ sauce isn't for me, it's for the meat loving man I married. This sauce is savory treat with a subtle heat with even subtler sweetness and it has become sauce number one for both my husband and his dad. Here is what you'll need...

 



 

Add to that picture brown sugar, my canister isn't pretty. This recipe is super simple and can be prepped easily and then left on the stove with an occasional stir. Finely dice a small onion. Brew a strong cup of coffee. Measure and add your ingredients into a small saucepan.

 

 

 

Give everything a good stir. 

 



Bring your sauce to a boil and then reduce to low heat. Stir occasionally. Cook until all the ingredients have cooked down and become a rich and thick sauce (approximately 45 minutes). Let the sauce cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

 

 

Coffee Barbeque Sauce

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 45 minutes

Makes: 2.5 cups

 

1/2 cups strong brewed coffee

1 cup ketchup

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 cups finely diced yellow onion

1/2 cups sweet red chili sauce

2 heaping teaspoons finely diced garlic

2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low sodium)

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

 

Add all ingredients to small sauce pan and stir. Bring to a boil and immediately turn heat to low. Cook until thick and well blended, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cool sauce and serve or transfer to airtight container and store in the fridge.

 

For the handy printable, click here.

 

A few notes: I'm a big fan of the diced garlic in the jar. I know some people are against it, but if it makes my life easier I'm all for it. If you do so desire, grab two cloves and chop them yourself. This recipe has been adapted from How Sweet Eats (love this blog!) which I found through the Brit + Co. app. If you love all things crafty, recipe, DIY, etc., this app is for you! I'm obsessed!

 

Thanks for stopping by! If you give this recipe a try, let me know! It makes a wonderful gift!

 

xx

 

Jamie

 



Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning is one of those versatile things you can use in a lot more than just ground beef in a fried tortilla shell. Taco soup, burritos, chicken, enchiladas, possibilities are endless. Making your own is very easy and takes no time at all. Make a big batch and keep some on hand, or package it up and hand it out as gifts!  Add a washi tape label and you're ready to go! 

 

 

                              

 

What you need... 1/2 cup chili powder, 1/4 cup onion powder, 1/8 cup ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon each garlic powder, paprika, salt. Mix. Store in airtight container. Add to food until fragrant. Makes one cup.

 

If you don't need an entire cup of seasoning, and maybe just need to whip up a little for tonight's dinner... use 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin, and 3/4 teaspoon each garlic powder, paprika, and salt.

 

Get the printable here. Enjoy!

 

xx

 

Jamie

Tiramisu Cheesecake: The finale

So my family loves tiramisu. Though I pretend to a fan, really I am not. So when my sister mentioned making a tiramisu cheesecake for dessert I thought it was a great idea for my grandparents. Good thing it wasn't a dinner for me. However, as we were finishing up and played cards after the dinner it looked tempting so I decided to try a bite, or a piece I should say. It was WONDERFUL. Turned out really well and was a huge hit with the grandparents. When my brother went to grab a piece there was a comment from my grandpa about if another piece of cheesecake disappeared the cheesecake would disappear to the safety of his locked truck. Let's just say it turned out great and was a wonderful ending to a perfect evening. Our guests gave us great reviews and I just received my thank you card in the mail from the two of them. I can't wait to repeat the experience! We of course are cooking up the next great idea for my grandpa's birthday and then perhaps another dinner in May for their anniversary.

My sister got the recipe from a magazine a couple years ago and can't remember where you came from but here it is.

What You Need

7 ounce package crisp Italian-style ladyfingers, coarsely chopped

6 tbsp butter melted

1tbsp instant espresso powder

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temp

1 c sugar

1 c marscapone cheese

1tsp pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cps mini semisweet chocolate chips

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees . Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Using a food processor, grind the ladyfingers into fine crumbs. Add the butter and espresso and pulse until incorporated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press to form a crust halfway up the side of the pan. Bake until set, 8 to 10 minutes; let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees .
3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar at high speed until smooth. Beat in the mascarpone, vanilla and salt. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
4. Set the springform pan in a roasting pan. Pour the mascarpone-chocolate chip mixture into the baked crust, then place the roasting pan in the oven. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the top is golden and the center is set but still jiggly, about 1 hour. Let cool in the water bath for 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for 6 hours or up to 2 days. Remove the cheesecake from the springform pan. In a small, heatproof bowl, melt the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips in the microwave at low power, stirring until smooth. Transfer the chocolate to a resealable plastic bag. Snip a hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.

I'd also like to give a special THANKS to our local coffee shop Hazels for giving us some of their ground espresso . We have been going there for years and they have amazing drinks and the people are wonderful!

The Main Course

The whole night was centered around italian cuisine and of course our grandparents. We had the cheese fondue, stuffed mushrooms, a vinaigrette salad(which I will share later this week)...all working up to the main course, Chicken Parmesan. My sister was the chef behind this meal and used the Pioneer Woman's recipe. We started it a little before the fondue came out of the oven to give it plenty of time to cook. We did wait 10-15 minutes between when they were done eating each course for them to relax and talk before we served them the next course so the timing worked out perfectly! We served Moscato and Riesling wine with the meal which complimented it well!

Cheese Fondue Dip

Who doesn't love cheese and bread? This was inspired by the fondue dip at Olive Garden and turned out really well. Super easy to make, fast, and tastes like it took lots of time and effort. Plus it warms up very well!

What You Need

French bread(warmed)

Bag of Mozzarella and Provolone smoked shredded cheese mix

1 c sour cream(regular not low fat)

Dash of cayenne pepper

2 tbsp shredded parmesan 

1. Combine cheese, sour cream, cayenne pepper together and spread into bottom of casserole dish

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

3. Bake for 10 minutes

4. Serve with warm bread and tomatoes

Note: pictures to come later

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I was determined to make something different for Thanksgiving dinner this year and decided to try my hand at pumpkin cheesecake. The only problem is that all the recipes are different and there wasn't really any one that I loved. Solution: make it up. Pretty risky on my part but it turned out WONDERFULLY! I hope you all enjoy it too!

I forgot to get a picture until it was almost gone!

What you Need

Ready made graham cracker pie crust

Springform pan

32 ounces of softened cream cheese

1 1/8 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 can of pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 tablespoons of flour

half pint of heavy whipping cream

1. Start by softening your cream cheese and preheat oven to 350

2. Oil our springform pan

3. Break apart your gram cracker pie crust and cover bottom of your pan so their on no holes

4. Beat in your sugar gradually and then your flour

5. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat between each egg

6. Beat in heavy whipping cream

7. Mix in your 15 ounces of pumpkin

8.  Beat in your nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. (your may adjust these to your taste and you may add more sugar if you don't feel it is sweet enough)

9. Cook at 350 F for 1 hour or until the top looks done

10.  Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

This is definitely one of my favorite foods. Favorite for holiday dinners or just cool winter nights. This is not an exact recipe, because that is simply just not how I make it. Should turn out great though!

What You Need

Elbow macaroni

Block of Colby cheese

Block of mild cheddar cheese

Milk

Saltine crackers

Butter

Salt&Pepper

1. Prepare your macaroni as per directions on the box

2. While macaroni is cooking, slice your blocks of cheese

3. Once macaroni is drained, at a little butter, salt, and pepper to the macaroni for taste

4. I use a throw away pan to avoid the clean up of cheese. Preheat oven to 350 degree

5. Use half the macaroni to make your first layer

6. Second layer is cheese. Alternative your cheeses back and forth

7. Repeat above for layers 3 and 4

8. Crunch saltine crackers and place onto of top layer of cheese

9. Use a spoon to pull back one of the corner of pasta and pour milk into the corner until it comes up to the top of the first layer of cheese

10. Cook mac and cheese until you can pull back the corner and the milk is no longer liquid. This should take 

Pumpkin Muffins

This is my unhealthy version of pumpkin muffins. This recipe makes about 6 muffins with 335 calories per muffin. Enjoy!

What You Need

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice 

1.25 cups 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c cinnamon sugar mixture

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven toe 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.

Then whisk in flour and baking powder until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups with batter being about 1/2in taller than the liner for a bakery style muffin top.

Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake until puffed and golden brown or about 25 to 30 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins

The week I started what will I'm sure be a long project on figuring out how to make the best healthy muffins without changing the taste too much and I figured I would start with the not so healthy type to have something to base the muffins off of and they were WONDERFUL! This recipe makes 6 muffins with about 270 calories per muffin. Enjoy!

What You Need

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 c cinnamon sugar mixture
• 
  
• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
• 2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. 
• 3. Place vegetable oil in a 1 cup measuring cup, add egg, fill rest of cup up with milk.

• 4. Mix this with flour mixture.
• 5. Fold in blueberries
• 6. Fill muffin cups right to the top to have bakery style muffin tops.
•  
  • 7. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
  • • • 8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or golden on top.
       
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Easy Ice Cream Cake

I learned how to make this cake while I was in high school and not only is it delicious it is very easy to make. It has always been a big hits at birthday parties, dinner parties, and just for dessert after a summer dinner.

Ingredients

2 boxes of ice cream sandwiches

Chocolate Fudge

Caramel

Big container of whipped cream

oreos(or reeces or any other cookie)

throw away cake pan

Directions

1. Start by putting down one layer of ice cream sandwiches that fills up your pan.

2. Cover in a layer of whipped cream, then fudge, caramel, and crunched up oreos

3. Lay down second layer of ice cream sandwiches

4. Cover in whipped cream, fudge, caramel, and crunched up oreos.

5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours but best overnight.

Strawberry Poke Cake

Strawberry Poke Cake

Ingredients

• French Vanilla Cake Mix
• Eggs
• Oil
• Strawberry Jello
• Whipped Cream
• Sliced frozen strawberries
• powdered sugar

Directions

1. Bake cake according to box directions
2. Before cake gets done prepare jello mixture according to box directions.
3. After pulling cake out of oven poke holes in the cake. I use a large two prong fork normally.
4. Poor jello mixture evenly over the cake
5. Put cake into fridge for at least 10 hours.
6. Place frozen strawberries in fridge to let them thaw out
7. Drain strawberries and keep some of the juice. 
8. Whip together whipped cream and strawberries. Add in a little bit of the juice and whip in powdered sugar until it gets to the sweetness you like
9. Spread mixture over cake and place cake back in fridge for a couple of hours.
10. Serve cold and Enjoy!