Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Hope you all had a great 4th!

I spent mine with family and eating delicious food. That's how I spend most of my holidays if you haven't noticed, and it's the best. It rained all day, but that didn't stop us! 

 


Here's another fruit-filled red, white, and blue dish for any patriotic holiday. Or just for a refreshing summer dessert any ole time. 

The few changes I made were that I halved the recipe but upped the melted butter a bit for the graham cracker crumble to make it a more manageable measurement. I also added an extra layer of graham cracker crumble throughout because I love the crunch with each bite and don't want to wait until the bottom of the parfait to get to the crumble!

Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits
slightly adapted from Glorious Treats

*Yields: 2 moderate sized desserts 

Graham Cracker Crumble

• 5 full sized graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar

Cheesecake Filling

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 cup cool whip, thawed

Fresh strawberries and blueberries

For Graham Cracker Crumble: Crush graham crackers in a ziplock bag. Pour crumbs, sugar, and melted butter into a bowl and stir until fully combined. Pour onto a baking sheet or dish and press into an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until light brown. Cool.

For Cheesecake Filling: Beat cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add lemon juice and beat until combined. Add milk and combine. Fold cool whip into cream cheese mixture. 

Assembly: Layer bottom of dessert dish with graham cracker crumble, then add a layer of cheesecake filling, fresh chopped strawberries, another layer of graham cracker crumbs and cheesecake filling, fresh blueberries, and a final layer of cheesecake filling. Top with additional graham cracker crumbs, blueberries, and a strawberry for garnish.

Printable Recipe

 




























































This parfait was soooooo good! Patriotic AND tasty and I like to think good for me. Besides the cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar of course. But hey it's better than cupcakes or cookies or cake, right?






Happy Independence Day! Here's to being proud Americans today and every day.


Peace, and bacon grease!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Fruit And Nut Cake - Making Holidays Special

Cakes are one of the most favorite delicacies for people all over the world. People enjoy cakes on all sorts of occasions. It is also worth mentioning that cakes are not new but centuries old. Christmas is one of those occasions when the biggest and heaviest cakes are made. A definite reason cannot be established for why you prepare the heaviest cake on Christmas, but it is a really enjoyable for everybody. Fruit and nut cake is one special type of cake that has been the favorite of people for long. Similar is the case of fruit and nut log, which are snacks, made from some real dry fruits.

Most of the times, people presume that they can enjoy a fruit cake only at Christmas time. This is not the case though. Basically, making a fruit cake is a long job and requires a lot of patience. This is because all the fruits and nuts to be added to the cake need have to be soaked in either rum or brandy for a few days beforehand only. Another alternative that you have at your disposal is to reach the nearest confectionary store and buy a cake. Though, it is very widely known that a homemade cake is far better than the one bought from market.

Another fact worth knowing about fruit cakes is that in many countries you can eat Fruit Logand cakes only during holidays. Also at many places, people try to avoid the use of alcoholic beverages such as rum or brandy in preparing the cake. They generally prefer fruit juices so that the cake can be eaten by even those people who don't drink alcohol.

Eating cakes on special occasions have become a tradition now. This tradition has seen a lot of changes lately. People are getting more aware of their health and physique. People are always on a look out for healthier snacks but that doesn't means that fruit cakes have lost their sheen in anyway. Also, fruit cakes have an advantage. A piece of cake that has been prepared in alcohol would stay fresh for almost a year so you don't have to worry about the cake getting stale or anything as such. All you have to do is to enjoy your piece of cake.

Pastilla Nash is one of the Leading company who Offers Prune and Walnut cake and Fruit and nut cake for Dinner Party and some special party at affordable price.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Green Fruit Salad

I know, I know. St. Patty's Day is over and I'm still posting green stuff! 

It's all good. You can make this for next year's St. Patty's Day... go ahead, pin it for later :)

Or you can make this anytime of the year. Because a fruit salad is good, and good for you, no matter if it's a special holiday, or even just for breakfast, lunch, or a healthy snack.


 
















Green Fruit Salad
from Real Mom Kitchen

• 1 cup green grapes
• 1 kiwi, diced
• 1 Granny Smith apple, diced
• whipped cream, or Creamy Fruit Dip

Toss the fruit together in a large bowl.  Serve salad with a dollop of whipped cream or Creamy Fruit Dip, and Cinnamon Sugar Crisps.
  
Printable Recipe

You can serve this topped with whipped cream like we did. Or of course you can get your dip on with this Creamy Fruit Dip, and some Cinnamon Sugar Crisps.



Peace, and bacon grease!

 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Creamy Fruit Dip

It's like a must that I have some kind of fruit dip with my strawberries. 


















But Kroger charges so much for a tiny cup of theirs!

So one day I took a glance at the ingredient list on one of those cups and saw some strange words starting with x and z or something like that, but the main ingredients that stood out to me where marshmallow creme, sugar, and cream cheese. So to the internet I went!

 





 











 I came across this super easy fruit dip recipe. 3 ingredients. Marshmallow creme, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. 

Cha-ching!

Creamy Fruit Dip
from Simply Real Moms

• 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix together marshmallow cream, softened cream cheese, and sifted powdered sugar in a bowl. Serve with fruit.

Printable Recipe


















Next time I need to sift the powdered sugar to prevent lumps because mine isn't as smooth as it should be. But it tasted delicious, lumps and all!

Of course I find a way to make fruit less healthy :)

Eat up!

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sweet Grape Salad {Eating the Alphabet Series}

Last month I didn't participate in the Eating the Alphabet challenge but I'm back, baby. 

Ok, ok so I'm a little late posting. But thank goodness they leave those linkies open for a few days for slackers like myself  :)

For this challenge, we have to make a recipe using a fruit or vegetable (or grains or beans) that starts with a specific letter. This month we had the letters G or H. I decided on g for GRAPE!

I decided to go with this grape salad that I saw on Cassie's blog, and she got it from here, where I was able to scale down the measurements and figure out a good amount for us, not for a potluck or party.

Sweet Grape Salad

slightly adapted from Cassie Craves, originally from food.com

• 1/2 lb red seedless grapes
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 oz sour cream
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp pecan pieces

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecan pieces. Refrigerate overnight. Toss and serve cold.

Printable Recipe

 

I love simple and easy. And it helps that this was a tasty treat. 

I like to think that it is a bit healthy because of the grapes. But I'm pretty sure the 2 creams, 2 sugars, and nuts are killing that idea.

Oh well, I'll take this over healthy any day!

Do you guys wanna join in on the fun? Contact Brenda for details or fill out the form to sign up!

And check out the other G and H recipes in the blog hop below:

Peace, and bacon grease!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Durian, from Indonesia to Singapore

Among all the sticky fingers and durian burps came the anticipated question: Should we get another one?
Our tummies were full, we seemed to vacillate but we all knew the answer: Yes.

Fruits. They're what you grab at grocery stores and farmer's markets, to be eaten as snacks or accompaniments to your meal. Garnishes, palate cleansers. But not durian. In Singapore, durian sellers have set up tables and chairs. They will open the fruits up for you to enjoy right there and then.

This practice is spreading to part of Indonesia, too, like in Medan. I think this is partly for two reasons. One is that the stinky fruit is banned from public transportation like MTA and buses in Singapore, so it's harder to buy and take them home. Second, unlike berries that you'd eat as snacks, when you eat durian, you want to eat them.

You may think all durians are alike, but once you land in Singapore you'll realize you're wrong. There are as many varieties of durian as there are in the family of oranges/clementines/tangerines! One of the more popular is the butter durian (pictured above), smaller but sweeter than the durian monthong from Thailand. A box like the one above was S$10. The durian sellers can also tell you which ones are sweet vs "bitter" (they're not really bitter but has more of a subtle bitterness or more fermented taste underneath the sweetness). How? I have no idea until I eat them, but somehow they can. This isn't variety dependent but is a characteristic of each fruit.

Read more »

reade more... Résuméabuiyad