Sauteed Fresh Asparagus

Our local farmer's market just opened up and the one thing I had on my list to buy was fresh asparagus.  It was quite expensive (about $6 a pound), but I was willing to spend that much to see if the taste was really that much better.  The guy told me the asparagus had just been picked the night before. 

I simply trimmed the asparagus and cooked them in a little bit of bacon grease I had left over from the weekend.  I let it sautee until it was a little black but still tender. 

This is one of my favorite ways to cook asparagus and my family loves it.  I honestly don't know if there was a huge difference in flavor because it was super fresh, but I do feel better knowing that it hadn't traveled hundreds of miles to get to my plate.  The fact that I helped a local farmer made it special, too. 

Fabulously Easy Fruit Cobbler

I found this recipe a while back when I was trying to figure out something to do with a box of Bisquick I had bought.  I also had a big grocery bag of fresh pears that had been given to me and I didn't know what to do with them.  I put the two ingredients together and came up with this.  You can use any fruit, I suppose, fresh or canned.  I didn't cook the pears or anything, just sliced them up and put them on top of the batter.   It is so delicious and unbelievably easy that you can have it in the oven in less than 5 minutes.  Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

(Sorry!  This is the best picture I could get before everyone dug in).

1 stick butter
1 c. Bisquick
1 c. milk
1 c. sugar
2 c. your favorite fruit, i.e. cherries, peaches, blueberries

Melt butter in 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Mix together milk, sugar and Bisquick. Add mixture to pan of butter, pour fruit onto the mixture. Bake at 350-375 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6.

Green Chile Cream Cheese Burger

Cinnamon Spice decided to start a Blogger Burger Club and she chose the green chile pepper and cream cheese burger to start it.  I knew that I had to try it.  I used some freshly roasted poblano peppers and some homemade buns.  The buns came from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Master recipe.  I am addicted to this recipe! 

I don't really have a recipe necessarily.  I just mixed up some caramelized onions, salt, pepper and garlic in my hamburger meat.  Grilled the patties and piled some chopped roasted poblanos and slathered some fat free cream cheese on the bun.  Yummo!

I give this 4 stars!

AB in 5 Sticky Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns

I chose not to bake any of the gluten free bread this round.  I actually broke down and bought the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes book.  I made the Master Recipe and turned it into these delicious, sugary, buttery breakfast treats. 

I can't post the recipe due to copyright issues, but check out the book and try these sticky buns.  YUM!!!

Homemade Barbeque Sauce

This is the first homemade bbq sauce I have ever made.  It is quite tasty and super easy to make.  I doubled the recipe so I can have plenty on hand for several meals.  I planned on freezing some of it but never needed to.  We used it all!

Neely's Barbeque Sauce
from Food Network

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Lemon Gooey Butter Bars

 These are some of my favorite sweet treats.  The recipe comes from Paula Deen.  I love them because they are super easy, versatile, and most of all delicious.  The picture above is for the lemon version.  You can get as creative as you want with the recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.


Different Varieties:

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.


Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above.

Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.