Southern Oregon Travel: Pennington Farms {+ Blackberry Buckle Recipe}

Open year-round, a visit to Pennington Farms recalls a simpler time, filled with ripe, juicy berries fresh from the vine and scratch-made baked goods like your grandma used to make.

If you ever find yourself traveling through southern Oregon’s beautiful Applegate Valley between Medford and Grants Pass, Pennington Farms is one stop you must plan to make. I fell in love with the place the first time I visited.

“Once there was a boy named Sam who grew up in the surf and sand
To the mainland he headed on the journey of his life
And ended up finding his wife.
The couple got married and had quite a clan
Sam said, “Let’s leave the city for simpler life”
So to the farm the headed hand-in-hand.”

So begins the saga of Pennington Farms, which welcomes visitors as soon as they step through the bakery door.

Founded by the Sam and Cathy Pennington back in the mid-‘90s, this 90-acre family-run farm now grows between 38-50 varieties of berries each year, including many hard-to-find heirloom varieties. As stewards of the land, the Pennington family is committed to a farming philosophy that relies on organic, biodynamic methods, with a goal of working in harmony with the earth’s natural rhythm.

The Country Bakery at Pennington Farms is a delight for the senses and aromatherapy for the soul. Beautiful scratch-made pastries, pies, and cookies, homemade jams and syrups. Surfboards from a former life decorate the walls and seasonal berries line the shelves. Good vibes abound.

Pennington Farms focuses on cultivating harder-to-grow heirloom berries, which typically produce fewer, smaller berries that must be picked by hand. The trade-off for this extra labor is an intensity of true berry flavor that, according to Cathy Pennington, newer hybrid varieties simply don’t deliver.

How to Enjoy Berry Season Year-round

Berry season is fleeting and fresh berries off the vine have a very short shelf life; nevertheless, with just a minimum of effort you can have berries year-round.

When you bring fresh berries home, cull them and immediately discard any moldy or overripe berries.
Put the remaining berries, unwashed, into a container lined with paper towels to absorb any moisture.
Do not wash berries until just before eating, and then only briefly in cold water.
To freeze berries, distribute dry berries in a single layer on a clean cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until frozen. Remove from freezer just long enough to pour into a plastic freezer container or sealable freezer bag and return them to the freezer immediately. Berries can be frozen for up to one year.
When baking with frozen berries, do not thaw before using.

Pennington Farms, Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon | The Good Hearted Woman

5 from 5 votes

Pennington Farms Blackberry Buckle

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 8

Author Pennington Farms, Grants Pass, OR

Ingredients

Batter:

2 cups flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter softened
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

Topping:

½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter on high until pale and fluffy. Add sugar and continue mixing until they are thoroughly creamed. Beat in egg.
With mixer on low, add flour mixture and milk to creamed mixture a little at a time, alternating between the two and beating until smooth.
Spoon batter into prepared pan. Evenly distribute berries over top.

Topping

In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar, and then cut in butter with a pastry blender, fork (or your fingers) until the mixture resembles oatmeal. Sprinkle over berries.
Bake in preheat oven 50-60 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

To get to Pennington Farms, take the “long way” between Grants Pass and Medford on the Jacksonville-Williams Highway [Oregon Route 238]. The Pennington Farms bakery and farm market are open almost year round, and their products are available at the farmers’ markets in Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass, as well as specialty shops throughout the area.

Pennington Farms
11341 Williams Hwy
Grants Pass, OR 97527
541.846.0550
pnnngtnj@aol.com

My visit to Penningrton Farms was included as part of a Travel Oregon press trip. As always, all opinions and images are my own.

More Southern Oregon Travel from GHW

Name: Pennington Farms Blackberry Buckle
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ cup butter (softened); ¾ cup sugar; 1 egg; ½ cup milk; 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries; ½ cup flour; ½ cup sugar; ¼ cup butter

Jacksonville, Oregon

Rogue Creamery, Central Point, Oregon

Lillie Belle Farms {Artisan Chocolates}, Central Point, Oregon

Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Shortbread Hearts {+28 Meyer Lemon Recipes to Brighten Your Day!}

February 6 By Renée ♥ 17 Comments

Surprise your Sweetheart with some homemade sunshine! These Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day (or any day!).

Brief and fleeting, Meyer lemon season is anticipated by cooks and bakers everywhere. But what makes Meyer lemons so special?

Thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange, Meyer lemons bring a bright, naturally sweet, slightly tart punch to everything they touch. In addition to being sweeter than a regular lemon, they are generally smaller, with a scent noses more civilized than mine describe as “a spicy bergamot fragrance that tastes and smells more like an herb or a spice.” Meyer lemons start arriving in US stores around the end of November and disappear by late March.

Meyer lemons were first introduced to the US in 1908 by agricultural explorer (LOVE that job title!) Frank Meyer of the US Department of Agriculture. It seems Frank brought a sample home with him from a trip to China, where they are often grown ornamentally; however, Meyer lemons didn’t take off in culinary circles until the late 1990’s, when celebrity chefs “discovered” them and made them popular with their audiences.

I’d been toying with the idea of making cranberry shortbread hearts for Valentine’s Day this year for some time, but I hadn’t quite committed to the idea until I stumbled onto a bag of Meyer lemons last week. I was certain that the Meyer’s complex citrus profile, combined with the tart-sweet of dried cranberries, would elevate this unassumingly little tea cookie to the next level. Turns out, I was right! 🍋 😃

5 from 8 votes

Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

Course Sweets & Treats

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar sifted and divided
2 teaspoons vanilla
Zest of 2 Meyer Lemons (See notes)
1 1/2 cups dried sweetened cranberries

Instructions

Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a food processor or blender jar, pulse cranberries and 1/4 cup powdered sugar together until cranberries are about the size of coarsely chopped nuts. The powdered sugar will keep them from getting too clumpy, but don't pulse too long or you will have puree. Set chopped cranberries aside.
With an electric mixer, beat butter on high until it is very light and fluffy - at least 5 minutes. Beat in remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until vey smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and zest and mix to thoroughly combine.
Mix in chopped cranberries.
Add flour mixture and mix on low just until dough forms a ball on comes away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Remove dough from bowl and form into two logs about 1 1/4" - 1 1/2" in diameter. (Tip: Two shorter logs are much easier to work with than one long log.) Chill 1 hour.
If you just want to keep things simple and make shortbread rounds, leave the dough-logs in the fridge for two hours and proceed to "Baking" steps.

How to form Heart-shaped Shortbread Log

After one hour, remove prepared dough logs from refrigerator.
With the shortbread dough still in plastic wrap, shape the bottom point of the heart by resting the log on a cutting board and using the back of a spatula perpendicularly against a cutting board to form a point. (You will need to rotate the log from one side to the other a couple of times to get it all even.) When you have the bottom point the way you want it, use a large skewer or chopstick to form the indentation opposite the point. I spend a little time hand-shaping the curves so they look like they should.
If your heart doesn't look the way you want it, just round it up and pop it back into the fridge for about 10 minutes; then you can get a fresh start.
Once your Heart-Log is shaped the way you want, pop it back into the fridge for at least another hour before slicing.

Baking:

Preheat oven to 350° F [175° C].
Using a clean, sharp knife, slice cookies 1/4" - 3/8" thick and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
Arrange shortbread slices on baking sheet about 3/4" apart. Bake in preheated oven 8-9 minutes, or until just firm. Watch carefully, and do not allow edges to brown.

Recipe Notes

Can't find Meyer Lemons? Here's a couple of handy substitutions: One Meyer Lemon ➢Juice = 1 tablespoon lemon juice + 1 tablespoon tangerine or orange juice | Zest = 1/2 teaspoon tangerine or orange zest + 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

One of the keys to this recipe is the whipped butter. Make sure that your your butter is at room temperature then put it into the mixer bowl, start your mixer and *walk away.* I cream the butter for no less than 5 minutes before adding anything else. The butter should be very pale before you move on to the next step.

Pairing Notes: These sweet little shortbread tea cookies pair especially well with a cup of Earl Grey!

MORE MEYER LEMON RECIPES

Make your own sunshine! 🍋 Here's 28 amazing MEYER LEMON Recipes to Brighten Your Day! Click To Tweet

Finger-lickin’ Down-home Southern Cooking {15 Recipes}

June 30 By Mr. B 28 Comments

Satisfy your belly and your soul with these delicious Southern classics.

When I think of Southern cooking, I think smoky, sweet, and smokin’ hot Comfort-with-a-capital-C. As Mr B says, “That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.”

Speaking of Smokin’ Hot…

If you like your fried chicken with a side of scandalous backstory, all served up on a slice of white bread with a pickle, Nashville Hot Chicken is right up your alley. This Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic uses another well-known southern ingredient to kick the heat up: Tabasco.

Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic

If you want to check out another Hot Chicken recipe, Mr B and I had some amazing Hot Chicken when we were in Nashville at a little chicken joint called Hattie B’s, a place famous for their hot chicken. The best part is, they freely share their recipe with the public! YES! You read that correctly!! You can find it here.

You can also read more about Nashville Hot Chicken’s rough and tumble past, and get some great recipes in the deal, check out Hot Chicken Cookbook: The Fiery History & Red-Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird [affiliate link].

Shrimp & Grits

I am totally in love with shrimp and cheesy grits; in fact, it may even be my new favorite thing! I can’t wait to make these Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See!

Shrimp and Grits may be the epitome of southern cuisine. So much so that some people refer to the south as the “Grits Belt.” It is a staple throughout much of the southern US and especially many “low country” coastal towns (think Charleston, New Orleans, or Jekyll Island, GA).

~Holly, Taste & See

Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See

* * *

Here’s another spin – Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery.

Shrimp & Polenta | The Good Hearted Woman

Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery

* * *

Vegetables (sort of) and More Grits

This Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding from Basil & Bubbly is even purported to have magical powers!

It’s the best kind of “secret weapon” dish. Delicious and requiring practically zero effort if you use canned corn, but absolutely sublime when you have the time to go through the trouble of using fresh cobs, this corn pudding will make you friends, clean your house, and increase your worldwide influence.

~ Marianne, Basil & Bubbly

Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding | The Good Hearted Woman

Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding from Basil & Bubbly

* * *

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls with Sausage, Scrambled Eggs & Spinach from Family Food on the Table are loaded with crumbled sausage, soft scrambled eggs and sautéed spinach for a hearty, delicious start to the day!

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls with Sausage, Scrambled Eggs & Spinach from Family Food | The Good Hearted Woman

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls from Family Food on the Table

* * *

Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island is based on the classic Southern dish where thickly sliced ripe tomatoes are set into a single pie crust, covered in a slurry of mayo and grated cheese, and then baked into a bubbling cauldron of pure comfort.

Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island

* * *

Teri, from Buy This Cook That is one of my favorite food bloggers. Here’s what she has to say about her Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy recipe.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, Tomato Gravy is good Southern food… First and foremost, do NOT mistake this for tomato or pasta sauce. This is not an Italian-style tomato sauce. Although I would totally scarf this tomato gravy down on top of spaghetti. Just sayin’.

HINT: Try this over my Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits for a real stick-to-your-ribs meal.

Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy from Buy this Cook That

* * *

Pulled Pork & BBQ

I have to admit, I got an education when I was putting this round-up together. I knew that BBQ styles were regional, but I had no idea how tightly drawn those regional lines were. I have a feeling that if I actually lived in the South, I would discover places where the style differed from one town to another.

This North Carolina Pulled Pork recipe and tutorial comes to us from Simon, who walks us through a recipe from American pitmaster Steven Raichlen, well known for his BBQ television show “BBQ University.”

Pulled Pork is one of those recipes that can make you a BBQ legend among your friends. What most people don’t know is that it’s not as hard as it looks! Once your meat is smoking you barely need to do a thing to end up with a delicious piece of meat.

Simon, The BBQ Bastard

NC Pulled Pork from The BBQ Bastard | The Good Hearted Woman

North Carolina Pulled Pork from The BBQ Bastard

* * *

Goodie Godmother offers a different take with the Godfather’s Eastern North Carolina Style Pork Shoulder with spicy vinegar sauce.

Eastern North Carolina Pulled Pork from Goodie Godmother

* * *

While this next recipe may horrify BBQ traditionalists all over the South, there is definitely something to be said for the ease of using a slow cooker to do the job. With just 15 minutes of prep, Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C can be waiting for you after a long day. The tender meat has a nice vinegar kick and sweet heat.

Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C

* * *

Simon the BBQ Bastard 😉 shares another entry from pitmaster Steven Raichlen, with Red Eye Ribs.

Red Eye Ribs from The BBQ Bastard

* * *

In the Carolinas, vinegar based barbecue sauce and pulled pork go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. This Carolina Barbecue Sauce comes to us from Katie at A Fork’s Tale, who puts it succinctly: “Us Southerners are crazy over Sauce.”

Carolina BBQ Sauce from A Fork’s Tale

* * *

Dessert

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well is tart, fresh, and sweet – perfect for picnics or summer gatherings.

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well

* * *

This patriotic Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table is the perfect way for Americans to celebrate Independence Day, or any patriotic holiday. I thought it was important to share the impetus behind it as well.

Miss American Flag Pie represents women’s perseverance to defend their rights. We shouldn’t have to fight for our rights again. It’s a reminder to get involved on any level and be proud to be a powerful woman in the land of the free.

~ Jenn, Jenn’s Farm Table

Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table

* * *

Adult Beverages

These ice cold Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula are a fragrant and refreshing twist on a classic. Perfect for sipping on a warm day!

Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula

* * *

I’ll end this post in the same way that Mr B likes to end a hot summer day: with an ice cold mule. (OK, more often than not, he has a beer, but I do need to wrap this up and he does love a good mule on a hot day, so just go with it…) This Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom holds flavors of summer in a cold copper cup.

Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom

* * *

Girl Scout Cookie Bake-off {Plus 3 Winning Recipes}

April 11 By Renée ♥ 14 Comments

In Which Mr B Judges a Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off, Eats a LOT of Delicious Desserts, and Gets a Bit of a Tummy Ache

Girl Scouts is such an iconic organization that it’s easy to overlook how daring an idea it was for founder Juliette Gordon Low to gather those first 18 girls in that troop in Savannah, Georgia. It was 1912, after all, and women wouldn’t earn the right to vote for another eight years.” — Anna Maria Chavez

I didn’t start out to be a Girl Scout leader. I was, am, and will always be a Camp Fire kid at heart, but when my oldest entered Kindergarten some twenty-five years ago, Girl Scouting was it out here in the Portland’s westerly burbs, so that’s what we did. Five GS daughters, four troops, and 20 years later, I finally hung up my leader hat; however, Miss Em is currently a Senior Girl Scout, so we still stay pretty close to the action. That’s how we all ended up at a Girl Scout Cookie Baking Competition last month. The event, hosted by Em’s troop, was open to any Girl Scout from our community.

The challenge was to create a dessert using at least one variety of Girl Scout cookie as a primary ingredient. As a troop mom (and maybe a little because of the blog) and I was asked to be a Judge, but I’ve been trying to cut back on sugar lately, so at the last minute I handed that esteemed privileged over to Mr B.

Lemon Trefoil Cake - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Tiny Lemon Trefoil Cakes

Passing the Judge’s torch to Mr B ended up being a good move for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it allowed me time to walk around and take pictures of all the sweet entries. It also saved me from the imminent tummy ache that would plague him for the rest of the day.

Cupcakes - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Sweet & Salty S’mores Cupcakes, plus two kinds of Thin Mint Cupcakes!

3 Treats - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

ExciteMint Fudge, S’mores Nutella Cheesecake, and Do-Si-Do Brownie Pops

Matching Cake & Dress - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

This Mini-Martha-in-training even matched her dress to her entry – “Naomi’s Tagalong Storm Cake.”

Lemon-Blueberry Parfait - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Lemon Berry Parfait

While I wandered from table to table taking pictures, Mr B spent his time hunching over his clipboard, carefully evaluating each tasty bite that was brought to him by his assigned assistant. Together with his fellow judges, he crunched, munched, nibbled, and savored samples from each of the nearly twenty entries.

Judges - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

“The Judges”

Entries were judged on three points: Taste, Presentation, and Use of Girl Scout Cookies. Prizes were awarded in three divisions, based on age. Three overall winners were then chosen from the winners of each age bracket. A prize for overall People’s Choice was also awarded.

Mr. B’s had one important tip for would-be bake-off judges: Drink water. Lots and lots of water. This is, unfortunately, a lesson he learned the hard way. Even though he and the rest of the judges were very careful to eat only a very small tasting from each entry, because he neglected to drink enough water, he spent most of the day following the competition with a very uncomfortable tummy ache.

Judging is Hard Work - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Judging a bake-off is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Mr B and I are both big Chopped fans, and I wasn’t surprised that this influenced his role as a judge in the competition. When Taste and Presentation scores were too close to make a call, Use of Cookie(s) tipped the scales.

We found ourselves judging not only what [the girls] made, but their use of the cookie as well. Did they get the ingredients in, and could you taste those ingredients? That made it interesting. It also made it challenging for us, because we challenged ourselves to see if the cookies came through in each dish, or if they were just sprinkled on top. ~ Mr B

The People’s Choice

Peoples' Choice - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Cups set up for “Peoples’ Choice” voting

Twins - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

“It’s really hard to decide on a winner. Maybe we need to try them all again!”

Ultimately, “The People” chose the freshest, lightest, most simple dessert in the contest as their favorite. (Not a bad lesson there, folks.) Strawberry Thin Mint Cookie Delight has only three ingredients and takes less than five minutes to prepare.

Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

People’s Choice Winner – “Strawberry Thin Mint Cookie Delight”

Strawberry Thin Mint Cookie Delight

Course Dessert

Author Daisy M, Brownie Troop #40602

Ingredients

Whipped cream
Strawberries cut up
Girl Scout Thin Mints crumbled

Instructions

Layer ingredients in cup. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

My Personal Choice

As a lover of all things caramelly and butterscotchy, this Toffeetastic Butterscotch Mud Pie with Shaved Chocolate was my personal favorite entry in the contest. My insider source (i.e., Mr B) tells me that it had a great chance to be the overall winner, but ended up coming in fourth because of poor pudding execution: the texture was just too grainy for the judges’ tastes. Flavor-wise though, it was delicious.

[Note: Granular consistency in homemade butterscotch pudding is a common, tricky challenge. It can be avoided by (a) being patient as you whisk in the cream, (b) tempering the cornstarch mixture, and (c) whisking continually as the mixture reaches a boil. You can make the pudding even smoother by straining the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. For more complete directions about how to make super-smooth butterscotch pudding, check out this great post on TheKitchn.com]

Toffeetastic Butterscotch Mud Pie

Prep Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

Crust

1 box Toffeetastic Girl Scout Cookies
2 Tbls sugar
6 Tbls melted butter

Butterscotch Pudding

4 tbls butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/3 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons vanilla

Topping

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 ounces chocolate shaved

Instructions

Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor or by hand, finely crush your cookie crumbs. Add sugar and melted butter and stir to combine.
Press crumb mixture into a 9" pie pan, and bake in preheated oven for for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm, fragrant and lightly toasted.
Set aside to cool.

Butterscotch Pudding

In heavy saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar, and salt to boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; set aside.
In small bowl, stir cornstarch into 1/3 cup of the milk until dissolved. Add egg yolks; beat with whisk until blended.
Into saucepan with brown sugar mixture, pour remaining 2 cups milk, heavy cream and stir to combine. Add the cornstarch mixture. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. When pudding comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Pour pudding into prepared pie shell. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Topping

Beat heavy cream in a chilled bowl with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Spread whipped cream over cold pudding-pie and sprinkle with shaved chocolate. Chill until serving time.

Judges Choice {The Ultimate Winner}

At the end of the day, it was the ooey gooey decadence of these Samoa Cheesecake Bars that won out. (Personally, I think using the term “bar” to describe this dessert is probably a bit of a stretch, but then again, who says you can’t eat cookies with a spoon?)

Samoa Cheesecake Bars - Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off | The Good Hearted Woman

Oooey, Gooey, Samoa Cheesecake “Bars”

Samoa Cheesecake Bars

Course Dessert

Prep Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours

Author Alyssa M - Troop 40273

Ingredients

Oreo Crust

20 Oreos
5 tablespoons butter melted

Cheesecake Layer

16 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Coconut Caramel Chocolate Layer

11 oz. package caramels
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups coconut toasted
6 crushed Samoa cookies
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 8x8 baking pan by lining it with foil.
With a rolling pin or In a food processor, crush the oreos into a fine crumbs.
Combine the crushed cookies and butter together in a medium bowl. Press cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 9-10 minutes. Cool completely.
With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
Spread cream cheese mixture over the prepared crust. Bake it for 30-35 minutes or until cheesecake is set. Cool completely, and then refrigerate for an hour.
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the caramel and heavy cream in the microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time. Stir and return to microwave until melted and smooth.
Add the toasted coconut and crushed Samoas to the melted caramel mixture. Cool 10 minutes.
Spread melted caramel mixture over cheesecake layer. Return to refrigerator and chill for 3 hours.
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time until smooth. Drizzle on top of caramel.
Allow to sit for 30 minutes before cutting.

Recipe Notes

According to the recipe directions provided at time of the competition, this recipe was adapted from one found on TheRecipeCritic.com.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Sugar & Spice Cranberries

December 2 By Renée ♥ 9 Comments

Sugar & Spice Cranberries are a tart, sweet treat – made with a deliciously spiced simple syrup.

The older I get, the more I come to appreciate the simple things, and at no time of the year do I feel this more intensely than during the holiday season. Call me boring (and some of you will!) but one of my favorite things to do this time of year is curl up with my sweetheart in our big, comfy chair and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Not because I love the movie so much – honestly it isn’t my favorite. But it is his favorite. And let me tell you, to see the man that you fell in love with three decades and more ago still tear up when George Bailey stands on those stairs, the whole town gathered around, and that little bell on the Christmas tree rings – that moment is why I love it. In that moment when Jimmy Stewart, standing there holding Juju and her petals, smiles that magnificent whole body smile of his and somehow manages across seven decades to communicate to us on a level so deep that the first recognition comes not in cerebral cognizance, but through the base reactions of our own bodies – as our eyes well up and our cheeks flush and our hearts grow; in that moment we know – to our marrow – that life really is wonderful.

And then…that moment when the tensile strength of the water’s edge breaks and that single heavy tear falls down his face and he pulls me close and looks into me with wide-open eyes and wraps my soul in his smile. That. That right there. I would watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” a thousand times from beginning to end for that.

Believe me; I didn’t intend to go this direction at all when I started typing, but here I am. And now, here you are reading it. I guess that’s the thing about being your own editor: sometimes you keep the sentences [even the ridiculously long fragments] you love – not because they are particularly good, but simply because you love what they mean to you.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program….

This post grew from the need to make a Spiced Simple Syrup for an amazing Spiced Cranberry Mule that Mr B will be sharing in an upcoming post. I started thinking about garnishes for his latest concoction and remembered seeing a recipe for Sugared Cranberries that I’d always wanted to try. Then, as usual, I decided to take it a step further, and Voilà! Sugar & Spice Cranberries!

Sugar & Spice Cranberries are a tart, sweet treat, made with a deliciously spiced simple syrup; perfect for holiday snacking, creating beautiful garnishes, or decking out everything from salads to desserts.

Sugar & Spice Cranberries

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1/4 cup Spiced Simple Syrup Recipe Below
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

Line a baking pan with a silicone mat, aluminum foil or plastic wrap and set a wire cooling rack on top.
In a small bowl, toss one cup of cranberries in ¼ cup of the spiced simple syrup. Remove with slotted spoon and place on wire rack. Let cranberries set on the wire rack for at least an hour.
Place the granulated sugar in a medium bowl or Ziploc bag, and toss the sticky cranberries until well coated. Refrigerate prepared cranberries for at least an hour before using. Cranberries can be refrigerated for up to a week.

Spiced Simple Syrup

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
3-4 slices fresh ginger
4-5 cinnamon sticks
3 whole star anise
15 whole allspice

Instructions

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, sliced ginger, star anise, and heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely.
Using a slotted spoon, remove spices from liquid and pour into bottle or jar. Mixture can be refrigerated for at least two weeks.

You should probably make a batch this weekend – you may be needing a little Spiced Simple Syrup and some Sugar & Spice Cranberries sooner than you think!

The BEST Homemade Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream EVER

June 6 By Renée ♥ 35 Comments

The heat is on and the strawberries are ripe, so find a cool spot to lounge and tilt back with a big bowl of the best fresh strawberry ice cream you’ll ever have.

^{This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.}
This fresh strawberry ice cream is – no exaggeration – the best strawberry ice cream I’ve ever had. I’ll admit though, this recipe took Mr B and me some serious trial and error to put together. We wanted to get it just right, and so a lot of strawberry ice cream had to be made – and eaten – during the “research & development” phase. (Really – a LOT.)

Strawberry ice cream is trickier than it looks. You’d think, just throw some strawberries, cream, and sugar together and you’re golden, right? Wrong.

The biggest problem with fresh strawberry ice cream is the strawberries themselves. Strawberries have a very high water content, and what does water do when it get very, very cold? That’s right, class – it freezes! Into little ice crystals. Which are fine for winter windows and root beer mugs, but no so great for ice cream.

To avoid having hard, crunchy strawberry ice cream, you have to do something to counteract water crystallization; hence the vodka and the corn syrup in this recipe. (Note: Any 70/80 proof liquor will work: we use whipped cream vodka.) With a higher freezing temp than water, the alcohol in the vodka keeps discourages water crystallization, which in turn keeps your little strawberry chunks from turning into little strawberry ice cubes, while the corn syrup adds body, and keeps the texture smooth and supple.

NOTE: If you prefer to avoid liquor completely, just leave it out. Your chopped strawberry chunks will be a bit crunchy, and the ice cream may get a little harder than optimal after a day or two in the freezer, but chances are it won’t last that long anyway.

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream {Recipe} | The Good Hearted Woman

The day I took these pictures, the PNW was experiencing a heat wave. Luckily, this stuff is amazing even when it’s partially melted.

If you’ve made strawberry ice cream before, you may find a few other things are different about this recipe as well:

No Eggs – While eggs usually make for a richer ice cream, in the case of strawberry ice cream, they do so at the expense of that amazing fresh strawberry flavor – the exact thing that you want to preserve. Another bonus for leaving the eggs out – no cooking necessary. (I’m not afraid of raw eggs, but you may be, and that’s ok. Our eggs are produced in my backyard.) Anyway, that leads me to…
No Cooking – Why? First off, you don’t have eggs, so there’s no reason to make a “custard base.” Cooking also changes the flavor of the strawberries, and all I want to taste is sweet cream and fresh strawberries.
Less Sweeteners (i.e., sugar, etc.) – Almost all of the recipes I consulted as I was developing this recipe used a heavier hand with the sweeteners than my final recipe. I prefer to enhance the natural sweetness of the strawberries rather than overwhelm it. It’s a delicate balance, based in part on how sweet your strawberries are.
Corn Syrup – I use corn syrup in a number of my ice cream recipes, particularly the ones that are heavy on fruit. It adds texture and body, while discouraging ice crystal formation.
Half & Half – Yes, you can use heavy cream if you want. You can also use 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of heavy cream (but that’s basically what half & half is, so why?). I’ve made this recipe using each of these three options, all with fine results; however, I think the lighter, cleaner flavor of the half & half lets the fresh strawberry flavors shine through most brightly.

We hope you enjoy this fresh strawberry ice cream as much as we do!

Best Homemade Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream Ever!

An easy-to-make strawberry ice cream that preserves the fresh taste of summer strawberries with a smooth, creamy texture.

Course Dessert

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 quart fresh strawberries divided
1 cup sugar divided (or more, to taste)
2 tablespoons whipped cream vodka** [Optional sort of]
2 cups half & half
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp kosher salt to taste

Instructions

Hull all the strawberries. Chop enough strawberries to make one cup of chopped berries. (You probably want the chunks to be pretty small, but I'll leave that to you.) Put chopped strawberries in a small bowl with 1/4 cup sugar and the vodka. Refrigerate while you make the rest of the ice cream base.
Put remaining strawberries in a blender and puree. Measure out about 1 1/2 cups of puree. (If you have extra, put it in the fridge - you can use it for ice cream topping later!)
Blend the 1 1/2 cups of strawberry puree with the remaining ingredients. Taste the mixture and adjust the sweetness to your personal tastes by adding a little additional sugar if desired.
Chill the ice cream base in the blender jar in refrigerator for at least one hour.
Take the blender jar out of the fridge and add the chopped strawberry mixture. Pulse very briefly to combine. (You want to keep those little chunks of strawberries, so don't get crazy here.)
Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions.
Serve immediately for soft serve ice cream, or, if you prefer your ice cream hard-set, put it in the freezer for 2-4 hours before serving.

Just so you know, I didn’t reinvent the wheel here – I consulted a vast number of other strawberry recipes, and incorporated some of their ideas as I developed this recipe. I think it’s important to give credit where it’s due, so here are the resources that I leaned on the heaviest:

Easy Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream [All Recipes]
Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream [Life Made Simple]
The Best Strawberry Ice Cream [Serious Eats] – I totally borrowed the idea of macerating the strawberry chucks from this one.

I’ll be posting more ice cream recipes throughout the summer. What are some of your favorite flavors? Let me know in the comments below!

^{Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. (Rest assured though, we will NEVER recommend anything we don’t believe in just to make a buck. We like to sleep at night.) Anywho, while clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running – and (relatively) ad-free!! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!}

Homemade {Dairy-free} Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

May 17 By Renée ♥ 30 Comments

The Richest, Creamiest Dairy-free VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM Ever ~ Made with Coconut Milk!

Mr. B loves ice cream, and last year I splurged and bought him a new ice cream maker for his birthday. (Well, to be perfectly honest, it was more for “our” birthdays – he’s only three days older than me.) It was definitely a great purchase!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

Our oldest is on a dairy-free diet right now, so when she came over for dinner the other night, I whipped up this delicious coconut milk-based ice cream. It never made it from the ice cream maker into the freezer – it was gone too fast! And it was scrumptious with the fresh berry compote I made last week!

5 from 3 votes

Dairy-free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
2/3 cups cane sugar
2 13.5-ounce cans full-fat coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 whole vanilla bean
2 tablespoons vodka

Instructions

Combine egg yolks, coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a blender and process until smooth.
Pour mixture into a medium sauce pan, and heat over medium low just until steamy. DO NOT BOIL.
Slice vanilla bean down the middle, and scrape the inside into the hot coconut milk mixture. Whisk to combine. (I also put the vanilla bean pod in and fish them out before I put the ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker.)
Continue to cook until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of a thin custard.
Remove from heat and whisk in the vodka. (This keeps the ice cream from getting too hard in the freezer. For alternative preparation, see note below.)
Refrigerate mixture about 2 hours, or until completely cold.
Pour mixture into ice cream freezer and prepare according to manufacturer’s directions.

Recipe Notes

Alternate "vodka-free" Preparation: 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract can be substituted in place of the vanilla bean and vodka.

Note that, if you are concerned about alcohol in your ice cream, vanilla extract contains as much alcohol as vodka. Either way, the vanilla extract or vodka MUST be added AFTER the mixture is taken off the stove. The alcohol helps to keep the ice cream from getting too hard.

For soft-serve style ice cream, serve immediately. For a harder scoopable ice cream, place in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Take out and place on the counter for 10 minutes to soften for serving.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running! Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Best Ever Snickerdoodles {Recipe}

March 7 By Renée ♥ 7 Comments

Snickerdoodles! Just saying the name brings a smile!

When I think of snickerdoodles, I always think of my dad, snapping up a cookie still warm off the rack as he passed through the kitchen on his way outside. Snickerdoodles, I have found, are cookies that brings up memories, and memories are one of the best things I can make for my family.

I think I’ve done a reasonably decent job of giving my girls a few good kitchen memories over the years. For example, I am sure that even long after I am gone, if someone were to ask any of my kids, “What’s your mom’s secret ingredient?” they will most likely answer, “Brown sugar.” (I know that they are supposed to answer “Love,” but it seems that I have raised a flock of pragmatic bakers.) Moreover, it’s the truth: if there is any rhyme or reason to use brown sugar in a recipe, I probably already do it. I put at least a dash or two in everything from spaghetti sauce to pumpkin curry, and snickerdoodles are no exception. I like the subtle caramelly flavor it adds to snickerdoodles, and I personally think it improves the texture of the cookies over an all-white sugar recipe as well.

Snickerdoodles

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

Scant 3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:

3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°
Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients: ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar, by hand or with an electric mixer.
Beat in eggs and vanilla, mixing until completely incorporated.
Slowly add sifted flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Do not over-mix.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. (I use a 1" cookie scoop for this.)
Roll dough-balls in the prepared cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place cookie balls on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

A few notes about ingredients:

“Scant” cup – A scant cup is just a little bit less than a standard cup measurement; traditionally by about 1 to 2 tablespoons. (I tend to be a little freewheeling when it comes to measuring ingredients, so I use “scant” in this recipe to remind myself not to heap the cup.)
Kosher salt – I use kosher salt because I like the tiny pops of saltiness in the cookie. If you use table salt or sea salt, reduce the amount to 1/2 teaspoon.
Vanilla – My family knows that “1 teaspoon of vanilla” really means at least 2 teaspoons. Just saying.
Cream of Tartar – Did you know that Cream of Tartar is a byproduct of wine production? Check this great little non-Wiki explanation on CakeSpy to learn more.
Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon has a shelf-life of 6-12 months. How old is yours?

You can bake these Snickerdoodles immediately after you mix them up, or put the dough in the fridge and chill it for a few hours. (Of course, then you may discover that you have significantly less dough when you pull the bowl out of the fridge than you had when you put it in. That happens a lot at our house.)

Baking the dough immediately yields a slightly wider, flatter cookie, and the texture is a bit more dense. It does not, however, affect the flavor at all.

If you make a batch, please be sure to come back and let me know what you think!

My Favorite Cookbook: Catherine Ryan Gregory {Guest Blogger Series}

December 23 By Renée ♥ 7 Comments

I am so grateful to be able to introduce you to Catherine Ryan Gregory today. For the last year or so, I have been faithfully following Catherine’s blog, The Ten Thousand Hour Mama, where her gentle, honest writing always leaves me feeling uplifted, as I’m sure it will you. Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In my house growing up, Christmas was such an event that it was simply too much to be called just “Christmas”; to express how much we crammed into the holiday, we called it Xmas Xmas (often in all caps, and always followed by a surplus of exclamation points).

The season was accompanied by a handful of family traditions: Putting together the Santa puzzle whose mustache piece disappeared years ago. Taking ridiculous family portraits in the ugliest sweaters/ski suits/pajamas we could find at Goodwill. Hanging tinsel on the tree. Arguing over whether the tree had enough tinsel or too much. (Answer: There is never enough.)

And for every Christmas that I can remember, we made and decorated the same sugar cookies.

In preparation, we would pull out countless cookie cutters and sprinkles of every color of the rainbow. We’d ready every cookie sheet we owned. And my mom would step onto a chair to get her copy of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook she stored above the fridge.

To call its red and white checked cover battered would be kind; even to call it a book anymore is generous. Its pages are tattered and covered in splatters of brown. Recipes written in my mom’s slanting scrawl and my grandma’s tidier cursive are tucked inside, finding a home alongside Jiffy Spaghetti Sauce, Meat Loaf Florentine and Pizza Cubed Steaks. (Mercifully my mom never subjected us to those.)

The dated dishes make the book an artifact of its times. In the index, it includes diagrams for setting the table in family-style or buffet service, and it offers suggestions for centerpieces for holiday occasions. (“Paisley-print table runners give a subtle background to red and white earthenware,” one caption reads.)

More importantly, New Cook Book is part of my family’s history. Globs of batter tell of the mornings my mom surprised us with pancakes instead of the usual Kix; the index card with instructions for Holiday Cheesecake is so stained and creased that it’s a wonder anyone can still read it.

Now the book is part of my kids’ cooking heritage. This Christmas, I brought the Better Homes and Gardens tome to my home in West Linn. I broke out our bags of cookie cutters and all the decorations (minus the silver balls we always used that I’m pretty sure were toxic and the red hots my sister insisted on using in spite of the fact no one liked to eat them). I prepped the dough when my noise-phobic toddler was sleeping. And then I rolled out the dough on the same oak table we gathered around every night growing up.

My littlest is only five months old so she just watched, but my toddler loved decorating the cookies. My family paints the cookies in colored egg wash before baking instead of frosting the cookies (instructions here), which my craft-loving tot adores. It’s easy to guess which cookies she adorned—they’re hiding under a mound of sprinkles. And she poked holes into almost all of them, making “belly buttons” for the gingerbread men, teddy bears and stars.

Most of the recipes I use today are found online and pinned, but every so often this tattered cookbook with the checkered cover will make a special appearance. And chances are, it will become a familiar touchstone for my daughters. And maybe—just maybe—it will endure long enough to help them make cookies of their own.

My Favorite Cookbook {Catherine}

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

11 tablespoons butter 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
4 teaspoons milk
2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Beat room-temperature butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the milk until incorporated.
Sift together the dry ingredients and blend into the mixture in batches.
Divide the dough in half and wrap in cling wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of the dough to 1/4-1/8 inch. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Decorate with egg wash painting and sprinkles. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Bake 6-8 minutes or until cookies are done in the middle. Cool several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

About Catherine: Catherine Ryan Gregory is a Portland writer, and mother to Peeper and new addition Kiwi (as they are known online). She explains the name of her blog, The Ten Thousand Hour Mama, thusly: “Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote in his book Outliers that after 10,000 hours of practice, anyone can become an expert. Rather than set my sights on becoming a virtuoso, basketball star or CEO, I’m aiming to become a good mom… and every hour counts toward that goal.“

Dutch Apple Cranberry Crepes {Recipe}

December 21 By Renée ♥ 9 Comments

Looking for an easy brunch that will Wow your overnight holiday guests? Dutch Apple Cranberry Crêpes are just the thing! (They will make your house smell fabulous too!

Dutch Apple Cranberry Crêpe Filling

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Prep Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 10 -12 filled crêpes

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. tart apples I use about 5 Granny Smiths
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch allspice
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch only if necessary; see note

1 Batch Sweet Vanilla Crêpes

Additional Ingredients:

Whipped Cream

Instructions

Make a batch of Sweet Vanilla Crepes.

Dutch Apple Filling:

Peel, core, and slice apples into a large mixing bowl. Add dried cranberries (if desired), and then lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. Toss to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let set for about half an hour.
In a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together, stirring frequently. When mixture begins to bubble, add salt and reduce temperature to medium low.
Add prepared apple mixture and bring to mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. Cook apples until they are no longer crunchy, but still have some texture to them. (You don’t want applesauce!)
If the mixture is very runny, add cornstarch a half-teaspoon at a time and simmer until thickened.

Assembling the Crêpes

Fill crêpes with prepared Dutch Apple Cranberry Filling, fold and garnish with whipped cream and dried cranberries.

Sweet Vanilla Crêpes Recipe

Open year-round, a visit to Pennington Farms recalls a simpler time, filled with ripe, juicy berries fresh from the vine and scratch-made baked goods like your grandma used to make.

“Once there was a boy named Sam who grew up in the surf and sand To the mainland he headed on the journey of his life And ended up finding his wife. The couple got married and had quite a clan Sam said, “Let’s leave the city for simpler life” So to the farm the headed hand-in-hand.”

How to Enjoy Berry Season Year-round

Pennington Farms Blackberry Buckle

Ingredients

Batter:

Topping:

Instructions

Topping

Surprise your Sweetheart with some homemade sunshine! These Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day (or any day!).

Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

How to form Heart-shaped Shortbread Log

Baking:

Recipe Notes

MORE MEYER LEMON RECIPES

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Satisfy your belly and your soul with these delicious Southern classics.

Speaking of Smokin’ Hot…

Shrimp & Grits

Vegetables (sort of) and More Grits

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In Which Mr B Judges a Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Bake-off, Eats a LOT of Delicious Desserts, and Gets a Bit of a Tummy Ache

The People’s Choice

Strawberry Thin Mint Cookie Delight

Ingredients

Instructions

My Personal Choice

Toffeetastic Butterscotch Mud Pie

Ingredients

Crust

Butterscotch Pudding

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Instructions

Crust

Butterscotch Pudding

Topping

Judges Choice {The Ultimate Winner}

Samoa Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients

Oreo Crust

Cheesecake Layer

Coconut Caramel Chocolate Layer

Instructions

Recipe Notes

Sugar & Spice Cranberries are a tart, sweet treat – made with a deliciously spiced simple syrup.

Sugar & Spice Cranberries

Ingredients

Instructions

Spiced Simple Syrup

Ingredients

Instructions

The heat is on and the strawberries are ripe, so find a cool spot to lounge and tilt back with a big bowl of the best fresh strawberry ice cream you’ll ever have.

Best Homemade Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream Ever!

Ingredients

Instructions

The Richest, Creamiest Dairy-free VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM Ever ~ Made with Coconut Milk!

Dairy-free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ingredients

Instructions

Recipe Notes

Snickerdoodles! Just saying the name brings a smile!

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

Topping:

Instructions

My Favorite Cookbook {Catherine}

Ingredients

Instructions

Looking for an easy brunch that will Wow your overnight holiday guests? Dutch Apple Cranberry Crêpes are just the thing! (They will make your house smell fabulous too!

Dutch Apple Cranberry Crêpe Filling

Ingredients

“Once there was a boy named Sam who grew up in the surf and sand
To the mainland he headed on the journey of his life
And ended up finding his wife.
The couple got married and had quite a clan
Sam said, “Let’s leave the city for simpler life”
So to the farm the headed hand-in-hand.”