Experience has taught me that the key to hosting a successful party – whether it’s for adults or children – is having large quantities of good food. And our daughter’s 9^th birthday party was no exception.

Last Friday, my daughter requested to take cupcakes to school for her birthday treats. Since her party theme was Zany Zebras, I tried my best to make her treats fit the theme. My artwork leaves a little to be desired, but these cupcakes were a hit in the classroom. Kids were pleasantly surprised to bite into the mini Oreo® center. 

That night we hosted six girls for an overnight, and those little girls had big appetites! For supper, I put a new twist on pizza by serving a casserole. Some of our guests had second – and even third – helpings!  Best of all, it’s easy to make and costs less than ordering take-out. Add baby carrots and apples slices to complete the hassle-free, well balanced meal.

Breakfast the next morning was a snap, too. Monkey Bread is not only delicious, but it’s an easy recipe for kids to help make. From the time my kids were in preschool, they’ve been able to help cut up the biscuits and shake them in cinnamon/sugar. Food always tastes better (in their minds) when they had a hand at making it! I just sliced a few strawberries and bananas, fried a little bacon, and poured glasses of cold milk to round out the meal on Saturday morning.

Hopefully, your “little monkeys” will enjoy these recipes, too. I always enjoy swapping ideas with other moms, so feel free to share with me your kids’ favorites.

PIZZA CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• 2 c. twisted macaroni, cooked according to package directions
• 1 ½ lb. hamburger, browned with onion, salt & pepper
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1, 15-oz. can pizza sauce
• 1, 8-oz. can tomato sauce
• ½ tsp. sugar
• Dash of onion salt, garlic salt and oregano

Directions

Mix hamburger and macaroni.  In a separate pan, mix: tomato sauce and tomato paste, sugar, onion salt, garlic salt and oregano.   Then add the sauce mix to the hamburger and macaroni.  Put ½ of this mixture in a 2-qt. casserole dish and top with half the mozzarella.  Then add the remaining mixture and top with another layer of cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. 

NOTE:  I like to add Hormel’s mini pepperonis to this casserole, too.

OREO® SURPRISE CUPCAKES

Ingredients

• 1 (18 ounce) package chocolate cake mix (2 layer size)
• 1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 48 miniature Oreo cookies
• 1 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake batter as directed on package.  Spoon evenly into 24 paper- or foil-lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 1/2 full.
2. Beat cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended.  Place about 1-1/2 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture over cake batter and add 1 cookie. Cover with remaining cake batter.
3. Bake 19 to 22 minute or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before moving cupcakes from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (There may be an indentation in top of each cupcake after baking.).
4. Frost cupcakes with Cool Whip®. Garnish with remaining cookies.

Monkey Bread

• ¾ c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 tubes of biscuits (cut into ¼’s)

Place sugar in cinnamon in a plastic bag; shake biscuit pieces.  Arrange coated pieces in Bundt pan.

Syrup:

• 1 c. brown sugar
• ¾ c. melted butter
• 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Mix well.  Pour over biscuits in Bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Turn out on cookie sheet to cool.

I heard a bird this week that I haven’t heard since last spring. I know, I know. There’s five feet of snow out there and this is a very small slice of hope in it all, but it is hope nonetheless! It means that soon more and more birds will return to the northland. And soon, we’ll see green again.

In honor of green – and of our trip to Key West last week – I’m sharing a recipe straight from Kermit. Kermit’s Key (West) Lime Shoppe was a popular stop for the Latham group.  And thanks to a recipe posted on foodnetwork.com, we can all enjoy it from the comfort of our own homes.   Below is the recipe for Kermit’s delectable Key Lime Pie. Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

• 2 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup key lime juice
• 1 (9-inch) graham cracker piecrust
• Whipped cream, to garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. In a mixer on low-medium speed, blend the milk and egg yolks at low speed until smooth. Add the key lime juice and finish blending.
3. Gently pour the mixture into the piecrust and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool for another 15 minutes before refrigerating.
4. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Serve cold and top with fresh whipped cream.

Do you have a favorite pie recipe that screams spring? Oh, who are we to judge? We love all pie!

There’s a lot to be thankful for at Thanksgiving, and on that list is the amazing food we get to enjoy during the holiday. I wanted to share a couple of our family favorites with you.

I love easy-to-make recipes, especially during the holidays. We have enough going on trying to get everyone around the table at the same time, let alone watching a pie to keep the crust from burning. That’s why this Pumpkin Pudding recipe is one of my favorites, because all it takes is a quick mix, and then you can pour it into the crockpot and forget about it until it’s ready to serve.

Another “pour it and forget it recipe” is for cranberry salad. It puts a new twist on a traditional Turkey Day side dish.

What I like about both of these recipes is that, while the food is either warming in the crockpot or cooling in the fridge, it leaves me – and you – time to do exactly what we should be doing on Thanksgiving: enjoying time with family and friends.

Crockpot Pumpkin Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1, 15-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
• 1, 12-oz. can evaporated milk
• ¾ c. sugar
• ½ c. Bisquick
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 T. butter, melted
• 2 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:

Spray the slow cooker crock with non-stick spray or lightly oil the inside.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand-held mixer at low to medium speed, beat ingredients together until smooth.  Pour the mixture into the prepared crockpot.

Cover and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or cook on High 3 to 4 hours.
Spoon into cups and top with whipped topping.
Serves 6.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Mold

Ingredients:

• 1½ c. boiling water
• 1 package (8-serving size) or 2 packages (4-serving size) JELL-O® brand Cranberry Flavor Gelatin
• 1½ c. cold water
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 medium apple, chopped
• 1 c. whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1, 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

Preparation:

Stir the boiling water into gelatin in large bowl for 2 minutes or until completely dissolved.  Stir in cold water and cinnamon.  Pour 2 cups of the gelatin into medium bowl.  Refrigerate about 1½ hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves a definite impression).  Reserve remaining 1 cup gelatin at room temperature.

Stir apple and cranberry sauce into thickened gelatin.  Spoon into 6-cup mold.  Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set but not firm (should stick to finger when touched and should mound).

Stir reserved 1 cup gelatin gradually into cream cheese in small bowl with wire whisk until smooth.  Pour over gelatin layer in mold.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Unmold.  Makes 12 servings.

My little garden provides me with big-time enjoyment.  I take great pride in producing fresh fruits and vegetables and truly enjoy using as much “home-grown produce” as I can in a single meal.  This weekend I was delighted to see the green beans were ready.  There’s nothing quite like the first picking of the season!

As I picked beans, I thought about the Hot German Green Beans my great grandma used to make.  (Of course, she didn’t use a recipe.  Thankfully, I was able to find one online at AllRecipes.com).  Memories of time spent with her in the kitchen – wearing my pint-sized, dark green apron with a pocket across the front – brought a smile to my face.  Grandma believed that cooking up a special meal was an act of love, so yesterday I treated my family to a home-grown, home-cooked feast.  To complete the meal, I baked my mom’s chocolate zucchini cake.  I have to admit that I was skeptical to try it the first time she made it, but now it’s one of my favorite desserts.

May these recipes put a smile on the faces of your family members, too!

Lemon Chicken
2 pounds chicken or chicken breasts
¼ c. flour
2 T. oil

1, 6-oz. can lemonade (thawed)
3 T. brown sugar
3 T. catsup
1 T. vinegar
2 T. cold water

Combine the flour with 1 tsp. salt.  Coat chicken thoroughly.  Brown chicken on all sides in hot oil; drain.  Transfer chicken to slow cooker.

Stir together the lemonade, brown sugar, catsup and vinegar.  Pour over the chicken and cover. Cook on high setting for 3-4 hours (time varies).  Remove chicken and pour liquid into saucepan.  Return chicken to cooker and cover to keep warm.

Blend cold water slowly into cornstarch, stir in hot liquid.  Cook until thick.  Service chicken with gravy over rice.  Serves 6.

Hot German Green Beans
Ingredients:
·    1 pound fresh green or wax beans, about 2 cups frozen or canned
·    4 to 6 slices bacon
·    1 onion, chopped
·    1 tablespoon granulated sugar
·    1/4 cup cider vinegar
·    salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Cook fresh beans in a little salted water until tender; cook frozen beans according to package instructions. Drain beans; reserve about 3/4 cup of the cooking or can liquid. Cut up bacon and sauté with onion until bacon is cooked and onion has lightly browned. Add bean liquid and cook until liquid has reduced to 1/4 cup. Add next 4 ingredients and the cooked beans. Heat through and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

Fresh Fruit Salad
INGREDIENTS
·    4 cups fresh strawberries, halved
·    2 cups fresh blueberries
·    2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
·    2 bananas, sliced
·    2 cups seedless grapes, halved
·    1 (8 ounce) container plain or vanilla yogurt
·    2 teaspoons lemon juice
·    1 teaspoon sugar
·    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
1.    In a large salad bowl, combine strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, bananas and grapes. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Serve with fruit.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
½ c. margarine
1 ½ c. sugar
2 eggs
½ c. oil
½ c. sour milk
1 T. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
2 T. cocoa
2 ½ c. flour
2 c. grated zucchini
½ c. nuts
½ c. chocolate chips

Cream margarine, sugar and eggs.  Add oil and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients, and add alternately with milk.  Fold in zucchini.
Pour into 9×13 cake pan.  Top with chocolate chips and nuts.  Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  Serve with whipped topping.

Planting season is well underway for most farmers, but those of us who enjoy gardening are about to begin harvesting—rhubarb, that is. Rhubarb is one of the first garden offerings to ripen, so this recipe from Latham Hi-Tech Seeds own Joy Bonin is just in time to enjoy the first “tastes” of spring. We’d love for you to share your own favorite rhubarb recipes.  Leave them for us in the comment box below!

FUN FACT: Rhubarb is officially a vegetable because it is the red stalk that is eaten.

Cherry Rhubarb Crunch

Crust:
2-1/2 c. oatmeal
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. margarine

Filling:
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. water
1 can cherry pie filling
4 c. diced rhubarb
1 t. almond extract

Crust: Combine ingredients and cut together to make crumbs. Save 3/4c. crumbs for the top; put rest of crumbs in a 9 X 13-inch pan.

Filling: In sauce pan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water. Cook until thick. Remove from heat and add pie filling, rhubarb, and almond extract. Pour over crumbs and sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

This is a recipe submitted to us from one of our Latham seed dealers in Hull, Iowa. Thank you for sharing your great recipe with us!

Mom’s Great Fudge

4 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 lb. butter
1 can evaporated milk

Bring to a soft boil for 4 minutes. REMOVE from heat.

ADD next ingredients in order, stirring after each addition until smooth before adding the next ingredient:

32 large marshmallows (or 1 pint marshmallow creme)
1lb. chocolate stars (use only Brach’s, real chocolate, not imitation or cheaper kinds)
12 oz. chocolate chips (again good brand, either semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
1 c. nuts

Pour into greased pans, cool, cut

Do you have a great fudge recipe of your own?  Maybe another sweet Christmas treat?  Share it with us in the comment box below!