Deviled Eggs

 

It doesn’t feel like Easter or a summertime picnic if we don’t have deviled eggs... Am I right?? 

It’s a staple side-dish... 

Deviled Eggs:

Start with 6 hard boiled eggs cooked and peeled.  This will give you 12 deviled eggs.

(My favorite egg-boiling methods follow)

Baseball Opening Day Desserts

Take me out to the ballgame!!

This year Opening Day is on April 1st!!  If you want to throw a little fun into your day, add one of these cute baseball themed treats.

Ice cream tastes better at the ballpark when it’s served in those mini baseball helmets

I found mini baseball helmets at Party City!! 

This is where I found them: Party City: Baseball Helmets

  

Baseball Helmet Sundaes

Scoop ice cream into mini helmets. Place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Place in freezer until ready to serve... Scooping ahead makes life much easier!

Toppings:

Chocolate 

Caramel

Cracker Jack

Peanuts

Whipped Cream

Cherries 

  

Sugar Cookie Baseballs 

12 Store bought sugar cookies or homemade-recipe follows

Vanilla frosting —reserve 1/4 cup and color red. 

Frost Cookies with white icing.

Pipe on baseball stitching.

Recipe for Karri Perry Vintage Sugar Cookies:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

***

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup softened unsalted butter

1 egg + 2 egg yolks (at room temperature is best)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

***

1/2 cup sanding sugar for coating the outside of the cookies

1 small drinking glass for pressing

parchment paper to line cookie sheet

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add egg and yolks one at a time, blending well after each.  Mix in extract.  Add dry ingredients to the wet, blending until just combined.

Drop 1 inch dough balls into the sanding sugar.  I use a small ice cream scoop.

Roll dough in sugar.

Place cookie dough about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  

Gently press cookies to about 1/2 inch thickness before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden on the edges,

Let cookies rest 1 minute on cookie sheet before moving to cool on a cooling rack.

For baseball cookies: frost with white icing, pipe red laces with red colored frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

This is my favorite quick butter cream frosting recipe:

1 Cup softened unsalted butter-

whipped with hand mixer until light and fluffy

3 Cups confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 TBS heavy cream, use as much or as

little to get the frosting consistency desired.

Twinkie Corn Dogs

1 box Twinkie snack treats

1 tub vanilla frosting

Red and yellow food coloring 

Popsicle sticks or paper straws

White coffee filters

2 Piping bags/or 2 zip top bags

Unwrap Twinkie, place on a coffee filter, insert popsicle stick into one end of the Twinkie-to mimic a corn dog.  Color 1/4 cup of the frosting red (for ketchup) and 1/4 cup yellow (for mustard).  Using a piping bag, drizzle the yellow and red frosting on top of the Twinkie to mimic ketchup and

 

Cheesy Ham-Jam Pinwheels

Karri Perry’s Cheesy Ham-Jam Pinwheels: Smoked Ham and Gruyere inside Puff Pastry with Apricot Jam, Dijon and Thyme. 

Can we talk about these Cheesy Ham-Jam Pinwheels?

How many did I taste-test, you might ask??  

I’ll never tell... but, friends, IF you make these... (and I hope that you do) prepare for them to disappear quickly—even if I’m not invited... ha.

If ever there was a perfect Easter brunch bite... this is it.  Pretty on a plate... served either piping hot or at room temperature... perfect for a buffet or ready in minutes for and easy weeknight dinner...We love them!!

These scrumptious pinwheels would be great for wedding showers, with a glass of wine... honestly, they look fancy, but these cute bites could not be easier to make.

You can use your favorite ham, I recommend having the deli shave or chip the ham, this makes for easy cutting/slicing and taking manageable bites into the pinwheel.  Do you ever skip certain party foods based on the degree of difficulty for devouring?? (Or is it just me??)  These are the things I ponder when menu planning... 

As far as the cheese... anything that melts beautifully will do... we used Swiss and Gruyere.  Gruyere, Monterey Jack, or even cheddar would be great choices.

I really like the flavor the thyme imparts—try not to skip the dried thyme sprinkle... it elevated the flavors.

For the apricot jam, I used Bonne Maman, and I used Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard... any Dijon-style  mustard will work wonderfully.

A parchment lined tray is important, because the jam and cheese will want to stick.  If you use foil in place of parchment, be sure to give the foil a light spray of non-stick spray to help the pinwheels slide off the baking sheet after baking.

Puff pastry is available in most frozen food departments of grocery stores, (near the frozen desserts-typically)  The boxes usually contain two sheets, read the package instructions to thaw—and by thaw I mean, let the puff pastry thaw just enough so that it’s pliable but not warm.  (I usually take the puff pastry from the freezer and let mine rest on the countertop, while I’m gathering ingredients... usually 30 minutes is just enough time to make the puff pastry easy to work with—but not warm and floppy.) 

It’s important that the puff pastry doesn’t get too warm... that’s the reason we pop the prepared pinwheels back into the freezer before baking... (it’s the same principle for baking a flaky pie crust)  The key is working with cold dough—chill before baking for maximum puff!! By chilling the dough, we solidify the laminated butter layers... and the magic can happen when they go into a hot oven.  Don’t you just love science!?

Enjoy!!

Crispy Cheese Coins

 Crispy Cheese Coins: Karri Perry

Ingredients:

1 stick softened unsalted butter

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese-grated

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 dashes hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal (Rice Krispies)

Directions:

In a stand mixer, (or with a hand mixer)  cream butter until it is light and fluffy.  Add the grated cheese and dash of hot sauce and mix well.  Add the spices to the flour.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the cheese and butter mixture. Mixture will be thick but pliable (like a pie dough) Lastly, fold in the dried rice cereal.  

Pour the mixture onto a piece of waxed paper.  Shape into a log (about 1-2 inches in diameter.)  Roll up the cheese dough and twist both ends of the waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is better.  

*A prepared cheese coin log can be kept frozen and stored in the freezer for one month-be sure to wrap tightly and store in a zip-top freezer bag.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, using the middle oven rack.  Slice the cheese coins thinly into 1/4 inch rounds and place on a parchment lined baking sheet 1 inch apart.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cheese coins are crisped and golden on the bottom.  Allow the cheese coins to sit for one minute after baking and then move to a cooling rack.  

Once cooled, store cheese coins in an airtight container or tin.