Lemon Lovers Gooey Bars

This one is for you lemon lovers.  It is a rich gooey lemony bar dusted with powdered sugar and a dollop of creamy whip topping for anytime of the year.  It has cream cheese blended into it to satisfy that little tasty desire.

I won't take full credit for this recipe because it originates from the cake batter bars recipes.  I came up with my own version for the Lemon Lovers Gooey Bars.  It is VERY simple to make with only seven ingredients.  WARNING: Very rich!  lo

1 box lemon cake mix

3 eggs

8 oz. cream cheese softened

1/2C (1stick) butter, melted

4C (1 lb.) powdered sugar

2 tsp. lemon extract

zest of 2 lemons

 

Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray.  If you want a thicker bar you can use a smaller pan.

 

Melt butter in microwave in a safe microwave bowl.  I used the bowl I was going to mix the crust layer in so that I would not have to wash additional bowls.

 

Pour cake mix on top of melted butter and add one egg then mix into soft dough.

 

Press dough into bottom of the pan and set aside.

 

Now mix powdered sugar, softened cream cheese, and the two remaining eggs until smooth.

 

Then add lemon extract and the lemon zest to this and mix until it is combined into the cream cheese mixture.  Do not use lemon juice, use the extract.

 

Pour on top of the crust.

 

Bake at 300 for 40 to 50 minutes until top is golden brown.  In my oven it actually took 55 minutes.  The top layer is gooey so you can't do a tooth pick test for doneness.

 

Serve dusted with powdered sugar and a dollop of whip topping.  It taste lemony gooey warm or cool. (I got a little crazy with the dusting)

 

I don't know how well this will freeze but I am going to try it and see.  I will give you a follow up on that.  Hope you enjoy it!





Harvest Porch

Freemans welcome you to their home as they celebrate the harvest season.  Summer has passed and it won't be long until Old Man Winter rears his head.  We appreciate these days that we have now where we can still be outside enjoying all that God's creation has for us. 

Doug only has until the end of this month to enjoy fly fishing at Bennett Springs State Park.  He won't be able to fish again until opening day March 1, 2013.  That won't keep him down though I am sure there is some project calling his name out in the garage for the winter.

Obviously I've been enjoying the outside with the chance to decorate the porch and one of the flower beds.  Lots of work to still be done in the yard, lots of weeds that popped their heads out of the ground once the rain began to fall on our perched Ozark hills and land.

This is our Americana Patriotic front porch now named Harvest Porch.  It might be a little over the top but I like to show case my front porch sometimes.  lol  It's a wonderful porch to sit out on in our rocking chairs, even the steps are a nice sunny place to plop down.  When the beginning of spring comes and we have an usually warm and sunny day, I like to go out on the steps and plop down.  I take my shoes and socks off to let them bath in the sun after a long winters nap in socks, shoes, boots, and warm comfy slippers.

Here is the right view of the porch with Pretty Boy Sumo the Oklahoma Cowboy having to get his mug in the shot.  He was actually hoping I would go back inside so he could go lay down on the couch or in the recliner.

Now imagine roving your eyes to the left of the porch and of course there is Sumo still staring me down trying to get me to put him in the house.

Sumo has now allowed Miss Daisy Mae the Junk Yard Dog on the porch.  This picture doesn't look like it was difficult to take but little Mr. Alpha Dog on the right did not want Miss Daisy to be on the porch during picture taking.  Daisy is a rescued dog that we adopted.  She has been an incredible dog and she seems to love her forever home and now her forever master/dad.  She had been abused physically before we got her apparently by a male.  Doug is like the Dog Whisper, he can walk up to any dog and immediately make friends.  When we first got Daisy she was extremely fearful of any males.  This was frustrating for Doug as he has never had a dog do that but after several months of patience, love, and showing that men can be trusted she now completely worships him.

I love my rocking chairs. I purchased them a few years back from Wal-Mart. I brought them home and painted them red, white, and blue. The basic frame is painted blue and the slots on the seat and back are painted red and white. I then painted three stars on the head rest.

 

The picture on the left has a table I bought this summer from a garage sale for two bucks.  The game plan is to paint it the Star Spangle Blue like the rest of the porch furniture.  It has small pumpkins and gourds nested in raffia in the bottom cubby hole and on top is an old oil can or water can that I painted the Americana.  The picture on the right has our old mail box that is painted with red and with stripes with a blue door and a star.  Its just lovely with colorful flowers bursting out the door.  On top of the mail box I cut two holes and inserted two small pots.  I fill those pots with whatever catches my fancy.  Last but not least on each side of the door and tables are the red pots that are year around filled with colorful flowers that I grow or are man made.

 

There you have the Harvest Porch at the Freeman house.  Who knows maybe I will get the time and can spare the moola to do some decorating in the landscaping and flower beds.  I hope you all have enjoyed my pictures as much as I have enjoyed decorating. Next I will share my Harvest/Thanksgiving tablescape.  It won't be long when this all goes back into their trusty Rubbermaid boxes and out will come Christmas. 

 

Happy Harvest,

 

Angela

 



 

 



P.S.  Daisy and Sumo down in the left corner wanted to say "Come back and visit again but be sure to bring us treats."

 

Trip Down Memory Lane to Grandmother's House Sipping Soda

I was texting back and forth with a friend and our conversation led to the soft drink TaB.  How many of you remember TaB?  I certainly do I remember drinking it at my Grandmother Dobson's house on N. River in Independence, MO. TaB was introduced into the market in 1962 by Coca Cola Company after the successful sales and marketing of Diet Rite cola owned by The Royal Crown Company. I would have been just a baby not even a toddler yet.  I always thought TaB was the first sugar free soda but to my surprise it was Diet Rite cola.  Now 50 years later I am still drinking diet cola.

Growing up as kids we didn't have soda handy at home like kids have today.  My mom would keep Dr. Pepper or 7-Up for medical purposes such as an upset stomach.  The only time we had soda was when it was a special occasion which certainly made you appreciate it much more.  I wonder if any of us kids ever faked an upset stomach just to have a soda?  We drank iced tea, juice, milk, or water.  It wasn't until some time in the 70's that mom would have it available as an option for a beverage.  I seem to remember that coincided with the introduction of the plastic  two liter bottles.

When we were kids and went to Grandmother's house she always had ice cold bottles of Coke Cola, Tab, and 7-UP; sometimes she would have Dr. Pepper and Canada Dry Ginger Ale but those were mainly for medical purposes. Although I can say if you asked she'd grant you with your choice of soft drink. She always served it in the bottle with a straw. The straw was usually one of those bendable ones but I do remember when I was younger that sometimes they were the paper straws.

Coca Cola was formulated in 1886 by John Pemberton. The first sales were at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia on May 8, 1886.  It was originally sold as a patent medicine for 5 cents a glass at soda fountains which were popular at the time because of the belief that carbonated water was good for the health.  Mr. Pemberton claimed that coca cola cured many diseases such as morphine addictions, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headaches, and impotence.  If only that last part were true we wouldn't have to listen and see Jimmy Johnson's Extenses commercial on TV.  lol

ut  In 1929 Charles Lieper Grigg of the The Howdy Corporation in St. Louis, Mo created the lemon-lime formula for 7-UP.  It was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash.  It contained lithium citrate a mood-stabilizing drug until 1950.  It has been reformulated several times since then.  It was one of many products patent for medical purposes that were popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.  It was considered a common folk remedy.  I don't know about you but there is something about drinking a cold 7-UP when you've been sick with the stomach flu.

 Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas first created Dr Pepper in the 1880's.  It was first served in 1885 at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco. It was nationally marketed in United States in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.  In the early years it was marketed as a brain tonic and a energizing pick-me-up.  I don't know about you but I am beginning to get the picture of why my grandmother and mother considered some of these products for medical purposes  I also now understand why some family members are hooked on it, they need it for the brain tonic purposes.  (smiling singing) Be a Pepper. Drink Dr Pepper...

  Canada Dry's formula was perfected in 1904 by John McLaughlin in Toronto, Canada at a small plant that manufactured soda water.  It wasn't until 1919 that McLaughlin began to ship the product to New York City.  Two years later the first plant was opened in United States in Manhattan on 38th Street.  During the roaring 20's it cost the high price of 35 cents for a 12 ounce bottle.  Ginger ale was used as a home remedy to alleviate indigestion and nausea but its real popularity came during the prohibition as a mixer with the horrid taste of homemade liquor.  In other words it made gut rot worth drinking.  lol

We had a lot of good times laughing, talking, and visiting while we sipped our sodas at Grandmother's house.  I can remember sitting in her living room in front of the fireplace on the big oval rug and then later on wall to wall carpet sipping one of these sodas as we visited with one another. Somewhere on an old cassette tape there is a recording of me making up a poem as I looked into the fire in the fire place while drinking my soda.  She had a tape cassette tape recorder back in the 1970's.  I think if she was still alive today she would be up on all the electronic gadgets.  She liked to update with the times and take advantage of new things and ways to do things but she also loved and appreciated antiques. I can imagine us sipping soda but probably out of cans or plastic bottles while she would be using the video cam on her smart phone recording the memories.

Momma Angela's Shredded Beef Chili

I am sharing my shredded beef chili recipe because Linda Stewart asked for the recipe.  This is not only one of my family's favorite but Houston's team mates from football, wrestling, and baseball use to love it when I fixed it.  They still request it when they come to visit.  It is not hard to make but requires a large pot of patience and time.  It's perfect for an fall or winter meal.

Two of the most important parts of the recipe are to coat the meat with the chili seasoning and use the juice/drippings from the roast beef.  Do not following seasoning package directions.  Coating the meat brings out the flavor of the seasoning.  Using the juice/drippings also adds a fabulous robust flavor.  Be sure that when cooking your roast you brown it on both sides first making a nice brown crust on it.  Once the roast is done take your whisk and scrape the crust off the pan into the juice/drippings, this makes the flavor stand out.

Tips:  This makes a good amount but it freezes well.  If you want to make regular chili leave out pot roast but not the juice/drippings.  I always freeze plastic containers of left over pot roast juice/drippings to use for chili or soups.

Ingredients:
One shredded roast beef or you can use what was left over from your pot roast dinner.
2lbs. ground beef browned and drained.
Juice/drippings from roast.
2 pkgs. Williams Chili Seasoning Original.
2 to 3 cans petite toms not drained. (depends on how meaty you want it or soupy).
2 to 3 cans dark red kidney beans not drained (depends on how meaty you want it or soupy).
Salt to taste.
Optional: You can add a can of sweet corn for a little twist.
If you want it to have more heat add Rotel to it.

Prepare Meat First:
Brown ground beef and while it is browning shred pot roast.
Drain ground beef and coat with one package chili seasoning and then take the other package and coat the shredded roast beef.
Put in large pan and pour juice/drippings over it with burner just above medium.

Add:
Toms, beans, and salt.

Simmer:
Simmer on medium low for one hour or more.  The longer you simmer it the better it is.

 

Texas Size Chocolate Cupcake with

 Peanut Butter/Cream Cheese Filling

 

 

I absolutely LOVE making cupcakes!  They are so much fun to bake and decorate.  There is just something about a cupcake that makes people SMILE.  This weekend I had the opportunity to make one of my most loved cupcakes because the Fabulous Foursome Gang Houston, Cara, Nick, and Jessi came home from college for the weekend.  Most of the time you cannot go wrong with chocolate, peanut butter, or cream cheese.  This cupcake can be used for any season or any holiday.  Here's the recipe which is very simple to make.

 

You will need:  2 Texas size cupcake pans along with the cupcake liners.  I purchased mine at Wal-Mart but I am sure Targets or an kitchen place carries them.  This makes a dozen cupcakes.   Also a Pastry bag/dessert gun decorator, and a melon baller. 

 

1 Devil's Food cake mix (required ingredients the mix calls for), 8oz package cream cheese, 1/2C peanut butter, 2TBSP milk, 1 stick of real butter, 2C powdered sugar, 6 TBSP. cocoa, 1 tsp. vanilla

 

Preheat:  oven to 350

 

Cake Batter:  One box of Devil's Food Cake.  Pick what every your favorite brand is and follow the directions.  I use a 1/4 measuring cup to pour batter into each cupcake liner and then a medium cookie dough scoop to add the rest.  You can figure out your own measuring way and if you come up with a better one please let me know.  Follow the suggested time on the cake box.  As soon as you take them out of the oven cover it with foil and put it in the refrigerator or freezer.  This locks in the moisture which makes your cupcakes very moist.   (I also do this with all my cakes I bake)

 

 

Filling:  8oz Cream Cheese softened, 1/2C real butter, 2 TBSP milk.  Beat together until smooth and ingredients are completely combined.

 

Take a melon baller and use the bigger end to scoop out a portion of the cupcake on top and lay that aside.  Then put filling in a pastry bag and squeeze into hole.  Replace scooped out portion back on top of cupcake.  It will be sticking up but that is okay because when you frost the cake it will give the frosting heights and a much prettier look.

 

Frosting:  1 stick of real butter softened, 2 C powdered sugar, 6 TBSP cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla.  Beat together until all ingredients are completely combined.

 

Then fold in one 8oz carton of Cool Whip until all ingredients are combined.

 

Use a pastry bag or a dessert gun with star tip to pipe the frosting on top.  Start on the outside and work your way up around to the top and top it off with a peak.

 

Then top off with one mini Reeses peanut butter cup and white sparkling sugar.

 

I keep the cupcakes refrigerated until I serve them because of the dairy products in them and it also hardens the frosting so that it holds in place.

 

Presenting them on a cupcake stand also adds a nice touch for those special occasions.

Costume for Fun-Wal-Mart Bag Lady.

Semper Fi

Last night I pulled into Kum & Go in Springfield, MO off of Glenstone and James River Express to put gas in my car.  I noticed as I was driving into the parking lot to my pump a bum sitting on the concrete up against the store.  There was something about him that made me want to look at him and check out what his "bag" was.  Instantly I began to have a left brain/right brain conversation.  Left brain "Don't make eye contact.  Don't look at him".  Right brain, "Hey look at that dude what's his bag?  What's his sign say?  I see Vet on it"  "No, no don't look at him.  He might come over here.  He's probably fake."  "Hey check it out, he isn't even looking at anyone.  There might really be something wrong with him.  He's a veteran for goodness sakes."  This little back and forth jargon went on all the while I pumped my big buy of $20.04 of unleaded gas.  Finally the right brain won out and said, "Give him that five bucks you got in your little change purse so he can put some food in his stomach."  The left brain gave in with only one condition that I ask the clerk in the store if the guy hung out there all the time or not.  If the clerk said yes then there would be no hand outs.

I went into the store still not making eye contact with the man.  I paid for my gas and asked the clerk about the homeless man sitting out front.  The clerk didn't know anything because he didn't actually work at that store.  He was just filling in that evening.  I told the clerk then I was just going to go for it then so the man could put some food in his stomach. 

I had the five bucks in my hand as I walked out of the store and approached the man.  He still wasn't staring anyone down or trying to get their attention.  He was just sitting there with a kind of far away look like he was thinking about something or remembering something.  When I walked up to him, it kind of surprised him.  That's when I saw what his sign said, "Marine homeless Vet".  That was it nothing more nothing less.  I handed him the money and told him very firmly put something in his stomach to eat with it. Then I said, "My daddy was a Marine."  A spark of life came to his eyes when I said that.  I told him he was in the Korean War and the Vet told me he had been in Nam.

I could tell that something wasn't well for him.  He is probably one of thousands of those people with mental health conditions that fall through the cracks.  They get no help from anyone.  The government doesn't want to deal with them and they are not well enough to deal with themselves.  I say government as a whole, not just Republicans but yes you democrates too.  No one in Washington left or right is dealing with this situation of citizens with mental health issues. 

He began to talk about people not understanding what he was going through.  You could hear the  hurt in his voice and the loneliness.  No I don't understand what he is personally going through but I do understand what it feels like to go through something and people not understanding, not caring, and pretending that you are alright.  It's a lonely dark place to be.

I started to walk away and the words came to me to say, "Don't give up.  Don't quit believing.  God is watching over you, he will see you through."  At. those words he perked up even more and said, "Yes I know."  I asked him then if he knew Jesus, if Jesus was in his heart.  He told me yes I've known him for a long time.  I asked if he was born again.  He kind of chuckled and said yes.  Then my attention was drawn back to the sign.  I said, "From my daddy to you Semper Fi."  If love and pride could pass over a person's face visually it did at that moment.  He sat up straight and said, "Semper Fi".  As I started to walk away he asked if I knew what Semper Fi means.  He said it means "Always Faithful".  I stopped and pointed my finger at him and said, "Yes that's right and so is God Semper Fi.  He is always faithful."  Understanding came over him instantly like a light coming on in the darkest room.  He smiled and chuckled, "Yes that is right.  God is always faithful."