Slow Cooker Sesame Pork Ribs

"No one ever believes how little effort it takes to make these tender, juicy ribs. The meat absorbs the tangy flavor of the sweet sauce as the ribs simmer in the slow cooker." - Sandy A., in the Feb/March 2011 Country Magazine, describing her recipe for pork ribs.

As soon as I read this quote and looked at the picture of the succulent ribs, I knew I would try it out. My husband loves to slow cook ribs on the grill, but rarely has time to do so...he loved these, and I was proud to be able to serve him yummy ribs much easier than spending a couple hours outside over the grill.

Slow Cooker Sesame Pork Ribs (Country Magazine)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (depending on how much heat you like)
1 medium onion, sliced
5 lbs. bone-in country style pork ribs (I used one rack of baby back ribs, which worked great)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (I didn't have these, so I omitted them)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Add ribs and turn to coat. Place the sliced onion in crock pot (5 qt crock pot if you are using the full 5 lbs of pork ribs, a smaller crock pot will fit one rack of baby back ribs). Top with ribs and sauce.
2. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Meat should be very tender. Place ribs on serving platter; sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Aussie Pavlova

What was my husband's one request for his birthday? A pavlova. Many Americans have no idea what this is, but it is a staple in Australia. And his aunt is a pav master, hers are legendary within family and friend circles. She's been making them for 40 years and I HAVE THE RECIPE! I'm so happy to be able to pass this one along to my girls.

The last time we visited his homeland, Aunt Helen gave me a one-on-one demonstration of how to make her delicious pavlova - which has a thick, crispy but airy meringue base, homemade whipped cream and strawberries on top.

Luke loved the pav. It was so yummy, and brought back all kinds of good memories of home for him.

TIPS:

• Aunt Helen swears by baking this pav next to an open window. After reading reviews of other pavlova recipes, I've learned that humidity can make or break a pav. So if it's a beautiful day, open up that window!
• Leave pavlova in the cooling oven when it's done baking. If you take it out when the timer goes off, your pav will crack!

Aunt Helen's Pavlova
8 egg whites - egg whites should be room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch (Big!) salt

Directions:

1. Grease your largest baking tray with butter and sprinkle an equal mixture of cornflour and powdered sugar over greased surface. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In standing mixer, beat egg whites and pinch of salt with whisk attachment. Allow to whip right up to fluffy peaks and gradually add while whipping, the sugar bit by bit. You'll notice the mixture go glossy.
3. Once all the sugar dissolves, turn off the mixer. Then, with a rubber spatula, gently fold in vanilla, vinegar and cornflour, stirring for 30 seconds only.
4. Load this meringue mixture on to tray with slightly built up walled sides (a well in the center). The meringue will rise!
5. Place in oven for 1 1/2 hours on 300 degrees, then turn oven off and leave pavlova in oven for 1 hour. Halfway through that cooling hour, barely crack oven open. After at least 1 hour cooling in the oven, take out and allow to cool right down.
6. Spoon a generous portion of whipped cream over pavlova and top with sliced strawberries. We love homemade whipped cream: Put whisk and bowl in freezer for 5 minutes. Whisk in standing mixer 2 cups heavy cream, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla. Other toppings for the pav include: kiwi, passionfruit, or Australian-style peppermint crisp (delicious!!). Serves 24 people.

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Homemade biscuits are really quite easy. Any time I need to bake some up, I pull out my 20-year old Betty Crocker cookbook. I'm sure there are fancier biscuits out there, but for adding honey, jam and cream, or using it for this slow cooker chicken pot pie, they definitely do a good job.

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits (Betty Crocker)
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small squares (1 stick)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
3-4 tablespoons butter, for greasing pan

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt with pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in buttermilk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured round cutter. 
4. Add 3-4 tablespoons of butter to 9x13" glass dish. Place in oven and allow to melt. Once melted, take dish out and spread butter around dish. Roll each side of biscuit in butter, and place biscuits in dish.
5. Bake until slightly golden, about 10-12 minutes. Cool for 1-2 minutes, then remove from dish and serve immediately.

My Go-To Chocolate Cake

Yum. Yum. Yum. That's all I have to say after making and eating this chocolate cake, courtesy of Allrecipes.com. I was in search of a moist, dense chocolate cake for my daughter's birthday party. This one did the trick. It paired really nicely with ice cream, and honestly, it tasted better a day after I put it together. My recommendation is to make it one day ahead of time and cover it really well. That allows all the flavors to settle.

So if you are looking for a delicious chocolate cake recipe that won't fail you...look no further! This is definitely my go-to chocolate cake recipe.

Extreme Chocolate Cake (Allrecipes)
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee (my change from boiling water - it doesn't give it a coffee flavor, but enriches the chocolate flavor)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
5 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2. Use the first set of ingredients to make the cake. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Stir in the hot coffee by hand. Pour evenly into the two prepared pans. (Batter will be runny, make sure to fill pan no higher than 3/4 of the pan to allow for rising).
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.
4. To make the frosting, use the second set of ingredients. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa and confectioners' sugar alternately with the milk and vanilla. Beat to a spreading consistency.
5. Split the layers of cooled cake horizontally, cover the top of each layer with frosting, then stack them onto a serving plate. Frost the outside of the cake.

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

I had never thought of using heavy cream to make scones until my friend Emily made these for us (thanks Emily!). I'm craving these about once a week, so I always have some cream in my fridge now days. It makes the scones so moist! How many times have you bit into a scone only to find it hard and dry? Maybe it's just me, but it seems to be the norm.

These are a simple breakfast treat that will impress guests...it certainly impressed me and my hubby!

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder (yes, a full tablespoon!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips (we prefer semi-sweet in this recipe)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Pour in cream and chocolate chips. Mix all together and knead the dough about 10-12 times.
2. Spray a cookie sheet and pat dough out into a 10" circle, dough will be about 1 1/2 - 2" thick. Using a knife, cut dough like a pizza into triangles. Gently, and barely, separate each of the triangles with the knife. (There shouldn't be much space between each triangle, just a little so there's room for the scones to expand. If you leave too much space in between the scones, the scones will have crunchier sides. We prefer them to have soft sides, so just a little sliver of space will do.)
3. Bake for approximately 16-18 minutes. For the yummiest scone, serve them warm. (Though they are delicious cold as well). The tops of the scones should be a light golden color.

Peanut Buster Ice Cream Cake

This ice cream cake became legendary at my old work. And that's not an exaggeration. It was so funny, I made it a few times, and it's a simple recipe...but I guess the end result is hard to forget. This is not my recipe, but it's taken from an elementary school cookbook that all the moms put together. I think what makes this cake is the homemade fudge. It's layered on top of a light sprinkle of peanuts, then the creamy vanilla ice cream, and a yummy oreo crust. The beauty of this dessert is, you can customize it however it suits your taste buds...instead of peanuts, try toffee bits, or instead of vanilla ice cream, try chocolate chip or cookie dough.

But I will give you the good ol' fashioned recipe...you do with it what you please!


Peanut Buster Ice Cream Cake 
1 lb oreo cookies
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (I prefer the kind titled "homemade")
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk (one 13 or 14 oz. can)
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (semi-sweet is what you should use for this fudge)
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Crush up all the oreo cookies into fine crumbs by putting them through the food processor, or putting them all in a zip lock bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin. Dump cookie crumbs in a bowl, add the melted butter and mix together well.
2. In a 9x13" pan, press the oreo cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan creating the crust. Use the back of a spoon to press the crust down and smooth it out. Place in the freezer while you let the ice cream soften.
3. Allow the ice cream to soften a bit (sometimes, I scoop it all into a big bowl and mash it around until it is spreadable with a spatula, but I try to avoid letting it melt). Scoop the ice cream onto the cookie crust and with a spatula, gently spread it around to form a uniform layer of ice cream. 
4. Sprinkle peanuts on top of ice cream and place pan back in the freezer.
5. In a medium saucepan, combine powdered sugar, evaporated milk, chocolate chips, butter and vanilla. Bring to a boil, and boil for 8 minutes, stirring constantly so the chocolate doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. Once it's finished, the fudge should be dark and fairly thick as you take it off the heat. Pour the fudge into a bowl and allow to cool completely. (I usually allow to cool in the fridge for at least a few hours, but sometimes overnight).
6. When fudge is cooled, use a spatula to spread it over the ice cream cake. Depending on how long the fudge has been in the fridge, you might have to let it soften a bit before spreading over the cake (to do this, I usually just take the spatula and stir until it's softened). Place cake back in the freezer and serve when needed.

Chicken Pot Pie in Slow Cooker

Well, I sure have some catching up to do. There are many recipes in the que to post. Starting with this one. It's easy and delicious. This is not a traditional chicken pot pie, rather you spoon the chicken mixture over freshly baked biscuits. I've found this is a yummy way to serve veggies to my kids (slow cooker meals are great for babies and toddlers who need softer veggies!).

Chicken Pot Pie in Slow Cooker (adapted from Allrecipes.com)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (Healthy Request kind from Campbell's)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary, crushed (I used dry rosemary, but you can certainly use fresh)
4 chicken breasts, chopped into 1" cubes, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
1/2 cup potatoes, chopped into 1/2" pieces
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients except for the frozen peas and frozen corn into the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 3 hours on high.
2. Add frozen peas and frozen corn, stir into chicken mixture, and cover again. Cook for another hour on high (total cooking time is 4 hours). 
3. Meanwhile, bake some biscuits in the oven. You can use biscuits from a can, or from scratch (I use a Betty Crocker biscuit recipe that I will eventually post on here).
4. Slice biscuits in half and spoon mixture over the top, serve and enjoy.