Made some strawberry cupcakes since a dear friend had requested that flavor when I had told her I wanted to bake something for her this weekend. Because it was her grandsons bday and that was his favorite flavor, strawberry cupcakes it was! When I went to look up different strawberry frostings, I found one that used freeze dried strawberries instead of strawberry jam to make the frosting! I tried it and loved it. The jam, I had used in the past always seemed to add a little too much sweetness, since you already had so much sweet from the powdered sugar! So this was exactly what it needed. Also I ended up adding about 1 healing teaspoon of dry strawberry jello before beating to add some extra flavor and color.

4 cups of powdered sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temp

1 heaping teas dry strawberry jello

1/3 cup crisco shortening

1 (1.2 oz) package of freeze dried strawberries (ground to a fine powder in food processor)

Whipping cream or half n half to get to spreading consistency

1 teas vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth! Add whipping cream or half n half gradually until frosting is easy to spread !

This morning in my quiet time with the Lord, I was reading 1 Chronicles 23-25. Granted, this is not the most easy read, with lists of names and their duties, but after learning to use Bible Recap at night before we turn in, she gives a recap of what we are suppose to have already read before listening to the recap! Today it was the above mentioned scripture! Knowing several of my friends are in a new season of service and some of us (probably mostly me), struggling with wondering if we are fulfilling the reason God keeps us here, this scripture stood out to me! Not the list of names per se, but this;

. Beginning inverse 25 “for David, said, “the Lord the God of Israel has given us peace and he will always live in Jerusalem . “

“Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and its utensils from place to place. It was according to David’s final instructions that all the Levi’s 20 years older older were registered for service.“…… They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days at new moon celebrations and at all the appointed festivals. The proper number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.

For some reason that really stood out to me! Were they comfortable with the change and how did they feel about it? Did they wonder what in the world it would be like now that their new responsibilities were going to be so different? They no longer had to carry the Tabernacle from place to place! Would they feel like they were still being used? We’re they still fulfilling Gods call in their lives? Sometimes, if you are like me, you assume that all the characters in the Bible were so holy and righteous that we could never identify with them! But God used people who were willing and obedient! If He called them to serve, He equipped them for His service and glory! And He has promised that to you and I as well! Yes, our seasons of life changes. And with that come changes in our service! At the end of chapter 23 it says. “And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levite’s watched over the Tabernacle, and the temple, and FAITHFULLY carried out THEIR duties of service at the house of the Lord! Lord, may You find me faithful to carry out my duties of service, no matter my season, no matter what my circumstance. That I will be willing to accept changes, different aspects of serving and giving You my best!

A friend of mine shared this with me a couple of weeks ago! A friend of hers had made it and brought some to her and she had saved me a piece! I fell in love with it! I didn’t have the recipe of hers but came home and found this one online and decided I had to try to make it. Since it was a rather rainy and cooler day today, it made perfect sense to be in the kitchen and try something new! It paid off! It is so buttery with a hint of rosemary that just is addicting! Why have I never made shortbread before? It was so easy and is such a great little “English” bite to get us in the mood to go see the new Downton Abby movie! Might even sneak some in my purse to go watch it Monday! Well, that and my bag of M&M’s. A movie isn’t a movie without M&Ms and popcorn and Diet Coke…..and now, shortbread! Will have to make some with toffee bits next time!

2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup granulated sugar
tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into
1-inch chunks
1 to 2 teaspoons honey

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor,
pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add
butter, and honey if desired, and pulse to fine
crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some
crumbs start to come together, but don’t
overprocess. Dough should not be smooth.
Step 2
Press dough into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch-
square baking pan or 9-inch pie pan. Prick dough
all over with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to
40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for
8-inch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into
squares, bars or wedges while still warm.

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 (4.5-oz.) can chopped green chiles,
drained
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, cut up
and softened
3½ cups chopped cooked chicken
breast
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 (8-oz.) packages Monterey Jack
cheese, shredded
2 cups whipping cream

1 small cam of mild green enchilada sauce

Sauté the onion in the butter until clear and soft. Add about 1/4 cup of the green enchilada sauce, the can of green chiles and the cream cheese you have cubed (so it melts faster)

Stir until cream cheese is melted and then add the chicken. Stir until combined! In a Pyrex baking dish, spray with Pam and pour about 1/2 cup of the green enchilada sauce over the bottom. Taking each flour tortilla, place about 1-2 (depends on size of tortilla you are using) tables in the middle of the tortilla and sprinkle some shredded cheese over the chicken. Roll up and place in baking dish. Proceed using the rest of tortillas! Pour the whipping cream (you might not need all 2 cups but just be sure all of them are covered) over the top and sprinkle the remained of the cheese over the top. Bake in preheated 350 oven until sauce is bubbly and cheese is all melted. Serve with rice and beans.

We had this for dinner when friends came over the other night and they loved it! It is so good and the whipping cream makes the flour tortillas almost crispy! I made a pot of pintos with chopped onion, fresh cilantro, a can of chopped tomatoes with garlic and the meal was really very well received. We had homemade chips and homemade salsa that topped it off! Easy meal to prepare and do ahead of time to where all I had to do was bake the enchiladas 35 min before we were ready to eat! Goya makes a wonderful yellow rice called Amarillo rice and goes so well with the beans and enchiladas! Finished our night with fresh strawberry pie (recipe is on the blog).

Finished product!

Am having some friends for dinner this evening! She is Italian from NY and so spaghetti and meatballs is the menu for tonight. Baked the meatballs yesterday and baked the sauce for about 3 hrs. So today all I had to do was add meatballs and sauce together, cooking on low in crockpot for 4 to 6 hours! Since it is a pretty heavy dinner with baked mushrooms, salad and main entree, I thought we would have a lighter dessert. We love lemon blueberry cupcakes so what a perfect ending! Years ago when Pregos had a restaurant on Trinity Mills in Dallas, our meals there always ended with their lemon cake which was so close to the lemon cakes we had in Italy years ago. Having bought some individual little trifle dishes one trip to Florida, I thought it would be fun to layer the lemon blueberry cupcake with lemon pudding I made with half n half! Sprinkled fresh blueberries over the pudding and tonight right before serving, will top it off with homemade whipping cream! The recipe for the cupcakes is already on the blog and the pudding was made according to directions on side of box except I used half n half!

Besides coming home from AZ on Monday with extra pounds from eating the entire time I was there. AND the wonderful memories of mother daughter adventures, laughter, hearing the grandkids play guitar, sing, and lunch with the oldest grandson, I acquired a pretty little pink 6” cheesecake pan I found at HomeGoods while Jodi and I were out shopping! We love cheesecake but it always seems like one of those desserts that we only have when we are having company because after all, cheesecake 6-10 nights in a row for dessert….well. There is not enough statins in the world for a diet like that! Well. This little pan makes 4 beautiful slices of cheesecake! Perfect for two (maybe 3 if you aren’t Randy and Trudy) nights of desserts! It was absolutely so easy and so creamy that I can’t wait till it’s gone tonight so I can make another one! Which tells you we might end up having cheesecake more than 2 nights in a row after all! i did add 2 tables whipping cream to the recipe and the result was like the cheesecake I love from Cheesecake Factory

I’m not fond of NY cheesecake because of its dense and heave cake like texture. I love the creaminess of the ones we get at CCF! So this is my new favorite dessert. I ask Randy if he wanted me to top it off with sliced banana and drizzle caramel over it! He answered with “I just want it plain with a scoop of whipping cream on top” so that’s just what we had! I’m going to go take a sleeping pill to sleep the day away so it will hurry and be dessert time! I followed the directions exactly that I had found on line when I looked up recipes for 6” cheesecakes with the exception of adding the 2 Tables of whipping cream. Turned out perfect!

This morning I ran into Aldi grocery store for a can of Pam, I had forgot to buy it yesterday while grocery shopping and since I was right by Aldi, I decided to go in an look around! I have to admit I have only been in Aldi maybe twice and have never really thought too much about what they stock! But on my way to check out, I looked over and saw this box of a lemon pound cake mix! Came home, made it and it really is so good! FYI if you are like us and love Starbucks lemon pound cake, you will love this one! Very simple to make and it turned out great. Eve. The glaze is good that is included!