Thank you and Muddy Buddies

Well it seems we had a little company over here at Young Adventures yesterday.  We had about 1,700 visitors  Most of you were checking out the Banana Bread Pie, some stopped by and left a note, and we even made some new friends.  Very fun!  We love it!  We hope that our little blog brightens your day and brings a smile to your face.  Thanks so much for stopping by we would love to have you over again!!


Do you guys remember this snack?  A couple months ago at Katie's birthday party, her sweet friend Haleigh asked me if I had made those things with the chocolate and peanut butter.  Frankly, I had no idea what she was talking about, I said you mean peanut butter balls?  She said no, it was made with cereal.  Puppy chow/ Muddy Buddies!  I'm not sure when the last time I made this yummy treat was, but that she remembered was pretty amazing, it was a looong time ago.  So, I promised for her birthday party I would bring some.  Bring some I did!


This dessert type snack is so easy to make and any chocolate peanut butter loving freak will fall in love with you for making these.  Go ahead, try it.  Just make sure to keep a secret stash for yourself!


Muddy Buddies


9 cups of corn chex
1 cup of semisweet chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar


Place cereal in a very large bowl. 
In a microwavable bowl place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter.  Microwave on high for 1 minute, and then stir.  Microwave for another 30 seconds, until the mixture can be stirred smooth.  Add the vanilla and stir.  Pour the mixture over the cereal and stir until evenly coated.  Pour the cereal into a large ziploc bag and add the powdered sugar.  Seal the bag and shake until the cereal is well coated.   I did this in batches and it worked well.  Place the coated cereal on wax paper spreading it out, allow it to cool.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

Source: Chex
Happy Snacking!
Rachel

Banana Bread Pie

 If you your family is like ours you always have a few stray bananas laying around.  I always throw them in the freezer to make our favorite banana bread. 

I have had this recipe book marked for quite awhile now and thought I would whip it up for date night this past Friday.  I'm sure glad I tried it.  First of all it was so easy, almost too easy.  After I put the "pie" in the oven I wondered if it would be any good, because it required no effort.  Seriously I think my eight year old could make this.  While Brian was making dinner, I snuck a little taste...WOW!!  The cake is very moist and has a really nice banana flavor reminiscent of banana bread.  The best part is the texture is almost custard like.  For dessert I served it with whip cream, but ice cream would be nice too.

 Ian's exact words while devouring his piece were "love it."  Brian really liked it too, he kept saying "this is really good."

I don't usually have Bisquick on hand and bought it for this recipe, it was worth it.  I think next time I will try to use the non-fat sweetened condensed milk.  If you try this recipe let me know what you think.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  I found this recipe on Jane's Apron.  She has quite a few easy recipes that look good.  If you get a chance stop by her site.

Banana Bread Pie

2 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup light Bisquick mix
2 large eggs
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon of butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Peel the bananas and place them in bowl.  Mash them with a mixer until smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix until blended.  Pour the mixture in a 9-inch pie plate and bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes.  It should be brown around the edges, but soft in the center. 

Happy Baking!
Rachel

Holiday Recipes ~ Brian's Apple Pie

Brian doesn't do much baking, in fact he doesn't make many desserts at all except for apple pie. It's his speciality so to speak. My sister's always request this pie every fall. If we happen to be with my family for Thanksgiving this will be on the dessert table for sure. You know the saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Well, they forgot to include my sisters.

Apple Pie

This recipe comes form the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

6 Cups thinly, sliced, peeled apples (Brian likes Granny Smith and Haralson)

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon butter

Pastry for a Double-Crust Pie (see the recipe below)

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the sugar mixture to the sliced apples; and toss to coat the fruit. Fill a pastry lined 9-inch pie plate with the apple mixture. Cut the butter into small pieces and sprinkle over the fruit. Add the top crust. Seal and flute the edge. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top of the crust. Cut three silts in the middle of the crust. Each silt should be about 2 inches long. Cover the edge of pie with foil or use one of those circular things for pies. Bake in a 375 oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil; bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until the crust is golden. During the last 5-10 minutes of baking place a sheet pan on the lower oven rack to catch any juices. Cool. Serve with ice cream.

Enjoy!!

xoxo

Rachel

Pie Pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

2/3 cup shortening (Brian uses crisco sticks. We keep them in the freezer)

6-7 tablespoons cold water

Stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the mixture gently toss with a fork. Push to the side of the bowl. Repeat until all of the dough is moistened. Form the dough into two balls. Place each ball on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten each into a disk. Wrap the plastic wrap around each disk. Place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to a day in advance. On a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough with your hands. If the dough seems to hard you may need to let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll dough with a rolling pin from center to edge. Forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Ease pastry into a 9-inch pie plate being careful not to stretch pastry. Place filling into the bottom shell. Add the top crust trim and flute.

Mint Chip Ice Cream

You know all about my love affair with ice cream. Well, I'm not the only one with something on the side so to speak. Mr. Young has a thing for Mint Chip so I decided to satisfy his taste buds with my own creation...kind of. I used Martha's mint ice cream recipe and added David Lebovitz's technique for the chip part of the ice cream. It was quite light, creamy and refreshing. Perfect for these hot days we have been having. I'll make it again for sure, the only thing I would do differently is decrease the amount of sugar. It was a tad sweet.

Mint Chip Ice cream

1 cup skim milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar (this is the amount I would use next time)
1 cup fresh mint leaves

4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate melted over a double boiler

Mix the mint and sugar in a small bowl with the back of a spoon, until the sugar looks like wet sand.

Add the milk and cream and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Refrigerate the mixture for two hours.

Strain out the mint leaves, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow your manufacturer's instructions.

While the ice cream is in your machine place the container that you will use into the freezer.

Once the ice cream is done, drizzle some of the chocolate in the bottom of the pan. Place some of the ice cream in the bottom of the container. Drizzle some more chocolate and stir it up breaking up the chocolate. Continue adding more ice cream and chocolate until you have finished it all. Place in the freezer and enjoy the next day for best results.

Next time I will skip the melted chocolate and just add chopped chocolate during the last 5 minutes of churning. It seems like it would be less of a hassle.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

xoxo

Rachel

The Pie Queen

My in-laws came into town this weekend to take the kids on an outing. Much fun was had by all! We invited them to stay for dinner and my amazing husband made an amazing dinner.

The pie queen (my mother-in-law) brought a delicious rhubarb custard pie! She also mentioned a couple of pie tips that she recently learned from cookbook author Maida Heatter

1. Get a small cup and fill it with water and add ice. Use the ice cold water for the crust.

2. When the pie is completed lightly brush the crust with milk before baking. This will give you a nice golden brown crust.

If you are looking for ways to use up your rhubarb try this pie. The sweet custard balances nicely with the sharpness of the rhubarb.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

4 cups rhubarb

1 tsp. milk

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup flour

Pie pastry for a double crust

Blend together eggs, milk, sugar, and flour. Fold in rhubarb. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Put top crust over filling and seal edges. Make steam vents. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes then 350 for 30 minutes.

xoxo

Rachel

Rhubarb Crumble

Before I share this favorite recipe with you, I wanted to pass along this tip that I learned a few weeks ago. After you finish using a stick of butter don't throw the wrapper away. Put it in a freezer bag, and place it in your freezer. When you need to grease a pan, take out a wrapper and rub it over your pan. I have used this method twice now, and it works like a charm! My hands don't get greasy and I don't have to use a paper towel and oil or butter. Try it you might like it.

I love rhubarb, do you? Thankfully both our parents have patches so we usually get some of their bounty. I really should grow my own plant, but I just can't seem to find a spot for it. I know we should also get some from our CSA this year as well. I actually had some in the freezer, so I thought I would make a crumble. Brian is not a big dessert guy, but he does like fruit desserts. This is a recipe I have been making for years, and it is my favorite. I hope you enjoy it!

Rhubarb Crumble

3 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 tbs. butter

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup quick-cooking oats

Place the rhubarb into a greased baking dish. Combine the sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle it over the rhubarb. Set it aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in brown sugar and oats. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

xoxo

Rachel

50 cookbooks ~ Inside America's Test Kitchen (Chilled Lemon Souffle)

Here is another cookbook that has not been used too much here. Brian gave me this one quite awhile ago, I think just because. We were having a family get together at my parents house, and I was asked to bring dessert. We had all requested that my Mom make Indian food, and I wanted to make something light that used citrus. I happened upon this recipe, and thought it would be perfect. Perfect it was, everyone loved it! This one will be a family favorite for sure. The only change I made was using meyer lemons. I think you could use any type of citrus. The only problem with the recipe is that you can't make it the day before. I also discovered there are many other great recipes in this book, and I can't wait to try some others.

Chilled Lemon Souffle

serves 4-6

1/2 cup meyer lemon juice

2 1/2 tsps. grated zest

1 packet unflavored gelatin

1 cup whole milk (next time I will try a lower-fat milk)

3/4 cup sugar

5 large egg whites (room temp)

2 yolks (room temp)

2 ounces white chocolate

1/4 tsp. cornstarch

Pinch cream of tarter

3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Place the lemon juice in a small nonreactive bowl; sprinkle the gelatin over. Set aside.

2. Heat the milk and 1/2 cup sugar i a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming and the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cornstarch in medium bowl until pale yellow and thickened. Whisking constantly, gradually add the hot milk to the yolks. Return the milk-egg mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the foam has dissipated to a thin layer and the mixture thickens to the the consistency of heavy cream and registers 185 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 4 minutes. Pour the mixture through a mesh sieve and into a medium bowl; add the white chocolate and incorporate stir in the lemon juice mixture and zest. Set the bowl with the custard in a large bowl of ice water; stir occasionally to cool.

3. While the custard mixture is chilling, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high; gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to beat until glossy and the whites hold soft peaks when the beater is lifted, about 2 minutes longer. Do not over beat. Remove the bowl containing the custard mixture from the ice water bath; gently whisk in about one third of the egg whites, then fold in the remaining whites with a large rubber spatula until almost no white streaks remain.

4. In the same mixer bowl (you do not need to wash it), using the whisk attachment, beat the cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form when the beater is lifted, 2-3 minutes. Fold the cream into the custard and egg-white mixture until no white streaks remain.

5. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart serving bowl. Chill until set but not stiff, about 1 1/2 hours, and serve.

xoxo

Rachel

Chocolate Pudding Pie

This is not the kind of pie that you make so that you can fit into that sexy dress for your husband on Valentine's day. No, this is the kind of pie that you make for your husband on Valentine's day so he remembers that not only are you sexy in that little black dress, but you can also rock his world in the kitchen! To bad I figured that out to late. Oh well...there is always next year.

I first came across this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen when she first posted it. I put it on the back burner, and remembered it a few weeks ago. All I have to say is MAKE THIS PIE!!! It was not very difficult to make, and came together pretty easily. It does need to chill for a bit, but other than that...it was easy as pie (sorry about that, I couldn't resist.) We loved this, well Katie and Ian loved the middle, but not the crust so much. Which is really to bad because their Dad is the pie King and Grandma is the pie queen. Mom is just a wanna be. If you don't like pie just make the pudding.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

The original recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, which I thought I had. I actual had unsweetened. Although we really liked the pie. I think next time I would use semi-sweet chocolate instead and decrease the amount of sugar I used. I also think milk chocolate would be delicious!

Recipe for your favorite pie crust

Pudding filling:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups 2% milk

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chilled heavy cream

2 tbs. powdered sugar

Follow the directions for baking your favorite single pie crust. Cool.

Make pudding filling: Whisk together cornstarch, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking, two minutes (mixture will thicken). Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth.
Pour filling into cooled shell and chill, its surface covered with wax paper (if you want to prevent a skin from forming), until cold, at least two hours.
Just before serving, beat cream with two tablespoons powdered sugar until it just holds soft peaks. Spoon onto pie and sprinkle with additional cocoa if desired.
xoxo
Rachel
P.S. Have you ever tried typing without using your middle finger? It's not easy.