Little Country Dreaming: A New Spin on an All American Dessert

Little Country Dreaming: A New Spin on an All American Dessert:          With Independence Day upon us, many of us are in search for something to cook that reminds us of American tradition.  Flags a...

A New Spin on an All American Dessert

  

      With Independence Day upon us, many of us are in search for something to cook that reminds us of American tradition.  Flags are flying, barbecues are starting, fireworks displays are abundant, but what could be more American than apple pie?  You could probably ask George Washington himself and find nothing comes closer than this dessert.   As much as I love apple pie, and we all know I love a good shredded apple pie, I thought it might be more interesting to experiment with it and create something different.  A few days ago, I was browsing facebook and a friend of mine posted a picture of what were called "crack sticks" or "crack rolls".  The name is less than to be desired, however they looked amazing and I knew then that I was going to be making these things!  After making them, I realized that they were very similar to a cheesecake chimichanga that I had eaten before.  Having a huge love for apple desserts, I decided to add apples into the filling and instead of wrapping them in flattened white bread, I would use flour tortillas.  The results were out of this world!  

Apple Pie Cheesecake Chimichangas:

Ingredients:

4 burrito size flour tortillas

8 ounces of cream cheese

1 and 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

dash salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

1 cup canned apple pie filing diced

1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter melted

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Mix cream cheese, confectioners sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.  After mixing, mix in apple pie filling.  

3.  Spread filling onto one tortilla at a time. 

4.  Roll up each tortilla and set aside.

5.  In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter for about 30 seconds.  Time may need to be adjusted depending on the strength of your microwave.  Be sure that the bowl is going to be big enough to place the entire tortilla roll inside without folding.

6.  In a separate and equally large bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.  

7.  Place buttered tortillas into the sugar and cinnamon mixture until completely coated. 

8.  Spray a large glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  

9.  Place tortilla rolls inside and bake for 20 minutes.

      These are wonderful served right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  The great thing about this is, you can substitute the apple pie filling with just about any fruit.  Blueberries come to mind because around our area they are everywhere.  No matter what you choose to fill them with, they are sure to please.

Happy 4th of July, 

Michelle : )

1st Birthday on the Farm

      Ye-haw y'all!  Can't you just smell the manure?  Well, not exactly.  We weren't really on the farm, but our little buckaroo never knew the difference.  What could be more precious than a birthday on the farm for a little country boy?  Creating this farm themed party nearly consumed me for almost an entire month, but it was well worth the smile on our little guys face on his big day.
      Before it all came together, I scoured the internet looking for foods, decorating ideas, and color schemes.   I had a ton of great ideas, and being one that doesn't easily make up her mind, I chose to use as MANY as possibly would fit on my little serving table.  This meant shopping, crafting, cooking, photographing, standing back and saying "ooh" and "aah".   Trust me, I did lots of that.  What's the point if you can't admire your work, right?
      So, the first things I chose were the table cloths for the table.  I went rounds looking for something that said "farm".  When I saw the red checked tablecloths I was sold.  I got a boatload of these for little of nothing.  I only paid $16 for a dozen.  The cow print was a little more, so I only bought two of these. 
I bought balloons in red and cow print to spread the theme skyward.  I also found bandanas in red and white to fill the mason jars that would be filled with silk sunflowers and placed on all of the tables. 
      It still seemed like it needed a little something.  That's when I decided this farm was not complete until it had a barn.  I simply used a bi-fold presentation board covered in red wrapping paper.  I could not find a single sheet of red poster board, so this was my only option.  However, I think it actually turned out bolder and brighter with the wrapping paper.

Candy apple cakepops and oreo tractor tires

Chicken feed trail mix

Haystacks

Fondant farm animal cupcakes

Bandana and cow print cake

Shovels and pitchforks for eating all the grub

Gifts  and party favors

Dirt pie

       As you can see, there was no shortage of food as this shin dig.  It was a lot of work to put together, but mainly because of all of the searching for supplies.  Here are the lists of items I bought and where they came from.

Hobby Lobby:
6 navy blue bandanas
6 red bandanas
black fondant
brown fondant
pink fondant
green icing in aerosol can
white icing in aerosol can
black icing in aerosol can
yellow icing in aerosol can
bandana print food trays
bandana print cupcake sleeves
red balloons
royal blue plates


Oriental Trading:
cow print balloons
red checked tablecloths
cow print tablecloths
farm theme birthday napkins
farm theme birthday hats
build-a-farm sticker stories
silver place card holders


Wal-Mart:
yellow sunflowers (97 cents a stem!!!!)
red wrapping paper
bi-fold presentation board
construction paper
adhesive backed black letters

Tractor Supply:
galvanized tubs
spades

 Happy Entertaining,

Michelle