Chocolate Lava Cake

It’s time for this month’s Food n Flix!  Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla gave us a bit of free reign this month by choosing a broad theme of any movie filmed or set in Hawaii.  She had a virtual vacation all lined up for us!

I had a much more difficult time with this theme than I thought I would.  First, I looked up movies fitting the theme and made a short list.  I wanted to watch something I hadn’t seen before.  Then, nothing, read NOTHING was available on any of the 3 streaming serves I have access to.  AHHHHHH!!!!  And the library is still closed (but is opening for curbside pickup next month - woot woot!)

I know the movie 50 First Dates pretty well, so I almost just went from memory, but it didn’t feel like it was in the spirit of the challenge.

In the end, I picked the Disney Pixar short: Lava.

All of the Pixar shorts are fabulous, but Lava is my favorite.  

Anyway, the problem is, there is no food to speak of in Lava.

None.  Zilch.

It’s a love story about volcanoes.

S'mores Campfire Cake

I used to have a second blog, but since I'm not keeping it up anymore, I'm slowly migrating my favorite recipes over to this blog!  

I saw this idea for a campfire cake a while ago and I knew I had to make it happen!

My boys had a Cub Scout potluck and I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make the cake!

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

 

To me, brunch is usually all about the carbs and protein. Duchess Potatoes, Corned Beef Hash, Egg Bakes...the possibilities are endless.

Though, sometimes the sweet tooth wins out.  Rainbow Sprinkle Cinnamon Rolls, Caramel Rolls, Muffins...again, the list goes on.

Then sometimes the sweet tooth really asserts itself and dessert happens at brunch, like that one time we had pie for breakfast with Hubs’ family.

So why not cheesecake?

I made this for Hubs’ birthday, but I was working a 12 hour shift that day, so you eat cheesecake when you eat cheesecake, ya know?

Corned Beef & Potato Hash

 

I have a memory from when I was little of eating some canned hash.  It was a glorious feast  to nine-year-old me.  Every once in a while, as an adult, I think of that hash and how great it tasted.  But adult me knows that actual canned hash would never live up to that memory (more than likely, it would be disgusting).

So when I made my own corned beef in the crock pot, I knew immediately that I wanted to make the leftovers (little though they were) to make hash.  I seriously had to fight my kids for the leftovers - they looooved the corned beef!

Duchess Potatoes #BrunchWeek

What if mashed potatoes got all dressed up and fancy?

The answer is Duchess Potatoes!

These little delights are a basic mashed potato, with the addition of an egg for stability, then they’re piped onto a baking sheet and baked again, twice baked potato-style.

They are amazing and such a fun way to serve up plain old mashed potatoes.  These are the perfect accompaniment to an elegant brunch or dinner!

Mini Cheez-It Crusted Apple Pie

 

Ya know, sometimes when we get stuck inside, quarantined for months, creativity abounds.

Other times, things get kinda weird.

Case in point: Cheez-It Crusted Apple Pie.

While stuck at home I got to thinking about apple pie.  And how many people (in the mid-west, at least) like to accompany their apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese (personally, I can take it or leave it).  

This unusual pairing does, however, have a tendency to inspire creativity in me. The first time I tried this, I put shredded cheddar directly into the crust and was completely underwhelmed. 

Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage

 

It seems a little bit like the wrong season for corned beef and cabbage, after all, it seems to be a St. Patrick’s Day staple in the US.  And indeed, that’s when I made this.  

This year, however, Mid-March and St. Patrick’s Day were utter chaos as that was the first week we were in quarantine.  I was in meetings all day, so I was thankful to have had a crockpot recipe planned for that day.  Then I was in a bit of a blogging funk while working from home and distance learning the kids, etc.

Foodie Road Trip...2019 vs. 2020

Let’s talk vacay!  

Last year,  Hubs & I packed up the kids andtook them on a 2-week adventure through the Midwest, going through 9 states and 1 Canadian province and all 5 great lakes along the way!

We went to the National Museum of the US Air Force, Chicago (Willis Tower & the Shedd Aquarium), the Wisconsin Dells, The Painted Rocks, several waterfalls, a shipwreck museum, the Soo Locks, Mackinac Island, an automotive museum (comlete with a collection of player pianos and theater organs), a professional baseball game, a wedding recpetion, 4th of July parade, a Harry Potter escape room, a farm (we got to pet a calf), Niagara Falls, and a number of National Parks (the kids earned 2 Junior ranger badges!). Mid-trip, we took 5 days to stay in one place and visit family.

It was intense but tons of fun!

Donuts from Do-Rite Donuts in Chicago

This year, after being quarantined for 2 months, our state (and the neighboring states) are slowly starting to open up.  It was time to visit family, as responsibly as possible.

For the first trip, I planned for weeks and weeks to make sure we had everything we needed for such a long trip.  This year, I planned and packed in 2 days.  The opportunity to travel came up suddenly, so we mobilized quickly.  I was very thankful that I’d done a trip like this before, so that I could plan and pack that quickly.

Chicago Style Pizza in Chicago

Cañón de Cerdo (Colombia-Style Pork Loin Roast)

It’s time for the Eat the World Recipe challenge and this month we went to South America to the country of Colombia!

While I wasn’t familiar with Colombian food before this challenge, I was quite familiar with Colombian music and dance!  Singer Sharika is from Colombia, and well as creator of Zumba, Beto.

So, I was super excited to look into Colombian food, all of which looked totally delicious.  As I was researching, I ended up Arroz con Coca Cola (Rice with Coca Cola) and couldn’t resist trying it along with the pork I ended up making for this challenge.