Bacon Tomato Quiche

I made some individual quiches for lunch today. I am not going to lie - I have a ton of pans and and I love pans that can be used to make miniature pies and quiches. So I used one of my pans that is supposed to be used to make muffin tops!

Ingredients-

1 box of refrigerated pie crusts (like Pillsbury)
4 eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup milk  (I used organic low fat)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
36 grape tomatoes, halved

Directions -

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, unroll both pie crusts.

 Cut six five inch circles and press into mini pie pan.

In a large bowl whisk eggs, cream, milk, salt, pepper, cheese, parsley and chives until well combined.

Divide bacon and grape tomatoes onto the crusts.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the tomato and bacon.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the eggs are completely set in the center.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. These can be served warm or at room temperature.

These would be great to serve for Easter Sunday brunch or Mother's Day breakfast in bed!

Sports Themed Gift Wrap

I love to wrap gifts. It just takes an extra minute to be a little creative. On this package I tied a baseball keychain and ring. I used a baseball notepad for the gift tag!

I keep a little box (okay- it is a large box) of little items to tie onto packages.

Basketball Cupcakes

This is my last basketball post for a while! Sunday was my son Christian's last day of basketball until next year! I made basketball cupcakes for the team party.

I just made some white cupcakes from a box mix. I super stretched for time! Then I frosted them with white frosting from a can. I was beyond exhausted when I made these cupcakes. Please don't judge!

I poured orange sugar into an oversize Tupperware bowl.

Then press the cupcake into the orange sugar.

Once I dipped all the cupcakes into the orange sugar - I left them blank because my son's team played in the championship game. If they won I was going to pipe #1 on the cupcakes. Sadly we did not win - but they came in second out of eleven teams and that is still really great.

So I came home from the game and quickly melted some milk chocolate and placed it in a zipper top bag and twisted the chocolate so that it was down at the bottom and snipped a small corner off and quickly piped the basketball lines on the cupcakes.

I piped twenty-four cupcakes in less then two minutes. 

These would be a great treat for the team or your March Madness party. Everyone loves cupcakes.

Basketball Party Favors

These would be fun treats for your sports team or March Madness party!

Each party favor bag gets a Hershey bar wrapped in orange wrapping paper and wrapped with basketball ribbon, a basketball Easter egg filled with two mini Hershey bars, some orange Sixlets in a thin cellophane bag, a lollipop decorated with a construction paper basketball and a small handful of basketball chocolates.  I packaged everything in cellophane bag and tied with orange ribbon.

You could also make these party favors in your team colors! Also now is the time to pick up basketball, baseball, soccer and football themed Easter eggs. They are fun to fill with candy, tattoo's and goldfish for the team! Be creative!

Basketball Cookie Treats

I made more basketball cookies for the team. I was under a time crunch because baseball has started and I have been busy with organizing a basketball team party, 6th grade Bible study class, making care packages for my college girl etc. Oh and I need to buy the basketball coaches gift cards from the team and I am helping my sorority alumni group with a project. Since I don't work I like to keep really busy!

First make your favorite sugar cookie recipe and cut out 2 inch circles. Cool the cookies and then you can start the decorating process.

 I decided to use tinted white chocolate to frost the cookies because chocolate dries really fast. But I was almost out of red food coloring (probably because of Valentine's Day) so my chocolate was more peach colored. Not a problem - I sprinkled them liberally with orange sugar. They dried quickly! So I melted some milk chocolate and put it in a plastic bag and twisted the chocolate down to the end and sniped off a tiny piece of the plastic to pipe the lines. This also dried super fast. When I use black icing - it takes hours or overnight to completely dry.

Since the chocolate dried so quickly - I was able to package them and find my basketball basket!

At Easter time you can find all sorts of sports baskets - pick some up - They make your snacks look super cute!

I also brought some mini chocolate chip muffins - I packed them in little bags. They were a big hit!

Hope these treats inspire you next time you are scheduled to bring treats for the team! AND I just have to mention that my son's team is in the final four - out of eleven teams!  He has a semi-final game this Saturday! He is super excited!

Mardi Gras Pretzels

We are having our sixth grade Bible study class on Tuesday, February 21st. That is Fat Tuesday the day before Ash Wednesday which is the official start of Lent. So I made some Mardi Gras pretzels!

I dipped the pretzels in white chocolate and sprinkled them with green, purple and yellow sprinkles.

I put the pretzels in cellophane bags and tied them with green ribbon. I think the kids will really like these Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras treats!

I will be doing some Random Acts of Kindness projects for Lent and I will share a few of my ideas in the upcoming weeks.

Red, White and Blue Striped Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest from thecookingphotographer.com. She called the recipe "Berry Raspberry Icebox Cookies."

I love making striped cookies. They look difficult to make are really very simple.  I had to make them because yesterday I got a new KitchenAid stand mixer and a new Tori Burch shirt. The TB shirt really doesn't have anything to do with this recipe - but it is a really cute shirt!

These patriotic cookies are a perfect treat for President's Day weekend.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 pouches (1 lb. 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies (I had a coupon!)
red gel food coloring
blue gel food coloring
1 tablespoon raspberry Jello
1 tablespoon berry blue Jello

Directions:

Line an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper - extending paper over the sides of the pan.

In a stand mixer beat butter and eggs. Add the sugar cookie mixes and beat until just combined.

Divide the dough into three equal parts and place in three large cereal bowls. Set one bowl aside.

Add raspberry Jello and red gel food coloring to one bowl. Start the kneading with a spoon and then pick up the dough and finish kneading with your hands. Kneading until the red dye is fully incorporated in the dough. Place the red dough ball in plastic wrap. Wash your hands.

Add the blue berry Jello and blue gel food coloring to the third bowl.  Kneading until fully incorporated like in the above paragraph. Place the blue dough ball in plastic wrap and wash your hands.

In the first bowl that you set aside - knead into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.

I placed the dough disks into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes - while I cleaned up. I am a neat freak!

Divide each dough disk in half. Pat half of the red dough in the bottom of the parchment paper layered pan.

Then press half of the plain dough on top of the red.

Then press half of the blue dough on top of the white. And repeat starting with the red dough. Do you like my handprint on the above photo?

Now fold the parchment paper over the top of the final layer and cover the top of the pan with foil and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

After a few hours - remove the foil and turn the pan over on a cutting board and carefully remove the parchment paper. Trim the ends so that everything is nice and even.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  With a sharp knife start cutting into 1/4" slices. Then cut each slice in half.

Place the squares on a cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes.

My family loved the cookies - I made 2 1/2 dozen cookies from this recipe!

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then move them to a wire rack to completely cool. Don't they look awesome? I can make these for my Dad's birthday (Flag Day) , Memorial Day or Fourth of July.

Wishing you a relaxing President's Day weekend!  This weekend my son has baseball and basketball and I am working on a quiche recipe. Oh and I am also bringing snacks for the basketball team! Good times!

Heart Shaped Tortilla Chips

These are perfect for Valentine's Day!

You just need three ingredients yellow corn tortillas, sea salt and table salt and canola or olive oil.  You will also need a heart shaped cookie cutter and a pastry brush.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Using your heart shaped cookie cutter start cutting out heart shaped tortillas. 

Place the cut out hearts on a cookie sheet. Brush them gently with either olive or canola oil. Then sprinkle them generously with sea salt and table salt. Bake the chips for approximately 10 minutes. 

Start checking the them after five minutes, then every two minutes until they become slightly golden.

The rate they bake depends on the size of your hearts. 

What a great after school snack! Or lunch box treat!

You can make these chips in a variety of shapes and sizes. Check your cookie cutter collection for inspiration. Be creative.

I used one to decorate my husband's soup!

Valentine Sugar Cookies

I love to bake! I find it relaxing.  Today I made two types of Valentine cookies the traditional hearts and I spelled Love with my ABC cookie cutters.

I have been using this sugar cookie recipe-

Ingredients:

 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine flour and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, corn syrup and vanilla.

Add flour mixture one-third at a time and mix throughly after each addition. Divide dough in half and make two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Tic-tock. Ir has been two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and cut out your love letters and hearts.

I love spelling words with my ABC cookie cutters. Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes.

Cool cookies completely before you begin the decorating process.

I used this Betty Crocker icing and Wilton white sprinkles to decorate the LOVE cookies.

I used the Betty Crocker icing on the heart cookies and used light pink sprinkles for the finishing touch!

Perhaps you should make these for your Valentine?