National Toasted Marshmallow Day

It's a beautiful Tuesday morning and National Toasted Marshmallow Day!

So, my backyard fire pit is completely soaked due to all of the rain we've had here lately. Meaning, a bonfire and toasted marshmallows made the good old fashioned way was out of the question. Leaving me standing in the kitchen wondering what to do and really wishing I owned a culinary food torch. That would be fun! I should get me one of those.

Hoping for the best, I decided to pull out a bag of mini marshmallows and my aim-and-flame to see what would happen. It worked! These bite sized itty bity toasted marshmallows are cute and tasty. So yay! Half-assed S'mores! I am sure they'll be all the rage soon. Tee hee.

Have a great night and swing back tomorrow for National Trail Mix Day!

National Pots de Creme Day

Today is National Pots de Creme Day! Another first for little 'ol me. Pots de Creme is a traditional French custard and today's flavor choice is chocolate! I am on day 13 of my year long challenge now and I can tell you with confidence that when this project is all done and behind me that I will be a better chef for it. I am learning so much!

I found a recipe online that sounded very good and you can find it by clicking HERE. I followed the directions exactly but did cut the recipe in half. This national holidays "menu" has been quite sugary treat heavy and I didn't need more desserts than absolutely necessary laying around for me to eat. Ha!

The best word I can think of to describe these little bowls of choclatey heaven is luscious. They truly are. I haven't decided if I am going to share any with the family yet today. We'll see...we'll just see.

I hope you have enjoyed this foodie project so far. Tomorrow is National Cherry Turnover Day. I already have my pasty dough chilling in the fridge. Come on back tomorrow and see how they turn out. (Ya'll see what I did there, right?)

National Pecan Torte Day

I had heard the word "torte" before but never knew exactly what it was. A baked good of some sort? Maybe something like a tart? Well, thanks to National Pecan Torte Day I learned something new today. Yay for knowledge!

A torte by definition is: a rich cake, especially one containing little or no flour, usually made with eggs and ground nuts or bread crumbs.

Got it. Lots of eggs + ground up nuts = deliciousness on a plate.

We held our monthly cooking session for my charity called Food With Love (see page tab above for more details) and we always send a dessert along with the foods we prepare. Now that this national food holidays project is underway, it sure does make it a lot easier to decide which treats to bake! Pecan Tortes it is! And how much fun to share a food holiday project with one of my besties who cooks with me?! Debbie totally nailed it with the torte making and baking. I mostly did the decorating. Fun!

We decided to make them into cute little individual sized tortes. The recipe is written for one 8" cake round but we divided the batter into five 4" spring form pans instead. The spring form pans worked alright but they did leak a little bit into the bottom of the oven for the first couple minutes of baking. Not a huge problem but I would maybe try some souffle dishes instead next time and only make four individual treats total.

You can find the recipe we used HERE. A chocolate pecan torte. I had a little of the almond caramel sauce left over from National Ice Cream Pie Day a few days ago so we went ahead and drizzled a little of that and decorated them with pecan halves. These turned out pretty darn good. I would put less melted chocolate on the top next time around but other than that I was super satisfied. They are really fluffy and spongy from all of the egg whites, not as sweet as cake. A nice change.

Here is the box we are sending to our current "adopted" family for Food With Love. A fun little surprise.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday! Thanks for stopping by #GinnyBites and I'll see you back here tomorrow!

National Spumoni Day

Hello and Happy National Spumoni Day! Now, Spumoni is traditionally an Italian ice cream dessert but I decided to give it a little twist today. Mostly for fun...but also because I couldn't squeeze three days of ice cream making into the schedule this week AND couldn't find any Spumoni at the couple grocery stores that I frequent. A Spumoni typically has three layers of ice cream; chocolate, cherry almond and pistachio. I did these flavors but created some beautiful Spumoni Cake Truffles instead. Yummy!

I was hoping to share an awesome recipe here but being my first time ever making these babies, I still need to tweak it a bit. I have made many cakepops before but never tried a multiple flavor or layering technique. I will give you the just for now.

I baked one 13x9 cherry chip cake and then crumbled it up and divided it evenly into three separate bowls. One third of the cake I mixed with chocolate frosting, one third I mixed with vanilla frosting and almond extract and then the last third I mixed with some pistachio pudding powder and vanilla frosting. I gently layered a teaspoon of each flavor and rolled into a ball. Then, I dipped each ball into melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and sprinkled with chopped pistachios, setting in the fridge to set. Voila! Spumoni Cake Truffles.

Hope you enjoy what you see here. If you get a chance to make some, please share. I would love to know! Don't forget that sharing is caring. Ginny Bites has lots more fun to come!

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Did you see the blog post where I announce my winning a spot into the World Food Championships this coming November in Orange Beach, Alabama?! Scroll on down and check out all of the fun foods posted earlier this week!

National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

It's National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day today! Now, I love pecan pie. One of my all time favorites so far. Especially around Thanksgiving time. Mmm! I never even knew there was chocolate version. How can you possibly make something you love so much even better?! Add chocolate, pecans and bourbon, of course!

Here is a link to the recipe I chose: Chocolate Pecan Pie by Betty Crocker. I followed this recipe exactly.

Super easy! And my house smells totally amazing right now! Here she is...

Ain't she a beauty? This pie is truly spectacular inside and out. I hope you get a chance to make one soon. Thanks for swinging by! And see you back here tomorrow for National Spumoni Day.

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If you are enjoying this national food holidays challenge so far, please like, follow, share and more! I am only on Day 6 of 365! So much more fun to come!

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