National Cheese Pizza Day

It's Labor Day weekend. It's a Monday. It's the last night of summer break before the kids go back to school. A busy kind of weekend. Today also happens to be National Cheese Pizza Day. Yeah, I did it. I totally ordered cheese pizzas for lunch from Pizza Hut. I am not sorry to say this either.

It's real life in here folks! Sometimes this chef orders take out. The kids were pretty happy about it, too. A fun spontaneous surprise.

It is my personal opinion that cheese pizza is very boring to eat. Pizza is supposed to be a vessel for me to get lots of cheese, veggies and meat into my gullet in a very satisfying way. Something was definitely missing today. But...in the spirit of this challenge I did it. Lol!

Side note: Pizza Hut is having a crazy good deal right now. I bought 2 medium cheese pizzas, 2 orders of boneless  wings and 4 20 oz bottles of soda for $30. Not bad. Mom for the win.

Tomorrow is National Coffee Ice Cream Day, which is pretty awesome. Maybe you'll come back and see?

National Cherry Popsicle Day

It's National Cherry Popsicle Day! Gave me an excuse to go pick up some new Popsicle molds. Oh darn!

I decided that a Shirley Temple angle would be my best bet for a good cherry Popsicle. Supposedly the well-known Shirley Temple beverage was created for the sweet little actress by a friendly bartender who wanted her to have something fun to drink while she was hanging out with all of the grown ups.

Three ingredients total: mandarin orange flavored carbonated water, one wild cherry juice pouch and a small jar of maraschino cherries. I made eight Popsicles. First, I divided the juice pouch evenly into each mold. Then I dropped in three cherries each and topped them all off with the bubbly water. Put them in the freezer and waited. They turned out great and taste just like the bubbly beverage I remember so well from my childhood. Yay!

Thank for stopping by! See you tomorrow for National Pots de Creme Day!

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 Potato Day

Today marks National Potato Day! I love potatoes. I decided to celebrate the day by sharing my favorite potato recipe that I created in January when I entered a Food Network contest called The Ordinary Extraordinary Potato Recipe Contest. I did not win but was very proud of how my entry turned out. Here are my Loaded Potato Stacks!

My version of a loaded baked potato but more potato parfait style. That's a thing, right?


Loaded Potato Stacks Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3    large red potatoes

4       slices bacon – cooked and crumbled

¼ C  green onion – diced

2 T   olive oil

8 oz  cream cheese – softened

¼ C  sour cream

¼ C  shredded cheddar – chopped small

3 T   Dijon mustard

         salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Wash potatoes and remove any eyes and blemishes. Cut off the ends of each potato. Slice the rest of the potatoes into 1/2” thick slices, You will need 12 slices total.

2. In a bowl, toss the 12 potato slices with the olive oil, salt and pepper, coating well. Place the prepared potatoes on a cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, turning over once during cooking time.

3. In a standing mixer whip together the cream cheese, sour cream, Dijon mustard and chopped cheddar until smooth and creamy. Place cheese mixture into a piping bag.

4. To assemble the potato stacks, start with one potato slice topped with 2 T of the cream cheese mixture. Add another potato slice and top with 2 T of the cream cheese mixture. Add the last potato slice and top with 1 T cream cheese mixture. Garnish with the crumbled bacon and green onions. Repeat for all 4 servings. Serve immediately.

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You really should try these. Adds some unexpected flair to a common potato side dish. Thank for stopping by and see you tomorrow for National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day. Yup! You heard me. It's sure to be delicious!

National Ice Cream Pie Day

Are you kidding me?! National Ice Cream Pie Day? Never even heard of it. What a genius idea! A great excuse to break out my Hamilton Beach ice cream maker that I bought a few months back on clearance for only fifteen dollars. What? Score.

I decided to choose an ice cream flavor using mostly what I already had on hand for ingredients. I had a couple frozen bags of sliced Washington peaches left from my son's high school band fundraiser so peaches and cream ice cream it is!

I found a recipe on the Hamilton Beach website. You can find it by clicking HERE. The only change I made was to add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Yum!

I prepared a basic graham cracker crust by crushing 1 sleeve of graham crackers in a zip lock bag, tossing them with 4 Tbsp melted butter and then pressing them evenly into the bottom of a pie dish. I set the prepared crust in the freezer while I waited for the ice cream maker to finish churning.

When the ice cream was ready I poured it into the crust and spread it out evenly and then returned it to the freezer to firm.

I also prepared an easy homemade caramel sauce to drizzle over the top. You can find the recipe HERE. The only change I made to this recipe was substituting almond extract for the vanilla extract. I really like how the flavor turned out. The hint of almond is a nice change.

And because I had some, I decided at the last minute to roast some cashews in the oven with a coating of cinnamon and sugar. I am so glad I did!

So, here is. My Peaches & Cream Ice Cream Pie with caramel sauce and candied cashews! What a treat!

If you decide to make the pie I would love to hear about it. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @virginialouden. Tomorrow is National Potato Day and I can't wait to share a fun recipe I made up a while back that takes the loaded baked potato to a whole new level! Thanks for reading!

National Vanilla Custard Day

Before this I had never made a custard. I know. Crazy, right? It honestly just never came up. In all my 26 years of cooking (Eek!) I never had a reason to make something so simple as a custard. This is one of the many things I am looking forward to the most during this year long national food holidays project. A great opportunity to try out some new things, not only by tasting them but by adding them to my cooking abilities, as well.

So, I went online to try and find a good vanilla custard recipe to use. I was immediately drawn to one claiming to be the "ultimate" vanilla custard recipe. I mean, come on. The ultimate has got to be good. But once I started reading the recipe and information I decided that it was a little too fancy and complicated to use as a beginner recipe. I am not impervious to failures in the kitchen and decided a basic vanilla custard would be a more realistic starting point.

Here is the link to the recipe I chose: Basic Vanilla Custard Recipe

It turned out creamy and delicious. My three youngest children really enjoyed eating it. I think they are starting to realize, just a few days in, that mommy's new "adventure" is going to be fun for them, too. I even added some sprinkles on top for a little visual appeal. Because let's face it, plain 'ol vanilla custard is really kind of boring to look at.

This was so easy to make. Looking back, I probably could have gone for the "ultimate" custard. I will definitely play around with custard in the future, though. The only change I made to their recipe was substituting the 2 Tbsp of cornstarch with 5 Tbsp of flour. I accidentally used up the last of my cornstarch on our previous family dinner, forgetting that I needed it for this particular recipe. It turned out good anyway. (Thank goodness!) Next time I may try using a different flavor extract for a tasty twist. Maybe orange or almond. Mmm!

Thanks for stopping by and come on back tomorrow for National Ice Cream Pie Day. I won't give away the flavor yet but I am pretty excited to break out my ice cream maker. My kids are gonna freak!

National Rum Day

Why is the rum always gone?! A common problem in my world. And don't tell me that you didn't read that in your head with your inner Johnny Depp as Captain Black Sparrow voice.

It's National Rum Day today! I do love me some rum. Especially the spiced kind. Captain Morgan is usually the rum of choice around here, happened to have a bottle on-hand. What better reason to create a fun rum cocktail recipe to share with you all today. A celebratory cocktail even. Because this girl just found out yesterday she got into the World Food Championships this November in Orange Beach, Alabama!!! I qualified for a spot during the World Food Championships 2016 #TasteofAmericaChallenge. I was the winner for Minnesota in this qualifier event and am competing in the sandwich category at WFC. So very pumped right now!

On with the rum, though! I am calling this little cocktail A Pirate's Life.

Now, I really wanted this to be in a martini glass but I went to the store and two different neighbors' houses last night to find one with no such luck. It would be so much prettier as a martini. But, whatcha' gonna do? It was tasty anyway.


A Pirate's Life Recipe

2 oz spiced rum
3 oz pineapple juice
splash of french vanilla creamer

Shake well with ice
Strain into a martini glass with a cinnamon and sugar rim (don't skimp)

sprinkle with 1 tsp toasted coconut



And there you have it, folks. Something sweet and fun to sip on. Enjoy and I'll see you back here tomorrow for Vanilla Custard Day! Mmm!

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