National Cherry Popover Day

Today is National Cherry Popover Day! First time making these. I found an online recipe and just went for it. These treats are not sweet but turned out chewy, fluffy and mostly good.

You can find the recipe that I used today right HERE. The only change I made was to use the cherries from the cherry pie filling I had left over from the other day instead of fresh pitted cherries. I hate to waste ingredients and do like how they turned out. I just dropped each cherry individually into the popover batter and stirred them in gently for a little marbling effect.

As for the baking time and temp, I will need to play with that a bit if I use this recipe again. The recipe says to bake them at 450° for 20 minutes and then at 350° for 10-15 minutes more. I did this but mine were slightly over done after only 8 minutes at the 350°. Also, it stated to preheat the greased muffin pan, which I did but the grease started smoking pretty badly so I had to take it out early. They still tasted pretty good, though.

So there it is for today. Tomorrow is National Blueberry Popsicle Day. I have my Popsicle molds all ready to go. See you then!

National Trail Mix Day

Thank goodness for an easy national food holiday today. This mama is super tired! Last night was my eldest son's 18th birthday (eek!) and I think I went to bed around two in the morning. I played chauffeur for him and his pals to the casino. Actually had to get up and go to work in an office today. Whew! It was a blast last night but oh boy...so tired.

I made a very basic trail mix. Typically it would be M&Ms, peanuts and raisins. I like mine a tiny step up from that (in my opinion). I used M&Ms, cashews and Craisins! Mmm!  I like it much better. And I honestly should have used dark chocolate M&Ms instead....that would have been the best for me personally.

Hope your Wednesday is going swell. Come on back tomorrow for National Cherry Popover Day. I have never made them and truly have no idea what I am going to do. Busy week. We'll see.

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 Sponge Cake Day

Good morning and welcome to National Sponge Cake Day! Yet again a food holiday with a dish that I had never prepared before. For someone who cooks so so much, makes a partial living from doing so, enters cooking contests, sends meals to others and more...I have apparently been quite sheltered in the kitchen! Totally loving this food holidays challenge so far! I am just begining week two of this year long journey and I can't wait to see where it takes me.

So, sponge cake. Easy peasy. I found a recipe online that only requires three ingredients!  You can find it by clicking HERE. These are staple ingredients that most of you will have around the kitchen already. Need ideas for a quick treat for a potluck or an after dinner surprise? Go for the sponge cake. I decided to add 1 tsp. of lemon extract to mine for a little light citrus flavor, so technically 4 ingredients.

Beautiful. I whipped up some whipped cream to make it all pretty and stuff. (pun intended) And a few gold sprinkles...why not?! Set a plate like this down in front of a loved one and they'll think you spent all day in the kitchen just for them. It'll be our little secret!

Tomorrow will be the first time I take two same-day national food holidays and turn them into one recipe! I won't give away the surprise yet but come on back tomorrow and see for yourself!

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!