Triffel of the Month

With Autumn here, everyone seems to think, of pumpkins, cider mills, hay rides, and carmel apples. Here's another take on the delicious thing called "carmel". These individual triffel are the perfect size for after dinner with a steaming cup of coffee or to sit in front of the fire with a warm brandy. I hope you enjoy my choice for you this month.

Individual Chocolate Caramel Trifle Parfaits

1 brownie recipe, 9 x 13 size, baked and cut into bite size pieces
2 (8 oz) containers pareve whipping cream, whipped
1 recipe Caramel Pecan Sauce, below
Pecan halves
Chocolate shavings

To Assemble:
In small dessert bowl, or martini glasses place brownie pieces on the bottom and sides of the dish. Pour the caramel sauce on top. Pipe or just spoon the whipped cream on top of the brownie and caramel layer and garnish with a pecan half and chocolate shavings.

Caramel Pecan Sauce:
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups light corn syrup
1 stick margarine
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups pecans pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a 2 quart pot combine the sugar, corn syrup and margarine. Heat until just barely WARM and margarine just melts. In a separate bowl, mix the 4 eggs. Slowly pour the warm sugar mixture into the eggs and mix well. When most of the mixture has been added to the eggs, pour it all back into the pot. Add the pecans. Bring the mixture to a boil and stirring constantly, continue cooking on a low boil for 10 minutes (no longer) or until a candy thermometer reaches 220 degrees. It will be a rich caramel color. Add the vanilla. Cool until slightly thickened and syrupy.

Summer and Where Did it Go?

When I was younger, I used to roll my eyes at my Mom when she said "the older you get the faster time goes by". Really Mom 24 hours is still 24 hours I would tell her. Well now that I am older....Oh My does the time fly by!! Labor Day will be here before we know it, school will start, the leafs will be changing on the trees and the crisp Autumn air will be in our mist. I for one am NOT ready for that. I love hanging on to Summer as long as I possibly can. So that is what I am going to do. I am not going to dwell on what is coming, but what is here at the moment and that is warm sunshine and Summer days. I'll worry about what is coming at another time!!

Trifle of the Month

Red Velvet & Strawberry Trifle

Serves 8-10
1 box Red Velvet cake mix, plus ingredients to make cake
2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 pounds fresh strawberries
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cake batter as directed. Pour batter into a greased 13×9-inch pan.
Meanwhile, beat cream cheese at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 1 minute or until creamy. Add yogurt, powdered sugar, and lemon zest. Beat 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Cover and chill.
Remove cake from oven. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
Invert cake onto a cutting board. Cut rounded top off of cake. Trim and discard edges of cake. Cut cake into 32 pieces. (If making individual trifles, you’ll want to cut the cake into smaller squares.)
Arrange about one-third of cake pieces in a 3-qt. trifle dish. Carefully spread one-third of chilled cream cheese mixture over cake. Add a layer of strawberries. Repeat layers 2 times, smoothing top layer of cream cheese mixture over cake pieces. Top with strawberries. Cover and chill 1 hour before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Trifle of the Month

When my friend Marla posted about being at a party and having Trifle, I thought hmmmmmm I have so many Trifle reciepes so why not post one a month and share with everyone!! So here is the first one. I hope you all enjoy it!!

 

Summer Berry Trifle

Ingredients

• 1 package (3.4-ounce) instant vanilla pudding
• 4 cups fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries), washed and hulled, plus extra for garnish
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 24 to 36 ladyfingers

Instructions

1. To make the fillings, prepare the pudding according to the package directions and chill it.
2. Slice the strawberries, if you're using them, then toss all of the berries with the lemon juice and the 1/4 cup of sugar. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the berries to release their juices.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whip the cream, vanilla extract, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside.
4. To make the layers, set a layer of ladyfingers (around 7 or 8) on the bottom of a large, clear serving bowl (ours was 4 quarts). Top with the berries with half of the pudding.
5. Add another layer of ladyfingers, another third of the berries and juice, and the rest of the pudding. Add a final layer of ladyfingers and berries. Top with the whipped cream and a berry garnish.
6. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Serves 8 to 10.

Summer Time Continues....

As I had written earlier I love my gardens and in the Summer they are my pride and joy....here are just a few of them in a slide show I've created. Enjoy!!

 http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Ruthiedoo/?action=view&current=fb6e9dc0.pbw

Summer Time

My favorite time of year and why wouldn't it be. It's warm and the windows are open wide. The sun is shining and people are happy and smiling....so what's not to like? The flowers are blooming, the Koi are swimming and the birds are chirpping.
My gardens and pond are two of my favorite things to do in the Summer. I usually plant a vegetable garden as well, but we had our home on the market and so I decided not to plant one this year. It a decision I now regret. I wish I would have planted, but now too late, will have to depend on the local farm markets for my fresh veggies this year.

My pond contiues to florish and I continue to love having it. It's so peaceful on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee and something I love to do!!