How to Build a Pretzel "Pallet" Snowman

Once again, Pinterest inspired.  

Almond bark covered pretzel snowman.

 I am calling it a pretzel "pallet" snowman

because it resembles those

pallet wood lawn ornaments. 

I laid out my pretzels.

I spread the melted white bark or candy melts

on the diagonal on one side of the pretzels. 

Let set in the fridge for a few minutes.

Turned over and frosted the back side. Let set.

After the pretzels are stuck together it is much

easier to handle and I could pretty much just

dip in the chocolate,

then place the hat brim pretzel.

I stood them up in between my cooling rack wires to set.

But first, while the bark is still wet,

I added sprinkles to mimic pines and holly berries. 

When set, added a little "snow" to the hat.

Piped eyes and mouths with more chocolate bark.

When I added orange gel food coloring

to the candy melts it became like a dough consistency

so I went with it and formed little noses

which I actually like much better than if I had piped them on!

All wrapped up and off to the Bazaar

along with some marshmallow reindeer pops

and pretzel rod turkeys.

I'm lovin' the prepackaged eyes.

They make it so easy to create these little

novelty food faces and give such personality.

These marshmallow reindeer are on sucker sticks

although you can't tell from the photos.

See you at the Holiday Bazaar!!

                  Betty

Caramel Pumpkin Pie Ala Mode Parfait

It's that time of year again...

It's aaaall about the Pumpkin !

I'm addicted to this simple
and easy to assemble ice cream dessert.

 3 Basic Ingredients.  

Just layer in a glass,

as much or as little of each as you desire.

               1- Ice Cream--vanilla or whatever you feel 

                                      would go with pumpkin.

                                      Tonight it's Caramel Pecan.

           2-Caramel or Salted Caramel--ice cream topping

                                  or the kind in the tub for dipping apples.

           3-Canned Pumpkin--just spoon in right from the can

                                  I use the plain pumpkin 

                                             because I like to control the amount

                                 of spice by sprinkling on my own

                                 powdered Pumpkin Pie Spice.

                                But you could use the pie filling kind, it

                               would just have more spices already added.

Can you see that pumpkin pie spice sprinkled in there? mmmm!

The finishing touch?   a Pizzelle

Those pretty, thin, lacy Italian cookies  

cooked on a pizzelle iron.  

Tastes like a waffle cone and 

is the perfect compliment to our sundae.

I buy them boxed.

I've never tried making them myself

but I imagine they are amazing fresh and warm

straight off the iron.

I found a recipe at  cookdiary.net

Enjoy!

Betty

Sharing at    Share Your Cup Thursday

Estate Sale Find and a Recipe

Hi, thanks for stopping over.

You're just in time for tea!

Ice tea? or would you prefer lemonade?

Lets sit on the screen porch.

It's a little warm today but there's a breeze

which makes it comfortable.

I made a recipe new to me and I L-O-V-E it!

It's chef Tyler Florence's recipe called

Lemon Pudding Cake found online here.

You just mix it up and bake in ramekins. 
It creates the pudding layer 
all by itself while it bakes.
It's like Magic!!!!
and So yummy served warm.

Now I want to show you my latest

estate sale find.  

This Lefton Bluebird Cookie Jar.

Isn't she adorable?

I've made her available for sale on my ebay site here.

UPDATE:  
This Bluebird cookie jar is now SOLD, as is
the sweet little sugar bowl of the same pattern.  
Thank You!  

I'm so glad you could join me for 

tea and dessert today.

Please stop back soon.

I party here, won't you join us?
Vintage Inspiration Party
What's It Wednesday

Hugs,

BettyJean

July 4th Patriotic Pie

This Patriotic Pie

is perfect for a July Tea Party.

Just roll out your favorite pie crust recipe

to fit a rectangle baking dish so that

it turns up all four sides about one inch

to hold the pie filling.

Spoon in canned pie filling.

Blueberry Pie Filling in a small rectangle 

in the upper left corner. 

Fill in the rest with Cherry Pie Filling.

Roll out remaining pie crust into approx.1/2 inch

strips, cut 6 stars with a small cookie cutter.

Position stars in the blueberry section.

Twist and place strips across the cherry.

Bake according to pie recipe instructions.

When cool, carefully spoon a vanilla icing glaze onto 

pie crust strips and stars. 

YUM!!

See more of my July 4th related posts here.

You can find me at these amazing parties,
won't you join us?
Fabulous Friday
Share Your Cup Thursday
What's It Wednesday
Sew Darn Crafty

Hugs, 
BettyJean

It's Morel Mushroom Time!!

online photo

It was steak and mushroom

night tonight.

I arrived home from work to 

find my sweet Mr. frying up a mess

of morels, Yum!

He's trying a different batter recipe

tonight and deep frying them in hot oil. 

He had a little batter left over

so he even fried up a few pickles.

Then went out to put the steaks on the grill.

Upon returning and removing the

mushrooms and thermometer

from the pan of oil,

this is what he found.....

It was clear we would be having

steak without  mushrooms tonight.

Bummer!

We can't take the chance

that someone may ingest even the smallest

remnant of glass.

We'll have to wait for this delicacy

until after another mushroom hunt.

How do you enjoy morels?

I'd love to hear how  You prepare them.

Warm Hugs,

BettyJean

Salmon Patties 2 Ways

To make my Salmon patties...

From a sleeve of saltine soup crackers,

crunch 10 individual cracker squares into a mixing bowl.

Add 1 egg

Add a little finely chopped onion--approx 1 - 2 teaspoonsful

depending on how much you like onion
I feel it really does need at least a little onion so as not to 

taste too bland.

Fork beat the above 'til blended.

Then, again with your fork, 

stir in 1 can ready-to-eat Salmon

which you've drained and flaked with a fork 

and have removed or mashed

 any of the soft precooked bones.

If too dry to stick together 

you could add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of milk.

Shape into patties

I always shape by hand,

but my husband likes to use the press

so they're all uniform.

Press just enough that the pattie sticks together.

Smashing and squeezing it too much

will make a hard compact pattie.

Likewise you don't want to smash the patties down

with your spatula while cooking.

You want the patties to be as light as possible,

they might actually rise slightly as they cook in the pan.

Pour a circle of olive oil into the pan 

as it is heating and spread it out,

use just enough oil to keep the patties from sticking.
Oops, I may have a little too much here
as I was trying to snap the photo as I
was pouring.  
You really don't want to "deep fry" the patties, LOL. 

Cook covered on medium - med high heat.
I don't actually time them but since the
salmon is already cooked and ready to serve,
all  you really need to do is heat through enough
to cook the egg. So it seems like they
are done in a jiffy.

Turn once when the undersides are golden brown.

Hint: I find if they are not browned enough
they will stick and break apart
making it very difficult to turn.

When they are ready to turn they will 
slide very easily onto the spatula
unless of course your pan is too hot 
causing them to burn.

We love these served on hamburger buns
(I actually prefer Flat Rounds)

with lettuce and tomato;

and the "gotta have" for this is a

dollop of Dill Weed Veggie Dip spread on the bun.  

Salmon and dill is a great combination!!

Of course the classic way to serve is 

with creamed peas.

If you prefer, this recipe works well 

to bake in a loaf pan.

When you're short on time,

the patties work perfectly.

Enjoy!

Click here for another recipe......Fish Wrap

Warm Hug,

BettyJean