Just Desserts! and Kids Recipes

Dessert on the grill – Grilled pound cake and pineapple 

· 1 commercial pound cake

· 1 ripe pineapple

· Butter

· Cinnamon

Clean your grill surface thoroughly so that the dessert does not taste like the last thing you cooked on it, which might have been really good but was probably not dessert. 

Cut bark off pineapple, core and slice ½” thick. Sprinkle both sides with cinnamon.

Cut pound cake into one-inch thick slices, butter both sides (this is not health food, its dessert).

Grill pineapple slices over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes per side or until they start to brown and soften. Set aside.

Toast cake slices (both sides) on low-medium heat. Watch closely and turn when the first side is lightly toasted. I usually use a flat bottom grill basket set on the grates to do this instead of setting the cake slices directly on the grill but either way can work.

To serve, place pineapple slice on plate, set cake slice on top of pineapple. The add ice cream, whipped cream, dulce de leche, berries, etc. to finish. Cinnamon or vanilla ice cream go well with this. 

This is also really simple and it is cool to make dessert on the grill. Your old pal Pete won a camping Iron Chef contest and nearly foundered some Boy Scouts once because with a grate and a little care it can be made over a campfire. If the troop next door is making s’mores, watching you make this will make them feel pretty puny.

Key lime pie 

· 1 can sweetened condensed milk

· 3 eggs

· 1 egg yolk

· ½ cup fresh lime juice

· 1 graham cracker crumb pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sweetened condensed milk, eggs, egg yolk and lime juice. Pour into pie crust. Bake 15-20 minutes until just set.

That seems too simple, but it is not. You can use key limes or regular limes. Either one makes a good pie, but key limes do have a unique flavor. Try them once and see which you prefer. 

Although this is really easy, do not take the shortcut of getting your lime juice in a bottle for this. Limes are cheap and easy to squeeze. If you have any extras you have a great excuse for margaritas.

Also, this pie is best served with homemade whipped cream. If you have never made whipped cream, you have no idea how good it can be. Read on…

Simple whipped cream

· 2 cups heavy whipping cream

· 2 T powdered sugar

· 1 tsp vanilla

Place cream in glass or metal bowl and mix with hand mixer (better yet a Kitchen Aide) on high speed until cream reaches the consistency of cake batter. This will take a few minutes, could be longer depending on your mixer. It works best if the cream is cold (refrigerated) and the bowl and beaters are cold as well. The cream will double in volume, so this makes about 4 cups of whipped cream.

Grandma Kay’s Banana Bread is Better Than Yours

· ½ cup shortening

· 1 cup white sugar

· 2 eggs

· 3 medium or 4 small very ripe bananas – mashed (should be about 1 ½ cups)

· 2 cups flour

· ¼ t salt

· 1 t baking soda

· ¼ cup chopped walnuts

· ¼ cup maraschino cherries

· ¼ cup chocolate chips

Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. 

Add eggs and beat well, then blend in mashed bananas. Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Fold in nuts, cherries and chocolate chips.

Pour into greased, floured loaf pan (9.5” * 5.5” * 3”). Bake 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. This recipe makes two loaves that size. You can also use mini-loaf pans and bake about 10 minutes less.

Let cool on rack, then slice and enjoy. Store in airtight package to keep moist, a gallon ziplock freezer bag works well.

I know, banana bread can be dry and boring. This is not. Grandma Kay has the secret and now you have it, too. This stuff is really moist and tastes great. The chocolate chips and cherries make this dessert instead of something that would be a poor choice for a ham sandwich. Try it toasted with melted butter.

Special Mom Bars

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup white Karo syrup

• ¾ cup peanut butter

• 3 cups Special K cereal

• 1 cup butterscotch chips

• ½ cup chocolate chips

Bring sugar and syrup to a boil.  Remove from heat and add peanut butter.  In large bowl, place Special K and chips.  Pour hot peanut butter mixture over dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Chips will melt while mixing.  

Pour into greased/buttered 8*8” pan, let cool and try not to eat the whole pan.

Your old pal Pete got to watch a great cook wen he was growing up.  Pete’s Mom made “Special K Bars” lots of times and they are always great.  Since her name is Kay, we re-named these “Special Mom Bars”.  She really is special.  Thanks Mom.

Our kids all love to cook and that makes for great family time in the kitchen. Here are some simple recipes that kids can make and will love to eat. All are fully recommended by our kids and they were all made several times by our twelve-and-under (at the time) crowd of carnivorous kids.

Three ingredient best cookies ever

· Wheat thin crackers

· Peanut butter

· Candy-making chocolate (Ghiradelli is best)

Melt chocolate by placing it in a sauce pan and placing that pan in a larger pan with a few inches of water in the bottom, over low heat. Make sandwiches by spreading peanut butter on a Wheat Thin cracker and placing another Wheat Thin on top. When chocolate has melted, plop a couple of the sandwiches into the chocolate, push then under and turn with a fork so that they are completely covered. Then remove and place on wax paper to cool.

Note: A box of Wheat Thins will make 60 or 70 sandwiches. Covering them will require a pound of chocolate or a little more. This is Pete's contribution to Christmas sweets every year and they are great and simple.

Note 2: It's impossible to coordinate the right amount of chocolate and sandwiches but that is no problem.  Use extra chocolate and when your sandwiches are all covered, use up the remaining melted chocolate by adding peanuts, cheerios, crushed Wheat Thins or whatever else you have around.  Cover the mixture with chocolate and spoon cookie-sized portions onto the wax paper and let them cool.  These are great, too and a perfect way to use every last bit of chocolate.  Find some dried cherries and add them for something really special!

Mother’s Day Pie

Your little kids can make this and it is better than just edible – it’s good!

Crust

· 20 Oreo cookies – do not use the Double Stuff, the cookie part is what matters

· ½ stick of butter - melted

Put the Oreos in a plastic Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin. It your kids don’t enjoy that part, I can’t help you. 

Pour crushed Oreos into a mixing bowl, add melted butter and mix. Spread the Oreo and butter mixture on the bottom and edges of a pie pan and pat until evenly spread. Place in freezer for a half hour or so to firm it up.

Filling

· 1 package of Jell-O instant pudding, your favorite flavor

· Milk

· Cool Whip or some similar frothy product devoid of nutrition

Make the pudding according to package directions. Pour half of the pudding into the pie crust. Add a couple of large dollops of Cool Whip to the remaining pudding and mix, then pour that on top of the pudding that is already in the pie crust to make a different color layer. If there is still room, add more Cool Whip on top for a third layer. Put the pie in the fridge for a half hour or so.

Garnish, etc.

To really make this look great, use a grate. Shave some more Oreos over the top of the pie after adding the Cool Whip. Other possible garnishes include about any kind of chocolate hard enough to work through a cheese grater. Watch your fingers, though! 

One seasonal alternative is Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. They add both color and mint flavor. Who am I kidding? Girl Scout cookies are not seasonal, we never get rid of last year’s before the new ones come. It is a good thing they are full of preservatives.

Parfait option

Forget the pie crust and put the layers in clear glasses for a fun dessert. Add a couple of raspberries or strawberry slices for fun, flavor and color.

Three ingredient crock pot chocolate cake

· One dry chocolate cake mix

· One can of cherry pie filling

· 1 tsp almond extract

Pre-heat a 4 quart crock pot for ten minutes at medium heat. Lightly butter the inside to prevent the cake from sticking. 

Mix the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on medium for two hours. 

Honest, it is that simple. The kids can make it and trust us, it is really good, especially with some vanilla ice cream.