Sweet Coconut Chex Mix. I'm not gonna lie--you will hate me for sharing this recipe with you. But I must. My sister-in-law made it at Christmastime and I was hooked. That's why it has been affectionately named "Christmas Crack." You will become addicted. No matter how much your brain tells you to stop eating it, your body will tell you to keep eating. And you will obey.

It's game night. And this game night is one we Utahns wait for all year. The so-called "Holy War" between the University of Utah and BYU. You might remember my family bleeds red (16 years and probably around $80,000 at the "U" between my husband and me make us true believers). But whatever team you side with in your team's rivalry game, you are going to want to have these amazing football game appetizers at your next game day party. Trust me. Best. Dips. Ever.

This first recipe is a new discovery for me, but a fast favorite in our extended family. I'd even venture to call it a new football game staple (or summer BBQ staple, or New Year's Eve staple--really the must-have dip at any get-together you have planned). It comes from my friend Danielle, so I often refer to it as Danielle's Famous Pickle Dip. But if you don't know Danielle you can just call it Game Day Pickle Dip. Either way it's outrageously delicious. I usually double this recipe for larger crowds.

Fresh Basil Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients:

 

Last week I happened on this recipe in another congregation's newsletter left behind on a chair at church. I have no idea who to credit this recipe to--I just know it's a new family favorite! My dad has zucchini coming out of his ears these days and we had a few red onions from my grandpa's garden, so this end-of-summer pasta recipe was perfect for Sunday dinner. Even if you don't make this pasta dish, you NEED to try the marinade for chicken breasts on the grill before the weather turns. I am not kidding--it is the best chicken marinade I have ever tasted. Ever. Ever. We loved this dish warm, but my mom had cold leftovers the next day for lunch and said it was just as delish!

I saw these cookies on Building Buttercream the other day and I knew I had to make some! They are so adorable! I love that they look just like little pies. How can you go wrong with blueberry pie in a cookie? Such a genius idea!

Blueberry Pie Cookies
Makes approximately 32 3-inch pie cookies.

Ingredients for Pie Crust
2 ½ cups flour (whole wheat pastry or all-purpose)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter
~½ cup ice water

Ingredients for Filling
2 ½ cups blueberries
½ cup sugar (my blueberries were a little sour, lower this if yours are riper)
juice and zest from ½ lemon
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Method

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
2. Cube the butter and "cut" it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea.  Make sure you don't go smaller than this, however, since you'll start to lose flakiness if the butter is too small.
3. Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture. 
4. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together.  You don't want the dough too wet, and you don't want to mix in the water too much.  I find it useful to just use my hands to mix at this point.
5. Divide the dough in two, cover each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple hours at least (overnight is best).  This is especially important with the whole wheat pastry flour since it makes the dough a little easier to work with.
6. Toss the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest, butter, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
7. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
8. Line the bottom of a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Remove one of the covered dough halves from the refrigerator.  Divide this in half and roll out on a floured board.
10. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut eight circles out of the pie dough.  Place these on the parchment paper, evenly spaced.
11. Spoon a small amount (5-6 blueberries and a little sauce) into the center or each pie circle.
12. Cut eight more circles out of the pie dough (you may have to gather the scraps and re-roll it out).  Place each circle on top of the blueberry-topped bottom circles.  Press down the edges with something thin (the top of a paintbrush or pen would work).  Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut some small slits in the top.
13. Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack.  Repeat in three more batches with the rest of the pie crust and filling.

 photo credit: Building Buttercream

We got together with friends for a Cinco de Mayo party this year because it's a great excuse to hang out with friends and eat Mexican food! We even had a pinata (yes, that is a penguin--long story!). My friend Kerri hosted and cooked up a storm--pork enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, bean burritos, homemade refried beans, Cafe Rio-style rice--whew! It was amazing! I am going to miss that girl. Another friend brought homemade salsa and guacamole (soooo good) and I contributed these Coconut-Lime Cupcakes. I altered the recipe from The Culinary Chronicles because I couldn't find one of the ingredients (and I wanted to add coconut) and they were out-of-this-world if I do say so myself. I'll be making these again for the next summer get-together!

 

Coconut-Lime Cupcakes Recipe
(adapted from The Culinary Chronicles)

Strawberries have been really cheap at the grocery store lately, which I love! At my house, we all love strawberries and my boys can eat a whole carton in one sitting. Sometimes I over-buy because I think they will eat up so many, but then need to do something with the strawberries before they go bad. I found this delicious recipe on Pinterest and it was a big hit!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Recently, my dear friend Erin posted a recipe on her Lovesome site that I just had to share! These homemade graham crackers are delicious, simple, and healthy, so you can feel great about feeding them to your little ones!

This week I celebrated another birthday (the big 3-5, not sure how I got there). Since I'm officially O-L-D, have to work a little harder to keep my figure. Ugh. So unfair. I recently started working out with a trainer and I've been trying to eat better so all that money doesn't go to waste. Enter the low-fat, low-calorie birthday cake. My mother-in-law and I created this when she came to visit this month, and man is it delish! And so easy you won't believe it.

 

My friend, Charity brought some cookies over to me a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe how beautiful they were! She did royal icing and then brushed a beautiful design onto them. Take a look...

Did you do anything to celebrate the Chinese New Year this week? Monday was Chinese New Year and kicked off the Year of the Dragon. Ever since meeting my dear friend, Stacy who is half Chinese, I have loved cooking Chinese dishes and celebrating Chinese New Year. Yesterday we celebrated with a delicious lunch and everyone brought a Chinese dish to share. I made Stacy's fabulous lettuce wraps. Remember them? We also ate dumplings, beef and broccoli, a couple kinds of noodles, and cookies! One of my friends brought scallion pancakes and they were a huge hit!  She followed a recipe from Appetite for China, which is a great blog with many Chinese, as well as other culturally inspired, dishes.

My friend, Jamie recently shared a muffin recipe that is delicious! I am always looking for healthy, easy breakfast ideas to grab on the many mornings that we are racing out the door. These muffins are the perfect solution and can even freeze well if you want to make them in batches to pull out later. Enjoy!

Tofu? Yep. You read that right. My mouth (er, I mean typing fingers) really said I have a love affair with tofu. My sister was surprised when I told her on the phone the other night too. I heard something like, "Jess who ARE you?"

It all started a few months ago on a weekend trip to Portland. I had an amazing rice bowl from a food stand there and it had garlic-fried tofu in it. I.Loved.It. I was shocked. I have always thought of tofu as this weird, eery, rubbery substance that nobody really enjoyed. Until I ate it. And enjoyed it.

Then came my trip to Trader Joes to buy some tofu to cook with at home. I made a delicious dinner that we all enjoyed. My boys even ate the tofu. They didn't say they loved it, but they ate it!