Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Pistachio Torte

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Pistachio Torte dessert was such a favorite of mine growing up. It was one that my grandma would make for us often.  Whenever we went back home to visit, she would pull a pan out of the freezer, and I would be so happy! 





A few years after Grandma passed, I remembered her Pistachio Dessert, and wanted to make it. I really had no idea what it entailed. I just remembered Pistachio pudding, and some other layers with Heath bars crushed up for sprinkles on top. I searched every church cookbook I had that Grandma had recipes submitted to, never with any luck. I had checked with my Gram to see if she knew the recipe. Never any luck. I'd given up hope. Then one day, one of my cousin's asked if I would like some of our grandma's recipes... WHAT?  YES PLEASE! Thankfully, she had the Pistachio Torte dessert. I was so happy. 

After seeing the recipe, I realized it had been in front of my face for a long time. South Your Mouth had posted her Chocolate Delight recipe, and I had seen her picture and read her recipe, it never occurred to me, that this recipe was so similar to the one I was looking for, but with a different flavor pudding.  My grandma had a few different twists, but it was so similar.  If I hadn't been so focused on the Pistachio, I might have had an easier time finding the recipe.  Sometimes, I get a little to focused on the details to see the big picture.   

Pistachio Torte

1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 c. Cool Whip, divided
1 c. powdered sugar
2 small (3 oz) pkg. Pistachio instant pudding mix
3 c. milk

Heath Candy Bar, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour and nuts.  Cut in butter until you have a crumbly mixture.  Pat in bottom of greased 9 x 13” pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until light golden color.  Cool.


While crust is cooling, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until combined.  Fold in 1 cup of Cool Whip, spread over the cooled crust. 


Mix pudding and milk until combined.  Spread over cream cheese layer.  Top pudding layer with remaining Cool Whip.  Garnish with chopped Heath Bar.  


Place in freezer for 2 to 3 hours.  Remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving. 



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Thursday, July 26, 2018

New Kids on the Block

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A while back I introduced you to the new additions. Well, they are doing great! And getting so big!

They are so full of energy, it is really hard to get a picture or two of them if it's daylight out, but I did manage to capture a couple yesterday.

This is the Buff Laced Polish Hen. Isn't she stunning? 


And, if you noticed I specified that she is a hen, that's because the other Buff Laced Polish is a Rooster! 
He has so much personality, we just had to name him, so please meet Mr. Idol. 


We typically don't name most of the flock. We did that once and bad things happened, so we have stayed away from it. Until this year. Since we named Mr. Idol, we felt the Mrs needed a name, so I'm pleased to introduce Lita.

Joan didn't want to pose pretty, but she is the solid black one.

Then we have Tina on the right, and the one on the left has yet to be named. 
 If you've picked up on my theme of names, and have any suggestions, I'm listening!


And, just because she is a ham, and LOVES attention, here is one of the old girls!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

A Party With an Ice Cream Theme!

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This year is quite the year for my parents. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April, and then they are both turning 70 this year! With all the events going on, they decided they wanted to have a party! 

My parents left the food planning up to me. My dad had his heart set on renting a soft serve ice cream machine, and they wanted the party in the afternoon, so we decided on an ice cream theme party with some other appetizers. 

It really was so much fun. Delicious fun! We ended up with 19 different ice cream toppings! I think we had anything covered you could possibly want. So, if you ever want to do something a little bit different, here are some idea's for you!  I didn't want to have to worry about refrigeration or melting issues, so you could always have lot's more if you had that aspect covered.

I really wish I had done a better job of taking pictures this day. And of the food! 


For toppings we had:
Mini M & M's
Sliced Banana's
Maraschino Cherries
Pineapple Tidbits
Crushed Oreo's


Bacon Crumbles. Yes, Bacon!
Fresh sliced strawberries
Crushed chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate Sprinkles
Rainbow Sprinkles




Nuts
Brownie Brittle
Strawberry wafer cookies
Pirouline Cream Filled Wafers


I didn't catch them in a photo, but then we had sauces! 
Chocolate 
Sea Salt Caramel 
Butterscotch
Strawberry

And of course some Whipped Cream.

Then we had regular cones, waffles cones, or cups for the ice cream.

I would have loved to have made some of the sauces from scratch, but you know.... You have to go with convenience some times!



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