Adrian has been working on perfecting his party mix for years. This is the best mixture yet!
Profiteroles- Cream Puffs
Many years ago, Andrea discovered “creamy puffs”. After her first taste she insisted that she wanted to learn how to make them. So, at the age of 9, Andrea learned how to make “French Profiteroles“.
Years later, Andrea still loves cream puffs and insisted that we make them to celebrate National Cream Puff Day (2 Jan).
Fill the puffs with vanilla ice cream for french profiteroles. Filling with whipped cream makes them cream puffs. Either way is wonderful!
If you want to make these gluten free, substitute the flour with your favorite gluten free flour*. They do not puff up as nicely, and they did not brown the same, but they taste great!
Tiramasu
I first discovered tiramisu when we went to an unschooling home school event at a waterpark. Mark had pointed out a desert that he thought looked good, it looked like pudding in a chocolate bowl.
Later that day, Allan asked me what special treat I wanted. So many looked good, but I decided to try Mark’s suggestion. I have been hooked ever since.
We have tried different recipes, but this is our favorite version of it. It works with either regular or gluten free lady fingers.
Lady Fingers-Gluten Free
Andrea commented that she really wanted tiramisu for dessert. We looked in three stores before finding lady finger cookies. We did not find gluten free ones at all. So we decided to try to make our own.
The recipe we tried was very easy. The cookies crisped up and are wonderful for dunking in hot drinks or just eating plain.
Lemon Bars
My girl friend Heather and I would often make these at her house. We almost always doubled the crust and would eat one batch of it as the second batch baked.
Now Adrian loves lemon desserts and this is one of his favorites.
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Date Sugar
I discovered some date sugar at a discount store and really wanted to try it. I had read that you could interchange it with brown sugar, but it did not mix in as well as regular sugar did.
We decided to start with our favorite cookies and experiment. The cookies are soft and cake like, but very good! I thought they were a little to sweet, so next time I will reduce the sugars. But everyone else thought they were perfect.
These cookies work well with regular flour if you do not want them gluten free.
Rhubarb Pie
Growing up, I can only remember eating strawberry rhubarb pie. I was happy to learn that plain rhubarb pie is so much better than strawberry rhubarb!
Allan and I were given this recipe many years ago when we were first married. This is the pie we make most often and will eat it often while the rhubarb lasts. We also try to freeze some rhubarb for a special treat later.
Old Fashioned Saltine Cracker Toffee
Andrea loves Saltine crackers. She was very happy to discover this easy candy recipe that uses the crackers to add a nice crunch.
These double easily, but Andrea recommends not making more than you want for the day because they are very addictive and you will easily eat more than you plan.
Cinnamon Caramel Popcorn
Jan 19th is national popcorn day. What better way to celebrate than with a fresh bowl of caramel corn?
Cream Puffs
When Andrea was nine years old, she discovered cream puffs. She wanted to learn to bake them and would keep asking for me to teach her. Finally, I gave her a recipe for French Profiteroles and let her make a batch. Was she surprised to learn they were cream puffs.
While we usually eat these with whipped cream and homemade nutella or chocolate sauce, they are also very good with vanilla ice cream.