Dee-lightful Lunch and Dee-licious Dessert with my sister Dee!

Every year, my sister Dee and I take a short drive out to the quaint old town of Owego where we browse in the shops along Front Street and have lunch at the River Rose Cafe.  I love sitting on the patio beside the Susquehanna River.  Seems like every year the weather is perfect and this September day was no different. 

The food is wonderful, of course: soups, salads, a selection of panini sandwiches, as well as specialty sandwiches and wraps.  I got the Ferry Boat Veggie Wrap which was made with their homemade sun-dried tomato hummus and dill dressing.  I ate the whole thing.  Dee loved her Oakley Corners turkey panini that included a surprisingly delicious combination of fresh strawberries and jam, spinach, red onions and swiss cheese on ciabatta bread.

                                  

Fortunately, it was on our way out that we noticed the pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing!  Dangerously yummy-looking, but we just walked on by because waiting for us at home was a fabulous Peanut Butter Pie that Dee made for me.  (I'll definitely try making the cookies myself once I get home in a few days--that and the pie too!)

Later that afternoon settled in at Dee's, we made coffee and finally cut into her pie. It was even better than I expected.  Dee-licious and easy to make.

It didn't take long for it to disappear!

Dee's Peanut Butter Pie

Courtesy of Food  Network:

Sandra Lee/ Kim Howard recipe

with Dee's special Heath Toffee Bits touch

Ingredients

Filling:

1.  1/2 cup peanut butter

2.  1 cup powdered sugar

3.  1/4 cup milk (low fat okay)

4.  1 tsp vanilla

5.  1 (8 ounce)  cream cheese (low fat okay)

---1 (8 ounce) tub whipped topping (lite)

---1 cookie pie crust (ie. Oreo)

---Chocolate ice cream topping (ie. Magic Shell)

---Heath English Toffee Bits

Directions

In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Blend with stand or hand mixer.  Gently fold in whipped topping.  Pour into prepared crust and freeze for 2 hours.  Once frozen, drizzle with chocolate ice cream topping and sprinkle Heath bits; then refreeze for 20 minutes.

Thaw slightly (10 minutes) before serving and cut into thin slices because this is a rich pie.

Apple Pie, Cider and Doughnuts: It Must Be Fall!

What better way to welcome in Fall than a trip to the Cider Mill in Endicott, New York.

While visiting my dad and sister in my hometown of  Binghamton, New York, I took a trip to the Cider Mill.  It certainly must be that time of year because there were two parking attendants guiding cars in and out of their busy lot. Outside were bins of several varieties of apples plus other seasonal fruits and vegetables, including a selection of pumpkins for Halloween--already! 

Inside was an educational experience on the process of making cider, doughnuts, and apple pie. While sampling freshly made cider, we watched as the apples were pressed, filtered, and bottled.  The cider was surprisingly light and subtly sweet--delicious.

Depending on the time of day, you can also watch them make candied apples, pies and doughnuts. We missed this part but made up for it by purchasing as many of the products as we could afford.

We bought apple jelly and raspberry preserves, a couple of gallons of cider, an apple pie and a dozen doughnuts. 

                              

We had considered going apple picking and then making an apple pie, but hey, I'm on vacation!

Check it out:   http://www.cidermillendicott.com/     

Happy Birthday Chuck: This One was Fun!

Another family birthday!  This one was for my brother-in-law Chuck Tade and  I knew immediately how I wanted to decorate his cake.  So I flipped through my Country Kitchen SweetArt catalog and found the perfect little themed-set.

Yep, Chuck is a hunter...and I'm a vegetarian!  So this time I made sure that the deer would outsmart the  hunter and get away.  All in good fun, and Chuck was a good sport about it, as I knew he would be. 

Again no fondant lovers at this party, so another white cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream icing.  No fancy decorating techniques either, just mail order decorations and cute candles.  But the cake was good as Cake Crumbs recipe cakes always are--moist and light.  I am and always will be indebted to John amd Susan Rota for all they taught me about baking and cake decorating.  I hope one day to continue on to more advanced-level classes. 

For now I'm having fun baking for family and friends and they seem to be enjoying it as well:

Chuck enjoyed his and Jessica (his daughter) had a second piece and took some home as well! 

Let's see...who's next?  Oh my, can it be true? My son Dean is going to be 30 in October!!!!!  Hmmm, if not another Dodger cake, then what should be the theme?  Hockey...the Ducks?  Stay tuned....