Cherry Pie Bars

Found this on Pinterest...recipe from http://www.therecipecritic.com/2012/10/cherry-pie-bars.html

I made these for Thanksgiving as an alternative to pumpkin desserts for my dad. They were delicious...very, very sweet.

This is the original recipe from the site above.  The only thing I changed was leaving out the almond extract.  It was great without it, so I doubt I'll include it next time either.  I just used one can of cherries.  Two, as suggested, would be great, but I think it would be more difficult to cut into bars. 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 (21 ounce) cherry pie filling 2 if you like cherries (highly recommend)

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbs milk

1. Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat well.  Beat in extracts.

2. In a separate bowl combine flour and salt.  Add to the creamed mixture.  Mix until combined.

3. Spread 3 cups batter in a 15x10x1 (Also works with 9x13- baking time will at least be 35 minutes)  Spread with pie filling.  Drop remaining batter on top of pie filling.

4. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean.  Cool on wire rack.  Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the bars. 

Dill Pickle Dip

Recipe from: http://thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com/2012/03/dill-pickle-dip.html

This was so yummy!  Wish I had pictures, but check out the site from whence it came for a great picture.

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened 
1- 1 1/2 cups chopped dill pickles - I used my food processor
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion - threw this in the food processor with the pickles
2- 4 tablespoons pickle juice
1 teaspoon dried dill weed 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I served mine with pretzels, which was was afraid would make the whole concoction too salty, but it was delicious! 

Menu Monday

Monday - chicken squares, baked potatoes, green beans
Tuesday - red beans and rice, cornbread
Wednesday - hot ham and cheese sandwiches, fries, carrots

Menu Plan...Thursday

Monday - Mexican chicken casserole Tuesday - dinner with Christina Wednesday - Philly Cheesesteak pizza Thursday - Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Friday - crockpot ham and beans Saturday - pizza Sunday - dirty rice

A "New" Kitchen!

Still doing a little rearranging, but the kitchen is finished and I love it!

 Loving the big deep sink!

New lamp from The Tin Bin.  I love the patterns it makes on the walls and that the bottom lights up too.