Upscale Rice Krispie bars

This is more about the equipment than anything. The silicone mold is super cheap at Hobby Lobby (almost always on sale). You’ll need a circle cutter the same size - 2”. I had to go to Lynn’s for this one because mine is awol. Anyway, I pressed the Aldi ingredients into an oversized cake pan I happen to have and ended up with 48 bars.

You can remold scraps. Use whatever chocolate you have on hand - just spoon a tablespoon (or a little less) in each mold and pop it in the refrigerator for a couple minutes before unmolding. 

If you want them to be even better, try Smitten Kitchen’s brown butter krispie bar recipe. 

The jimmies are from Gygi and are pretty amazing! They taste like actual chocolate rather than nasty wax. If you order jimmies, get their small silicone bowl too. It’s a game-changer for melting chocolate.

Grilled Marinated Shrimp

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails attached

skewers

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Reserve a small amount for basting later. Pour remaining marinade into a large resealable plastic bag with shrimp. Seal, and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill for medium-low heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp for 5 minutes per side, or until opaque, basting frequently with reserved marinade.

NOTES:

• Source
• We were pretty loose with the ingredient list (surprise).  I used dried parsley, less pepper sauce and tomato sauce instead of paste.
• In spite of all that, these were super easy and even more delicious than expected!
• I used a 2 lb bag of Costco uncooked shrimp (the larger ones) and just put the marinade inside the bag of thawed shrimp.
• It worked perfectly with our awesome skewers and we'll be making this again!

Product Recommendation - Rib Rack

Dad used this to grill thick-cut pork chops tonight and it worked really well!  He set them in a baking dish and marinated in a little whiskey before grilling.  Once the charcoal was ready, seared them on the grill for one minute on each side and then stood them up (bone side down) in the rack and simply cooked with the lid on until they reached 150 (about 15 minutes).  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Very moist and tender!

Brownie bites

This is a post promoting a rather silly product rather than a recipe, I suppose. (And just why did my photo come out sideways?) Anyway, this is a photo from my 2010 Mother/Daughter Tea showing the easiest item on the menu. I started with a boxed brownie mix and topped it with canned frosting and theme-colored sprinkles. Since everything at the Tea MUST be cute, cutting them into the typical not-quite-even squares will just not do!

I used a Wilton Brownie Cutter which, in addition to making these uniform little delights, also picks them up out of the pan as they cut. Basically, they get stuck (but not in a bad way) in the cutter and can easily be pushed out onto the plate. Usually, I wouldn't even consider purchasing a unitasker like this for the kitchen, but it really does make the job easier and it saves all those crunchy, chewy brownie pan edges for someone who'll appreciate them.

The frosting was squiggled on with a #47 tip.

Emily and Brian's Wedding Cake

55 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 40 -50

2 (18 ounce) boxes white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup lemon juice

1 2/3 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons real vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 cups sour cream

6 whole eggs

1 tbsp lemon zest

Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full.

Lightly tap cake pans on counter to bring air bubbles to top.

Bake in preheated 325° F oven until cake tests done.

Baking time varies according to the size and depth of pans being used.

I made several batches (maybe 3 - I don't remember for sure) to bake two each 6", 8", and 10" cakes.  I added poppy seeds to 1/2 the cakes and alternated the layers when everything was put together.

The cakes were split with this cake leveler. (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  For under $4 this tool will perfectly and easily split the layers.)

I displayed the cakes on this stand, purchased with a 1/2 price coupon at JoAnn's.

To see options for chocolate cake, for liqueur flavors, berry flavors, or white chocolate, see the original recipe here. 

The filling between the layers was Dickinson's Lemon Curd, and it was frosted with buttercream.

We made the cakes several weeks ahead of time and froze them, and then assembled everything the afternoon before the wedding.