Peanut Butter and Banana Pie

Peanut Butter and Banana Pie

(makes 2 pies)

2 chocolate cookie crumb pie shells

One and one-half cups brown sugar

8 oz. Cream cheese

1 cup good peanut butter (you chose, smooth or crunchy)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 large container (16oz.) cool whip

3 bananas

Prepared chocolate syrup

Extra cool whip and chopped peanuts for garnish, optional

Beat brown sugar, cream cheese, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined. Beat in half the cool whip, then fold in the remaining cool whip.

Slice bananas, and divide equally between pie shells, covering the bottoms.

Pour peanut butter mixture over bananas.

Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Cover and freeze.

Remove from freezer and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Serve with extra cool whip and chopped peanuts as garnish (optional).

Kicked Up Italian Burgers

Italian Burgers

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 sweet vidalia onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

One-half cup white wine

4 oz. Pepperoni, chopped

1 T dried Italian herbs

One-fourth cup chopped fresh parsley

2 lbs. ground round (85% lean)

One-half lb. Sweet Italian sausage

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

3 T melted butter

8 slices provolone cheese

8 Kaiser rolls

Garnish with whole grain mustard, romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes, and thin slices red onion.

Add olive oil to medium sized sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté chopped onions for 4-5 minutes or until translucent and tender. Add garlic and cook for another minute, then the wine, stirring occasionally until completely reduced. Finally, add pepperoni, Italian herbs and chopped parsley, stir to combine, remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, with two forks combine ground round, Italian sausage, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. When onion mixture is cooled, add to meat, and with forks, gently mix.

Divide into eight hamburger patties. Refrigerate until ready to grill.

Prepare grill for medium direct heat. Place patties on grill and brush top side with melted butter. Cook for 3-4 minutes, turn and brush this side with butter. Continue to cook for 3-4 more minutes, or until desired doneness.

Brush cut sides of buns with remaining butter.

Remove burgers from grill, top with provolone cheese, cover and let rest for a few minutes while you grill the cut sides of the buns (1-2 minutes).

Remove buns from grill and add a burgers to each bun.

Dress with whole grain mustard, romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes, and thin slices of red onion.

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting for the 4th!

Our July 4th in Beaufort is a homemade three day holiday. We have a two year tradition--I think two consecutive years counts as a tradition!

Webb, Maxie and Brady bring their Moms and Dads, we dress in our red, white and blue pirate attire (very patriotic pirates) and cheer for the tractors, fire engines, Bodacious Beaufort Babes, a few flag-sporting dogs, the big double decker red bus, some unidentified dignitaries, and the belly dancing Sea-quins. Lots of candy tossing and hurray-ing. Then off to the beach.

No Fourth would be complete without kicked up hamburgers on the grill. We followed with Coconut Cupcakes for dessert and a batch or two of Pain Killers, finishing just in time for fireworks.

There were Ouuuuuu's and Ahhhhhh's all around!

Can't wait until next year.

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

We found this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, and it's really delicious. The cupcakes are nice and moist, and the frosting has a great 'twang'. I had to go to a health food store to find the potato starch (and be sure it's starch, and not flour), but it's worth the trip!

Cupcakes:

1 cup all purpose flour (lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level with knife)

3 T Potato Starch

1 tsp. Baking powder

One-half tsp. Salt

Three-fourths cup sugar

2 T butter, softened

1 large egg

1 large egg white

Two-thirds cup low fat milk

2 T sweet coconut (I added about twice as much.)

One-half tsp. Vanilla (a little extra vanilla, too)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Add paper liners to a 12 muffin pan. Spray liners with cooking spray.

Whisk to combine flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt in small mixing bowl.

Cream sugar and butter until consistency of wet sand.

Add egg and egg white separately, beating well after each addition.

Add flour a little at a time, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour.

Fold in coconut and vanilla.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups, and bake for 18 minutes, or until muffins spring back when touched in the center. My flexible muffin pans required several more minutes to bake.

Cool a couple of minutes in pan, then remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Icing:

3 T butter, room temperature

1 tsp. Half and half

One-half tsp. Grated lime zest

1 T fresh lime juice

One and one-third cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Combine butter, half and half, lime zest and lime juice in medium bowl, and beat until smooth.

Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.

Frost each cupcake.

(For added coconut, pour about a half cup shredded coconut into a bowl, and dip the top of each frosted cupcake into coconut.)