Fruit salsa with Cinnamon/sugar chips

When an Allrecipes.com recipe has like a bazillion positive reviews, there might be some truth there my fellow chefs. As in, you should make that recipe ASAP its that good. Over 2500 reviewers can't be wrong! Here's the link. Plus, it has my name in the recipe title. It was fate I tell you! All the book club ladies enjoyed this immensely. I.will.make.this.again.soon.

ps- no changes, I didn't sub any different fruit, made it exactly as laid out here. I used the costco cook yourself tortillas, made the tortillas and then followed with the cooking spray, etc.

Ingredients:

2 kiwis, peeled and diced 2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced 8 ounces raspberries 1 pound strawberries 2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon brown sugar 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas butter flavored cooking spray 2 cups cinnamon sugar

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3.	Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Oreo No Bake Cheesecake

The song "Isn't she lovely?" is playing in my head while I look at this photo. It was a magnificent combination of chocolate and pudding and swirly oreo goodness. I really liked what Melanie at Mel's Kitchen Cafe had to say about breaking it down into simple steps. Totally true! It is not, I repeat, NOT overwhelming when you take it one piece at a time. Plan ahead. You can do this. Not only will your guests be wowed but your husband might mention something about you being the best wife ever in between mouthfuls. I'm just saying . . .

from here down is a direct copy/paste from Melanie's post.
See I'm giving credit where credit is due!

*Note: this recipe has several steps but the good news is that they can be done in stages. The crust can be made up to 2 days in advance, as well as the cheesecake filling. The entire cheesecake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

*Serves 12

Cookie Crust:
30 Oreo cookies, broken into rough pieces
7 tablespoons butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling:

1 cup whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped, or 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
2 pounds (4 bars) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 Oreo cookies, broken into rough pieces

For the cookie crust, place the cookies and the butter in a food processor and process until finely ground (alternately, you could use an electric mixer to combine the butter and cookies). Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and partway up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate until the crust has hardened and is set, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

For the cheesecake filling, heat 3/4 cup of the whole milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the milk comes to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, flour and remaining 1/4 cup milk in a large bowl until the mixture is smooth. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is very thick and glossy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the white chocolate until it is completely melted.

Transfer the pudding to a bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate the pudding until it is cold and set, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

After the pudding has chilled, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and mix in the chilled pudding just until it is combined, about 30 seconds. Pour 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture evenly over the chilled crust. Sprinkle 1/2 of the cookies over the surface. Again, pour 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture over the crust and sprinkle the remaining cookies over the top. Top with the remaining filling and smooth the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours. Remove the sides of the pan, cut into slices and serve. The cheesecake can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s country June/July 2008

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

I first saw this on A Hint of Honey blog which linked me to Joy the Baker. Oh Joy. Joy, joy, joy, you know your stuff sweetie! Here's a link to her site and here's a link to this recipe. This is fruit mixed with heaven. The crust is not like a pie crust, think more shortbread cookie. Oh yeah, its pretty amazing. This has officially become the pie of the summer for me. And don't be discouraged by all the steps. Break it down to the 3 main components and do those at your leisure throughout the day, combine them at the last minute to serve.
Its not overwhelming, I promise.

ps- used a springform pan and not a fluted tart pan, still tasted great!

Instructions straight from Joy:

for the filling:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ripe bananas, sliced
10 fresh strawberries, sliced

for the topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the tart crust, if not using mini Dufour shells:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoons (9 tablespoons) unsalted cutter, cold or frozen, cut into cubes
1 large egg yolk

to make the tart crust:
Put the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor fit the the blade attachment. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the pieces of cold butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. There will be pieces of butter that are the size of oatmeal flakes and butter the size of peas. Beat the egg yolk with a fork and add a little of the egg yolk at a time to the flour mixture. Pulse for 10 seconds at a time. When the egg is in, process in longer pulses until the dough forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have escaped mixing.

Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and the sides of the pan. Press the crust so that the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of foil and fit the foil, butter side down, tightly against the frozen crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust is puffed, gently press it down with your fingers.
Bake the uncovered crust for 8 to 10 more minutes on the baking sheet. Keep an eye on the crust. It will brown quickly.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

to make the filling:
Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt until well blended and thick. Whisking without stopping, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, warming the eggs so they don’t cook and curdle. Still whisking, slowly add the rest of the hot milk in a steady steam.

Place the pan over medium heat and, whisking constantly (make sure to get the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Boil, still whisking for one minute before removing from the pan from the heat. Mixture will be thick and silky. Be warned, once the mixture starts to boil, it will thicken very quickly. Don’t be afraid to remove the pan from the flame to whisk it smooth.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let stand for 5 minutes then whisk in the butter, stirring until fully incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. Transfer custard to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the surface of the custard and refrigerate until cold throughout. Custard can be refrigerated up to three days.

When ready to assemble the pie, slice bananas and strawberries into thin, round slices.
Whisk the cold custard to loosen. Add a handful of banana slices. Stir.
Arrange a thin layer of banana slices on the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange a thin layer of strawberries atop the bananas. Reserve some strawberries for topping the pie. Top with banana custard. Smooth out a refrigerate while you make the whipped cream.

for the topping:
With a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat heave cream until it just starts to thicken. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until the cream holds stiff peaks. With a rubber spatula, spoon whipped cream onto banana cream pie filling. Top with sliced strawberries.

Serve pie immediately or refrigerate for several hours before serving. This pie is best served the day it is made.