Homemade Tootsie Rolls

I've been a bit nostalgic lately. I'm not sure why, but it has been a real treat taking a trip down memory lane. Speaking of treats! Remember when you were ten years old and the best part of a parade was pushing your way into the street to grab the candy that was launched from a random float? You didn't care what business they were pushing, all that mattered was that they were throwing candy. And not just any candy... they were throwing TOOTSIE ROLLS. These chewy, chocolate bites were the candy gold that we sought after. Forget the rootbeer barrels and lollypops, we were after tootsie rolls.

In fact, I met up with my girlfriend Kari for a parade a few weeks ago. She's a riot. She's the five to my six. And she loves the Hawkeyes, so of course we're best buds.

But back to the parade. We actually enjoy watching the parade now and love to make comments on the creativity (or lack there of) with each passing float. And as the candy is thrown out, we make sure to grab it for the kids next to us. Except tootsie rolls. Kari pockets these. She's sweet as can be, but don't mess with her tootsie rolls.

So I decided after buying my candy thermometer it was time to use it again. So what better excuse than making homemade tootsie rolls?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 TBSP shortening
• 4 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 TBSP evaporated milk (I used heavy cream, it was all I had)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• In a bowl, combine sugar, corn syrup, shortening, and cocoa. Mix well and pour into a saucepan.
• Bring to a boil and then simmer until temperature reaches 275 degrees (use your candy thermometer!)
• Allow to cool for about ten minutes; add evaporated milk and vanilla.
• Use an electric mixer to beat until very thick.
• Scrape candy onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and allow to cool.
• When cool, mold pieces into desired shape!

Aren't those adorable?! Although I have to admit, they were more tricky than making caramels. And I believe I let it reach 275 degrees for a bit too long before cooling because I scorched some of the candy in the bottom of my saucepan. A few of the first ones I rolled into tootsies were a little crunchy because they had a mix of some scorched candy included. After discarding all of the hard/scorched portion, I rolled the rest. And THOSE turned out awesome! The texture was a little more sticky than a regular tootsie roll, but that may have had something to do with me using cream instead of evaporated milk. I would say the flavor was pretty darn close though!

Overall I would call them a success. I definitely plan on trying these again!

Boston Market Dill Potato Wedges

We're carb-oholoics. Yeah that's right, I'll admit it. Although I'm sure you caught on to that after my husband brought home twenty pounds of potatoes. So I'm always searching for new and yummy ways to make some starchy goodness. When I stumbled upon this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. But I have a confession to make first. I've never been to a Boston Market. So I have absolutely no idea if these are similar, but they were darn good!

Ingredients:

• 7 new red potatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 2 tsp dried dill weed (I ended up adding a little more)

Directions:

• Wash potatoes and boil until barely soft.
• Drain and cut potatoes into wedges
• Melt 1 stick of butter in a large frying pan and saute garlic for about one minutes
• Add potatoes and the rest of the seasonings
• Pan fry until they are lightly brown

Okay so no, it isn't the healthiest recipes. But if you've been saving up for a calorie splurge, do it on these potatoes! They were a delicious change of pace.

Source: Recipezaar

Smores Cookies

Summer is a great time to pack up and head to the lake for a weekend of camping. Drew and I like to grab our fishing poles and head out for a relaxing time that is void of computers, cell phones, and other distractions. After a few hours of fishing, we will come back to our campsite and start a fire. We cuddle up to each other with a cold beer and get ready to make some smores. Nothing is better than real, campfire smores.

But sometimes it's not always so easy to get out of town and roast marshmellows so this recipe serves as an option when you're camping in suburbia.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour


• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 dash of cinnamon


• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 eggs2 cups miniature chocolate chips


• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows


• 2 Hershey bars, broken into mini 'bars'

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


• In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon.


• In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.


• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.


• Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.


• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven.


• Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked.


• Cool cookies on a wire rack.

These were really tasty. Although if you're looking for a big, fluffy cookie this is not for you. The smores cookies came out a little thinner than most. Don't let that stop you though because I still managed to eat three of them the night that they were made! Definitely a great smores-like treat!

Source: Stephanie Cooks

Emergency Chocolate Cake

It was 9 pm on a Sunday night and all I could think about was cupcakes. How the craving started, I'm not sure. But it was here and it was strong. My stomach was telling me to go whip up a quick batch of cupcakes and satisfy my sweet tooth but my head was telling me that it was just a little too late for cupcakes (not to mention the cleanup). What's a girl to do?!

That's when you turn to Emergency Chocolate Cake. This quick and easy treat of fluffy-cake-goodness is just what I needed! And the best part? My only dishes to clean were the mug and fork.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. cake flour (you can use all purpose flour too... I did!)


• 2 Tbsp. sugar


• 1/2 tsp. baking powder


• 2 tsp. cocoa powder


• pinch of salt


• 2 Tbsp. milk


• 1/2 tsp. vanilla


• 1 tsp. oil
  

Directions:

• Spray the inside of your mug with non-stick cooking spray


• Dump in all of the ingredients


• Stir together with a fork until well blended


• Microwave for 60 seconds


• Turn out onto a plate (or eat in the mug) and satisfy that cupcake craving!

Keep in mind that this isn't the same as sinking your teeth into a big piece of chocolate cake. But considering it takes less than two minutes, I think it's great! This could be a very, very dangerous discovery...

Update: Check out my newest emergency cake here too!

Source: One Particular Kitchen

Mind-blowing pot roast

I remember when I received my first crock pot (I now own three). It was during college and I was in my first apartment. My family raved that it was a great way to make a homecooked meal without much work (they knew that I was a nightmare in the kitchen and that simplicity was key). But after my first few disasters with it, I gave up. And until recently with my new desire to master the kitchen I really hadn't used it to its full potential. Until I discovered pot roasts. We've used roasts mostly for delicious sandwiches, but never for just having roast alone. Until this recipe.

Oh.

My.

GOODNESS.

This was incredible! Easy, delicious, and filling.

Sidenote - I don't know where I read it, but I stumbled upon interesting information regarding crockpots and "peeking" at the dinner you're making.... Every time you peek (meaning, lift off the lid) you lose 20 minutes of cooking time. So as hard as it may be when your house is filling with an amazing aroma, keep your hands off and let your crockpot work!

Ingredients:

• Roast (ours was 4.5 pounds)
• 2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 and 1/4 cups of water
• 1 package of dry onion soup mix
• 1 can of mushrooms
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat up a pan over high heat. Add a little bit of oil to the pan too.
• Salt and pepper all sides of your roast. Quickly sear all sides of the pot roast and remove from heat
• Mix the rest of the ingredients all together in a seperate bowl. This will look completely wrong, by the way. It's chunky and awkward but trust me, it works beautifully!
• Add the roast and the soup mixture to the crockpot.
• Heat on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6.
• Slice roast and place on plate. Spoon gravy over roast and enjoy!

That's it! The soup mixture seasons the meat while reducing to a delicious gravy. My husband raved about this dinner calling it my "best one yet"!

And I agree. This was THE BEST roast we have made yet. Although I've found another barrier to my food blog. Photography. My photography skills (especially up close) are lacking severely. So although my pictures might not be the most beautiful thing to look at, your family will thank you for making this meal. I promise!

Source: Allrecipes.com

Cookbook Giveaway Winner

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday! The sun is shining and it's supposed to be lovely today and in the mid-70s. I'm looking forward to this weekend. Between Rib America Fest, a baseball game, and just some good quality time with my husband, it's going to be relaxing and fun!


But before I can get to any of that. I have a great cookbook to giveaway! Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave!


If you remember, on Monday I posted about Spiced Red Wine-Poached Pears.





The recipe came from a Ellie's cookbook and it's one of my new favorites! I asked each of you to tell me what your favorite cookbook is and then I had random.org choose the winner. And the winner of this cookbook is.......













Congratulations! Please email me therookiechef@hotmail.com so that I can send your prize. I hope this helps start you off to a great weekend!

Texas Roadhouse imposter green beans!

Drew and I love Texas Roadhouse. It is HANDS DOWN our favorite steak chain restaurant. But I'll let you in on a little secret... it's not the steaks that make us go there. For Drew it is the spiced butter they serve with their warm bread and for me, well, I can't get enough of their green beans. Yeah that's right, green beans! When they ask, "And for your two sides?" My reply is, "green beans. Twice please."

So I used the power of Google to help me find an imposter recipe to re-create their famous green beans. And it was a spot on match!

Ingredients:

• 2 (16 ounce) cans of green beans, drained
• 2 cups water
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 ounces bacon, diced and raw (I used about 5 strips)
• 4 ounces onion

Directions:

• Drain green beans and set aside.
  
• Mix water, sugar and pepper until well incorporated. Set aside.
  
• Preheat your cooking pan to medium high heat.
  
• Dice the raw bacon into equal size pieces and throw them in your pan. Continually stir to keep baking from burning.
• Once bacon is cooked, add the onions and cook until they are tender.
• Now that the onions are tender, add the liquid mixture.
• Stir the mixture until incorporated. Bring mixture to a boil and then return the heat to simmer. Simmer until ready to serve.

These were AWESOME! In fact, the longer they simmered the more it seemed to resemble the amazing flavors that I have found at Texas Roadhouse. The bacon gives them a little salty smoky flavor and the sugar is just enough so that you know it's there. Serve them up using a ladel or non-slotted spoon so you can enjoy the broth with them.

If you love green beans, try this easy option.

Source: Recipezaar

Bacon Caramels

Sure, your first thought might be, "bacon caramels?! That sounds awful!" But let's just think about this for a minute....

It's Sunday morning, your enjoying a cup of coffee with your breakfast while reading the paper. You're most important meal of the day consists of a shortstack of pancakes with a side of bacon. As you're flipping through the sports section you reach for a piece of bacon that decided to get a little to close to the syrup on your plate. Mmmm, maple-bacon goodness! EUREKA! That is exactly what bacon caramels can do for your tastebuds and you don't even need make breakfast!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream, divided (1/2 goes in first, 1/2 goes in later)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 8 pieces of bacon fried until crispy
• You will also need a candy thermometer. You can pick these up for just a few dollars at the store.

Directions:

• Fry up your bacon and make sure it's really crispy. Once cool, crumble your bacon and set aside.
• Combine all ingredients except bacon and 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a medium sauce pan. Stir to combine.
• Set on medium high heat. Stir occasionally until the temp reaches 240* (this took longer than I thought so hang in there. Also, the mixture really bubbles up crazy and you think it's going to burn but that's normal! Just keep on bubblin' until you hit the 240*)
• Remove from the stove and carefully stir in the remaining 1/2 cup cream. Place back on the stove and continue to cook until 245*
• Once reaching that temp, immediately remove from heat and stir in a portion of the crispy bacon.
• Pour the caramel into a buttered 9x13 dish.
• Scatter the remaining bacon on top and let set for at least 3 hours before cutting.

No joke, these are awesome! The salty/sweet combo is fantastic. But hey, if you're still weirded out by the bacon, just leave it out. This will serve as your basic caramel recipe regardless.

Source: Wan

Jalapeno Popper Dip

You have your tried and true recipes. We all do. And that is especially true when it comes to entertaining! Even though you might throw a few new treats out there from time to time, you usually have a staple. Maybe it's your buffalo chicken dip, maybe it's a homemade salsa. But it's time to change it up! And this is JUST the recipe to do it!

If you like jalapeno poppers, you will fall in love with this dip!

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened



• 1 cup mayonnaise



• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped fire roasted green chilies, drained



• 2 ounces canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained (I used almost half a bottle of pre-slice jalepenos. I'm pretty sure that's not 2 ounces but it was a little tame without it!)



• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I only had shredded "Pizza" cheese so I used that instead)

Directions:

• Throw it all in the crockpot! Perferably a really cute football shaped dip crockpot that you bought on clearance ;)



• 



• For the first 20 minutes or so, keep an eye on it and stir so that everything blends together. I put this together really fast due to unexpected guests so I kept it on high until everything melted. Then I reduced the heat to low for when guests arrived and the mixture was blended.

This was a big hit! Honestly, it's a MUST TRY dip recipe. Serve with bite sized tortilla chips.

Source: Allrecipes

Spiced Red Wine-Poached Pears (and a giveaway!)

Believe me when I say "I never win anything." Seriously. Even as a small child at the fair I never won the big stuffed animal by throwing darts at balloons. Hey, it's pretty crushing when you're 7 years old. So imagine my suprise when I came home from work one day to see a large envelope on my front steps. I didn't order a package... did my husband? Wait, it's addressed to ME. So I tear into the package and read a letter that basically says, "Congratulations. You are the winner of an autographed Ellie Kreiger, The Food You Crave, cookbook!"

Whaaaa? How?

I guess I filled out a survey awhile back about yogurt and the random prize was this book. How strange! I don't even remember filling out the survey....




But it was addressed to me so I'm keeping it! Pretty cool, eh?




So I decided I had better dive in and treat myself to a new dish from my prize. And that's when I landed on Spiced Red Wine-Poached Pears. I prefer to call them Drunken Pears, but I guess Ellie didn't like that name...

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry red wine, such as Cabernet or Merlot
• 1/4 cup plus 1 TBSP sugar
• Juice of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup)
• One 1x3 inch strip orange zest
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole cloves,
• 4 firm, ripe pears

Directions:

• In a saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, orange juice and zest, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• While liquid is simmering, peel the pears, leaving the stem intact adn being careful not to blemish the flesh of the pears.
• Slice off 1/2 inch the bottom of the pears so that they can stand.
• Gently lay the pears down in the paching liquid, cover and simmer, turning them every 5 minutes to ensure even color, until they are cooked but still firm (15-20 minutes).
• Gently transfer the pears to a serving dish, keeping them upright. Let them cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, with a slotted spoon, remove the orange zest, cloves, and cinnamon stick from the poaching liquid.
• Turn the heat up to medium-high and reduce the liquid until it is thick and slightly syrupy, about 15 minutes.
• Drizzle each pear with 2 TBSP of the warm syrup and serve.

Aren't they beautiful? And they're just as delicious as they look. In fact, they were so good that I thought I should do more than just share this one recipe with you. I think you should have a copy of Ellie's The Food You Crave cookbook (sorry, your book isn't signed)!

So here we are, my first giveaway on The Rookie Chef. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what your favorite cookbook is and why.

I will pick a random winner using http://random.org/ on Friday morning. All comments left before Friday at 8 am will be eligible to win.

Yay for winning! It's fun to win something now and then, isn't it??

Homemade Gummi Bears

Well, they aren't actually gummi bears. They're gummi stars! I didn't have a bear mold, but they turned out just as delicious and just as cute! You won't believe how impossibly easy these are too. These are good treats for both adults and kids. So if you love picking up a package of gummis at the store, this recipe is a must try:

Ingredients:

• 1 package of jello (any flavor, but the small 3 oz package)


• 7 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (these come in small envelopes, usually 4 per package. The brand I bought was Gelatine and it comes in an orange package. Look for it in the jello aisle)


• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Mix everything together in a sauce pan. It will be thick, like paste.


• Heat over low heat until it's more liquid and melted.


• Pour into your mold.


• Put in the freezer for five minutes to firm up.


• That's it! Look at these little cherry bites of gummy goodness:

These little guys are a new favorite in my house. And by using sugar-free jello you can make a treat that you feel good about eating! And as for the mold, I picked them up at Michael's (craft store) for $1.99. You can do all shapes and sizes too. Fun for all ages!

My next experiment? Making SOUR gummi candy. I love those little tart bites and if I can recreate them in my kitchen I will be in heaven. Stay tuned!

Far East Chex Mix

Chex mix. It's easy, it's a crowd pleaser, and there are a million different ways to make it. As most of you know, I love spicy things. So when I picked up some wasabi peas the other day, I knew that I had to find away to bring them into my favorite snack: chex mix!

Ingredients:

• 5 cups corn Chex Mix cereal
• 6 TBSP butter
• 1.5 TBSP hoisin sauce
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1.5 Cups/one package/3 oz of Yaki Mochi
• 1.5 Cups/one package/3 oz of Sesame Bits
• 1/2 cup wasabi peas

I found the Yaki Mochi (which are soy flavored little crisps... yum!), Sesame Bits, and Wasabi Peas at our local Asian market. The brand I used was Hapi. If you can't find them, use something similar. There are other versions of soy crisps and sesame bits in the market.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees
• Add butter, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and sriracha sauce to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 35 seconds until melted. Stir well.
• Now add your ground ginger, onion powder and garlic powder. Again, stir well.
• In a large mixing bowl, add your Chex Mix, Yaki Mochi and Sesame Bits. Give them a toss so they're all mixed up.
• Now drizzle the buttter mixture over the Chex. Get your hands in there and really toss it so that every piece is covered.
• Pour your coated Chex Mix into a 9x13 glass baking dish.
• Bake for one hour, but take it out and stir the Chex Mix every 15 minutes. This helps to make sure that all of the pieces are well coated and crisping up nicely.
• After 1 hour, remove from the oven and let cool on paper towels.
• Once cool, put your Chex Mix in a bowl and toss with Wasabi Peas.

This was a great new twist on an old classic. The Wasabi peas gave it just enough heat while the hoisin sauce had a nice little sweet finish.

Dill potato salad

Sometimes I catch myself going through the grocery store and thinking, "Why don't I just try to make that?" Most of the time I lean on the side of convenience, but I decided it was time to tackle potato salad. This is such a great summertime side and is always a crowd pleaser. So why not save money and make it yourself? Besides, I'm still working through 20 pounds of potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 5 Russet potatoes
• 5 TBSP juice from kosher dill pickles
• 3 mini dill pickles, chopped up (not the midget dills, just the mini)
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1 TBSP dijon mustard
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes (skins on). Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from pot, let cool enough to handle, but still warm. Cut potatoes into cubes.
• Put potatoes in a large bowl. Add the pickle juice and the pickles themselves. Now add the celery and onion. Mix everything well.
• In a seperate bowl, mix mayo and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix in the dressing with the potato mixture. Again, add salt and pepper to taste.

How easy is that?! This recipe is super quick and easy. The longest part is boiling the potatoes and letting them cool but you can certainly multitask during that time. Now that I know just how easy it is to whip up potato salad, I'll definitely be trying a few more varieties.

Adapted Elise.com

Spinach-Stuffed Tomatoes

I love vegetables. ALL vegetables. In any and every form. But my husband doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for them so it's important to keep things interesting yet healthy. This stuffed tomato recipe was just what the doctor ordered.

Ingredients:

• 2 tomatoes (I used vine ripe)
• 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 1 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat your toaster oven to 400 degree. (you could use a regular oven, but these are so tiny and easy that I decided to use the ol' toaster oven)
• Slice off the top of the tomato and scoop out the insides. On the first tomato I tried to cut out the insides and that seems like a lot of work. The second tomato I decided to try a different approach. I cut along the outside of the tomato (but with the knife on the inside... did I confuse you?) so that the tomato 'guts' were loosened from the shell. Then I reached my fingers in, twists in a circle, and pulled it out. I still had some cleanup work to do, but the majority was removed this way.
• Set on tin foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• They should look like this:
• 

• Now add the rest of your ingredients (minus the tomatoes) into a food processor. Pulse grind to form the stuffing.
• Stuff the tomatoes to the rims with mixture like this:
• 

• Now move your tomatoes to the toaster over (remember, you already preheated it to 400) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Let stand 5 minutes after baking and enjoy!

These were fantastic! They were the perfect vegetable side for our dinner. Although I would taste the stuffing before you stuff the tomatoes. To me it seemed a little dry. I wish I would have sampled a little bit first and then added more olive oil. I also think a little bit of pesto would have been a nice compliment to the flavors.

Source: R. Ray Cookbook

Mediterranean burger topped with tzatziki

You know what I love? When a plan comes together. Being a rookie in the kitchen I often find myself stumbling through recipes or scratching my head while finding out what flavors work best together. But I think it's all worth it when you have that EUREKA! moment. This was one of those moments!

I love olives. They're salty and delicious. Olive is also the name of my beautiful neice, but that has nothing to do with this recipe. So when I was cruising through the aisles at the grocery store I knew I just had to try these:



Mediterranean Olive Antipasto - marinated with herbs & Napa Valley merlot

It was a mix of kalamata and green olives with peperchinis, roasted peppers and garlic. Translation? Heaven in a bottle.

And THAT is when I had the eureka moment. Kalamata olive and feta cheese burger. Not that mind blowing I suppose, but I knew dinner was going to rock.

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of the above olives. Pick out all of the kalamatas because that's what you're using.
• 1 pound ground beef
• Feta cheese crumbles
• A few shakes of oregano
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• These olives still have the pits in them. I initially tried cutting the olive off around the pit. Umm yeah, not so much. But then I realized you could very easily slide the olive off. Kalamatas are relatively soft compared to green olive so this was easy.
• Now chop up those olives just a bit.
• GENTLY fold as many olives as you want into the beef. Do the same with the feta crumbles. There are no exact measurements, just as much or as little as you like.
• Also give your ground beef mixture a few shakes of salt and pepper. Add a dash or two of oregano too.
• Now form into patties.
• Throw on the grill until fully cooked.

Don't these just LOOK delicious?

Oh they were. But if you still aren't convinced, just top with some cool and delicious tzatziki for a serious Mediterranean flavor explosion! These will definitely be made again at our house.

Tzatziki

A few weeks ago, Drew and I went to the Greek Festival. The festival spreads out all over the lawn at The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George and even into the streets! There is plenty of music, dancing, and of course FOOD! Drew opted for the Greek chicken kabobs and I made a beeline to the gyro area. I love gyros. And I love them best when they're made with lamb (you know, the huge spinning hunk of lamb that they shave off in front of you?? SO GOOD!). But you know what really makes the gyro great? The tzatziki sauce. I could dip veggies in it, eat it with chips, slap it on chicken... really, good tzatziki sauce can be an amazing condiment.

So I decided to make some.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces (2 cups) of Greek yogurt (regular yogurt will work, but it's much thinner)
• 5 cloves of garlic, pressed
• Half of a cucumber, chopped into small pieces
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 TBSP dried dill

Directions:

• Mix all of the ingredients together very well
• TASTE YOUR TZATZIKI! Does it need more dill? More garlic? Want a little bit more cucumber in yours? Now is the time to add it to your specific taste buds.
• Place tzatziki in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours. This really allows the flavors to all come together.
• Stir again before serving.

Yum! So easy too. Like I said, this is a delightful signature sauce for gyros but it also makes a great veggie dip.

Source: adapted from about.com

Taco dip... I think.

I don't know exactly what you would call this, but the first name that comes to my mind is DELICIOUS. The second is EASY.

Umm, hello? Those are my two requirements in making anything. This tasty dip satisfied both!

Ingredients:

• 1 can of refried beans. I used spicy.
• One 8 oz package of cream cheese
• One 16 oz container of sour cream
• One package of taco seasoning. Again, I used "hot and spicy"
• And your toppings of choice (I used shredded lettuce, Taco shredded cheese (the packaged kind), tomatoes and olives)

Directions:

• Spread refried beans on the bottom of a baking dish.
• With a stand/hand mixer, combine cream cheese and sour cream. Once mixed, add the taco seasoning packet. Stir well.
• Spread that mix over the refried beans.
• Then sprinkle on shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and olives.

Talk about the easiest and most delicious dip! This got gobbled up at our fourth of July party! Just serve with chips and call yourself a hero.

Honestly, it was better after it was sitting awhile. It let the flavors work together.

Grilled corn on the cob

Forgive me, but I live in Iowa. And I will bet you we have the best sweet corn you've ever tasted. Especially if it's during prime harvest. I would still say it's a little early to have the BEST sweet corn we have to offer, but it's pretty darn good right now. I tried some corn a few weeks ago and it was good, but the corn wasn't quite ready yet.

Well, heaven knows I love gadgets and gizmos. So when I had my 20% off coupon and store credit and Bed Bath and Beyond I just had to pick up this grill basket for corn.

Ingredients:

• As much or as little corn as you're wanting to grill
• Two sticks of butter (I did this for 16 pieces of corn), melted
• A few shakes of garlic powder

Directions:

• Clean your corn. That means take off the hull and all of the silk too. It's a lot more work than it sounds, but it's worth it.
• Now place those clean corn husks in your super fun new grill basket. My husband demonstrates this well:
• 
• Yep, that's him. The grill master. Please ignore the fact that he's wearing a totally goofy apron. My best friend made that for me as a random gift. Although I love it, it's just hilarious to see him wearing it with our big ugly mugs gracing the front. Little story... the apron photo was taken during the Iowa vs Iowa State game (huge rivalry!). I'm a Hawkeye (Iowa) and Drew is a Cyclone (Iowa State). Fashion faux pas I'm sure!
• Grill your corn until it turns bright yellow and slightly brown/charred.
• Melt butter, add a few shakes of garlic powder, stir, and ta-da! You're done. Just liberally spread the butter mixture on the corn and then salt and pepper to taste.

Patriotic Strawberries

In true Rookie Chef fashion, I am presenting you a recipe that barely has a recipe. Mind blowing, I know. But these strawberries turned out SO CUTE (and tasty!) with minimal effort.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries!


• 1 package of almond bark


• blue icing gel (I used the sky blue gel from my Wilton classes)

Directions:

• Wash strawberries and dry on paper towels


• Melt almond bark. You can do this in the microwave like I did by just putting it in a bowl, microwaving for 30 seconds, stirring, and then continuing to microwave for 15 second intervals. Make sure and stir between intervals. Or you can do this on a low heat stove top. Just be careful not to burn it!


• Dip your strawberries in the almond bark so that it covers about 2/3 of the strawberry. Repeat for all strawberries. Set them on wax paper and allow for them to completely cool.


• While your strawberries are cooling, add your blue coloring to the rest of the almond bark.


• Once cooled, dip your strawberries into the blue almond bark but ONLY to the bottom third. Again, transfer to wax paper and allow them to cool.

That's it! So easy but such an adorable presentation. Enjoy!

I originally wanted to do this recipe with blue candy melts but this girl had a blonde moment and went searching for them on the 3rd of July. Yeah, it's not so easy to find those a day before the fourth. DUH! I settled for the dyed blue almond bark instead. It turned out just fine though. Almond bark is a lot easier to work with, but candy melts look a little smoother in my opinion. Just an FYI :)

And this is just a bonus shot of some seasonal stars and stripes Funfetti cupcakes that I made for my coworkers. Oh how I love Funfetti...

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Baseball, apple pie, hot dogs... yeah, they're definitely all American. But so are cupcakes! So what better way to celebrate during our annual party than by having adorable Fourth of July cupcakes. But how exactly do you go about creating this little cake filled cone?

Ingredients:

• 1 box of ice cream cones (I bought a 24 pack)
• 1 box of cake mix
• Frosting
• Sprinkles
• Adorable little flags that you found at the last minute (optional of course!)

Directions:

• Get out your mini muffin pan* and some tin foil. Rip the tin foil into little squares and place in each muffin spot.
• Now put an ice cream cone in. Then crinkle the tin foil around it. This will help keep the cone stable when you're putting it in the oven and during the baking process.

• 
• Take your cake batter and pour directly into the cone until it's about this full:
• 

• If you fill them too full, they can come out looking like this:
• 

• Carefully put your ice cream cone cupcakes in the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean after inserted (about 20 minutes or so).
• Now you're ready to decorate! Give them each a swirl of frosting and then add sprinkles or a flag.

I cannot get over how adorable these little cupcakes were! They were a huge hit at our party. Not to mention they were so easy! It took about the same amount of time for a regular cupcake but had twice the WOW factor.

And another close up look...

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!

Did you notice the * above? Just because I used a mini muffin pan does not mean you have to! If you only have a regular muffin pan, just use more tin foil to hold your cones in place. Or get the jumbo cones and have supersized ice cream cone cupcakes!