Peach Glazed Pork Chops and Stuffing

Peach Glazed Pork Chops and Stuffing is an easy meal you can enjoy any night of the week! This easy recipe pairs sweet, fresh peaches with savory homemade stuffing and pork for an exciting flavor combo the whole family will love. Even more exciting is having a delicious dinner made with fresh ingredients on the table in about 30 minutes!

Coca-Cola Cake Donuts

Coca-Cola Cake Donuts are rich, chocolaty, baked donuts with a cake-like texture. The delicious icing sets-up nicely and puts the flavor of these donuts over the top! Did I mention they are easy to make too?! Score!

Skillet Apple Cake

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Skillet Apple Cake drizzled with a sweet, creamy glaze makes a fresh and irresistibly delicious dessert or even breakfast. Why not? There's fresh apples in this cake. Fruit for breakfast is perfectly acceptable, right?!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies Recipe

Cinnamon Roll Cookies taste just like an ooey gooey cinnamon roll, but in an easier to make cookie! These cinnamony sweet cookies are the third in a series of five different cookies you can make with my Vanilla Cookie Dough Recipe.

Drunken Pumpkin Seeds #PumpkinWeek

Drunken Pumpkin Seeds for #PumpkinWeek are made with Jack Daniels Whiskey, bacon drippings, brown sugar and salt. This combo makes a sweet and salty treat you'll have a hard time putting down!

Strawberry Bundt Cake Drizzled with Chocolate Glaze

Recently I made a Lemon Bundt Cake that turned out very nice! 

It was Delicious...

So the hubs said "I wonder if you could make a strawberry cake just like this but with chocolate?" 

hmmmm....What do you mean "you wonder"? This, my friend, was a challenge!

Just that little bit of doubt in his voice got him the cake he wanted as soon as the lemon cake was gone - which was the very next day because it was so tasty we couldn't stop eating it!! 

The Strawberry Bundt Cake Drizzled with Chocolate Glaze was a hit! Don loved it!! This cake is moist and full of strawberry deliciousness!! It is easy to make too, and it didn't last long either! We are cake monsters!!

Chili Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Ginger Glaze

Here it is! My favorite recipe! This is so yummy I make it anytime Pork Tenderloin is on sale.  I also make it when we have company, as it is quick, easy, and looks great too!

Ingredients

• 2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
•  
• Spice Rub:
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (you can sub in 1 tbsp of garlic powder if you prefer)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
•  
• Glaze:
• 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Spicy)
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1/2 lime, juiced (taste and if more is needed juice the other 1/2 -I usually prefer just 1/2)

Directions

Place chili powder, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a jar; shake to blend. Rub spice mixture onto pork tenderloins. Wrap tenderloins in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight

Prior to cooking tenderloins, melt apricot preserves in a microwave by using a microwave safe bowl and heating on high for 30 seconds at a time until melted.  Stir in remaining glaze ingredients. Reserve 1/2 the glaze to use during cooking, and place the other half in a serving bowl and hold for service.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Sear the tenderloins over med-high heat - get a good sear on each side of the tenderloins. Be sure to use an oven safe skillet!

Once seared nicely, brush the top of the tenderloins with half of the reserved glaze

Place the pan in the pre-heated oven (be sure it is oven safe) and cook for 10 minutes;

After 10 minutes, remove from the oven and check temperature with an instant read thermometer

Turn tenderloins over and brush with remaining glaze. Place pan back in oven for another 7-10 minutes until temp reaches 140 degrees.   

Let rest for 10 minutes

Slice

Serve with the reserved sauce and enjoy...

I typically serve this with a salad when I make it just for us, but when I make it for company I whip up some garlic mashed potatoes with some sauteed spinach - yummmmm

This can also be cooked on the grill. Pre-heat grill to med-high heat and cook tenderloins for 5 mins on all sides for a total of 15 minutes or until temp reaches 140 degrees.  Brush with glaze on both sides during the last 5 minutes of grilling. Let rest for 10 minutes; slice and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes Chili Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Ginger Glaze

S'Mores Cupcakes

Today I woke up early and started these S'mores Cupcakes before work.  I wanted to get the cupcake part finished, so I could whip up the chocolate glaze and the marshmallow meringue after work.  Then I would only have to assemble and package them up to take to the hospital.  The staff on the 5th floor are all so wonderful!  They have been so kind and so attentive to my father-in-law. We so appreciate all the good care he is receiving.  That being said...we will be MOST happy when he is able to come home.  There is positive progress and hopefully he will be sprung soon!

Recipe source: S'mores Cupcakes

Graham Cracker Base 
3 cups graham cracker crumbs 
1/2 cup granulated sugar 

10 tablespoons butter, melted 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a cupcake pan with baking cups (24).

In a large bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until evenly coated. Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the bottom of each baking cup. Using a glass about the size of the base of the cupcake press down the graham cracker crumbs until they form a solid crust.

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 box devil’s food cake mix

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs

¼ cup milk

½ cup water

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk eggs, sour cream, milk, water, oil, and vanilla together. Add cake mix and stir until well blended. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. I use an ice cream scoop to spoon batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the top bounces back when lightly pressed. 

Chocolate Glaze
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or use semisweet chips
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon light corn syrup

In a saucepan melt together the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup over medium heat and stir until completely combined. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes until chocolate thickens. Stir occasionally.

Marshmallow Meringue
4 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar

Mix the egg whites and sugar in a bowl while heating a saucepan on low.  Place the egg mixture into warmed pan, remove from heat and whisk.  You will be putting this on and off the heat until the mixture is warm to the touch and all the sugar is dissolved.  We aren't trying to scramble the eggs here, so be careful with the heat.  This is best done in a double boiler like so: whisk together the egg whites and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved and the egg whites are warm to the touch, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a medium mixing bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff, shiny peaks, about 5-8 minutes.

Assemble
Spread a thick layer of chocolate glaze on top of the cupcake being sure to get it all the way to the edge - yummm! Let set for a few minutes.

Fill a pastry bag or a plastic baggie (just snip off the corner) with the marshmallow meringue and pipe the meringue on top of the cupcake.  Turn the oven onto broil and place the cupcakes on a cookie sheet in the top shelf of the oven. Leave the door open and watch them closely! It will only take a minute (maybe even less) to get a nice toasty marshmallow look, so don't plan on doing anything else while these are under the broiler or you will ruin your cupcakes and that would be very, very sad!  Of course if you are lucky enough to have a kitchen torch then you can just torch the tops until nicely browned. I keep meaning to order one, although I think I might be dangerous!  HA!

I have my eyes on a Banana Cupcake recipe I think I will try to make next!  My mother-in-law brought me some bananas on Easter that got put in the freezer so they wouldn't spoil. I've been looking for things to make with my Easter bananas!