[the easiest] Happy Birthday cookies ♥

The afternoon before the birthday celebration at the preschool... my sweet little L reminded me that she should bring a birthday treat to share with her class. I forgot, and didn't plan, and therefore didn't have anything to send. I was not about to pack my four kids in the car for a (not-so) quick grocery trip, and I really didn't want to make a mess  making something from scratch. I had a cake mix and that was about it, but the teacher asked for no cupcakes because they are too big of a mess. 

So we improvised and made that cake mix into something less crumb-y...

Luci's Birthday Cookies

Cookie:

1 box Funfetti Cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup cream cheese

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (or enough to make the frosting stiff, but spreadable)

1 teaspoon vanilla 

and of course, SPRINKLES!!!

Easy as pie, or COOKIES.

Tomato Pie.

I've been meaning to post this for roughly forever... And now summer and gardening are officially over.
BUT if you are like me, you still have a handful of green tomatoes ripening on the counter.
This southern specialty--tomato pie (yes, pie)-- right here is going to be the best way to use them, trust me. It is the perfect way to bridge the gap between summer and fall.

A dear friend of mine made something similar for us a few summers ago. Ben about died when he had it and we haven't forgotten about it since. SO so good.
I tried to recreate it here, and I think it turned out pretty dang delish (if you ask me).

Tomato Pie. 

1 recipe favorite pie crust

3 T grated parmesean

1 medium onion, sliced thin

5-6 ripe tomatoes, cut into thick slices

12 basil leaves, chopped

1 tsp fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Garlic powder, to taste

S/P to taste

1/3 c mayo

1/3 c sour cream

1/4 c grated parmesean

8 slices fresh mozarella

Preheat oven to 375.

Roll pie crust into dish and poke holes in the bottom with a fork. Top with 3T cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

While crust is cooking (then cooling), saute onion with butter until caramelized, set aside.

Reset oven for 350.

Sandwich salted, sliced tomatoes between two paper towels to absorb some of the juice for 3 minutes or so (otherwise pie will be really watery) then put in a mixing bowl.

Add basil, parsley, garlic powder, S/P and onions to the tomatoes to coat.

Layer tomato in cooled crust.

In a seperate bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, parmesean and a touch of S/P. Spread over tomatoes, then top with mozarella slices and parsley.

Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

My mouth is watering.

Summer Food.

It's kind of making me sick to see stores stocking more autumn wreaths than water noodles and and pool toys.
My tomato plants have hardly yielded fruit, and we have been so busy that I can count on one hand the times we've fired up the grill during the months of July and August. Sad.
Slow down summer!

But isn't summertime food one of the best parts about summer? duh. All the fresh fruit and vegetables, and of course, the grill. With the few weeks we have left of summer, I vow to use the grill at least twice a week. Here are some of our favorites that we've been enjoying lately---
And by the way, I promise I don't think I'm some gourmet with a cooking blog. I just really love food and if its good, I want my friends to taste it too. And since food is really the only excitement going on over here lately (at least as far as photos are concerned), food is all I have to share...

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza
Start with your favorite pizza dough
(Note: if you failed to prepare like I did this time, go to your favorite pizza shop and they will sell you a ball of dough for pocket change-- they might even roll it out for you if you say please)
Preheat the grill to medium high, then prepare your toppings:
Sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
Very thinly sliced red onions
Already grilled chicken marinated in bbq sauce, cubed
Cooked corn kernels (since it's summer, chances are you have some corn on the cob left over maybe even some of that chicken!)
Handful chopped cilantro
Favorite BBQ sauce (ours? Sweet Baby Ray's)
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper

(note: when I make more than one, I preheat the oven to 200 to keep the first one warm while the other cooks. Plus it kind of softens the onions a little bit more)

Get all the toppings ready to go before placing dough on the grill because, as someone once taught me about grilling pizza, Ya gotta work like the devil is chasing ya!

Ready, set, GO!
Place rolled out dough directly on grill and cook for 1-2 minutes or until you see grill marks and it stiffens up a bit.
Flip dough and get to work on those toppings...
Quickly, so they have time to cook and so the other side of dough doesn't burn!
In this order-- cheese, onions, chicken, corn. Save the rest for later.
Keep the pizza on as long as you can before the bottom starts burning, then remove it from the grill.
Top with cilantro, bbq sauce and S/P. Then if you want to, place it in the oven to keep it warm.


Shrimp Kebabs and Grilled Veggies
I feel silly typing out a recipe, there's not much to it:
After skewering shrimp, spray with olive oil and season with S/P.
(Soak your skewers in water first, right? So the wood doesn't burn.)
I didn't have enough skewers for my veggies (and if I'm honest, enough patience), so I did tin foil. This veggie combo was cubed sweet potatoes, zucchini from my MIL's garden (love her), mushrooms and onions. Again, coat with olive oil and S/P or your favorite seasoning salt, like Johnny's.
Remove shrimp from the grill when they have turned pink on both sides, and remove veggies when you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork (since they cook slower, you might want to start the potatoes and onions first).

Serve with quinoa or rice. Yum.


Fresh Peach Pie

Fresh peach pie is perhaps one of my very favorite desserts.
I don't feel at liberty to share the very best pie crust ever because it is a family recipe of a friend. It was given to me reluctantly. But, I'm sure if you asked your grandma (or your friend's grandma ;) you could find one almost as delicious.

This one looks pretty good. I doubt The Pioneer Woman could steer us wrong..?

Anywho, after doing your thang with the pie crust (rolling it out and placing it in the pie dish), sprinkle all over lightly with cinnamon and sugar, but heavy on the upper crust that shows so the sugar can crystallize.
Bake the crust according to recipe instructions, usually 350 about 15-25 min.
While crust cooks, peel and slice 6+ peaches (enough to fill your pie shell) and coat with 1 1/2 Tbsp honey. Set aside.
Whip 1 pint heavy whipping cream with 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp almond extract, 1/3ish cup confectioner's sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon until soft peak form.

After removing crust from oven, let cool, then spoon peaches into crust.
Serve each slice with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
Perfection. Seriously.


I'm not just about food. Though it seems like that lately!
I have a few projects I am working on that I will share when I find time and energy to finish.