Final Dessert: Colorado Peach Cobbler

 

For our final dessert we wanted to use some of the fresh Colorado peaches purchased from the fundraiser for the Studio, so we decided on a delicious, classic peach cobbler!

 We got to learn a new technique: we boiled the peaches so the skin would peel right off.

 The peaches were then peeled and sliced!

 Then drenched in cinnomy-sugar deliciousness! :)

 The crumble

 The Dutch oven mitts got to perform their last heroic task of the summer by taking the cobblers out of the oven.

The Reviews:

"Really good flavor. Crunchy, caramelly crust--really nummy!" ~Grandma Harder

"Now I know why I always gain weight in America..." ~Ines

"One of your best desserts." ~Ellie's Mom

"I like the chewy crust." ~Ellie's Dad

Rachel's Recipe Review: YUM. I don't even like peaches and this was DELICIOUS. Need I say more? (Umm...yes! ~Ellie)

Ellie's Recipe Ramblings: You don't like peaches, Rachel?? Well..anyway...this was a CLASSIC summer dessert and of course was pretty tasty! The cobbler crumble was chewy and delicious, though I thought it had a little too much nutmeg (I'm pretty sure more was added than the dessert called for..), so it reminded me a little of a Christmas eggnog cookie or something....But other than that, it was delicious! And fresh peaches are really what MAKE the dessert! Yum! It was sweet, sugary, chewy, and delicious! :)

Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.  ~Erma Bombeck

Lace Cookies/Earl Grey Cookies

We just couldn't resist another double-cookie-challenge! This time we picked some really interesting choices--Lace Cookies and Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies. As with all of our desserts, they were an interesting, experimental adventure!

The Lace Cookie batter was basically oatmeal and sugar--it ended up really liquidy, but that's how it's supposed to be!

 

The lace cookies went into the oven as balls and came out as melted, flat....things! Our first batch was difficult to get off the pan because they were underdone--as you can see, Ellie had to hold the pan vertically while Rachel attempted to carve the cookies off!

The earl grey cookie dough was mixed up in the food processor (a new technique for us!). The dough was then rolled into logs, chilled, and cut into little disks to be baked.

 

The Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies completed. What could be better than Lace Cookies with vanilla bean ice cream and Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies with earl grey tea--while reading the Mountain Lake newspaper? ;)

The Reviews

Lace Cookies

"Fantastic!" ~ Kelly

Earl Grey Cookies

"Very good. They taste like store-bought shortbread cookies!" ~Tami

Rachel's Recipe Review: We once again chose two very different cookie recipes. We snuck a little bit of the Lace Cookie dough prior to baking and were pleasantly surprised by how good it was! Our first batch didn't turn out though....we didn't leave them in the oven long enough. BUT, after that, we monitored it accordingly, and the rest turned out really well! They're a very thin cookie, and they look kinda gross, but I guess they're supposed to look like that.....and they taste YUMMY! Very caramel-y.... MMMmmm! The Earl Grey Cookies were an interesting treat as well. I didn't actually know they were a shortbread cookie until we were making the dough, so that was a surprise.... shortbread cookies aren't as sweet as regular cookies and they're quite small in comparison, so you eat like five....which makes you feel kinda guilty....haha. I've never had Earl Grey tea before, but after this recipe, I'll be sure to try it again! The tea and ice cream on the side was a nice touch. 

Ellie's Recipe Ramblings: The was quite the dessert adventure! The lace cookies were quite the process--with the first pan, you kind of wonder if you have any idea what you are doing! As for their taste: I preferred these fresh the best. The day after, they were a little dry and no longer warm and gooey. Even fresh, I didn't LOVE this cookie; you could dump a bag of brown sugar in your mouth for the same flavor--yes, they are THAT sweet! The earl grey cookies were also just okay. There was nothing wrong with them, they were just....a little blah. BUT both cookies were a fun process and adventure, and that's what really matters, right? ;)

"Cookies are made of butter and love." ~Norwegian Proverb

Chinese Cheesecake

 

When searching for an interesting next recipe to make, we stumbled upon Chinese Cheesecake--basically a cross between a wonton and an eggroll with a little sugar added! We thought these Chinese Cheesecakes sounded interesting, delicious, and like a good challenge to tackle!

Problem #1: We had a little, well a LOT of trouble getting the plastic topper off of the Ricotta cheese!

Problem #2: In his video, Guy Fieri made it look so easy to whip the cream cheese, ricotta, and powdered sugar with a whisk, so when Ellie couldn't find the blades for the hand mixer, she thought she's just give it a try. However, it turned out to be much harder than the professionals make it look!

The blades were finally found and we were ready to go!

The eggroll wrappers were filled with the cream cheese mixture and fresh strawberries then rolled up.

 

Ready to be fried!

We were both first-time-fryers which ended up to be an experience in and off itself!! Check out our awesome aprons! ;)

The Reviews:

*This week Gabe had friends from college visiting which meant more taste-testers!

"Mhhmmm...Mhhhm! Mhhhm! The cream is really good. It's a dynamic experience for my taste buds!" ~Kristen

"Like a dessert eggroll." ~Ellie's mom

"The eggrolls are a good base for everything to come together. It doesn't taste good alone, but it makes everything else taste better." ~Gabe

"Hmm...It needs more sugar.." ~Danielle who then proceeded to dump some sugar on top. ;)

Rachel's Recipe Review: I was excited to try this recipe, because it was sooo different
than anything we'd ever tried. I've never deep fried anything; Ellie's never deep fried anything....so we were definitely branching out in trying this recipe. The recipe itself called for raspberries but the lovely HyVee of Windom didn't have any the day we were baking....so, we decided strawberries were the best substitute. Once the frying began, I do recall Ellie and I having a few major spazz attacks. The oil kept splattering out and scaring us! It was definitely a sight. The Chinese Cheesecakes tasted similar to crab rangoons. The powdered sugar sprinkled on top with strawberries added a lot! The different textures and flavors blended well together. All in all, it was a tasty treat!  

Ellie's Recipe Ramblings: Wow! This was quite the experiment! The concept sounded amazing--dessert in eggroll wrappers? what could be better?? I was a little under-impressed with the end result, however. Our reviewers were biting into theirs and saying "mhhhmm!!" so I figured I should give it a try. After the first bite, I exclaimed, "This is....disgusting!" With a little help from Gabe I found that vanilla bean ice cream with it was a must (we served the rolls topped with whipped cream, vanilla bean ice cream, and some extra strawberries) to sweeten them up. "Personally, I believe" (Miss Teen South Carolina, anyone? haha) the cream cheese mixture could have used more powdered sugar. The texture was great though--the chewy eggroll wrapper--yumm!!! I don't think I would make this again, but it sure was a good experiment! Rachel and I were both first-time fryers which turned out to be quite the adventure! Little pieces of burning hot oil kept assailing us! It was like a war over the eggrolls! Ha! ;)

Sweet & Spicy DOUBLE COOKIE CHALLENGE!

 

After several unique dessert challenges, we decided to come back to an American classic-- cookies. With this in mind, we wanted to branch out from the typical chocolate chip cookie and try a couple new recipes. So, we decided on Ginger Cookies and Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookies. 

Ellie was assigned the task of separating the egg whites from the egg yokes. Once the eggs were added, the batter got a little liquidy, so Ellie got the brilliant idea of using the recipe as a shield!

Rachel measuring out the cocoa and flour.

The Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookies called for the dough to be rolled in chopped walnuts, which we were both a little apprehensive about, because neither of us are particularly fond of walnuts. Anyways, the chopper deal thingy majig started falling apart as Ellie was chopping the walnuts; we soon found that it was broken all along!

The recipe called for Shortening instead of butter, so we decided to switch from our status quo of butter to CRISCO (thanks to Rachel's grandma for lending us the Crisco)!

The caramel bubbled out of the thumbprint in the cookies...

Because we decdided to take on two cookie recipes in one evening, we had to do lots of dishes in order to reuse our measuring spoons, pans, etc.

Mmmmm.

The Ginger Cookies before being flattened and baked.

YUMMMMMM. The delicious Ginger Cookies ready to be eaten! 

The Reviews:

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

"Tastes healthy." -Gabe

"Missing something to sweeten it up a bit." -Ellie's Dad

"It's kinda nice not to have it soooo sweet." -Ellie's Mom

"These were the best cookies I've had in a long time! They're a good, hearty cookie." -Rachel's Mom

Ginger Cookies

"Good flavor; chew consistency in the middle." -Davis

"Nice texture in both cookies. -Ellie's Mom

"Not overpowering- just right. Refreshing!" -Ellie's Dad

Rachel's Recipe Review: I was excited to take on our cookie challenge. Ellie and I searched and searched for the right cookie recipes and these two really stuck out as being a little "different". I picked the Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookie, which looked like something you'd see in Better Homes and Gardens.......but it ended up taking second place in a two cookie race. :( They tasted very healthy, which my family is used to (obviously....my mom's review tells it all), but after regaining my sweet tooth during Ellie and my's dessert challenge this summer...they tasted a little bland. Though I will say....they taste better on the second, third and fourth days. :) The Ginger cookie recipe Ellie picked was sooo yummy. They were flavorful, but not overpowering, chewy, sugary, and just....DELICIOUS. I do believe my initial comment after taking my first bite was "I could eat all of these"....haha, which basically explains it all!

Ellie's Recipe Ramblings: Yumm! I am definitely a cookie-lover! There is nothing better than warm cookies, fresh from the oven! :) I was excited to try some brand new recipes with this challenge too! The thumbprint cookies looked so delicious in the recipe picture....however, they turned out to be...interesting. I thought they tasted "healthy" and needed some more sugar--they were not sweet! And if you're going to have a "healthy" taste, you want them to at least be good for you--which these definitely were not! Ha! The ginger cookies, on the other hand, were DELICIOUS! They were chewy, and sweet with a little spice from the ginger--all around YUMMY!  Those I will definitely make again!

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand." ~Author Unknown

Mango....SURPRISE?!

On a hot summer day, you want a refreshing drink like mango smoothie.....uhh..right?

Problem number 1: Very green, very under-ripe mangoes

 Notice how very green the mangoes are...;)

We took a quick run to a local store for fresh (ripe) mangoes; however, they were unfortunately all out. We did manage to pick up some fresh limes though!

 

Blending up mangoes can be tough work!

 Yum... :/

 The Reviews:

"It tastes...vegetable-y.." ~Gabe
"I liked it better before the apple juice concentrate." ~Jay
"The texture...." ~Ellie's Mom


Rachel's Recipe Review: WOW. This was one interesting smoothie. I think our main problem was that the mango we used wasn't ripe. That, my friends, was my fault.....oooops. Because the mango tasted more like a vegetable... the smoothie itself wasn't very sweet, so we added some sugar, which helped....but we still didn't think it was quite right, soooo... we added a little apple juice concentrate, which added lots of flavor, but somewhat overpowered the ginger. As you can see, we tried to fix this recipe several times....but it didn't really work. Personally, I'd like to forget about this recipe attempt...


Ellie's Recipe Ramblings: Hmm....This definitely wasn't one of my proudest smoothie-moments....It was....quite...interesting... As was already stated, our biggest problem was that the mangoes were not yet ripe....at all. We tried to add some sugar to help sweeten it up, but I think the biggest problem was that the mango didn't really mix in. It stayed kind of pulpy in the smoothie which made for a very weird texture. Adding the apple juice really improved the flavor, yet the consistency was still a big problem....Never again....haha

"Fruit only angers my need for chocolate." ~Jason Love

DQ Moolatte Wannabees

On a hot day, there's nothing better than a trip to Dairy Queen....now brought home to you!

 Pre-crushing the ice was a new experience for Ellie

Adding in the sugar to make the moolattes nice and sweet! ;)

Scooping up the Schwann's...YUM!

The taste test!

 

The Reviews:

"Better than the Moolatte I had at DQ once! It's good!" ~Ellie's mom

"Tasty." ~Ellie's dad

"It's coffee, so it's good." ~Davis

"It good have been smoother, but it still tasted good." ~Gabe 

Rachel's Recipe Review:

I love coffee, and i love ice cream...so before we even did this recipe, I knew I'd love it. It's been super hot here, so it was nice to try a cool dessert again (I hoped I'd like it more than our Watermelon Sorbet though...haha). I get Moolates at DQ, but I've never actually made one, so I was surprised by alllll the different ingredients it entailed. We used yummmy Schwann's ice cream and good, strong coffee, so I think that really helped add a nice, rich flavor. Personally, I thought the coffee flavor could've been a bit stronger (coming from a coffee drinker, though).... and I would've drizzled caramel instead of chocolate on the whipped cream (I LOVE caramel). Also... in comparison to DQ's Moolates, I think theirs have a better consistency (most likely because they use soft serve). All in all, this was a yummy treat, that I'd most definitely make again.

Ellie's Recipe Rambling:

Wow! These were sure tasty!! But then...I do like anything with ice cream! :) When I ate it, I didn't really think of it as a Dairy Queen Moolatte--it was good, but something different. I think a big factor in this is that DQ uses DQ's smooth, creamy soft-serve ice cream, and we used Schwann's ice cream from the bucket (which is still DELICIOUS, but quite a different consistency). The ice cream in them does add a nice smoothness though; my family often makes iced cappuccinos, and I liked the addition of ice cream in these. Also--whenever we make iced cappuccinos, we just use a cappuccino powder, but these moolattes and REAL coffee in them, which I thought added GREAT flavor! :)

"Ice cream is happiness condensed." ~Jessi Lane Adams