Dark Chocolate Dipped Oranges with Sea Salt

For those of you that know me, you know I do NOT like oranges! BUT I do love dark chocolate. I was trying to make a dessert with my 3 year old grand daughter, that would be somewhat healthy for her to eat after dinner. I mean seriously....Santa brought her a cotton candy maker, so I'm sure she has consumed enough sugar for the year already and it's only Jan. 9th! She loves oranges, I mean LOVES them. So why not try to combine her love of oranges with my love of chocolate? I was sure hesitant on this one because I figured I automatically would not like it, but I knew that everyone else would eat them. Well, with trepidation, I bit into one, but ONLY on the side with the chocolate haha and guess what? I loved it! But I do have a confession to make here (insert dramatic music here) I threw away the other half that was not covered in chocolate. I know, I know, that's a sin. But I already asked for forgiveness and I'm quite sure I'm ok now!

1 orange (or 3 cuties or mandarin oranges)
6 oz dark chocolate, melted
coarse sea salt

Cover a small cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Peel the orange and break apart the slices or segments, peeling away as much pithe (the bitter white stuff) as you can. In a bowl, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave (be careful it burns easily) and dip the orange slices into the dark chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt and set on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator to firm up. Serve. 

Chicken and Fruit Salad with Banana Dressing

Clearly it's Fall, when my nephew's girlfriend that lives in Oregon, posts that they are having the first fire of the season,  in the fireplace. After reading her post, I began to think of good old winter comfort foods. A few passed through my brain, such as: chili, chicken and dumplings, soup etc etc. Then I looked down and realized that I was in capri pants and a tank top. Also, I was too warm to be thinking of these kinds of foods. Clearly, Southern California has not gotten the Fall weather memo yet! Ok, Ok, it could just be that hot flashes now keep me in a permanent state of "summer" ;)
Whatever the cause, I knew that tonight's dinner would have to be of the light and refreshing variety. I scanned my Pinterest boards and this one caught my eye. Wow, I'm so glad it did.. This was super light, wonderfully refreshing and I can see this being a great "go to" summer lunch or dinner meal!

Recipe Adapted From: http://www.chindeep.com/2012/06/25/st-james-hotels-california-chicken-salad-with-creamy-banana-dressing/

For 2 Salads:

2 grilled chicken breasts

Spinach leaves

Spring Salad Mix

1/2 cantaloupe, chopped into chunks

Several red grapes

1 large, ripe banana, sliced

1 orange, sliced

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced

1/4 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

On two dinner plates, place the spinach leaves and the spring salad mix. You want enough of a bed of greens to place all the chicken and fruit on.

Place one sliced grilled chicken breast in the center of the greens, on each plate. 

Place an equal amount on the fruit on each plate, surrounding the chicken breasts. 

To make the creamy banana dressing:

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/6 cup brown sugar (or 2 and 2/3 Tbsp)

juice of 1/4 lemon

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend until pureed and creamy. Serve on top of the salads.

Caramel Apple Pie

Having company over is the best excuse for me to bake something. So when we decided to have friends over on Saturday evening, I scoured my Pinterest boards to find a great dessert recipe. I found a recipe for Candy Apple Pie that looked like a winner. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I started putting this pie together. This was a great dessert choice for me because I don't like apple pie, so I knew I would not be tempted by this one at all. I was dead wrong! While it was baking, I  had a moment of insanity, where I thought about waiting for it to cool off and taking it into a closet and consuming the entire thing by myself.  Then it dawned on me that the hubby would probably find a pecan and caramel trail down the hall, and also, if company arrived and there was no dessert, someone would figure out what I had done, so I left it alone. I was a good girl and didn't eat any, but company, and the hubby, did enjoy it! If you like caramel apples and you can handle a pretty sweet dessert, you just  might like this one. There is a very thin "almost cheesecake like" layer in it also.

This is where you can find the original recipe:
http://www.thekitchn.com/-best-pie-bakeoff-2008-entry-1-10-69632
*The only adaptation I made is that I used Richardson brand butterscotch caramel instead of plain caramel.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c butter, melted
3/4 c Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel ice cream topping
1 c chopped pecans

Apple Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, sliced very thin)
5 Tbsp butter
1/2 c brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c sugar

Topping:
3/4 c heavy cream, whipped
2 Tbsp sugar


Garnish:
1/2 c Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel ice cream topping
1/4 c pecans, chopped
 
Preheat oven to 375°

In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Mix well and press into a 10-inch pie plate and up the sides. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. Pour 3/4 cup caramel into pie shell and sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Refrigerate the pie shell while you are making the apple filling.

In a large skilet, over medium heat, melt butter and add brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir. Add apples and stir again until they are coated well. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until apples are softened and tender. Let cool for 10 minutes and pour into the  pie shell.

Reduce oven to 350°

In a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar for about 1 minute until smooth. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until fully blended. Pour over apple filling in pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Remove pie from oven and let cool. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

After you pie has been refrigerated, combine the heavy whipping cream and the sugar in a mixer. Whip until it is a whipped cream consistency. Spread this onto your pie.

Top with 1/2 cup Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel and 1/4 cup chopped pecans.
It's best to take this pie out of the refrigerator at least a half hour before serving. 

Tequilla Chili Watermelon

Can I see your ID please? That is what you would have to ask, I guess, if you served this fruit at a party. But then again, if you are having a party, chances are, you will not be asking for ID at the
 door ;)

I for one, happen to love chili powder on my fruit. I love spicy and sweet together. Ok truth....I love sweet with anything!! So when my daughter happened to mention drizzling tequilla over the melon, at first I couldn't imagine the combination. But last night, I decided to try it out. Would I say it's my favorite way to eat melon? No, but it sure was tasty. It's always nice to make a simple change and try something new.

 Watermelon, cut into chunks
Tequilla
Chili Powder
Coarse Sea Salt

*There are no measurements for this snack. Just put your chunks of watermelon in  dish. Drizzle a tiny amount of tequilla over the chunks. (If you drizzle too much, the tequilla flavor overpowers the melon flavor). Shake on a little bit of chili powder and shake on a very little amount of coarse sea salt. Enjoy!

Strawberry Yogurt Bites

I was browsing through my Pinterest boards for something to make that would be a light kind of dessert. I had remembered pinning these awhile back. I had everything I needed to make it, except the strawberries for the top. I  only had blackberries, so that's what I used. These were amazingly yummy! If you like the taste of strawberry jello, then this is a recipe you will definitely want to make. I think that these would be great to serve at a party or a shower!

The original recipe is here: Strawberry Yogurt Bites

3 (6 oz) containers strawberry yogurt 
1 pkg (3 oz) Strawberry jello gelatin
Strawberries or any other fruit you would like for the top 


Mix the yogurt and the dry jello gelatin powder in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for 5 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes until the gelatin is dissolved. Spoon the mixutre into 16 paper lined mini muffin cups. Refrigerate for about one hour or until completely set and firm. Remove from the paper liners and top with fresh fruit.

Chocolate Chip Filled Raspberries

These little bites are a piece of heaven. I love fruit. I love chocolate and I really love them together. You get more raspberry than chocolate in each bite and that's what I really like about it. That and the fact that it takes 0.2 seconds to make each one!
Just take a chocolate chip and place it "top side down" into the top of a raspberry. Ba da bing...ba da boom...you are done! Dessert in a second! This would also look so pretty with white chocolate chips, but I didn't have any and I was not about to run to the store to get some. Maybe if gas was still $2.00 a gallon, but not a chance in the world I'm starting my car to go to the store for a white chocolate chip (which I'm not a huge fan of anyway) at 4:30 a gallon!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Bites

I'm  not sure why I never thought of this idea, but I'm oh so happy that I found this "recipe" over at celebrations.com. It seems like I should have known to do this automatically...I mean come on, chocolate, bananas, peanut butter and nuts or sprinkles. What's not to love? So after dinner tonight, the hubby and I are going to tear into these bad boys! I guess you could come over and join us, but this would definitely be a BYOB party. "Bring your own bananas."

*You can also check out more great recipes over at blog.dollhousebakeshoppe.com
This is where Lindsay Ann, who created this recipe, blogs a bunch of wonderful recipes to try!

Bananas (try to get the straight kind with the least amount of curve in them)
Peanut Butter
Melted milk chocolate (you can use dark if you prefer)
Chopped nuts and/or sprinkles

Cut your bananas into 3 pieces each. You may need to trim the bottoms so they stand up on their own. Dip them about halfway up into the melted milk chocolate. Use a spoon to put on the nuts or the sprinkles all around the chocolate. Place on waxed paper to harden the chocolate. Once the chocolate is hardened, take a straw or an apple corer ( I happened to have a big thick straw left from a Boba drink I had a couple of days ago) and hollow out a strip down the center of each banana. Don't go all the way through to the bottom.
Place your peanut butter into a piping bag (or a baggie with the end cut off if you don't mind it not having a pretty top) and pipe the peanut butter into the hollowed out hole. Voila...easy dessert!