I have a big love affair going with this dip right this minute.
Thought you guys may enjoy making it as well…super easy!

Getting straight to the point…

Ingredients:

2 (8oz) Cream Cheese blocks
1 cup of GF mayo (most are but you always have to read those labels)
4-6 fresh jalapeno’s (leave seeds in for super spicy…take them out for milder dip)
Handful of diced green onions
1 cup of cheddar cheese
1 cup of mozzarella
6-8 slices of bacon
Crushed corn flakes
1/2 stick of butter

Throw the cream cheese and mayo in a big old bowl….

Chop up the Jalapeno’s and start cooking that bacon!

Chop up some green onions…

Throw in the cheese and blend it all up…

I like to chop up the bacon in the food processor…

I put half  back in the cream cheese mixture and half sprinkled on top.
Spread the cream cheese mixture out in a baking pan…
And grab out the corn flakes…

I put a handful of corn flakes into a ziploc bag…
I grab a glass and crush the heck out of those things!

Sprinkle the remaining bacon and corn flake crumbs onto the top and then pour the melted buter all over the top…

Yum!!

I cook it in the oven on 350 until the top gets a lovely golden brown.
Enjoy the yummy craziness that is this dip!

The post Jalapeño Popper Dip (Gluten Free version) appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

It was hard for me because I really wanted to hate her.  I did.  I mean after all here is this woman who clearly had a hand in breaking up my family…or did she?  No not really…it was a hot mess to begin with.  But I loved my mom and when I tried and tried to dislike my stepmom, I just couldn’t.  By the time I was 16 I moved in with them for a Summer and found that she was actually an amazing woman who understood me and took the time to teach me some basics of being a girl.  She took me shopping for clothes, something I had never done with my mother after the divorce, and taught me some style basics.  She was the first vegetarian I had ever come across and she taught me some of the most amazing veggie dishes.  She really taught me that cooking with vegetables and being a vegetarian did not mean bland and boring food.
Most of all she was the first adult to tell me “I should have listened to the kid, she knew what she was talking about!”…See on her wedding day 13 year old me, with my sassy little self, when she made the comment “I am so glad you came!  It means the world to us!” answered back with something along the lines of  ”Your welcome and he will do the same thing to you that he did to my mom.”.  Which sadly…was all to predictable.  She truly didn’t deserve all that he put her through but I never forgot the lessons she taught me and the kindness she showed me.  The strength she had to get away from him instead of sticking it out and waiting for him to “change”.  Cause ladies…they never really do.  Best lesson I ever learned from my father, love a man for who he is because “change” is not something that will really ever happen.  Loved my dad but no way would I have ever married a man like him.

Of course the kindness and the recipes stuck with me…I have loved cooking since childhood  Just like my plants I remember who gave me what and it always reminds me of them.  So I suppose I should stop rambling and show you guys how she taught me to make twiced baked potatoes.  First time she made them I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

Ingredients:

Large Russet Potatoes (one for each person)
5-8 pieces of bacon
Sour Cream
Milk
Butter
Cheddar
Chives
Salt
Pepper

Ok folks this is one of those “little bit of this and a little bit of that” type of recipes.  You know what your families likes and dislikes are.  That is what makes this perfect.

Start with nice big potatoes

Pat them down with butter and sprinkle a little bit of salt on them.  I also like to stab them with a fork….

Wrap it up in some foil and place it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until nice and soft…

While those are baking I like to fry up some fresh bacon…don’t you dare throw those fake bacon bit on these glorious masterpieces.  If you do I might haunt you  Real thing only.

While those potatoes are baking I am normally out in the garden collecting some yummy fresh things to put in them…like chives and dill.

By the time the potatoes are all baked I typically have the bacon all broken into bits and the fresh herbs cut up and waiting.  You want the potatoes to be super soft so that scooping is easy…  I start by cutting the tops in almost a rectangle on the top and gently peeling back the skin on that rectangle.

Once I have that top layer of skin off I grab out my ice cream scooper and actually scoop the potato out and place the guts into a bowl.  Be sure to be gentle if you are going to reuse the skins.

So now you have a nice bowl of potato guts!

This is the part where I throw in a stick of butter (no gasps…yes a whole stick), milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper and whip it all together.

Now it’s time for the good stuff…I throw in some cheddar cheese ( I also like goat cheese, Gouda etc… really any kind of cheese I am in the mood for and happens to be in the fridge at the time)…

Fresh chives…

Stir it up and stuff the whipped yumminess back into those shells…sprinkle a little bacon and cheese on top

And if you were terrible at the “keeping the shell” part or have left over potatoes…no worries!  Just use a casserole dish.

Bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees…throw a lovely salad on the plate with it and you have a meal that everyone loves!

Best thing about this recipe is it freezes very well!  So make extra at the same time and during the week you can simply come home from work and pop them in the oven!

Enjoy!

The post Twice Baked Potatoes appeared first on On Bramble Hill.

It is painfully simple and beyond “smack your mama” good…
So I have this farmers market on the side of the road that I go to.  I really think I couldn’t live without one of these little fresh local veggie markets near by.  I go every week to check out what Chesterfield Berry Farm has in and they really do have things coming and going according to what is “in season”.  Which means it is loaded with flavor.

Guess what is in season right now…blackberries!  One of my favorites!!!  And if you want to take the kids to pick some I hear rumor they are not charging the fee to take the hay ride out with the kids to pick your own!  Hoping to do that with the kids next week.

They were ginormous and so I froze a bunch and of course have been making lots of blackberry everything

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

For the crumble:

• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds or walnuts
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 8 tbs melted butter

Crust directions:

I have been spending the summer finding my favorite crust recipe…I have come to the conclusion that Martha Stewart’s wins in the pie department.  Hands down.  Now I am dying to get my hands on her new Pies and Crust book! And until I do…they have a great link to some sneak peeks .

This recipe if a mixture of several I tried and I took y favorite parts from each and as always changed them around to fit our families taste buds.  For me I love a buttery, light flaky crust….with a tad bit of sugar to sweeten it up.

This Summer I have also discovered a new reason to LOVE my food processor.  If you follow this blog then you probably know I have a love affair going with a few of my kitchen appliances.  You don’t have to spend a ton of money…I paid around $25 for mine at Target in the clearance end cap a few years back.  I use it for everything and now….pie crust!

So much easier than a traditional mixer.  Chops it up perfectly!
Start by adding in 2 1/2 cups flour.

1 teaspoon salt and sugar…Ok I admit it…I put a bit more sugar in there

Throw in the butter!  Cold butter!  Just cut it up into cubes.

This is the part where I normally put the lid back on and do a “pulse” on the butter flour mixture till it gets a bit crumbly and then add in the 1/4 cup ice water via the top spout.

And poof…I have pie crust!  I plop it onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

Take the side and squish it all together into a ball and pop it in the fridge to firm up for 15 to 30 minutes.

I prefer to move onto making the crumble before preparing the berries because the berries can get a little watery if you let them sit to long.  I am going to show you the order I go in.

Crumble Top:

It’s a fact.  I am addicted to anything “crumble top”.  I put them on muffins, cakes…pies.  Everything is better with a crumble top.  It just is!  And crumble tops are so fast to make!  Did I mention you can freeze any leftover crumble and pull it back out when you are making a fast batch of muffins?  Love that!

Moving on…
Start with 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cups of either slivered almonds or walnuts.

and of course the lovely 8 tablespoons of melted butter

and look how yummy that looks after you mix it all up!

Now set that to the side and go back to your fridge and grab the pie crust out.
I roll mine out on a lightly floured surface.

I roll it up onto the rolling pin and I will show you how I “unroll” it back onto my pie plate…

and yes…I learned that from Martha…cause she is the bomb at pies!  The gal knows her stuff

make it all pretty…

Throw the crust in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes then bring it out and let it cool for at least 10-20 minutes.

While it is cooling it is finally time to start the filling.

Pie Filling:

Pour 4 glorious…yummy cups of blackberries in a bowl

Add in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of flour

Oh and don’t forget to add in my newest love… 1 tablespoon ginger

1 tablespoon of lemon juice…and if you are like me and run out of lemon juice often…real lemonade will work.

Now mix that up GENTLY.  You don’t want to squish the heck out of those berries.  You just want to coat them.

Oh and if you are all preggo like me your belly may get in the way and you end up wearing a ton on flour on your belly…lol!  That darn belly is always getting stuff on it now

Now it’s time for the big moment!!  Time to throw it all together!

Notice the remnant of the green tomato on the right?  I swear I wasn’t making fried green tomatoes at the same time as this pie…darn cravings! LOL!

Back to the pie…add the crumble top and back it at 350 degrees till the crumble and crust have a light golden brown to them.

I suggest letting it cool down for at least 1-2 hours.  This allows the filling to thicken up a bit…but it really is sinful warm with a scoop of ice cream beside it.

Enjoy!!

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