Cheese Biscuits

This morning I made cheese biscuits with apple molasses. 

Enough said... let me get to the recipe.

Cheese Biscuit

2 cups biscuit mix

3/4 cup milk

1 cup Cheddar cheese

Mix.  Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.  Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meantime, make the Apple Molasses

Apple Molasses

1 apple, minced

2 tbsp molasses

2 tsp cinnamon sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp maple syrup

Blend in a food processor.  Refrigerate until serving.  Can leftovers.

Tequila's Mexican Restaurant

Last night I got to do one of my favorite things - Try a new restaurant. 

We decided to go to the brand new Tequila's Mexican Restaurant on Old Canton Road in Ridgeland.  It looked so nice!  You can tell they tried really hard to make a Mexican restaurant that looked quaint and upscale.  It was a bit loud and warm in there but they did a wonderful job on the atmosphere.

I believe we went on the restaurant's second day open.  So I expected the poor service.  But not like this.  Everyone was walking around confused and with blatant disdain on their faces.  The bar tender was in the absolute worst mood ever and she took it out on the patrons.  And our server just didn't know what was going on.

Since it was the first weekend, I gave them the benefit of the doubt.  I had a ton of patience and gratitude knowing the staff was doing the best they could. The salsa was absolutely AMAZING!

But that is where the good stops.  My food was horrible!  I am usually not one to hate food.  I got the Pollo Chipotle.  After waiting 45 minutes to get our food, I got a plate with a piece of grilled chicken with sauce on top, rice and grilled vegetables.  It looked great...

Well, the chicken tasted pretty good.  I took 2 bites and my stomach started to hurt.  Then I took a bite of the grilled zucchini on my plate.  YUCK!!!!!!!!!  It had the worst taste.  I didn't know you could mess up vegetables.  I don't know if the grill had something on it but it was awful!  I described it to Scott saying, "It tasted like propane."  I don't actually know what propane tastes like but I had to associate it with something.

The rice - it was like eating that crummy rice pilaf accompanying chicken cordon bleu when you have to go one of those hotel banquets. 

Scott and the rest of the party didn't have quite as bad of an experience but all of them had complaints about their meal.

While we were there, Scott's sister, her fiance and his brother came in.  They had to leave.

Four of us had upset stomachs last night when we got home.

Tequilas - Bad idea!

Party Part 2

As promised, here are the recipes for the desserts at the party.

Key Lime Tartlets (top left corner)

I got to use my anniversary present for the second time for the party!  I used The Junior League of Houston's, "Stop and Smell the Rosemary" cookbook.   These were a total hit!  They were absolutely delicious.  I don't know if I can publicly share a recipe...? Plagiarism?  Can I?  If you want the recipe, get in touch with me and I will give it to you.  I need to find out about that.

I will say - These are a bit time consuming.  Also, I followed the recipe exactly and the amount of filling greatly exceeded the amount crust.  I was left with enough filling to fill and entire pie crust!  So, I suggest halving the filling recipe.

Mini Cupcakes

My sweet mama made this cute little cupcakes.  I have tried and tried to get the recipe from her but she is too busy!  I believe she got the recipe from either Southern Living or  Better Homes and Gardens.

As I type this, my mom is having an MRI on her knee.  So as soon as I see her, I will get the recipe from her.  Perhaps, my next blog will be a post for a guest blogger, Mom!

Oreo Pops

I'm sure you have seen the quite simple and delicious Oreo Truffle.  - I have seen this recipe so many times and don't know where it originated but to give credit where credit is due, I chose Kraft Recipes.-  Easier than pie:

1 package Oreo cookies (can I say Oreo or should I say "chocolate sandwich cookie"?)

1 package of cream cheese (low fat works just as good), cubed

melting chocolate

Directions

This is the fun part. Take the Oreos and blend them in a food processor until they are crushed and blended.  Then, add the cream cheese (cut into squares).  Voila!  You have the center.  I can just eat that and be happy.  Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Now, this is where I differ from the recipes.  I am not good at making the truffles pretty.  How people can make perfect round truffles with no flat spot where you lay it down, I'll never know!  My remedy - take a mini muffin pan and layer the bottom of the cups with a topping.  In my case I layered cups with either white chocolate, chocolate chunks, coconut or thin mints.  You must work fast, so make sure half of your truffle batter is already in balls (keep the other half in the refrigerator).  Once you have the truffle centers and toppings ready to go dip a few truffles in the melted chocolate and coat with 2 forks.  Quickly transfer to a muffin cup.

Once you have done this with all of the truffles, coat and empty spots with remainder of chocolate.  Then, melt white chocolate and drizzle.  Finally, place lollipop sticks in the truffles.  Place in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened.

When you are ready to serve the pops, use a knife to trim along the edge of the muffin cup and gently remove the pop.  Please keep cool or it will get really messy.

*For a party of this size I doubled my recipe but had I Oreo center goodness leftover, so I froze it.  This past weekend, we went to a cookout and it was National Cheesecake Day - yes!  So, I thawed the truffle center and used it has a pie crust. Then I took a package of cream cheese and blended it in the food processor with a little milk (whipping cream would have worked better).  I spread a thin layer over the Oreo mixture and topped with chocolate chips.  Freezing for an hour.  Scott said this was the best dessert I have ever made.