No-Cook Frozen Srawberry 'Cheesecake'

Frozen Strawberry 'Cheesecake'

This dessert was inspired by a recipe I found on the Taste of Home website. I used sweetened strawberries and omitted the sugar from the original recipe. Also, instead of making a blueberry sauce, I served it with the juices from frozen strawberries. It's one way to satisfy a craving for cheesecake without having to heat up the whole house by baking in the oven for 2 hours. Transfer the frozen dessert from freezer to fridge a couple of hours before serving and slice with a serrated knife.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza

Our quilt guild has a luncheon twice a year in December and June. Usually members are expected to contribute their favourite dish as part of a potluck. Wow! What a spread there was to pick from. 

I'd come across a recipe on the Internet and thank heavens I experimented with it at home well before the day of the potluck. The base was made with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, the spread from cream cheese combined with sour cream and ranch dressing mix with a topping of cucumber, grated carrots and slivered rainbow peppers. I found it to be too salty, so decided to tone things down by replacing the sour cream and ranch dressing mix with a tub of vanilla yogurt. This tasted so much better! You can substitute any flavour of yogurt or use plain yogurt flavoured as you please.

Top the 'pizza' with vegetables or protein of your choice. This is the ideal thing to take to a potluck because it can be made in a disposable baking pan, refrigerated until ready to be served and served cold or at room temperature.

Peppermint Kisses

Peppermint Kisses

It was my turn today to take goodies to our 52-member quilt guild meeting. I decided on these Peppermint Kisses that are the easiest, most refreshing and delicious cookie dessert made in under 10 minutes using just 5 ingredients. 

A Tray of Kisses Ready for Transporting

They made his eyes sparkle with surprise and delight, as my candid food critic at home gave his stamp of approval to these delicate morsels, comparing them to Bengali sandesh. A popular milk dessert on the Bengali table, sandesh is made from homemade cottage cheese following a lengthy and tedious process.

A Lone Kiss

In contrast, Peppermint Kisses need no cooking or baking. Four of the five ingredients are simply combined thoroughly, formed into balls the size of quarters and finished with Hershey's peppermint kisses. Just make sure all ingredients are brought to room temperature before assembling. What could be simpler!

Cucumber and Shrimp Bites

Cucumber & Shrimp Morsels

These crunchy morsels are very quick and easy to assemble and make the perfect side dish at any meal. I used ready-cooked salad or baby shrimp, English (seedless) cucumbers and jalapeno flavored cream cheese. The drop of Sriracha sauce gives the perfect touch to these yummy appetizers.

Garlic Shrimp Puffs

Garlic Shrimp Puffs

Just Baked Garlic Shrimp Puffs

I made these for lunch today and was very pleased with the way they turned out. Using just 4 ingredients and half an hour to prepare, these puffs were perfect because I was pressed for time. It’s worth experimenting with the flavored cream cheese varieties, such as chive & onion flavor, which will allow you to omit garlic powder to make it a 3-ingredient recipe! There was no need to add salt because the cream cheese and shrimp naturally contain salt.