Foodie Friday - World's easiest Cherry Cobbler

I don't do much microwave cooking, except for one dessert that we love...Cherry Cobbler.  It's good anytime, but this recipe comes in particularly handy when unexpected guests drop in for a visit.  In about 20 minutes you can have warm cobbler on the dessert table!  The ingredients are things you probably have on hand.  We like this best served with vanilla ice cream, but whipped cream works well too!

World's Easiest Cherry Cobbler

6 T. butter

1 C. all purpose flour

2/3 C. coarsely chopped nuts

1/3 C. packed dark brown sugar

3/4 t. ground cinnamon

1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

2 t. cornstarch

1/2 t. fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in large pyrex cup in microwave. Mix in flour, nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a one quart casserole, combine cherry filling, cornstarch and lemon juice. Mix until smooth, then microwave for one minute on high.  Sprinkle topping over filling mixture and microwave on medium-high for 6-8 minutes. Cool slightly before serving with vanilla ice cream.

My advice:  grab a serving for yourself as quickly as possible, because at the end of the evening this is all you'll have left.

This post is being linked to Foodie Friday. Now please hop over to  http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/2011/01/foodie-friday-100-williams-sonoma-give.html  and take advantage of the Mr. Linky feature that our hostess, Michael Lee provides.   You'll be able to surf tons of wonderful recipes right from the comfort of that desk chair!

Saturday Centus - Closetman

Do you know the drill?  On Saturday, Jenny Matlock gives you a prompt and you have to write a story in 100 words or less. Fortunately for me, the prompt is not included in the 100 words.  Of course I forgot that this week, (cut me some slack I'm new to this meme), and it came up four words over!  I started to pull out some lustrous locks, but stopped short once I remembered this 'gift.'

To make things even more interesting this week, your story must be Sci-Fi!  Oh, Jenny Matlock!    Sci-Fi???  My least favorite genre!  How clever of you.  How diabolical.  I'm here to exercise my shrinking brain and expand my limited horizons.  You've thrown me a challenge and I can't resist.  So here's my submission.  The prompt is in red.

Closetman

Midnight

"Mommy, the man's in my closet again."

"Oh Sweetie," she sighed.  "We looked twice this week. No one's there."

Tiny sobs.

"Okay, get in bed with Daddy.  I'll check."

In her sleep deprived state, she stumbled to Bobby's room, and on impulse crawled under the Sponge Bob comforter.

She never did decide if she was awake or asleep when she heard the man's voice:

"Damn it! I'm in the kids closet again. The first time I thought it was an innocent mistake. The second time I thought the coordinates weren't erased.  But a third time?" 

"Beam me up, Scottie...we need to talk."

                              

     *****

When I do like Sci-Fi, it has to be humorous, like the short parody Hardware Wars.

  What?  You haven't seen it?  Ah, you're probably too young.  If you have a strange sense of humor and want to give it a view, click on the title.  Please do this after you click on the Saturday Centus button and read the other stories. That's what I'm gonna do.  You'll really like what ya read!

Saturday Centus

I've been meaning to try my hand at Saturday Centus for a while and it looks like this is the week!  For those of you unfamiliar with this meme, it revolves around a writing prompt provided by our 'hostess', Jenny Matlock.  Usually you have a 100 word limit, not including the prompt, but this week the limit is 25 words.  For those of us who get too 'wordy' it was a challenge!  This week's prompt...the lottery ticket.
So, without further ado, here's my first attempt.

                                                                        Sweet Revenge

With the receipt for the lottery ticket securely in his pocket, he made the call.  "Hey Darlin'," he purred into his ex-wife's voicemail.  "Catch the 11 o'clock news."

Having a blogger problem linking to the button.  To get to Jenny's blog just use this link for now.  http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2011/01/saturday-centus-hey-wake-up-its-another.html

Foodie Friday - cocoPop

When bloggers get crazy busy they don't blog.  When bloggers who usually write about food get busy, they don't blog or cook.  In my case, life has gotten hectic, and I've been doing minimal cooking that will leave enough left over for a second or even third meal. Oh, and I don't stop to take photos. Even though last night's meatloaf was fabulous, I didn't have time to coax it into becoming photogenic.  We ate it, I dumped the dishes in the sink, and ran to a meeting. So lately food has to be simple in our house, that's why I like this new product that we recently discovered in Wegman's, our local upscale supermarket.

Let me introduce you to cocoPop rice cakes.

They're nifty whole grain 'cakes', about 5" in diameter, that are freshly 'shot' from an exotic machine right in the store.  (Think puffed rice here.)  The first time we heard them being made, I thought it was a gun shot!  Luckily, I did not embarrass myself by diving into the cheese counter.  I love Wegman's and do wish to keep shopping there.

Here's what an unadorned cocoPop looks like. 

Nothing special, and rather plain tasting.  (Think rice cake.)

They do look better stacked, don't you think?

And they'll look even better to you when you read this label...

That's right, only 16 calories each, no fat, no cholesterol, and only 4g of carbohydrates!  I think this may be the new miracle food.  With those low numbers, you can put hummus, or other spreads on these babies and not feel guilty.  Put some pico de gallo on them and you're burning up all of the calories that have just entered your mouth by the simple act of chewing!   (One cake + 1/4 cup pico de gallo = 34 calories...how can you beat that???)

Of course, I've discovered that they are best with Nutella.  Oh my, oh my...How that changes the calories.  One cake + 2Tbsp. Nutella, (no sense skimping), = 216 calories.  Hey, it was dessert! Still not too shabby!

I have no way of knowing how widely available this product is nationwide, but if you spot them in your local supermarket give them a try.  Oh, and don't forget the Nutella!

This post is being linked to Foodie Friday.  To start your culinary adventure, just click on the link. Our hostess, Michael Lee, has Mr. Linky ready to escort you to dozens of wonderful food blogs.