Creamy Pesto Chicken Salad with Apples and Pecans

The perfect summer salad bursting with delicious sweet and savory flavors from apples and grapes, crunchy pecans and shredded chicken all smothered in creamy pesto mayo combo!

It seems like forever since I posted. I do apologize my dear readers for that hiatus. We've been on a month-long holiday in Europe in June which extended up to the first week of July. Thereafter, it took me a little over a week to get over the jet lag and pure exhaustion. I have only been getting back into the swing of things recently and thankfully,now, I feel human again!! Hurrah! :)

Cherry and Panettone Trifle

Freshly whipped cream, yummy custard, fruits plus Italian Panettone or any sponge cake make this a delicious and party-perfect Trifle! 

My kids and I love Italian Panettone! When the chilly fall season finally arrives, you can be certain that we look for and buy at least a loaf or two of this special holiday bread (or cake as others readily point out but I won't argue with anyone over this! I love it either way!). I compare it to a brioche loaf - deliciously sweet, buttery and tender! During the Christmas season it comes in many varieties - plain, with chocolate chips or loaded with fruits so it's like a fruitcake and taste a little bit like it, too! I guess because it was Christmas I gravitated to the more festive looking Panettone loaf that I saw.

No Bake White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Trifle

I am married to a British guy so we often have desserts in our house! I personally did not grow up having desserts all the time. In fact, it was considered a luxury in our house located at a tiny and somewhat remote island in the Philippines. When I was young, we had it, maybe, once a week usually on a Sunday when my Mom prepared a special lunch for everyone. If we were fortunate, we would have a family size Coke to go with it! And because it's sweet - it may count as dessert....yes, seriously!

Layered Overnight Oats with Fruits

Make it the night before and wake up with a very tasty breakfast! Overnight flavored oatmeal, sweetened with a little honey and layered with fruits - healthy and delicious!

My family loves breakfast and we consider it as the major meal of the day - the meal that propels us throughout the day. As you can imagine it's not just a piece of bread and coffee. Having grown up in an Asian household, I am used to breakfast with rice, eggs and some meat - yes, quite heavy. While I continue to serve hot and cooked breakfast to my family, I am glad that for busy, crazy days I have a delicious and healthy alternative that requires barely 5 minutes of prep and best of all may be done the night before!!!

12 Easy No Bake Cherry Desserts

To celebrate Cherry season, here's a delicious collection of easy NO BAKE  Cherry desserts! 

When it's Cherry season, you can be certain my family will eat as much cherry as we can! We simply love Cherries! I certainly love to use cherries. whether they're the sweet or sour variety, in desserts. For your benefit and, certainly, ours we have searched around the web for the easiest and yummiest cherry desserts! Hope you try them all!

10 Easy No Bake Peach Desserts

To celebrate peach season, here's a delicious collection of easy NO BAKE Peach desserts! 

Who doesn't love Peach? Plump, perfectly ripe and juicy peaches! Love peach desserts but don't fancy baking in the heat of summer? Fear no more, we have searched all over the web for the most delicious and easy no bake desserts so you can enjoy all the peach yumminess this summer and beyond!

10 Fresh and Yummy Strawberry Recipes

We know spring time means strawberry season! If you're looking for new and delicious strawberry recipes to try this Spring, we got you covered! Here are some of our tried and tested recipes featuring fresh and juicy strawberries that your whole family will enjoy.

Balsamic Strawberries with Mascarpone

Hello Spring! You know Springtime has arrived when strawberries are already on sale at the grocery. Over a week ago, we bought about 6 pints worth of strawberries because my kids love strawberries and I usually give them fruits for snack in their school. However, we never got the chance to eat all of them because we were away for a few days. This was the time I met my sister who pleasantly surprised me with her presence on my birthday celebration all the way from the Philippines.

Slow Cooker Roast Pork with Dried Fruits

Melt-in-your-mouth, moist and delicious roast pork that you'll make over and over again. Use a different variety of fruits - dried giant raisins, apricot, plums, cherries, etc. It's your choice.

I love my slow cooker as it's a very reliable ally in the kitchen. While I have used it for a variety of recipes including desserts my favorite dish to cook in my crock pot is a roast. I love the result of melt-in-your mouth tender meat that is so moist and full of flavor as a result of long hours of braising. It just has never failed me so far and my family is always delighted with the outcome.

Easy Master (Formula) Recipe for Muffins

Tried and tested delicious master recipe for muffins. Add your favorite fruits and throw in some chocolate, too! This formula works and always comes out moist and yummy! No need for any mixer.

That we love muffins in our house is an understatement! We absolutely crave muffins! My kids always beg me to make them and often remind me, "Mom, you haven't made muffins in a while." My little boy particularly loves them as every time his school asks for a volunteer to bring food for whatever school activity there is he is more than eager to sign me up. He beams every time he comes home from class and says, "Mom, everyone loved your muffins." This truly makes baking muffins fun and totally worthwhile. Just to see him smile and be proud of his mom is more than enough!

Strawberry and Raspberry Fool

Hello summer! I love June not only because I was a June bride (we just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on June 19!) but because it means the beginning of berry season. From here on the freshest and juiciest strawberries begin to appear on the market to be followed by raspberries, blueberries, cherries, you name it!

Raisin Corn Muffins

We're back in Michigan this weekend. A friend of ours got married this Saturday and we came to attend their wedding. As you can imagine, we had such a lovely time. It was great not only to be able to join our friends in their momentous occasion but it was also such a joy to see many familiar faces and hear familiar voices. I won't forget what my 9 year old boy said when the plane touched down in Grand Rapids, "It's great to be back in the place I was born." Sounds strange and funny when it comes from a little boy but the sentiment is not just true to him but certainly for all of us. Because both our kids were born here, it will certainly be our home to come to wherever we may end up in the future.

Pineapple Praline Bread

Crushed pineapple makes this Pineapple Praline bread super moist and flavorful. No butter or oil is ever used in the batter. The crunchy pecan topping makes it even more scrumptious.

The Philippines is well known for its Pineapple. We have hectares and hectares of plantations of this juicy, sweet-tangy fruit in the southern part of the country. I remember the first time my husband Mark came to our country over a decade ago. He tasted some pineapples and declared that it was the tastiest pineapple slices he's ever had. I didn't really care much for what he said then as pineapples were no big deal in our country, almost something we take for granted as it's quite common and ordinary.

Yummy Pear Pie

I am not much of a pie person I must confess. Not because I don't like it because I certainly do - it's one of my favorite desserts! I especially love it served a la mode - anything with ice cream is always better, isn't it? The truth is I don't make a lot of pies because I get scared I'll mess it up. It's just one of those desserts that I truly feel intimidated, I don't know why. That fear factor has certainly prevented me from trying to make pies.

Best Banana Pecan Cake

I love baking with Bananas. The fact that I have many recipes here that use bananas is proof of how much I love this amazing fruit. It just adds so much flavor and moisture to any baked good. I love seeing the brown speckles in a banana bread. I often buy bananas just so I can make banana bread! Yes, I am truly bananas over bananas!

Peach and Blueberry Financiers

A Financier is a small French Almond Cake traditionally baked in the shape of a gold bar, hence the name. Some say that it is called such because the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding the Paris stock exchange and was named after its wealthy bankers. Its main ingredient is the almond flour (ground or finely crushed) though it's distinct feature comes from the use of  beurre noisette (brown butter).

Blueberry Pecan Coffee Cake

I got so excited the other day when I saw some Michigan Blueberries being sold at a nearby deli shop. It was a little more expensive than when you buy it in Holland (my former Michigan hometown) but I was desperately missing these yummy berries, I thought I'd indulge. Oh, they were so juicy and sweet! It's a shame that we were not able to go blueberry picking before we left for Connecticut. I heard that there are also some farms here where you can pick some berries but somebody told me it's so much cheaper to buy them from Aldi's instead of going through all the trouble of picking them yourself. Thankfully, Michigan blueberries were also on sale at Aldi's (and same price as the ones in MI) so I got myelf what is the equivalent of at least 2 buckets - perhaps even 3 so now I have some blueberries to enjoy for fall and winter!

Slow Cooker Three Berry Cobbler

With the abundant supply of fruits, particularly berries,  during summer I have been inspired to do fruit-based desserts. For me nothing describes summer more than fruit cobblers and crumbles. The lovely colors of reds and blues combined and the tartness they impart to an otherwise one-dimensional dessert make them my summer fave.

This cobbler is particularly lovely because you don't need to use the oven for it. It's cooked in the slow cooker which makes it so much easier; no need to preheat anything and most of all you don't need to sweat while doing it (no warm oven, right?). Also, it doesn't take that long to cook it, only about 2 hours or so which for slow cooking is rather fast!

This cobbler is great to eat on its own but if that's not enough, you may add your vanilla ice cream on top. We always do! Enjoy the rest of the summer with this yummy Three Berry Cobbler.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt   
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
a pinch of ground cloves, optional
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons, half and half or milk
2 tablespoons, vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup each fresh or frozen berries  (blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
3/4 cup water
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for topping, optional

Procedure

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and ground cloves (if using).

 

Combine the eggs, milk and oil then stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spread the batter evenly onto the bottom of a greased slow cooker.

 

In a large saucepan, combine the berries, water, and remaining sugar. Bring to a boil.

Once it has boiled, remove from the heat and immediately, pour over batter. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into the batter comes out clean.  

Turn the slow cooker off. Uncover and let stand for 30 minutes before serving. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

If you wish to print the recipe, there's a print-friendly icon below the post. Click on the "remove images" box for easy and convenient printing.

Adapted from Taste of Home's - Black and Blue Cobbler. 

Fruit and Chocolate Oat Bars

I love to give my kids snacks that I make at home and from scratch. That way, I can ensure I know what they are eating and don't need to worry much that they are taking in too much processed food. Of course, like any other kids, they love to snack on something sweet and fruity. My solution is to make them some wholesome granola bars that not only will they enjoy (something that satisfies their sweet cravings), but something that I won't feel so guilty giving to them as I know they are quite nutritious, too. Using good quality ingredients (organic, if possible) is always my aim whenever I cook or bake and that ensures a truly wonderful result every time.

Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Juicy berries, crunchy walnuts plus yummy cream cheese and warmed up maple syrup make this a fantastic breakfast or brunch dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day! 

It is an established fact that my family loves French Toast (or eggy bread as my British hubby would say) for breakfast and especially for brunch. I have a few versions of it including 3 in this blog! We surely cannot get enough of it. I have tried many variations of this delicious American-style stuffed French toast but the blueberry version is one of our favorites. It is just so wonderful to bite into this warm overnight-soaked baked bread and then into your mouth suddenly burst delicious juices from the berries! But that's not all - the almost melted cream cheese provides a delightful contrast of texture and flavor which makes your palate truly dance with joy! As if that's not enough, make it even better by drizzling your freshly baked french toast with warmed up pure Maple syrup and then help yourself with a generous dusting of powdered sugar on top to add extra sweetness and love! Aren't you hungry yet?