Any time I cook up a batch of St. Louis-style ribs, I make rib tips. Rib tips are the various trimmings leftover from making a rack of spareribs into a rack of St. Louis ribs. I’m a big, big fan of rib tips. They’re tender and tasty, and best of all, they are done before the ribs are, making for an excellent snack while you’re waiting for the main attraction. To be quite honest, I love ribs tips more than the ribs themselves! Oh my! Blasphemy!
A Word Of Caution
Remember that there is a lot of cartilage and bone in rib tips. You have to be careful eating them as sometimes you can get a small piece in a bite. Just chew slowly and enjoy the lovely flavor.
Check out my recipe for 3-2-1 St. Louis-style spareribs. They are fantastically tender and tasty, and of course, you can make some tips from the trimmings! It’s a win-win!
I’m a big, big fan of rib tips. They’re tender and tasty, and best of all, they are done before the ribs are, making for an excellent snack while you’re waiting for the main attraction.
Oh me. These little Snickers cheesecake bars are dangerously good. Oooey gooeyness from the Snickers. Creaminess from the cream cheese. A little crunch from the Oreo crust. Yowsa. The problem with little bites like these is that it’s easy to lose track of how many you’ve had. That’s a good problem to have!
Go Rogue
I plan on making other versions of these Snickers cheesecake bars. The base recipe is so simple, lending itself to using all sorts of other candy bars. But, I have to say, this Snickers version is pretty darned good and maybe shouldn’t be messed with.
Tear off a piece of aluminum foil that is a few inches larger than a 9" x 9" baking dish. You want some of the foil to hang over the sides because you'll use it as a 'handle' to remove the bars later.
Place the Oreos in a blender or food blender and pulse until they form a fine crumb. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl.
Add butter to Oreo crumbs and stir.
Pour mixture into the baking pan and flatten out using a spatula. Press down to make a dense crust.
Place pan into the oven and bake 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixer for 3 minutes.
Gently fold in the Snickers.
Once the baked crust has cooled completely, spread the Snicker’s mixture over the crust, pressing into the corners.
Bake for 30-35 minutes (ours only took 30) until the cheesecake has started to brown just a little on top.
Remove from oven and let cool before then placing into the fridge for 3 hours.
Remove the cheesecake from the pan by grabbing two sides of the overhanging foil and pulling upwards. The cake should pull out easily. Place onto a cutting board.
I love Marguerite’s blog, Cajun Delights. I’m a big fan of food with great flavors (duh!) and a little kick. These Creole crab cake sliders are also very tender and juicy. They have a nice crunch to them too. And despite all the ingredients you still get that wonderful crab flavor. Crab cakes without crab flavor aren’t crab cakes in my opinion!
Great Crab Cakes On Buns… Or Not
You can serve these Creole crab cake sliders with or without the buns. I thought they’d make them a little different. Oh, and be careful when you flip the crab cakes in the pan. They’re very tender and can fall apart on you if you’re not gentle.
Head on over to Cajun Delights and you’ll find plenty of other Louisiana-inspired dishes, all of them fantastic!
Oyster crackers are a favorite snack in our household. No, not right out of the bag. Those are rather boring. No, we flavor them up! They’re easy to make, inexpensive, and there are a lot of ways to flavor them. And they’re crunchy. Good-n-crunchy. And since we both like a little kick, spicy oyster crackers are a recurring favorite.
No Wimpy Crackers Here
These spicy oyster crackers have a lot of kick. You might want to tone it back a bit if you’re taking a batch to co-workers! Or not. I wouldn’t. Heck they’re called spicy for a reason. Just put a sign by the bowl that says ‘spicy’. I think that frees you from any legal responsibility, right?
Wow, this strawberry cheesecake salad is good. It’s sort of like a salad but you’ll want this for dessert… so it is a dessert salad!
I made this using lighter ingredients than the original recipe. It would be perfect for a picnic or family get-together. It’s like having a banana split… Oh! Great idea! Maybe add a little drizzle of chocolate syrup and top it with a maraschino cherry!
It’s Berry Delicious!
I am going to make this salad again soon. I might try a few variations, like using blueberries and blueberry yogurt… or even chocolate chips and chocolate pudding! The possibilities are endless. But this strawberry cheesecake salad is great just as it is. It is absolutely perfect with in-season ripe strawberries.
Something so simple… something so good! I made these mini ice cream sandwiches for July 4th. They only take a few minutes to throw together (plus add in some freezer time). They disappear in seconds.
I used smaller chocolate chip cookies. Of course, you could use bigger cookies and make these not-so-mini ice cream sandwiches.
Make A Bunch. Make Them Different.
Next time I’ll try a different ice cream. Probably mint chocolate chip. And I might dip them in chocolate shell. Oh man, that’s a great idea! I wish I had some chocolate shell in the house!
If you’re making these for a crowd, I’d make a number of different variations so everyone can get one that they like. Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry. Etc.
Something so simple… something so good! I made these mini ice cream sandwiches for July 4th. They only take a few minutes to throw together (plus add in some freezer time). They disappear in seconds.
Scoop ice cream on a cookie bottom. You want enough so that it just sticks out around the edges when you press the other cookie down on top of it. If you have to, run a knife along the edges to smooth them a little.
Roll the edges in the nuts, pressing down slightly.
Wrap in small pieces of foil or plastic wrap and return to the freezer for 10-15 minutes to harden.
Notes
Add a few chocolate chips to the nuts for more yumminess!
My wife loves olives, so when I ran across this pimento olive dip recipe I had to make it. Besides the great salty brininess of the olives, this dip has all sorts of great cheeses mixed in. An easy seasoning mix brings it all together. This dip is creamy, and a little on the thicker side.
This pimento olive dip is fairly olivey (olive-ish?). It was great with something salty to dip into it, like pretzels or crackers. As creamy as this is, it’s still thick. So use something thick for dipping.
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
These little sausage-stuffed grilled sweet peppers are like popcorn. You just keep popping them into your mouth. They are very, very good. The original inspiration came from Chris over at the Nibble Me This blog site. Check Chris’ site out. He always posts great grilling and smoking ideas. These peppers are no exception.
Fire Up And Get To Enjoying!
Since we are currently remodeling our kitchen we made these entirely on our ancient Weber gas grill. A charcoal would add that special charcoal-infused flavor. You could even use a flat-top grill. No matter what you use to make them, these sausage-stuffed grilled sweet peppers are fantastic.
For a spicy version, just substitute hot Italian sausage. Keep going and use shredded pepper jack instead of the Italian blend.
You could get by not skewering the peppers when you put them on the grill. You’ll want to be a bit more careful turning them if you do. You don’t want to toss them around on the grill or you’ll lose the stuffing. The skewers give you a bit more control over them.
I was looking for an easy side for dinner the other night. That usually means salad greens with dressing and croutons. Nothing fancy. But, then I remembered I’d bookmarked this awesome idea for cucumber roulades from Kraft. They’re normally served as appetizers, but they also work great as sides in the place of salads.
A Great Party Favor
These cucumber roulades are a family favorite. I’m often asked to bring them to get-togethers. You can take all of the ingredients with you. You’ll want to cut and scoop out the cucumbers ahead of time. Then just make them ‘on site’ in just minutes. If you like roasted red peppers (and we do), the Italian Roasted Red Pepper dressing from Kraft is great on these cucumber roulades. But, you can substitute any flavorful vinaigrette that you like.
Boy, this Sriracha-lime popcorn is some mighty good popcorn. Lime, basil and Sriracha really go great together. I never thought about those flavors in popcorn. I do now. And I taste it in my dreams too. Citrus-flavored popcorn is great by itself. It’s kind of unexpected. Basil, maybe not so different. Sriracha? In popcorn? What kind of sorcery is that? Well, delicious sorcery is what it is!
Don’t Get Soggy With It
Make a double batch of Sriracha-lime popcorn. And pop it using a Stir Crazy Popcorn maker. This stuff doesn’t last! Now, if you’re like me and love Sriracha, you have to resist the temptation to add more to the spice mixture. More is usually better, but more in this case will mean soggy popcorn. No one wants a bowl of soggy sadness.
Boy, this Sriracha-lime popcorn is some mighty good popcorn. Lime, basil and Sriracha really go great together. I never thought about those flavors in popcorn. I do now. In my dreams.
