Coconut Cookies with Lime Icing

It’s been so hot here, I want to get in the pool and never get out. Such is Summer in the South…wouldn’t trade it for anything, though. 🙂

Today I was in the mood for a light tropical cookie. Something that matched with the tropical feeling my yard is giving me right now. 😉

You will need:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Cream butter and sugars together, then beat in egg and flavorings.

in a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Then mix in the coconut.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to sugar mixture.

Roll into small balls and place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes or until cookie is golden brown.

You can eat it just the way it is or for a little added flavor top with a lime icing. 🙂

Simple Lime Icing:

Mix 2 TBSP Lime juice and 1 TBSP softened (not melted) butter or margarine, 1 drop green food coloring and 1 drop yellow food coloring. Gradually add in Tablespoons of powdered sugar (about 12) until the icing is at the desired consistency.

It’s the perfect cookie for a summer luau or cookout!

Linking to:

Pineapple Cream Cheese Bars

I hope that everyone had a good weekend! Our weekend went by too quickly…even if all we did was some much needed work around the house.

I’ve been feeling a little bit under the weather lately, so I decided to make something very simple for dessert tonight. These Pineapple Cream Cheese Bars are an easy treat to make when you don’t feel like putting in a whole lot of effort.They are based on an old Hawaiian recipe.

You will need:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

2  1/2  cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

3 envelopes gelatin

1 1/2 cup crushed pineapple

2 8-oz packages cream cheese

Whipped cream

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together and press into pan.

Dissolve gelatin and sugar in boiling water

Add pineapple. Let the mixture cool some some.

Cream the cream cheese with mixer

Add pineapple and gelatin mixture. It will look a little watery and lumpy. Place bowl in the fridge for a short while until it is just starting to set (don’t wait until it sets completely), then remove and beat with mixer.

Pour mixture over crust and place back into refrigerator for several hours or until set.

After it sets, top it with whipped cream, slice and serve. Super simple! 🙂

Linking to:

Hawaiian Wedding Cake with Whipped Cream-Cream Cheese Frosting

So far this week has been uneventful. We are trying to transition school assignments from one grade to the next. Not a lot of excitement, just a  relaxing pace here! 😉

A few years ago I made this Hawaiian wedding cake for my husband and he really enjoyed it. I kind of forgot about it until the other day when I found it in my recipes. I tweaked the recipe a little to bring out the natural flavors and added a cream cheese frosting made with whipping cream.

For the cake you will need:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup finely chopped (or crushed) walnuts
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Then mix in the eggs, vanilla and crushed pineapple with all of the juice.

Pour into a well greased pan 9″ round or 9″X13″ rectangle

Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees (or until toothpick in the center comes out clean). You can serve it this way if you want…or you can kick it up a notch with a simple creamy whipped cream-cream cheese frosting!

For Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting you will need

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (let it come to room temperature for easier blending)
1 cup white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Gently fold the cream cheese mixture and whipped cream together.

I topped mine with a little toasted coconut. 🙂

Linking to:

 

Spicy Tropical Pork Sliders

As summer approaches I begin to think more about spending time outside and less about being in a hot kitchen. These sliders take very little work and will free you from that hot kitchen in a hurry. 🙂

You will need:

1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into approx 1 inch chunks

5 sprigs of fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp soy sauce

4 Tbsp pineapple juice

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic chili paste

10 oz. (1/2 can) pineapple chunks)

Cut the cilantro into small pieces (you can leave some of the larger stem pieces off if you prefer)…I use kitchen scissors.

Most grocery stores sell some sort of chili paste in their International food aisle, if an Asian market is not convenient for you to go to. I use the Huy Fong Foods brand chili garlic sauce. The best chili paste will have a rich red color and a slight sweet taste. If you can’t get chili paste you can substitute with 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder.

Mix everything except the pork and pineapple chunks together to make a sauce mixture.

Add the sauce mixture to the pork, followed by the pineapple chunks. You can marinate this in the fridge if you like, but I find that it is pretty flavorful even without marinating. I usually don’t, especially when I’m in a hurry.

Heat a couple of Tbsp of cooking oil in a pan, enough to coat the bottom. Cook the meat on medium heat until pork is done. Then add just a couple of minutes longer to brown the meat a little.

Cut dinner rolls (I used Hawaiian dinner rolls) in half and serve the meat in it.

These would be a perfect addition to an outdoor party or luau! 🙂

Linking to:

Gitter Done – Redo the Porch!

Edited Post: Donna from Funky Junk Interiors has asked us to share our favorite projects. I would have to say that this one is my favorite right now. 🙂 I first posted this on Donna’s Gitter Done project…now, Linking this to:

Lately, this (below) has been the view of my porch:

That’s right a fold up table, a chair and an old beat up Tonka truck.

Here’s my mailbox…looking a little sad.

I’ve been planning to do something about this for a while, but just couldn’t get motivated. Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors offered just the push I needed.Today she is hosting a day for getting things done!

So, here is what I’ve been up to:

My porch now! Here are the details:

One of my brothers gave me this glider rocker.

A bit worn out…so I spray painted it black and made some new pillows for the back. 

I spray painted my mailbox black, and look…there’s my tropical birhouse!

                           

Here’s my rope lamp on a shelf full of trinkets.

I made a new cushion and pillow for the wicker chair.

A cozy little table to eat breakfast at in the mornings! And no, that is not a hole in my lamp (as my husband suggested) it is a decorative ribbon that I will probably remove. I just don’t feel like re-taking the photos. 😉

Another view. 🙂

OK…Here comes my favorite part!!!

Can you guess what this is? Well…it’s made out of these shutters…

It’s my beautiful new table made for me by my Sweet (and talented) Husband! Isn’t it lovely?! A couple of months ago, a really awesome neighbor crawled under her house and pulled some lovely shutters (a whole stack!). She gave them to me (so generous and sweet)! My husband took one set and made this table for me! =D

He left it so the slats could still open. His explanation was that if there were crumbs on top you could open the slats and let the crumbs fall through. 😉

My new table is a great place to have a cup of tea! 

Here’s a little candle I spruced up to put on my new table.

Ah, my table…

Umm…anyway, here are some more shots of my porch:

I love my new porch! Thanks, Donna for the little push that I needed to “Gitter Done”!

And thanks for stopping by

Goodwill Lamp Transformed

I love lamps! In fact, I have a real “thing” for lamps. Whenever I go to Goodwill I check the lamps. A few weeks ago I found this little beauty for $3.

I knew exactly what I was going to do with it as soon as I saw it! I bought some Jute rope, and got out my hot glue gun.

This was really so easy to do! I just love the result! :o)

Have a great weekend!

Linking to these fun parties:

Tropical Bird House

I found an old wooden bird house in the basement a few days ago. Just a plain craft one from the Michael’s store that  had been sitting on my craft shelf forever. I decided to dress it up a bit and use it on my porch. In case you haven’t noticed by now, my husband and I prefer Asian and tropical style decor. So I thought maybe a tropical looking birdhouse would go nicely.

First I primed it. It had a few splotches of red on it from one of my kids. He was going to paint it, but then lost interest.

Then some chocolate brown spray paint.

Next I thatched the roof with some bamboo pieces that I saved after having the blinds in my kitchen cut down to size.  Then I wrapped it in twine. Sorry I didn’t get any photos of this…It was too hard to glue and snap pictures at the same time, especially with my sticky fingers. :o)

I painted the posts red and added a couple of yellow flowers for color.

A little taste of the tropics. :o)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle


P.S. Don’t forget to check out my GIVEAWAY

Linking to these fun parties!