I repinned this delicious-looking dried strawberry recipe on Pinterest the other day, and then I thought I’d try it since I had strawberries in the fridge.

The recipe said 3 hours in the oven at 150 degrees. Ummm…. NOT EVEN CLOSE. To even *sort of* dry out, it took TEN HOURS. And then they were disgusting anyway.

F@$&ing Pinterest.

Lol.

I recently received an email from Nate, whom I can’t remember for the life of me ever meeting or communicating with. Nate thinks that I would be a great person to get an opinion from regarding his new meal planner template – you know, to make my life easier.

Well, OF COURSE I felt I had to reply, as I totally consider myself an expert in planning of meals. Anyone who has ever read my blog knows that Adam and I carefully plan everything, including fancy dinners. So, I politely returned Nate’s email, complete with an attached “expert example” of how I’ll be using his new awesome downloadable tool. I haven’t heard back from him yet, but I’m sure he’ll be emailing my example out with all of his marketing info from now on.

So Superfans… here is our SuperFamily’s September Menu. It’s so amazing that you’re probably going to want to utilize it yourself. Feel free, just make sure that you credit my recipes or I’ll come find you and sue you.

Happy Menu Planning!

Because I was feeling all “superhomemakerey” this weekend, I decided to try out a recipe for jelly that I found while browsing through one of the blogs I keep in my RSS reader… I’ve never canned, jarred or anything of the sort before, so I was pleased that this recipe looked super easy! Please check out Maija over on Finnskimo, and the jelly recipe is here.

My superdad graciously offered to gather a large bag full of beautiful fireweed blossoms for me off of the riverbank near his cabin on the Little Su River.

Here are a few photos from the process – this jelly turned out AWESOME! Such a yummy flavor, and a surreal color – like a fluorescent purple, almost! My sister-in-law, Amanda and I had a great time making this. We ALSO made two loaves of my Grandpa Bill’s Beer Bread so that we’d have something to try the jelly on… we ate a half a loaf and a half a jar of jelly by the time she went home!

The “go big or go home” version of a rugged Alaskan cookie, the Alaska Big Dipper is a mountainous oatmeal cookie filled with sweet and savory treats including dried Alaskan high-bush cranberries and dried wild Alaskan strawberries, white and dark chocolate chunks, glazed pecans, peanut butter chips and crunchy rice krispies. Dipped in a rich snow-white chocolate glaze, these hearty cookies will surely remind you of The Last Frontier’s beautiful snow-capped mountain landscape.

On Monday evening I baked all three of the cookie creations that I came up with, and BY A LONGSHOT the Alaska Big Dipper was the winner. Even Ellie liked them better (and she helped make them all!). So, I’ve officially entered these cookies into the Better Homes and Gardens State Cookie Contest - please, go vote for Alaska Big Dippers! Just “like” the BHG Live Better page on facebook and VOTE ALASKA! :) You can vote once per day through July 27th at 5pm EST. Share this with your friends, and your friends’ friends, and your friends’ friends’ friends… you get it. :) (If you like this recipe, or love all kinds of sweets, use this Williams Sonoma promotional code to help satisfy your cravings!)

As promised, here is the delicious recipe – go, bake, have fun!

Alaska Big Dipper Cookies

Prep Time: 10 min; Cook Time: 15-20 min

Base Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 stick (1/4 lb) butter
• 1 teaspoon salt

Fun Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chunks
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dried strawberries
• 1/4 cup glazed pecans
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 1/2 cups rice krispies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Now, I used a kitchenaid for alllllll of these next steps, but if you’re old school you can do everything by hand! Cream together the butter, white and brown sugars until it reaches a fluffy consistency. Add the egg and beat well. Add in the vanilla, beat well. In a separate bowl, mix up the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add this dry mixture to the butter/sugar mix. Now, your base recipe is completed. From here, simply add in the remaining ingredients one at a time, mixing well between each addition – save the rice krispies for last! When everything else is finally in the bowl, add in the rice krispies and mix juuuust a tiny bit (so they don’t all crunch together!). Scoop onto cookie sheets and bake: 12-15 min for smaller cookies, 16-20 min for larger (Alaskan-sized) cookies. *As a side note, I used the Better Homes and Gardens cookie sheet, and it was awesome – the cookies baked evenly and slip right off the sheet, no greasing required.* When cookies cool, dip in melted white chocolate. Mmmmm…

This batch made 9 ginormous Big Dippers; feel free to double the batch if you’re cooking for a crowd! Enjoy!

Please go vote for Alaska Big Dippers in the Better Homes and Gardens State Cookie Contest HERE!

 

Wonderful news, lovelies! Superwife has been asked by Better Homes & Gardens to participate in a “State Cookie Contest”… as in, Superwife is the one and only delegate from Alaska, and will be competing against just – you guessed it – 49 other entries!

The task at hand is to create a delicious, original cookie recipe that best represents the great state of Alaska. Land of the Midnight Sun. The Last Frontier. Home of Superwife. :) Cookie creations will be uploaded to the BHG Facebook page and then fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite (by “liking” their favorite recipes). The recipe with the most “likes” at the end of the contest will win a $100 gift card to Walmart, a full set of the new BHG Bakeware line (accented in red, which means I am totally meant to win it because my entire kitchen is red), AND a full set of the bakeware to give away on their blog. I believe the full set includes 9 pieces (even though the picture below only shows 5).

After some mouthwatering suggestions from friends, I’ve decided to test out a few different recipes and then have readers choose which one Superwife submits to Better Homes & Gardens. So far, I’ve come up with the following three ideas:

Midnight Sun Snowballs

An Alaskan take on the delicious tea-cake favorite, the Midnight Sun Snowball is a shortbread-like, melt-in-your-mouth morsel that incorporates dried Alaskan blueberries and high-bush cranberries, as well as chopped pistachios as a reminder that, well, we Alaskans are all a little nutty. Rolled and coated in sweet powdered sugar, these little snowballs will have you yearning for a sledding session in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Alaska Big Dippers

The “go big or go home” version of a rugged Alaskan cookie, the Alaska Big Dipper is a mountainous oatmeal cookie filled with sweet and savory treats including dried high-bush cranberries and wild Alaskan raspberries, white chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips and rice krispies. Topped with a juicy Alaskan blueberry-white chocolate swirl frosting, these hearty cookies will surely remind you of The Last Frontier’s beautiful snow-capped mountain landscape.

Alaska’s Deadliest Chocolate

Deadlier than an Alaskan crab-fishing excursion, the Alaska’s Deadliest Chocolate is a chocolatey-chocolate explosion packed with dark and white chocolate chunks, baked around a rich fudge-y center and topped off with a creamy snow-white chocolate frosting. Are you in heaven yet?

So… quick temperature check: how are we feeling about these options? Any of them stick out? Any of them suck? Anything you think is missing? I haven’t put these recipes to the kitchen quite yet, but I did just receive my cookie sheet from BHG to test during this whole creation process, so I believe I’ll start this week. Please send me your feedback so I can make this OUR contest entry - LET’S WIN THIS!

Okaaaaaay… since I made all of your little mouths water by posting a pic on facebook today… here is the delicious recipe. :)

I hope you’ll all remember that I’m not so good at “measuring” things when I cook, so I guessed for you. I’m more of a “little of this, little of that” kind of chef.

Superwife’s Strawberry Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless pork sirloin (or butt roast), 3-ish lbs
• 2 cups whole strawberries
• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry rosemary
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• (optional) 2-4 cloves minced garlic

To Prepare:

1. Stir together whole strawberries with all ingredients except the meat.
2. Place all pork in slow cooker, cover with sauce mixture.
3. Cook 6 hours on a low heat setting.
4. Remove meat from slowcooker; shred using a fork (or 2 forks). Throw away any fat.
5. Return shredded meat to slow cooker, add the 2 cups of sliced strawberries.
6. Cook on low 10-45 more minutes (depending on how “cooked” you want the strawberries – I left mine in for 45 min).
7. Serve on buns!

Enjoy! :)

Okay Superwife fans… I’m so impressed by my mom’s adherance to her new diet that I’m directing you all to go read her blog right now. She just posted two new recipes (Turkey Taco Salad and Cauliflower Pizza), and if she didn’t live in another state I would be pounding down her door with a fork in my hand right this second, demanding that she make delicious healthy food for me (and I’m pregnant, so pounding on doors with a fork in my hand is legal).

Plus, she’s funny (duh, where do you think I get it from?) and writes a lot of stories about my little brother and sisters. Please check her out and throw her in your reader!

www.justjeri.com

xoxo,

Jenny

PS. Wanna be on my blogroll (or need me to brag about your blog)? Leave a omment here or email me! jennylynnfast@hotmail.com :)

Adam’s grandma Sue gave us some caramel corn (cracker jacks!) during Christmas, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how delicious it was… so I asked for the recipe. Surprisingly, it’s SUPER easy!! I thought the recipe’s yield was a little large until I realized it HAS to be that way, because you inevitably eat about a quarter of it before it’s even finished (especially if your Dad, Mr. Cracker Jim, is over). :)

Baked Caramel Corn / Homemade Cracker Jacks

• 6 quarts popped corn
• 1/2 lb butter
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dark corn syrup (Karo)
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• can of spanish peanuts, if you’d like

Pop the corn (I use my WhirleyPop) and spread in large roasting pan (really, a LARGE one… I used one of those disposable aluminum ones). In a large sauce pan, oil butter, sugar, corn syrup, molasses and cream of tartar until bubbly (stirring constantly). If you’ve ever made toffee, cook it just a little less than you would that. If you haven’t… then basically just cook until it bubbles, then keep stirring for about 3 minutes. You’ll see the consistency change pretty drastically. :) Remove mixture from heat, and stir in (very well) baking soda. Pour over corn, add peanuts if using them and stir well. I used two serving spoons to mix the corn/caramel together. Bake one hour @ 225, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes. Turn out on wax paper, let cool and enjoy!

Shortly before my grandfather died a few years ago, he passed along to me an awesomely delicious and easy beer bread recipe. For some reason I thought of it earlier this week and I’ve been craving it ever since… so today I caved. :) I love that this recipe is so basic, and you can tweak it to make it yours in so many different ways. I hope you enjoy!

Grandpa Bill’s Beer Bread (3-1-3-1)

Prep Time: 5 min ; Cook Time: 60 min

• 3 cups flour
• 1 “heapin’” tablespoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 beer (any kind)

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then add beer & mix well (I use my hand). Grease a bread pan (butter or Pam works fine), then put mixture into pan. Smooth the top of the batter out with a wet rubber spatula (run the spatula under water for a second, the batter will be very sticky). Bake 50 min at 350 degrees (watch it though, all ovens are not alike!)… then butter the top of the loaf and bake for 5-10 more min. Voila!

For variations, I use different types of beer and add extra ingredients to complement… some loaves I’ve made in the past include:

• -Pumpkin Beer w/pecans
• -Apricot Beer w/ dried cherries
• -Guinness or Chocolate Stout with chocolate chips
• and today’s creation… Alaskan White Beer with shredded orange peel and Craisins (I also used wheat flour)