A Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough-Strawberry-Banana Split

This week, the local grocery store has ice cream and frozen, whole strawberries on sale. Happily, I decided it was time to make my favorite July dessert - a banana split! 

I must have stood in front of the dairy case for five minutes trying to decide on one flavor of ice cream. What a tough decision, picking one flavor out of fifteen flavors! Finally, a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough was sitting in the shopping cart beside the bunch of bananas and the one pound package of whole frozen strawberries. 

Before making supper, I poured the pound of frozen strawberries into a quart bowl to thaw and sprinkled a 1/4 cup of sugar over the berries. I knew that supper was going to take about an hour to cook, plenty of time for the berries to thaw. However, I can always thaw frozen berries in the microwave by using the timed defrost setting.  

After supper, it was time to assemble and make two banana splits in the vintage glass banana split dishes I love. Carefully, I split two bananas in half and laid them in the bottom of each dish. Three scoops of ice cream soon sat on top of the split bananas. Then, I spooned the now thawed, sweetened strawberries over the middle scoop of ice cream and I squeezed chocolate syrup over the end scoops of ice cream. That's it, an easy dessert that looks elegant when served in glass serving dishes. 

Now, it is time to eat a banana split!

Sallee Shares: Easy, Last Minute Halloween Treats

       

Wow! Halloween is tomorrow! You have lost track of time and do not have any treats ready for your children's Halloween parties at school. Here are three websites/blogs that have amazing, budget-friendly treats for you to make for your children.

• Smart School House       Quick and Easy Halloween Party Treats 
• Look Me Pretty                Easiest Halloween Treats
• Princess Pinky Girl          EASY Classroom Party Treats

Cinnamon Glazed Pantry Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler Ingredients

½ c. butter or margarine                        

½ tsp. salt

1 c. sugar                                            

2 tsp. baking powder                                           

1 c. all purpose flour

¾ c. milk or water

2-29 oz. cans of sliced peaches, drained (4 cups of peaches)

Topping Ingredients

½ c. all-purpose flour                 

½ c. quick oats

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon            

⅓ c. margarine or butter, softened

Peach Cobbler Directions 

• Combine topping ingredients and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place 1/2 cup of butter or margarine into the 13 inch by 9 inch baking dish.
• Put pan in oven until the butter is melted.
• Remove from oven. 

1/2 cup of melted butter or margarine

• Sift sugar, baking powder, four, and salt.
• Mix sifted mixture with milk or water and pour over melted butter in baking pan. 
• Layer 3-4 cups of sliced peaches over the batter. I only use 3 cups of peaches. The remaining cup of peaches is usually packed in my lunch the next day. 

Melted butter, batter, and layered peaches ready to bake.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.
• Remove cobbler from the oven and evenly sprinkle topping over the top.

After 30 minutes of baking

Topping applied and ready to bake another 30 minutes

• Return the cobbler to the oven and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.
• Cool.
• Drizzle with Cinnamon Glaze
• Serve

Baked, cooled, and ready for the cinnamon glaze. 

Cinnamon Glaze Ingredients

1/3 cup butter, or margarine

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 - 2 Tbsp. hot water

Cinnamon Glaze Directions

• Heat margarine in a saucepan over low heat until it is melted.
• Stir in powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.
• Stir in water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until glaze is smooth and the consistency of honey.
• Drizzle over cooled cobbler. I like to put the glaze into a piping bag, snip the tip, and drizzle in a zigzag pattern across the cobbler.

Cake Mix Waffle Cookies

Cake mix was on sale this week for $1.19. I bought two boxes of chocolate fudge cake mix because I want to make cake mix waffle cookies to compare with my "made from scratch" chocolate waffle cookies. Bill is my official taste tester because he has eaten my homemade version several times this summer. After supper, I put my experiment into action.

• I turned on the electric waffle iron to preheat and sprayed it with canola oil.
• Then, following the cake mix directions I prepared a bowl full of chocolate fudge batter.
• Carefully, I dipped about two thirds of a cup of batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and closed it.
• Three minutes later, the waffle was ready to remove.
• Using a fork, I had to carefully peel the baked waffle out of the iron.
• It was a little bit tricky getting the soft, somewhat thin, flexible disc from the hot iron to the nearby cooling rack.
• Then I lightly sprayed the waffle iron, dipped two thirds of a cup of batter into the center of the waffle iron, closed the lid, and cooked for three minutes before removing the waffle to a cooling rack. I repeated this procedure until all the batter was gone.

Each cooled waffle was sprinkled with powdered sugar and divided into four quarters, or wedges, before I put the wedges into my cookie jar.

The most noticeable difference between cake mix waffles and my homemade chocolate waffles is texture. The cake mix waffles were very soft and difficult to remove from the waffle iron. Next time I try this, I am not going to use the full amount of liquid called for by the cake mix. An update will be coming soon. 

Quality vs Bargain: Blackout Curtain Purchase Enlightens Me

Quality and Manufacturers

Welcome to Bonham Business! Today I want to talk about my enlightening experience with buying black out curtains and trying to be frugal. Quality is often sacrificed by manufacturers who are trying to be frugal, too. This lesson was really brought home to me when I ordered black out curtains that were $15 a pair.

Our First Blackout Curtain Purchase

Earlier this year, Bill and I purchased a pair of blackout curtains and magnetic rods for the french doors that lead outside to the back deck. The French doors radiate heat during summer months. Bill and I decided that black out/thermal curtains would help reduce the electric bill by keeping the heat outside and help the house stay cooler (which they did). The cost for the two panels was about $46 and the clear magnetic rods were $30. Yes, we paid $76 dollars and my frugal heart was terrifically sad. But, Bill was in charge of this purchase and he is a firm believer in the saying,"You get what you pay for."

My "Bargain" Curtains

Now that you know my experience with the French doors, I will tell you about my "bargain" black out curtains. Bill has trouble sleeping if the room is light, and we have a dusk to dawn light that is interfering with his sleep because it is keeping our bedroom too light. The east window already has a double layer of curtains over it. So, when I saw an ad for black out curtains that cost $15 a pair, my frugal heart beat faster. After carefully reading the ad, I decided that these curtains would be ideal for the bedroom. The curtains could also be bought in gold, which is the color I already have in the bedroom. Bill did ask, "Do you really think these will be that good?" However, my desire to save $8 a pair overcame my common sense. Happily, I went online to the retailer's website and purchased two pairs of "blackout curtains."

 The Bargain Curtains Arrive and Depart

Four days later, our curtains arrived. Bill helped me take down the double curtained rod from over the east facing window. We took the curtain off the rod and replaced it with the new "blackout curtain." You already know what I'm going to say next, don't you? The curtain was no better, than what we already had in place. Yep, frugality actually cost me $8.00 more, because I had to pay postage to return the darn curtains. One bright spot in the whole experience was the fact that the company quickly refunded my $37.43. Okay, my mom was right when she taught me,"If it's sounds too good to be true, it usually is." Pessimistic, but true this time.

Buy One, Get One Free, Baby!

Last night, I repurchased two pairs of blackout curtains. This time, the price was on the low side because of  Labor Day sales. Two pairs of curtains, with shipping, were $44.97.  If you look at the price we paid for the one pair earlier this year,$46, then you know that I just purchased two pairs for the same price. Buy One, Get One Free, baby! They don't come in gold, but espresso is a good color too. My frugal heart is beating an upbeat tempo AND I know that the quality will be great. How do I know this? I bought the same brand that Bill bought.