Patriotic Cookie Dough, Fruit, & Cream Parfait – My 100th Recipe!!

It is not just a normal Fiesta Friday for this girl! Do you know why? This yummy patriotic treat I am bringing is my 100th recipe on my blog! 100 recipes!! I have cooked 100 different things, making many of them up in my head. Me! The girl who just began cooking a little over 5 months ago! 100 recipes! The girl that would have rather cleaned someone else’s toilet without gloves than be in the kitchen! 🙂 Did I mention 100 recipes!? 😉

As I was thinking about what I wanted to do to make my 100th recipe post extra special, I quickly thought of my dear friend Susan…this woman has prayed for me in my adventures, she has encouraged me, she has taught me, she has inspired me, she has helped me to believe in myself, and she is the main person who talked me into starting this blog! 🙂 She has been there since the ugly beginning! 🙂 So, I thought it would be fun for you to hear from her! As you can tell, I just love this woman!

Without further ado, here is my dear friend Susan….

When Lori asked me to do her 100th recipe blog post, I was so pleased to be able to give her a big “shout out!” in this way. Her Chocolate Orange Muffins are to die for! Loved her Strawberry Pie and want to try the Raspberry one too. She has a salad for Kale and Sweet Potatoes that is so yummy, I could go on and on. I am looking forward to trying out her Lemon Almond Mousse and eggs in every way imaginable. You get the picture. She is an amazing cook and I always look forward to her stories behind the food. She makes me smile!

At I write this, I do not know what the 100th recipe will be, but we can count on it being beautiful and creative. I have known Lori less than a year, yet she is one of those friends I can say I was waiting to meet. I love the way she has embraced her culinary life and it is a privilege to have been at the beginning of this adventure with her. I am so happy to be able to share a little more of her food story with you, and she will be doing the actual recipe!

It was a cold and stormy night……..Well, actually a January night without the storm. I was hosting a small dinner for a few ladies at my house and “you know who” was there. The menu to prepare was sautéed shrimp over rice pilaf and green salad with homemade honey mustard dressing. Strangely enough I don’t remember the rest, but it could be because the shrimp was so amazing I have forgotten everything else. I was running behind in getting things together, so I needed an extra set of hands. This is where “you know who” comes in. I think she did politely offer to help, and I asked her to cut me up some onion for the shrimp. This is where I started to catch on about the “I don’t do onions”, and “actually I don’t do kitchen.”

At this juncture Lori was wondering why she had even come, let alone asked to participate in a meal preparation. Being the “bossy” older woman….did I mention Lori is about the age of my daughter? Anyway, as I looked at Lori’s wide eyes at the mention of cutting the onion they conveyed an unspoken horror of knives and that she may be going to sacrifice not only her fingers, but her eye makeup which she was sure would be running off with the bucket of tears she was going to cry over that onion. Since I can no longer stand the sight of blood I gave her a quick lesson on how to hold the knife safely and how to position the onion with her fingertips and chop away. All went famously well and not one tear was shed! I believe we then went on to the 411 of garlic peeling and mincing.

I was encouraged with her enthusiasm and pluck! I really did not know she was tackling mammoth tasks for the first time, or not having done it much. I just kept telling her she could do whatever the moment required and she courageously and perfectly did what was before her, but this is the kind of woman she is. Willing to be willing! Can you tell I am just a wee bit proud of her? Not only did she go out of her comfort zone, but she helped to make a fantastic meal and lived to go on to be a creative foodie!

If you have not read her blog story, take the time to do it. It is funny, smart, inspiring and makes you want to keep coming back to see what she is up to. I love this girl and I am so thankful she is my Pastor’s wife, too! Not only does she bless others with her creativity, but humbly gives credit to Jesus for it all.

Bon Appetit!

__________

That night that Susan described was the beginning of the end of me no longer cooking. When I look back I am still shocked sometimes at where God has brought me. Never, ever would I have thought I would love to cook…that it would actually become my hobby!

Thank you dear Susan for being a part of my 100th recipe post! So special!

Fiesta Friday AND cooking my 100th recipe? Yep! A celebration worthy of something sweet and delicious! And since it is the 4th of July here in the United States, this deliciousness had to include some red, white, and blue! 🙂

I made a rich shortbread cookie dough…yum, yum, yum!!! Add some cherries, blueberries, and homemade whipped cream and you have a creative, patriotic, and delicious dessert! I absolutely loved it!! And hubby really enjoyed it too!

Patriotic Cookie Dough, Fruit, & Cream Parfait

• Servings: 4-6
• Print

*Created by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup honey + about 4 tbsp for cream
• 3-4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 can refrigerated coconut milk, thick stuff only
• Strawberry Cherries
• Blueberries

Directions:

• Combine the almond flour and coconut flour in a large mixing bowl.
• In another mixing bowl combine the butter, 1 cup of honey, and 2 tsp of vanilla. Use a hand mixer to blend these together thoroughly.
• Now combine the wet and dry ingredients together, again using the hand mixer.
• Set aside, and wash and cut up the cherries and blueberries.
• To make the whipped cream, combine the thick part of the coconut milk, 1-2 tsp of vanilla, and about 4 tbsp of honey. Use the hand mixer to blend well.
• Now it is time to make your layers. Find a fun glass you would like to use.
• For the first layer, take some of the dough and mix some of the cherries in it, making sure the cherries are visible on the outside. Place that in the bottom of the cup.
• Now put a layer of the cream.
• The next layer is taking the dough and mixing it with some of the blueberries. Place it in the glass.
• Pour some more cream on top.
• Add another layer of dough mixed with the cherries.
• Then a final layer of cream with a few blueberries on top.

(Depending on the size and shape of the glass, you may have more layers than this. Just experiment and have fun!)

I love Fiesta Friday! Please come join us…it is sooo much fun! A big thanks, as always, to Angie at The Novice Gardener and our co-hosts this week: Margy at La Petite Casserole and Sylvia at Super Foodista! You are appreciated!

To those of you celebrating this day, Happy 4th of July!