Cheese Danish Pull-Apart Coffee Cake (With a Cheat...Shh!)

Anyone who knows me knows I am a big fan of making as much of a meal as possible from scratch. Especially if it is a money saver. Time doesn't bother me, but I like to penny pinch where I can. However, this recipe doesn't cost much, its quick, easy, and cures a craving for cheese danish that I get on occasion...(And essentially for anything else cheesy...I love cheese.)
There are three components to this danish:

The Cake/Danish
The Filling
The Topping

The hardest part of this recipe? Um...uh...I dunno. I guess maybe not eating the filling before its on the cake? Haha.

Here is what you will need:

-2 Cans of Biscuits  (I use the Grands Flaky Layers Honey Butter)
-1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar (Plus some to spread on parchment paper)
-1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
-1 Egg Yolk
-1 oz Package of Cream Cheese
-1/2 to 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
-1 Tbsp. Sour Cream
-1 to 2 Tbsp. Cold Milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch glass pan. Or spray it with Pam, if that will somehow fool you into thinking you made this healthier. ;)
While your oven preheats, put your room-temperate cream cheese in a bowl. Mash it a little with a fork, then take your egg yolk and vanilla, and mix them in until its nice and smooth. Add in your 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and work it into a nice smooth consistency. Now, for health reasons, you shouldn't consume raw egg products, yadda yadda. However, this stuff is good and I'll be darned if I didn't lick the spoon when I was done.
Set your filling aside, and spread out a piece of parchment paper on the counter. sprinkle it lightly with granulated sugar, and one biscuit at a time, mush the biscuits into flatter round circles, getting each side lightly dusted in the sugar. Now, how you choose to roll or place these back into the pan is really up to you, but for me, I turn them into little roses. I fold the circles in half, and then I roll them and leave a small well in the middle to fill with extra filling!
I line the sugar-coated biscuit-roses in the pan, close together so that when they cook they grow together and form a semi-solid mass. I take a large spoon and the filling I made, and I pour it over them, taking care to put a little down in the well I made in the center of each.
Bake these in your 350 degree oven for around 45-55 minutes. Check in between to make sure they're doing okay, but to cook the centers, it takes a long time.
While you have these in the oven, you make your topping. Take the tablespoon of sour cream, start with half cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix it until its a drizzle consistency, adding more sugar or milk as needed! :)
When they come out of the oven, let them cool 20 minutes, then drizzle with topping and enjoy! :) These are very tasty heated up for breakfast with coffee and they pull apart in a nice, small serving.
(As usual, I am having trouble getting blogger to let me do photos properly. Sorry. -_-)

Goulash. This Girl's Official Comfort Food.

Everyone has that food that makes them think of home. It fills your senses, brings back memories, and puts you in a happy place. For me, that food is goulash. For those who aren't sure what I am talking about, let me start off by saying I am not at all talking about Hungarian goulash. I am talking about the American version. You Yankee readers from up north of the Mason-Dixon line, I've heard refer to it as "American chop suey." Please stop trying to fancy up what us Southerner's have been doing just fine all along. ;)

The dish I am talking about is easy and comforting, warm, filling and delicious. It takes few ingredients, and can be made in a hurry -or- to let flavors meld and build, the sauce can be kept on a low simmer or in a slow cooker all day.
You will need:
1 lb. Ground Beef (Leaner is always better!)
1 box of Pasta (we always use sea-shell pasta)
1 can of Diced or Stewed Tomatoes (I love the fire-roasted ones)
1 can of Dark Red Kidney Beans (mmm...I love beans)
1 Onion (as almost always, I use a sweet vidalia onion)
4 Tbsp Butter/Margarine
3 Tbsp flour
1 Beef Bullion Cube (crushed)
Chilli Powder
Paprika
Salt
Pepper (Unless you have parents like mine who don't like it, so leave it out.)

Get a nice big pot of water boiling and start your pasta to cooking while you're making the sauce.
Start off with the butter and onion in a pan. Saute until translucent. Next, dump in that crushed beef bullion cube and follow with the ground beef. Cook until it has just browned, then throw in your flour and mix well. The ground beef and onions in the flour should have soaked up the majority of liquid and oil left in the pan. Now, add in your tomatoes and mix well. Let it cook a couple minutes, then add in your beans.  Follow your beans with your spices. I add quite a bit of paprika to my goulash, but as with most spices, I really think its a "to taste" sort of thing. Where as for my parents, a shake or two would be sufficient, for me, I need much more. I love the smoky flavor that paprika adds to food. And chilli powder is a must. If I were to estimate, I'd say 2 tsp of chilli powder, 1 Tbsp paprika for my Goulash. Add salt and pepper to taste as well.
Drain your pasta, then coat it well in the sauce you've made. Traditionally, in my family, you eat this with buttered saltine crackers.
If you've never had it, its something easy and delicious that I highly recommend. :)

Of Love, Olive Oil, and Feta...

I've been in a fabulous mood lately. My demeanor has clearly been changed, days are flying by again. Its great. And of course, my being in a great mood can only mean one thing: I'm headed to the kitchen to cook.
After repeated discussions of salads, olive oils, and then briefly mentioning feta cheese, I began to crave a pasta salad I make. For me, this would be more than enough for a meal, BUT I know my parents. Salad for dinner isn't really dinner. Something needs to be combined, so for this evening we're going to have pasta salad and steak flat bread sandwiches. Normally, these would be steak pita sandwiches, but alas, I live in a tiny town presently and when I asked for pitas I was met with the response: "Do you mean pizzas?"
After a blank stare and a forced smile I said "No, but thank you" and quickly shuffled away, eye twitching and all.
Anyway, the meat for the sandwiches is simple enough. I marinate it in balsamic vinegar, worchestershire, olive oil, salt, (normally pepper, but as Mom is allergic, I add this later to mine,) a little garlic, onion, and little rosemary (which I grind to a powder with my spice grinder.) Marinate the meat in this for at least 4 hours, but 24 hours is ideal.
I also make a sauce for the sandwiches. it is comprised of Greek yogurt, cucumber (peeled, seeded and minced,) red onion (minced as well,) celery seed, sea salt, (pepper again, if I can,) garlic powder, and paprika. I mix it up and let it sit in the fridge so the flavors come together.
Now for the fun part. The pasta salad. This make a nice large bowl full, its delicious, and its super easy. Below is what you will need.

-1 Container of Grape Tomatoes
-6 oz of Crumbled Feta Cheese
-1 Can of Artichoke Hearts, quartered
-1 Can of Chick Peas
-1 Jar of Sliced Kalamata Olives
-1/2 cup of Chopped Red Onion
-2 Bell peppers, preferably yellow, orange or red
-1 12 oz box of dry tri-color rotini, boiled and cooled
-1 bottle of Greek Vinaigrette
I really feel like I can't begin to explain enough just how easy this is to make. Pre-boil the pasta and let it cool while you do everything else. I cheated this time and bought the package of pre-chopped onions mostly because I only needed enough for tonight and it was right by where I was walking. Clean all the raw vegetable (minus these precut ones. they're already good to go.) The tomatoes are good to go, so go ahead and toss them and about half a cup of your onions into your large bowl.
Next, grab a colander and dump your artichokes, chickpeas and olives into it. Let them drain. Meanwhile, take your bell peppers and chop them.

For those who don't know, the easiest way to deseed a bell pepper is to cut the top off and then pull it off, which brings the seed membrane out. You can then shake the seeds that may have fallen into the pepper out into the garbage and discard the top... 

Or if you have a pepper-eating fiend for a dog like I do, you can just use her as your pepper disposal. ;)
Once the everything is chopped and drained, mix all the ingredients in your large bowl. Pour the entire bottle of vinaigrette over it, mix well, and refrigerate before serving. :)
(Sorry for lack of photos with this post. Blogger and I aren't getting along today.)