Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

These incredible cookies are an insanely easy and delicious treat, in which cream cheese replaces butter to create creamy, soft cookies.

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (approximately 10 cookies)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and well-combined.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until the ingredients are well-combined. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

4. Place the Oreo cookie crumbs in a small bowl. Scoop the cookies into about 1½ to 2" balls and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Make Your Own: KFC Coleslaw

The creative cook from Crouton Crackerjacks concocted the homemade KFC coleslaw recipe and we can’t enough!

With freshly chopped cabbage, carrots and his original sauce, this recipe is too easy to pass up.

Even if you don’t plan on having fried chicken for dinner, this coleslaw pairs superbly with your favorite BBQ-flavored steak or oven-baked chicken!

Follow along with the video below to see the simple instructions!

After I Saw This, I Never Threw Away Leftover Corn Cobs Again! Genius!

Got any leftover corn cobs in your kitchen? How about corn that has gone stale? Don’t throw those cobs away! You can use them to concoct a spectacular topping/whip with a simple soak in some heavy cream.

Courtesy of Lucky Peach, here’s an awesome way to make use out of leftover corn that’s tough and/or chewy. This recipe brings out the sweet, savory flavor of the corn, allowing them to infuse together for about an hour, and with delicious results.

Here are the easy-to-follow instructions:

1.In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm the cream.

2. Add the corn cob, bring to a boil, and remove from the heat.

3. Let the milk infuse on your countertop for 1 hour.
4. Strain the mixture through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

5.Meanwhile, place an empty mixing bowl in the freezer until it is very cold.
6. Transfer the cold corn cream to the cold mixing bowl, add powdered sugar and salt. Whisk until fluffy.

Is this something you’d make at home? I definitely would! Please SHARE this awesome recipe with your friends on Facebook!

Don’t throw your leftover corn cobs away! You can use them to concoct a spectacular topping/whip with a simple soak in some heavy cream.

There Are Wonderful People in this World

A waitress named Brandi says she “completely broke down in the kitchen” when the hostess brought her this credit card receipt from a recent customer.



The customer tipped her $200 on a $9.00 meal after he overheard her talking quietly to a coworker about missing her son.



He left this note with the receipt.


There are wonderful people in this world.
Source

Bacardi Pina Colada Cake

If you like both Bacardi and cake, then this is the cake for you!

Ingredients:

1 package white cake mix
1 (4 ounce) package instant coconut cream pudding mix
1/3 cup dark rum
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
Frosting
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, in juice
1 (4 ounce) package instant coconut cream pudding mix
1/3 cup dark rum
1 (9 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions for Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour 2 9-inch layer pans.
3. Blend cake mix (dry), pudding (dry), eggs, water, rum, and oil in large mixer bowl on low speed, constantly scraping bowl, until moistened, about 1/2 minute.
4. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently, 3 minutes.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
7. Cool 15 minutes.
8. Remove pans; cool completely.
9. Fill and frost layer cake.
10. Sprinkle with coconut.
11. Refrigerate cake (and any leftover cake).

Directions for the Frosting:

Combine crushed pineapple in juice, rum, and pudding; beat until well blended. Fold in whipped topping and spread on cake.

The Miracle of a Brother's Song

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could do to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael would sing to his sister in Mommy's tummy.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen. Then the labor pains came. Every five minutes... every minute. 

But complications arose during delivery. Hours of labor. A C-Section was required. Finally, Michael's little sister was born, but she was in serious condition. With sirens howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatric specialist tells the parents, "There is little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. The had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby - now they plan a funeral. Michael, kept begging his parent to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says.

Week two in intensive care. It looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael keeps nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care.

Karen made up her mind. She would take Michael whether they liked it or not. If he didn't see his sister now, he would never see her alive.

She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, "Get that kid out of here now! No children are allowed in ICU."

The mother rises up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"

Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray —"

Instantly the baby girl responded. The pulse rate became calm and steady.

"You never know, dear, how much I love you, Please don't take my sunshine away —"

The ragged strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr.

"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms . . ."

Michael's little sister relaxes as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her. Tears conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Funeral plans were scrapped. The next day, the very next day, the little girl was well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song." The medical staff just called it a miracle.

We Are Never Alone

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

As a boy approaches manhood, his father takes him into the forest blindfolded. He is then left alone, blindfolded, and he is required to sit on a tree stump the entire night. He is not allowed to take off the blindfold until the first ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself and he cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night... he has become a MAN. He cannot tell anyone of this experience, as each boy must come into his own manhood.

One boy, on the brink of manhood, was lead into the forest by his father. The boy was terrified, as he could hear all kinds of noises. He felt the the beasts all around him and was afraid that maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically... never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man.

Finally, after a long horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father... sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, to ensure that no harm came to his son.

That is how life is... we are never truly alone. Even when we do not know it, our loved ones are there, watching out for us... sitting on the stump beside us.