Category: Uncategorized

I had the privilege of dining in Europe’s oldest restaurant this winter in Salzburg, Austria. The Stiftkeller St Peter Restaurant was founded in the year 803 and was dripping in Christmas decorations at every turn during our visit. One can attend a Motzart concert there on any given occasion and enjoy the full round of sensory explosion. Everywhere you look is beauty and the food is just what you would expect at a venue known always for perfection. The waiters are even perfect examples of elegance. For dessert we had a fruit souffle’ with meringue mountains at the end. It was warm and like eating slightly sweet clouds. It was the best dessert that I have ever had and we later saw that it was also offered at various restaurants in town as well. This must be a local favorite for the tourists. Southwest Florida is a long way away from Salzburg and I can’t stop thinking about how good this dessert was so I created a low-carb-no fat rendition. It was pretty darn good, Good enough to share so here we go:

Clouds Over Fruit

Ingredients:

3 egg whites – room temperature (they whip up better)

pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons of Monk fruit sweetener

1 t. pure vanilla

fruit of your liking – sliced or diced if necessary

sprinkling of monk fruit or swerve

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Fill five ramekins or one cup pyrex dishes with fruit.

Sprinkle fruit with a bit of monk fruit sweetener or swerve – you could use regular sugar or any sweetener that you like really – just a pink over each bowl.

Beat egg whites on high speed in the mixer, sprinkle with a pink of salt to stabilize

When peaks begin to form, sprinkle m 3 T. of monk fruit sweetener and continue beating until glossy peaks form.

Add 1/2 – 1 t. pure vanilla

When the peaks are glossy and the vanilla incorporated cover each ramekin with the meringue. Bake at 400 F for 10 – 14 minutes or until just crusty brown. Serve warm.

It was close to the original except that they had actually cooked the fruit in sugar and cornstarch to make a filling. This recipe uses fresh fruit sprinkled with sweetener. It creates a different texture but similar in experience. Both good and tasting heavenly.

Her is a link to the restaurant web site. If you are ever in that neighborhood, it is well worth the evening spent. So much history and ambiance that you will be thinking of it fondly for many years after.

Hello to everyone interested in my blog – that would be just a few of you. I took a Haitus – a really long one to move to Florida! I moved at the hottest time of the year here but it is about to become Paradise. The first sign of the fall change here is the ending of daily rain, sometimes thunderstorms, and a little hint of the fall feeling in the air. It is still very warm in the daytime but quite pleasant in the mornings and at night. Soon we will be able to sleep with the windows open and keep it that way most of the day. I learned a lot about moving on my own – not entirely on my own as you cannot do this alone but making the big decisions and signing those papers on my own. It’s a lot of responsibility and stressful, I must say but with each step and decision, it became very satisfying. This time last year I was just thinking about the idea of moving from the Midwest to Florida and listing reasons why and why not. Obviously the why won out.

At any rate I am back for good and now that I am settled I am able to share things on here once again. Last when I was posting I was doing KETO which is a great way to cut the carbs and get the diet evened out but I discovered for myself that I prefer Paleo. Paleo eliminates milk products and many wheat products. KETO had no wheat either but all that cheese and milk products were not working for me. So it’s Fruit, Veggies, Proteins for me with EVO and Butter for fats. I love my cookbooks and I do use KETO recipes that do not contain a lot of fat or milk. Sometimes a good cheesecake is ok as long as it is not a regular thing for me. Mostly it’s good for me to graze. LOL

Until tomorrow!

Holly

The key to making a great pie is often in the crust. Myself, I am not much on the texture produced when using coconut flour so when it comes to pies the better choice is to opt for the pecan crusts. It’s simple to do, Keto friendly and pecan delicious.

Pumpkin Cheesecake – Version I – No-Bake

Pecan Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients

2 cups chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter – melted

1/4 cup Swerve

Combine the above ingredients and press into the pie plate – 9 or 10 inch plates, ceramic plates work better but any pie plate will work. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and let cool before adding filling.

Pumpkin Pie Filling – Version I (No-Bake)

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree – used canned or fresh

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ground ginger

pinch of ground cloves

8 oz cream cheese – room temperature

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup Swerve

1 t. vanilla – clear vanilla is preferred

1 T. rum – optional

Directions 

1. Prepare Whipped Cream by  chilling the bowl and beaters first in the refrigerator for about five minutes. Heavy cream whips better when it is cold so make sure that this cream is cold too. Beat the cream until stiff peaks are about to form and then gradually add 2 T of the Swerve. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Remove about two cups of this product to set aside for topping. Set the remaining product to use in the pie during step 3.
2.  Beat the cream cheese until smooth and add pumpkin puree along with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, remaining Swerve, vanilla and rum if using. Beat together until well blended.
3. Fold in the whipped cream reserved for the pie.
4. Pour filling into prepared pie crust, smoothing the top of the pie.
5. Top with remaining whipped cream, sprinkle with cinnamon if desired and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

I am experimenting with both of these recipes and plan to serve them tomorrow night with a group of ladies who will choose the better of the two versions! We are having Witches Night Out at my house and the Witches will choose which is better!

Pictures to follow!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Version II – Baked

Pecan Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients

2 cups chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter – melted

1/4 cup Swerve

Combine the above ingredients and press into a 10 inch spring-form pan with the bottom being prepared with oil or using a parchment paper liner.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and let cool before adding filling.

Pumpkin Pie Filling – Version II – Baked 

Ingredients

16 oz Cream Cheese – room temperature

1/2 c pumpkin puree – canned or fresh

1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice OR 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t ginger, dash of cloves

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c plus 2 T Swerve

2 eggs

Directions

 

1. Prepare Whipped Cream by  chilling the bowl and beaters first in the refrigerator for about five minutes. Heavy cream whips better when it is cold so make sure that this cream is cold too. Beat the cream until stiff peaks are about to form and then gradually add 2 T of the Swerve. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Remove about two cups of this product to set aside for topping. Set the remainder aside to be added in step 3.
2.  Beat together cream cheese, pumpkin, spices, vanilla, eggs and 1/2 c Swerve.
3. Fold in the whipped cream that has been set aside for the cheese cake filling.
4. Pour filling into the prepared springform pan making sure to clean the sides and placing product evenly in the pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 min until the center is set. Let cool at least 3 hours, store in the refrigerator
6. Serve with the whipped cream as topping!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

All parties deserve great snacks. This is an easy one to make and keep around for about a week or so, if it should last that long. These are vegan but not Keto or Paleo nor Gluten Free, keep that in mind for your guests and personal choices. I have also added pretzels to this at times as well as pecans.

Oyster Crackers Snack Mix 

Ingredients: 

16 ox. Oyster Crackers

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing – dry mix

1/2 t. Garlic Salt or Powder

1 t. Dill Weed

1/2 t. Lemon Pepper- if desired – I sometimes use Dry Mustard

1/2 C. Oil

Step I

Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Step II 

Combine all spices and oil in a small bowl or measuring cup – stir well.

Step III

Place Oyster Crackers in a gallon size zip lock bag.

Step IV

Add the oil and spice mixture to the bag and shake to cover all the crackers with the oil mixture.

Step V

When all are covered place the coated crackers on a cookie sheet and into the pre-heated oven and set the timer for 20 min.

Step VI 

Remove from the oven, let cool and store for up to a week in an air-tight container

Enjoy!

 

The Best thing about this pie is that I made it with Swerve so it is sugar free and still it is the best pumpkin pie recipe that you will find. The original recipe came from the Paula Dean network and I made a few adaptations to make it more appealing to those of us counting those carbs. I should have decorated it with the whipped cream before taking the picture and the next time I make it I will be sure to include an improved picture to the edit. LOL At any rate here is the scoop:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Gather together the following ingredients

1 pie crust – either home made or store bought

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed

1 cup Swerve

1/4 t. salt

1 egg and 2 egg yolks

1 cup whole cream

1/4 cup melted butter

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground ginger

2 cups whole cream for topping plus 1/3 cup swerve

Place pre-made pie dough in the 9 inch pie plate and smooth down the sides and bottom. Create a nice trim by pinching the edges in a roll. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Or line with foil and fill with pie weights or dry white beans and bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. This gives a nice crisp to the crust and it will not be a gooey mess when baked with the filling.

In a large mixing bowl best the cream cheese until smooth, adding the pumpkin to beat until combined. Add the Swerve and salt until combined. Mix the eggs and yolks together and add them to the pumpkin mixture along with the cup of whole cream and melted butter. Beat until all combined. Lastly add the vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and mix evenly until combined.

Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes or until the pie is set in the center. (My oven is slow so it took an extra 10 minutes to firm in the center). Place the pie on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Serve with whipped cream recipe below.

Just before serving whip the 2 cups whole cream until frothy and slowly add in 1/3 cup Swerve beating well and until stiff peaks form. Serve on each slice of pie and enjoy!

TA DA!