DF: Pumpkin Biscotti

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of a cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

DF Apple Squares

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of an online cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

Something Different: Ultimate Pumpkin Pie and Chili Chicken

Here's a sweet pumpkin pie with heavenly caramelized walnuts after a savory meal of chili chicken with rice casserole.

Rice is the seed of a certain type of grass. It's the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize. The varieties of rice are typically classified as long-, medium-, and short-grained.

Rice is typically rinsed before cooking to remove excess starch. However, rice produced in the US is usually fortified with vitamins and minerals, and rinsing will result in a loss of nutrients. For enhanced taste and texture, rice may be rinsed repeatedly until the rinse water is clear.

DF Yogurt Sundae

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of a cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

Blessing Breakfast- Who Doesn't Love Doughnuts

"Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Plain donuts with icing
and sprinkles

Who doesn’t love doughnuts? (Or donuts, if that’s how you prefer to spell it!) I was particularly interested in how doughnuts became so popular, especially since I am a diabetic and if I indulge in a yummy snack like the donut… well, "don't eat" has always been a challenge. Anyway…

Something Different: Gouda Grits Casserole with Cheesecake

Today, it's a sweet slice of Hershey's cheesecake paired with a savory Gouda and grits casserole.

Now, don't turn your nose up at grits yet.

Grits refers to a ground-corn food of Native American origin that is common in the Southern United States and eaten mainly at breakfast.

Corn has long been a staple in the American diet. In fact, Purdue University reports that it was cultivated more than 5,000 years ago.

Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world such as polenta.

DF Applesauce Cake

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of the online cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

DF Baked Bananas

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of a cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

Something Different: Coconut Cake and Pork Roast with Gravy

It's sweet angel flake coconut cake today with a melt-in-your-mouth savory pork roast and gravy.

Coconuts grow on trees and are different from any other fruits because they contain water. Various parts of the coconut have culinary uses.  Here's the good and bad news about coconut.

This coconut cake makes knees weak, eyes water and lips curl up into a wide grin smile. It might be because there's coconut in the cake as well as in the frosting and on top making it triple the cconut delight. This is the uber coconut bite.

Love Food: Sweet Tamales with Raisins

Sweet tamales sing the smile song which is perfect for any Christmas table. Sweet tamales make a savory dessert or yummy side dish to any menu.

I used to make sweet tamales with raisins when the children were little, but not so much in the last few years. So, this year, I added these taste delights to the menu and they turned out terrific. I had to taste them several times to make sure [smile].

Something Different: Prawns with Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Mouth-watering sweet peanut butter and chocolate banana cream pie after a savory pan-friend spiced prawn meal.

Shrimp and prawn are types of seafood enjoyed worldwide. They are crustaceans. Shrimp are smaller than prawns. Prawns typically signify freshwater.

As with other seafood, shrimp is high in calcium, iodine and protein but low in food energy.

Shrimp by any name is considered a shellfish and is forbidden by some religious dietary laws.

DF Bittersweet Chocolate Torte

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of the online cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

DF Apple Pie

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of the online cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

Something Different: Orange Ombre Cake and King Ranch Chicken

Iit's an ombre cake spread with creamy orange frosting after a savory King Ranch chicken casserole sit-at-the-table feast.

Sour cream is a staple in home and professional kitchens, kept on hand to make dips, sauces, to use as a condiment such as topping baked potatoes.

Sour cream is in the family with yogurt, cottage cheese and butter. The Food and Drug Administration sets standards for the butterfat content stating that it may not be less than 18 percent for products labeled as sour cream.

Savory King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Serves 16

Go Texan: Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding

Feast on Dessert recipes from Top Texas Chefs who are part of the GO TEXAN program that represents Texas agri-business on a state, national and international level.

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is proud to play a role in the continuing success of Texas growers, merchants and restauranteurs.

Whether it's grown, sewn or served up on a plate, more than 26 million Texans shop, travel and dine out in support of Texas agriculture.

Support Texas. Show your Texas pride. Look for the GO TEXAN icon at your local merchant shops.

Make this Texas Chef's Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding dessert recipe today.

Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding
Serves 6

Ingredients for Custard:
3/4 cup Whole milk
1-1/2 cups Heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
3/4 cups Sugar
1 Egg
5 Egg yolks

Ingredients for Bread Pudding:
6 Slices of toasted white bread
1 Recipe of custard
2/3 cup Chocolate sauce
3/4 cup Caramelized pecans

Ingredients for Chocolate Sauce
6 ounces Fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons Water
1/4 cup Heavy cream
3 tablespoons Sugar

Ingredients for Caramel Pecans
1 cup Pecans
1/2 cup Sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Water
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325° F. To prepare the custard: Combine milk, cream, vanilla and sugar in a small pot or sauté pan and cook until sugar is dissolved. Place egg and yolks into a bowl and whisk. Slowly add in the warm cream mixture, while whisking the eggs to keep them from curdling.

To prepare the bread pudding: Soak bread in custard in a bowl and transfer to a baking dish. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until cooked thru. Remove from the oven and keep warm. While the bread pudding bakes, make chocolate sauce.

To prepare the chocolate sauce: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and place the bowl over a pot with simmering water and stir until chocolate is dissolved and mixed well. Transfer chocolate sauce into a small container and keep warm until ready to serve.

To prepare the caramelized pecans: Heat pecans in medium sauté pan in sugar, butter, water and salt mixture, and cook until water has evaporated. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in 275° F. oven for 15 minutes or until very crunchy. Yields 1 cup.

Serve the bread pudding warm and top with the chocolate sauce and caramelized pecans.

GO TEXAN celebrates, promotes and supports the dedication and plainspoken grit of Texas agriculture, known for excellence throughout the world.

Texas Pecans are top quality, fresh, and have a taste as big as Texas. Pecans are the only nut native to the U.S. grown on a commercial scale. A study on Pecans published in the January 2011 Journal of Nutrition shows again that Pecans are a healthy food and help prevent heart disease. Pecans contain antioxidant factors that are absorbed in the body and provide a protective effect against disease. But is chocolate bad for your blood, good or both?

You want to save this Texas recipe.

Eat Fruit Friday: Strawberry

It's Eat Fruit Friday. Strawberries are in season. It's appreciated worldwide for its aroma, bright red color, juicy texture and sweetness. It is consumed in large quantities, either fresh or in such prepared foods as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milkshakes, and chocolates.

Artificial strawberry flavoring is also used in many products like hand sanitizers, lip gloss, perfume and many others.

Something Different: Lemon Meringue Pie and Chicken Supremes

This stunning dinner is a flavorful mixture of meaty pancetta, feta and ricotta cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes, herbs, and seasonings is stuffed into chicken breasts and baked until golden brown. Serve over wild rice.

According to Julia Child: "Breast of chicken when it is removed raw from one side of the bird in a skinless, boneless piece is called a supreme. Each chicken possesses two of them. If the upper part of the wing is left on, the supreme becomes a cotelette. The breast of a cooked chicken is not a supreme, but a blanc de poulet, or white meat of chicken."

Follow the recipe for "supremes" or substitute for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, if preferred.

DF Crustless Cheesecake

Here's one of the best quick & easy dessert recipes out of the online cookbook of cakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies. It's the exclamation point on dinner recipes.

Dessert doesn't have to be elaborate to compliment your main meal entree. Even a simple last bite like a fruit compote or a pudding recipe topped with whipped cream can make a wonderful last-statement sweet.

Eat Fruit Friday: Blueberries

It's Eat Fruit Friday. Blueberries are in season. In terms of U.S. fruit consumption, blueberries rank second to strawberries.

Blueberries are not only popular, but also repeatedly ranked in U.S. diets as having one of the highest antioxidant capacities among all fruits, vegetables, spices and seasonings.

Serve blueberries as is, in a bread or dessert recipe and with yogurt or in a smoothie. Store fresh blueberries in the refrigerator.

Go Texan: Cappuccino Cheesecake with Texas Pecan Brittle

Feast on Dessert recipes from Top Texas Chefs who are part of the GO TEXAN program that represents Texas agri-business on a state, national and international level.

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is proud to play a role in the continuing success of Texas growers, merchants and restauranteurs.

Whether it's grown, sewn or served up on a plate, more than 26 million Texans shop, travel and dine out in support of Texas agriculture.