Conference Weekend Kitchen Keeps

Gastronomically speaking, the weekend of General Conference has always been to my family what Super Bowl Sunday is to others. We plan menus. We prep cook the day before. We mean business. Imagine, then, the fury of having me and my sister in the same kitchen all weekend long. It was delicious. I wish I could post all the recipes we tried, but I have a strange conscience for copyright laws. I try to only post recipes that I find on the internet, that I have from my family or friends or that I have modified and made my own. (Although I'd probably email you any recipe if you asked me for it.)But here are a couple of new things we concocted.

Put the Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes
This is a modification of a recipe we found in Gracie's Betty Crocker Kids Cook! book.

These cupcakes are spongy-moist from the jello. And the lime, lemon and coconut together will be a vacation in your mouth.

AND, my sister unveiled the wonder of using a pipe bag to frost cupcakes. I will never ever use a knife to frost again. Piping the frosting was so easy and about 100 times faster.

3 eggs

1 box lemon cake mix

1 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 box (4-serving size) lime-flavored gelatin

Coconut extract

Shaved coconut

Your favorite frosting

1. Heat the oven to 375. Put a paper baking cup liner in each muffin cup. Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in the large bowl.


2. And the dry cake mix, water, vegetable oil and gelatin to the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Turn off mixer. Scrape side of bowl with the rubber spatula then beat for 1 minute longer. Spoon the batter into paper -lined muffin cups until cups are about 2/3 full.


3. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool the cupcakes in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before removing. Cup cakes should cool for at least 30 minutes before frosting them.


4. Take a batch of your favorite frosting--home made or store bought (white, vanilla, lemon, cream cheese, strawberry, maybe chocolate) and add the coconut extract in a drop at a time. The stuff is pretty potent, and the amount you will use will depend on what kind of frosting you are adding it to. Sara made a basic butter cream. It was so unbelievably yummy.


5. When the cupcakes have cooled, ice them and sprinkle with shaved coconut.


6. Enjoy. You'll want 2.

Deceptively Delectable low-calorie Fruit Dip
This is a super simple recipe I got from my Grandma Bettie years ago that she got at a weight-watchers-type group meeting. Its light and creamy and will stand up to any fruit you throw its way.

2 packets Dream Whip (powdered whipping cream, non fat, find it in the baking aisle)

2 single serving Yoplait key lime pie yogurt cups

Combine with an electric mixer 2 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit.

I don't have the nutrition info in front of me. But I'm pretty sure that the whole dip bowl is under 4 g of fat and under 400 calories. If you are able to find a nonfat, citrus flavored yogurt use it! Yoplait Light and Fit used to make a nonfat lemon yogurt. This is the one originally used in the recipe, but we couldn't find it. The lime was divine. Everyone will want to know how you did it.