Italian Cream Sodas

I've always enjoyed Italian Cream Sodas - so I requested them for my Mother's Day Dinner. Mmmm...

For each soda:
2-4 Tbsp. Torani flavored syrup (buy this at World Market - we used strawberry)
2 Tbsp. cream, or ice cream :)
8 oz. sparkling water

Pour syrup in the bottom of your glass, add cream/ice cream, top with sparkling water and stir.

Banana Colada Sundaes

Easy and delicious! Think cinnamon roll meets banana split. The original recipe had too much cinnamon and it was overpowering, so I decreased it - adjustment is included in the recipe below.

-Taste of Home, Kristin Kossak
Serves 8

6 Tbsp. butter, cubed
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 medium bananas
1/2 tsp. rum extract (imitation)
3 pints vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, organge juice and cinnamon. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until sauce is smooth. Stir in bananas; heat through. Remove from the heat; stir in extract.

Serve warm over ice cream. Sprinkle with coconut.

Creamed Corn

I love creamed corn - especially with mashed potatoes. It's one of those comfort foods from my childhood. I've been wanting to try this recipe for awhile now, but wanted to use fresh corn instead of frozen, and have been patiently waiting for fresh corn to make an appearance at the grocery store. It's still a little early in the season, but keep this one handy for your summer BBQs!

4 ears corn, shucked
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. white pepper (regular will work too)
2 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. flour

Cook corn in boiling water for approximately 5 minutes. Cool slightly and cut corn off ears. Combine corn, cream, milk, salt, sugar and pepper on stove top. Simmer 5 minutes. Blend butter and flour together in a small bowl; add to corn to thicken. Mix well. Remove from heat.