hatchameal

Betty Crocker's Waikiki Meatballs

2012-02-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Waikiki Meatballs (Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library)

1 1/2 lb ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup onion; minced
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk; for meatballs
1 tbsp shortening
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar; packed
1 (14 oz) can pineapple chunks in syrup, drained (reserve syrup)
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup green pepper; chopped

Mix meat, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger and milk. Shape into balls.

Melt shortening, brown and cook meatballs. Remove meat and keep warm, remove fat.

Mix cornstarch and sugar. Stir in reserved pineapple syrup, vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth. Cook, stirring, until boiling. Boil and stir one minute.

Add meatballs pineapple and green pepper, heat through.

Source: Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library of 1971

Click here to view: http://www.recipelink.com/cgi/msgbrd/msg_script.pl?getmsg=1&board=31&thread=26555

Danish Butter Ring

2012-02-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

the best butter rings used to be made by Hough Bakery in Cleveland. We even had a Hough's at Shoreway when we first moved to SL. Sadly they went out of business but Archie's in Cleveland (near Ouredniks) is a bakery that still makes a few of the Hough items. I was given the recipe that made this picture (below) and then found this other recipe. I'm going to try this recipe next. Mainly because it has milk in it whereas the other didn't. It's not exact but close. And so very easy. VERY EASY.

But if you want my opinion, I think using Betty Franklin's danish recipe and form it into a butter ring would be so much closer to the real deal...maybe I oughta try that next...except that takes a good full 2 days to make.

DANISH BUTTER RINGS
Very rich and much like the butter rings sold at Hough Bakery.
5 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tsp. sugar, divided use
2 tsp. salt
1/2 lb (1 cup) unsalted butter
2 pkg. yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
6 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Combine flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Set aside.
Combine yeast, warm milk and 2 tsp. of sugar. Let proof.

Combine egg yolks and sour cream. Mix yeast mixture into egg yolks and sour cream.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the yeast and egg mixture. Combine well, working with heavy wooden spoon. When dough stiffens, incorporate as much of the remaining flour mixture as you can using your clean hands. Shape dough into a smooth ball and place into a large oiled bowl. Cover well with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
This dough is very rich and can be used to make the most wonderful Danish.

NEXT DAY:

TO MAKE A DANISH BUTTER RING:
Grease a round cake pan. Take a portion of dough, using very little flour, roll out into a rectangle about 18x4-inches.
Slice into 3 equal ropes, braid them together and lay that braid in a ring in a round, greased cake pan. Pinch together cut edges. (It sound difficult, but you will get the hang of it.) Cover and let rise.
Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until golden.

TO MAKE FILLED DANISH:
Grease a baking sheet. Take a portion of dough, roll out and cut into squares.
Use your favorite filling (I use Solo - I will enter a cheese filling recipe into website too). Smear a diagonal serving of filling and seal on the diagonal with milk moistened corners. Place on prepared baking sheets and let rise until puffy.
Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until golden.

GLAZE:
This dough tastes wonderful if you drizzle a glaze on the warm rolls. Then sprinkle with sliced almonds. Make glaze of Confectioner's sugar, vanilla and milk.

The Forbidden Fruit

2012-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

It was my turn to bring dessert to last night's bookclub. Since we were reviewing The Fortunate Fall, Dawn suggested I use apples. I thought about it but had the ingredients for this instead (oh and by the way, the once-18-oz pkg of refrigerate chocolate chip cookie dough is now only 16 oz so make a smaller circle or whip up a small batch of your own).

1 pkg refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
2 squares (1 ounce each) white chocolate for baking
2 T milk
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup thawed, frozen whipped topping
12-16 strawberries, cut in half
1 can mandarin orange segments, well drained
some grapes halved (opt, i used)
peanuts (opt, i used)
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 t. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Shape cookie dough into a ball and place in center of a round stone (or whatever you have). Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 12" circle, about 1/4" thick. Bake 12-15 minutes or til edges are set. Cookie will be soft. Do not overbake. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from the stone; cool completely on baking stone (or surface of what you used).

Place white chocolate and milk in small bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute; stir til chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Microwave an additional 10-20 seconds if necessary. Cool slightly.

In another larger bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture;mix until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cookie.

Arrange strawberries and mandarin oranges over cream cheese mixture. Place chocolate morsels and vegetable oil in microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 30 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Cut into wedges

Yield: 16 servings...thanks and credit given to Pampered Chef

Chocolate Orange Peel

2012-01-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

When I was in Provo, UT...there was Sweet's Candy and my favorite was a chocolate covered orange stick. I mean I REALLY loved that. It's truly about the only candy of theirs that I did love. Now I gather they only make it maybe during the holidays. So I was delighted to discover the following recipe and submit it for your sweet enjoyment.

Peel 3 oranges. Cut the rind into strips and boil in water for 15 minutes, then drain and rinse.

Simmer 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water. Add the peel and cook until soft, at least 45 minutes ( Mine went for 1 hour).

Drain and toss in sugar. Transfer to a rack to dry for about 8 hours.

Dip in melted chocolate of your choice. Allow to harden...and eat.

Scones...

2011-10-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last night's Halloween Party was a HIT! And...why do we wait so long between making these puppies??

Scones...German Scones...the Hatch Batch version

2 T. yeast
1/2 c warm warm water ... dissolve and add 1 t. sugar

In large bowl, pour 1 c. boiling water over 1/2 c. butter crisco, 1/2 c. sugar. Stir to melt. Add 2 t. salt, 3 beaten eggs, 2 c. flour.

Beat till smooth. Stir in 2 1/2 c. flour.

Let rise 1 hour. Stir down. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Roll out 1/4 of dough into 8x12. Cut into 2 inch squares. Fry a few at a time in deep oil--350 degrees 1 min/side. Drain.

Serve warm with jam, honey, xxx sugar, butter, peanut butter. Store unused dough in fridge.

Contributor's notes: Remember this makes A LOT of scones. A double batch fed..what...30 party-goers last night? With enough for probably 10 more revelers! The impromptu party grew pretty quickly. haha. And who can pass up hot fresh scones?? My personal favorite concoction: peanut butter, xxx sugar and honey. Also, I just scoop up a hunk of dough, roll it out thin. Then, cut into strips...then cut into squares/rectangles.

Apple Crisp

2011-10-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

I made this for our Friday Night party two weeks ago. Served with ice cream while hot, it was a hit!

For a large group, double the topping and fill 9x13 with peeled/sliced apples.

4 c. sliced apples (4 med)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. oats
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/3 c. margarine

Place applies in pie pan. Bake 375 degrees for 30 mins. (My 9x13 pan took a little longer.)

Dawn's Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-09-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Mix together:
1/2 c. butter...real butter
1/2 c. shortening
Add 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar and mix again.
Then add 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 eggs. Mix.

Then add 2 1/2 cups of flour sometimes more. 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt and mix again.

Try some of the dough...isn't it yummy?

Add 2 cups. semi sweet chocolate chips. Try more dough...delicious.

Scoop out onto a tray. Bake 400 degrees for 8 mins. At least that is how it works for our oven!

Enjoy. Pass out to all the neighborhood kids so you can make more in 4 days!

Addendum: For a festive cookie, try Adrienne Dial's trick. Chop Andes mints into 1/8th instead of chocolate chips. We used 54 pieces which equaled nearly 2 cups. Yummy!!

Classic Chicken Pot Pie

2011-08-25T18:26:00.001-07:00

the BEST pot pie...from Carol Marshall

		Crust 2 crusts for 9" pie
		Filling
1/3	cup	margarine or butter
1/3	cup	chopped onions
1/3	cup	all-purpose flour
1/2	teaspoon	salt

1/4	teaspoon	pepper
1-1/2	cup	chicken broth
2/3	cup	milk
2-1/2 to 3	cups	shredded cooked chicken or turkey
2	cups	frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1	Heat oven to 425°. Prepare pie crust and place 1 crust in the bottom of a 9" pie pan.
2	Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, cook 2 minutes or until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking an dstirring until bubbly and thickened.
3	Add chicken and mixed vegetables. Mix well. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust and sel edges and flur Cut slits in top crust
4	Bake at 425° for 30-40 minute or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Classic Chicken Pot Pie

2011-08-25T13:59:00.001-07:00

the BEST pot pie...from Carol Marshall

		Crust 2 crusts for 9" pie
		Filling
1/3	cup	margarine or butter
1/3	cup	chopped onions
1/3	cup	all-purpose flour
1/2	teaspoon	salt

1/4	teaspoon	pepper
1-1/2	cup	chicken broth
2/3	cup	milk
2-1/2 to 3	cups	shredded cooked chicken or turkey
2	cups	frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1	Heat oven to 425°. Prepare pie crust and place 1 crust in the bottom of a 9" pie pan.
2	Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, cook 2 minutes or until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking an dstirring until bubbly and thickened.
3	Add chicken and mixed vegetables. Mix well. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust and sel edges and flur Cut slits in top crust
4	Bake at 425° for 30-40 minute or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Carolina Style BBQ Chix

2011-08-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

from the FoodNetwork Mag. I had a pile of these that I had thought I'd throw away after collecting the recipes I wanted (ie...ripping them out of the mag). But Robert saw them, for the first time and said...hey, we need to keep these. So I set out 8 meals to make in order, shopped and this was first. and it was so delicious. Guess he's right...I'll keep the mags as cookbooks (his words) and we can have some fun meals.

½ cup yellow mustard

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 T mustard powder

2 t. hot sauce

½ t. Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 T unsalted butter, melted

8 chix…whatever pieces you like.

Vegetable oil, for brushing

Preheat grill to med.

Whisk the yellow mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard powder, hot sauce, Worchestershire sc, ½ t salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Whisk in the butter

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then toss with about 1/3 of the mustard sauce in a large bowl until coated. Let sit at room temp for at least 10 minutes

Brush the grill with veg oil.. Put about ¼ cup of the remaining mustard sauce in a small bowl for basting and reserve the rest for topping. Grill the chicken, covered, basting occasionally with the sauce, until well marked and thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees…10-12 minutes per side.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

2011-07-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago we spent a week with Barlows in PA...and discovered the joys of Browned Buttered Noodles and since then have extended the joy of Browned Buttered Everything..... Then this morning I stumbled upon this recipe...and naturally had to try it. Anything is better with browned butter on it. The dough worked up really well.....Personally, I think it's needs a little icing on the top when it's done. But that's me...all for sweets!

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Recipe found on www.joythebaker.com

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it'll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky. That's just right.

Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. If you're using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned. Set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long. If you can't get the dough to 20-inches long... that's okay. Just roll it as large as the dough will go. Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. It might seem like a lot of sugar. Seriously? Just go for it.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You'll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw. A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto a clean board. Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it's right side up. Serve warm with coffee or tea.

I think this bread is best served the day it's made, but it can also we wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Pink Lemonade (or any other juice) Freezer Pie

2011-07-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

This pie can be made in a deep dish pie pan or a springform pan. We nearly always use a springform pan, either a ten-inch or a nine-inch. (The one in the picture was made with a ten-inch pan.) With a nine-inch springform pan instead of a ten-inch or a deep dish pie pan, you will have a tall, mounded dessert. This pie is made in three parts: a graham cracker crust, a lemonade and cream cheese filling, and a whipped cream topping. If you prefer, you can use a commercial whipped topping or whipped cream from an aerosol can for the topping.

		Crust
1-1/2	cup	graham cracker crumbs
1/4	cup	sugar
4	T	butter
		Filling
1	8 oz	cream cheese, softened

1	14 oz can	sweetened condensed milk
3/4	cup	lemonade concentrate, undiluted
2	T	lemon juice
		food color drops as desired
		Topping
		whipped cream

For the Crust; Mix the crumbs, sugar, and butter in a nine inch pie pan or spring form pan. Mix until the crumbs have absorbed the butter and the mixture is uniform. Press the crumbs across the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Bake for eight to ten minutes at 350 degrees. (If it’s a hot July day, you can choose not to bake the crust. A baked crust holds together better because the heat melts the sugar to help hold the crumbs together.)

For the Filling:

Using the whip attachment and your stand-type mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together on medium high speed until the mixture is smooth. (If you place the sweetened condensed milk in the bowl first, the cream cheese will not stick to the bowl and you will have little need to scrape the sides.) Add the lemonade concentrate and lemon juice and continue beating. Color with red food coloring as desired. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and place it in the freezer.

The topping can be anything you desire. Tint coconut to match if you desire. I was happy with just whipped topping.

Ritz Raspberry Dessert

2011-04-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ritz Raspberry Dessert

3		egg white
1/2	tsp	baking powder
3/4	cup	sugar
14		Ritz crackers, crushed fine
2/3	cup	nuts
1/2	tsp	vanilla

		Topping
1		pkg frozen raspberries
2		egg white
2	Tbs	lemon juice
3/4	cup	sugar

1	Beat egg whites, add baking powder and beat until stiff. Grandually add sugar and vanilla. Fold in crackers and nuts. Put in well greased 10" pie plate or spread on greased pizza pan. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes. Do not overbake. 30 minutes exactly. Otherwise it will be too hard.
2	Mix the topping on low speed. and then change to high speed for not less than 15 minutes.
3	Fold in 1 pt cool whip. Cover. Keep frozen til serving.
4	At serving time, cut individual pieces of Ritz Pie, top with raspberry mixture.

Hash Brown Potato and Dill Soup

2011-02-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

I got this from Char Needs, who brought it to our General RS Women's Conference last September. Here is what she emailed me this week. But below are my thoughts and changes.

4 t. chicken bouillon granules
4 c. hot water
2 T. dehydrated onion
1/2 c chopped celery
2 8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. diced ham
1 2 lb. frozen hash brown potatoes
1 T. fresh dill, chopped

Dissolve bouillon granules in hot water. Add onion, celery and potatoes; cook on a low boil until potatoes are tender, but not mushy. Melt the cream cheese in the microwave, then add it to the soup mixture along with the ham and dill. Heat through and enjoy. (One cup milk may be added if you want the soup less thick).

From Dawn: I used dried dill weed...and only 1 tsp plus a few shakes. I read online that when converting fresh herbs to dried, the equation is 1Tbl. converts to 1 tsp. I just minced up some fresh onions b/c I didn't have any dried onions. Next time I make this, I'm going to peel and grate potatoes. And, I'm going to see about making this a little different. Maybe something like one 8 oz cream cheese plus some rue...I don't know. I'll post updates as we experiment.

texas roadhouse rolls

2011-02-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

Those rolls are amazing. When we went with Pam/Ken a few weeks ago, pam and i hung around the baker as she was rolling out the dough. We tried to get a few hints of out her. Today I tried the following recipe. It was good. It was close. It was not exact. I wonder if there ever is an exact clone. But I will try it again. Personally, I don't think the restaurant would be able to use this much egg..but who knows. As always the trick is in not rushing the rise. Roll out and let rest. Then use your pizza cutter to cut the rolls. I think the first pan, which was a cold stone, worked best. So I transferred the last batch to the now cooled stone and they were as good as the first.

Texas Roadhouse ® Sweet Yeast Rolls

.
1/2 solid cake of yeast or 1 pkg of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 quarts all purpose flour= 8 cups

2 TBS melted butter
2 whole eggs
2 tsp salt

Directions:
Soften yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar. Scald milk; cool to lukewarm. Add yeast, sugar and honey and enough flour to make medium batter. Beat thoroughly. Let stand until light and foamy. Add melted butter (which has been cooled), eggs, and salt. Beat well. Add enough flour to form soft dough. Sprinkle small amount of flour on counter and let dough rest. Meanwhile, clean and dry bowl; grease clean surface of bowl. Knead dough until smooth and satiny. Put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. Cover, let rise in warm place until double in bulk. Punch down. Turn out on floured board. Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes. Shape dough into desired forms. Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool on rack. Makes 5 to 6 dozen.

***** ***** *****
I made the butter too....but I wasn't too fond of the way it all separated as it sat. Personally, I am going to try the butter and brown sugar next time. Or a combination of several of these ingredients.

Like Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Butter

1/2 cup Butter

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 cup Honey

1 tsp Cinnamon

Blend all ingredients at room temp.

sophia's chocolate chip pretzel bars

2011-02-11T17:26:00.001-08:00

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bar Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks of butter, softened
1-cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 – 12 ounce bag milk chocolate chips
1 ½ cups mini pretzels, crushed

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed for about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chips and pretzels.Spread the batter in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. The center will still be a little gooey. Cool completely. Cut into squares and serve. Enjoy!

Oriental Pepper Steak

2011-02-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

How on earth can this one not be here?? A HUGE favorite in my house. I don't even use a recipe for this...haha. But this is the way it was originally made...

1 lb. beef strips for stirfry
Coat meat: 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper (Lately, I add a few dashes of garlic powder too.)

Melt 4 T margarine in electric skillet. Brown meat and sautee 1 large onion, sliced thin.

Add:
3/4 c. water or cranberry juice
15 oz tomato sauce
3 T sweet pepper jelly (I found jellies at Krogers. Yes, I stock pile them for me and mom! haha)
3 T hot pepper jelly

Stir, cover, simmer gently, breaking up jellies for 15 mins.

Cut into stirps:
1 med. green pepper
1/2 large red pepper. Add during last 15 minutes of cookies.

Serve over rice. (We love peas and pears with this meal as well!)

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 18 cookies (But I got 22 cookies out of it. Better double it. This is not enough for 7 kids and 3 adults at a Friday Night party!)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375ºF (175ºC).

Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment.....definitely a must!

Cream butter and sugars until creamy, then add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add Peanut butter and continue to beat until combined.

Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine.

Add chips and stir again.

Drop small spoonfuls of dough onto parchment (you should get a dozen per sheet).

Bake 12 minutes or until just golden.

Remove from oven and allow to rest on the sheet 1 minute before removing with a spatula.

SMS/Marissa's conference cake

2011-01-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

This morning I made Marissa's Conference Cake. She learned how to at Sheffield Middle School and it is by far my favorite. Hers turns out perfectly everytime...it's taken me longer but I finally got it. Today Robert said, there's one piece left, do you want it? I said, Nah, you can have it. When he walked back to the breakfast table I had to chuckle...this 'one piece left' was actually 1/4 of the 8" pan. But he is correct...it's best fresh and warm.

1 cup flour
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk

topping
2 T margarine/butter,melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T flour
1/2 t. cinnamon

Sift the dry ingredients together

Add the beaten egg and the milk and mix til just blended

Spray an 8" round pan with Pam and spread in the batter.

Drizzle the top of the batter with the melted butter.

Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of the melted butter

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes til the center is done

Baked Ziti

2011-01-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Teri's blog, here's a meal you will love! We did! it was wonderful. The Italian sausage was a great change but the best part might have been the tomatoes dipped in olive oil.

Ingredients:
2 pkgs Italian Sweet Sausage (NOT links)
16 oz. box of rigatoni pasta, cooked, but not too soft
3 jars of 10oz. pasta sauce. Personally, I use Ragu with roasted garlic
1 1/4 cup water
Fresh Basil- My thoughts is, if the basil is just going to go bad in the fridge, then use the entire package. If not, then add to your liking
Fresh Garlic- Again, I used 3 cloves because I LOVE garlic, but you may not, so use what you want
1 cup fresh shredded parmesan (bagged or block)
1/2 tsp black pepper
Frozen Garlic Bread- I used the 10pc Toasted Garlic Bread
12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium Roma tomatoes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F.

Prepare sausage according to package directions.

In a large bowl, mix cooked sausage, cooked pasta, pasta sauce, water, chopped basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Mix gently. Place mixture into 9x13 pan.

Place the slices of garlic bread on top of the mixture and cover with mozzarella cheese. Dip the tomatoes in the olive oil and place on each of the pieces of garlic bread. I also put some dried basil on top for decor.

Baked uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through. Let stand ten minutes to help set before slicing and serving. Personally, I just turned the oven off at 30 min and let bake another 10.

SOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!

Red Lobster Biscuits

2011-01-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Again...Hatch Batch favorite. Qucik to do after church ..when you have a roast in the crock pot! Perfect for soups.

60 Servings...for a big gathering!
1 t. garlic salt of powder
1T parsley flakes
1t. italian seasonings
5 lbs. Bisquick
44 oz. cold water
1 lb sharp chddar cheese, grated
1/2 c. butter

Preheat 450 degrees. Mix bisquick, water, cheese. Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. After baking, brush on melted butter with all seasonings mixed in. Serve hot.

For smaller batch: 12 biscuits
2. c. Bisquick
1/2 c. cold water
3/4 c. gratred cheddar
1 egg
Melt some butter and sprinkle above seasonings into it before brushing it onto the right out oven biscuits.

**May also substitute soda water or gingerale for water.

Pull Aparts

2011-01-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how you make some recipe for ages, get tired of it...then stop making it. Then, more ages pass...you never make it...Granny & Papa come to visit. Granny, an extrodinary baker, bakes said recipe (aka PULL APARTS). And the family goes wild!! haha

So, I made batch to go along with our vegetable beef soup. But then ate a few. Then thought, "Since we invited two kids for dinner, it only makes sense for me to invite the parents as well." So amid the afternoon craziness, I made another batch. Although Dads were still at work, my friend and I had an enjoyable dinner with 5 kids...all practicing manners. (Adelle supplied the dessert...a sucker tree!)

Pull Aparts...b/c I can't believe they aren't on here yet!

1 pkg yeast in 1 1/2 cups water
2 T sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 c. flour

Mix and Knead. Let it Rise. . Melt 1/2 c. margarind in 9 x 13 pan. Roll out dough to fit pan. Flip flop dough in margaine. Score dough. Sprinke with parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Rise again. Bake 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

PC Chocolate Chip Sensation

2010-12-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

PC Says: This decadent dessert pizza has been a Kitchen Show favorite for years. However, I don't ever remember having it at a show but tonight I think we will be having it again.

1 18 oz package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 pint (2 cups) cold half and half
1 3.9 oz Chocolate Instant pudding and pie filling
1/4 cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350. Shape cookie dough into a ball in center of large round stone. using lightly floured roller, roll out dough to 12" circle, about 1/4" thick. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edge is set. Cookie will be soft. Do not overbake. Cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from stone; cool completely on stone.

2. In small bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until well blended; set aside. Pour half and half into bowl; add pudding mix and whisk 2 minutes using whisk. Let stand 5 minutes until thickened.

3. Spread cream cheese mixture over thoroughly cooled cookie to within 1/2" of edge. Spread pudding over cream cheese. Sprinkle with nuts.

Cut into wedges. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Yield: 16 servings.

the Best SOFT/LIGHT Dinner Rolls

2010-12-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups water at 105 to 110 degrees
4 cups bread flour, divided
1 7-gram packet instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baker’s dry milk
1 teaspoon dough conditioner (optional)

Directions

Heat the butter until it is almost melted and set it aside.
Grease the inside of 10x15-inch pan or a large baking sheet, including the rims.
Measure the water. Use an insta-read thermometer to get the temperature right.
Place two cups of the bread flour and the yeast in the bowl of your stand-type mixer equipped with a dough hook. Turn the mixer on for a couple of bursts to disperse the yeast. Add the water and mix for 30 to 60 seconds.
In another bowl, mix the rest of the flour with the salt, sugar, dry milk, and dough conditioner. Add this mixture to
the wet mixture along with the melted butter.
Knead with the dough hook on medium speed for four minutes or until the gluten is well-developed.
Grease a large mixing bowl. Turn the dough out into the large mixing bowl and turn once to grease both sides of the dough ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise. It should double in size in about 45 minutes. If it has not, let it rest longer.
Divide the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter. Place the balls on the greased pan about 1/2 inch apart. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit again to rise. They should double in size in about 45 minutes. Let them rise until they are very puffy. If they start to blister, poke the blisters with a toothpick and place the rolls in the oven.
Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the tops are browned and the internal temperature is at least 190 degrees. Remove them from the oven. After a few minutes, remove the rolls from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

Dennis is the founder and general manager of The Prepared Pantry www.preparedpantry.com in Rigby, Idaho, a full-line kitchen store and online retailer of food, baking mixes and ingredients, and kitchen tools. This came from Meridian Magazine, Thanksgiving 2010.

I made these for Thanksgiving and they were the best. Made them 2 other times and altho they were fine, they weren't anywhere near as fine as the first time. I think the comment that all times are estimates is accurate. I'd say just leave the dough to rise til it rises as described.

TIPS GIVEN

The #1 tip for making light dinner rolls

Patience. Let them rise. Forget about the time in the recipe. Time doesn’t matter; how much they have risen does. When you think they have risen enough, let them rise some more. Let them rise all the way to the point when they are about to blister. They should look puffy, full of air, and be soft to the touch. An indentation should slowly spring back if at all. It is possible to let bread rise too much but people usually don't.

The #2 tip for making light dinner rolls

Great flour. It has to be high protein—at least 10.5% and 11% is better. But there is a lot of difference in flour. Find one that works well for you in your kitchen and stick with it.

There is almost a cult-like following for General Mills Harvest King. We use it in almost all of our bread mixes. It’s hard to find in grocery stores but check; it’s also sold as Better for Bread Flour. (We can sell you a bag of Harvest King but the shipping is a little painful.)

And keep your bag closed up. Your great flour won’t remain great if it’s exposed to the air. Especially in the West, it dries out. We store opened bags in large, food-grade plastic bags closed with a twist tie.

The #3 tip for making light dinner rolls

Use a good dough conditioner. It should give you 10 to 15% more rise plus a nicer texture.

Dough conditioners are proprietary products and every producer’s will be a little different. The one we use (and sell) enhances the gluten structure with longer strands to create a better structure that will capture more gas and make your rolls lighter. It also lowers the pH in the dough. Yeast likes a slightly acidic environment. (Did you ever wonder why our grandparents added a tablespoon of lemon juice to their dough? It too lowered the pH.)

The #4 tip for making light dinner rolls

Use a thermometer. It’s hard to tell when your rolls are done just right by looking at them. And the time in recipe is a rough estimate. Use an insta-read thermometer and stick the probe through a crease to the center of a roll. The temperature should read 195 degrees.

There you have it. If you would like to learn more about baking ingredients, download our free “Baking Ingredients and How they Work.” The Prepared Pantry sells ingredients and tools for bread bakers.

Beefy Vegetable Soup/Stew

2010-12-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

from Southern Living cookbook, pg. 457

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 quarts water
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 10-oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 28-0z can tomatoes, undrained and chopped ( or diced tomatoes)
1 15-ox can tomato sauce with tomato bits
1-1/2 T beef-flavored bouillon granules
1-1/2 t. salt
2 t. pepper

Brown ground beef in large Dutch oven, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and set aside.

Melt butter in same dutch oven' add flour and cook over low heat 3-5 minutes or until a smooth paste forms. Gradually add water, stirring constantly; cook over medium heat until bubbly, stirrign occasionally.

Add ground beef and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and summer, uncovered, for 1 hours. Yield: 13 cups.

I also always add fine egg noodles (UNCOOKED)to give it move of a stew consistency. I toss in about a half bag, stir it around and the juices cause the noodles to cook.

Italian "Scallion" Salad

2010-12-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks to BubbleCrumb for this recipe. This is the salad we had on Christmas Day and it was such a hit we had to remake it 2 days later. I varied the ingredients according to tastes and what I had on hand but basically it's the same as follows:

6 cups torn lettuce leaves

8 ounces hard salami, julienned

6 ounces provolone cheese, julienned

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 small red onion, diced

1 (6 ounce) can pitted ripe olives ,

drained
2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained

4 scallion stalks, minced (green onion)

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 pepperoncini

Start with the dressing. Mix the tomato sauce, oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, oregano, garlic power and pepper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Arrange the salad:
Begin with the greens (red leaf mixed with romaine makes it look pretty and festive).
Top with half the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Next layer on the Italian salami, sliced into strips.
Top this with the sliced provolone.
Add the tomatoes.
Then the diced red onions.
Black olives...whole if you have picky eaters or sliced if all enjoy this.
Now 4 diced scallions.
You can add the artichokes if you all enjoy it.
I used the pepperoncini rings.

Drizzle with the dressing 5 minutes before serving.

Cheeseburger Casserole

2010-12-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

Daphne invited Robert and me to her home for lunch today and surprised us with quite a fast and very tasty casserole.

2 pounds ground beef
1 can Campbell's Golden Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 bag frozen crinkle cut french fries.
Toppings include: catsup, mustard, pickles chopped, onions diced, tomatoes chopped.

Brown the ground beef, drain. Place in a square baking pan.

mix the 2 soups and pour over the ground beef.

layer on the crinkle cut french fries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

Serve with whatever toppings you might add to a regular Cheeseburger.

PS...made this for New Year Eve's dinner and took the messy pix above. Hank commented that it was interesting how much this tastes just like a casserole.

Baked Potato Soup

2010-12-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

1 small red pepper (I don’t add this)
1 pkg. (10oz) frozen broccoli
4 cups chicken broth (I use water + boullion cubes)
3 ½ lbs of potatoes, chopped
1/3 c. half & half
1/3 c. sour cream
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 ¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
4 green onions, chopped
4 slices of bacon (or more!!) crumbled
Shredded cheese

Instructions

1. Combine potatoes, peppers, broccoli with broth for 3 hours on high or 6 hrs on low in crock pot.
2. When soup is almost done, mix half and half, sour cream, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Add in mixture to crock pot along with green onions, let it cook a little longer
4. Sprinkle with bacon, cheese and sour cream

Pumpkin Crisp

2010-12-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Crisp

From: All Recipes.com

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 (18.5oz) package of yellow cake mix

1 egg

1/2 c. butter melted

1 (29 oz) can of pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. white sugar

2/3 c. evaporated milk

3/4 c. white sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. old fashioned oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1 cup of cake mix in a small bowl (for the topping!). Combine remaining cake mix, 1 egg and 1/2 c. melted butter and pat into the bottom on a greased 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, 2 eggs, spices and 1/2 c. sugar and pour mixture over cake batter.

3. With the 1 cup of cake mix, add 3/4 cup of sugar and the oats with the softened butter until it becomes crumbly. Pour over the pumpkin mixture.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Yum! A great substitute for pumpkin pie for this holiday season.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2010-11-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookie

2/3 c. butter or margarine softened

2/3 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 six oz. package of Craisins

2/3 c. white chocolate chunks...or chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer to beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. The recipe says to combine oats, flour, baking soad and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. (I simply dumped all the dry ingredients into the wet and it turned out fabulous.) Stir in Craisings and white chocolate. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. (Mine took just over 6 minutes. I took them out when they looked just barely done if not under done...PERFECT.) Cool on wire rack. Makes 2 1/2 dozen. (Yep...I got that many cookies!)

For more information on my 2011 New Year's Resolution, head on over to my personal bloggaroo!

2010 Holiday RS Soiree Recipes---held at 3830

2010-11-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

Regina Cole's Chicken Dip
2 8oz blocks of cream cheese
1 c. Ranch dressing
2 - 12.5oz cans cooked chicken
2 c. cheddar cheese.
3/4 c. Buffalo Hot wing Sauce
Combine ingredients and place in crock pot on low until melted and slightly bubbly....takes about an hour.

Jan Wolf's Cucumber Sandwiches
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 .7 package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1-2 cucumbers

Cream together the cream cheese, mayonnaise and salad dressing mix. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or preferably over night. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto slices of bread and top with a sliced cucumber.

Chewy Sugar cookies - 2 dozen

2010-11-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

I made these 2 weeks ago. Straight from Cook's Illustrated magazine. Excellent cookies. But here's what makes it so:

Dynamic Duo: Baking Powder + Baking Soda
Many cookie recipes contain both baking soda and baking powder. Since each is a leavening agent, why do you need both? The answer is that the two work n tandem to create cookies that not only rise--but spread--to the right degree. Plus in this recipe, baking soda has one more purely aesthetic effect: It creates cookies with an appealingly crackly top.
Baking powder is responsible for the lift, since it is engineered to produce most of its gas after the cookies go into the oven, where the dough sets before these bubbles can burst.
But too much lift can mean cookies that turn out humped. Here's where baking soda comes in: As long as there's an acidic ingredient in the dough for it to reach with, a small amount of baking soda can even things out. Baking soda raises the pH of dough, weakening gluten. Weaker gluten means less structure and cookies that spread, Goodbye, Humped shapes.
As for the crackly tops, baking soda reacts immediately in the wet dough to produce large bubbles of carbon dioxide that can't all be contained by the weakened dough Before the cookies can set in the oven, the bubbles rise to the top and bust, leaving fissures in their wake
The bottom line: For a baker who likes her cookies just so, the use of both baking powder an baking soda can be a potent combo.

2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. table salt
1-1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
2 ounces cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces
6 T. unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 T. milk
2 t. vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour,baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Place 1-1/2 cups sugar and cream cheese in large bowl. Place remaining 1/3 cup sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and whisk to combine (some small lumps of cream cheese will remain but will smooth out later). Whisk in oil until incorporated. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; continue to whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until soft homogeneous dough forms.

3. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces, about 2 T. each. Use hands, roll dough into balls. Working in batches, roll balls in reserved sugar to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 12 dough balls per sheet. Using bottom of drinking glass, flatten dough balls until 2" in diameter. Sprinkle tops evenly with 4 t. sugar remaining in shall dish, discarding any remaining sugar.

4. Bake 1 tray at a time, until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 11-13 minutes, rotating tray after 7 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

OTHER WORLDLY STICKY BUNS

2010-11-02T02:50:00.000-07:00

You guys are gonna so want this recipe. It was superb. Be aware that you will need 5 hours to make this so plan it for a day when you are going to be home. And when it says it's gonna be sticky, it is....so you will be adding more flour as you knead by hand...just make sure you keep it soft. And allow it to rise the 2.5 hours initially. and if you don't want to make royal icing, you can just make the normal one and pour it on the warm rolls after baking. Holy Moly...this is other worldly.

OTHER WORLDLY STICKY BUNS W/ICING..ANNE THORNTON of Desserts First…on .the FoodNetwork

Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dry nonfat milk powder
1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 large eggs
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

Glaze:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans, plus 1/4 cup, melted
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Royal Icing, r ecipe follows

Directions

Dough: In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup warm water, yeast, and pinch of sugar. Allow it to stand until foamy, about 8 minutes. Using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment or an electric mixer, mix the remaining sugar, butter, milk powder, and salt until well blended. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the remaining 1 cup of warm water, and the yeast mixture, then 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time. Using a rubber spatula, mix in another 1 cup of flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently (dough will be soft and sticky). Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour onto a work surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes.

Butter a large bowl, add the dough, and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm area until doubled, about 2 1/2 hours.

Glaze: Butter 2 (10-inch) round cake pans with 2-inch high sides. Beat the brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, honey, corn syrup, and water in a medium bowl to blend. Spread half of the glaze in the bottom of each prepared pan. Equally divide the pecans into each pan.

Punch the dough down and divide it in half. Roll each piece of dough out on a floured work surface to a 12 by 10-inch rectangle. Brush any excess flour off the dough. In a small bowl mix the sugar, and cinnamon. Brush the melted butter over the dough rectangles and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar, dividing equally. Starting at 1 long side, tightly roll up each rectangle into a log. Cut each log into 12 rounds. Arrange the 12 rounds, cut side down, in each prepared pan, spacing evenly. Cover with plastic wrap. At this point the buns can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Let the buns rise in a warm area until almost doubled, about 1 hour (or 1 hour 25 minutes if refrigerated).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake the buns until deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Run a small knife around the pan sides to loosen the sticky buns. Turn the hot buns out onto a platter. Cool about 30 minutes and then drizzle with royal icing.

Royal Icing:

*2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until they are combined. Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container. Royal icing hardens when it is exposed to air.

an apple pie just for Robert and me

2010-09-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Easy Apple Pie Foldover
When you don't want to bake a big pie, make a four-serving foldover that's every bit as scrumptious!
Prep Time: 25 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr 15 Min
Makes: 4
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (1 1/2 medium)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

* In 2-quart saucepan, mix apples, brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of the water and the lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender.
* In small bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar and salt. Gradually stir into apple mixture, cooking and stirring until mixture thickens. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cool 15 minutes.
* Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Let pie crust pouch stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
* Remove pie crust from pouch; unroll crust on ungreased cookie sheet. Spoon cooled fruit mixture evenly onto half of crust to within 1/2 inch of edge.
* In small bowl, beat egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush over edge of crust. Fold untopped half of crust over apple mixture; firmly press edge to seal. Flute edge; cut small slits in several places in top crust. Brush top with remaining egg mixture.
* Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm or cool.

Stuffed Peppers

2010-09-01T09:21:00.001-07:00

6 medium bell peppers
2 cups cooked rice
1 lb. browned ground beef
1 onion chopped fine
1 can sloppy Joe mix

wash peppers and remove seeds. Cut each pepper into half lengthwise or stuff whole. boil in clear water 5 minutes. Remove and cool. Mix beef, rice and 1/2 can sloppy joe mix. Stuff mixture into each pepper half. Place into baking dish. Any remaining rice mixture can be spooned around the peppers in the dish. Mix remaining 1/2can sloppy joe mix with 1/2 can water. Pour over peppers. Bake for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese for the last minute or two of baking.
Freeze already cooked without any trouble.

Italian Cream Cake With Buttercream Frosting

2010-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Italian Cream Cake Recipe

Ingredients You Will Need:
½ cup shortening

1/2 cup oil (I think you might be able to skip this but I didn't)
½ cup butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk-use real, not lowfat, and definitely not the powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded coconut (or one small can)
1 cup chopped pecans (toasting is optional)
¼ teaspoon cream of tarter

Italian Cream Cake Frosting Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 package of cream cheese (8 ounces)
4 cups powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat the shortening, butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the egg yolks and beat again. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the egg whites and cream of tarter, alternating between the buttermilk and the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, take the egg whites and cream of tarter and blend together. Fold the egg white and cream of tarter mixture into the rest of the ingredients.

Pour the ingredients into a greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool for about ten minutes once finished.

Italian Cream Cake Frosting
Combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixture. Stir in the pecans last. Frost the cake with your homemade icing and sprinkle a few coconut flakes and pecans on top of the cake for decoration.

3 kinds of chocolate chippers

2010-07-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

Brad Rauscher called me tonight to ask about chocolate chip cookies. His were turning out flat and he wanted fluffy. I sent him the following:
The Chewy Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

The Thin Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 ounces milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Combine the egg, milk, and vanilla and bring to room temperature in another bowl.
Cream the butter in the mixer's work bowl, starting on low speed to soften the butter. Add the sugars. Increase the speed, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the egg mixture slowly. Increase the speed and mix until well combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for more even browning.
Remove the cookies from the pans immediately. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

The Puffy Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer's work bowl, and cream until light and fluffy. In the meantime, sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture. Then add vanilla. Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.
With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening and combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool and store in an airtight-container.

Source(s):

FoodNetwork

quick and crunch breaded Pork chops

2010-06-29T16:55:00.001-07:00

1 5 oz		box melba toast, crused coarse OR PANKO BREAD CRUMBS
		salt/pepper
1/2 teaspoon		garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon		onion powder
1/2 teaspoon		paprika
1 teaspoons		minced fresh or 1/2 t. dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon		sugar
6 Tbs		mayonnaise
4		boneless pork chops, 1" thick

1	Heat oven to 425° and adjust rack to middle position
2	prepare crumb coating: mix the crumbsk salt, garlic and onionj powderk paprika, thyme, and sugar in shallow dish. Add 2 T. of mayo and work evenly into crumbs
3	Season and coat chops: Pat chops dry with paper towel and season with salt/pepper. cover chops completelyl with remaining 1/4 cup mayo and dredge thoroughly with crumbs including sides. Press on crumbs to make sure they adnere. Transfer breaded chops to wire rack set on rimmed baking sheet.
4	Bake Pork Chops: Bake chops until coating is golden brown and center of chops register 140° on instant-read thermomenter, 18-22 minutes. Remove chops from oven and let rest on rack until center of chops reach 150°° before serving, 5-10 minutes

Pan Roasted Chicken Breasts with Potatoes (and baby carrots, if desired)

2010-06-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

from The best 30-minute Recipe...cook's illustrated.

4		chicken breasts
		salt and ground black pepper
6 tbs		olive oil
1-1/2 pounds		red potatoes, cut into 1" wedges (I added baby carrots)
2 Tbs		fresh lemon juice
1 clove		garlic
1 teaspoon		minced fresh thyme
pinch		red pepper flakes

1	Heat oven to 450°. adjust rack to the lowest position.
2	season and brown chicken; Pat chicken dry with paper towels and seasonj with salt and poepper. Heat 1 T of oil in 12" nonstick skillet over med-hi heat til just smoking. Brown chicken well 5 minutes. While chicken browns cut up the potatoes
3	microwave potatoes: meanwhile toss the potatoes with 1 T oil, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper in microwave-safe bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high until potatoes begin to soften, 5-7 minutes, shaking bowl (without removing plastic) to toss potatoes halfway through
4	Bake chicken: transfer chicken, to baking dish and bake until thickest part registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermoments, 15-20 minutes.
5	Brown Potatoes: While chicken bakes, pour off any grease ijn skillet, add 1 T of oil, and return to midium heat until shimmering. Drain microwaved potatoes, then add to skillet and cook, stirring occasionaloly, until golden brown and tender, about 10 minutes.
6	Make Drizzling Oil: Whisk remaining 3 T. oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes together. Drizzle oil over chicken and potatoes before serving.

Cooking Tips

Preheat oven before assembling your ingredients. If the split breasts are of different sizes, check the smaller ones a few minutes early to see if they are cooking more quickly, and remove them from the oven if they are done.

Philly Steak Wraps

2010-06-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

I was hankering for soemthing new today. As luck would have it, this simple recipe has ingredients that I buy regularly. YUMMY!

1 T beef bouillion granules
1/2 c. water
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/8 t ground black pepper
1 boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick (1 pound)
1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 strips
1 small onion cut into 1/3 inch slices
veggie oil
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
4 (9-10 inch) flour totillas

1. Combine the boulliuon granules, water, garlic, black pepper in a bowl. Marinade the steak in it for 1-3 hours in the refridgerator, turning occasionally.

2. Remove steak from marinade and cool in the grill.

3. Put some veggie oil into a pan and cook up the veggies on the stove top.

4. Slice the cooked beef into thing slices.

For each wrap, sprinkle cheese onto the tortilla. Add peppers, onions, beef. Fold over. Place in hot, oiled pan over medium high heat. Brown 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.

This was a pampered chef recipe, but I simplified it for the blog.

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

2010-06-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

So.
I will love you forever, Bisquick, but lately I've been straying a bit. I recently found an awesome recipe for coffee cake from scratch, which I will not post here because it hurts too much that Hank loves it more than Bisquick Conference cake. Then I came across this recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes and went for it because I was out of Bisquick, and because the photo looked good and THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Pouffy, fluffy little clouds of morning joy. Obviously, a few more steps are involved in making these than you'd ever have when making Bisquick pancakes, but even I, a very devoted and loyal follower of that certain Bisquicky-ness you can't get anywhere else, really loved this recipe. Oh yeah. We got our hands on some blueberries today and are going to try these out again in the near future, this time with blueberries. This concludes my dissertation.

Let the games begin!

2 cups All-purpose Flour
¼ cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Salt
2 cups Buttermilk
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 whole Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
¼ cups Milk (I used water. I'm pretty sure there's no need for buttermilk AND milk)

Preparation Instructions

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt butter and separate eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Then mix in the butter, yolks, and vanilla with the whisk. Then stir in the buttermilk.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are just combined. Add milk as needed until batter reaches desired consistency.

Pour batter onto a hot buttered griddle using approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Flip when bubbles begin to form on top.

(Got this recipe off of tastykitchen)

Peggy's Linguini Salad

2010-06-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

This was served by Peggy at Carol and Al's 50th Anniversary party and it was so good. Apparently Peggy brings this to all the potlucks and is always asked for the recipe. And because there is never anything left, she always leaves a small bowl at home for her husband and herself.

1 pound linguini
Chopped celery
chopped green peppers
sliced green onions
2 large, diced tomatoes
Good Seasons Zesty Italian (dry Packet but mix as directions say with oil/vinegar)
Salad Supreme by McCormick...to taste

Cook the linguini and rinse.

Add the rest and toss.

Chill and serve.

Creamy Chicken-Broccoli Bake

2010-06-11T15:15:00.001-07:00

We had this tonight...quick and very good.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
6 ounces dried medium noodles
3/4 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 of a medium red sweet pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10-3/4-ounce can reduced-fat, reduced-sodium, condensed cream of broccoli or cream of chicken soup
1 8-ounce container fat-free dairy sour cream
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Directions

1. Coat a 13x9x2-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Cook noodles according to package directions, except omit salt or oil. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain.

3. Coat a large skillet with more cooking spray. Add the chicken. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Transfer the mixture from the skillet to a large mixing bowl.

4. Add mushrooms, green onions, red pepper, broth, and garlic to skillet. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

5. Transfer to large bowl with chicken. Add soup, sour cream, mustard, and pepper to chicken mixture. Gently stir in the noodles and broccoli.

6. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Mix bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over noodles. Cover with foil. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more or until heated through. Makes 8 servings.

Beefy Chili Dogs

2010-06-10T14:38:00.001-07:00

I happen to love hot dogs so tonight we had them with this topping...and man! was it good.
12 ounces ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 4-ounce can diced green chili peppers- I cut up green and red peppers
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 frankfurters
10 frankfurter buns, split and toasted
Shredded cheddar cheese
Finely chopped onion
Yellow mustard

Directions

1. For meat sauce: In a large skillet, cook ground beef, 1 cup chopped onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, chili peppers, chili powder, 1 tablespoon mustard, sugar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, celery seeds, salt and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

2. Add frankfurters to skillet. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes more or until frankfurters are heated through. Remove frankfurters from meat sauce.Robert grilled the dogs.

3. To serve, place frankfurters in split buns. Top each with about 1/4 cup of the meat sauce. Serve with cheddar cheese and additional onion and mustard. Makes 10 servings.

Slow Cooker Directions: Brown ground beef mixture as above; drain off fat. Transfer mixture to a 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Add the remaining sauce ingredients. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 2 hours or low-heat setting for 4 hours. Add the frankfurters to the slow cooker. Cover tightly; cook 30 minutes more or until frankfurters are hot. Serve as above or turn heat to low or warm and let stand up to 1 hour.

Garden Potato Salad

2010-06-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I made the following recipe yesterday for our Memorial Day Linner. And it turned out exactly as the picture that accompanied the recipe in the magazine...food network mag. I didn't have all the spices to boil the potatoes with but I made do by improvising.

Ingredients

1 lemon
5 or 6 sprigs fresh parsley, plus 2 tablespoons chopped leaves
2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
Kosher salt
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon whole-grain or dijon mustard
3 scallions, minced, whites and greens separated
Freshly ground pepper
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 small Kirby cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Directions

Peel a 2-inch-long strip of zest from the lemon; tie into a bundle with the parsley and thyme sprigs and bay leaf using kitchen twine. Put in a saucepan with the garlic, potatoes, 2 tablespoons salt and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook until the potatoes are tender and the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 more minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water, then drain the vegetables and discard the herb bundle. Let cool.

Meanwhile, finely grate 2 teaspoons lemon zest and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice into a large bowl. Whisk in the yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, scallion whites, chopped parsley, reserved cooking water, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and cucumber to the dressing and toss. Chill about 4 hours. Top with the scallion greens.

Alton's Brown Chicken Fried Steak...who else?

2010-05-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

I must be in the mood for cooking this week. Perhaps because I need to enjoy dinners while Robert is still on days. It's a whole other matter when he returns to afternoons. So tonight's offering is one of Robert's favorites, one he often gets when we go out to eat at places similar to Cracker Barrel (and if you are wondering, I was able to get Robert the first of the four Shrek glasses offered by McDonalds....y'all know how he loves Shrek....so this was a surprise. Plus it is filled with CHOCOLATE MILK, another of his favorites).

Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients

2 pounds beef bottom round, trimmed of excess fat
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Cut the meat with the grain into 1/2-inch thick slices. Season each piece on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place the flour into a pie pan. Place the eggs into a separate pie pan. Dredge the meat on both sides in the flour. Tenderize the meat, using a needling device, until each slice is 1/4-inch thick. Once tenderized, dredge the meat again in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the flour again. Repeat with all the pieces of meat. Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

Place enough of the vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch slope-sided skillet and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a wire rack set in a half sheet pan and place into the oven. Repeat until all of the meat is browned.

Add the remaining vegetable oil, or at least 1 tablespoon, to the pan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of the flour left over from the dredging. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and thyme and whisk until the gravy coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste, with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the gravy over the steaks.

parmesan crusted chicken

2010-05-17T15:06:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely meal tonight and Robert raved about the chicken so I thought I'd post it. It's fast and easy. I LOVE The foodnetwork magazine.

1/2 cup Hellmann's Real Mayo ... or whatever you have as long as it's MAYO
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 boneless, skinnless chicken breasts
4 t. Italian seasoned dry breadcrumbs
***** Here's what I used cuz it's better....PANKO toppings with Italian seasonings added

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Combine the Mayo with the chrrange chicken on baking sheet. Top evenly with Mayo mixture, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
3. bake 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

vegetable fried rice with bacon

2010-05-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 head broccoli, florets and stalks cut into 1/4-inch pieces
5 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 large eggs
1 bunch watercress, stems removed
Spicy mustard or chili sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

Place a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and bacon and stir-fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the bacon and toss. Add 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce (watch out-the oil will bubble up) and continue to stir-fry until the bacon is glazed, about 30 seconds. Transfer the bacon to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes to the drippings in the pan and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice, the remaining 2 teaspoons soy sauce, the broth and glazed bacon. Toss to heat through.

Push the fried rice to one side of the pan, crack the eggs into the other side and scramble until set, about 1 minute. Mix the eggs into the rice and stir in the watercress. Divide among bowls and serve with mustard or chili sauce, if desired.

stuffed butterfly pork chops

2010-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

dad's marrying a couple tonight so I've had to start early on my prep for dinner cuz I also have a piano lesson to give...so he'll have to eat when he gets home. I combined 2 recipes and came up with this one:

1/3 c. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. sage
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. diced celery
4 c. toasted bread cubes
1/2 c. coarsely chopped onion
2 lg. delicious or winesap apples
1/4 c. raisins
6 pork chops cut 3/4 to 1 inch thick

Melt butter; add salt, sage, pepper, onion and celery and cook over low heat until vegetables are almost tender. Pour over bread cubes, stirring lightly to distribute ingredients evenly. Pare, core and coarsely chop one or two apples to make 1 1/2 cups. Stir apple and raisins into stuffing mixture and turn into baking dish (11 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches)

Glaze:
2 T. brown sugar
3 T. prepared mustard
1 T. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and mustard. Mix together well.
Butterfly the pork chops and arrange them in a 9x13 inch baking dish over the stuffing mixe above. Spread the mustard mixture over the chops, then sprinkle with the lemon juice.
Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or to desired doneness.

I prepared the stuffing mixture in a caste iron skillet and then laid on the chops, and their glaze and then just slid the skillet into the oven.

Check for internal temp if you have an instant read thermometer

Alton Brown's Pan-Seared Rib-Eye Steak

2010-04-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Oh Wow! We had this amazing dinner on Sunday...way better than even steaks on the grill, if you can believe it. I need to return this cookbook to the library so I wanted to be sure and post these instructions so I don't forget and you can have a great steak adventure. No pictures cuz it was too amazing a dish to photograph, plus we were in heaven, savoring every morsel

NOTE: There's gonna be smoke. Turn on your hood if you have one and open a window. AB even removes the battery out of the smoke detector. I didn't find it quite as bad as this, however.

HARDWARE
cast iron skillet

SOFTWARE

2 1-1/2" boneless rib-eye steaks
1 t. canola oil, to coat
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. black pepper, freshly ground

1. Allow steaks to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Position rack in center of oven. Crank to 500 degrees F and slide in a 12" caste iron skillet.
3. When oven hits temperature, carefully move skillet to cook top over high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Lightly coat steaks with canola oil then liberally sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Place carefully in pan, and don't touch for 30 seconds (you should use a kitchen timer).
5. Flip thesteaks with tongs and cook for another 30 seconds.
6. Move skillet back to the oven for 2 minutes/ Flip the steaks and cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Remove skillet to a heat-safe surface. For med-rare, the temp of the steaks should be between 130-140 degrees. Our steaks were much thicker so I cooked them longer in the oven...4 minutes per side and that worked out well.

When you temp the temp of the steaks do not insert the instant read thermometer from the top down, rather, insert it from the side, parallel to the base.

8. Allow steak to rest 5 minutes before serving.

You can place the steaks in a resting rig (meaning allow the juices to drain into a pan) and use the drippings from this as well as what's left in the pan to make a lovely sauce.

I added butter to the pan, some sliced onions and stirred around (called deglazing". I poured this over the steaks and then added some mozzarella cheese, grated. Yummy!

OR you could place the steaks over a slice of toast, preferable sourdough, which will absorb any escaping juices and make for a nice side bite in themselves

Tomato Sauce, Garlic, Artilicious Pasta

2010-04-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, YEAH.

After a very long day at the mill, I mean high school (I just
read dad's blog. Confusion.),
where one student would not just LEAVE ALREADY! IT'S 6 FREAKING O'CLOCK AND I'M HORMONAL AND STARVING TO DEATH-IT SHOULDN'T TAKE YOU 3 HOURS AFTER SCHOOL TO FINISH THIS PROJECT!!!!!! (Rips paper to shreds and jams some in mouth)...

...where was I?

Ok, so I'm really hungry and getting ready to jab a clay tool through my eye, when I finally left the kid in my classroom, which is totally illegal, and drove home to some leftover pasta from last night. It was good last night, but it. was. so. great this night.

I don't know how or why, but it made me roll around on the floor with joy afterward, canceling out any trauma inflicted during the course of the workday.

I was so inspired by this pasta muse that I needed to share it with my family. So here is how I did it, to the best of my memory:

Garlic, minced
Barely any onion, mostly to remind me of Hank
Olive oil in a pan

Get that going on low-ish heat.

Crack open a can of tomato sauce. Just straight up, not Prego or anything
Crack open some artichoke hearts. Sniff them if they've been sitting in the fridge for a while from that last artichoke binge. Taste a sliver. Determine they will not poison you.
Crack open a little bit (1/4 cup?) of chicken broth, in whatever form you happen to have.
(I have some Goya brand that is mostly in Spanish. It makes producing stock very mysterious and adventurous.)

Get all those in the pan and let them cook one way or another till they're getting warm.

Cooking. Cooking. Cooking. This represents maybe 8 minutes. Cooking. Cooking. Cooking.

Crack open a little cream. Not the sour kind. Turn the volume down on that pan, and put a little cream in until it looks like the color you've had in mind for a dish so yummy.

Ummmm... (I'm trying to remember what happened next.)

Oh yeah. Salt it until it has some taste. Season it with whatever. Thyme. Basil.

Eat it on some pasta.

Ohhhhhhhh, yes.

This is so good, seriously. Sometimes these things are not so great, or taste a little weird, like the ingredients are too detached to really get into. But this dish, on this night, was the best.

I wonder if that kid is still in my classroom.

Signed, Anyone But Marissa

Chicken Stir Fry

2010-04-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

While traveling to Columbus yesterday I went through a bunch of magazines and saved some recipes. This is the one I made after church and it was very good. I only got a picture at the very end of the meal and this was all that was left.
Marinate:
1 egg white
1 T vinegar (i used apple but it called for Rice Wine)
1 T cornstarch

chicken thighs ( used breast)
3 cups of whatever veggies you want to use
carrots, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, peas, celery, etc.
Sweet and Sour Sauce (Kraft makes a great one)

Cut the chicken into pieces and toss with marinate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Drain the marinate off the chicken. Place the chicken in the hot skillet and cook til tender.

Remove the chicken, wipe down the pan.

Heat 2 T olive oil in skillet again and add 2 cloves garlic, 1 t. ginger, 2 minced scallions, pinch salt and sugar. Cook for 30 seconds. Then add the veggies cooking the hardest to cook fast but just cook til tender crisp. Add in a sweet and sour sauce til heated.

Serve over rice.

western potato rounds

2010-04-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is a PC recipe that I have enjoyed but when I shared it with Dawn, she really did like it, as did her friends (the Friday Party People). Dawn called for it again just now cuz she thought it was on our family blog and it wasn't. So I'll post it here and she can add pictures. Try it...I am sure you'll really like it.

2		large unpeeled baking potatoes
		vegetable oil
1 cup		Co-Jack Cheese, shredded
6		bacon slices, crisply cooked, drained, crumbled
1/3 cup		green onion, slices
1/3 cup		barbecue sauce

1	Preheat oven to 450. Using Garnisher, cut pototoes into 1/4" thick slices. Using Kitchen Spritzer, generously spray both sides of potato slices with oil; place on 15" round baking stone. Bake 20 minutes or til lightly browned' remove from oven.
2	In 1-at. batter bowk, combine cheese, bacon and green onion. Using Pastry Bursh, generously brush potato slices with bbq sauce; sprinkle with cheese mixture. Return potato slices to oven. Bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Sorta/kinda Penn Station Artichoke Sub

2010-04-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

Living in Atlanta, I am approximately 250 miles too far away from any Penn Station Sub shop to quench my occasional, yet burning thirst for a Penn Station Artichoke-mushroom sub. In its absence, I have decided to use my own intelligence that existed before this world to SUB-stitute my all-time favorite sammich (Get it? SUB-stitute?!?) with a version of my own concoction.

And like my own special brand of humor, not everyone will appreciate this sub. I realize that feelings run pretty deep and strong in this family about certain elements of this sub. You know who you are, mushroom (gasp!) and artichoke (the humanity!) haters. My best advice is to take a sip of Hater-ade, and try this sub out, substituting anything you hate with something you love (like onions, for example.) I realize this would probably change the cardinal essence of this sub, but I accept our diversity of taste buds.....

Let the Subbing BEGIN!

You'll need:

some type of sub roll
mayo (don't you dare put that miracle whip on there)
(Ok, if you must.......)
mushrooms, sliced up
artichoke hearts (I prefer these unmarinated)
mozzarella cheese
garlic, minced
balsamic vinegar, olive oil

Here's what I did:

1. Heat up the olive oil, toss in garlic, artichoke hearts, mushroom and let it slosh around a bit in the pan till tender.

2. Splash on some balsamic vinegar. We always put the vinegar on our food when we're at Penn Station, so if the vinegar did anything in its brief existence, its smell made me feel like the sub was going to taste like the real thing.

3. Spread some mayo on a sub roll you've already sliced open

4. Slop the arti-harsh/mush-death mixture on top of the open slices, spread the motz on top and let it brown a bit under your oven's (or toaster oven's) broil setting. (Open-faced)

5. Season to taste with salt or oregano or gold flakes or Parmesan cheese. If only I had that Parmesan, life would be different....I'd be living in New York with Hank already, I'd have wings that would pop out of my fingertips on command, it wouldn't be 90 degrees for 4 days straight already.........

...........................................

Enjoy the sub, Hatchamealers! Even more importantly, let me know if anyone out there ever does try this sammich, and how it goes and any advice you might have if you've ever tasted the real thing.

M2D2, at your service.

Sophia's Fruit Dip

2010-03-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

Made this dip last night for the Stake RS Aux. Training session last night. It got rave reviews, as Sophia gave it. Thought you might enjoy it. Robert ate it straight out of the cup, no fruit. But we served it with all sorts of fruit.

8 oz. cream cheese, softenend
2 t. vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 bag Heath toffee bits.

Cream the cheese, then add the vanilla and whip.

Add the brown sugar and whip some more.

Do not add the toffee bits until right before serving.

I made 5 batches of this recipe and that much filled 45 of those 2.5 ounce cups that you buy with the lids. Each person got a cup for themselves...so no double dipping and less distractions for the speakers. A huge platter of fruit was in the center of each table.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

2010-03-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to make my all time favorite birthday cake for my birthday. Robert was working afternoons and he kept commenting about who would eat this huge cake. Naturally, I could eat the whole thing over a few days. Last night we had the missionaries come for dinner and it was the perfect time to make my cake, a month late. It turned out spectacularly. I know basically no one else in the family likes this particular cake but I'm posting the recipe anyway.

The pictures isn't the greatest but:
Plus following this recipe is a recipe for the same cake but only with orange...as well as a recipe for candied zest to use as a decorative touch.

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake

2-1/4 cups		sifted cake flour
1-1/2 cups		sugar
1/2 teaspoon		baking soda
1/2 teaspoon		salt
1/2 cup		safflower oil
7 large		eggs, eseparated, + 3 additional egg yolks
2/3 cup		water
2 Tbs		lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 Tbs		grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon		vanilla
1-1/4 teaspoons		cream of tartar

1	Preheat oven to 325°
2	In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, all but 2 T of the sugar (reserve for egg whites), baking soda, and salt and beat 1 minute to mix. Make a well in the center. Add the oil, egg yolks, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and beat 1 minute or until smooth
3	In another large mixing bowl beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Beat in the 2 T sugar and beat until stiff peakds form when the beater is raised slowly. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter WITH A LARGE BALLOON WIRE WHISK.
4	Pour into the tube pan and run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets, and bake for 55 minutes or til a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Invert the pan, placing the tube opening over the neck of a soda or wine bottle to suspend it well above the counter, and cool the cake completely in the pan (this takes about 1-1/2 hours)
5	Loose the sides with a long metal spatula and remove the center core of pan. Dislodge the bottom and center core with a metal spatula or thin, sharp knife (w wire cake tester works well around the coare. To keep th4e sides attracftive press the spatula against the sides of the pan and avoid any up and down motion). Invert onto a greased wire rack and reinvert onto a serving plate. Wrap airtight.

Cooking Tips

Baking soda replaces baking powder to retain the lemon flavor while neutralzing some of the acidity.

Orange Glow Chiffon Cake

from the Cake Bible: rose levy beranbaumWhen Harry Baker, an LA insarnace salesman who baked for private Hollywood parties, invented the chiffon cake, it was the first major new type of cake since the angel food cake, invented about 100 years before it. He kept the recipe a secret for 20 years and finally, deciding to share it with the world, approached Betty Crocker, owned by General Mills. They purchased the recipe in 1947 and billed it as 'glamorous as an angel food cake but easier to make.

2-1/4 cups		sifted cake flour
1-1/2 cups		sugar
2 teaspoons		baking powder
1/2 teaspoon		salt
1/2 cup		safflower oil
7 large		eggs, separated + 3 additional whites
3/4 cup		freshly squeezed orange juice
2 Tbs		grated orange zest
1 teaspoon		vanilla
1-1/4 teaspoons		cream of tartar

1	Preheat oven to 325°
2	In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, all but 2 T of the sugar (reserve for the egg whites), baking powder, and salt and beat 1 minute to mix. Make a well in the center. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla and beat 1 minute or until smooth.
3	In another large mixing bowl beat the egg whites til frothy, add the cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Beat in the remaining 2 T. sugar and beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter WITH A LARGE BALLOON WIRE WHISK, just until blended
4	Pour into the tube pan, run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to oprevent air pockets, and bake for 55 minutes or til a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Invert the pan, placing the tube opening over the neck of a soda or wine bottle to suspend it well over the counter, and cool the cake completely in the pan (this will take about 1-1/2 hours)
5	Loosen the sides with a long metal spatula and remove the center core of the pan. Dislodge the bottom and center core with a metal spatula or thin, sharp knife. (a wire cake test works well around the core. To keep the sides attractive, press the spatula against the sides of the pan and avoid any up and down motion.) Invert onto a greased wire rack and reinvert onto a serving plate.
6	Wrap airtight.

Candied Zest

citrus peel makes a flavorful and attractive decorative touch when cut into fine strips and sweeted in a sugar syrup. This candied zest is particularly suited to decorating a cake containing citrus fruit

3 large		thick-skinned oranges
1 cup		sugar
1 cup		water
1 Tbs		corn syrup

1	With a sharp knife remove strips of peel, avoiding the bitter white pith beneath.
2	Place in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer 15 minutes to soften and remove bitterness. Drain and rinse under cold water
3	In the same saucepan combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stop stirring, add the zest, and cover tightly. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes without stirring or uncovering. Remove from teh heat and cool, covered.
4	Refrigerate the candied zest in the syrup in an airtight container up to 1 month. When ready to use, drain the zest.

Cooking Tips

store for 1 month refrigerated

Alfredo ala Dawn

2010-02-23T16:42:00.000-08:00

So, not only am I missing my ruler, but several recipes. So..here is the recipe I make for Fetticini Alfredo.

4oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Stir and melt the above together...toss with:
8 oz. fettuccine, cooked, drained

yummy!

We like grilling chicken for this meal. Cut into pieces and serve on top!

requested too often...opted to post

2010-02-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

Barbara Dahle's Granola

12 cups		regular oats
4 cups		quick oats
1 cup		brown sugar
2 teaspoons		sea salt
2 cups		shredded coconut
4 cups		chopped walnuts
1 cup		honey
1 cup		olive oil
		Craisins

Heat the honey til it melts and add the olive oil. combine the oats, sugar, salt and cocoanut and wanuts and pour the honey mixture of this and combine. Place on pans in a 300 degree oven for 35 minutes. When it cools, add the crasins (or whatever dry fruit you'd like)

Sunday dinner...thanx Emeril

2010-02-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

Orange, Cumin and Cilantro Roasted Pork Loin

Ingredients

One 3 1/2-pound boneless pork loin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Cooking Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Rub the pork loin well on all sides with the olive oil, and season it with the kosher salt, cumin, and black pepper. Place the pork loin, fat side down, in the skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until well-browned on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pork from the skillet and place it in a small roasting pan or baking dish that holds it snugly.

In a medium bowl, combine the orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, and marmalade, and whisk well to combine. Drizzle the citrus mixture over the pork.

Place the roasting pan in the oven, and cook until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 140°F, basting the pork with the pan juices occasionally. (Take care not to overcook the pork.) Should the pan juices evaporate and begin to scorch before the pork is done, add a bit of water to keep it from burning.

Remove the pork from the oven, add the cilantro to the roasting pan, and swirl it in the pan juices. Allow the pork to rest for 7 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve the pork thinly sliced, drizzled with pan juices.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Roasted Shallot-Garlic Butter

Ingredients

4 large shallots, halved lengthwise

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 large cauliflower, cut into large florets

Cooking Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a small baking dish with aluminum foil.

Place the shallots in the prepared baking dish and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Roast until they are soft and caramelized, turning them if necessary to promote even browning, 15 to 20 minutes. Set the shallots aside to cool.

When they have cooled, finely chop the roasted shallots and transfer them to a small bowl. Add the butter, garlic, lemon juice, 1 /4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 /8 teaspoon pepper, and mix well to combine. Set the shallot-garlic butter aside while you grill the cauliflower.

Brush the cauliflower with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and place the florets on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook until the florets are golden on the bottom edges, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue cooking, turning occasionally, until they are evenly browned around the edges and crisp-tender, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Transfer the cauliflower to a large bowl, and add the shallot-garlic butter. Toss to combine. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper, and serve either hot or warm.

Cal Staller's Butterscotch Crunch

2010-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

Last night I decided to make Robert a treat for when he got home at midnight. Cookies. As you remember, you kids make better cookies than I do and I did not want to make Chocolate Chips. So I thumbed thru my handwritten cookbook and came across this recipe from Cal...Pam's sweet dad. They were easy and fast and turned out perfectly. But they are the kind of cookie you just wanna keep eating. So be warned.

Mix together:
1 cup shortening ( I used butter flavored Crisco but the plain is fine)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla

Add 2 eggs to the above, one at a time, blending each til fully combined.

Add in:
1-1/2 cup flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
3 cup oatmeal

Roll into tablespoon size balls and place on cookie sheet or stone.

Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees til just barely browned. You will know when these are ready to come out.

Valentines' dinner 2010

2010-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Rachael Ray's Love Birds (Chicken in Pastry)

Servings: 8

Difficulty: Moderate

Cook Time: 30-60 min

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, 6 to 8 ounces each

Salt and pepper

2 to 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tablespoon EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)

1 (11 x 17-inch) sheet of frozen puff pastry, (11 x 17-inch) sheet

8 slices (¼-inch-thick) Italian fontina cheese, 2 to 3 inches square

½ cup fig preserves

1 egg, beaten with a splash of wate

Cooking Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Halve each piece of chicken crosswise, giving you 8 equal portions. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and the rosemary. Heat the EVOO in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, 5 minutes total (it will cook further in the oven). Remove from the heat.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the pastry into 8 equal pieces and place a piece of cheese in the center of each.

Top with a spoonful of fig preserves and a piece of chicken. Fold the dough up and over the meat and cheese and pinch the edges to seal.

Brush the seams with egg wash, flip the pastry packets over, and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden all over and heated through.

For entrée portions, simply leave the chicken breasts whole and cut the pastry into quarters to make 4 packets. Trim off excess dough and use it to decorate the pastry with small cutouts, such as heart shapes.

Served with fafalle pasta tossed with GarlicExpressions Garlic Vineagrette, Green Beans, Blueberry Muffins, Cream Puffs for desserts.

Should have taken a pix...didn't

Heavenly Chicken

2010-02-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

I LOVED this meal when I was a teenager. Mom would make it when I came home on visits from college. Yesterday, I made it. Boy was it delicious!

Here is what you do. The sauce is 1/2 a jar of apricot preserves mixed with 1 package of dry onion soup mix and 1/2 a bottle of Russian dressing. Slather it on your chicken, reserving some to add on when you flip the chicken. Bake in an oven. Add more when you flip and at the end of the cooking time.

Serve with rice and a side of peas. Bon Apetite! (After we devoured this...I went grocery shopping and picked up ingredients for another day! I'll snap a pix of the meal and add it next time.)

meal in a bundle

2010-02-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

My mom wasn't a camper and so neither was I. But it always struck me funny that she used to make these....meals in a bundle which I am certain were meant to be cooked on an open fire. But she and I cooked them in the oven. When the kids were young, we'd each have our own bundle. But sometimes, when I was lazy, I'd just make a huge one. Today I am making it for Robert and me so there is just one bundle and there ought to be leftovers.

First take a piece of heavy-duty foil, spray with Pam and set it in a pan for support til you make the next one...or in several pans would be smarter if you are making individual ones so you can put all the stuff in order.

Cut up potatoes, carrots and onion and sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.
You can see in the picture what else you'll be needing shortly,.

Next cut up beef steak or round steaks into chunky cubes and layer it on top of the potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Now you need to pour on the Cream of Mushroom soup. Leave it thick on top and then add milk.. at least the same amount of soup per packet.

Lastly spray the outer edges of the foil with Pam and pull each corner up and be sure to seal in all the edges.
I leave my packet in the pan or when there were individual ones, I placed them all on a cookie sheet and baked at 350 degrees for about an hour.

You campers can respond with how long it would take over a fire...cuz I have no clue. I am sure this is a recipe that you know already but since I was in a tutorial mood, I decided to blog it. It's a bit snowy out here today and this seemed like the perfect day for this sort of meal.

Too bad Dawn's not here...it's her half-birthday and it's similar to my birthday meal, but not quite...and nowhere near as good as the one I will be making.

Nutty Noodle Casserole...a Hatch Batch Classic!

2010-01-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

So...yesterday, I had the hankering for Nutty Noodle Casserole and I couldn't recall the 2nd variety of soup that it called for. I used to make it regularly years ago. Called mom and she said "Chicken and Rice." I said, "Oh, I haven't made this in so long there is no way I have that on my shelves." But...I did! And boy am I pleased to know that I AM PREPARED!! hehe.

Here it is...just in case anyone else needs a reminder. It's super easy and yummy!

In a casserole dish, mix together:
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken and rice soup
1 lb of browned ground beef
some chopped up celery
some chow mein noodles....sorry, you had to have grown up with this to know the amounts!

Put into the oven (probably 350 degrees) until bubbly, then add a few more noodles on top for crunchiness. Mom always served this with peas on the side. Enjoy!

Edited to say: Thanks for the pix Granny. Mom always cooked this meal in this large red pot. ooh...what a pot was that! And it was always put on this mosaic tile trivet..which since my earliest memory...had a missing tile!

Holly's Mac and Cheese with Kielbasa

2010-01-21T17:17:00.001-08:00

Cook enough elbow macaroni for your family...and some extra cuz this recipe freezes really well.

Drain and combine in 9x13 or whatever size pan you need with:

cubes of precooked kielbasa
cubes of cheddar cheese, colby jack cheese, brick Swiss cheese, Mozarella and Romano cheese, and American cheese

Add about 1/2 cup milk. Gently stir.

Place in a 350 degree oven and stir every 10-15 minutes to make sure the cheeses melt and blend with the pasta.

When it begins to brown a bit, combine bread crumbs, a few shakes of Parmesan cheese, and butter. Sprinkle this over the top and continue baking til browned. 15 minutes....this is an eyeball dish...you just gotta know when it's done.

BubbleUp Pizza

2010-01-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had PamperedChef Bubble Up Pizza...it was quick and I hadn't thought about that for a long time. But when I made out my menu for the next 2 weeks, it popped into my heads. And as much as my grandbabbies like to help out in the kitchen, they can really assist. Add a toss salad and you are good to go.

1/3 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms sliced
1/3 cup pitted ripe olives, sliced
1 bunch of pepperoni slices quartered
1 14 oz jar of pizza or spaghetti sauce
1 garlic clove, pressed
3 or 4 packages (7.5 oz each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits in a tube
2 cups shredded mozarella cheese

Prehheat oven to 375.

Blend the veggies and pepperoni with the sauce.

cut the biscuits into quarters. Place half the biscuits in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, covering the bottom. Spoon on half the sauce mixture. Top with half the cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake 23-28 minutes or until golden brown

Buche de Noel

2009-12-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Robert was asked to go into YW tomorrow and talk about Christmas in France/Belgium, as when he was on his mission. Somehow 'someone' said I could make something French and Christmasy as well. The only idea that FAST came into my mind was a Buche de Noel, or Yule Log....definitely French. I have just finished the product. Love the dirt covered mushrooms was not successful making any pinecones mainly because I am not a very good marzipan developer. But the Buche tastes really, really good.

Here's the recipe as found on the FoodNetwork. The point I want to impress upon you if you try is: if you have a KitchenAid you will be fine. You cannot whip egg whites in plastic bowl of the Bosche. So I used a hand mixer. It takes longer so grab a chair and watch TV while your whip for 15+ minutes. But the butter cream is so well worth it. I changed it since I don't use brandy nor espresso.

Ingredients

Chocolate Genoise Sheet:

* 3 large eggs
* 3 large egg yolks
* Pinch salt
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup cake flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
* 1/3 cup cornstarch
* 1/4 cup alkalized (Dutch process) cocoa
* Special equipment: 10 by 15-inch jelly-roll pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment

Set rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.

Whisk the eggs, yolks, salt, and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just lukewarm, about 100 degrees (test with your finger). Attach the bowl to the mixer and with the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume (takes longer with a hand mixer).

While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour, cornstarch, and cocoa.

Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour mixture and finally with the remainder.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until well risen, deep and firm to the touch. (Make sure the cake doesn't overbake and become too dry, or it will be hard to roll.)

Use a small paring knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a rack and let the cake cool right side up on the paper. Remove the paper when the cake is cool.

Storage: Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several days, or double-wrap and freeze for up to a month.

Yield: 1 (10 by 15-inch) sheet cake

Buttercream:

* 4 large egg whites
* 1 cup sugar
* 24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
* 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, or apple juice; you can use vanilla or almond flavoring but use to taste
* 1 Chocolate Genoise Sheet from above

Marzipan:

* 8 ounces almond paste
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 3 to 5 tablespoons light corn syrup

For Finishing:

* Cocoa powder
* Red and green liquid food coloring
* Confectioners' sugar

Directions

To make the buttercream: Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot. Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled (THIS IS WHAT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 15 MINUTES). Switch to the paddle (NOT NECESSARY WITH A HAND MIXER) and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth. Dissolve the cocoa in the flavoring and beat into the buttercream.

Turn the genoise layer over and peel away the paper. Invert onto a fresh piece of paper. Spread the layer with half the buttercream. Use the paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder Transfer to baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until set. Reserve the remaining buttercream for the outside of the buche.

To make the marzipan: Combine the almond paste and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of the electric mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until the sugar is almost absorbed. Add the remaining 1 cup sugar and mix until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add half the corn syrup, then continue mixing until a bit of the marzipan holds together when squeezed, adding additional corn syrup a little at a time, as necessary; the marzipan in the bowl will still appear crumbly. Transfer the marzipan to a work surface and knead until smooth.

To make marzipan mushrooms: Roll 1/3 of the marzipan into a 6-inch long cylinder and cut into 1-inch lengths. Roll half the lengths into balls. Press the remaining cylindrical lengths (stems) into the balls (caps) to make mushrooms. Smudge with cocoa powder. To make holly leaves: Knead green color into 1/2 the remaining marzipan and roll it into a long cylinder. Flatten with the back of a spoon, then loosen it from the surface with a spatula. Cut into diamonds to make leaves, or use a cutter.

To make holly berries: Knead red color into a tiny piece of marzipan. Roll into tiny balls.

To make pine cones, knead cocoa powder into the remaining marzipan. Divide in half and form into 2 cone shapes. Slash the sides of cones with the points of a pair of scissors.

Unwrap the cake. Trim the ends on the diagonal, starting the cuts about 2 inches away from each end. Position the larger cut piece on the buche about 2/3 across the top. Cover the buche with the reserved buttercream, making sure to curve around the protruding stump. Streak the buttercream with a fork or decorating comb to resemble bark. Transfer the buche to a platter and decorate with the marzipan. Sprinkle the platter and buche sparingly with confectioners' sugar "snow."

Storage: Keep at cool room temperature. Cover leftovers loosely and keep at room temperature.

Butterfly Cookies

2009-12-18T05:55:00.000-08:00

The ladies at the cookie exchange last night told me that this is a French cookie, but that mine tasted much better than the European version. Maybe Dad can weigh on that one...

I got this recipe from Mom, who got it from Gwen Howell.

"Butterflies"

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 pound margarine

1 cup cold water

sugar

Work 3 cups flour with 1/2 pound of margarine.

Add 1 cup of cold water.

Work together using a fork. It will be sticky.

Roll out dough on floured board to about 24 in. by 24 in.

Spread 1 stick of margarine onto dough.

Fold into thirds and jellyroll. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Repeat rolling out and spread with last stick of margarine.

Fold into thirds and jellyroll. Refrigerate overnight.

Cut into three pieces. Roll out thinly on a very generously sugared board.

Fold into quarters and cut into 1/2" strips.

Bake on foil lined pans for 10 minutes on 400.

Turn over and bake for about 1 minute more.

Then cool on waxed paper.

A few tips:

When baking, only put 12 on a cookie sheet.

Keep it to 1/2 inch in width...any wider and it isn't as crispy and takes longer to cook.

Make sure to touch the edges of your cookie in sugar after you cut it and before you form it and place on the cookie sheet.

Watch carefully, and be sure not to burn the butter by overcooking it.

Apple and Cheese Sandwiches…MMM NOM NOM

2009-12-13T15:13:00.001-08:00

So this is a really simple sandwich, based on one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, meal:

A honey crisp apple, sliced swiss cheese and a fresh baguette.

With that said, most red and yellow apples work great for this, gala and macintosh apples fit nicely with cheddar, havarti, muenster and any crunchy and crsipy bread like hard italian rolls, ciabatta, and on a good day, a cuban roll. The sandwich above is on the baguette that I made earlier today, with a gala apple slice and a slice of havarti cheese.

So it goes like this:

bread
~1/4" slice apple
~1/4" slice cheese
bread

I've put onion in the sandwich as well but nine out of ten times I prefer the three ingredients.

This sandwich is heaven on earth.