Friday, September 29, 2017

Brittany's Shrimp Dip

INGREDIENTS:


  • 1/4 cup chives, or minced green onions
  • 1 red bell pepper, minced
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 12 ounces SeaPak Shrimp Scampi
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 sourdough bowl

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Defrost the shrimp and chop the shrimp into 1/2 inch dice.
  • In a large bowl add the chives, bell pepper, mayonnaise, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, shrimp, lemon juice and zest, cajun seasoning and Worcestershire sauce and stir until combined.
  • Cut the top of the sourdough loaf off the bread.
  • Scoop out the insides until the walls of the bread are 1/2 inch thick.
  • Put the dip into the bread bowl.
  • Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the bread is nicely browned.
  • Serve with crackers or baguette slices.

Brittany's Frito Corn Salad

Frito Corn Salad
Ingredients
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained
  • 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup green pepper , chopped
  • 1 ⁄2 cup red onion , chopped
  • 1 (10 1/2 ounce) bag coarsely crushed regular Fritos corn chips or Fritos chili cheese corn chips
  • Fritos Scoops for serving

Mix first 5 ingredients and chill. Stir in corn chips just before serving. You may not want to add all of the corn chips. Add a little at a time. Some people prefer to just serve the Fritos on the side or crumbled on top. You can eat this with a spoon or as a dip with Fritos Scoops for serving.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Sharon's Cabbage Ramen Salad

Sharon's Cabbage Ramen Salad

1 3 oz package of ramen noodles (any flavor)
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/3 c canola oil
1/4 c cider vinegar
2.5 Tbls. sugar
1 bag shredded cabbage/carrot mixture
3 green onions, sliced

Remove flavor packet from soup mix.  Break noodles into pieces and place them and the almonds on a lightly greased baking sheet at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally until toasted (5-10 minutes).

Whisk together flavor packet, oil, vinegar and sugar until well blended.  Chill for 1 hour.

Toss together last two ingredients and dressing.  Top with noodles/almonds.


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Gina's World Famous Cookie Cake


Cookie Cake:

1.5 cup (3 sticks) butter, softened
1.25  c. sugar
1.25 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4.25  c. flour
1 full bag chocolate chips (plus 1 extra cup if desired)

Bake in greased 9x13 pan for 32 minutes.  It will still be very soft in the middle -- it will harden.  Don't overcook or the edges will be too hard to enjoy.


Frosting:

1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbls. milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat together for 5 minutes.  Spread atop cookie cake.  


Thursday, May 11, 2017

Beer Beef Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls

Ingredients
3-pound beef chuck roast
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 garlic cloves
1 red onion, sliced
1 cup Italian dressing
1 cup beer (use your favorite!)
2 bay leaves
Hawaiian slider buns
Sliced colby jack cheese
Directions
1. Place the chuck roast into a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Sprinkle the roast with the salt and pepper. Place the garlic cloves on top of the roast. Add the red onion, then pour in the Italian dressing and beer. Place the bay leaves on top.
2. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 to 10. Don’t open the lid during the cooking time.
3. Discard bay leaves and shred the meat with two forks. Smash the garlic with the back of a fork, and stir the garlic into the shredded meat. Discard any fat, and drain off the grease. Serve the shredded meat on Hawaiian slider buns with the colby jack cheese. Melt the cheese under the broiler in the oven if desired. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Instant Pot: Honey Sesame Chicken

PRESSURE COOKER HONEY SESAME CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced (about 2 lbs.)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup honey*
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • Sesame seeds, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

Salt and pepper chicken. Preheat pressure cooking pot using the saute setting. Add oil, onion, garlic, and chicken to the pot and saute stirring occasionally until onion is softened, about 3 minutes.
Add soy sauce, ketchup, and red pepper flakes to the pressure cooking pot and stir to combine. Pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. When timer beeps, turn pressure cooker off and do a quick pressure release.
Add sesame oil and honey to the pot and stir to combine. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water and add to the pot. Select Saute and simmer until sauce thickens. Stir in green onions.
Serve over rice sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Sugar Cookies

1 cup slightly softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 (or 4 1/2 cups) flour

Cream the butter and both sugars together. If you have any brown sugar lumps, you should crush them up or pull them out. They make weird dents in your baked cookies. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add the salt and baking powder and again with the mixing of the dough. 
Before you add the flour, let's have a little chat. Different altitudes need different amounts of flour. Differences in humidity will the change the amount of flour you should add. Is there a storm coming? That changes things. Add only 3 cups to begin with. Then add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is no longer sticky. (This happens at about 4 cups of flour for me...except in the winter time when it happens at 3 1/2 cups flour.) That's when you should stop if you are going to chill the dough, or just wait for another day to bake it. If you are going to roll it out right away, add another half of a cup of flour so it will be thick enough to move from rolling out surface to your baking sheet. 
Bake at 350F. If you roll to 1/4" thick, bake for about 7 minutes. If you roll to 3/8" thick, bake for about 10 minutes.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Snickerdoodles

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1.5 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2.75 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix dough, roll balls in cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Curried Summer Squash Soup

Curried Summer Squash Soup

2 large yellow squash and/or zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. curry powder
salt & pepper
4 cups chicken broth
3 Tbls. vegetable oil


Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add squash, onion, and curry powder; season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, 8–10 minutes. Add broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until very tender, 25–30 minutes. Purée until smooth. Serve soup warm or chilled.

Optional:  Add cooked noodles (I used egg dumpling noodles) and chicken.  An entire bag of noodles and one rotisserie chicken was enough for making a quadruple batch of soup.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Carrie's Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

9 cups fresh broccoli (about two heads)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup red onion (I don't use this)
8-10 slices of bacon (add last)

Dressing:
1 cup mayo
3 T sugar
2 T vinegar
1/4 tsp. Salt and pepper

I make a batch and half of the dressing, otherwise it seems too dry. Other things you could add: raisins and sliced almonds!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Amish Friendship Bread

DO NOT refrigerate.  It's normal to rise, bubble & ferment.  Burp bag as needed to avoid explosion.

Day 1:  Do nothing.
Day 2-5:  Mush the bag.
Day 6:  Add to the bag:  1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk.  Mush the bag.
Day 7-9:  Mush the bag.
Day 10:  Follow the instructions below:

1) Put the entire contents of bag into a bowl.
2) Add 1.5 cup sugar and 1.5 cup milk.  Mix well.
3)  Measure 1 cup of batter into each of four 1-gallon ziplock bags.  Label with the date.  Keep a starter for yourself and give the other 3 bags to friends, along with a copy of the recipe.  (HINT:  You can also stick bag(s) of starter in the freezer.  When you remove from freezer, treat that as Day 1 on the instructions).  (ADDITIONAL HINT: You can remove one single cup of starter to keep for later and treat the rest as a double batch of starter so double the rest of the recipe, making 4 loaves instead of 2.)
4) Preheat oven to 325.
5) Add to remaining batter:

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 large (or 2 small) package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp. salt

6) Grease 2 large loaf pans.
7) In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1.5 tsp cinnamon.  Dust the greased pan with half the mixture.
8) Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and sprinkle remaining sugar mixture over top.
9) Bake 1 hour.  Cool bread until it loosens evenly from the pan (10-15 minutes).

**If you keep a fresh starter for yourself, you will be baking every 10 days.

*** This recipe is extremely forgiving with a few days of wiggle room. If you forget to add ingredients on day five, no big deal. Put them in on day six or seven instead and then wait 4-7 days before baking. Going to be out of town on day 10? Bake it on day 9 or day 11 instead. 


Variations:

Lemon Poppy seed:  Eliminate cinnamon from original recipe, add 3 Tbls. poppy seeds & 2 small packages of lemon instant pudding.

Chocolate Banana Version 1:  Eliminate cinnamon from original recipe, add 1 small box chocolate & one small box banana instant pudding.

Chocolate Banana Version 2:  Eliminate cinnamon from original recipe, add  2 small packages of banana instant pudding and 1/2 - 1 cup mini chocolate chips.

Pistachio:  Eliminate cinnamon from original recipe, add 1/2-1 cup chopped pistachios & 2 small packages of pistachio instant pudding.




Tuesday, January 5, 2016

German Chocolate Cake & Coconut Pecan Frosting

German Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz) Baker's German Sweet Chocolate
3/4 c. butter
1.5 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk

Heat over to 350.  Microwave chocolate & butter on high 2 minutes or until butter is melted.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Add sugar, beat with mixer until well blended.  Add eggs and mix well.  Blend in vanilla.  Combine 1/2 c. flour, baking soda & salt.  Add to mixture, mix well.  Add remaining flour alternating with buttermilk.

13x9 inch pan for 50 minutes.
24 cupcakes for 25-30 minutes.


Coconut Pecan Frosting

4 egg yolks
12 oz. evaporated milk
1.5 tsp. vanilla
1.5 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
7 oz. Angel Flake coconut (2 and 2/3 cups)
1.5 c. chopped pecans

Beat egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with whisk until well blended.  Add sugar & butter.  Cook on medium heat 12 minutes or until thick and golden brown, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add coconuts & pecans, mixing well.  Cool and spread.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. softened butter
1.5 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 room temperature eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. (1 bag) Ghiradelli white chocolate chips
1/3 c. cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars until fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Blend in mixture of flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt.  Stir in white chocolate chips.  Baked for 10-12 minutes.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies
 
Big, chewy peanut butter cookies loaded with sweet chocolate chips, M&M candies, and oats!
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup M&M candies
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and peanut butter with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Mix in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  2. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and M&M candies by hand.
  3. Measure out ¼ cup balls of dough (ice cream scoop) and place them on the baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown and the top still looks slightly undercooked. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Crisp

6 c. diced rhubarb
1.5 c. sugar
6 T. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. oatmeal
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. melted butter

Combine rhubarb with sugar & 6 T. flour.  (I shake it in a Ziplock bag until covered).  Place in a 9x13 pan.  Combine the remaining ingredients and sprinkle over rhubarb.  Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.


Variation:  Sprinkle 3/4 c. raisins over rhubarb before adding crumbs.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Spicy Sausage Dip

-1 lb. Spicy Breakfast Sausage, crumbled/browned/drained
-2 bricks Cream Cheese
-1 can Rotel

Brown and drain the sausage, mix together with softened cream cheese and Rotel.  Let sit in fridge overnight.  Serve warm and with tostitos.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Butterscotch Confetti aka Canadian Crack

INGREDIENTSNutrition

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat the butterscotch chips, peanut butter, and butter.
  2. Stir until smooth. Watch it; peanut butter burns quickly!
  3. Cool a wee bit.
  4. Stir in marshmallows.
  5. Pat into a greased 8x8-inch pan and chill.
  6. Cut into squares.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Pound Cake

1 pound butter, softened 
3 cups sugar 
large eggs 
4 cups all-purpose flour 
3/4 cup milk 
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. (The butter will become a lighter yellow color; this is an important step, as the job of the mixer is to incorporate air into the butter so the cake will rise. It will take 1 to 7 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer.) Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. (Again, the times will vary, and butter will turn to a fluffy white.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow yolk disappears.
Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. (The batter should be smooth and bits of flour should be well incorporated; to rid batter of lumps, stir gently with a rubber spatula.) Stir in extracts.
Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. (Use vegetable shortening or butter to grease the pan, getting every nook and cranny covered. Sprinkle a light coating of flour over the greased surface.)
Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.


----


Almond Glaze
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 Tablespoon almond extract

Friday, February 20, 2015

Birthday Cheesecake Dip

Cheesecake Cake Batter Dip 

Ingredients:
8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup sour cream
½ cup white cake mix
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup sprinkles
Graham Crackers for dipping

Instructions:
Place cream cheese in your mixing bowl and beat on medium high speed for 3 minutes, or until it becomes light and whipped.
Bring speed down to medium and add the sour cream and vanilla, mix until incorporated. Slowly add the powdered sugar and cake mix to the bowl and mix until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then gently fold in the sprinkles.
Serve cold with graham crackers, pretzels, or fresh fruit slices. Enjoy

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Christen's Spinach Artichoke Dip

20 oz frozen spinach, thawed
2 cans artichoke hearts, quartered 
1 jar of alfredo sauce  - either garlic flavored or as many cloves of roasted garlic as you like
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (more=thicker dip)
1 oz softened cream cheese

Mix first 5 ingredients together, then dot with cream cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. I usually stir once to incorporate the cream cheese throughout. Serve with tortilla chips.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Lemon-Orange Orange Roughy

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil








  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange fillets in the skillet, and drizzle with orange juice and lemon juice. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Red Velvet Puppy Chow

Ingredients
5 C. Rice Chex cereal
3/4 C. white chocolate melts or chips
1/4 C. chocolate melts or chips
2 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
1 C. Red Velvet Cake mix
1/2 C. powdered sugar
Valentines colored M&M's or other candies
Heart sprinkles for extra decoration and cute-ness
Directions
1. Measure out Rice Chex cereal and place into a large bowl.
2. Place cake mix and powdered sugar into a large plastic bag or tupperware with a lid.
3. Melt chocolates together in the microwave or on the stove top. Careful not to burn and stir until smooth.
4. Stir in cream cheese and milk (the chocolate will get thicker, but it's okay)
5. Pour chocolate over Rice Chex cereal and stir until coated.
6. Dump cereal into the bag or tupperware with powdered sugar and cake mix. Shake, shake, shake until coated.
7. Dump onto a cookie sheet and let cool.
8. Mix with extra colorful candies and serve!

NOTE: Because of the cream cheese, keep in the fridge if you won't be eating them that day. You can also omit the cream cheese all together if you wish...if you do that, you don't need the milk either!

Trout

Best Pork Chops Ever

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 boneless rib end pork loin roast, cut into 6 generous 1-inch thick chops, each chop pressed lightly with fingertips to flatten
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour measured into a pie plate or other shallow pan

Directions
Heat the butter and oil in an 11 to 12-inch skillet over low heat. While the pan is heating, sprinkle the chops on both sides with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour.

A couple of minutes before sauteing, increase the heat to medium-high. When the butter stops foaming and starts to smell nutty brown, arrange the chops in the skillet. Cook, turning only once, until they are a rich golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from skillet.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, divided
12-16 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced 
1 tablespoon tamari (can substitute soy sauce)
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 cups chicken stock or water, divided 
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice (I like fresh lemon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
Freshly ground pepper to taste
In a Dutch oven or small soup pot sauté onion in 2 tablespoons of the butter until onions are clear. Next add mushrooms, tamari, paprika, dill weed and 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make a Bechamel. In small sauce pan melt 2 tablespoons butter. Whisk in 3 tablespoons flour and cook for several minutes. Next add milk. Cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Stir into mushroom mixture and add remaining 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 15 more minutes.
Just before serving add lemon juice, sour cream, salt and pepper. (Note: Soup should only be gently heated once sour cream has been added, do not boil after this point).