Amanda's Cheddar Cheese Ball

1/2 lb grated sharp cheddar cheese

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup mayonaisse

1/8 teaspoon onion salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, plus enough to roll and cover the cheese ball.

Put all ingredients (except the nuts to roll the cheese ball in) in food processor, process until well combined.  (Amanda actually mixes this by hand, wearing plastic gloves to keep clean.)  Put nuts to roll the ball in a pie plate.  Pile the cheese mixture on top of the nuts (in as close to ball shape as you can get it).  Bring the nuts up the sides and on top as best you can, then pick up the ball and roll it around in the nuts to cover completely.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

pretzel rods

chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk, or dark)

white chocolate bark or candy coating

wax paper

tall, straight glass

fork

Pour chocolate chips into the glass.  Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute.  Stir with a pretzel (this will be difficult at first--don't force it).  Continue to microwave 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Using the pretzel, pull chocolate to the rim of the glass and begin twisting the pretzel, leaving a generous amount of chocolate.*  Place on waxed paper.

After you have dipped all the pretzels and lined them up on waxed paper, microwave a block of white chocolate bark for 15-30 seconds, stirring with a fork until melted and smooth.  Drizzle back and forth over the pretzels.  Let dry for a couple of hours or overnight.**

Bag one or two pretzels in Wilton Pretzel Bags (they can be found at Walmart in the cake decorating aisle).  They come with silver ties, but I usually tie the tops with curling ribbon and a little Christmas card.

I've found you can get about 20-24 pretzels per bag (dip the broken ones too though!) and that you need about 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips per pretzel bag.  Kathryn and I dipped four bags of pretzels in about 35 minutes, resulting in 92 pretzels!

*If you like TONS of chocolate, just dip the pretzels and pull them right out of the chocolate.  But this will make it necessary to use A LOT more chocolate.  I prefer a lighter coat of chocolate--and I even like the pattern made by twisting the pretzel out of the chocolate.

**Warning!  You have not tempered the chocolate, so it may bloom!   It's still okay to eat--but if you pass them out within the next day or so, they're usually fine and get eaten before any blooming happens.  But no guarantees here.

Soft Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

6 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup lard (or butter)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.  Using a mixer, cream together lard (butter) and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat in vanilla and sour cream.  Mix sifted flour to beaten mixture until fully incorporated.  

Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes.  Place on a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are light brown.

Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature

2 lbs powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup whole milk (or half and half)

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.  Beat in about two cups of powdered sugar.  Beat in salt and vanilla and a little milk.  Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar and slowly pour in the rest of the milk.  Color with food coloring.

Chocolate Mousse Cookies

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
24 oz Hershey Chocolate Almond bars, chopped 
Nilla Wafers*, crushed, about 1/2 a box

Whip cream to firm peaks, adding sugar around the soft peak stage.  Melt chopped chocolate in microwave one minute at a time. Fold in whipped cream. Freeze for about an hour. Using a spoon or small cookie scoop place a small amount of mouse into a bowl containing the crushed Nilla wafer crumbs. Coat each ball with crumbs and quickly roll and shake off the excess crumbs.  Place on waxed paper.  Keep refrigerated.  Makes about 40.

*Use the real thing.  And the easiest way to crush them into a fine crumb is to give them a whirl in the food processor.

Caramel Chocolate Nut Brownies

50 light caramels (1 14oz bag Kraft caramels)

2/3 cup evaporated milk (divided)

1 cake mix (any chocolate flavor)

1/4 cup flour

12 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unwrap caramels and combine in a bowl with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Melt in microwave one minute at a time, stirring in between until completely melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk, flour, melted butter and nuts. Mix until completely blended, but do not over stir. In a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan (or use parchment paper), press not quite half of the dough into the pan, completely covering the bottom (buttering your fingers can help here).  Bake for 7-8 minutes. Refrigerating the remaining dough during the baking time can make it easier to handle. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the entire surface. Drizzle the caramel over the chips. Using your hands, flatten out the remaining dough a little at a time, and place on top of caramel, covering completely. Return to the oven for 15-18 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting into bite-size pieces.  I think, like chocolate cake, these delightful brownie bites taste best chilled.

* If, like me, half your family doesn't want the nuts, the dough is thick enough to easily make half a pan of nut-free brownies.  The two sides won't run together at all.

Pear Bran Muffins

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup milk

1 cup canned pears (in natural juices), drained, small dice

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup oil (I use extra light olive oil)

In a medium bowl, combine pears, bran and milk. Let stand 5 minutes. While waiting, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside. To the pear mixture, mix in the egg and oil. Add all at once the flour mixture stirring only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill greased or papered muffin pans 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees 18-20 minutes.

Oven-Baked Pork Stew

1 1/2 lbs boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 Tablespoons fat

3 Tablespoons flour

2 16 ounce can tomatoes, blended

2 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1/2 cup water

4 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, large dice

1 large onion, cut into thin strips

1 green pepper, cut into thin strips

1 12 oz package frozen peas

In a large skillet brown meat, half at a time, in hot fat. Remove meat from skillet, reserving drippings. Stir flour into drippings. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, bouillon granules, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper sauce, and water. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. In a large casserole combine meat, sweet potatoes, onion, and green pepper. Stir in tomato mixture. Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven about 1 1/2 hours or till meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf. Stir in peas. Let sit 5-10 minutes. Serves 6.

Easy Green Bean Almondine

Palmful of slivered almonds

1-2 Tablespoons butter

1 can green beans, drained

In a small skillet, toast almonds over medium heat until fragrant.  Add butter.  When butter has melted, add drained beans, salt and pepper to taste, stir.  Cover until warmed through--just a few minutes.

Pork Loin Roast

Pork Tenderloin (whole in the bag, mine is 2.89 lbs, two pieces)

Bacon Grease (or fat of your choice)

Salt and Pepper

2 cups chicken stock

Unsweetened Applesauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season all sides of tenderloin with salt and pepper. In a large cast iron skillet, heat bacon grease over medium high heat. Sear tenderloins on all sides. Pour chicken stock in skillet. Roast* in oven for 40-50 minutes. Remove from pan to a cutting board. Tent with tin foil and rest for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve with applesauce. Mmmmmmmmmm. :)

*If you don't have a cast iron skillet or other oven-proof skillet, remove tenderloin from pan and place in roasting pan before adding the chicken stock.

Kristen's College Spicy Bean Soup

1 Tablespoon fat (bacon grease, olive oil, butter, coconut oil)

1/2 onion, small dice

1 carrot, large dice (optional--c'mon Kristen, you eat pickles now--try a carrot!)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can vegetable or chicken broth (or stock or two cups water and two cubes chicken bouillon)

1 can tomato sauce

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce*

1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 cup frozen corn

Heat fat in a medium sauce pan over low heat, add the onion and cook five minutes.  Add carrot, cook two more minutes.  Add garlic, cook one more minute.  Add next five ingredients, raise heat until soup comes to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 30 minutes (you probably want to remove the pepper after 10 though!), stirring occasionally.  Remove pepper and add corn.  Stir and let corn warm through.  Enjoy!

If you are going to double this soup, add variety by making the second can of beans something different like kidney or white beans.

*This will result in a very spicy soup.  For a milder flavor, only keep the pepper in for 10 minutes of cooking time.  Also, you'll have a bunch of peppers leftover.  Freeze them individually (spread out on a plate), then place in a freezer bag to use later.

Potato Cheddar Soup

7-8 medium red potatoes, scrubbed (peel off anything ugly), large dice

3 Tablespoons bacon grease (butter, olive oil, coconut oil if you don't have any)

1 onion, small dice

4 ribs celery, small dice

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 chicken bouillon cube, crushed

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Put potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cook until tender (about 15 minutes).  While the potatoes are cooking, in a stock pot, saute onion and celery in bacon grease on medium low heat until tender (about 10-15 minutes).  Add butter and let it melt.  Stir in the flour and let it cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the milk, sugar, bouillon, and parsley.  Increase heat to medium.  Either drain the potatoes, or remove from water with a spider, and add to the soup.  Cook until thick and bubbly (about 5-10 minutes).  Stir in cheddar cheese.  Enjoy!

P.S.  If you have some diced ham in the fridge, that makes a good addition.  Pictured you can see some chopped bacon and extra cheddar on top for a beautiful presentation.  :)

Best Movie Popcorn Ever

3 Tablespoons coconut oil*

1/3 cup popcorn

3 Tablespoons melted butter

salt (to taste)

Spoon oil into a large skillet.  Turn heat to medium high.  Pour in 1/3 cup popcorn.  Cover the pan, and shake gently over heat.  Pretty soon you'll hear the popping going on.  Remove the pan from heat when the popping stops.  Pour into a large bowl and drizzle with butter and sprinkle with salt to your taste.

*For everyday popcorn use affordable LouAna Coconut Oil.  For special occasions, splurge and use extra virgin coconut oil.

Kristen's Mini Frittatas

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

2 shakes hot sauce

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup finely chopped broccoli (cooked)

1/4 cup red pepper, small dice (bottled)

1/2 cup ham, small dice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease* muffin tin. Beat first six ingredients in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix until combined. Divide evenly into muffin cups. Bake until just set, about 22-25 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

*Kristen used coconut oil, I'd use bacon grease, butter would be fine. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

2 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup chocolate chips (other options: walnuts, raisins)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

¼ cup milk

¾ cup chocolate chips (other options: walnuts, raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, baking soda, cloves and chocolate chips*; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat together brown sugar and butter till well combined; beat in eggs. Add pumpkin and milk; mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar-pumpkin mixture, mixing until combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. For best flavor, wrap and store overnight before slicing.

*Many recipes mix these in after the batter is complete, but I heard somewhere that if the chips are coated in flour, they are less likely to sink to the bottom while cooking.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz cream cheese (original Philly Brand please)

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla till light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar.  With the mixer on low, mix til combined, then increase the speed until light and fluffy again.

A must for Carrot Cake.  Completely covers two-layer round cake.  Half the recipe if only frosting the tops and not the sides.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups finely grated carrot

1 cup extra light olive oil

5 eggs

Cream Cheese Frosting

Grease and flour two round cake pans.  To guarantee a clean removal of cake from the pans, also line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a mixing bowl combine the first 6 ingredients, stir well.  Add the next 3 ingredients, beat on low until combined.  Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Pour batter into pans.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  The cake is done if a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack, removing layers from pans after 10 minutes.  Peel parchment paper off the cakes and allow to cool completely.  Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

For a 13x9x2 cake, bake for 50-60 minutes.

Birthday Cake - repeating stars in M&Ms

This cake is pretty self-explanatory.  Just make a star in the center (lightly pressing a star-shaped cookie cutter works well), in the M&M color of your choice, and then repeat over and over.  I've done this cake a few times.  It looks best if the outlining M&Ms are close together--especially that second and third level.  So don't worry about even numbers or anything--just keep them almost touching.  You can keep all the outlines solid, but the girls really like how this one kind of drapes down the sides.

Birthday Cake - number and heart M&M's, Kit Kats, Whoppers

This cake is simple and easy to make, but has a big wow factor.  I like that.  All you do is make a two-layer cake and frost it (both layers are upside down so that the top is flat).  Lay down a row of Whoppers.  Press on Kit Kat sections (use a knife to cut the sections apart--you'll have neater edges).  This cake used nine Kit Kat bars.  We like how they look like exclamation points, but I don't sweat making sure the Whoppers and Kit Kat sections line up.  Then create the number and heart, and then the outlines, all in M&Ms.  And there you have it!

Snickerdoodles

I got this recipe from my trusty 1981 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, now out of print.

Dough

3 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Grease a cookie sheet.  Stir together first four ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds; add the 2 cups sugar and beat till fluffy.  Add eggs, milk, and vanilla; beat well.  Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating till combined.  Form dough into 1-inch balls; roll in Cinnamon Sugar.  Place balls 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet; flatten slightly with the bottom of a drinking glass.  Bake in a 375 degree oven  about 8 minutes or till light golden.  Makes about 66.

Hollilyn's Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 large box Chocolate pudding (cook and serve)
3 cups milk (whole milk of possible)

Chocolate Chips (about 1 cup)

Prepare pudding as directed on the box (Only Cook and Serve works). Mix pudding with cake mix until well blended. Put in a greased 9x13 pan. Top with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. The top will be shiny, but as long as the toothpick comes out clean, it is done.

Thanks Hollilyn!

Dulce de Leche Brownies

1/2 cup cocoa (dutch-process if possible)

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour

1 cup - 1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, whisked, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup Dulce de Leche

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, sugar and salt.  Make a well in the center and add the eggs, vanilla and butter.  Mix just until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pour half the batter in prepared pan.  Distribute half the Dulce de Leche by spoonfuls evenly over the batter.  Take a knife and swirl slightly.  Pour the remaining half of the batter into the pan.  Repeat the spoonfuls of Dulce de Leche and swirl.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Don't over-bake.  A toothpick poked in the center should have a few moist crumbs attached.  These are best served warm--not straight out of the oven, but still warm.  If you're given a cold one, a few seconds in the microwave will bring back the ooey goodness!

Aunt Cheryl's Potato Salad

Cooked and Peeled Potatoes* (large russet) - large dice
Hard Boiled Eggs - diced

(Potato/Egg Ratio 1:1)

Miracle Whip (until it looks right)

Mustard (about 1 Tablespoon)

Salt

Pepper

Sweet pickles w/juice (or Sweet Pickle Relish)

Optional Add-ins:
onions (small dice, any kind)
celery (small dice)
Parsley
Crumbled bacon

*To cook and peel potatoes:  Bring water to a boil.  Score center of potatoes all the way around.  Place potatoes in boiling water (doesn't need to be a hard rolling boil, but harder than a simmer).  Boil about 15 minutes.  Prepare an ice bath (bowl of water with ice in it).  Remove potatoes from boiling water and put in ice bath.  Move them around in the ice for about ten second or until the are cool enough to handle.  Then squeeze off the skin.

Watch Maryanne from Gilligan's Island for a wonderful demonstration!

Tips for Potato Salad

If you want measurements

Alfajores and Dulce de Leche

The recipe I used for Alfajores is found here, but I had to add 2 Tablespoons of water to get the ingredients to form into a dough, and instead of rolling in sweetened coconut, I just sprinkled them with powdered sugar.  They were tender and delicious!  My good friend Barbara (who also served in Argentina) tells me the cookie could be thicker and there's usually a lot more Dulce de Leche sandwiched between them, but she still gave them a thumbs up for flavor!  You can see commercial and homemade images of the real thing here. 

The Dulce de Leche recipe was obnoxiously simple.  You just take a can of sweetened condensed milk (unopened, but with the label removed), submerge it in a pot gently simmering water and let it cook for 3 hours--checking the water level from time to time to make sure it is still submerged.*  When it's done, let it cool (I filled the same pan with ice water to hurry it along), and when you open it up you have Dulce de Leche. 


*Caution:  if the pot is allowed to boil dry, the can will overheat and explode!  I found this recipe that is just as simple (and takes less time!) but it's done in the oven and out of the can so there's no chance of an explosion.  It would also remove the necessity of scrubbing the bottom of my pot with steel wool to get it clean.  So I might try it this way the next time.  This recipe inspired me to try my own version of these Dulce de Leche Brownies.  Look for the results next week!

Zucchini Tomato Dish

1 young, tender zucchini, diced

1 tomato, diced

fat of your choice (I like bacon grease)

salt (I like Kosher)

pepper

Lemon-Pepper Ricotta Spread*

Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add zucchini and tomato to the pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook until tender (about five minutes), stirring occasionally.  Pour into serving bowl and crumble Lemon Pepper Ricotta Spread over top.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

*Homemade Ricotta

Pizza Dough

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons warm water

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

corn meal (to sprinkle on the cookie sheet before laying down the dough)

tomato sauce

toppings of your choice (see our favorites below)

Parmesan cheese (and red pepper flakes if you like 'em)

Place all ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed.  Run it on the dough cycle.  When complete, move oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly sprinkle corn meal over two cookie sheets.  Divide dough in half and on a floured surface roll the dough to your desired thickness (or divide more to make individual pizzas).  Spread about 3 Tablespoons of tomato sauce all over the dough and cover with your favorite toppings.  Bake 12 minutes or until crust is light brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Preferred toppings: 

Dad:  Roll the crust really thin, add everything you can plus jalapeños!

Mom:  chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, cheese

Kathryn:  cheese, olives, pepperoni, sausage

Sarah:  cheese - and sometimes sausage

Homemade Ricotta

2 cups whole milk

1 cup cream
(or 2 cups half and half and 1 cup whole milk)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Pour the milk, cream, and salt into a 4-cup glass liquid measuring cup.  Microwave until it comes to a full boil--it will get all foamy on top.  Mine took 7 1/2 minutes to come to a full boil, stopping occasionally to stir.  (Warning!  If you just set the timer for 7 minutes you might end up with an explosion in your microwave!  And it's no fun to clean up, so stop occasionally to stir--and maybe cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a paper towel or something.)  Then stir in the lemon juice and let it sit for 1 minute while the curds and whey separate  (If the curdling seems weak, try adding some more lemon juice.).  Place a strainer over a large bowl and line with paper towels.  Gently transfer curds to strainer and let drain for twenty-five minutes.

And you have 1 cup of ricotta cheese!  Now, what to do with it?  If you doubled the recipe, you could try Lasagna Florentine. Or you could try Roasted Figs with Fresh Ricotta.  After looking around at what I had on hand, I added about a Tablespoon of honey, a Tablespoon of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of lemon zest.  Gave it a good stir and scooped some into a bowl.  Then topped that with some berries and a drizzle of warm honey.  Delish!  

Try making  Lemon-Pepper Ricotta Spread and combining that with this Zucchini Tomato Dish.

Mama Bahr's Egg Strata Casserole

8 slices of bread, crusts removed, buttered
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 2/3 C. milk
1 tsp. salt, pepper to taste, dash cayenne
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 lb. sausage

Brown and drain sausage. Arrange buttered bread slices (my slices didn't fit very well, so I cubed them), grated cheese and sausage in 9 x 13 pan, alternating layers ending with cheese (b,s,c b,s,c)

Combine other ingredients and pour over. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Place casserole pan in a larger pan of warm water and cover whole thing with foil.

Bake 1 hour @ 350 degrees. Remove foil last 20 minutes. Cut in squares and serve immediately.

Optional:
Substitute bacon or ham for sausage.

Coleslaw

1 small head green cabbage, about 6 cups thin 1-2 inch slice

2 carrots, large grate

Dressing:

1 1/4 cup mayonnaise (275 g)

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoon vinegar  

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, place sliced cabbage and grated carrots.  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Toss dressing with cabbage and carrots.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

My Grandpa Carl and Grandma Ruth Johnson

2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
4 eggs

4 cups flour - sifted (560 g)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups applesauce

1 package chocolate chips (12 ounces)

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs, one at a time, until well blended.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, spices, and salt, stirring well. Add to creamed mixture. Combine soda and applesauce. Add to mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Makes about 6 dozen. You may 1/2 the recipe if desired. (See measurements below.)

Enjoy! Grandma Ruth

(Grandma would wash the styrofoam meat trays and use them as a tray to freeze her cookies--first wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil. I usually ate her cookies frozen. Somehow they are still soft enough to bite into.)

Notice it was Apple Sauce, two words back then. But later it became one word. :)

Here are the ingredient measurements for half a batch:

1 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs

2 cups flour - sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons baking soda
1 cups applesauce

1/2 package chocolate chips (6 oz.)

Buffet Menu for 50

This menu was for a funeral buffet.  The Ward payed for the meat and provolone ($30.00).  The rest came from 23 wonderful volunteers. It was beautiful.  Alas, I took no pictures.

2 lbs turkey $4.00/pound (prepackaged)

2 lbs ham $4.00/pound (prepackaged)

1 lbs roast beef $7.00/pound (sliced from the deli)

1 bottle green olives - $3.29

Created three meat platters (about 9x13 ovals).  Left side layered rows of rolled turkey, right side layered rows of rolled ham, pile of roast beef in middle, olives along bottom edge, garnish with parsley.

1.5 lb provolone $6.76 (prepackaged)

1 lb pepper jack ~$4.50 (sliced from deli)

1 lb American cheese ~$4.50 (sliced from deli)

Created two cheese platters (about 9x13 ovals).  Stack the cheese and slice in half to double the number of slices.  Fan and layer slices with parsley garnish.

6 dozen rolls - Slice each roll leaving one side still connected.  Keep bagged.

Mayonnaise

Miracle Whip

Mustard

1 Large Green Salad

2 Large Pasta Salads

Vegetable Platter (about 12x18).  Heaping rows as follows:  celery sticks, carrot sticks, olives (two cans), carrot sticks, celery sticks.

Strawberries, washed and hulled

Grapes, washed

6-8 dozen cookies/brownies

4 pictures of ice water, 2 with sliced lemons

paper plates

plastic cups

plastic forks (in a basket)

napkins

2 tongs

4 large serving spoons

Oven Roasted Chicken Breasts

Use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub chicken breasts with olive oil and place them a sheet pan lined with tin foil (just for easier cleaning). Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, both sides.  Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin.

If you only have boneless, skinless chicken breasts, treat them the same with oil, salt and pepper, cover them in bacon and cook 30-40 minutes.  Don't discard the bacon, though!  Let everyone have a tasty snack or incorporate the bacon into your dish somehow!  Kristen would say you'd have to put the bacon back in the oven to crisp up a bit more for her to enjoy the snack though.  :)

Honey Wheat Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine pan and run on dough cycle.  When the cycle is finished, turn on the machine long enough to knead the risen bread back into a ball and butter your loaf pan.  Remove and shape into a loaf.  Place in buttered loaf pan.  Turn oven on to "Warm", place loaf in oven.  After 25 minutes, turn the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove finished loaf after 25 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Josi S. Kilpack's Lemon Tart Recipe Review

You can get all of Ms. Kilpack's Lemon Tart recipes here, and if you want a really fun read, you can buy her book at Amazon or Deseret Book.  My revised recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Okay, so I started with the crust.  But after adding all the ingredients and pulsing, my dough never formed in clumps (could simply be the incredibly dry winter air?), so I went searching for solutions.   After checking out this one, I decided to add 1 egg yolk.  Still no clumps, so I added 1 Tablespoon ice water.  Uh, maybe the beginning of clumps, so I added 1 more Tablespoon of ice water.  That brought the dough all together--maybe adding one teaspoon at a time would have been better.  But not knowing what too much water will do to a crust, I'll never know unless I try it again.  I then wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill for 1/2 an hour.

Rather than pressing the dough into the pan (10 inch), I rolled it out (from past experience, I know that the more I touch the dough, the tougher it is, so I thought me + pressing = tough).  Be careful to only roll it out in a circle big enough to fit the pan or the pastry will be too thin.  It took me two times to do this (can you say, "No matter what I do I end up working the dough too much?"), and when done right, it is a beautiful thing.  To get a perfect edge, just roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan and remove any excess pastry.  I covered the crust with plastic wrap and put in the the freezer for fifteen minutes (on the baking sheet because with a removable bottom, a tart pan is a tricky thing to move), but pricked the crust with a fork after taking it out of the freezer.  Since I added the egg, before putting it in the oven, I covered the crust with a piece of parchment paper and filled it with dry beans to keep the crust from puffing up.

And now, doubting the recipe already and having cooked things in my oven at what seemed to me high temperatures and pretty much always regretting it, I reduced my oven to 350 degrees and cooked the crust for 25 minutes.  When the crust was done, I removed the parchment and beans.  Since I had a leftover egg white, I lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brushed it onto the bottom and sides of the crust.  Then let it cool on a wire rack.  (Okay, I'll be honest.  I threw away the first egg white, but the suggestion from the second recipe sounded so good, I cracked another egg and used that white.  But now I've got an extra egg yolk--so I saved it to throw into the filling!  Hah!)

For the filling, I followed the recipe except for the extra egg yolk and a pinch of salt.  And it's much easier if you remember to zest the lemon before you juice them.  Oh, and it took about 4 lemons for me to get 3/4 cup of juice (although I strain my juice so there is no pulp or itty-bitty seeds in there).  If you have any leftover lemon filling

I baked the tart for about 22 minutes.  It looks beautiful!  There was a small hole on one side of the crust that I was worried about--the filling leaking through and all that.  But it appears that it was not a problem.  As the tart cooled, the edges pulled away a little bit, so instead of putting whipped cream in the center (like the picture on the cover of the book), I piped the whipped cream along the edge to cover the crack.

Oh, I also rolled out the leftover dough and just baked that on some parchment paper with the crust.  There was some leftover lemon filling and I poured that into a little oven proof bowl and baked that with the tart.  That meant Dad and little girlies could have a little bit of a taste.  That's always nice when your big, beautiful dessert is going somewhere else!

MY REVISED RECIPE

Crust

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) of very cold, unsalted butter--cut into small pieces

1 egg yolk

2 Tablespoons ice water

1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a food processor or mixer, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and ice water and pulse together until a dough comes together. Roll into a circle, on a lightly floured surface, to fit a 9 1/2 inch tart pan. Lay into tart pan and press into the edges. Roll the rolling pin over the to to make a nice edge. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Cover the shell with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans. Brush egg white mixture onto the bottom and sides of the tart shell; set aside to cool.

Filling

5 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2-4 lemons—DO NOT use concentrated lemon juice)

2 large eggs

Zest from one lemon (get zest from lemon before juicing)

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese with electric beaters until smooth. Add sugar. Mix

until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Stop and scrape bowl halfway through. Add the lemon juice, zest and salt and mix until smooth. Pour filling into tart crust and bake on cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes (mine cooked in 22 minutes) or until filling is set. Let tart cool

on wire cooling rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Use whipped cream as an optional topping. It can be piped on in stars or served on top with each piece. For

extra flavor in the whipped cream, add a teaspoon of lemon zest. As my tart cooled, it pulled away from the crust a little bit leaving gaps. That's why I did a whipped cream border of stars around the edge--to cover the gaps.

Banana Nut Muffins

Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book, 1981 Edition (with a little tweaking)

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4  teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup extra light olive oil
1 cup mashed very ripe banana
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (the kids beg us to leave these out so sometimes we only add these to half the batch)

In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center.  Combine egg, milk, and oil.  Add egg mixture, mashed banana, and walnuts all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just till moistened; batter should be lumpy.  Grease muffin cups or line with paper bake cups; fill (using an ice cream scoop if you've got one) 2/3 full (Mat fills them all the way up).  Bake in a 400 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 18 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pans; serve warm.  Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

Pork Chops with Cream Sauce

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

4 center-cut pork chops, boneless, about 1 1/4 inch thick

salt

pepper

2 Tablespoons grated onion

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup heavy cream

Season pork chops with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add olive oil and butter.  When the butter has melted, add pork chops and sear (there should be a good amount of color), about 3 minutes each side. 

Remove the pork chops from the pan, reduce heat to medium and add the onion.  Cook until softened, about 1 minute.  Deglaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup water, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan.  Stir in stock and return chops to pan.  Bring sauce to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook until chops are cooked through - 15-20 minutes (I like 15, Mat likes 20).

Remove pork chops to a warm platter and cover with tin foil to keep warm.  Over high heat, boil the pan juices to reduce by half, 3-4 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and continue to boil, stirring continually, until the sauce reduces and thickens, about 5 minutes.  Pour sauce into a gravy boat.  Serve.

This recipe is a simplified version of Pork Chops with Dijon Sauce by Simple Recipes.  I found that I needed longer cooking times than they did--maybe it's an elevation thing.  They have some great step-by-step pictures that may be helpful if you're going to try this recipe.

If you need to double this recipe, use two pans (I use my big skillet and my stockpot), then pour the drippings from one pan to the other to make the sauce.

Lemon Pound Cake

Anna Lou Hutchings' recipe

Cake
1 pkg yellow cake
1 3-oz pkg lemon jello
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water

Glaze
3 cups powdered sugar
9 Tablespoons lemon juice (always fresh)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9x13 pan with Pam.*  Combine all cake ingredients and mix well.  Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Mix glaze ingredients until smooth.  Prick cake with fork and pour half of glaze on cake.**  To serve, pour a puddle of glaze on plate, then place cake slice on puddle.

*This is Pam.  Lovely, isn't she.  I butter and flour the pan.  Alone.  :)

**I let the cake cool completely before pouring on the glaze.

Restaurant-style Sandwich

tortilla or bread

sour cream*

yellow mustard

cooked chicken

sliced tomato*

avocado*

sprouts

*lightly sprinkled with kosher salt

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Grandma AnnaLou's Recipe

1 scant cup butter (scant?  I just used 1 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/3 cup boiling water*
2 1/2 cup flour
2 cups oats
1 cup each raisins and nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Blend fat,** vanilla, sugar, salt and eggs.  Dissolve soda in water,*** mix with egg/fat mix.  Mix flour with oats.  Add to fat mix.  (Hmmm, this must be where you add the raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips.**** And notice the last sentence in parenthesis!)  Drop onto sprayed cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes.  (Let dough chill for 30 minutes).

*I wonder why it needs to be boiled?  I was a little concerned that it would "use up" the magic properties of the soda (I admit to a lack of any chemistry knowledge whatsoever), or that it might "cook" the eggs or something, so I drizzled it in slowly (on low speed or you're going to have water flinging everywhere and in your eye--thank goodness I wear contacts!).  It did look a little curdly at first, but ultimately mixed in well.

 **This must be an old recipe--using the word "fat" without fear that anyone might object. 

***Great Grandma Ruth's Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies call for the soda to be dissolved in applesauce.  I wonder if this ensures even distribution or something.

****Of course you can pick and choose which add-ins you want.  If you are Dad, it's just raisins and nuts--the chocolate is an abomination.  If you are the little girlies, chocolate chips only.  If you are me, chocolate chips and toasted walnuts--but really, the raisins are quite tasty in this cookie, so maybe I'd say 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup toasted walnuts, 1/2 cup raisins.

Easy Veracruz-Style Tilapia

2 1/2 cups salsa

1/2 cup green olives, chopped

2 heaping Tablespoons capers, drained, chopped

6 tilapia fillets, thawed, seasoned with salt and pepper

butter, olive oil, coconut oil (take your pick or combine them)

Turn your oven on warm.  In a liquid measuring cup, combine salsa, olives, and capers.  Stir well.

Melt the butter/olive oil/coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the tilapia about 2-3 minutes per side until done (2-3 fillets at a time usually fit in the pan).  Remove to a glass baking dish in the warm oven, tent with foil.  Cook remaining fillets and keep warm in oven.  Pour the salsa mixture into the skillet you cooked the fish in, scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan.  Bring to a simmer.

Remove baking dish from oven, pour salsa mixture over all (or if you have family members who won't eat the sauce, just serve fish [with a little lemon would be nice] and sauce separately).  Enjoy!

Note:  You could use halibut, red snapper--if there is leftover sauce, it would even be good on scrambled eggs!

Oven Pancakes

Turn oven to 450 degrees.  Put 6 Tablespoons butter (cut into pieces) in a 13x9 inch casserole dish.  Place pan in oven to melt butter.

Now the hard part:  REMEMBER TO TAKE THE DISH OUT BEFORE BUTTER BROWNS OR BURNS!

In a blender, put the following:

1 cup milk

6 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

Blend well.  Carefully pour mixture into pan of melted butter.  Do not stir.  Bake for 18 minutes.  Pancakes will be high and fluffy.  Serve immediately.

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

About 8 red or gold potatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drizzle cookie sheet with a little olive oil.  Scrub potatoes.  Remove any unsightly bits, but you can leave the peel.  Cut into about 1 inch cubes.  Pour onto the cookie sheet.  Drizzle some more olive oil over the potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt (Kosher) and pepper (freshly ground).  Using your hands, toss the potatoes until they are well-coated in oil.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender--giving everything a good stir with a spatula after fifteen minutes of cooking.

Yams and Sweet Potatoes, made the same way. Sweet and delicious!

Mat's Granola

5 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup raw cashews, chopped

1 cup almonds, chopped

1 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds, or whatever you like.  Salted or not, you get to choose!)

1 cup unsweetened coconut

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup non-instant powdered milk

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup raisins
1 cup other dried fruit (dates, cherries, craisins, etc.)

1 cup honey

1 cup coconut oil, melted

In a big bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix honey and coconut oil together, pour over dry ingredients.  Using your hands, mix well.  Spread mixture onto two ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool.  Store in closed container.

Lemon Breakfast Bars

2 cups raisins (Kristy leaves these out)
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 1/3 cup  brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a saucepan, combine raisins, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Heat and stir until bubbling, then remove from heat to cool slightly.  In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and coconut oil, brown sugar and vanilla extract to make a batter.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt, then add oats and walnuts.  Press all but 2 cups of the batter into a greased 9x13 pan.  Spread raisin mixture on top of batter to within 1/2 inch of the edges.  Sprinkle with dollops of reserved batter; press lightly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Allow to cool, then slice into 12 bars.  These delicious bars freeze well.  We wrap them individually in plastic wrap and tin foil to protect them from freezer burn.