Monday, September 13, 2010

Easy Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely

Candy Corn Bark

16 Halloween-colored chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped
1 1/2 cups broken small pretzels
1 1/2 pounds white chocolate, broken into squares
2 cups candy corn
orange and brown sprinkles

Spread the cookies and pretzels, evenly onto a lightly greased small baking sheet. Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave, stirring frequently until melted. Remove from the heat while there are still a few chunks, and stir until smooth. White chocolate burns easily.
Drizzle chocolate with a spoon over the goodies in the pan, spreading the top flat to coat evenly. Top with candy corn and sprinkles. Let cool until firm. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients
1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Fruit of your choice, Anything will work really.
We Like Kiwi, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries

The Glaze
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon orange zest


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slice cookie dough and arrange on greased pizza pan, overlapping edges. Press dough flat into pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, soften cream cheese, then fold in the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. You can chill for a while at this point, or continue by arranging the fruit.
Begin with strawberries, sliced in half. Arrange in a circle around the outside edge. Continue with fruit of your choice, working towards the middle. If bananas are used, dip them in lemon juice so they don't darken. Then make a sauce to spoon over fruit.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours, then cut into wedges and serve.

Birthday Party Cookies

1 pkg Funfetti cake mix
2 eggs
2/3 cups shortening
Mix ingredients together. Place spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Cool and serve.

Apple Bread

6 eggs
4 egg yolks
6½ Cups sugar
Mix above ingredients on medium speed with a whisk for about 10 minutes until whipped, then add:
6 Tbsp butter
1 Cup oil
1½ Cups sour cream
Add above ingredients on low speed with a whisk for about 30 seconds, then add:
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
4 Cups flour
Add above ingredients on low with a paddle, and mix until incorporated, then add:
3½ Cups grated Granny Smith apples.
Incorporate apple by hand.Bake at 345 for about 50 minutes. Once the loaf has cooled use any kind of caramel, melt it and then drizzle in a diagonal direction across the loaf.This recipe makes 3 large loafs.

Good Things Utah BBQ Brisket

I saw this recipe one morning on Good Things Utah and just had to try it. Since then we have made it atleast a dozen times. It is so delicious, and the leftovers make fabulous sandwiches.

4 or 5 pound brisket
4 oz. liquid smoke
4 oz. Worcestershire
garlic salt
celery salt
onion salt
1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Method:
Place brisket in a large, shallow pyrex.
Add the liquid smoke and worcestershire sauce all over.
Rub brisket with lots of garlic salt, celery salt, and onion salt. My mom says..”it will look like you have ruined it!!”
Refrigerate overnight.
Bake in a covered roaster at 325 degrees for 3 hours.
Add one cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 ¾ cups crushed graham crackers
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Melt butter and peanut butter together. Stir in powdered sugar and graham crackers. Press mixture firmly into a 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips; then spread on top of peanut butter mixture. Chill until firm. Remove from the fridge and allow cookies to warm to room temperature. Cut into 1" squares. (if the cookies are still cold, the chocolate will crack)

Watermelon Sugar Cookies

1 ½ C Butter, Softened
2 C Granulated Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
5 C All-Purpose Flour
½ tsp Watermelon Flavoring
Red and Green Food Coloring
Chocolate Jimmies

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla and watermelon extract. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Remove approximately 1 ½ C dough, set aside. Add several drops of red food coloring to dough in bowl. On parchment paper, roll red dough into a 12" log and wrap with plastic wrap. Flatten bottom of roll. Chill in refrigerator one hour. Add several drops of green food coloring to remaining dough. Place between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll to 12" x 12" size. Chill in refrigerator one hour.To assemble: Place red dough, flattened side up, in the center of the green dough. Mold dough up to edge of red dough. Trim excess green dough. Cut flat side down, into ¼" slices with sharp knife. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies for seeds. Bake at 400° for 6 to 8 minutes. Cool. Store between layers of wax paper in airtight container.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Grandma Berlin's Salsa

Salsa
Peel tomatoes in a big pan:

2 1/2 Blenders full (16 cups). Chop till desired consistency.
2 1/2 Large onions - chopped in food processor
3 Large green peppers - chopped
3 or 5 jalapeno peppers - chopped
1 long Anaheim red pepper
2 Tablespoons canning salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 pinch dried hot chili peppers

Bring to a boil and boil 2 hours (taste for salt). Cook until desired consistency.
Pour into pint jars. Process 15 minutes. Serve heated with tortilla chips.
Makes 7 pints.

Mom got this recipe from a friend in Ogden years ago. Don't forget to use disposable gloves for even the tomatoes...otherwise you have orange fingernails for a few days.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Laundry Detergent

Grate 1 bar of soap (Zest, Ivory, etc.) and dissolve in 1 quart of boiling water. After it’s all dissolved, transfer to 5 gallon bucket. Add 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. Mix until all dissolved, then add 2 gallons of water. Mix well. Mixture will gel, so make sure you give it a good stir every hour or so until it’s cooled down. Otherwise it will become clumpy. Use ¼ cup per load.
I started making this about 6 months ago and I will never use store bought stuff again! It cleans just as good, if not better than anything I’ve tried. Plus, I spent about $10 on all the ingredients and I still have about half left. I also use it to treat stains!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ashley's Famous Home Made Oreo Cookies

These are the EASIEST cookies and get eaten SO fast around here.
They do take a while to make the entire batch, but I always find it to be worth it.


Home Made Oreo's Preheat oven to 400 degrees F'

2 sticks of butter (slightly softened)
4 eggs
2 devils food cake mixes



frosting:
1 package of cream cheese
1 stick of butter (slightly softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla


Mix the cookie ingredients together, roll into 1/2 inch-1 inch balls, try to make them all about the same size and place them about 2 inches apart on the ungreased cookie sheet, I usually can do about 4 a row and 6 rows. I also usually have about 3 cookie sheets that I alternate. cook them for 5 minutes max. They don't look done but don't do it longer, unless you like them crispt, I don't. Sometimes if the balls are rolled a little bigger than I might do it a titch longer.

After all the cookies are cooked, place them in vertical rows of two, each cookie having a match. turn over one cookie and leave the other. I usually do this on tin foil.

make the frosting
mix all the ingredients together
put in a frosting dispenser or in a ziploc with the tip cut

put the frosting on the cookie that is turned over and place the other one on on top.

We put these in the freezer, they are so so so yummy this way. My family loves them in the freezer or the fridge. I think this makes about 50 cookies.

* you can also color the frosting for certain holidays and do little flower or polka dot designs on top too. These are always a hit!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Pancakes

Pancakes from Scratch

2 cups milk
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegtable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 Table Spoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix ALL ingredients together with a whisk.
spray skillet with cooking spray and pour pancake mix into small circles onto pan flip when bubbly.

These are SO much better than the Krusteez or Bisquick mixes and in my opinion faster and cheaper. My kids LOVE them and so do I! Its so easy and so yummy.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Yummy Low-Cal Tropical Smoothie

2 Tbls. skim milk
1 to 1 1/3  c. crushed ice (or 6-9 ice cubes)
3-4 whole frozen strawberries
1/3 c. drained mandarin oranges
1 rounded tsp. orange sunrise crystal light powder (I use the wal-mart brand)
1/3 c. water
1 capful coconut extract
1 capful vanilla extract

Blend until smooth. Enjoy! The magic bullet works perfectly for this! I figured the calories once and I should have written it down then but I didn't... I think it was just over 80 calories. I'm sure you could change the fruit, crystal light, extract combination to make more yummy smoothies... I like this one so much that I haven't felt a need to change it up yet! The crushed ice works far better than the cubes too:)

You can substitue 1/2 of a fresh orange or 1 fresh mandarin orange for the canned mandarin oranges. I really like using the canned mandarin oranges, the smoothies come out smoother that way. lol... I buy the small cans (11.5 oz. I think), drain them and divide them into thirds. Just put the other 2 thirds into separate baggies and refrigerate for later.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Layered Pudding Dessert

1 cube butter, softened
1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (I like Pecans)
1 c. flour
Mix together and press into 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Let cool.

1 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz.) softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 container cool whip (12 oz.)
Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar. Add cool whip and mix well. Spread over cooled crust.

1 small pkg. chocolate pudding
1 small pkg. vanilla pudding
3 c. milk
Mix together and pour over cream cheese layer. Chill at least an hour. Serve with cool whip and garnish with chocolate curls if desired.

You can substitute any kind of pudding you want for the top layer. Coconut cream is really good with toasted coconut for garnish. We have also made it with pistachio pudding and lemon pudding. It doesn't matter what kind of pudding you use, you can't go wrong with this yummy dessert!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Baked Taquitos

1/2 C (4 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)
1 C grated cheese

small corn tortillas (and actually, flour ones are really good as well)
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.
Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the tortilla. Then roll it up as tight as you can. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.
Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or whatever you want! :)

Mini-Muffin Donuts

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 mini-muffin cups.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about three-fourths full.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted margarine, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve.

Cookie Dough Brownies

Brownies:
2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Baking Cocoa
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Oil
4 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla

In a mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa and salt. Add oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat for 3 minutes. Pour in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.
*If you are pressed for time a boxed brownie mix works great too.

Filling:
1 cup Butter (soft)
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
4 Tbsp. Milk
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups Flour

Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl. Add milk and vanilla. Mix well. Beat in flour. Spread over brownies. Chill until firm.

Glaze:
1 cup Chocolate Chips
2 Tbsp. Shortening

Melt chocolate and shortening over medium heat until smooth. Stirring constantly. Spread over filling immediately. Let sit until firm.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Dutch Oven Breakfast

1 cube butter or margarine
1-2 cups chopped ham
onion to taste (I usually use 1-2 Tbls. minced onion)
1 bag of frozen hash browns (we like the shredded best but either will work)
1 doz. eggs
4 c. shredded cheese (or however much you like)
salt and pepper
ketchup (optional)

Melt margarine in 14 inch dutch oven (you can use a liner for easy clean-up). Add ham and onion and cook until onion is tender. Add frozen hash browns and season with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until hash browns are done. Crack eggs on top. You can scramble the eggs and leave on top until cooked or you can stir them in with the hash browns and stir until eggs are set. You can also 'fry' the eggs by removing the coals from the bottom of the dutch oven leaving just the coals on the lid. Cook until they are set. Add cheese and let sit until cheese melts. This can also be made in a skillet in the house. The only thing I do different is slide the hash brown mixture to one side and then scramble the eggs on the other side. Then mix together and add cheese. Our family LOVES this breakfast! We didn't start scrambling the eggs until Brandy came along:) ... evidently she doesn't like runny yolks.

For dutch oven cooking... if you are using a 14" dutch oven, you will need 28 coals, 12 on bottom and 16 on top to produce a 350° oven. If you are using a 16" dutch oven you would need 32 coals, 14 on bottom and 18 on top.

Quiche

Brush 1 frozen pie crust with frothy egg white. Bake crust at 400° for 7 minutes (do not prick crust).

1/2 c. cubed ham
1/4 cube butter or margarine
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
1 small can mushrooms

Fry the above ingredients in skillet until onion is tender.

Whisk:
4 eggs
1 c. half & half
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper

Don't overbeat eggs. Sprinkle 1 cup shredded swiss cheese in bottom of baked crust. Add ham mixture, then egg mixture. Sprinkle with nutmeg (optional... I have never used the nutmeg). Reduce oven heat to 375° and bake for approx. 35 min. or until knife comes out clean.

I got this recipe from Grandma Berlin when my kids were little. It is a favorite in our family... by far the best Quiche I have ever had! When we were in St. George, Brian mentioned how good it sounded but unfortunately, it wasn't on the blog so we couldn't make it:(. We have had it for dinner more times than for breakfast... we have even made it when we are camping in a dutch oven (you just have to use refrigerated pie crust instead of the frozen. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat, and cook and stir 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.
Beat yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of mix into yolks. Return yolk mixture to saucepan, and bring to gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 more minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in butter, peel, and juice. Fold in sour cream.
Pour filling into baked pie shell, and cool. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Absolutely fantastic! Tastes every bit as good as Marie Callendar's Sour Cream Lemon!

Fresh Raspberry Muffins

1 C Fresh Raspberries
3/4 cup & 2 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
¼ C Butter, Softened
1 Egg
½ tsp Almond Extract
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 cup Flour
3 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Half & Half Cream
1 cup finely chopped White Choc. Chips

In a small bowl toss raspberries w/ ¼ c sugar and set aside. Cream together butter, ½ c sugar and beat in egg and extracts. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, add to cream mixture alternating with the half n half. Stir in chips and gently fold in rasp. Pour into paper lined muffin tins ¾ full. Mix remaining sugar w/ brown sugar and sprinkle over tops. Bake @ 375 for 25-30 min. Makes 1 dozen

Unbelievable Battered Fish (or anything else you can think of:))

"All you need for this fish batter is flour, salt, baking powder, milk, and water. Your result will be thinly-coated, crispy, and delicious."

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
2 Tbs. baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
a couple of sprinkles of pepper
a couple of sprinkles of garlic powder

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, milk, water, baking powder, and salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl until smooth.

Pat fish pieces (Tilapia or Cod work best) dry and lightly dip in flour (to help the batter stick) then into batter. Gently lower the battered pieces into 1/2 inch of hot oil (approx 360° or med. heat). Fry until golden brown then turn over. Approx. 3-5 minutes per side. Drain on paper towel. Serve with Homemade Tartar Sauce.

This is an excellent batter for chicken, cheese sticks or just about anything else you can think of. You can omit the garlic powder if desired...

Homemade Tartar Sauce

"The very best I have ever tried! A quick and easy tartar sauce that's great for any and all seafood Make well in advance of serving to make sure that all of the flavors have a chance to adhere to one another."

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 cup diced onion (or 2 Tbs. dry minced onion, reconstituted)
1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickle

Directions:
In a stainless steel or glass mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, and dill pickle. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to a glass or plastic container with a tight lid and refrigerate. Serve with Unbelievable Battered Fish!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

1 bag of sugar cookie mix (Betty Crocker)
1 cube softened butter
1 egg
1/2 c. diced macadamia nuts
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
3/4 c. shredded coconut

Mix all ingredients together. I just measured them all into my kitchenaid and mixed it until it came together. Then using a cookie scoop, drop them onto ungreased cookie sheet. I got 20 on each cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until the edges just barely start to brown. I found this recipe on Semi-Homemade and just made a few adjustments. They were really good and really easy! Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Macaroni and Cheese


Recipe from Brian and Brandy... so easy, so creamy and so good. It is one of my favorites! 3 c. uncooked macaroni 3-4 c. shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese blend) 1/2 Tbls. flour 2 c. heavy whipping cream 1/2 c. milk Cook pasta in boiling salted water until tender. Toss the flour with 2 cups of the cheese. Heat heavy whipping cream and milk to almost boiling stirring almost constantly. Stir in cheese/flour mixture a little at a time making sure it melts before adding more. Add additional cheese until you reach desired consistency. I use close to 4 cups. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix cheese sauce with pasta and pour into greased 9x9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese (and/or bread crumbs) and bake for 15 minutes or just until cheese melts.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

I made these one boring Sunday afternoon last fall and they definitely spiced up the day:)! They are fantastic! I frosted them with cream cheese frosting. I didn't have a butterscotch pudding mix so I used a white chocolate pudding. I have never bought crystallized ginger so I omitted that and instead of 1/2 tsp. of ginger, I added 1 and a 1/2 tsp. of ginger. They were honestly some of the best cupcakes ever! The kids loved them!

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Mix for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Scalloped Potatoes

5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly.

In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer half of the potatoes and onion. Pour half of the sauce over. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat, ending with the cheese.


Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours or until tender.

Tip: You can make these potatoes without the cheese but being a cheese lover, I always add it. I also like it with more sauce so I either reduce the amount of potatoes or 1 1/2 times the sauce. You can also make this in the crock pot. It takes about 6-7 hours to cook. We love this recipe!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Pecan Pie (Easy and Delicious!)

4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. sugar
1 c. white Karo syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
2 T. butter cut into chunks

Pour the pecans in the bottom of an unbaked pastry shell (9 in.). Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour on top of the pecans (the pecans will float to the top). Bake @ 350° for about 1 hour or until the center of the pie is set. Serve either warm with vanilla ice cream or cold.

Flaky Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1/2 cup real butter
6 T. ice water

Whisk flour and salt together in food processor. Add cold Crisco and butter and pulse until it resembles course crumbs. Add ice water all at once and mix until dough starts to come together. Dump mixture out onto counter and scoop dough together dividing into 3 equal pieces. Wrap each one in plastic wrap and chill for 30 min. Sprinkle counter with flour. Unwrap the dough ball and flatten with your hands a little. Then put a piece of wax paper over it and roll it out (rotating it to keep it somewhat round) to about an inch wider than your pie plate. Gently lift crust into pie plate and flute edges. Either bake immediately (400° for about 15 min. or until golden brown) or cover and refrigerate.

I put the room temp. Crisco in the freezer for about 15 minutes before using it and I also measure the water and then put it in the freezer until I need it. The secret to good pie crust is chilled butter/Crisco and ice cold water. Also, don't over work the dough.