Pecan Pie Bars

Got this from one of our Better Homes and Garden cookbooks. I doubled, but next time I think I'll quadruple! :)

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

For crust, in a medium bowl combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pat crumb mixture into an ungreased 11x7x1 1/2-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium bowl stir together eggs, pecans, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the corn syrup, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla. Pour over the baked crust, spreading evenly.

Bake for 20 minutes more or until the filling is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

LINK.

Cheesy Bacon Muffins

Cheese. Bacon. Can't go wrong. ;)

• 5 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 tbs. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 c. milk
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 18 + strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Prepare muffin tins. Preheat oven to 375*.

Combine flour, cheddar, sugar, baking powder, salt, cayenne, and bacon in a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, and oil. Stir into flour mixture until just moist.

Fill greased muffin cups until 2/3 full. Bake for 10-25 minutes, until lightly brown on top.

Yield: ... I got 31. :)

Basil Tomato Soup

• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 18 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter 

In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add basil and sugar. Reduce heat to low, stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted.

Serves 9

----------------------------

This is one of our favorites! It's easy, delicious, and it doesn't take long to make. When we double it, we still just put 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of whipping cream, but we add a can of tomato paste. (And double everything else.)


Also, we don't put sugar in it. Play around with it...it'll turn out awesome. :)

Raspberry-Swirl Sweet Rolls

DOUGH

1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

FILLING

One 10-ounce package IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) raspberries, not thawed
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

GLAZE

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

MAKE THE DOUGH: In a small saucepan, warm the milk over moderately low heat until it's 95°. Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir in the sugar and yeast. Let stand until the yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter, eggs, grated lemon zest and sea salt. Add the flour and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms, about 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is soft and supple, about 10 minutes longer.
Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands 2 or 3 times. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly buttered bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
Line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing the paper to extend up the short sides. Butter the paper and sides of the pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll it into a 10-by-24-inch rectangle.

MAKE THE FILLING: In a medium bowl, toss the frozen raspberries with the sugar and cornstarch. Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the dough. Tightly roll up the dough to form a 24-inch-long log. Working quickly, cut the log into quarters. Cut each quarter into 4 slices and arrange them in the baking pan, cut sides up. Scrape any berries and juice from the work surface into the baking pan between the rolls. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place until they are puffy and have filled the baking pan, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425°. Bake the rolls for about 25 minutes, until they are golden and the berries are bubbling. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 30 minutes.

MEANWHILE, MAKE THE GLAZE: In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar with the butter and heavy cream until the glaze is thick and spreadable.
Invert the rolls onto the rack and peel off the parchment paper. Invert the rolls onto a platter. Dollop glaze over each roll and spread with an offset spatula. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD

The recipe can be prepared through Step 4. Cover the rolls, refrigerate overnight and then return to room temperature before baking.

NOTES

Variation The sweet rolls can be filled with a variety of frozen fruit. Try blackberries, strawberries, blueberries or chopped sweet cherries.

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/raspberry-swirl-sweet-rolls

Bacon-Onion Biscuits

Mama and I recently went through a ginormous stack of magazines that we've had for years for any number of reasons, mainly recipes. We cut/tore out anything and everything that caught our attention. This recipe, from the December 2006 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, certainly caught mine. ;) Of course, I had to make a few minor-ish changes; I'll post my changes at the end of the original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bacon, chopped

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 3 cups of all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon of baking powder

• 1 tablespoon of sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 3/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar

• 3/4 cup of butter

• 1 cup of milk

Directions:

In a skillet cook bacon and onion until bacon is slightly crisp and onion is tender. Drain off and discard fat.

In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Combine milk and bacon mixture; add all at once to flour mixture. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for four to six strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, rerolling dough scraps as necessary. Place unbaked biscuits on baking sheet; freeze 1 hour. Transfer to a plastic freezer bag. Seal, label, and freeze up to 1 month. Makes 12 biscuits.

TO SERVE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place frozen biscuits 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes or until golden.

Okay, first of all, I doubled. The other changes I made were mainly in the baking part, although I think I probably cooked the onions a bit more than is implied in the recipe (that bacon just wouldn't get crispy!). Oh, and I didn't drain the fat either (why drain bacon grease?!) I used a small biscuit cutter; didn't really think we needed 2 1/2" biscuits at fellowship. :) After that I baked the biscuits just like we usually do our normal biscuits: cast iron skillets with bacon grease in a 425* oven while cutting them out, biscuits flipped in the bacon grease, bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. Once they were done, I put them on cooling racks since I wanted to transfer them to a plastic container fairly soon.

I have a few changes I'd like to try next time as well: Buttermilk instead of sweet milk; I don't think a bit more tang would hurt the biscuits at all, and they might even rise a little better. More bacon. Go figure. I wouldn't mind trying to freeze them like they suggest either, but these are the kind of things we'll most likely want as soon as the dough's made. ;)

Oh, and the bacon butter I brought with these biscuits was just a pound of room temperature butter with as many slices of crispy bacon crumbled into the butter to make it look right. Nothing difficult, just gotta think to cook the bacon ahead of time; it can take a while to get the bacon good and crispy.

Enjoy!

Candy Bars!

I'll put the original recipe first, and then mine below. With these ingredients, how could it be bad?! (That's excluding the health side of things, unless you follow my theory that says that if you're happy, you'll enjoy a better life.) ;D

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1 pkg. 2 -layer chocolate cake mix

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup white chocolate chips

• 2 cups chopped pecans OR coconut

• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and cake mix in large bowl. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over bottom of 15x10" jelly roll pan and press to form crust. Sprinkle with semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and pecans or coconut.

In microwave on medium power, melt milk chocolate chips for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir sweetened condensed milk into the melted chips. Spread milk mixture evenly over nuts in jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars. 48 bars

My version:

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1/2 cup butter, melted (I probably had a bit more than 1/2 cup, and I think it could have used a little more.)

• 1 pkg. 2-layer Devil's Food cake mix (It was that or German Chocolate, and we use the German Chocolate mix more often than we do Devil's Food.)

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (into 1 cup portions - We didn't have milk chocolate chips.)

• 1 cup white chocolate chips

• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (2 cups sounded like a LOT of nuts.)

• Almost a full pkg. caramels (Don't you judge me!) ;)

• Splash of heavy cream... Approximately 2 Tbs maybe?

• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and cake mix in large bowl. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over bottom of 15x10" jelly roll pan and press to form crust (good luck! Took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R!).

Place unwrapped caramels into a heat-proof container with the cream. Microwave until completely melted.

Sprinkle 1 cup each of semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate chips on the crust, then the pecans, then pour/spread melted caramel over chocolate chips and nuts.

In microwave on medium power, melt remaining cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir sweetened condensed milk into the melted chips. Spread mixture evenly over caramel in jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Oh, boy. Now I want some!!! We're thinking about tweaking the recipe some more. Some of the changes we're thinking about include: making the crust more crispy-cookie-like, and more caramel (think Twix). I'd like to try it with the milk chocolate chips as well; we just didn't have any this time.

Pepper Jelly

Well y'all, it's that time of year... when we all have fresh produce coming in by the bushels. Claire and I have spent most of the day dealing with squash and cayenne peppers. We're attempting green chile enchilada sauce; Claire or I will post the "recipe" if it turns out good. This recipe is one we'll probably be doing later this week or next week; we need some bell peppers first. :)

• 1 cup of sweet peppers, cut in chunky lengthwise strips

• 1/3 cup of fresh, quartered jalapenos (or other hot peppers) with seeds

• 1 1/2 cups of cider vinegar

• 5-6 cups of sugar

• 1 3oz. package of liquid fruit pectin

• 4-5 drops of green food color

Combine peppers and vinegar in the blender or food processor. Process in stop-and-go fashion to desired fineness.

Combine pepper mixture with the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Boil 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Skim foam from the top. [Not a necessary detail, but it looks better if you do this.]

Cool 2 minutes (include skimming time), then mix in the pectin and food coloring.

Pour into sterilized jars. Lightly cover the jars.

After it cools, pour melted wax on top of the jelly to seal. Put lids on the jars and store.

Mayonaise

• 2 eggs
• 2 T. apple cider vinegar
• 2 T. whey
• 2 t. ground mustard
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. paprika
• 2 c. light olive oil
  

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor except olive oil. Blend for a few seconds-not long at all- and then slowly pour 1 cup of oil into food processor while it is still blending. Immediately start adding another cup of oil even slower than the first. When both cups of oil are in, continue letting the processor run for two minutes. Turn processor off and put mayonnaise into a quart jar.
It may be used immediately, but should sit out on the counter for 5 hours before refrigerating

I always do exactly 2 minutes, but different blenders may need different times.
This is not the easiest recipe- It took me a while before I got it nice and thick. Just keep trying,
and the thin mayo is just as good as the thick taste wise.
I will be happy to help if you have any questions
-Alexis

Brownies...

the good old fashioned, rich, chocolaty kind!

• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 4 cups packed brown sugar ( I do about 3)
• 6 eggs
• 8 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 3/4 cups and 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the unsweetened chocolate and vanilla until well blended. Mix in the flour, and then the walnuts. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Found this recipe HERE. I think I posted another chicken and rice soup on here before, but this one's a lot different.

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" pieces

• 1 Tbs Emeril's Essence or Creole Seasoning

• 1 Tbs olive oil

• 2 cups diced onions

• 1 1/2 cups diced carrots

• 1 1/2 cups diced celery

• 1 Tbs minced garlic

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

• 2 quarts chicken stock/broth, plus more if needed

• 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

• 1 5-oz bag prewashed spinach

Place the chicken in a medium bowl, season with the Essence or Creole seasoning, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a 6-quart or larger soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, basil, salt, and crushed red pepper, and continue to cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the broth and rice, cover the pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the rice is just tender, about 12 minutes.

Stir in the spinach, and serve immediately.

NOTE: If you have cooked white rice on hand, omit the uncooked rice and simply stir in a bout 1 1/2 cups cooked rice just before you add the spinach.

YIELD: 3 1/2 quarts, 6-8 servings

The only changes I made to this was to probably season the chicken a bit more and use kale instead to spinach. Because kale seems to be a bit tougher than the packaged spinach, I decided to add it in earlier. I put it in right before I put the rice in. It was really good, and went over well. It made a lot even though it says 6-8 servings. I think we only ate about half of it.

Green Apple and Craisin Salad

These are the approximate amounts that I do for our family....

• mixed greens or green leaf
  
• 3-4 green apples, chopped
• 1/2 cup craisins (dried cherries or dried cranberries work well also)
• 1/2 c. goat cheese
• 3 T. onion, chopped
• 1 c. praline pecans
• 3/4 c. Maple Dressing

French Dressing

We like this dressing with green leaf, an assortment of vegetables, cheddar cheese, and either seeds or sprouts.

• 1 cup olive oil
• 6 T. vinegar
  
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 T. sugar
• 2 t. salt
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 2 dashes tobacco
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 t. lemon zest
• 1 lemon, juiced

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Triple-Berry Salad

We originally made this salad with blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries thus the name Triple Berry salad. However, we often don't have these three berries and so we have substituted oranges, tangerines, raspberries or pomegranate seeds. Whatever fruit you use, the general recipe stays the same.

Salad:

• Mixed Greens
• Strawberries, Blackberries, and Blueberries
  
• Onion, chopped
  
• Praline Pecans
  
• Blue cheese
• Maple Dressing

Maple Dressing:

• 1/3 c.apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 c. maple syrup
• 1/2 t. spicy mustard
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. salt

Mix all together and slowly add 2/3 c. olive oil. Whisk until emulsified.

Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad

Salad:

• Mixed Greens
• 4-5 tomatoes, diced
• Onion, chopped
• Toasted Pine nuts (Be very careful not to burn the pine nuts while toasting!:) )
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
  
• Greek Dressing
  

Greek Dressing:

• 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 13 cloves garlic, peeled (don't worry about mincing these-they're going in the blender...)
• 3 T. salt
• 1 t. dried marjoram
• 1 T. spicy mustard
  
• 3/4 t. pepper

Mix all ingredients in blender and blend until mixed. With blender on, add 2 1/2 cup olive oil and blend until emulsified.

Sparkling Cranberries

I made this recipe over Christmas, and it turned out quite well! The cranberries were very pretty, but the berries we had were getting a little old when I finally got around to doing it, so they went bad on us pretty quickly. Anyway, they were a lovely addition to the holiday selection of goodies. They even tasted good, especially if you like slightly sweet sour things. I'm just going to copy and paste the recipe; the original is HERE.

For the simple syrup, raw cane sugar or real brown sugar lends a nice molasses flavor to the cranberries, but regular granulated sugar (or a blend of brown/white) will work.

• 2 cups cranberries, picked over

• 2 cups water

• 2 cups sugar (see head notes)

• More sugar for coating: I do a mix of medium-grained organic sugar for the first coating, and then a second toss with regular granulated white sugar. You don't want a huge grain for that first toss, just something larger than standard sugar, smaller than most turbinado sugars. You can sort of see the different grain sizes in the third photo in the main write-up.

Place the cranberries in a medium glass bowl and set aside.

Make a simple syrup by bringing the water and sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Let the syrup cool for a couple minutes and then pour it over the cranberries. If the syrup is too hot the cranberries will burst, so be careful. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, drain the cranberries and toss them with larger grained sugar until they are well coated. I only use a scoop of sugar at a time, and small batches of cranberries, so the sugar doesn't get too damp. Place the coated cranberries on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours.

Do a second toss with the regular granulated sugar, this typically takes care of any sticky spots on the cranberries. Let dry another hour.

Makes 2 cups of sparkling cranberries.

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

I found this recipe HERE. We actually have the real Macaroni Grill recipe somewhere, but we can't find it right now. If we ever run across it again, I'll try to remember to post whatever differences there are. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. yeast
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. rosemary
• 2 Tbs. butter
  

Directions:

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.

Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.

Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Add more flour if necessary.

Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.

Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in half.

Let dough rest about 5 minutes.

Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.

Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.

Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired).

I've made this twice now. Once I used soft white wheat, and once hard white. The hard white definitely did better; it was not nearly so crumbly! I'd like to try it again with store-bought all-purpose or bread flour, but we've never had that on hand when I've made it. Also, I just used the ingredients as a guideline. I generally double the amount of yeast that a bread recipe calls for merely because Daddy taught me how to make bread, and he does that. I don't know if it's necessary or not, but I've never had a problem with it rising. :D And, of course, it used a bit more that 2 1/2 cups of flour, but not too much. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy this! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pumpkin Cheese Pie...requested by Mrs. Bradshaw

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
  
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (we make a graham cracker crust...just graham cracker crumbs, butter, and a tiny bit of sugar.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix cream cheese and condensed milk together until smooth. Stir in the pureed pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and eggs. Mix until well combined. Pour batter into the pie shell.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Serve warm. (I personally really like it cold, though.)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Coffee Sauce

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 2/3 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups strongly brewed coffee*
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cocoa, sugar and coffee. Bring to a boil and let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.


* The ratio of coffee grounds to water that I used was 2T of grounds per one cup of water, and it was a perfect strength.

Ginger Ale

I've made this recipe a couple of times now and it's turned out great both times! Our whole family loves ginger, so this spicy drink is quickly becoming a favorite.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar - I've been using organic cane sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon baker's yeast
• cold water

Directions:

• Pour sugar into a 2 liter PLASTIC bottle. Yes, I would use plastic. If the ginger ale "ripens" too long, it can explode.
• Add the yeast and shake to disperse.
• In a separate dish, combine ginger and lemon juice. Stir to make a "slurry." Add this to the sugar& yeast mixture and shake (with the top on, of course).
• Now, rinse the dish used for the ginger & lemon juice and add the rinsings to the mixture.
• All you lack now is to fill up your bottle with water, leaving about an inch of head space, and cap it.
  
• Set it in a warm place for, normally, 24-48 hours. As our house has been quite warm lately, it's only taken around 8-12 hours. In any case, once the bottle is hard, so you can't squeeze it (or, not much), it is ready to be put in the refrigerator. Once it is in the refrigerator, you are in no danger of explosion. In the freezer, on the other hand...
  

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 cups cream

• pinch of salt

• 2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves

• 5 large eggs

Put eggs and sugar in medium sauce pan. Beat well. Add milk, cream, salt, and mint. Heat until thickened (almost boiling). Remove from heat. Strain out the mint leaves while transferring to a heat proof container. Cool thoroughly. Freeze, and enjoy!

This is a modified version of a recipe I found online HERE. I would eventually like to try steeping the mint longer, but as it is, it's got an incredible minty flavor!