Chicken Orzo Salad

With the warm weather here, this is a good recipe to make and eat cold on those warm evenings when you just don't feel like cooking. It can be made in the morning while it is still cool and then just pulled out at dinner time.  


Once I discovered hoisin sauce and rice wine vinegar last year I started adding it to all kinds of recipes including just plain vegetable stir-fries. Here is another great way to use it.

Ingredients:
1 pkg orzo
2-1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 pkg sugar snap peas, fresh or frozen
3 green onions, chopped
1 med. red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1/8 cup  rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Directions:
Cook and drain orzo and sugar snap peas in separate pots.

In a large bowl, combine first seven ingredients. Then in a small bowl, whisk together oil, hoisin sauce, vinegar and soy sauce. Pour over into the large bowl with the other ingredients and mix together. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Jalapeño-Cheddar Burger Recipe

After watching the Man vs. Food show I've become obsessed with the different foods I've seen on the show. Of course if you watch the show you know they tell some of the ingredients but don't tell any of the restaurants' secret spices and so forth, so it is up to you to make it to your taste. 


Over the past months I've seen hamburgers everything from boiled to fried. Made with different style of cheese and stuffed in any which way. The jalapeño-cheddar burger looked great, especially after Burger King started advertising their latest burger of the same type. So here is our recipe. Even my son, who generally hates spicy anything liked it.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small square chunks
1/2 cup jalapeños, chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 tablespoons jalapeño juice
1/4 teaspoon Garlic flavored Mrs. Dash or your favorite seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
optional:
Tomatoes
Pickles
Relish
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayonnaise
lettuce

Directions:
Preheat oven to broil
In a large bowl mix all ingredients well. Form mixture into round balls. Place on a hard service and using the bottom of a drinking glass push down into patties. Place on broiling pan and cook on both sides until cooked the way you like them.
(forgot to take the photo so I had to get one off line. This is from BKs Website. Of course if you don't want to make your own BK is selling there right now.)

Halloween Fun: Ham 'n' Cheese Spiders Recipe

Ham 'n' Cheese Spiders Recipe
From the Website: Taste of Home
Photo by: Taste of Home
5 Servings
Ingredients
1 tube (12 ounces) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits, separated into 10 biscuits
1 tube (11 ounces) refrigerated breadsticks, separated into 12 breadsticks
1 cup chopped fully cooked ham
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1-1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard
5 slices process American cheese
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives
1 tablespoon diced pimientos
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Directions
On two greased baking sheets, pat five biscuits into 3-1/2-in. circles. Cut one breadstick in half lengthwise, then in half widthwise, creating four strips. Repeat nine times (save remaining breadsticks for another use). Position eight strips of dough around each biscuit to resemble spider legs; twist and press lightly onto baking sheet. Tuck a 1/2-in. foil ball under each dough strip so it stands up in the center.

Combine the ham, onion, butter and mustard; spoon 3 tablespoons onto each biscuit circle. Fold cheese slices into quarters and place over ham mixture. Pat remaining biscuits into 4-in. circles; place over filling. Pinch edges to seal.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolk and water. Brush over tops of biscuits and breadsticks. On each spider, position two olive slices for eyes; place pimientos in center of olives. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until browned. Yield: 5 sandwiches.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 511 calories, 18 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 83 mg cholesterol, 1,751 mg sodium, 66 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 20 g protein.

Halloween Recipes

Every year I wind up making the same dishes for Halloween, but this year I'm afters something new. Still there is something to be said for the old favorites. Here are a few of the ideas I've used over the years.

Mummy Dogs

This is a Pillsbury recipe, obviously. It is easy and takes just a few minutes. I have my own little variations. I don't use the cheese side dish, although I'm sure some people would love that part.

I like to make different eyes. Instead of mustard I use pimentos. I also make a little mouth out of radishes. The point is to have fun.

INGREDIENTS
1can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
2 1/2slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
10large hot dogs
Cooking spray
Mustard or ketchup, if desired


DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 375°F. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.

With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).

Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face." On an ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.

Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face."


Bloody Punch

This is a fun tasty treat. When I first found this recipe there were directions on how to freeze an ice hand to put in the center. Basically it was made by filling a latex glove with water and freezing it. Then cutting off the glove from the frozen hand. Place it in the center of the bowl. Another fun idea is to add liquid ice to the recipe and let it steam over.


INGREDIENTS
2 12 oz. bag of frozen strawberries
1 6 oz. can of lemonade concentrate1
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1 small box of golden raisins
1 quart ginger ale


DIRECTIONS
In a punch bowl add slight thawed strawberries and mash with a spoon. Add blueberries and golden raisins. Pour ginger ale over top.

Werewolf in the Waldorf salad 

You can find this recipe pretty much all over the web. The fun part about this recipe is using your imagination to decorate a werewolf on the top of the salad. The alfalfa sprouts is designed to look like hair. Make fun eyes and mouth out of the the radish and use a carrot for a nose and even some fangs if you like.

This is my husbands favorite part of the Halloween dinner.

Not many people give her credit, but I think the original idea came from Creepy Cuisine, Lucy Munroe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lg Apples
1 tb Lemon juice
1/2 c Golden raisins
1/2 c Walnuts -- chopped
1 c Diced celery
1/2 c Mayonnaise
1/2 tb Milk
1 t Sugar
1/2 Iceberg lettuce
8 Endive
Alfalfa sprouts
4 Carrots -- peeled
1 Radish

DIRECTIONS:
Peel, core and dice the apples; toss in a large bowl with the lemon juice. Add the raisins, nuts and celery to the apples and toss together. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, milk and sugar until well blended. Add the dressing to the other ingredients and toss. Place 2 or 3 lettuce leaves on individual salad plates and spoon the salad over the lettuce in a "head" shape. To create the werewolf in your Waldorf, decorate each salad with pointy endive ears, alfalfa sprout hair and beard, pointy carrot fangs and radish-half eyeballs

Batwiches

This is fun to make with the kids and easy to do. You can fill the sandwiches with anything from ham to peanut butter and jelly, whatever the kids like.

INGREDIENTS:
Bat cookie cutter
16 slices pumpernickel bread, thin
8 tsp. Mustard, divided
8 slices American cheese
16 deli-sliced boiled ham
pimientos

DIRECTIONS:
Spread each bread slice with 1/2 tsp. Mustard. Top each of 8 bread slices with 1 slice cheese and 2 slices ham, cut to fit if necessary. Top with remaining bread. Using bat template or 3" cookie cutter cut out 2 bats from each sandwich. Use small pieces of pimentos for eyes.

THE END
Well that's basically it for the standard recipes. Every year I try to throw in something different. Maybe a cake or some cookies. Sorry I didn't have my own pictures this time. I'll be sure and take a bunch this year on the new recipes I try out.

Fun Breakfast Cups

This used to be a Land-o-Lakes (butter) recipe, but I've made some changes and wound up spicing it up a bit. Also, this weeks bulk pork sausage was pretty spicy. Have to watch out for that. It was almost too much for breakfast.
Ingredients:
1/3 lb bulk pork sausage
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk plus 1 tablespoon
2 eggs
Mrs. Dash Garlic flavored (salt substitue)
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoon no salt Butter
½ cup any refrigerator cubed hash-brown potatoes
1 can Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F.

Preparing sausage:
In nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until completely cooked. Drain; return sausage to skillet. Stir flour into sausage then gradually add milk and cook over medium heat until thickened. You'll have to continue stirring. Use to wooden spoon so it doesn't feel so hot. Set aside.
       
Preparing potatoes and eggs:
In small bowl, beat eggs, 1 tablespoon of milk, Mr. Dash and Italian seasoning. In another skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in potatoes. Stir frequently until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir remaining butter into potatoes and then pour eggs over potatoes; cook, mixing potatoes and eggs together. Cook until eggs are ready. Set aside.
   
Preparing cups for cooking:   
Separate dough into the precut biscuits; place each biscuit in ungreased six cup muffin pan. Because the biscuit dough is so sticky use muffin cups to line the pan cups. Firmly press dough in muffin cup and up side of each cup, leaving a cup in the center of biscuit. Spoon potato mixture evenly into dough-lined cups. Spoon sausage mixture evenly over potato mixture. The cups will be full to the top.
       
Bake until edges of biscuits are deep golden brown. It took about 20 minutes, sometimes it can take a couple of minutes more. Cool 5 minutes.

Greek Moussaka

Last weekend my husband and I attended the Greek Festival in Concord, CA and had a chance to eat some great food provided by the church group that put on the event. The food was expensive, but really worth it. So of course I had to come home and check out the recipes I found on line.


I'm a fan of eggplant. Several years back my Ratatouille Ala Garlic, was a finalist at the Gilroy Garlic Festival cooking contest. The first recipe I tried from the Greek Festival was the Moussaka. I'd never tried it before, but from all I read Moussaka is basically a lot like the ratatouille. Any vegetable can be added. The one at the Greek festival used eggplant and potato, so I stuck with those, although the idea of zucchini sounded good as well.

I choose to use lamb in this recipe because this is a Greek meal and the Greeks seem to like their lamb. Even so my son wasn't so fond of the lamb because it has a stronger flavor, so for those who don't like lamb, ground beef can be used. As a matter of fact the one we tasted at the Greek festival was made with ground beef.

Keep in mind that this dish is very similar to lasagna. It is made with layers. So if you are changing the vegetables, just make a couple of different kinds to make enough layers. And like lasagna it takes a good while to prepare.

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/2   cup salt
1 cup olive oil
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion,  chopped
1 pound ground lamb or ground beef
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2  teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1/2 cup Merlot red wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions: 
Preparing eggplant for cooking:
Once eggplant is peeled and slices put in a large bowl filled with water and salt. Let soak for 20 minutes. According to www.FineCooking.com "Globe eggplant works deliciously in just about any eggplant dish, provided you salt it first. Salting, also known as purging, accomplishes two goals: it pulls out juices that carry bitter flavors, and it collapses the air pockets in the eggplant's sponge-like flesh, thus preventing it from absorbing too much oil and getting greasy."

Preparing potatoes:
While the eggplant is soaking, heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet and add the potato slices cooking until golden on both sides. After cooking place on a paper towels to drain excess grease. Keep this up until all potatoes are cooked. Set the potatoes aside.

Back to eggplant:
Place 1 cup of the flour in a bowl and coat each slice of eggplant in the flour. Place one layer of eggplant in skillet with 1/4 cup flour. Cook until golden on each side. Place cooked eggplant on a paper towel to drain grease. Continue until all eggplant is completed. You may need to clean out the greasey skillet at least once before eggplant slices are completely cooked. Also you may need to add more oil during cooking.

Preparing meat layer:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet, add the onions and cook until clear. Add the ground meat and spices cooking until completely browned. Add  wine and cook until evaporated. Stir tomato paste into meat and then add tomatoes. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Set side.

Preparing cheese sauce:
In a medium saucepan melt 3 tablespoons of butter and, when hot, whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour and cook 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring until smooth and thick. Whisk in the eggs yolk. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese and set aside.

Preparing layers:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish.

Place the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish in an even layers until all potatoes are in the pan.

Add half of the eggplant slices.

Add the meat sauce.

Spoon an even layer of the cheese sauce evenly over the meat then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Top with the remaining eggplant slices.

Spread the rest cheese sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on the top and heated throughout, 40 minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Pictures of the finished recipes

Mixed Berry Blintzes
The recipe is below.

Spent all morning putting together the Mixed Berry Blintzes I found the recipe for. There is a reason why restaurants like IHOP are famous for these tasty treats. It is because it takes so long to make them. I had a few mishaps but when finished the family enjoyed them. Here is my not so pretty picture of the final product.

Noodle Kugle
Recipe below

I'm not a fan of rasins,  so I checked around and found that basically noodle kugle can be made with any kinds of fruit. So I made it with 1/2 cup raspberries and 1/2 pineapples.

This dish is a lot sweeter with these fruits and tasted pretty good, but I'm still not sure I'm into the noodles with the fruit.

Great recipe ideas for Yom Kippur

Cheese Blintzes with Three-Berry Compote
From Bon Appétit Magazine 1992

Filling:
1 1/4 pounds hoop cheese or 2 pounds nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt

Crepes:
1 1/2 cups water
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil

Compote:
2 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened boysenberries (about 11 ounces)
2 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries (about 11 ounces)
1 12-ounce basket strawberries, hulled, halved
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Assembly:
Vegetable oil
Sour cream
Lemon peel strips (optional)

Filling:
If using cottage cheese, place in center of kitchen towel, gather towel around cheese and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Measure 2 1/2 cups packed cottage cheese (reserve remainder for another use). Combine 1 1/4 pounds hoop cheese or 2 1/2 cups packed dry cottage cheese and sugar in processor; blend well. Add eggs and salt; process until almost smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Crepes
Combine 1 1/2 cups water and eggs in blender. Add flour, sugar and salt. Blend on lowspeed until very smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of container. Pour batter into medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Heat 10-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Brush very lightly with oil. Transfer 3 tablespoons batter to small cup. Working quickly, pour batter into center of skillet; tilt and shake skillet to spread batter into 7-inch round. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook crepe until bottom is speckled brown, about 45 seconds. Loosen sides of crepe with spatula and turn out onto paper towel, cooked side up. Cover with paper towel. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing pan occasionally with oil and layering crepes between paper towels.
Place 1 crepe cooked side up on work surface. Place 1/4 cup filling in 3-inch-long log just below center. Fold bottom of crepe over filling. Fold sides in. Roll crepe up, enclosing filling completely. Transfer blintz to plastic-lined platter. Repeat with remaining filling and crepes. (Can be prepared ahead. Cover and chill overnight or freeze up to 1 month. Do not thaw frozen blintzes before cooking.)
Compote
Combine all berries, sugar and lemon peel in large bowl. Let stand at room temperature until berries defrost, sugar dissolves and juices form in bowl, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours.
Strain berry mixture thoroughly, reserving juices. Place cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually add reserved juices to cornstarch, whisking until smooth. Whisk over high heat until syrup boils and is thick and clear, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Cool 15 minutes. Mix berries into syrup. Adjust tartness with lemon juice. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Assembly
Pour oil into 2 large nonstick skillets to depth of scant 1/8 inch; heat over medium-low heat until hot. Place blintzes seam down in skillets. Cook until bottoms are brown and crisp, shaking pans gently and moving blintzes occasionally to prevent sticking, about 6 minutes (for frozen blintzes, cover skillet for first 6 minutes). Using spatula, turn blintzes over; cook until blintzes are brown and crisp and blintzes feel firm when lightly pressed, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined platter. Place 2 blintzes on each plate. Spoon compote over blintzes. Top with sour cream. Sprinkle with lemon peel.

Noodle Kugel

From the Food Network

Ingredients
1/2 pound wide kosher for Passover eggnoodles
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 pound cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Directions:
Boil the noodles in salted water for about 4 minutes. Strain noodles from water. In a large mixing bowl, combine noodles with remaining ingredients and pour into a greased, approximately 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Bake until custard is set and top is golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Rugelach

From rubyglen.com

Rugelach, which means "little horns", is a delicious cookie of Jewish heritage.  These bite sized crescent cookies are made with a rich cream cheese dough that is filled with either poppy seeds, jams, nuts or fruit.

For the dough:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

For the nut filling*:
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins, optional

For the topping:
1 egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon milk
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
 
Directions:
Place the butter and cream cheese in a food processor (or mix with mixer); cream until thoroughly combined.

Add the flour and sugar, and pulse until combined.

Divide the dough in half and flatten. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

To make the filling: place the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the food processor, and pulse until combined.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

On a well-floured surface, roll out each half of the dough  into an 8 - 9 inch circle. Sprinkle each circle with half of the sugar-nut mixture.

Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Starting at the wide end of each piece, roll it up toward the point. Place on a parchment lined (or greased) cookie sheet.

Mix the egg and milk together and brush on the cookies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the cookies.

Place in oven and bake for 16 - 19 minutes, until golden brown.

Other fillings: For the fillings below, I always sprinkle a little granulated sugar/cinnamon mixture over the fruits and preserves.
apricot preserves
fruit jams
mini chocolate chips
finely chopped dates
finely chopped apples

Streusel Coffee Cake
Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Topping. In small mixing bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork until crumbly. Set aside.
Sift 1 1/2 cups sifted flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together beaten egg and 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix well.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square or 9-inch layer-cake pan. Sprinkle topping crumb mixture evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Partially cool in pan on wire rack. Cut coffee cake into squares while still warm.

Cornbread Pudding

Summer is corn season, especially in our little burg. The small city right next door to us hosts a CornFest each year. While just eating the corn right off the cob is always fun, so it adding it to various recipes. My favorite is adding it to meatloaf and cornbread, but looking around for something different I came upon this recipe.

As always I changed the recipe to my liking. For example adding a little sugar did the trick after my husband said it was missing something. And my son suggests that you don't put ketchup over the it.

Ingredients:
3 medium sized corn on the cobs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 scallions, sliced
½ pound of Black Forest ham, diced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 cup packaged cornbread stuffing cubes
1 tablespoon sugar


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Husk and boil corn for 10 minutes. Place cooked corn in cold water and cool off. When cool enough to handle use a sharp knife to remove corn from cobs.

Melt the butter into a frying pan over medium heat. Saute  corn, scallions, ham, garlic, and chili powder for about three minutes or until scallions are soft.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the half-and-half, cheese, basil and Mrs. Dash.

Place corn and ham mixture in a 13 inch x 9 inch glass oven safe pan. Stir the cornbread stuffing mix and sugar in with the corn and ham mixture. Pour the egg mixture over and stirring gently. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly puffed and golden.

A pie made out a favorite candy bar

I was reading a romance book a few weeks back and the author made mention of Snickers Pie. I'd never heard of it so I decided to look up the recipe and see what it was all about. Apparently this is a Southern favorite and there were several variations of the recipe. This one was the easiest and one that everyone liked. I made a couple of changes to make it fun for us.

Snicker Pie

Ingredients:
2 9-inch chocolate graham cracker pie crust
5 king sized Snickers bars (2 in each pack on the candy isle at the grocery store)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons dairy half and half
4 cups cool whip
caramel sauce

Directions:
In the microwave, melt together four candy bars, peanut butter, and half-and-half in a glass bowl, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. Fold in whipped topping, pour into crust, and freeze for 4 to 6 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, top with pieces of remaining Snickers bar, add cool whip and drizzle with caramel syrup. Store in refrigerator.

The quest for a great peach cobbler recipe

I love testing out new recipes and working on coming up with my own creations. They don't always turn out the way I like, but it is fun to try anyway.

Since it is summer and the stores are filled with fresh peaches my latest attempts are with peach cobbler, I've been trying out several different recipes. I've been fiddling a little with them and have come come up with some fun varieties. Here are just a few...

Here is a very simple variation and tastes great.

Peach Cobbler
 
Ingredients:
1/2  stick (1/2 cup)  unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup milk
4 cups fresh peach slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

Melt butter in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).

Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve cobbler warm or cool.

Cin-ful Peach Cobbler
by Food Networks -- Guy Fieri

This wasn't one of my favorites because it tasted more like granola than peach cobbler when it was done, but it is an interesting variation and shows what you can do when you add some different ingredients. I also saw a few that added blueberries and blackberries that looked good.

Ingredients:
For the peach filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 cups frozen peaches, thawed, about 3 pounds prepared
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon butter

For the crumb topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Special Equipment: 12 by 8-inch oval stoneware dish or 13 by 9-inch rectangular glass or stoneware dish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

To make the peach filling: In a large bowl, stir together sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add peaches and gently toss to coat. Mix together cornstarch slurry and lemon juice and stir into peaches to incorporate. Butter a 12 by 8-inch oval dish and add peach mixture.

To make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients, add in butter pieces and combine with hands until crumbly.

Top peaches with half of the crumb topping. Place in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, then add remainder of the crumb topping. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake until golden and bubbling, another 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

If you have a good recipe I'd love to share. I've yet to find the perfect recipe. I'll be making another recipe tonight, maybe that one will top the list.

There are dozens of Butterbeer Recipes for Harry Potter Fans

I've never been much of a Harry Potter fan, but after hearing all the hype about the infamous Butterbeer drink that spurred from the show I decided to take a look at some recipes the fans have been coming up with and see what all the hype was about.

Apparently there really isn't an official recipe for the drink, or atleast one that people are willing to give the secret away about, but there are a lot of samples of what people think there should taste like.

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?"
—Hermione Granger inviting Harry Potter to the Three Broomsticks Inn.

Even the Food Network has gotten involved offering their version by Sandra Lee. That recipe includes using condensed milk and butterscotch topping. Here is what the recipe looks like.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butterscotch topping
2 tablespoons whipped butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vanilla cream soda
Directions:
Combine condensed milk, butterscotch topping, and butter in a glass heatproof measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir until butter has melted and incorporated into mixture. Meanwhile heat cream soda in another heatproof measuring cup for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Divide butterscotch mixture between 2 (10 to 12-ounce) mugs. Fill mugs with heated cream soda and stir thoroughly. Serve garnished with an old-fashioned butterscotch candy stick.

The people over at britta.com have a completely different version of the recipe. This recipe includes alcohol, but I'm not quite sure that is what J.K. Rowlings had in mind. At least the schnapps is originally from England.

Makes 2 quarts.

1 cup butterscotch schnapps
7 cups cream soda (almost one 2 liter bottle)

Carefully mix just before serving, adding the schnapps to the soda then stirring gently to mix well, or the fizz will dissipate too soon.


The site goes on to say that "You can also find butterscotch flavoring near the vanilla flavoring in the baking section of the grocery store, but it is more difficult to find, and actually the flavoring is 35% alcohol where the schnapps is only 15% alcohol by volume, so if you're making large quantities of butterbeer, I recommend just to buy the schnapps. There is not much alcohol content in the butterbeer mixture, just enough to make a house-elf tipsy and to give it the warm, buttery aftertaste to the fizzy cream soda."

In early July FOX-News reported that the Butterbeer concoction that has been made famous at Universal Orlando recipe had gotten out on the internet.

In their news report they said that they couldn't get the actual recipe from Universal Orlando, but they had made up their own recipe. Check out their version.

Butterbeer
Start to finish: 1 hour (10 minutes active)
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

Directions:
In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

So far the one that sounds the best to me was made by a fan who put her recipe on e-How. The fan goes by her e-How membership "dannyrea".

Put the Butterscotch Chips and Butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds. Stir and Heat for another 30 seconds.

The Chips and butter should be a thick stirable paste.

Step 2

Now add your Creamer to the bowl. I use the Original Coffee Mate Liquid Creamer.
Microwave in 30 Second increments again. Stirring each time.

I have found it usually takes about 4 times (2 minutes) to get the right consistency.

Set your mixture aside

Step 3

Heat Cream soda in the microwave for 90 seconds.
BE VERY CAREFUL!
Since microwaves vary I must add, my microwave needs about 2 minutes.

Make sure not to over heat the Cream Soda or all of the fizz will be gone.

Step 4
Pour Butterscotch mixture into heated Cream Soda. Stir & Serve!

Be sure to send me your favorite recipe for Butterbeer so I can post it for all the Harry Potter fans out there.

A Quick Pasta and Chicken Recipe

This recipe is quick to make after a long day at work or day trip. Don't skimp on the garlic it adds some great flavor. I probably add more than I listed here.

Ingredients:
1—16 oz bag of penne pasta
1/2 chicken strips
Mrs. Dash or salt substitute
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
3 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons fresh or dried parsley, chopped

Directions:
Cook the pasta per cooking instructions on bag.

Meanwhile, saute chicken with 2 tablespoon olive oil, Mrs. Dash and Italian seasoning until fully cooked.

Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Keep warm.

Keep juices in frying pan and add remainder of olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and lemon juice. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

When pasta is ready drain and add to a large bowl. Add garlic, lemon and olive oil from the frying pan. Mix well.

Ad chicken and mix well. Add Parmesan and parsley and mix well and serve.

Day 4 with the new kittens

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Last night after our older cat and our son went off to bed, we opened the door for the new kittens to explore the rest of the house. They never made it out of the bedroom. They were too busy playing with each other. The two of them are a kick together. Katie is small, slim little thing, but she can jump high and is in full attack mode when she is around Rio. They spent about hours and a half hours chasing each other around the room, jumping on each other in surprise attack and racing to see who can be faster.

These two could be natural acrabats, the way the tumble and jump all over each other. Very cute.

They tuckered each other out and by the time I was ready for bed they were both out and curled up together on the bathroom floor.

At 6 a.m. the little girl was up and crunching her dry food, but other than making the rounds she got bored and went back to sleep. Especially since Rio didn't seem to be interested in getting up at all. A few hours later I got up and Katie came running along with Rio and they were at it again chasing each other around.

After everyone was up and moving around the house we opened our door and let the kittens come out of the bedroom with the big cat in the living room. Our 9 year old, Eevee, wasn't so sure what to make of the kittens, but at least there wasn't any hissing today. He did make a few grumbles and growls, but the kittens stayed away from his space so he was fine with that.

Rio, our male kitten, watched Eevee very carefully, especially when Katie was anywhere near Eevee. We're hoping to get them together again later tonight and see what happens.

We went out for a couple of hours this afternoon so we put them back into the bedroom and let them play in there safe from the big cat.

Tex-Mex Style Salad

I'm always making up new ways to make a salad. This one isn't the most healthy one, but it does taste good. 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
1  can Caribbean style black beans, drained and rinsed
Mrs. Dash Garlic Seasoning
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 dash or 2 of tabasco sauce
1 cup fresh cut salsa
1 bag favorite brand lettuce
1 cup grated Monterey jack/ Colby cheese
1 cup Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a frying pan place onion and cook for a minute. Add ground beef, Mrs. Dash, Italian Seasoning, Tabasco, two tablespoon cilantro leaves and red pepper. Let cook through thoroughly.  

When cooked let cool a few minutes. Then in a large bowl layer the meat, beans, half lettuce Monterey Jack/Colby cheese, salsa, rest of lettuce, and cheddar cheese.


In a blender add rest of cilantro, red wine vinegar, lime juice, sour creams, garlic and olive oil. Blend well and serve as dressing over salad.

Meet our new kittens--Day 1 through 3

We lost one of our cats on April 1. We had her for 18 years. For the past couple of months we've been looking for a new cat. We attended several of the local organizations and shelters to look for the perfect one, but none jumped out at us. My husband was specifically looking for a calico cat.

My sister had a litter of kittens and we found one we liked. It was a calico, just like my husband wanted. Unfortunately most of the litter died from a cold.

My sister worked hard to save the litter, even taking one to the vet to see what problem they had. The vet prescribed medication, but it didn't work. She had a litter of six and ended up with one still alive. It wasn't the one we wanted so we went looking in other locations.

Tuesday we went to the local Animal Shelter in Martinez, CA to look. I was really set on getting a kitten because I was hoping to find a cat that didn't have a lot of history and maybe bad memories. 

We searched through dozens of kittens and cats and found two we just adored. They were in the same cage at the animal shelter.

One was a male and one a female. They were both three months old, but they were not from the same litter. The male is a week older than the female.

The female is a striped, grey and black, tabby. The male, although listed as a tabby, is actually an American Shorthaired. His body is filled with the swirling markings of the breed. Who knows their may be another breed in there as well, but he definitely is strongly American Shorthaired.

We had to wait until Thursday to pick them up, which was nice because that was my husband's birthday. They needed to have their surgeries and a wellness check up before we could take them home.

We have a 9 year old male Siamese mix at home already. Eevee (my son at 7 years old named him after a Pokemon character) hasn't taken well to the new additions yet.

We put the kittens into our bedroom with the master bath closed off at first. It has a tile floor in case of accidents.

The paperwork all said that they would be quiet and probably groggy on the first days home because they had their spay and neutering done.

Not these two. They were so excited to be out of those cages they were running all over the place and playing with the toys we got for them. We spent quite a bit of time with they. They were also both very hungry and ate up a storm.

They barely settled down the whole day.

Day 2

The second day was a little quieter. At least in the early part of the day. They quickly learned their way out of the bathroom and moved into our bedroom. They played under the bed, chasing each other about. Finally they settled in for the morning and most of the afternoon.

At one point in the day we put them back in the bathroom behind the kid gate and brought the older cat into see them. They were curious. Eevee didn't like them. He growled and hung out by the door. At one point the little girl went in to use the box. Eevee became curious by the sound, but only got close enough to go see what was happening. He quickly moved back by the door.

Finally, after his continued hissing, we just let him back out. The whole thing probably only lasted five minutes or so. We did this again later in the day, still Eevee didn't take to them.

After Eevee went to bed with out son, we let the kittens come out of bedroom by opening the door to the rest of the house. They explored a little but eventually made their way back into the bedroom on their own.

Day 3.

We are quickly learning that these little ones enjoy waking at 6:30 a.m. Too bad it is Saturday morning.

I made sure they had some dry food and water and then went back to sleep. By the time I woke up a few hours later they were sound asleep, but once I was up and moving around they followed. When I feed them the canned food, they acted like they hadn't eaten in a week, even though I heard them crunching dry food earlier.

While they love playing together they are getting more social with us. The little girl is a wildcat. She's not going to be shy. The little boy gives as good as he gets, but he's a little more patient and just waits for her to come to him. She's more into chasing him. He is quick to come see us, while she still watches from under the bed, until he comes out to make the first move.

Once they are up and in our arms they purr away. She much louder then him. Very cute.

We did the introductions with the older cat again this afternoon which didn't go well again. Eevee hissed and growled and stayed at the door. We'll have to try again later.

Now they are back to sleeping the afternoon away under the bed.

Tonight is July 3, our city is having our annual cityhood celebration. There will be fireworks and I'm sure, since tomorrow is Independence Day, we'll have our share of kids, and adults, around the neighborhood with illegal fireworks and firecrackers. Who knows how the two will handle those. Even our older cat doesn't handle them well.

By the way, it took a while to name them but we've finally settled on Katy Purry, for the female, named for pop star Katy Perry and Del Rio (although the Del part might change) for the male, named for the Spanish name for "of the river" to correspond with the swirls on his back.

Fun lunch or dinner: Tex-Mex Pie

Step 1:

Pie crust
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour                 

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup water

1 tbsp cooking oil

Directions:
Prepare pizza pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add liquids and stir to incorporate dry ingredients. Knead dough by hand 6-8 times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough thinly. Place rolled dough onto pizza pan.

Step 2
Topping
Ingredients:
1 pound beef cut into thin strips
1 pound pepper stir-fry, fresh or frozen thawed
½ medium onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
½ cup favorite salsa
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
Sour cream to taste
Guacamole, store bought, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven at 450 degrees.

In a bowl, combine beef, peppers and onions stir-fry, oil and seasoning. Stir-fry beef and pepper mix for about 5 to 8 minutes total.

Using prepared pizza crust, top first with salsa, then add 1 cup cheese, then add beef and pepper mix. Top 1 cup cheese.

Place pie into oven for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and crust is light brown.

Serve hot garnished with sour cream and guacamole. Cut and serve.

Taking Pictures and Having Fun

Uploading a bunch of pictures on my Divant Art page at:
http://luv2clik.deviantart.com/

New Recipe: Italian Salad

Ingredients
1 bag of your favorite lettuce mix
1 (15-ounce) can of green beans
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) can pitted black olives
1/2 red onion, cut into slivers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup garlic red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash or salt substitute
1 teaspoon Italian blend spices
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
½ cup shaved Parmesan

Directions:
Mix all vegetables in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, spices and fresh garlic. Add dressing to vegetable mix. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY AMERICA!