Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Month: January 2007

Side Dishes, Soups

Soup & Sandwiches

ss meal

This was a very easy meal to make! I’ve had my eye on these sandwiches and have been wanting to try them for awhile. The domestic part of me gets a kick out of making soups from scratch, altho’ we don’t have soup very much. I’m more used to popping open a can when we do have soup, so there’s something kind of ‘fun’ about starting with raw potatoes and carrots! 

Quick and Easy Italian Vegetable Beef Soup    …This recipe comes from the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook , all the recipes use a crockpot.

1 lb ground beef or turkey, browned and drained
3 carrots, sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
15 oz can diced Italian tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
6 oz can Italian-flavored tomato paste
4 1/2 cups water (I put in only about 3 cups to cut down on the broth, I like soups full of stuff without a lot of broth)
1 quart beef broth

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on high 6-8 hours, or until potatoes and carrots are tender. So easy. I had it in the crockpot by 10:00 a.m. and didn’t have to touch it till supper… well, ok, I couldn’t help but stir it now and then. It made about 12 cups, fit nice in my 4 qt crockpot. It was a good hearty soup. We liked it.
ss soup

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese    … This recipe comes from the 2001 Annual Quick Cooking Cookbook.

1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise ( I used a little less than 1/2 cup the second time and that tasted better)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp seasoned salt
10 slices Italian bread (This isn’t with the regular bread, at our grocery store anyway. It’s over by the bakery.)
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and mayo until smooth. Stir in cheeses, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Spread 5 slices of bread with the cheese mixture, about 1/3 cup each.
ss sandwch1Top with remaining bread. Butter the outsides of sandwiches; cook in a large skillet over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Yield: 5 servings. I buttered the bread, put the bottom piece in the skillet, then put the stuff on, the put the other buttered piece on top… seemed like it would be a little less handling and a little less messy that way. We had one left over and it was really good reheated in the oven! I made this meal Wed evening and it tasted like too much mayo in these sandwiches, so when my sis-in-law Liz came over yesterday, I made them again and put less mayo in and it was better. We had some of the leftover soup and Liz brought salad to go with it. Anyway, Shannon and I really liked these sandwiches (I’ll let Liz speak for herself ). It was a nice variation from reg grilled cheese.
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This tip was in a “Sandwich Secrets”  section in the same cookbook:  “Here’s a hurry-up way to make grilled cheese sandwiches for a crowd: Prepare the sandwiches as you would for the griddle, but place them all on a cookie sheet instead. Bake in a 350 oven for 5-8 minutes on each side until they’re golden brown.” I just saw that tip, so I didn’t get a chance to try it yet, but I plan to do it next time I get the chance.

On a different note: On the last post, someone commented on my smooth top range and wondered how I like it… I absolutely love it! I’ve had the other and this is much better… no getting down in under burners to clean and there’s a cleaning solution you get with the smooth top that works like a charm. My mom and dad built a new house and got new appliances. Mom got a smooth top and really likes it too. I’ve heard that it’s not good for them to do alot of canning on them, but that’s not an issue for either of us. I didn’t know that about the cast iron, ski_n_beach_bum. That’s interesting.

So, let’s hear from you… which do you like best, what are the pros and cons, or maybe you prefer gas over electric?

Desserts, Main Dishes, Side Dishes

“Give Me 5 or Fewer”

Golden Potato Rounds
Tortilla Beef Bake
Salsa Strips
Chocolate Ice Cream Syrup

These recipes were all in a row in the “Give Me 5 or Fewer” section in the 2001 Quick Cooking Annual Cookbook . They all have 5 or less ingredients, so it was very fast and easy to throw this meal together. I actually halved the recipes so we wouldn’t have leftovers, if you wonder about how little the dishes look.

Golden Potato Rounds

1 cup crushed cornflakes
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
4 med potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2″ thick
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

In a bowl, combine the cornflakes and seasoned salt. Dip potatoes in butter, then coat with cornflake mixture. Place on greased foil-lined baking sheets.
5potato1Bake at 350 for 55-60 min or until tender. Yield: 6 servings.
5potato2    These were great! They were even better with ketchup. I made this meal last night for supper, and this morning we were driving and just out of the blue, Lexi said, “Mom, those potato rounds were so good!”

Tortilla Beef Bake

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 1/2 crushed tortilla chips, divided
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in soup. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups tortilla chips in a greased shallow 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Top with beef mixture, salsa, and cheese.
5bake1  5bake2  5bake3  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 min or until bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining chips. Bake 3 min longer or until chips are lightly toasted.  Yield: 6 servings.
5bake4    The tortilla chips on here gave it a nice crunch. It was very good and SO easy! We liked the salsa giving the zip to it instead of the usual taco seasoning that’s usually in Mexican dishes. A winner!

Salsa Strips

1 tube (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup salsa
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
Minced fresh cilantro or parsley

Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into 4 rectangles. Place on greased baking sheets. Spread mustard and salsa on each rectangle.
5salsa1  If you wonder about the crescent rolls in the pan, I halved the recipe, then had 4 rolls left over, so just made reg crescent rolls and sprinkled a little cheese on them too. Bake at 350 for 10 min. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 8-10 min longer or until golden brown. Cool for 10 min. Cut each into four strips; sprinkle with cilantro (or parsley). Yield: 16 appetizers.
5salsa2  These were good, Shannon thought they were really good. My problem was that I don’t like mustard and you could definitely taste it! Next time I’d put on only 1/2 of what it calls for… at least on my half! These salsa strips would be great to serve with a snack for company some evening.

Chocolate Ice Cream Syrup

6 squares (1 oz ea) unsweetened chocolate
3 Tbsp butter (no substitutes), cubed
2 cups sugar
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
Ice cream

In a heavy saucepan over low heat or double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolate. Add butter; cook and stir until melted. Add sugar alternately with milk, stirring constantly. Cook for 15 min, stirring often.
5choc1  Serve warm over ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 1/2 cups.
5choc2  Editor’s note: If desired, add 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp orange or peppermint extract. Stir into syrup after removing from the heat. As I was making this, I was thinking about that Reeses hard-shell stuff you can buy to go on ice cream and was sure this was the first and last time I’d be making this. But, it turned out so yummy and gooey and fudgey that I know I’ll just have to make it again now and then!!!! Just a tip: Let it sit (before putting it on the ice cream) while you eat, then by the time you’re done eating, it’s not so piping hot and stays on top of the ice cream better without just slipping down the side and melting the ice cream.

Pies

Grandma’s Pie

Here is my dear Grandma…
grandma

…and here is her delicious pie recipe…

Brown Sugar Pie

1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
2 heaping Tbsp flour (Grandma says by heaping, it means to heap it so much that you have about another whole Tbsp on top!)
2 cups whole milk (Grandma says ‘whole’ is VERY important!)

Beat egg good. (That’s an understatement, one of Grandma’s tips is to beat it like crazy.)  Add sugar and flour and beat some more. Gradually add milk. Pour into 9″ unbaked pie crust. As you can see, it’s very thin batter.
brnsugpie1     Bake at 350 until set, about 45 min -1 hour. Middle will be shaky. Not kidding when it says shaky… we’re talking nearly making waves when you get it out! No, but I always think ‘This will never set up!’ and sometimes it never has .
brnsugpie3Grandma’s brown sugar pies always seem so much better, just the fact that she made them and they came from her kitchen. This pie actually turned out pretty good though. It’s supposed to turn into 2 layers like you see in the piece below, that’s not a mistake! The top lighter layer melts in your mouth and the bottom darker layer is about the consistency of fudge.
brnsugpie4

So delicious! I ate one piece, then within 10 minutes, I went back for another . You should really try this… it takes very common ingredients and doesn’t take long to make. You can add Whipped Cream if you want, but that’s actually against the rule… one time at a Graber get together, one of my aunts, I think it was, was putting whipped cream on pies and put some on a brown sugar pie and got alot of hassle for it! 

Adding an edit here: Someone asked in a comment about storing it in the fridge… yes, you do. Grandma usually bakes them the same day and they cool, then we eat them at room temp. I actually think it tastes better cold, so I put it in the fridge after it cools… but I have a room temperature piece first! Oh, and you may have caught on already, but this recipe is for one 9″ pie.

Breads Biscuits and Rolls, Chicken and Turkey, Pies

Anybody on a diet? This meal is for you!

445 calories… including dessert! Not bad!

diet meal

Garlic Chicken Kiev
Chewy Pizza Bread
Cauliflower and Broccoli
Strawberry Pie

These recipes (except the caul and broc, that’s just cooked frozen veggies) all come from Betty Crocker’s Eat and Lose Weight Cookbook . After each recipe is a chart with as much info on it as you’d find on a nutrition label. I’ll just list the calories, carbs, and protein. If you want more info than that, let me know.

Garlic Chicken Kiev

3 Tbsp reduced calorie spead, softened (I used low-fat butter, half the calories of reg butter)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives or parsley (I used 1/2 Tbsp of each)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lbs)
2 cups cornflakes, crushed (about 1 cup)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk or skim milk

Mix spread, chives, and garlic powder, shape into rectangle, 3 x 2 inches. Cover and freeze about 30 min or until firm.     Trim fat from chicken. Flatten each chicken breast half to 1/4-inch thickness between wax paper or plastic wrap.     Heat oven to 425. Spray square pan, 9 x 9 x 2 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Cut chives mixture crosswise into 6 pieces. Place one piece on center of each chicken breast half.
diet chic1  Fold long sides of chicken over chives mixture; fold up ends and secure with toothpick.
diet chic2  …yeah, as simple as that! Ha! It took me a long time to make these things and I used up to 4 toothpicks per piece! In a perfect world, chicken breast halves would all be shaped the same and be 4 ounces each!      Mix cornflakes, parsley, and paprika. Dip chicken into milk, then lightly and evenly coat with cornflake mixture.
diet chic3  Place chicken, seam sides down, in pan. Bake uncovered about 35 min or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
diet chic4   6 servings. Per serving: 190 calories; Carbohydrates, 9g; Protein, 25g        These tasted great! Nice and moist chicken! The fresh spices (or is it herbs?) give it lots of flavor! I’ll know more what I’m doing next time and hopefully the whole folding thing will go smoother and faster!!! Will definitely make again!

Chewy Pizza Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup regular or non-alcoholic beer (Since I didn’t have beer on hand, I used Diet Coke)
1/2 cup speghetti sauce
1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired (I didn’t do that)

Heat oven to 425. Spray round pan, 9 x 1 1/2 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in beer just until flour is moistened.    Spread dough in pan. Spread speghetti sauce over dough. Sprinkle with cheese.
diet bread1  Bake 15-20 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with basil. Serve warm.
diet bread2    6 servings. Per serving: 145 calories; Carbohydrates, 29g; Protein, 4g      If you keep in mind that this is a diet dish, it’s actually very good! The problem was that there was too little cheese, but that’s diet for ya! I guess we’re just too used to stuff loaded with cheese… refer to previous post! I was surprised about this bread. I thought it would be biscuity, but it was actually more like regular raised bread, only more dense. It’s very filling, too. By the way, the Diet Coke seemed to work great as a substitute!

Strawberry Pie with Meringue Crust

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg (1.1 oz) vanilla fat-free sugar-free instant pudding and pie filling
1 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups frozen (thawed) reduced-fat whipped topping
1 pint strawberries (2 cups), sliced

Heat oven to 275. Spray pie plate, 9 x 1 1/4 inches, with non-stick cooking spray. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Spread mixture evenly on bottom and halfway up side of pie plate. I put it to the top of the pie plate instead of halfway up.
diet pie1  Bake 40 min. Turn oven off; leave meringue in oven with door closed 1 hour. Finish cooling meringue at room temperature.
diet pie2     Beat pudding and pie filling with milk about 45 seconds, using wire whisk. Fold in one cup of the whipped topping. Layer half of the pudding mixture and half of the strawberries in crust; repeat.    Cover loosely and refrigerate till firm, at least one hour, but no longer than 8 hours. Run knife around edge to loosen crust. Top each serving with some of the remaining 1/2 cup whipped topping. I put the 1/2 cup Cool Whip on top right away and garnished it with a strawberry so that it would look more attractive sitting on the table during supper.  Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.
diet pie3  8 servings. Per serving: 85 calories; Carbohydrate, 16g; Protein, 2g       This is just tops (for a low-cal dessert). The crust is great (meringue goes good with this pie), but it’s not too sturdy when you try to get pieces out of the pan. It kind of crumples up with the pie server sliding under it, so you don’t really end up with a picture-perfect piece. But the taste with fresh strawberries makes up for it! Yum!

By the way, one serving of the veggies was 25 calories . Not sure of the other specs on it.

Beef, Main Dishes

Wet Burritos

This recipe came from my mother-in-law. It’s really good!!!!! Try it!

Wet Burritos

1 lb hamburger
1 sm onion
1 pk taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
8 soft tortillas (9 inch)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sour cream
8 oz grated cheese

Fry hamburger with onion. Add seasoning and beans. Put 1/8 of meat mixture in each tortilla. Roll up. Mix mushroom soup and sour cream. Put 1/2 of it into greased 9×13 pan. Put rolled tortillas in next,
burritos1
burritos2 then put rest of sauce on top, then the cheese.
burritos3  Bake at 350 for 40 min.
burritos4 Serve with sour cream and salsa. It’s so easy to make! With good babies and all, you can go from nothing to eating within an hour! In the 40 minutes it’s baking, you can easily get the rest of the meal around.

We had crescent rolls and salad with it.
burritos salad  I make my own croutons instead of buy them because I don’t like the hard ones that you can’t stab with a fork. It’s so easy… just take a couple pieces of bread, cut them into chunks with a pizza cutter. Put some melted butter in a pan (however much you want, I usually do around a Tablespoon, maybe a little less), then dash a few spices in, like oregano, basil, and onion power, or garlic powder. Throw the bread cubes in and mix them around till they seem to be pretty much coated with the butter. Put the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes, more if you want. Sometime during that time, I take the pan out and shake it around a little to try to get some of the croutons to flip over. They have a crunch, but yet you can stab them with a fork. Perfect!!!

Tidbits

What is your kitchen colors/theme?

Posted on January 13, 2007
Filed Under Tidbits

23 answers… very entertaining and interesting! Some were written humorously  and some ideas are very original and creative. Thanks alot for participating!!!!!! Here they are:

“I have one spot of everything .  Maybe I should get professional help…”

“I do apples so its red, green and I have added some accents of black to.”

“My kitchen has white walls.  The curtains are  blue, yellow, and white flowers with green leaves.  I made the curtains from the centerpieces that were on our tables at our wedding. That is about all I have as far as a theme.”

“yellow/sunflowers and it was inspired because we remodeled an old house that came with quaint yellow counter tops and yellow appliances… thankfully they all croaked.”

“dark weird looking olivish color and I really do like it. This may sound weird but all the accents are a dark country red. There is no bulkhead so the top of the cabinets are open and I have baskets, stars, old jars filled with beans, a watering can, an old bowl, red and white beady things and stuff like that up there. That’s my favorite part of the kitchen, the stuff I can stick along the top. :)”

“no color theme, but I have old kitchen ‘tools’, etc. Our house is a very old log house, and our kitchen used to be the back porch, so one wall in our kitchen is the old log look! That goes pretty well w/ our decor. 🙂

“Do you know what color “Butte Rock” is?! ha I actually would call it “Pumpkin Spice”. I like fruit , and there’s fruit on my china, so I have some fruit pics on the walls and also some of the fruit china and some antique fruity-looking pieces are displayed in a corner cabinet. Accent colors are green and blue. The soffit is stenciled with this verse: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” ”

“we redid everything just a few months ago. The cabinets were once an ugly dark brown stain- we painted them white, then sanded the edges off a little to give it an antique look . The walls we painted dark red, the countertops are the old ones ( tannish/brownish color) , and the floor is dark tan. It looks MUCH better in my opinion! I’m sticking with the country-style look with stars, antique-looking things, (plaques,etc). I’m sticking in a few black accents here and there, too.”

“oak cabinets with a ginger glaze, dark handles and a Victorian looking faucet , white trim and light tan walls.  No decorations.  I don’t really know what I want to do.  I’m kind of thinking bright bold Aztec colors, but how does that go with the faucet?”

“mostly neutral, with dusty rose accents .  I have golden-pecan stained oak cabinets with a little rail around the top (open area above), where I have baskets, jar candles, greenery, and those jars filled with flavored vinegars and vegetables.  Oh, there’s a rooster cookie jar, too.  The solid surface tops are white with specks of color in them–the dusty rose, Williamsburg blue, etc.  I have rose-colored Tupperware canisters and rugs the same color.  My appliances are black and stainless steel .”

“my kitchen is done in grapes . I have a grape/ ivy wall paper border, grape valances at the windows and grape canister set and other grape nic-nacks.”

“My kitchen is apples . I love it! I have collected a lot of apple things from Home Interiors over the last number of years. Mostly at yard sales or things I “earned” from having a party. I use the red and country blue, though, rather than the green.”

“I have a coffee theme and also a few little “fat” chefs. I love coffee shops and Starbucks so I decided to do my kitchen along that line. I have little coffee signs on the walls and empty mocha bottles and coffee cans sitting in the window.”

“My kitchen is black & white with sunflowers !”

“My kitchen in the house we just move out of was oak and white farmhouse style with yellow and red apples. It was so bright and cheerful. But I am going with an entirely diferent theme in the new house. It is going to be kinda old world vineyard look. Light and dark cabinetry with tile. the colors are aged stone, kinda sage/olive green and burnished red, with an olive and herbed oil theme.”

“ivy & birdhouses for now, who knows what it will end up being, I move to much! 🙂 But sometimes I’m fooled for a minute and think my kitchen theme is junk mail, stray toys, and stuff (sitting on my counter….waiting…)!!!”

“For the “theme colors” in my kitechen just ask Freida…. it’s a very bad multi-colored wall paper theme :( ”

“My kitchen and dining room are red.  Like a dark brick red .  I decorate with teasets/china and also antiques.”

“My kitchen? It is galley style with limited wall space so there is no theme, simply green . The backsplash is a dark “Riverbank” and the cupboards are Very pale “sitka” or something.”

“My kitchen started out as blueberries and strawberries , but since that was a hard theme to find, I soon ended up using a fruit theme – with berries still be the main theme.”

“We have a clock with cows on it and a wooden cow face shape given to me by a dear friend many years ago. (I used to collect cows.) I have a wooden decoration on my counter that talks about apple pie with vanilla ice cream and caramel. Having had that combination before – and loving it! – I couldn’t pass up that decoration.”

“right now it has fruit wallpaper (which isn’t that bad but it is not me at all) and then I have lots of sunflower decorations(what my old kitchen was). So it doesn’t look all that great but I hope to redo it one of these days.:)”

“I have a coffee theme.Also I love the enamelware things to…but this kitchen is smaller than the last.I’m still figuring out how to get my old stove in the kitchen!”

Just a few comments: The grapes kitchen brought back memories… that’s what my kitchen was in our first house after we got married. My sister has a coffee kitchen and gets lots of compliments on it. I loved the ‘junk mail, stray toys, and stuff’ comment… so true! Should see my kitchen sometimes, seems like that type of stuff is more over-powering sometimes than Coca-Cola! My mom has apples… they live on an orchard too. Someone mentioned a rooster cookie jar… my aunt has rooster decor in her kitchen. I always thought that was so neat and original. The old kitchen tools one with the log wall, I’d love to see! Can’t tell you enough how interesting this was to me! I hope you found it interesting too!

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Now, to spark some nostalgia… What certain dish does/did your Grandma make that you love or that she’s well-known for?

It seems like Grandmas often have something like that, and they should, what with all their years of experience!   The first thing I thought of was my Grandma Graber’s brown sugar pie . I love it and she makes it about every time the family gets together because everyone is crazy about it. My cousin can make it perfectly now and it turned out perfect for me the last time I made it! Grandma gave us some tips (like beat the eggs like crazy and get it out of the oven while it’s still a little jiggly), which really helped… I flopped that pie so many times, just ask Shannon! He had never heard of it before. Maybe you never did either. I’ll have to feature it on here… and hope it gets right again *fingers crossed*!

When I asked Shannon about his grandma, right away he thought of 1 thing from his one grandma and 2 things from his other grandma. One of the things was pig stomach . Ever have that? It was a new thing to me, but it’s very good!

So, let’s hear about your grandma’s cookin’!

Cookies and Bars

No Bake Cookies

Liz put this recipe on her site and when I saw it, I got hungry for them and just had to make them! Liz is my sister-in-law and we have 9 1/2 month old babies born 2 days apart. I made these cookies for scrapbooking day and they were a hit among the children! One thing that was so nice about them is that they’re fast… about an hour after I decided to make them, I was putting them in a container to go! Another nice thing is that they use very common staple ingredients.

No Bake Cookies

Part A:
2 C. sugar
3 T. cocoa
1/2 C. margarine
1/2 C. milk
Dash salt Part B:
3 C. quick cooking oats
1/2 C. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla Bring part A to a rapid boil.
nobake1 
Boil for 1 minute; then add ingredients in Part B.  (Have B ingredients measured and ready to dash into cooked mixture.)  Mix well and working quickly drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.  I used Liz’s idea and added chocolate chips, but they melted, but oh well, at least there was extra chocolate flavor!
nobake2
Yields 4 dozen wonderful candylike cookies.  A special treat to make on a hot day.
nobake3
They look wet when you first drop them on wax paper, but as they cool, they harden, and one way to tell they’re ready is that they lose their shiny look. They’re so good!!!!

Desserts

Cheesecake!

We love cheesecake! It is one of the best desserts out there! I’ve made lots of cheesecakes, all of them great, and just tried another one last weekend. This recipe comes from Easy to Bake, Easy to Make . It’s a collection of recipe cards that come in the mail (with a bill, of course) to put in a recipe box they give you. They have some great recipes, including a red velvet cake that’s to die for. I should make it again just to get pictures to feature it on here so you all can taste it! There are also some ‘main dish’ cards that I have set aside to try sometime.

Classic New York Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Filling:
4 pkgs (8 oz each) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon vanilla (yeah, that’s right, Tablespoon… I know, sounds like alot)
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

Crust:
Mix crumbs, sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of 9″ springform pan.
cc1 

Bake @ 325 for 10 min if using a silver springform pan. Bake at 300 for 10 min if using a dark nonstick springform pan. I baked Lexi’s along with mine at 325 for 7 min.

Filling:
Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanillla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Blend in sour cream. Add eggs, mixing on low speed just until blended. Pour over crust. (Lexi said, ‘It would be messy to pour, so it would be better to spoon it.’ ).
cc2
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Bake at 325 for 65 to 70 min or until center is almost set if using a 9″ springform pan. Bake at 300 for 65 to 70 min or until center is almost set if using a 9″ dark nonstick springform pan. I baked Lexi’s along with mine at 325 for 40 min.
cc4 
Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake (forgot to do this step, so that may be why it cracked) ; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
cc5  We covered the little one with caramel and covered the big one with strawberry pie filling. I know, where’s the chocolate?!
cc6
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Variation: Want to make a chocolate cheesecake? Just add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the recipe above. This particular one is topped with ganache, fresh raspberries, and chocolate curls.
chocolate raspberry cheesecake

Comments

One Response to “Cheesecake!”

  1. cathy on June 11th, 2009 12:39 pm

    I remember my mom making these 50 years ago!! I used to make them for my kids too.

Breakfasts, Main Dishes, Pies, Soups

Totally “off the wall” recipes (sorry to those of you who don’t like puns… I couldn’t help myself)

Posted on January 8, 2007
Filed Under Breakfasts, Main dishes, Pies, Soups

Blueberry Muffins
Farmer’s Market Soup
Chicken Pot Pie
Apple Pie
If you remember my cookie baking/candy making post, the kitchen that we were at had the neatest wallpaper!!!!
recipe wall   It was in the kitchen at Sandra’s (xsenergyo5) church. Sandra, have you guys ever tried them? The wallpaper has 4 recipes repeated on it. So, I took pictures of each recipe and made them. I hope you can read them ok… I’ll see how it looks after it’s uploaded and if I can’t read them, I’ll type them out. *Edit*…I just checked to see if I could read them and it’s a little hard, but if you click on the picture, it opens a new window that it’s bigger and more readable in.

Blueberry Muffins

recipe muffins

Some notes: I didn’t know what double-acting baking powder was, but my baking powder in my cupboard said ‘double-acting’ on it, so maybe all baking powder is?????    I also just used my regular nutmeg from my spices instead of getting a nutmeg and grating it for ‘freshly grated’. I used frozen blueberries, not fresh, but I think fresh would be better and not as juicy, so I want to make it sometime with fresh. The batter was more of a cookie dough consistency, which kind of surprised me, but the muffins were great!!! Some of the best I’ve had! They were moist and dense, which I like! We loved them!!! I will definitely make these again!!! Now for the pictures…
 muffins1

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Farmer’s Market Soup

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Some notes: I used baby carrots and figured 9 would equal one big one. I’ve never in my life peeled a tomato before! What a juicy mess! I put just enough water in to come up to the level of the veggies, they weren’t totally covered… that way it wouldn’t make alot of broth.  Um, now for what we thought of it… I thought it was good in a but-I’d-never-make-it-again way. I made a half batch and was glad I did because I had the whole thing to myself! It sure is healthy though!!!! It took a long time to cut up all those veggies!

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Chicken Pot Pie

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Some notes: After it simmered for 20 minutes, I thought the broth didn’t seem thick enough, so I put in an extra tablespoon of flour. I missed a picture of the chicken/veggie part of the pot pie before putting the dough on top. For the biscuit dough, I used a recipe that was very good, but it ended up sort of limp and sticky and hard to work with, so the pot pie ended up looking pretty messy. I used all but about 5 biscuit’s worth of the dough (the recipe took 2 cups of flour to give you an idea of the size batch it was), so then I just baked those biscuits and served them with the meal. We really liked this! It was good and flavorful. Not sure if I’d make it again, just simply because it took awhile to make and we don’t do much in the way of casserole-type dishes. But I would definitely recommend it!!!!

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Apple Pie

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Some notes: Too many apples! I used a 9″ deep dish pie plate and as you will see, it was piled high! I cut up 8 and used probably 6 apples, and they were medium sized, not huge. I used Golden Delicious mainly because that’s the only kind I recognized (and I used to live on an apple orchard! ). I used brown sugar. Before the height of this pie scares you off, it’s not actually that huge. The crust stays up and the apples settle, as you can see in the last picture after we took a couple pieces out. This pie was absolutely tops! The winner of all the “wall” recipes! I will definitely make it again. Great flavor and so perfect warm with a serving of ice cream!!!

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Grilling, Main Dishes, Pork and Ham

Open-faced pork chop sandwiches by my husband

A guest appearance!

Grilling is my husband Shannon’s specialty. He’s got some pretty mean stuff coming off the grill sometimes! YUM!!!! One of those things is the open-faced pork chop sandwich . I asked him if he could make a ‘guest appearance’ on this site to feature them. He agreed to do it… so, here he is…

I can’t believe I am being a guest writer on Kay’s blog. Further, I can’t believe I am actually sitting down with my laptop to write about a pork chop.

As you will see, this is not a complicated recipe. As with nearly all of my food prep related endeavors, this recipe centers around the charcoal grill.

Ingredients: Boneless pork chops, white bread, provolone cheese, BBQ sauce, seasoning.

Step 1: Season pork chops to taste. I use Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning or a Cajun seasoning.

Step 2: Grill over hot coals.

porkchop1 To an internal temp of 160. Pork, unlike steak, should not be done medium or rare unless the intended audience has a particular affinity for food born illness.

Step3: While chops are grilling, toast one piece of bread for each chop.

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Step 4: P ut a piece of the sliced provolone cheese on the toast (I know this is a technical and difficult process but stick with me here).

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Step 5: Cut the chops into strips a little over 1/4 th in. thick.

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Step 6: Put strips of chop on the piece of toast and cheese, using the grab and plop technique.

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Step 7: Pour boiling hot BBQ sauce over the chop and cheese.

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This is really where a lot of the flavor comes from. I use Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy BBQ Sauce . If you haven’t had Famous Dave’s you should at least give it a try. {Side note: “Famous” Dave Anderson has a lake home on Round Lake about 3 miles from where we live. I have had the chance to meet him on several occasions including one night after midnight when I stopped into our local grocery store and he was shopping at 12:30 in the morning. Dave started Famous Dave’s of America restaurant chain and later was appointed by President G.W. Bush as the head of the Borough of Indian Affairs in Washington DC. (an agency with over 10,000 employees) end side note}

Where was I? Oh yeah, make sure the bbq sauce is very hot so it melts the cheese. Serve as an open faced sandwich. The 2 mistakes I have made when making these are 1. Leaving the meat on the grill too long till it is too dry. And 2. Not putting enough BBQ sauce on top.

Well that’s it. See, I told you it was a simple recipe.

May you always be surrounded by good friends and great food.