Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Lion House Christmas Soda Cracker Cookies

Originally submitted by Deena Callahan

35 saltine crackers
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 cups chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15” x 10” jelly roll pan with foil or parchment paper; grease the foil. Line the pan with the saltines, placing as close together as possible. Combine sugar and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 2 ½ minutes, stirring constantly. Pour butter sauce over crackers. Place crackers in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. When the chocolate chips are melted, spread chocolate over cookies and sprinkle with nuts. Cool and cut or break into small squares. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Blonde Brownies

2 cups butter or margarine, softened
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 package milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 17” x 12” rimmed cookie sheet. Spoon dough in about 6 large drops evenly distributed over the cookie sheet. You should use all of the dough but reserve about 2/3 cup. The dough will overrun the cookie sheet edges if you use all the dough. Moisten hands and flatten out dough evenly to the edge of the cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for around 30 minutes until golden brown. Cool, slice in squares and enjoy. Unfortunately, you or your children will have to eat the remaining cookie dough.

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Originally submitted by Anne Ivie

Mix and press into bottom of 9 X 13 inch ungreased pan:

1 cup melted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth

Melt together until smooth:

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 Tablespoons peanut butter

Spread on top of the mixture in pan. Refrigerate 1 hour before cutting.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Dipped Frozen Oreo Banana Bites

Originally submitted by Liz Nelson

Bananas ready to eat
Creamy Peanut Butter
Crushed Oreo cookies
Chocolate Bark or melted chocolate of choice

Peel then cut bananas into 1 inch pieces. Melt peanut butter in microwave until very soft. Roll bananas into peanut butter then place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for 20 minutes or until peanut butter has firmed up. Melt chocolate according to package directions. With spoons, dip bananas into chocolate and place back on wax paper. Press cookies into sides of bananas so they stick in the chocolate. Stick back into freezer until frozen, about 1 hour. Serve with toothpicks or just pop in your mouth.

Devil’s Food Pumpkin Muffins

Originally submitted by Shauna Cook

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1 15oz. can pumpkin

Mix the cake mix and pumpkin together, adding the pumpkin a little at a time. Mix until well blended and a cookie dough consistency. Spray muffin tins with non stick spray. Fill muffin tins ¾ full. Bake at 350 degrees for 21 to 26 minutes.

Danish Pastry

Originally submitted by Tami Tolman

First Dough:

1 cup sifted flour
½ cup butter or margarine

Cut together like a pie crust. Add 2 Tablespoons water. Mix with fork and divide in half. (handle as little as possible) Spread each half on an ungreased cookie sheet full length and 3 inches wide.


Second Dough:

½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
1 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 eggs

Bring water and butter to a boil. Add the almond and remove from heat. Stir in all the flour at once and immediately after removing from heat stir until it makes a thick, smooth ball. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring until smooth after each addition. Divide onto the two strips already on the cookie sheets and spread evenly. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees until top is crisp and lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool.


Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk
1/3 cup butter
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread on cooled pastry. Top with sliced almonds.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Not So Tuna Salad

Originally submitted by Christie Pethel

(I usually half it. It makes a lot.)

4 cups soaked almonds. (Cover almonds with water and let soak 8 hours)
5 tablespoons lemon juice
6-8 green onions (minced)
2 Tablespoons dry dill
1 Tablespoon salt
5-7 celery stalks (minced)
2 dashes cayenne pepper (optional)
1 large clove garlic (minced)

Put almonds in food processor until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients. It will form into a ball. Everything should be finely minced together. If you don’t have a food processor, crush the nuts down to a coarse crumb and dice all the ingredients up and add to mixture. Serve over sliced tomatoes, crackers, or my favorite; bagels. Use anywhere you would use tuna salad. You can dip with celery, put in wraps, or on bread as a sandwich. It is very addictive.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Authentic Mexican Roasted Salsa

Originally submitted by Janelle Bryner

(Uses all fresh ingredients)

4 – 6 large roma tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
7 – 10 sprigs of cilantro
2 Serrano peppers
1/8 cup or less onion (yellow is best)
salt

Roast tomatoes and Serrano peppers on the stove until softened. They will be burned on their skins. (To roast: put in a frying pan on medium heat with no oil until blackened and soft.) Toss them in a blender. Add the garlic, cilantro, onion and salt and. then blend until the cilantro and garlic are in very small pieces. Sample it and add more of whichever ingredient you would like. Salty chips require less salt in the salsa. The smaller the Serrano pepper the hotter it is. Try it on your eggs.

Broccoli Salad

Originally submitted by Julia Fergusen

1 bunch broccoli cut in pieces
½ cup chopped red onion
1 cup raisins, grapes or craisins
½ cup sunflower seeds, pecans or almonds
4 or 5 slices bacon, crumbled

Dressing:

1 cup mayo
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vinegar
½ cup sugar

Whole Wheat Muffins

Originally submitted by Anne Ivie

½ cup margarine
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup nuts, if desired

Cream butter and sugar. (Or melt butter and add sugar to it.) Add egg. Add water and flour alternately. Put in greased or paper lined muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Mandarin Nut Tossed Salad

Originally submitted by Shauna Cooke

1 package (16 oz) ready to serve salad greens
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
¾ cup chopped salted peanuts
½ cup to 2/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 Tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce

In a bowl, combine the salad greens and oranges. Sprinkle with the peanuts. Combine the salad dressing and soy sauce. Drizzle over the salad and toss to coat.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

BISTRO CHICKEN TWIST (From Pampered Chef)

1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
1 packages refrigerated French break dough (I used Rhodes frozen White Bread, defrosted in refrigerator to prevent bread from rising)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning Mix

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine chopped chicken, diced bell pepper, basil, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic; mix well. Place bread dough, seam side up, on cutting board. Slice each loaf lengthwise, end to end, cutting halfway through to center of loaf; spread open flat. Lightly sprinkle flour evenly over dough. Roll dough crosswise to a 4-inch width, creating a well down center of each loaf.

Spoon half of the chicken mixture down center of each loaf. Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal. Place loaf, seam sides down, in an "X" pattern on your baking sheet. Crisscross ends of dough to form a large figure "8", keeping ends of dough 1-inch from end of baking sheet.

Combine egg white and seasoning mix; lightly brush over dough. Cut a 3-inch slit in each of the top sections of the twist to reveal filling. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese over loaf. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings.

DIJON HAM AND CHEESE TWIST

4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 pkg yeast
1 cup water
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup chopped cooked ham
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup chopped dill pickle (or pickle relish)
1 egg

Set aside 1 cup flour. Mix remaining flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Heat water, mustard, and butter to 125 to 130 degrees F. Stir into flour mixture. Mix in enough reserved flour to make soft dough. Knead 4 minutes.

On greased baking sheet, roll dough to 14x12 in. Sprinkle ham, cheese, and pickles down center 3rd dough lengthwise. Make cuts from filling to dough edges at 1-inch intervals along sides of filling. Bring strips from opposite sides of filling together. Twist and place ends at an angle across filling; cover. Place large shallow pan with boiling water. Place baking sheet over pan; let dough rise 15 minutes. Brush loaf with egg. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Stir Together:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Add and mix:
1 egg
1/4 butter/margarine melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dissolve one tsp baking soda in 1 cup boiling water. Add to mix.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Makes 1 8x8" pan or 1 dozen cupcakes

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Danish Pancakes

Originally submitted by Randi DeRoest

1 cup milk
½ cup flour
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon butter
dash of salt

Mix together and cook like a pancake.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Banana Bread

- Originally submitted by Tami Hughes

3 Ripe Bananas
1 Stick of Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Teas. Vanilla
2 Eggs
2 Cups Flour
1 Teas. Baking Soda

Cream bananas. Soften butter and add to bananas. Mix. Add sugar, vanilla and eggs. Cream well. Add dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Split in 2 greased bread loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes

Cranberry Orange Muffins

- Originally submitted by Amy Carpenter

(adapted from recipezaar.com)

2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C whole fresh cranberries (if none available, use dried cranberries)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. orange juice
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 tsp. grated orange rind (optional)

Combine dry ingredients. Stir cranberries into dry mixture. Combine wet ingredients, including sugar and orange rind. Add wet mixture to dry mixture all at once. Mix until moistened (12-15 stirs only--ovemixing increases gluten in the batter which creates a tunnel texture in the muffin).

Spoon into greased muffin cups. If desired, sprinkle with a little sugar on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Makes 12-14 muffins.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Zucchini Blueberry Bread

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups grated zucchini
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder


DIRECTIONS:

Beat first four ingredients with a mixer until thick and well combined. Combine remaining dry ingredients and carefully blend into wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula--do not over-mix. Fold in blueberries being careful so as not to break the berries. Pour batter into two greased bread pans or four mini loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour (30 minutes for the smaller pans) or until a toothpick comes out clean.

CORN BREAD

- originally submitted by Kathie Rutherford

(Eileen Fahey's Recipe)

(I use half butter and half applesauce and whole wheat flour.)

Stir together:
3 eggs
1 cup margarine (melted and cooled)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 cups Bisquick

Bake in ungreased pan until golden brown, about 30 minutes at 450 degrees.

PUMPKIN BREAD

- Originally submitted by Kathie Rutherford

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup nuts

Put sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl and blend. Combine pumpkin and milk. Sift dry ingredients together and add to sugar mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture. Add 1/2 cup nuts. Bake in greased and lightly floured bread pan for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.