Cookie Cutter Fudge

Thought these would be a quick, easy and inexpensive Christmas gift.

Just wrap them up with a bow! 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
Betty Crocker® white or red decorator icing (in 4.25-ounce tube), if desired
Candies, if desired

1. Place each of six 3x1/2-inch mitten-shaped cookie cutters, or other cookie cutters in a simple shape, on 5-inch square of foil. Seal foil tightly around outside of each cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet. Lightly spray cookie cutters with cooking spray.

2. In 4-cup microwavable measuring cup, mix chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, milk and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips are almost melted. Stir in vanilla.

3. Pour mixture into cookie cutter molds, filling to tops of molds. Refrigerate uncovered about 2 hours or until firm. Decorate with icing and candies.

4. Carefully remove foil. Gently press fudge out of molds to serve.

Spinach Salad

1 10oz bag of Baby Spinach
6 Mushrooms Sliced
1 Bunch of Green Onions
3 Boiled Eggs, Sliced
Bacos to Taste

DRESSING:
(may need to double)
2 TBS Sugar
2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 cup Mayo

Cut stems off of spinach, add mushrooms and green onions. When ready to serve, mix dressing and stir into salad. Add eggs, sprinkle bacos. Serve immediately.

Graham Cracker Treats

2 sticks butter

½ cup sugar

Bring to boil, boil 1 minute. Take off stove and stir in 1 cup chopped pecans. Break apart one PACKAGE of graham crackers (breaking each cracker into the four pieces) on a large cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, single layer. Spoon mixture over crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Microwave 1 minute at 50% power, stir and repeat until chocolate is melted. Spoon over graham crackers. (You can use any combination of the chocolate you prefer). Let sit until cooled.

Savannah Bow Ties

The next time you are asked to bring an appetizer/dessert, make these.They are soo good..

• 1/2 a (17 1/4-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (1 sheet)
• 1/2 cup almond paste
• 1 egg yolk, white reserved
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 1 egg white
• Sugar, for sprinkling
• Chocolate Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Let pastry stand at room temperature for 20 minutes or until easy to roll. Unfold pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 14-inch square. Cut square in half with a fluted pastry wheel.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

For filling: crumble almond paste in a small mixing bowl. Add egg yolk, brown sugar, and milk. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Spread filling over 1 pastry half *. Place remaining pastry half on top of filling. Using the fluted pastry wheel, cut dough crosswise into fourteen 1-inch-wide strips. Then cut each strip in half crosswise to make 28 pieces. Twist each piece twice. Place twists about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets lined with foil or parchment paper. Brush twists with slightly beaten egg white. Sprinkle with sugar (coarse sugar if available).

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Serve with Chocolate Dipping Sauce.

*Almond filling will be very stiff. To make spreading easier, drop a dollop of filling uniformly over pastry. Spray a piece of waxed paper with non-stick cooking spray. Press almond paste evenly over entire dough. Spray waxed paper as often as necessary to prevent filling from sticking.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 (1.5-ounce) milk chocolate bars

2 cups whipping cream

1 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Crumble candy bars in 1 at a time. Gradually stir in cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until chocolate is melted. Temper egg yolk with 1/2 cup of hot sauce. Add back to pot and cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and pour into a serving bowl. Any remaining sauce can be poured into custard cups, refrigerated and served as pudding. This is a Paula Deen Recipe!

Yield: enough sauce for 28 cookies

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ease of Preparation: Easy

Lemon Chicken

1 to 1.5 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts
seasoned bread crumbs
juice of 1-2 lemons (fresh lemons) Depends on how much lemon flavor you want.
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup dry sherry *
2-3 chicken bullion cubes

Flatten chicken with a meat tenderizer so it is all the same thickness. It will cook better and more evenly if you don't skip this step! I usually cut each breast in half, if not smaller (quarters). Moisten with water and then coat in bread crumbs. I usually use a shallow bowl.

Brown chicken on both sides in skillet in a bit of veg. oil. Add lemon juice, sherry, water, and bullion cubes. Simmer covered for about 30 min. If needed cook for another 10 min or so without the lid to thicken the sauce.

Serve over or with white rice. The sauce is great mixed up with rice!

*I ALWAYS use dry sherry from the liquor store. It is pretty cheap, $3-4 for a bottle (if I remember correctly). I have used cooking sherry from the grocery store and it just isn't the same. Even the kids noticed the difference.

We love the sauce at my house so I always double the ingredients for the sauce. We had this for dinner earlier this week and I used 2 pans so the chicken wasn't stacked on itself. It seemed to cook faster and the sauce reduced faster this way!

Banana Cream Brownie squres

1 package brownie mix
1 1/4 cups cold milk
1 package (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) frozen whipped topping thawed, divided
bananas
strawberries
chocolate sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Mix brownies as the box says. Let brownies
cool, cut bananas place them on the brownies, mix the pudding and add 4 oz's of the whipped topping . Spread over the bananas, cut more bananas and strawberries and put them on top and drizzle chocolate over the top.

Wilton Buttercream Icing (frosting)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you want to use white vanilla you can to keep the frosting pure white)
2 tablespoons milk or water
1 pound confectioners sugar *4 cups
1 tablespoon wilton meringue powder (this just allows it to harden better, its not necessary)

Cream shortening, butter, vanilla and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until they are mixed thoroughly. Blend an additional minute until creamy.

To make chocolate buttercream frosting, and 3/4 cup cocoa and additional 1-2 tablespoons water.

Corn Bread

This is for Jenn

Corn Bread

1 cup milk
1/4 cup stick margarine *melted
1 egg
1 1/4 cup cornmeal (any type)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 400, grease a square 8x8 pan. or cast iron if you have one and want a crispy crust.
Beat milk, margarine, and egg in a bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients, until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Pour into pan. Bake 20 to 25 min until golden brown and toothpick in center comes out clean.

Home Made Root Beer

Grandma's Super Secret Root beer
(from the back of the root beer concentrate box.)
Homemade Root Beer
1 1/2 Cups Water
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. Root Beer Concentrate
1 Bottle (1Liter) Cold
Soda Water, Seltzer OR Club Soda
Bring Water to a boil in medium saucepan
Stir in sugar until dissolved.
Add Concentrate; stir until well mixed.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slowly pour
soda into root beer mixture until well blended.
Makes 6 cups.
We added dry ice just for fun.

California Tortellini Salad

(Diane Call likes this one, so I thought I would post it also)

1 pkg refrigerated cheese filled tortellini (or use frozen package)
1 small avocado, diced
1 TBS lemon juice (keeps avocado from browning)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/2 medium cucumber, sliced
1/3 cup ranch salad dressing (I think the package that you can make tastes the best)
garnish with sunflower seeds if desired.

Cook tortellini as direceted on package. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool. In large bowl, combine all ingredients including well drained tortellini. Toss gently to mix. Serve.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

fry wonton strips and allow to cool on paper towels
lettuce chopped
mandarin oranges
cooked diced chicken
slivered almonds
Dressing:
3 TBS honey
1 and 1/2 TBS White vinegar
4 tsp mayo
1 TBS grey poupon dijon mustard
1/8 tsp sesame oil, optional

Mix dressing and pour over salad ingredients. Simple and delicious! I just posted several salad recipes, if you are looking for more, just scroll down.

SWEET PEANUT SALAD

1 head of lettuce chopped
1 bag of spinach leaves (or use the combinations your family likes)
1 avocado diced
3 green onions chopped
1 large chilled orange, peeled and diced
honey roasted peanuts

DRESSING:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
6 TBS vinegar
Combine salad ingredients, saving the peanuts to sprinkle on top of prepared salad. Combine dressing ingredients: pour over salad when ready to serve. Enjoy.

Asian Slaw

This is a different version of the Utah cabbage and ramen salad. I hope no one minds that I added SALADS to the selections, (in my house they are main dishes and sides)!
Just remember it needs time to sit in fridge before serving.

16oz Coleslaw Mix
2-3 pkgs BEEF top ramen seasoning
1 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 bunch diced green onions
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vinegar

Crush TWO ramen noodle packages in bottom of large bowl. Top with coleslaw and remaining salad stuff. Whisk 2-3 ramen seasoning packets, sugar, oil and vinegar. Pour over salad. Cover and chill about 8 hours at least. (THIS RECIPE IS FROM the PIONEER WOMAN COOKS WEBSITE)

Delicious Green Salad

2-3 pitas cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 tomatoes
1 large red pepper diced
1 cucumber peeled and chopped
4 scallions thinly sliced
Parsley flakes
¼ cup chopped fresh mint-optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer pitas to baking sheet: bake until crisp, about 12 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, scallions, parsley flakes, mint and cooled pitas. Add lettuce and toss. Serve. (This is for a small salad, double if you want a large serving salad). We are going to call this our christmas green salad, very pretty red and green mixture!