Pumpkin Cake

This recipe is not very complete in the book direction wise, so follow along with my directions if you plan on attempting this recipe. When I made it, I lessened the oil, sugar, and eggs to make it a bit healthier. I also added nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground cloves. I use that combination (including cinnamon) for all of my pumpkin desserts. The cake was very dense. I am wondering if I had left the oil amount the same if it would have been fluffier. Either way, it was REALLY good! I love pumpkin desserts and this is perfect for fall, which is when I actually made it. I said in a prior blog that I have been cooking/baking, but just didn't have time for the blogging part.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I cut in half)

2 cups white sugar (I cut in half)

4 eggs (I cut in half)

2 cups pumpkin

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Added: 1-2  tsp each nutmeg, ground cloves & ground ginger

Directions:

• Mix oil, sugar, egg and pumpkin in a large mixing bowl (Kitchen Aid)

• Add flour gradually.

• Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves. 

• Mix until combined.

Peanut Butter Fudge

I remember fudge being around all the time at family parties, but I never ate it. I'm not a big fan of fudge because I like my chocolate to have stuff it in, like nuts or caramel. Plus I find the texture weird. The last day of my Literature for Young Adults class was a party! Woo Hoo! The week before I asked some of my classmates if they wanted me to make peanut butter fudge, and it was a resounding YES! Can't argue with enthusiasm. Of course I had used more powdered sugar than I had anticipated a few days prior when I was making 4 dozen red velvet cupcakes for the White Christmas party so I was 2 ounces short of powdered sugar. Running on EMPTY, I was being lazy and didn't go to the store for more so decided to just chance it. They tasted wonderful and I now LOVE peanut butter fudge. A few more ounces of powdered sugar would have made it firmer, but class didn't mind that they were a bit soft. I'm not sure if I have shared this prior, but I love baking when it includes melting ingredients on the stove! This was so easy to make, I have faith that anyone can do it. I will make this again for sure.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter (recipe says margarine but I don't believe in using margarine in baking)

1 cup peanut butter

1 lb powdered sugar

1 Tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Melt butter, peanut butter, and vanilla in a saucepan. DO NOT BOIL. Put on med/low heat.
• Remove from heat when the mixture is smooth. 
• Add powdered sugar.
• Mix until the mixture is smooth again. Don't want any lumps!
• Pour into a buttered or greased pan (fudge is sticky and if you want to get it out, then I suggest using some form of lubrication.) I used a 9x9 glass pan.
• Let it set to cool, then cut. I put it in the fridge for faster cooling. 

Minestrone Soup

Wow I feel like I haven't blogged in a long time. Sorry about that! My life got a little crazy. Between school and work, I hopped on a plane to Japan! I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things here. I have been cooking though, it's just hard to get the time to write up the blogs. Enough of my apologies, let's talk food.

I've loved Gram's Minestrone soup since I was little. One of things I will never forget about my great-grandma (Gram) is that she always had soup on the stove. Always. I hope you make this dish. It's easy and fantastic.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 small garlic, minced
1 green pepper (1/2 cup)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup cubed carrots
1 cup green beans
1/2 cup zucchini
1 cup cubed potatoes
1/2 cup macaroni shells
1 cup dry beans (cook first) (or can red kidney beans)
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or canned tomatoes
3 quarts boiling water
4 cubes bouillon cubes (4 big tbs bullion)
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 small bay leaf
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp black pepper
salt to taste

Directions:

• In large pot, add butter & melt on med to high heat.
• Add onion, garlic, green pepper, and tomatoes. Saute for several minutes. 
• Add celery, green beans, carrots, zucchini, beans, boiling water, bullion cubes, marjoram, black pepper,  parsley, bay leaf, salt, oregano. 
• Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes. 
• Add cubed potatoes and macaroni shells. Cook 30 minutes longer. 

Apricot Jam Bars

This dish was made to bring to my last class of summer school a week ago. Our teacher made an announcement that she wouldn't be opposed to treats being brought in for the last day. Out of the entire class, I brought the jam bars & a lady brought in Krispy Kreme donuts! Sugar... Sugar... Sugar!


I ended up watching 5 yr old Dakota for a few hours when I was to be making this. I knew that it would be more fun if we also made something that she would like and could eat right away! Plus I couldn't go to class with a piece missing out the pan. ;0)  I asked Dakota what she wanted to make, anything at all and we'll make it. Her response, "Cupcakes! Chocolate Cupcakes!" Aww girl after my own heart. I love cupcakes too. We ended up making both cupcakes & apricot jam bars. She tasted every ingredient, and found that Cocoa Powder is not very good to eat by itself! hahaha. When we were constructing the bars, she said, "Everyone is just going to love this. Make sure you tell everyone that I helped." Yes Dakota, you helped a lot. She even tried using the sifter!! Here's a pic of Dakota's sprinkle extravaganza!

Very easy & yummy dish! Enjoy!


(Notes from recipe book: Dolores (Ma - my grandma) & Loretta (Gram - my great grandma) baked these!)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup butter
1 cup apricot jam (I used the entire jar of jam!)

Procedure:

• Mix flour, baking soda, sugar and oats in a bowl.

• Cut in butter until crumbly. Here's a video on how to cut in butter.

• Pat 2/3 of mixture in a 9 x 13 pan. 

• Spread jam evenly over top.

• Cover with remaining crumb mixture.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

• Cool.

• Cut into bars.

Pretzel Jello Salad

I made this dish for my Saturday Shindig party. For those not in the know, for about 6 years now my cousin Kristy and I have throwing themed parties twice a year for my mom's side of the family. It makes me happy that I now have something for my dad's side... this blog! The party's theme: Egyptian! Here's a few pics for ya!

This was a great dish to bring to the party. It was summery and light. It was so good that I'm feeling pressure from Angela to put this blog up before this weekend because she is going to make it! Angela cooking... look out! This is super easy to make so no worries. I was a bit nervous making this because for some reason instant jello & puddings don't ever work out for me. I make make complicated dishes and baked goods... but jello is my enemy. All worked out in the end though! Make this easy dish. You will need a few hours though. 


(Notes in book from Dolores (my Grandma, aka Ma) : Also used raspberry Jello & raspberries.)


Ingredients:


1 1/2 cup crushed pretzels (use blender)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
9 oz cool whip
1/2 cup sugar
2   -  3 oz Strawberry Jello (I only used one, I misread this when I made it. haha! Oops!)
2 cups boiling water
2 - 10oz frozen Strawberries (Ok, this is ridiculous. As I write this I am realizing errors. I used 1 pkg. Ugh.)


Procedure:

• Melt butter.
• Add melted butter to crushed pretzels & 1/2 sugar. Mix together. 
• Pat into 9x13 pan evenly.
• Bake at 350 degrees & then cool.

• Mix together cool whip, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup sugar. 
• Spread over cooled pretzel crust. 
• Cool  1 1/2 hours in refrigerator. 

• 1 1/2 hrs later, Mix Jello & boiling water very well. 
• Add undrained strawberries and spread over all. 
• Refrigerate to set. 
• Cut into squares for serving. 

Cinnamon Rolls & Quick Confectioner's Icing

Mmmmm Cinnamon Rolls. Enough said? 
Yummy Delicious Brilliant Lovely Sugary Goodness. Make it. 


Ingredients:


Prepared Basic Sweet Yeast Dough (see prior blog)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Quick Confectioner's Icing
2 Tbs hot milk
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla

• Mix together hot milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Procedure:

• Roll dough to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
• Spread with melted butter.
• Mix cinnamon & sugar, sprinkle on dough.
• Roll up like jelly roll... roll one side of the rectangle to the other.
• Cut into 12 slices.
• Place slices close together in a greased 9 inch pie pan. 
• Let rise until doubled. 
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. 
• Make Confectioner's Icing & pour over cinnamon rolls. Yum. 

Picture doesn't have icing on it. I forgot to take the picture. Oops. 

Basic Sweet Yeast Dough & Tomato Gazpacho

This dish was inspired by Billy's garden. An awesome bonus for driving out to Naperville last night was getting all this Veg:

I found a tomato gazpacho recipe online that I was excited to try using all of the wonderful tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden. To compliment this dish, I wanted to make homemade bread to go along with it. The Basic Sweet Yeast Dough recipe makes a two loaves of bread so my plan for the remaining dough... Spoiler Alert! Next blog is Cinnamon Rolls!

Our reaction to the gazpacho: it will now be a stable in our meals. It was easy and delicious. You just need 2 or more hours for it to sit in the fridge for all the flavors to marry. 


What can I say about the bread? Now, I'm not a bread fan typically. This bread was A-MAZING. Mike said it was a "Fantastic dinner". We split a second piece of bread! Now I feel like I may explode, but it was worth it. What's funny is that with some of these dishes I don't know what their going to taste like but I end up being thrown into my childhood every time. The sweet bread is the best. It's the only dough for me! Enjoy!

Recipe for the dough:


Ingredients:


2 pkgs dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour
2 cups milk scalded & cooled (Don't know what scalding means? Me either... explanation.)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour (about... I used 6 cups.)


Directions:

• Dissolve yeast in water.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp sugar on top. 
• Beat 2 cups of flour into milk until smooth.
• Add yeast mixture.
• Let stand for about an hour, until light and bubbly. 
• After an hour, cream butter & sugar together with electric mixer. 
• Add unbeaten eggs and salt. Blend well.
• Combine that mixture into the yeast mixture. 
• Work in more flour, enough to make soft dough. 
• Knead until smooth and elastic on a very lightly floured pastry cloth. 
• Place dough in a greased bowl; cover & let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. 
• Re-shape the dough and let rise again until it has doubled in size. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

Knowing when bread is very tricky and people have their methods of knowing but if you're unsure (like me), I looked it up. This blog states that once the bread reaches 200 degrees, it's done. Use a kitchen thermometer.

Recipe for the Tomato Gazpacho


Ingredients:


5 Large Roma tomatoes, diced
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 stalk celery, diced
1 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and diced
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow red pepper, diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (46 oz) can tomato juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 pinch dried tarragon
freshly ground pepper to taste
dash of sriracha


Directions:

• In a large glass bowl, mix the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, celery, cucumber, green onions, sweet onion, parsley, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, lemon juice, and garlic. Pour in the tomato juice. Season with curry powder, tarragon, pepper, and sriracha.
• Chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Shrimp Creole

This dish is my Aunt Karen's. Hello Aunt Karen! Both Mike and I enjoyed this dish. One of our favorite restaurants right now is Maple Tree, which is a Cajun restaurant that serves craft beer. Best of both worlds! So this dish really intrigued me and was very good. Ready for my substitutions? Of course you are. No matter how much I try, I just don't like shrimp. Cooked or not. Something about it just closes up my throat. My substitution? Chopped up pork chops. I also added a little Old Bay seasoning. Next time I make it, I'll make it hot and let it cook a little longer than 30 minutes. It didn't thicken enough and I was in a hurry. Enjoy!


Ingredients:

1            med onion, minced
2 Tbs     butter
1/2 cup  green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup  celery, diced
1            bay leaf
1 tsp      parsley
1 tsp      salt
1/8 tsp   cayenne red pepper
2 cups   water
1           6oz can tomato paste
2 cups   shrimp, cooked & cleaned (about 1 1/2 lbs) or 2 pork chops, cut into chunks

Directions:

• In a saucepan, cook & stir onion in butter.

• Stir in remaining ingredients, except shrimp. If making with pork, add the pork now.

• Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. (Cook longer if still thin)

• Stir in shrimp, heat through. 

• Serve over rice.

Stuffed Tomatoes

The stuffed tomatoes recipe jumped out at me this week while browsing the table of contents. I go to page 232 and begin reading the recipe to Mike to see if we wanted to put it on the menu for the week. I get to Anchovies and said, "I don't like Anchovies, I'll just leave them out." I finish reading it and Mike said, "You won't like that at all. You don't like black olives, anchovies, or capers." He was right! Once I read it, I knew I had to adjust this recipe. Mike tells me all the time that I'm the worst Italian ever! I'm picky with cheese, I don't like olives or seafood and I'm pretty indifferent about pasta. I decided to make a Mexican version of this dish and it was fantastic! Mike said I can make this one again. Stamp of approval! The awesome thing about stuffed tomatoes is that you can pretty much fill it with anything so go ahead and experiment!


Ingredients:


Original Recipe:


6                     large tomatoes
2 Tbs             olive oil
1/2 cup          bread crumbs
1 medium     onion, chopped
1 can             Anchovies, chopped
3 tsp              parsley
salt 
pepper
1/2 cup          pitted black olives, chopped
3 Tbs             capers


My Mexican inspired recipe:


4                   large tomatoes
9 oz              Chihuahua cheese, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup         green onions, chopped
2 Tbs            olive oil
1 tsp             salt
2 tsp             pepper 
2 tsp             chili powder
                     sriracha sauce (to taste, depends on how much heat you want. Can leave out.)


Procedure:


original procedure:

• Carve out each tomato. Set aside. 
• Reserve the insides and chop. 
• Add bread crumbs, onion, anchovies, parsley, capers & olives to tomato insides. 
• Salt & pepper to taste.
• Mix stuffing. 
• Oil the outside of the tomatoes with olive oil.
• Add stuffing into the carved tomatoes. 
• Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

my recipe procedure:

• Carve out each tomato. 
• Oil the outside of the tomatoes with olive oil.
• Add into the tomato cheese chunks, green onions, and spices.
• Bake @ 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, depending upon the time it takes for the cheese to melt. 

Guacamole Salad

This dish is not out of the recipe book, but I've made it every week for the past two months! I figured I would share because it is amazing. I know you will all love it as much as Mike and I do and this should become a family staple! I got this recipe off of Food Network's website and it's a Barefoot Contessa dish! Those that know me well, know I am not a Barefoot Contessa fan, but this dish won me over and I swear Mike can't get enough of it. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner for the week, he says guacamole salad or the Tortellini salad. Sometimes both! It's meant to be a side dish but if you're like us, you will want to just eat this for dinner! It's seriously that good.

Ingredients

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup small diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Directions

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you're ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

Hawaiian Salad

I made this side dish for Mike's Mom's 50th surprise birthday party in Michigan over 4th of July weekend. I chose this dish because it was easy and something that I would not normally make unless going to a large party. Let me tell you, the people came out of the woodwork for her party. In true Michigan fashion, they fed the entire town! Neighbors who were having their own parties all came over to eat. 


Mike and I wouldn't just eat this all the time, actually Mike didn't even taste it. When I was deciding on what to make, I think his exact words were, "I won't eat that." I was skeptical myself. The sour cream was throwing me off, I wasn't sure how it was going taste. I made it anyways and as soon as I tasted it I was thrown back to being a kid again. I remembered eating this as a child at family functions! For those of you who are not my family reading this, my grandma had 7 boys...we have a large family. A dish like this works great for large gatherings. I haven't had it in many years and totally forgot about it. I liked it still but it's not something you can eat a lot of. This is definitely a dish that you take to a block party and the kids will love because of the sweetness and the marshmallows. 


I forgot to take a picture so I took one off the internet! It's close to what mine looked like. 


Ingredients:

1 large can fruit cocktail (14oz)
1 pkg small marshmallows
1 cup sour cream

Directions:

• Drain fruit cocktail
• Add fruit cocktail, marshmallows and sour cream.
• Mix well.
• Chill for minimum 1 hour.

Roasted Vegetables

Mmmm roasted vegetables! Feel free to swap out the vegetables that I used for any other vegetable. I know there are some of you that are VERY picky about your veggies. No matter what vegetables you choose, stick with the same roasting process. The trick is to chop up the vegetables all about the same size, that way it will cook at roughly the same time. If you've never had roasted veggies of any kind, you've been living under a rock.  Make this recipe and join the rest of the world! (You will know when they are done when you can put a fork through the potato) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 small      Butternut Squash, cubed
1              Red Bell Pepper, diced
1              Red Onion, quartered
1 Tbs       Thyme
2 Tbs       Rosemary
1/4 cup    Olive Oil
2 Tbs       Balsamic Vinegar
3              Potatoes, cubed (I like the little red potatoes)
1              Sweet Potato, peeled & cubed
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

• Chop, Chop, Chop all the vegetables.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees
• In a large bowl, combine the squash, red pepper, sweet potato, and regular potato.
• Separate the red onion quarters into pieces and add them to the mixture.
• In a small bowl, stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper. 
• Toss with veggies until they are coated. 
• Spread evenly on a large roasting pan.
• Roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until veggies are cooked through and browned. 

Uncooked veggies:

Cooked veggies:

Peanut Blossoms

I should be doing homework but instead I'm writing this blog! I'm a bit overdo on this one, I made these cookies a few weeks ago for Mike's work party. These cookies are another staple at our family parties! At our family reunion last week Aunt Charlotte and I had a conversation about whether to put the cookies back in the oven after putting Hershey kiss on top. When I made them, I put them back in the oven. Aunt Charlotte says that she doesn't. Both ways work! Decide for yourself on how you want to make these! There are two recipes in the book so I will note the variations from the second recipe. Of course I forgot to take picture so I took one off the internet instead. Sorry, but Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups   flour
1 tsp           baking soda
1/2 cup       butter
1/2 tsp        salt
1/2  cup      peanut butter
1/2 cup       sugar
1/2 cup       brown sugar
1                egg
1 tsp          vanilla
48             Hershey kisses

Additional ingredients in 2nd recipe:
2 Tbs milk
2 tsp vanilla instead of 1



Procedure:

• Cream butter and peanut butter in a mixing bowl. 
• Add sugar, brown sugar, unbeaten egg, and vanilla. Beat well.
• Sift together in another bowl: flour, baking soda and salt.
• Blend the dry mixture into the cream mixture gradually. Mix well. 
• Shape dough into balls using a round tsp full for each ball.
• Roll balls into sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes
• Remove from oven and place a candy kiss on top of each cookie. 
• Press down firmly so that the cookies crack around the edge.
• Bake for 2 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. 

German Potato Salad

Guest Blog by Michele White .... my Mommason!

Ok, so I have been cooking out of the recipe book 1-2 times a week (Ron won’t agree with me cooking 1-2 times a week-but I sometimes do!).  Unfortunately, I forget to take pictures of the meals BEFORE we eat it so I don’t have many to share.  But here is one that I made that was fantastic.  This recipe was pretty simple to make, and it looks like you went through a whole lot of trouble to cook it.   Tip:  Cook your bacon the day before if you are making this dish for guests at you house.  That way the bacon won’t smell up the house. Good dish to take as a side dish to a party too.  Once you eat this you will never want to buy it in a can again!!!  Who does that?  Oh- I did. ^_^  (Mindy... I make can German potato salad too!! Like Mother like Daughter!)

Directions:

1lb bacon                                             ½ cup sugar

5lbs red potatoes                                  ½ cup vinegar

6 green onions chopped                        1 cup water

1 tbs flour

Procedure:

• Boil potatoes, salt and pepper.   

• Fry bacon until crispy, remove from grease.   

• Add flour to bacon grease and stir until smooth.   

• While stirring; add sugar, vinegar and water.   

• When potatoes are cooled, peel and slice thinly.   

• Pour sauce over sliced potatoes and chopped green onions.   

• Add crumbled bacon.

Apricot Horns

Apricot Horns are my favorite cookie that my Aunt Charlotte makes! It's always requested in the family and oh so yummy. Making these are not for the faint of heart. It's kinda complicated and my horns did not come out looking like horns. Although, the more I did the better they looked. The first tray looked like big globs! I didn't care because they were still delicious. I think I need to hang out with Aunt Charlotte one day to learn the trick on getting the dough to form into a horn. It may be that I don't have the patience for it yet. I ended up making a huge mess and I advise setting up an assembly line for day two. And have a helper! Thanks Mike! I was a little stressed trying to make these, especially since they were going with Mike to a work party. I want perfection and it usually doesn't happen on the first try with complicated cookies.


I was super happy to hear that everyone at Mike's work loved the cookies! Apparently they love everything I make. Those of you at Katten who follow this blog, thanks for the words of encouragement. I love making making treats for you guys!


At Christmas, Aunt Charlotte gave a cookie scooper to all my Aunts & Uncles. She bought me one a few weeks ago! Thank you Aunt Charlotte, your thank you card is in the mail. That cookie scooper made all the difference in the world. I've tried others before that didn't work well. This one is fantastic!! It made making the dough into balls super quick.  I am so lucky and happy to have it. I don't know who makes it because I was so excited that I tore the tag off and there's no identifying marks on it. So, here's a picture if you want to find it and maybe Aunt Charlotte will share her secret with us as to where she buys them!

 

Ingredients:

If you cut the recipe in 1/2, you get about 50 horns!

1 lb butter  (1/2 is 4 sticks of butter)
1 lb cream cheese (1/2 is one package)
4 cups sifted flour (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (I used Pecan)
1 cup powdered sugar (1/2 cup)
2 egg whites slightly beaten
1 can Apricot filling (found in baking aisle)

Directions:

Day One:

• Mix butter, cream cheese and flour with your hands.

• Roll dough into one inch balls. 

• Refrigerate until firm. Not necessary for 24 hours, but it was easier for me to make it a 2 day process.

Day Two (or hours later):

• Work with 10 balls at a time; dough must remain firm.

Set up an assembly line:

• Roll each ball into a three inch round.

• Spread filling on dough. LESS is MORE! It will ooze out all of the place & create a huge mess otherwise. 

• Roll dough into the shape of a horn. 

• Dip the horn into the beaten egg whites.

• Dip the horn into the mixture of chopped nuts and powdered sugar. 

• Place horns on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (easier clean up!)

• Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. 

• Remove horns from pan & cook on a rack. 

• Dust with powdered sugar.

Pizza - Rye Bread

It seems that I can't follow directions, story of my life it seems! I really wanted to make this dish, but for only Mike & I it seemed a little overkill to use the tiny rye bread squares, like the recipe states. I wasn't making this as an appetizer, which is how it is written, I wanted it to be our dinner. One of Mike's favorite food is pizza, which is not one of my favorites! Too much cheese for me. Those of you that know me pretty well know that I am VERY weird when it comes to cheese. If it's not melted, I won't eat it and I only like certain cheeses. I'm the weird one that picks off cheese from sandwiches, etc. But, making these mini pizza's were great because I loaded up the cheese on his and only a little for me. What a happy medium. Also, we love rye bread so these pizza's were different and tasty. You should make it, very easy to do!


Ingredients:

2-3 loaves snack rye break
2 sticks butter melted
1 can pizza sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 lb ground beef
3 packages shredded mozzarella
1 Tbs oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Ingredients I used:

1 loaf sandwich rye bread
1 jar of pizza sauce
a couple sprays of butter on each piece
1 cup shredded mozzarella
dried basil
minced garlic

Directions:

• Mix pizza sauce and tomato paste together and add garlic and oregano.
• Brush bread with butter.
• Cover with sauce
• Press a thin layer of meat (uncooked) on top of sauce (I'm unsure of this. Does it really cook all the way through? I would cook the meat, but that's just me. If this really works I would like to know so message me!)
• Cover with cheese. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Note: They can be made ahead of time and frozen.


Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lay pieces of rye bread on a cookie sheet.
• Spray each piece with a few sprays of butter OR spread margarine butter on the bread. 
• Spoon pizza sauce on the rye bread.
• Top with cheese.
• Sprinkle basil on top.
• Bake for 15 minutes.

I also found that I LOVE Romano cheese so I threw a little on top when they were done.

Tortellini Salad

I love this salad! You can make it in advance, like the day before and it's even better that way. The dressing has time to marinate together with the rest of the ingredients that way. This dish is very simple, pretty much just chopping everything and cooking the pasta. Easy! And oh so delicious. You can pair it with meat as a side salad or do what Mike and I did... eat it all by itself as a main dish! In the picture, I forgot to include the olives. I don't like olives so I was just going to put it in Mike's and take a picture of his plate, but I forgot it all together. Oh well. Make this dish! You will not be disappointed. Enjoy!!!


Ingredients:

1              green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup    black olives, sliced
1 cup       cheese, cubed - any hard cheese of choice. I chose mozzarella.
1/2 cup    salami or pepperoni chips (I bought salami lunch meat & chopped it up)
3-4          green onions, chopped. Include tops
1/2 cup    chopped celery
1/4 cup    fresh parsley
1 pkg       tortellini - cooked

Dressing:

3 Tbs     red wine vinegar
1 tsp      basil
1 tsp      Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp   salt
1/4 tsp   pepper
1/2        olive oil
1 tsp     oregano
few crushed red pepper flakes

• Mix in small bowl with a whisk.

Directions:

• Cook tortellini according to package instructions.
• Mix all ingredients together. 
• Pour dressing over & mix together.

Gram Serafino's Sweet & Sour Sauerkraut

Mmmmm. Sauerkraut. It just reminds me so much of family because it has been a staple dish by both my Mom's side and my Dad's side. I hate to say it, but I have never made sauerkraut from either side's recipes. I made Gram's for this blog but also decided to list my other grandma, Nancy Grabiniski's recipe as well. Nancy still makes the sauerkraut come holidays and it is delicious. Yes, I called her Nancy instead of Grandma. She's not reading this so I won't tell if you won't! I'm only joking of course. Lighten up a bit, jeez.

When I made this, I doubled the recipe... for just Mike & I. When I was plating the sauerkraut, Mike was standing next to me and says, "Load up my plate. I love Sauerkraut." My response was, "And that is why I doubled the recipe." Now, he didn't take too kindly to that statement and proceed to ask me if he was a fatty!!! hahaha I totally dug myself into a hole on that one. You live and learn!

Side note, I thought that I had caraway seeds and I ended up not having them so I just went without. It was still very good and a recipe I will continue to make. Enjoy!

Gram Serafino's recipe:

Ingredients:

1 can of sauerkraut
2 tsp flour
1-2 tsp sugar
1 tsp butter
1 chopped onion
1 tsp caraway seed

Procedure:

• Open & drain a can of sauerkraut but save the liquid.  
• Put sauerkraut in a saucepan with half the liquid. Heat over med/high heat. 
• Add caraway seed.
• Chop onion.
• Heat a frying pan on med/high heat with the butter. 
• Saute the onions until they become clear.
• Add sugar, flour, and 1/2 the liquid from the can of saurkraut to make a paste. 
• Add the paste to the sauerkraut, stir very well and cook until thickened. (Simmer... means on low heat)
• Keep watch so it doesn't stick and if it needs a little more liquid, add a little bit of water.  

Nancy Grabinski's recipe: 

(The recipe doesn't have proper measurements! Sigh.)

Ingredients:

1 can of sauerkraut

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp butter

1 chopped onion

1 small green apple

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp caraway seed

1 tsp white sugar

Procedure:

• Boil sauerkraut for 1/2 hour with the juice that it came with. 
• Add salt (doesn't say but I'll assume 1 tsp)
• Add brown sugar to taste (doesn't say but I'll assume 1 tbsp)

• Chop apple finely, almost like a mince. Chop onion.
• Saute apple & onion in a frying pan with a tsp of butter. 
• Add pinch of caraway seed (doesn't say but I'll assume 1 tsp)
• Add 1/4 cup of water to the frying pan (This step is left out of the recipe but I think it belongs)
• To thicken add one tablespoon of flour with one tablespoon sugar. 
• Add to sauerkraut mixture and stir until incorporated. 
• If still too sour, add a little more white sugar.

Easter Egg Cookies

Unsure why your cookies never quite turn out right? Always use butter!! Never margarine. I never never bake without butter. So don't do it! Most recipes don't specify unsalted or salted, and usually just says butter or margarine. In those cases, I use unsalted butter. Reason being is that you can then control how much salt goes into the dessert.

This cookie is a mix between an oatmeal raisin cookie (w/out the raisins) and a sugar cookie. It has a denseness of a shortbread cookie. Very good. Have fun decorating... please do a better job than I did. I was so tired after making sauce & manicotti that I didn't have any motivation to decorate mine. I even have pretty Easter sprinkles and everything. Sorry! I promise my next dessert will be pretty.


Ingredients:

1 cup butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
1 egg
3 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quaker oats

Directions:

• Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Butter needs to be at room temperature in order for it to get creamy without any clumps. 
• Add extract and egg. Beat together until incorporated. 
• Sift together flour and salt.
• Throughly mix with butter mixture.
• Stir in oats.
• Shape dough into eggs. Recipe says it will make 36 eggs, but I got 24 out of mine (bigger eggs)
• Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 325 degrees.
• Cool.
• Decorate with confectioner's sugar frosting, sprinkles, whatever!

Manicotti

I have no words to describe this goodness!!! When I was putting together my shopping list and read over the ingredients, I was very surprised. Two of the ingredients are minced ham and minced salami. I had no idea those ingredients were in there! What do they mean by this anyways? I wasn't sure so I figured I would ask Mom and Dad before buying those items. Basically all it means is to by lunch meat salami and diced cubed ham in the package and chop them up (mince) into really small pieces.  This was the first time I've made Manicotti and it wasn't as complicated as I had anticipated... once the sauce was made that is! The hardest part is getting the ricotta mixture into the Manicotti shell. I was using a small spoon and scooping it into the shell. If anyone has a better way of doing this, I would appreciate a tip! Well, my final verdict on this one is: Beautiful! (Taking some British words from Jamie Oliver.)

Ingredients:

2 packages Manicotti shells
1 lb ricotta cheese (2 cups)
1/4 lb mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Romona cheese
1/3 cup minced ham
1/4 cup minced salami
2 eggs beaten
1 Tbs parsley
1 tsp basil
1 quart red spaghetti sauce



Directions:

• Boil water for shells. Cook shells. You want it to cook about 3/4 of the way. You want the shell a little firm in order to hold up to inserting the Ricotta mixture. 

• Mix all ingredients together until creamy. 
• Fill the shells and put in a 9 x 13 pan lined with foil. (You will thank me later!)
• Cover with Gram's sauce. (See prior blog.)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of baking, add some more mozzarella cheese & melt. 

Red Sauce

This is Gram Serafino's sauce. I love this sauce! Every time I make it I am reminded of Gram, Ma and my Dad. I'm sure everyone has their own variation on this sauce. My slight variation is my Dad's. We add more sugar to give it a sweeter taste. Earlier this week my Dad had asked me if I have added any more blogs since the last time he looked at it and I told him no (I'm behind!), but that I was making sauce and Manicotti. His first question was, "How are you making the sauce?" Like a good daughter, I told him that I make my sauce the same way he does so he didn't have to worry! We all know what this takes like.... Heaven.... so I'm going to just break it down. Beware this is a 2-day sauce so make sure you have time!

Ingredients:

1 - 2 lb ground beef
2 tsp sweet basil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 Tbs parsley
1 tsp salt
1 large bay leaf
1 tsp pepper
1 - 29oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 - 18oz can tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1 gallon water (16 cups)
3 Tbs sugar (I use one cup)

Directions - Day 1:

• Get a LARGE pot. A sauce pan will not work. 
• In the large pot, put the tomato paste, tomato sauce and water on high heat. Stir until paste is completely dissolved. 
• Add bay leaf and boil. 

• In another pan, heat about 2 Tbs olive oil on med/high. Once heated, cook the green peppers and onion until onions are translucent. 
• Add the ground beef and brown.
• When brown, add to the sauce mixture. 

• When sauce is boiling hard, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 2 - 3 hours.
• At the 1 1/2 hour mark, add the sugar and make sure you stir a lot so that it dissolves and doesn't stick to the bottom. 
• SUGAR WILL MAKE THE POT BURN IF YOU DON'T STIR FREQUENTLY!!!

Directions - Day 2:

• Add 1/2 tsp basil, parsley, and onion powder. Stir. 
• Heat to a boil. 
• Turn heat down to low and simmer for about 2 hours or so. 

Done! Use this sauce with anything!