White ‘n’ Sweet Mashed Potatoes, from Taste of Home Thanksgiving Recipe Cards, Yields 6-8 Servings

This is not my recipe, but my children and I loved it.

1 ½ pounds russet potatoes (about 4 medium), peeled and cubed

1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium), peeled and cubed

1 cup milk, warmed

¼ cup butter, cubed

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Place russet potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain

2. In a large bowl, mash the potatoes with the milk, butter, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until potatoes reach desired consistency.

All Things Berry, FRESH MIXED BERRY PIE

This pie is a great way to celebrate Pi Day, (March 3.14)

Filling

4 ½ cups berries*

1 ¼ cups sugar (use ¾ cups baker’s sugar)

5 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon salt

Crust

Pastry for Two –Crust Pie or a refrigerated pie crust

Garnish

Powdered Sugar

In medium saucepan, combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens, about 15 minutes. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until mixture comes to room temperature.

Prepare pastry for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch pie pan. Heat oven to 425 degrees. With a fork, make little indentions in pie crust bottom and sides. Pour filling into pastry lined pan; dot with butter.

If desired, make lattice top, cut remaining pastry into ½ inch wide strips. Arrange strips in lattice design. Trim edges and flute. With any remaining pastry, form small pea-sized balls and place over the crossings in lattice pattern.

Bake at 425 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Garnish with Chocolate Leaves.

Yield: 6 – 8 servings

- Tip: frozen whole raspberries, thawed and well drained, can be substituted for raspberries

**You can also mix most berries into this pie. Be sure to use unsweetened berries. I have used raspberries, pureed strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.

FROSTY STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI PIE (non alcoholic) with LEMON SYRUP RECIPE

Serve with chocolate sauce or try the lemon syrup for a sweet & tart experience.


Frosty Strawberry Daiquiri Pie (non alcoholic)

Makes 2 pies

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 pint heavy whipping cream, whipped

10 ounces Bacardi strawberry daiquiri frozen concentrate (1 can) (do not add water)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 ½ - 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries (put through the food chopper)

2 short bread or graham cracker crusts (9 inches)

1.1. In a large bowl, combine the milk, lemon juice and the strawberry daiquiri concentrate. Mix well. Fold half of the whipped cream into strawberry daiquiri mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Refrigerate while you prep the chopped strawberries. Add the chopped strawberries and mix well. . Divide and spoon into crusts. Cover and Freeze over night.

2. Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving. Garnish with, sliced strawberries and chocolate syrup (if desired) 

Ingredients

sweetened condensed milk mixed with strawberry concentrate

CANDIED LEMON PEEL/LEMON SYRUP

Ingredients:

2 lemons

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

Sugar for coating

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Wash and dry two lemons.  With a vegetable peeler, peel lemons in a circular spiral motion.  Set aside.

Boil the water in a small saucepan.  Add lemon peel.  Boil for approximately 5 minutes or until the peel is tender.

Remove the peel from the water.  Add the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a very gentle boil.  While the sugar water is cooking, cut your peel into narrow strips.  

Once the sugar water is at a gentle boil, add the lemon peel.  Stir constantly.  DO NOT BOIL AT A RAPID BOIL OR IT WILL CARMELIZE AND BURN.  When the lemon peel is nearly translucent, remove from heat (approximately 15 – 20 minutes). 

Using a sieve, pour the liquid (lemon syrup) through the sieve (which catches the candied peel) and into a container for storage.

In a shallow bowl, add about 1/3 cup sugar.  Coat each peel in sugar and place separately in a storage container.  Let dry overnight.

Let the lemon syrup cool, then store in the refrigerator.

Simple Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Treat

1 unbaked tortilla (you can find them at Costco – the current brand is Tortilla Land)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons sugar

A spread of butter

Directions:

Mix cinnamon and sugar together to taste.

Fry tortilla as directed (I fry mine without any oil in a sauteuse pan on medium heat. For best results, preheat the pan before beginning to cook the tortilla.

After the tortilla is cooked on both sides, remove it from the pan and spread a light coat of butter all around the tortilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Shake off extra cinnamon and sugar mixture. Roll up and enjoy.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Crock-Pot Lasagna

This lasagna is easy to make and it layers remarkably well in the crockpot. The first time I made it I was surprised at how well it served up. This is a huge hit with the meat and cheese eaters in my family. The oven ready lasagna noodles made this a quick prep item. Surprisingly, the parsley preparation took longer than any of the other steps.

Ingredients

1 – 2 lbs. lean ground beef or ground turkey (depending on how meaty you want it)

29 oz can tomato sauce ( I used two 24 ounce jars or Prego 3 cheese sauce)

8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, uncooked – oven ready (you can find these at Target – Market Pantry brand)

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I use the low fat 2% milkfat shredded mozzarella from Target)

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

1 Large container ricotta (I use low fat)

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup parsley (finely minced)

Italian Seasoning (to taste) McCormick’s Perfect pinch…it has oregano, basil and other Italian herbs

1 pinch Fennel seed (optional)

Onion Herb Mrs. Dash (to taste)

Garlic Powder (to taste)

Directions

1. Spray the inside of the crock-pot with cooking spray or use a Reynold’s slow cooker plastic liner

2. Brown the ground beef

3. Stir the tomato sauce in with the ground beef. Add the seasonings to taste.

4. Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crock-pot

5. Arrange 1/3 of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (I break them up so they fit better)

6. Combine the cheeses in a bowl. Add the parsley. Spoon 1/3 of the cheeses over the noodles.

7. Repeat these layers twice

8. Top with remaining sauce

9. Cover and cook on low for 4hrs (You can put it on High for the first hour)

10. Let the lasagna stand in the crock-pot with the lid off for at least 10 minutes

* Variation *

1. Add 1/2 cup additional shredded mozzarella cheese to the top of lasagna 5 minutes before serving

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

I wish I would have had the presence of mind to take pictures of this, but I had been cooking and cleaning all day and I completely forgot. Since today is Valentine’s Eve and I hope to go out to dinner tomorrow, I attempted to make a nice Valentine’s Eve dinner for my family. My husband’s favorite part of the meal was the Alfredo Sauce. He dipped everything in the sauce, asparagus, rolls, the chicken - well all except the fruit salad.

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu – adapted from page 62 of Recipes From the Roof

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts

12 thin slices of ham

12 slices of Swiss cheese

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, beaten (I used olive oil)

2 cups bread crumbs (I food processed croutons to make bread crumbs)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Alfredo Sauce

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon diced onion (I eliminated the onion)

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

1 cup heavy cream (I used 1 ¾ cup heavy cream)

1 cup whole milk (I used ¼ cup 2% milk)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used about a cup)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper (I used double that – season to taste)

1 – 2 tablespoons cornstarch (if needed)

For the chicken cordon bleu: Pound each chicken breast with a meat mallet to about ¼ inch thick. Place 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of Swiss cheese on each flattened chicken breast and roll it up jelly roll style. Freeze rolled breasts until completely frozen.

Place the flour, eggs (olive oil), and bread crumbs into three separate shallow containers.

Dredge the frozen chicken breast in the flour; next dip it into the eggs (olive oil), and finally coat it in the bread crumbs. Make sure the entire chicken breast roll is covered evenly. Freeze again.

When ready to bake, brush melted butter on the frozen rolled chicken and bake at 350 degrees F. until the meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F, internally, about 30-45 minutes. It took about an hour to cook in my oven.

For the Alfredo Sauce: In a small saucepan, melt butter and (sauté onions – if desired) and garlic for 3 minutes. Add cream and milk. Stir with a whisk and slowly add parmesan cheese once the cream and milk begin to bubble. Keep stirring until cheese is melted. Add salt and white pepper. Makes 2 cups.

To serve, cut chicken into wheels for presentation and spoon Alfredo sauce on top.

Served with steamed asparagus, rice, fresh homemade rolls, and a fruit salad.

(We had this for Valentine’s Eve. The table was decked out in a vinyl heart tablecloth, with red heart shaped melamine salad plates, heart printed valentine melamine dinner plates, red heart silicone trivets, red silicone coasters and I covered my bread basket with valentine dish towels.)

NapSack - for keeping warm

I know this is not a baking recipe or a recipe at all, but I was just given one of these as a gift and I LOVE IT!

Napsack by Poler Camping Stuff

Product Description

The Napsack has zippers at the shoulders, so you can stick your arms out, and a cinch at the bottom so that you can open it up and stick your legs out. Hike it up to your waist, cinch it, and wear it like a puffy coat around the campfire, and then crawl right back into your tent without ever having to leave the warmth of your bag.

Perfect for summer trips, couch surfing, music festivals, jumping into after snowboarding, surfing or any other activity that bring your core temp down. It’s not too hot for inside and is awesome for wearing around the house in the winter.

The chest pocket fits a phone and has a pass through hole for your headphones to run internally, and it has pockets like a puffy jacket.

Fabrication: Synthetic. Soft Microfiber body, leather tabs to cinch the hood. Rated to approximately 50 degrees.

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