Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad

from Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
• 3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

For the dressing:

• 5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 teaspoon capers, drained
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

Salted Caramel Buttercream - December at Korrie's

This is the frosting on the cupcakes I made for the gift exchange--it's divine! It comes from this website: How to Eat a Cupcake. She also has a recipe for cupcakes, which I tried...twice! They fell miserably both times (let's just say I wasted a LOT of butter that day), so I ended up using a French Vanilla cake mix.

CARAMEL SWIRL BUTTERCREAM
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS (enough for about 12 cupcakes)

Caramel Drizzle
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Pinch salt

Buttercream
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature

For the frosting:
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided saucepan, cook the sugar over medium-high heat until it begins to melt around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stirring with a clean wooden spoon, continue to cook until the sugar is melted and has turned golden amber, about 3 minutes longer.

Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream (it will bubble and spatter), stirring constantly until completely smooth. Stir in the salt. Pour the caramel into a small heatproof bowl and let cool completely before using. (The caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160°F on an instant-read thermometer), about 2 minutes (It always takes about 5 minutes for me). Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the caramel drizzle (I only added about 1/2 cup) and beat until combined (or almost combined for a swirling effect), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Mint Brownies

First, Bake a 9x13 pan of brownies. Cool completely.

FROSTING:

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

2 T. of milk

1 tsp. peppermint extract

1 cube softened butter

Food coloring (pink or green)

Blend together until smooth. Frost cooled brownies.

TOPPING:

6 T. butter

1 c. chocolate chips

Melt together, pour over frosting. Tip pan around until it is smooth. Put in fridge until chocolate sets up.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Minced chives

Directions

• In a large saucepan, saute the mushrooms and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour and curry powder until blended. Gradually add the broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the pumpkin, milk, honey, salt, pepper and nutmeg; heat through. Garnish with chives if desired. Yield: 7 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 cup) equals 157 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 26 mg cholesterol, 686 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 7 g protein.

Curried Pumpkin Soup published in Taste of Home October/November 2000, p25

Fresh Peach Pie

This is for Marlena and I did make the pie for August even though I couldn't make it.  Enjoy!

Fresh Peach Pie

1 pie shell (crumbs or regular)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 pound (40 large) marshmallows
1 cup whipping cream
2-3 peaches, peeled and sliced


Heat juice and marshmallows together, stirring until marshmallows are melted.  Cool until slightly jelled,  Whip the cream and fold into marshmallow mixture.  Fold in sliced peaches and pour into pie shell.  Cool until set.

Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake- Adapted from Southern Living and Potsandpins.com

First of all, you all need to go to my friend's sisters blog, it is hilarious and has such fun, yummy ideas!  It's http://www.potsandpins.com Now onto the fun and yummy part!  I adapted by doing equal parts fuji and granny smith.  If I wasn't so cheap I would have tried honeycrisp as they are my absolute favorite apples.  However if I'm going to pay for those puppies I'm just eating them plain!

Cream Cheese Filling

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Apple Cake Batter

1 cup finely chopped pecans
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (I used half Granny Smiths and Fuji's, recipe called for Gala's), about 1 1/2 lbs.

Praline Frosting

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup pecan halves for garnishing cake, optional

Prepare filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended. Set aside.
Prepare cake batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Remove and set aside to cool. In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, soda, nutmeg and allspice, whisk together lightly. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs, add to flour mixture. Add canola oil, applesauce and vanilla extract. Stir in apples and pecans. Batter will be very thick.
Spoon two-thirds of apple mixture into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over apple mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edges of pan. Swirl filling through apple mixture using a paring knife. Spoon remaining apple mixture over Cream Cheese Filling.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes, remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely, about 2 hours.
Prepare Frosting: Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 3 tablespoons milk to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour immediately over cooled cake. (Do not let frosting sit or it will harden and you won't be able to frost the cake!) Garnish the frosting with pecan halves.  Serves 12

Caramel Crunch Sauce

1/4 C Butter
2T Flour
3/4 C light Corn Syrup
1 1/4 C firmly packed Brown Sugar
5 oz Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 C coarsely chopped toasted Pecans
4 crushed Heath Bars

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Stir in pecans and crushed candy. Serve sauce warm over ice cream.

Harry Potter Butterbeer

Vanilla Ice Cream
Caramel Crunch Sauce (see recipe)
Rum Extract to taste
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove
Apple Cider

Let container of vanilla ice cream soften slightly. Blend in cooled caramel crunch sauce (omit pecans and Heath bars for this drink), rum extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Refreeze for several hours. To serve, pour hot apple cider over a scoop or two.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1C oil
2C sugar
3tsp vanilla
2C grated zucchini
Nuts (optional)

Sift Together:
3C flour
1tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat eggs well until light and foamy. (This is the most important step.) Add oil, sugar, vanilla and zucchini. Mix lightly. Add remaining ingredients and nuts. Mix lightly. Pour into two sprayed medium sized loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Sausage, Bacon, Apple, and Cornbread Stuffing

1 (9x9 inch) pan cornbread, cut into small cubes
1 (14 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix
8 ounces pork sausage links, finely chopped
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1/2 pound bacon slices, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried sage leaves, or amount to taste
2 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth, or as needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 9x13 inch baking dish.
Place the cubed cornbread and bread stuffing mix into a large bowl. Set aside.
Place the chopped sausage links and ground sausage in a skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat until evenly browned. Drain, and place sausage into a bowl. Using the same skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until evenly browned. Drain bacon on paper towels. Drain excess bacon fat from the skillet. Stir the cooked sausage and bacon into the cornbread mixture.
Using the same skillet, cook the celery and onion over medium heat until transparent and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir into the cornbread mixture.
Stir the apples into the cornbread mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and sage. (I didn't have sage so used poultry seasoning to taste.  I also didn't think it needed salt and pepper, so omitted these ingredients.) Pour enough chicken broth over the cornbread mixture to moisten thoroughly, and toss to distribute evenly. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish. (I like moist stuffing so used 3 cans chicken broth for the amount of bread I had.)
Bake in preheated oven until top is toasted and the center is firm, about 45 minutes.

Brined Pork Chops with Apples

Brine:
4 cups apple cider
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 TBSP coarsely ground black pepper
2 TBSP dried rubbed sage
1 TBSP ground cinnamon
8-10 1 1/2 inch thick center-cut pork loin chops, trimmed of excess fat

Pork:
1 TBSP olive oil

1 onion- thinly sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 cup apple juice
2 TBSP raisins ( I used craisins)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 TBSP Dijon Mustard


Preparation-
For brine: Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir until sugar and dissolve. Add pork chops to brine. Top with plate to submerge pork. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

For pork: Drain brine from pork chops. Pat pork dry. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add pork and cook until brown but not cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer pork to plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to same skillet. Cover and cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add apples and saute until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth and cider, apple juice, raisins and ginger, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream and mustard. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add pork. Cover; cok 3 minutes. Turn pork over and cook until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150' F, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer to plates.

Simmer sauce until lightly thickened, about 4 minutes longer. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon over pork and serve.

Milky way apple salad

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
Mix together and let sit 5 minutes

Mix in 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
Add 1 small container of cool whip
Cut up 6 granny smith apples and add to mixture
Cut up about 6 milky way bars and mix in (you can use more or less)

Refridgerate for 1 hour and enjoy!

Carrot Apple Side Dish

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups diced carrots (about 6 medium)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup diced peeled apple
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

In a saucepan, cook carrots in water until crisp-tender; drain.
Add butter, brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in apple.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Combine cornstarch and cold water; stir into carrot mixture.
Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.
Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes or until glazed, stirring constantly.

Yield: 4 servings **I doubled the recipe for dinner group.**

Creamy Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:
Table Salt
1 lb. elbow macaroni (preferably with ridges)
1/2 red onion, minced
1 rib celery, minced
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream


Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and macaroni and cook until nearly tender, about 5 minutes. Noodles should not be completely done.  Drain in colander and rinse with cold water until cool, then drain briefly so that macaroni remains moist. Transfer to large bowl.


Stir in onion, celery, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne, and let sit until flavors are absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add mayonnaise and let sit until salad texture is no longer watery, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (The salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Check consistency and seasonings before serving.)

Grapefruit Drink

1 bottle of Squirt or Fresca Soda (Squirt is sweeter, Fresca is more tart)
1 white grape juice from concentrate
1 grapefruit

Mix together. Pour over ice. Slice Grapefruit and add for decoration.

Chocolate pretzels

1 pkg. pretzel twists
1 bag rolo candies
1 can mixed nuts

Arrange pretzels on cookie sheet.  Place 1 rolo on top of each pretzel. Bake in oven on 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and push down sofened chocolate with a nut.. you can use pecans, cashews, peanuts, almonds, etc.

let cool and enjoy.

Gooey Smores Bars - August 2011 at Angie's

Gooey Smores Bars

(Makes one cookie-sheet full. Half a recipe fits nicely in a 9x13 pan)

1 1/3 c. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4 2/3 c. graham cracker crumbs
2/3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 c. chocolate chips, more or less (can use some chocolate bar pieces)
14 oz. jar of marshmallow creme
2 c. mini marshmallows

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Gently mix in flour, salt, and graham cracker crumbs. Reserve about 2 c., and press remainder into the bottom of a greased cookie sheet (one that has sides).

Sprinkle chocolate over crust, pressing down slightly. Drop creme by tablespoonfuls over all. Sprinkle with marshmallows. Sprinkle with reserved crust mixture; press down lightly.

Bake 17-22 minutes at 350 F. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad

4 c. broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

4 c. cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces

1 can water chestnuts, sliced (I don't like these, so I left them out)

½ c. black olives, sliced

1 lb. bacon, sliced & fried crisp

½ c. grated parmesan cheese

1 c. cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

DRESSING:

2 c. mayo 1 c. sugar

Mix mayo and sugar together and refrigerate.

Right before you are ready to serve combine all ingredients and toss with dressing.