Minestrone Soup

Today was a cold day, and I was craving soup. However, I was low on groceries. I made minestrone with what was in the back of the refrigerator produce bin---and it turned out to be delicious.

pasta pot full of veggie broth
pinch Italian seasoning
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced fine
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
8 oz dry egg noodles
2 onions, diced fine
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
few grinds of fresh pepper
pinch of salt

Before I get to the recipe, I have to talk about one of my most favorite things. Trader Joe's makes these little packets of concentrated vegetable broth. They come in a small green box. Inside are a dozen tubes of...vegetable syrup? Basically, that's what it is. Really concentrated, thick broth. You add 1 tube to 1 cup of water. They save sooooo much cabinet space, are very light to carry, and are perfect for backpacking meals. Also, they have amazing flavor and are low-sodium. Can you tell how much I love them?
So anyway, that intro is just to say--when I made this recipe, I used a pasta pot full of water with 4 or 5 packets of broth mixed in.

1. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add a small pinch of Italian seasoning ground between your fingers. As the broth is heating, dice the celery, then add it to the pot.

2. Dice the carrots, and sautee them in a tablespoon of olive oil. (Don't skimp on the olive oil, it's the only fat in the dish.) While the carrots cook, dice the onions and garlic.

3. When the carrots are "al dente", add them to the pot, and saute the onions and garlic in the pan. When the garlic and onions are translucent, add them to the pot along with the frozen spinach, and bring the pot to a boil.

4. Add the egg noodles and cook according to package directions. (Mine only took 4 minutes.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

P.S. This was so good that after we ate the whole pot for lunch, I turned around and made another batch before the stove cooled down. Now that is a good recipe.

Festive Candy Cane Kiss Centered Brownie Bites

Festive Candy Cane Kiss Centered Brownie Bites from this website
1 brownie mix 9×13 inch size
18 Candy Cane Hershey Kisses
1/2 Cup chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
3 original candy canes, crushed
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and scoop into a mini cheesecake pan or mini muffin tin pan that has been generously sprayed with cooking spray, about 3/4 way full. Press kisses into center of brownie batter, do not push all the way to bottom, some of the tip should stick out the top. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until brownies are cooked through. Let cool completely.
2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave, 30 second intervals until smooth and melted. Stir in cream until silky smooth. You can place back in microwave for 10 seconds to smooth more if needed. Dip tops of brownies into melted chocolate, then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Serve with a tall glass of milk. Enjoy!!

**Note** I ended up making way more than 18 using this recipe, thus way more (36) kisses; I would recommend having more Hershey kisses on hand than the 18 the recipe calls for.
**Note**Comments from from the original post said a lot of people had problems with the brownies sticking to the pan. I used Crisco cooking spray with flour and had zero problems. Even when I substituted caramel filled kisses for the candy cane ones.
**Note**I didn't have heavy cream, so I used 1% milk. Worked fine.

Pie Pastry

I just wanted to share my favorite pie crust recipe. It actually comes from the mother of my husband's high school girlfriend. =) She (the mom) has since gone professional with her baking... She's a Southern cook, through and through, and everything she makes is AMAZING.

Ingredients:

3 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 - 1/3 c. sugar
1 c. fat (no really, that's what she wrote)
her preferred mixture is 2/3 c. shortening + 5 T. butter
About 10 T. ice water, more or less

The process is pretty standard from here--with a pastry blender, combine flour, salt, sugar and fat. Then gradually add water until it reaches the right consistency. I'd tell you what that's like, but I don't always get it right.

Halloween Offerings

Hey all-I've got a few festive and fun Halloween dinners to offer. I'm not sure which I'm going to make tomorrow, but I thought I'd post this today in case anyone's trying to be a cool mom on Halloween. :)

*Oh, disclaimer-these are not intended to be healthy or gourmet in any way. They are intended to win you cool points with your kids, and not be too hard or time consuming to make. You'll be doing other things-painting faces, finding that elusive sword, repositioning the tiara... Ok. Here we go.

Mummy Dogs

• Some kind of good hot dog or sausage-brat, whatever you like that comes in a general hot dog shape
• 1 can of refrigerated bread sticks

You can see where we're heading with this-take the breadstick and wrap the lower 2/3 of the hot dog, then leave a space and wrap up the top for his little mummy turban. Bake according to the directions on the bread sticks. When they come out, dot a little ketchup or mustard for the eyes and you're set.





Trick or Treat Turnovers

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can cheddar cheese soup
• 2-3 Tbs ketchup
• Cheese
• 2 cans refrigerated biscuits

Brown beef with onion and drain. Add soup and ketchup-simmer. Meanwhile, take refrigerated biscuits and flatten. Take your knife and carve out simple pumpkin faces in half of the biscuits. Place some of the meat mixture on the non-carved half, then put cheese on top. Gently place a carved face over the top and pinch edges to seal. If you want to get really tricksy, you can nip out a bit of the biscuit and make a stem at the top. Bake according to the biscuit directions.

Happy Halloween!

Pecan Balls

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans
powdered sugar (for rolling)

Directions:
Cream butter. Add sugar, flour, and salt (it will be hard to mix). Add the remaining ingredients and press into a big ball. Chill 1 hour. Pinch off dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Bake at 400F for 10-14 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar. Roll again in sugar when cool.

Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:
1/2 c. margarine (I think real butter would work)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. mini marshmallows
2 quarts popcorn (popped)
2 c. mini marshmallows
mixed nuts (optional)

Directions:
Melt butter and sugar. Stir in 1 cup of mini marshmallows. Add popcorn, other marshmallows, and nuts. Shape into balls.

Microwave Caramel Corn

In the spirit of the holidays, I thought I'd add another treat to those already shared. This caramel corn is good anytime, but for some reason my family only made it around Christmas. It's pretty simple.

Ingredients:
5 c. popped corn (Note: 1/2 c. unpopped = 12 c. popped)
2 T. dark or light corn syrup
4 T. butter (or margarine--even lite margarine works)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 t. vanilla
1/4 t. baking soda

Place popped corn in a paper grocery bag. In a glass bowl or measuring cup, microwave syrup, butter, and brown sugar for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir. Microwave for 1 minute more. Stir. Add vanilla and baking soda. Stir. Mixture should get foamy. Pour syrup over popped corn in bag. Close bag and shake. Place bag in microwave for 1 minute*. Shake again and microwave 1 minute* more. Spread on cookie sheet (no need to grease) and allow to cool.

*When I made this before I got married these times worked great. Then I used our new microwave and the popcorn got overcooked. Now I do 30 seconds/30 seconds, give or take. You might want to just play with it, but if you have a new-ish microwave, it's probably more powerful than the ones used when this recipe was written (which was a LONG time ago). Generally, the longer you cook it the darker and crunchier the caramel corn will be. Shorter times result in lighter, chewier caramel corn. It depends on how you like it.

Another note: Like I said, this was written a long time ago. I recently read that it's not good to cook things (namely turkeys) in paper bags because of chemicals used in production. I've never had a problem with this recipe (so far all of my children have turned out fine), but if any of you know that there is a problem with microwaving food in paper bags, let me know. And let me know if you know of any alternatives because even if it's not unhealthy, paper bags in the microwave are bulky and hard to work with.

Sweet Potato Souffle

This is the recipe of a friend's grandmother who is from the deep south. It's yummy!

3 C sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 T sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 C milk
1/2 t vanilla

topping:

1 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C flour
3/4 stick butter
1 C chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Add to sweet potatoes the sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Pour potato mixture into a well-buttered baking dish.

Mix topping: melt butter; add sugar and flour. Blend well. Add pecans. The mixture should be paste-like. Spread the topping over the potatoes. Bake at 350 for 40 min. Let sit for about 10 min before serving.

So-Easy Sparkling Cider

I love Martinelli's sparkling cider at the holidays, but it's expensive, especially if you have a big group. Here is my own recipe for a large quantity of sparkling cider on the cheap.

Ingredients
club soda (wait til it goes on sale for $1 a bottle or less)
frozen apple juice concentrate
tap water

Basically, you just mix it like it says on the apple juice can, but replace 2/3 of the water with club soda. So if it calls for 3 cans of water, use 2 cans of club soda and one can of tap water.

Southern Made Cheese Ball

Every time I make this, I get rabid requests for the recipe. It's a holiday favorite of mine too. (Also, to give credit where credit is due, I got this recipe from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I use 2 bricks ofNeufchatel--see note)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Creole-style seasoning (shop for one that is not super high in sodium)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup diced cooked ham (I am a vegetarian, so I have always left this out)
1 tablespoon creamy salad dressing, e.g. Miracle Whip ™
Topping to roll cheeseball in--chopped pecans, grated cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix by hand, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, green onions, chili powder, Creole-style seasoning, Cheddar cheese, ham and creamy salad dressing. Form the mixture into one or more balls. Roll in topping if desired. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.

Note: Neufchatel cheese is often sold by the bricks of cream cheese. It tastes absolutely the same but is 1/3 the fat. And it doesn't have the weird texture of low-fat cream cheese, either. But I usually make this recipe with 2 bricks Neufchatel, and 1 brick regular cream cheese, just in case.

Cranberry Pecan Pie

Filling:
3 eggs
1 c. corn syrup
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. fresh cranberries
1 c. chopped pecans

Prepare pastry in a 9" pie plate. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix filling (1st five ingredients) well, add cranberries and pecans and stir until coated. Pour into shell. Bake 10 min. at 425 degrees, then 38 min. at 350 degrees. Cool and refrigerate.

Italian Cheesecake

This is the real thing- authentic too. Supposedly this guy's great-grandmother served this on holidays in Sicily. I got this off another recipe website and I have made it many times- it is the best homemade cheesecake I have ever had. It makes a lot so have some friends or family over to help you eat it.


4 pkg. of cream cheese, softened to room temp. (Don't use generic brand cream cheese, it does affect the texture.)
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 16 oz. container of sour cream
2 Tblsp. sugar
3 Tblsp. vanilla
1 box of graham cracker crumbs (I didn't know what this meant because a box is too much so I think I used a package?)
Melted butter (no substitutes)


First, butter the sides and bottom of a springform pan. Melt down some butter and add it to the graham cracker crumbs... just enough butter to where the crumbs stick together. Press the crumbs all along the bottom and sides of your springform pan.

Next, beat eggs, 1 c. of sugar, and cream cheese together for 15 minutes. The secret to this cheesecake is the timing- no more and no less than 15 minutes. (It is nice to have a mixer for this) When done, pour this mixture into the springform pan and put into a preheated oven of 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Once again, the timing is very important, no more and no less.

Now set your mixer on "whip" and mix together the 1 container of sour cream, the 2 Tblsp. of sugar and the 3 Tblsp. of vanilla. Mix for exactly 10 minutes. Gently pour (I spoon- I made the mistake of pouring and the topping went right into the center and didn't cook well!) this on top of the cheesecake, then bake in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes. Put in fridge overnight. (It won't completely solidify until completely cooled and it sits in the fridge for awhile.) I like to serve this with canned pie fillings or fresh/ frozen berries. Give it a try, it is amazing!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup Crisco OR 2 sticks of butter (must. use. butter). =)
3 cups white sugar
1 large can (29oz) pumpkin
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla

Dry Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
2 t. nutmeg
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. cloves
(instead of 2 t. of each of these spices, I just use 5 t. pumpkin pie spice...I like them a *tad* bland, hence leaving out the final teaspoon)
2-3 cups chocolate chips

1. Beat Crisco (or butter), Sugar and eggs until fluffy.
2. Add pumpkin and vanilla and blend until smooth.
3. Combine all dry ingredients and combine with the wet.
4. Drop by tablespoon-full onto cookie sheet (I fit 15/sheet)
5. Bake at 375 for 14 minutes.

Side note: I'm in the middle of making a batch right now, and so far, I've made 4 dozen cookies. I'd say I'm halfway through the batter....you might want to cut this recipe in half... =)

Bavarian Mints

Sheer joy in a pan. So rich and SO easy. Always a hit, no matter where you take them. Also, for variation, use almond or other extracts instead of the mint.

Ingredients:
1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 T butter
5-10 drops vanilla
3-8 drops of peppermint oil (this is potent stuff)

Directions:
Put chocolate and butter together in glass bowl and microwave on medium level (half power) until melted. I do this 1 minute at a time. When almost melted, stir until all chips are dissolved. Add sweetened condensed milk and flavorings. Put in a buttered 8" square pan. Cool in the fridge. Cut into little pieces.

Number Of Servings: One. I guess more if you're willing to share.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes? Seriously, it's SO EASY.

Seven Layer Jello Salad

Ok... I debated posting this because this recipe is next to sacred in our household... but for the sake of having it readily available, here you go. Rainbow Jello. A staple for holiday meals in our home.

Ingredients:
4 sm. boxes jello - cherry, orange, lemon, lime
2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 envelope Knox gelatin in 1/4 c. cold water
2 c. sour cream

Directions:
Dissolve lime jello in 1 c. hot water. Stir and add 1/2 c. cold water. Put in greased 13 x 9 glass pan. Refrigerate. Scald 2 c. milk, add 1 c. sugar. Remove from heat and dissolve Knox gelatin mixture. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat with beaters until smooth. When lime jello is set, add 1-1/2 c. sour cream mixture on top. Pour very gently to avoid disturbing jello. Make lemon jello next with 1 c. boiling water and 1/2 c. cold water. Set on cupboard until white mixture is set. Alternate white mixture and jello in the following order: lime, white, lemon, white, orange, white, cherry. Voila!

Number Of Servings: 6 - because we each eat about 4 squares each.

Preparation Time: All day