Thanksgiving Twofer Pie - TWD

It is not Tuesday, we were given an extension until today if we wanted to make this pie for Thanksgiving. I just didn't get around to post it until now. I actually made this pie on Thanksgiving Day. The recipe was chosen by Vibi. She is from Canada and has the recipe posted in English on her blog. Or you can find the recipe on page 321 in Dorie's cookbook.

I should have followed what the others were saying about this pie. It made way too much filling for a regular pie crust and mine spilled all over the place. I wish that I would have had a deep dish pie dish for this one. I used the pie crust recipe from the cookbook. I have never made a pie crust from scratch so that was exploring new territory for me. The pie crust recipe can be found here on CB's blog. I will be making it again and thought it was simple to put together and tasted fantastic. I made it a couple of days ahead of time, froze it and then partially baked it before putting the pumpkin/pecan filling in. Next time I bake a pie though, I will get myself some of those pie guards that others are talking about. The outer edges of the crust got very brown and crispy for my taste.

The finished pie was good. Just not great. I really liked the pumpkin and crust portion of the pie. Even the pecan pie filling tasted good. The pecans I could have done without. There were way too many. Not being a nut fan in the first place this was just too much for me. I decided to pick out the pecans and eat around them. The Hubster felt the same way. He ate the pecans first "to save the best for last". For the most part, we enjoyed the pie. But we will stick with plain pumpkin pie next year.



Coming on Tuesday.....Linzer Sables!

Mac & Squash - CEiMB

I might have been in the minority for this recipe, but it was NOT enjoyed in our house. I so wish that I had halved the recipe like I had been considering. However, I usually am a huge fan of Mac & Cheese. I made this over a week ago and it is still sitting in our fridge. The Hubster and I just don't want to look at it again. I just have to throw the rest away.

The recipe was chosen by Supplicious. It looked so good and sounded wonderful. Seriously, Macaroni and Four Cheeses....doesn't that sound delicious? It should really be called Mac & Squash. I couldn't taste any cheese. The only thing I could taste was squash. And lots of it. Before I put it away, I actually dumped about 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese into the pan. The Hubster ate some for lunch the next day and said that it did taste better. However, neither of us have touched it since then.

I doubt that I will be making this one again. If I do make homemade Mac & Cheese, it will not be with a "healthy" twist. It looks like others really enjoyed this recipe though. Check out the other Ellie Cooks for their reviews. You can find the recipe on page 168 in Ellie's cookbook.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy B-Day Cobbler

Back in June, this recipe was selected for TWD by Beth. When I told The Hubster that he could choose any completed TWD recipe for his "B-Day cake", this was the winner. Back in the day, we both loved a dessert that was served at Red Lobster. It was some kind of berry cobbler. They don't serve it there anymore, which is a shame. Red Lobster has always been one of our favorite places to frequent when we first started dating and still is, 10 plus years later. Back on track.....

You can find the recipe HERE or on page 416-417 in Dorie's cookbook.

The verdict: The Hubster really liked the cobbler which I served with vanilla ice cream. There were no complaints or criticisms. I thought that it was good too. Maybe a tad too watery though. It tasted very good the first day, however, the taste factor (for me anyway) went way down the next day. I thought that the berries almost tasted sour. Apparently this is a dessert that needs to be finished on the day that it is made. Again, no complaints from the B-Day boy!

Grammy's Bread & Butter Pickles

INGREDIENTS:
7 1/2 lbs. medium cucumbers
1 medium onion
1/2 cup salt + 1 tablespoon

Syrup:2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 3/4 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon whole black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground tumeric

DIRECTIONS:
1) Wash and slice cukes 1/8″ thick and cover with salt. Mix well and let stand for one hour. Use enamel or porcelain pan. Slice onions and sprinkle with salt and let stand one hour. Rinse and drain well.
2) Mix all syrup ingredients in kettle to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil. Add onions and cukes and stir often to mix well. Bring to a boil. Put in jars and seal.

NOTES: This was very exciting to make. It was fun listening to the jars pop as they sealed. Great recipe Grammy! I have to note that she originally received this recipe from Great Grandma Helen and Great Aunt Karen years ago. I think that they obtained it from a McCall’s Magazine.

I originally posted this recipe on 8/19/08 on my old blog.

buckeye bars

I made these cute little bars today. They were in my most recent Kraft Food & Family magazine. I am a huge fan of this magazine. The recipes are tasty and the ingredients are so simple to find. These are no bake bars. The vanilla wafers and peanut butter bottoms are a good combination. My 2 year old didn't think so though. He liked the chocolate on the top and left the bottom portion. Oh well. More for the rest of us.

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:2 hr 15 min
Makes:25 servings

What You Need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
22 NILLA Wafers, crushed
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 of 8-oz. tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Make It
LINE 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Beat butter and peanut butter with mixer until blended. Mix in wafer crumbs. Gradually add sugar, mixing well after each addition. Press onto bottom of pan.
MICROWAVE COOL WHIP and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 sec. or until chocolate is melted; stir until blended. Spread over peanut butter layer.
REFRIGERATE 2 hours. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan before cutting to serve.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Serving Suggestion
Serve in holiday-colored foil candy cups.

Make Ahead
Store in airtight container in freezer up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Size-Wise
Dessert can be a part of a balanced diet, but remember to keep tabs on portions.

Oven-Fried Chicken - CEiMB

I am one of those with an aversion to chicken bones. I would rather have a boneless skinless chicken breast. When I was prego with my kids, the sight of any raw chicken was completely disgusting to me. I literally couldn't even touch it. I have been getting better though.

The recipe this week was chosen by Lonely Sidecar. The recipe can be found on their blog or on page 213 in Ellie's cookbook. I have to say that it was a big hit in our house. I liked the kick that the cayenne pepper gave it, even though I used less than the recipe called for because I wanted my kids to eat it too. I used 4 boneless, skinless split chicken breasts and 4 bone-in chicken thighs for my husband.

For our chicken the only alteration I made was using multigrain saltine crackers and less cayenne pepper. I loved the combination of garlic powder, sesame seeds, Corn Flakes and the crackers. The chicken was dipped in a mixture of non-fat plain yogurt, egg whites, salt and Dijon mustard and then into the cracker mixture. It cooked for 45 minutes in the oven.

The result was very moist chicken with a crunchy coating and a subtle kick. My husband and older son liked it too! I will be making this one again. It was a great pick!!

And, I really should add that the new badges done by Holly and Leanne look so awesome. Holly also created a header for our CEiMB website. Thanks again girls!

Aborio Rice Pudding, White, Black (Or Both) - TWD

I enjoyed this recipe much better than the past two TWD recipes that we have had. Thank you Isabelle for choosing the recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog or on page 412-413 in Dorie's cookbook. I can say that I have ever had rice pudding before making this recipe. Tapioca, yes....but rice...I don't think so. YUMMY!!!

It was very good. I'm glad that I read the PQ section to learn that the recipe in the book is wrong and the pudding actually had to simmer for 50 some minutes instead of 30. That would have made a big difference. My pudding would have been very soupy. I made 1/2 of the pudding white and half black by using leftover mixtures of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate. I can't say that I liked either the white or the chocolate better. They were both very tasty! The chocolate pudding did set up better and was firmer. I served the pudding topped with Dream Whip from the aerosol can.

I would make this rice pudding again. Both the chocolate and vanilla too!

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits & Apple Cheddar Scones - TWD

This weekend I pounded out two more recipes from the completed TWD list. I made the pecan brown sugar biscuits and apple cheddar scones. The biscuits were made back in February and the scones back in July. You can find the biscuit recipe HERE and the scone recipe HERE. Or the recipes can be found on pages 25 and 32 in Dorie's cookbook.

I probably won't be making either of these recipes again. Neither did much for me. The biscuits probably would tasted much better just coming out of the oven. I guess the same for the scones. I tried them after they had cooled considerably. Maybe I am just not a biscuit or a scone fan. My husband enjoyed them but he likes just about anything.

Come back tomorrow for my rice pudding assignment!

Oven Baked Wild Mushroom Risotto

I am not sure where I stumbled across this recipe, but it is delicious. This was my first time making risotto and I can say with certainty that I will be making it again. I really like mushrooms and this has a great mushroom and Parmesan cheese flavor. We ate it as a meal and it is very filling. However, I am thinking that the next time I make steaks...this would be a great side.

Oven Baked Wild Mushroom Risotto
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
8 ounces fresh, dark gilled mushrooms
2 1/2 ounces butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
7 ounces Italian Carnoli rice
5 ounces chicken stock
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste

To finish:
2 ounces parmesan cheese, shaved into flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat parsley

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl with 2 cups of boiling water poured over them. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes. Slice the remaining mushrooms about 1/4 inch thick.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the onion. Cook it over gentle heat for about 5 minutes to soften, then add the sliced mushrooms, stir well and leave to the side for the time being.

When the dried mushrooms have had their half hour soak, place a sieve over a bowl. Line with a double sheet of paper towels and strain the mushrooms through this, reserving the liquid in the bowl beneath. Chop the mushrooms finely and then add them to the mushroom mixture in the pan. Keep the heat low and let the onions and mushroom sweat gently for about 20 minutes, in order to release all their juices and flavour. Do not colour.

Put a shallow casserole dish into the oven to warm.

Add the rice to the mushroom mixture and give it a good stir to coat it with butter. Add the chicken stock along with the strained mushroom liquid. Season to taste with some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring up to the simmering point, then pour the whole mixture into the warmed casserole dish. Stir once and then place it on shelf in the middle of the oven, uncovered, and bake for 20 minutes exactly.

Remove from the oven and gently stir in the grated parmesan cheese, turning the rice grains over. Put back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes further. Remove from the oven and serve immediately, spooned out onto warm plates and garnished with the shavings of parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of parsley.

Pumpkin Roll

It seems that I have been making a ton of "roll" type foods lately. First the turkey roulade, then the lasagna rollups and now a pumpkin roll. I got this recipe from my friend and I just couldn't pass it up. It is so awesome. I was a tad nervous to try it and thought that I would probably mess it up. The whole wrapping it up in a kitchen towel was quite foreign and seemed so odd.

I am VERY glad that I did. We have eaten over half of this today and I made it early this afternoon. DELICIOUS. It is also quite festive!

CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup pure pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

FILLING INGREDIENTS:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

DIRECTIONS FOR CAKE:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING:
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP: Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Portobello Lasagna Rollups w/ Easy Tomato Sauce - CEiMB

Marthe from Culinary Delights chose the recipe this week for CEiMB. I love mushrooms, spinach and lasagna. So I was excited. I also decided to go ahead and make the Easy Marinara Sauce recipe that went with the roll-ups.



I considered buying the Prego Traditional (my favorite) but thought it may be fun to try and make it myself. Now I am thinking that I may have liked it better with Prego.

The Easy Tomato sauce was just as the recipe describes, easy. However, it took a lot of time. I thought that it was kind of bland and tasted very tomato-like. OK. I am not doing a good job explaining. Maybe I should have added a little sugar or something to the sauce to spice or sweeten it up.

The roll-ups consisted of whole wheat lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, egg, and spinach. That mixture was layed onto each noodle and then topped with mushrooms and marinara sauce. Each individual noodle was then rolled and placed in a baking dish. All 12 noodles were then topped with more marinara sauce, mozzeralla and parmesan cheese. It cooked for 1 hour.

My husband really enjoyed this. But he also really likes tomatoes. I thought that the roll-ups were good and concluded that I just didn't care for the sauce. Next time I will use Prego! Good choice Marthe. Check out what everyone else thought about the roll-ups and visit Marthe's site for the recipe. Or click HERE!

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies - TWD

Back in January when TWD just began, this recipe was chosen by Chelle from Sugar & Spice. Check out her blog for the recipe or find it on pages 99-100 in the cookbook. You will also find an outstanding pictures of the brownies there as well. Since I am determined to make all the recipes that have already been chosen, I decided to make these for a donation to my child's school bake sale. They have 5 different types of chocolate and 2 tablespoons of coffee and chopped nuts. I wanted to use peanuts, but I was out. The brownies were easy to put together. However, my white chocolate topping did not look very pretty. It was almost a see through and not like the picture in the cookbook. Not sure what I did wrong. My photos were also terrible and I will not post them.

As for the taste, I thought that they were OK. My husband and boys really liked them though. I concluded that the coffee taste was a little strong. I just don't like coffee and was surprised that the boys enjoyed them as much as they did. Maybe next time I will add only 1 tablespoon of coffee.

Kugelhopf - TWD

The past 2 chosen recipes for TWD have been things that I have never eaten or heard of, much less able to pronounce. But I guess that is the fun of this. You try new things, cook new things and learn. This week's recipe was chosen by Landa from The All-purpose Girl. If you would like the recipe, you can find it posted HERE on her blog or on pages 61-63 in the cookbook.

I obviously didn't have a kugelhof pan so I bought a silicone bundt pan for this assignment. This recipe was very involved. It took an entire afternoon to get my initial dough to rise, slap down, rise again, slap down, rise again....you get the point. I was shocked when it said to refrigerate it overnight. I was sure that it would kill the yeast. Little did I know! I made some polish doughnuts earlier this year that involved yeast. The results were disastrous the first couple of times. I didn't give up though and required a lot of help from my great aunt. Eventually I figured it out and am happy to say that I succeeded on the first time with this recipe as well.

I used raisins and made the recipe exactly as Dorie called for. I did consider using mini chocolate chips but decided against it at the last minute. I wanted to get rid of some of the raisins in my cupboard.
First I boiled some water to steep my raisins. However, the pictures did not turn out. Next, I used barely warm milk and dissolved the yeast in it. I then added flour and salt to the milk/yeast mixture.

The eggs (2 eggs and 1 yolk) were lightly mixed and added to the dry mixture above.

I added the sugar and 8 tablespoons of soft butter little by little to the batter. It was fun to use my dough hook for my mixer that I rarely get to use. I must have kneaded the batter for a good 10 minutes at least.

The raisins were added to the batter. I let it raise, then slapped it down several times. The process was a long one! It then slept in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I set my oven to 200 degrees and popped the dough into my new pan. I let it sit on the stove top for 3+ hours. It rose almost to double in size. Into the oven it went where it cooked for 10 minutes. I tented it with some tin foil and let it cook another 15 minutes.

After it came out of the oven, I used a pastry brush and drenched 4 tablespoons of melted butter on the top. I used a ton of powdered sugar and sprinkled it on top. It looked very nice.

As for the taste....it wasn't bad, just not that great. The cake is very airy and light. It doesn't have much flavor to it though which was disappointing. I did like the raisins and probably would have really liked chocolate chips and vanilla in it. Maybe next time? Probably not! I am proud that I made it and had another victory with yeast, however, I didn't enjoy how much time it took to make.

Thanks Landa for picking the recipe this week. It is fun to try new recipes!

Fun Giveaway

I love entering to win these giveaways. Even though I never do. Whitney is giving away these fun, colorful dishes!! All you have to do is visit her blog and leave a comment to be entered. How easy is that?

Zucchini Brownies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

NOTES: These were delicious. Of course, I skipped the walnuts. The frosting is good too. However, next time I think that I will not do the frosting and just sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of mine because we were leaving for camping. So I just used the photo from where I got the recipe, All Recipes.

I posted this recipe originally on my old blog on 8/25/08.

Delicious Dinner

Creamy Cucumbers

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 cucumbers (peeled and sliced thin)
1/4 cup white vinegar (or more to taste)
1 pint whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Peel and slice cucumbers thinly. Put in large mixing bowl. In another small bowl, combine whipping cream, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix and pour over cucumbers. Toss. Refrigerate until served.

I found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines. I don’t really follow the recipe anymore though and just mix it to taste to our liking. I think that it tastes much better the next day as left-overs.

Green Bean Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon peanut butter
3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, brown sugar and peanut butter; set aside. In a large skillet, stir-fry the green beans in oil until crisp-tender. Remove from the heat. Add the soy sauce mixture; stir to coat. Delicious! I got this recipe from All Recipes. I used fresh green beans from our garden. YUMMY!

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

DIRECTIONS:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2) In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3) In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4) Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5) Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTES: This recipe originally came from All Recipes. I found it on another blog though. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken and there was plenty of chicken. I also used a Yukon gold potato that I cubed and added to the chicken, carrots, peas and celery. Before baking, I brushed the top of the pie with egg to make it golden brown. I originally made two pies about a month ago, we ate one and froze the other. We ate the frozen one this evening. This is “lick your plate clean YUMMY!!!!!” Ben loves it and I am sure that I will be making these pies again in the very near future.

I originally posted this on my old blog on 8/6/08.

CEiMB - Turkey Roulade with Apple Cider Gravy

This week's CEiMB choice was chosen by Holly. She has the recipe posted on her blog (or on page 220 in the cookbook). I might add that her photos are "phenomenal" and she did an awesome job! That said, I apologize in advance for my awful pictures. I waited until the last minute to make this delicious dinner and I wish that I would have made it earlier in the week when I had more time and better light during the day for photos. I also wish that my husband would have been home to help me tie the roulade together. If only I hadn't have procrastinated, I think things would have went much smoother.

To begin, I did have a hard time finding a boneless turkey breast at the store. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spot. I even had to return the first small roast that I did buy. When I brought it home, I realized that it was not going to work at all. I also could not find unsweetened dried cranberries anywhere.

The roulade is basically a turkey breast, flattened out and rolled with stuffing and cranberries. It was so, so, so good. Mine wasn't the prettiest thing in the slightest. It looked ridiculous tied together with black sewing thread because I don't have any kitchen twine. I also didn't sear it and make it golden brown before I put it in the oven because I was afraid to move it. I didn't want my roulade to fall apart. However, it tasted awesome. My husband loved it and is looking forward to his lunch tomorrow! I enjoyed it too. Which is surprising because I normally hate cranberries and don't touch them at Thanksgiving. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Great pick Holly!

I have also decided to take over the responsibility for CEiMB. I am not sure what I am getting myself into. However, I like this cookbook so much and have enjoyed practically everything that we have had so far. I don't want to see it end. I have e-mailed Leigh regarding this and will get next week's choice revealed very soon. If you are scheduled to pick in the near future, please let me know your choice. Thanks!

Zucchini Bread

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
3 beaten eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini (don’t peel)
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS:
Blend well but do not beat. Pour into two well greased bread pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Or make 1/2 recipe for 1 loaf.

This recipe turned out OK. I like my breads a lot moister. This could be because I only added 2 eggs (one egg had two yolks though?). I messed up because my little guy was throwing a monster fit while I was making it and I wasn’t concentrating. I tried to find a recipe for zucchini bread that had brown sugar as well as white sugar and wasn’t able to come up with one in the short amount of time I had today.

I originally posted this on 7/29/08 on my old blog.

Rugelach - TWD

I was not excited about this week's choice. When I looked at it in the cookbook, I thought that it looked like a crescent roll with ground hamburger stuffed in it, definetely not a dessert. But I decided to go with it, follow the recipe and probably wind up liking them. I procrastinated all week until this afternoon to make them.

Grace from Piggy's Cooking Journal chose this week's recipe. You can find the recipe HERE or on page 150-151 in the cookbook.

You are probably wondering how to pronounce this dessert...I was thinking it was something way different than it actually is. It is pronounced Rug-ah-lah.

This little cookie is actually a pastry that is basically made of flour, butter and cream cheese. The pastry is rolled and stuffed with raspberry jam, cinnamaon sugar, bittersweet chocolate, almonds and currants. They ended up looking like mini crescent rolls. Some other bakers substituted different jams, fillings, nuts, etc. I decided to stay with the original recipe though.

I can't say that I liked this cookie. I know that I would never make them again. I can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't like them either. Maybe it was because of the bittersweet chocolate. I seem to enjoy milk or semi-sweet chocolate much better. My husband liked them though and is planning on eating them all.

Perfection Pound Cake

I made this cake this weekend. It was originally chosen back in January when there was only a few TWD members. You can find the recipe here if you want or on page 222-223 in Dorie's cookbook. I actually made this pound cake twice. The first time I used cake flour and the second time I used all purpose flour. It was not what I was expecting at all. I am used to pound cakes being extremely moist. Both of the batches that I made weren't dry....just not as moist as I would like. I almost had myself convinced that I forgot to add the sugar my first attempt. I served the cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. It was very tasty and I would make this poundcake again. It does have a very good flavor.

Baked Spaghetti

This past weekend, my dad came into town with his girlfriend to visit us. I made a meal that he enjoys. We call it Baked Spaghetti. I have no idea where we got the recipe and am pretty sure that he just made it up. It is a good "casserole" type dish. It is delicious and makes a huge amount of food for leftovers. I personally think that it is one of those dishes that are better the next day.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs. Ground Beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 large family size can of Campbells Tomato Soup or 2 regular sized cans
16 oz. angel hair pasta (or spaghetti, linguini, etc)
Lawry's seasoning salt
16 oz. shredded mild cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Brown the ground beef with the onions and green pepper. Drain the excess fat.
2. Season with Lawry's Seasoning to taste. Mix the ground beef mixture with tomato soup.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the angel hair pasta according to the directions on the package.
4. Mix the pasta and ground beef mixture together. Add about 2 cups of the cheddar cheese and mix well.
5. Place the mixture in a large casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

We enjoy this meal served with corn and dinner rolls. It is just a great, easy meal. And very kid friendly!

Puppy Chow

INGREDIENTS:
9 cups Chex Cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter together in a bowl. Microwave (uncovered) for 1 minute. Stir together and microwave another 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until cereal is completely covered.
2. Pour cereal into storage container (huge ziploc, tupperware or a doubled up garbage bag). Add powdered sugar and shake like crazy until well coated.
3. Spread puppy chow out on table and let cool for about 30 minutes. Put in refrigerator unil serving.

I doubled the recipe for a party and have a ton of puppy chow that I am sure will be eaten because it is so delicious. I also used a grocery store paper bag to mix the powdered sugar in and then just tossed the bag (very easy clean up). I got this recipe from my pal who served it at her party a couple of weeks ago. Both my youngest and I inhaled it and knew that I had to have it for our party!

I originally posted this recipe on 7/26/08 on my old blog.