Ham and Noodle Casserole

3 TBS. butter
2 TBS. flour
1 c. milk
1 c. Velveeta cut into cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. diced cooked ham
1 1/2 c. cooked macaroni noodles
1 c. frozen peas
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

In a pan, melt 2 TBS. butter, stir in flour until smooth. Add the milk and bring to a boil over medium heat, cook and stir for 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese and salt until cheese is melted.
Add the ham, noodles and peas. pour into a greased baking dish. Melt remaining butter, add bread crumbs and parsley. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 min.

Thanksgiving Pictures - Recipes to Follow As Soon As We Can Pull Ourselves Away From The Leftovers

Hey Cousins -- We want to see your Thanksgiving pictures and recipes, too!

Cranberry Apple Pie, Caramel Apple Pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Vanilla Cream Pie, and Cheesecake (we have pie issues.)
Kaitlyn wins the photography award -- we all loved this picture she took of her mom's pie.

Jen's cute pie crust on her apple-cranberry pie.

My wonderful sisters "puttin' on the dog." I love being the photographer so I'm not in very many pictures. (Even though I use a simple, cheap camera.)

Amy surprised us all with homemade fall aprons. We loved them and it was fun to be matchy-matchy while cooking up a feast. We haven't matched like that since mom used to make us homemade Easter Dresses.

Candy Cane Brownies

I saw these candy cane kisses in the store and knew they would look cute on something. The sad thing is I didn't have time for the brownies to cool before I had to cut them, put them on a plate, and take them somewhere. The kisses melted and didn't look cute anymore. Next time, I'll make them earlier and refrigerate them before cutting.

Shredded Wheat - Fried in Butter!

Last weekend we were able to go visit my in-laws. My mother-in-law is a great cook and made us something new for breakfast that we really liked (something that her mom used to make when she was a kid) - and our kids ate it without hesitation (miracle!) It is not new to her - her mom made it for her when she was a kid.

You buy some shredded wheat - the big kind, not the bite size kind (which can be hard to find in some stores.) Warm some milk in a pan, and soak the shredded wheat in it just long enough to soak all the way to the middle. Then fry the shredded wheat in a pan with some melted butter until the outside of the shredded wheat is golden brown. The outside will be crispy, and the inside will still be wet with the milk.

To serve, put shredded wheat in your bowl, sprinkle with sugar, and top with warm milk and fresh fruit.

Carmels (Grandma Clouse)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup white corn syrup

2 cups cream

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine sugar, syrup, butter and 1/2 of the cream. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Add the other cup of cream a little at a time so you don't stop the boiling. Boil to hard ball stage (254 degrees F) still stirring constantly. Be patient and consistent. I learned the hard way that candy is easy to mess up! Try some in a little water to form a firm ball. Pour into buttered, glass, mid-sized cake pan. When completely cool take out by hand and cut into pieces with kitchen scissors. Wrap individual pieces in wax paper.

These have always been one of my favorites but this is the first time I attempted them on my own. I botched the first batch but I tried again and the second time they came out perfect! Totally worth the effort.

Cranberry Relish

(Sorry I don't have a picture - it's very pretty!)

This is the only kind of cranberry sauce that I like! (except my mom's of course). It's very similar and tastes the same (hers is in the Clouse Cookbook).
My lunch ladies and I make a big batch every year to share. One of the ladies I worked with a few years ago gave us the recipe.

1 sm. pkg. cherry or raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
Mix and set in the fridge to jell (not totally set)

Grind together: (as fine or chunky as you like- I do it pretty fine)
1 1/2 cups whole cranberries
1 cup diced apples
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 orange (with some of the rind)
Sprinkle:
1 c. sugar over mix and let set until dissolved.
Stir in jello. Mix well.
Freeze in baggies.
(add more or less of whatever you want - you can't mess it up!)

(We 6x the recipe! It made about 32 cups)

(My sister in law thought it was jam one time - they ate it for breakfast on toast)

Mrs. Fields Eggnog Cookies

These were good - I found the recipe on Picky Palate. The dough was so gooey that I added more flour. I searched the internet for other eggnog cookie recipes and found one that was exactly the same, except it called for 1/4 Cup more of flour. They don't have a strong eggnog flavor. You have to know its in there to taste it.

Mrs. Fields Eggnog Cookies

2 ¼ C. flour I had to add more - the dough was gooey
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 ¼ C. sugar
¾ C. SALTED butter, room temp.
½ C. eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
1 Tablespoon nutmeg for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well with a wire whisk and set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets, 1” apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg or skip this step and sprinkle on the nutmeg after you ice the cookies. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool flat surface immediately with spatula.


Eggnog Icing

3 C. powdered sugar
¼ C. softened butter or margarine
1/3 C. commercial eggnog (or more depending on consistency)

In small mixer bowl, beat powdered sugar and butter or margarine until well-blended. Gradually beat in eggnog until icing is smooth. Makes about 1 ½ Cups.

Barbie Cake

Here is Callie's BEAUTIFUL barbie cake. It's her birthday today!!!

I'm no professional, but this was easy! I baked it in a round glass bowl for as long as it said to bake a bundt cake on the cake mix box plus about 10 more minutes. It takes about half of the batter. The rest I made into cupcakes.

I got this barbie a few years ago at Walmart. It has a pointy stick thing instead of legs. I used canned strawberry frosting, I just put half in a bowl and put blue and a little red food coloring in it to make purple, then used the rest of the pink for the flowers.

Pretzel Jello

This is a delicious dessert. I was just asked to make three pans of it for our ward's enrichment. I got this recipe from a cook-off at work about 12 years ago. It was the recipe that won.

2 2/3 C. (10 oz. bag) stick pretzels, crushed

(I always look for the pretzels with the least amount of salt, but some is necessary)
1 1/2 C. butter

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ C. sugar
12 oz cool whip, thawed

2 C. pineapple juice
6 oz. box strawberry jello

16 oz bag frozen strawberries

Prepare 9X13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix pretzels and butter. Spread in pan. Bake 10 minutes at 400°. Mix sugar and cream cheese, spread over warm pretzel crust. Chill in freezer till pan edges are cool. Spread cool whip over cream cheese, high along edges. Cook pineapple juice over med-high heat, bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in jello till dissolved. Add frozen berries. When berries have thawed, mash them. Let berry mixture chill in fridge till thickened. Pour berry mixture over cool whip. Set in fridge.

Aunt Carole's Easy Breadsticks (and yummy, too)

We love these breadsticks. They are a favorite. This time I made them with whole wheat flour, but they are delicious either way. Thanks for the great recipe, Aunt Carole!

Easy Breadsticks

1 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ C. warm water
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cube butter

Sprinkle yeast and sugar into water. Let dissolve. Add salt and flour and mix into dough. Let rise once. Roll out on floured surface. Cut in strips and twist. Melt 1 cube butter on a cookie sheet. Coat breadsticks in butter and lay on pan. Sprinkle with garlic, parmesan, and sesame seeds. Let rise again. Bake at 400˚ until golden brown.

I sprinkled also with parsley flakes, and I skipped the first rise. I am usually in too big of a hurry to wait.

Here I am at Jen's house at Dallin's 5th birthday party and we thought we'd post a picture of his fun dinosaur cake. I love these kind of cakes where you just throw something on top.

Wontons

My friend Kahanu brought me some won tons about a week ago that were SO good. I have actually never made them myself, so here's her picture and her recipe! She made two different kinds, one of them being a sweet one. And after those recipes is Amy's way of making them.

CREAM CHEESE WONTONS

6 oz. cream cheese

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 tsp. soy sauce, lite

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/3 c. seafood shreds (imitation crab meat) optional - they used chicken and it was great!

Pkg. won ton wrappers, sm. squares

Blend together ingredients. Drop approximately 1 teaspoonful on each of the small size wrappers. Fold in corners and seal with egg white. Fry in hot oil until crispy and brown. Serve with Sweet & Sour Sauce.

THE SWEET ONES:

cream cheese, pineapple bits, and a little bit of sugar

And here's how Amy makes the filling: Buy whipped cream cheese, any flavor but her favorite is the kind with chives.

Eclairs

These eclairs are a favorite in the Lunt family. My mother-in-law made these while we were there a couple of weeks ago. They are so yummy! And always a hit with everyone.

You can fill them with pudding or I've also done the cream filling recipe for ding dongs in Karen's previous post. I've also made them into little balls, filled with cream and they were like the mini cream puffs you get at Costco.

1 C. water

1/2 C. margarine

1/2 tsp salt

1 C. flour

4 eggs

Heat the margarine and water to the boiling point. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and clings to the spoon. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Add the unbeaten eggs, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.

Shape mixture with a pastry bag into 4X1 inch strips. Arrange on a greased baking sheet, baking them some distance apart. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes and then at 325 for 25 minutes. Fill with pudding, custard, or cream and frost with chocolate frosting (or vanilla).

Do not double this recipe because it is too hard to stir.

Cream recipe:

1 C. milk
3 Tbsp. flour

1 C. softened margarine
1 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a really fun cookie recipe I found in a magazine (can't remember which one) while on jury duty. I got around to making it yesterday and liked it! The only recommendation I have is to make it when you have time and are in the mood to bake -- it's a little more involved than just plopping cookie dough onto the cookie sheet.

The name of these cookies in the magazine was peanut munchies. I didn't like that name, but you can change it back if you want!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients for the chocolate dough:
1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Ingredients for the peanut butter filling:
1/2 C. peanut butter (I had to use a little more pb)
3/4 C. powdered sugar

Directions for the chocolate dough:
1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.
In large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 C peanut butter. Beat with mixer until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla - beat well. Beat in the flour/cocoa mixture. Shape dough into about 32 balls, set aside while you make peanut butter filling.

Directions for peanut butter filling:
2. In bowl, combine powdered sugar and 1/2 C. peanut butter with mixer until smooth. Knead by hand if necessary. (Mine turned out kind of dry and crumbly, so I added a little more peanut butter.) Shape into about 32 balls.

Putting it all together:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flatten a chocolate dough ball in your hand, place a peanut butter ball in the middle and shape the chocolate dough around it to form a ball - completely covering peanut butter ball with chocolate dough. Repeat with remaining balls.

Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake about 8 minutes, leave on cookie sheet about 1 minute after taking them out of the oven, and then transfer to a rack to cool.

Creepy-Crawly Cupcakes

My friend, Kim brought each of my kids a cupcake for Halloween. They loved them! She got the recipe from Family Fun. These were so cute!!

Start with a dozen chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes. Then make the worm topping by melting 1/2 cup white chocolate chips in a microwave for 1 minute and stirring them until smooth. Stir in 5 drops of red food coloring, 1 drop of blue food coloring, and 1 tablespoon each of light corn syrup and hot water. Gently fold in 1 cup of chow mein noodles until they are evenly coated. Scoop the mixture onto waxed paper and use two forks to separate the noodles into individual worms or smaller clumps. Allow about 20 minutes for teh coating to set. Meanwhile, sprinkle the cupcakes with chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (1/2 cup should be plenty for one dozen) and gently press them into the frosting. When the worms are ready, arrange them on top.

A Surprise Sammy

That's a funny title, I know. Here's the explanation. My husband is used to nasty lunches on Saturday afternoons - microwaved cheese crisps, mac-n-cheese, PBJ, etc... So I surprised him with a sandwich yesterday. The "surprise" won't work if you've already spoiled your husband, but if he is deprived of good lunches like mine he'll be so happy. Click here to see where I got the inspiration. I just added a few more ingredients.

As for the "sammy", that's what Jon likes to call sandwiches. Here's the list of what I used in between the toasted bread:

scrambled eggs w/ cheese melted on them

bacon

sprouts

avocado

tomato w/salt & pepper on it

spinach leaves

Pasta Salad

Here's to SPAM!!!!




This is a salad I have been making for years (since right after we got married.) It tastes way better than it sounds or looks. It is always a favorite, I promise. For some reason the spam is really good in this. This time I left out the tomatoes, olives and cheese. It is great either way.


Pasta (any kind you want)
Green onions (or white)
Grated Cheese (optional)
Frozen peas
Spam (or ham or chicken, but spam is best)
Olives (optional)
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Tomato (optional)
Salt and pepper

Put about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of salt in a pot of boiling water (I promise this makes it good. It's not way too much, try it.) Cook and drain pasta. Mix everything together.

P.S. I put in an absurd amount of salt in the water when I boil potatoes for mashed potatoes. It's the secret to yummy potatoes. It makes a huge difference.

Egg Rolls

These egg rolls were fun to have for dinner -- something different. I found the recipe at Blog Chef. The kids weren't too thrilled with them (surprise, surprise.) But Jon and I really liked them. I didn't use shrimp -- not a huge fan of it, and Jon is allergic. We had chicken in ours instead. I think I used maybe 1 1/2 or 2 Cups of shredded chicken. Also, the sprouts I used were alfalfa sprouts.

Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

6 cups shredded cabbage and carrot mix
½ cup fresh bean sprouts
1 celery stalk (diced)
2 tablespoons green onion (minced)
1 4 (oz) can shrimp (drained) (I used chicken)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (I used 1/4 tsp.)
black pepper (to taste)
1 egg (beaten)
cornstarch
20 egg roll wrappers
vegetable oil (for deep frying)

Step 1: In a large bowl combine cabbage and carrot mix, bean sprouts, celery and green onion. Stir in shrimp (or chicken), soy sauce, garlic powder and black pepper.

Step 2: Heat a skillet to medium high. Pour beaten egg into it and fry like a pancake on one side and then flip. Chop egg up finely. Stir the egg into the cabbage mixture. Sprinkle the top of the cabbage mixture with cornstarch and mix well.

Step 3: In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Lay out an egg roll wrapper. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the corner of the wrapper, but not so the filling is actually touching the corner. Fold over that corner and roll about half way up. Fold over the left and right corners to the middle. Using a brush or the bottom of a spoon, brush the cornstarch/water mixture on the edges of the wrapper. Finish rolling up tightly and secure to make sure there are no leaks. Repeat until all the egg roll wraps are used.

Step 4: Deep fry egg rolls in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups solid pack pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups white sugar
2/3 cup water
4 eggs


1. Grease and flour three 7 x 3 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and nuts. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

Ratatouille

So awhile ago I got this weird idea to try and make Ratatouille (I have no idea why) and I found a recipe that had noodles with it. I tried it but nobody liked it, I think it was because it had eggplant in it and I have no clue how to cook eggplant. So I fiddled with the recipe and came up with my own version and luckily everyone likes it. It's also kind of fun to make this for dinner and watch the movie Ratatouille too. So here is my version, if anyone wants the original one let me know and I'll post it.

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

5 TBS. olive oil

2 small zucchini cut into thin slices

2 small yellow squash cut into thin slices

1 red bell pepper , chopped

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. ground corriander

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds (my family doesn't like these whole, so I chop them up)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 pound penne pasta, cooked

chicken cut into cubes

In a large pot, cook chicken cubes until done. Add 2 TBS. of the olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Add remaining oil, zucchini, squash, and bell pepper and cook for about 7 min. or until vegetables are tender. Stir in oregano, thyme, coriander, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Then mix in cooked pasta and serve.

Farm-Style Sausage Bake

6 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
3 to 4 green onions sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 TBS. butter
3/4 c. milk
2 egg yolks
Dash of each: pepper and ground nutmeg
2 TBS. dried parsley flakes
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 c. diced mozzarella cheese
2 TBS. grated Parmesan
1 tsp. dried thyme or sage

Cook the potatoes in water until tender. Drain and mash. Add green onions, garlic, butter, milk, egg yolks, pepper and nutmeg. Beat together until mixed well. Stir in parsley, sausage and cheeses. Spoon into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with thyme. Bake uncovered at 400 for 30 minutes until lightly browned.

Great Pork Chop Bake

6 pork chops
1 TBS. vegetable oil

1 can cream of chicken soup

3 TBS. ketchup

2 TBS. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

4 medium potatoes cut into wedges

1 medium onion cut into rings

In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Transfer to a greased 13x9 pan. In a bowl, combine the soup, ketchup, Worchestershire, salt and pepper. Add potatoes and onion, toss to coat. Pour over the chops. Cover and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Baked Potato Soup

I forgot to take a picture, but this soup is really good.
4 large baked potatoes
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk, whole or 2%
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 green onions chopped (or if you're like me and forget to buy them, 1 sm. onion chopped)
12 slices bacon, crisped and crumbled
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. sour cream

Cut potatoes in half and scoop out pulp and put in small bowl. Melt butter in large pot. Add flour. Gradually stir in milk. Continue to stir until smooth and thickened. Stir in potato pulp, salt, pepper, onions, bacon, and cheese. Cook until heated. Stir in sour cream.

Tractor Cake

I am really proud of this cake I did by free hand for Ryan's birthday. I know, I know! I'm bragging, but he loved it!

Spam

Happy Late Halloween Everyone! I thought this picture would be fitting for the blog, even though Spam lost in the poll. Thanks, Parker, for being willing to model your Spam Costume on the blog!