Coconut Haters Beware ☺

Madelyn was here today and baked some delicious Coconut Macaroon cookies! She found the recipe in a recipe book my mother-in-law gave me a while back. I was skeptical because this recipe doesn't call for eggs or baking powder or any of the usual cookie ingredients, but they turned out great and I ate quite a few! They tasted kind of like a coconut cream pie to me. One more thing -- we were in a time crunch so we had to take them out of the oven 7 minutes early. They were still great! So I'm not sure how crunchy or gooey they are supposed to be, but they were just fine to us.

Coconut Macaroons

1/3 C all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups dried coconut
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with waxed paper and grease the paper. (We took all but two of the cookies off the waxed paper right after they came out of the oven - the two left on the wax paper to cool got very stuck!)

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the dried coconut. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Add the vanilla extract and stir together from the center. Continue stirring until a very thick batter is formed.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the macaroons for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

VARIATION: (we didn't try this) Make the macaroons smaller, and when cooked coat them in melted semisweet chocolate. Place on waxed paper and leave until the chocolate is hard.

Bruschetta

Cam put this recipe in our family cookbook (Yummy Little Bread Things, p.6) and I had never bothered trying it until this week. Now I'm hooked! I made it the other day using a loaf of French Bread, then I made it and put it on a Chicken Alfredo pizza tonight. Give it a try!

Bruschetta

Loaf of French Bread, or baguette
3 roma tomatoes, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 C. diced red onion
2/3 C. grated white cheese (mozarella & parmesan)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
garlic salt and garlic pepper

Slice bread into 1/2 inch slices and place on a cookie sheet. Mix everything else together and spoon onto bread slices. Toast until cheese bubbles and bread browns lightly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for an army!

Ok, girls (Amy-) I am FINALLY posting something! I really do cook & bake, I promise! I have used quite a few of the recipes you girls post, and check it often. I just have never gotten around to posting one myself. (Not good, I know.) This is my favorite recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last time I made them, my nieces Katelynn, Delanie, & sister Emily were staying with me for their Spring Break. We still had to freeze half of them- it makes so many!

Mix Well:
2 C. butter
4 eggs
2 C. Sugar
2 C. brown sugar

Add:
2 t. Vanilla
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
4 1/4 C. Flour

With dough hook (or by hand) mix in:
5 C. Quick Oats
2 pkgs. chocolate chips

Bake for 7 minutes at 375 degrees; cookies will look slightly underdone, DON'T OVERCOOK or your husband won't eat them! (Well, that's the case at my house anyway...) Cool on sheet.

Garlic Herb Ranch Dressing

This is a copy-cat recipe for the dressing at California Pizza Kitchen. Katie found it and we love it on our Cafe Rio Salads. I've learned from experience that you CAN NOT use Miracle Whip in place of the Mayo. It turns out disgusting. This is a good all around dressing that you could use on anything!
And we always half the recipe, it makes a ton! Here is the full recipe:

Garlic Herb Ranch Dressing
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cold water
2 3/4 cups mayonnaise (neither Katie or I ever put that much in..I would only put 2 at the most)
1 cup buttermilk
7 tablespoons sour cream
2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons thinly sliced scallions (green and whites)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh Italian parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh basil

In a mixing bowl, use a fork to stir together the mustard and cold water, forming a paste. Set aside for 10 minutes. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the bowl and, using a handheld mixer at low speed or a whisk, blend together just until smooth, taking care not to incorporate too much air into the dressing. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Peanunt Butter Cake Bars

WARNING: THESE ARE ADDICTING

Lisa, my sister-in-law made these when we visted her on Thursday. I'm not usually a big fan of bar cookies, but these changed my mind. They were so good. Lisa's an amazing cook and always has yummy new things for us to try.

2/3 C. butter, softened

2/3 C. peanut butter

1 C. sugar

1 C. packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 C. flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 13X9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 dozen.

Mike's Mission Tortillas

Poor Mike, he only has sisters!

(Sorry-the pictures are not in order!)

Michael is home! And with him came a love for authentic tortillas. He had me buy some White Corn Masa (MA SE CA as it says on the bag) and he cooked up some delicious tortillas. He said he ate these with almost every meal. They are really good. We had them first just plain as after-swimming-snacks. Then later made some more for tacos.

I used leftover roast that I had made and these tacos were yummy. I used a recipe from My Kitchen Cafe for the roast and I have to say it's my new favorite.

Tortillas:

Pour some masa into a bowl, add some salt (don't have an amount-just a pinch or two). Stir in some water. Make it not too sticky, but enough water to hold together. Put a ball of dough onto a tortilla press in between two layers of plastic (Mike cut a ziploc bag up). Press dough, pick up plastic with dough on it and turn the dough onto your hand and then to the hot griddle. Cook both sides on high heat. Mike says they are better not too brown.

Make tacos, egg burritos, bean burritos, or whatever you want.

Angel Lush with Pineapple-#3 from Beth

Angel Lush with Pineapple

1 4-serving pkg Jell-o Vanilla Flavor instant pudding
1 can 20 oz Dole Crushed Pineapple in juice undrained
1 cup thawed Cool Whip topping
1 prepared round angle food cake

Mix dry pudding and pineappple with juice in medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping. Let stand 5 minutes

Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place bottom cake layer (cut side up) on serving plate. Spread pudding mix in between each layer of the cake. Top with your favorite berries.

Key Lime Pie-#2 from Beth Green

Key Lime Pie

1 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
1.4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
1 envelope Kool Aid lemon lime unsweetened soft drink
1 tub (8 ounces) Cool whip Thawed divided


Mix crushed pretzels, sugar and butter. Press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9 inch pie plate Refrigerate until ready to fill

Combine condensed milk, lime juice and drink mix in large bowl until well blended. Remove 1/2 cup whipped topping, refrigerate until ready to use. Gently stir in remaining whipped topping. Pour into crust

Freeze 6 hours or overnight. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes or until pie can be cut easily. Garnish with reserved whipped topping before serving.

Frozen Peach Shortcake Squares #1 From Beth Green

My friend Beth Green made these yummy yummy desserts for book club last week. Camilee happened to be visiting me and came with me. They were so good, I just had to take pictures and get the recipes. There were three in all and I will post them all separate.

This one happened to be my favorite of the three, although the other two were fabulous as well.

8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
2 cups or 1 pint canilla ice cream softened
1- 4 serving package Peach flavor gelatin(Jell-o)
4 cups pound cake


Mix whipped topping, ice cream and dry gelatin in large bowl until well blended. Stir in cake cubes. Spoon into 8 inch square pan.

Freeze 3 hours or until firm
Cut into squares and serve
options: drizzle with raspberry preserves or top with peach slice and raspberry

Angel Food Cakes with Berries in Orange Liqueur

My friend Sara made this delicious dessert for an enrichment night. She followed this recipe except she substituted orange juice concentrate for the orange liqueur. Here is a link to the recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/angel-food-cakes-with-berries-in-orange-liqueur-recipe/index.html