Thursday, February 26, 2015

Cheesy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
1 pound Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
8 oz. crimini or button mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 (15oz.) can pumpkin
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (regular or reduced fat), cubed
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Dash ground nutmeg
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh chives or sage for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Add sausage, mushrooms, and garlic to a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage with fork, and cook everything, stirring frequently about 4-6 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and sausage is no longer pink. Drain off excess fat.

Add chicken broth and pumpkin to pan and stir to combine. Mix in cubes of cream cheese and Swiss cheese and stir to combine until cheese has all melted and mixture is smooth. Might appear chunky for a little while, but keep stirring and it will come together. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Lower heat to keep soup warm.

* recipe from the snappy gourmet

Friday, February 20, 2015

Fudgy Cake Pops

Ingredients

3/4 C milk chocolate chips
1/2 C butter
3/4 C sugar
3 T cocoa
2 eggs
3/4 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
24 lollipop sticks
12 oz chocolate bark coating

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease cake pop baking pan, set aside.  In medium saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips and butter together, stir until smooth.  Remove from heat and pour into medium bowl.  Add sugar and cocoa; mix until blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add flour and salt; stir until blended.  Spoon batter into bottom half of pan (without holes) filling each well so it mounds over the top of the pan.  Place top half of pan on top and secure with keys.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.  Cool 5 minutes in pan, remove cake pops from pan to cool completely.  Melt chocolate according to package directions.  Dip lollipop stick into melted chocolate and insert into cakes; repeat with all cakes.  Allow chocolate to cool to secure stick in place.  Dip cake pops in melted chocolate, spinning to let excess chocolate drip off.  Decorate with sprinkles as desired.  Place on parchment paper to set.  makes about 24 cake pops.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti, broken in pieces
5 T butter
6 T flour
3 C turkey broth
1 C light cream
1 tsp salt
Pepper
1 C fresh or canned mushrooms
1 C peas
3 C cooked turkey, cubed
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until tender.  In separate pan, melt butter; blend in flour.  Stir broth into flour mixture.  Add cream.  Cook until mixture thickens and bubbles.  Add salt and pepper, drained spaghetti, mushrooms, peas and cooked turkey.  Turn into individual baking dishes or into a 2 to 3 quart casserole dish.  Sprinkle with cheeses and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.  Makes 8 servings.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Jessica's Lemon Meringue Pie Filling

Filling:
1 c. sugar
2 T. flour
4 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. lemons (usually 3)
lemon zest...I usually zest 1-2 of the lemons before squeezing
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 T. butter

Meringue:
4 egg whites
6 T. white sugar

Directions:
(with this recipe, it goes really fast, so have all ingredients ready before you start!)In a saucepan, combine 1 c. sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt. Mix in water, juice and zest. Cook over medium high, stirring often, until is boils. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 c. hot sugar mixture. Whisk this mixture back into your saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Pour filling into a baked shell.

Then whip egg whites until very stiff (you cannot get a stiff egg white if any fats--like egg yolk--come into contact with the whites, so be very careful and rinse beater extremely well, if you've used it for anything else.). Add the 6 T. of sugar while you are beating the whites. Place on top of filling, sealing edges and making the meringue stand up in foamy waves (everyone is very impressed with this!). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until the meringue begins to brown.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Grandma Hardy's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

3 C flour

2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C shortening
2 eggs
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour, cream of tartar, soda and salf.  Then, cut in shortening with a pastry blender.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla togeter.  Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and combine.

Roll out dough and cut immediately.  Do not refridgerate dough prior to use.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Fran's Hot Fudge

Ingredients

5 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/2 C butter
1 lg can evaporated milk
3 C powdered sugar
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a 3 quart bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in microwave covered for one minute at a time at 70% power.  Once butter and chocolate are melted, mix in sugar alternately with evaporate milk and combine well.  Then, return to microwave and cook for one minute at a time until bubbling (about 2 1/2 minutes).  Then continue microwaving on 30% power and stiring every 3 minutes until it is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.  Then stir in vanilla.  Serve warm.

* For frosting, cool 2 cups of sauce and add 2 cups of powdered sugar.  Blend well.

Monday, February 9, 2015

My Favorite Bread Pudding that isn't Mom's Raspberry Bread Pudding

2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 to 5 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (used French bread that was 2 days old)
1/3 cup pecans, chopped finely  (I skipped this because Jaleese was eating it)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat together eggs, butter, vanilla, and milk. Add sugar and mix until sugar is dissoved. Arrange bread cubes tightly in a nine-inch baking dish, keeping the crust facing up around the edges in scattered within the dish. Pour liquid over the bread. Sprinkle pecans all over and bake for 55 to 70 minutes, or until crust is golden brown all over the top.

While the bread pudding is baking, make the Whiskey Cream Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup Jack Daniels

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low boil. Pour a small amount over the individual servings of bread pudding.
Store leftovers in fridge.