Herbed Chicken

Okay, I absolutely love this combination of seasonings with chicken. Basically you cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces and cook it in a skillet with olive oil and the following:

garlic powder
onion powder
celery salt
poultry seasoning
dried parsley
thyme
salt & pepper

Just use as much as you want of each.

This chicken is delicious on a salad:


Or over pasta with cooked zuchinni, squash, and parmesean cheese:

Black and Whites

Black and White Cookies
"Traditional black and white cookies are BIG and LOUD, not unlike the New Yorkers that made them famous." I became a huge fan of these in Boston at Mike's Pastry in the Italian District. (Like sugar cookies, these DO take a lot of work...but they are soooo delicious!)
Yield: About 8 very large cookies

1 1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix until fluffy. Add eggs and mix.
3. Add the salt, baking soda, and 1/3 of the flour and mix. Add the vanilla and 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix. Add 1/3 of the flour and mix. Add last amount of buttermilk and mix, followed by last portion of flour.
4. Spoon 1/4 c. portions onto trays, leaving space for cookies to spread while baking. Bake 12-15 minutes or until middle of cookies spring back to the touch. Cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache
I used this instead of the glaze that went with this recipe, and they turned out great!

1 c. chocolate chips (I mixed semi-sweet with milkd chocolate for a sassier flavor)
1 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. warm whipping cream

In 2 separate bowls, combine the whipping cream with the chips (1/4 c. in with each flavor) and whip by hand until smooth. If mixture is too runny, add more chips as needed until spreading consistency is reached. Spread chocolate on half of the bottom side of each cookie, then frost the other side with white (I did all the chocolate at once, then went back to do the white sides). Let the frosting set until firm to the touch. Store in an airtight container. These cookies keep for a few days, but are best on the first or second. Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 can corn, drained
1 can stewed tomatoes, drained
1 can green beans, drained
3 c. mashed potatoes
shredded cheese
parmesean cheese
garlic/onion salt
season salt

*brown beef & onion; drain & rinse. Combine corn & green beans in bottom of baking dish. Add ground beef & onion on top. Sprinkle with garlic/onion salt. Top w/stewed tomatoes & mashed potatoes. Sprinkle potatoes with season salt. Top w/shredded cheese and sprinkle parmesean on top. Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.

Molten Chocolate Pudding Cake

A few years ago my mom made this for my birthday, and I loved it...and this year for my birthday in Boston I made it for myself. I know that sounds pathetic but my friend Cristy was worried she would screw it up. So I did it myself, just to show how easy and delicious it was. And of course, it was super easy and fantastically fudgy, with all the rustic charm of hot homemade chocolate pudding over ice cream.

Molten Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

3 T. cocoa

2 t baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. milk

2 T. oil

1 t. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased 9x9 pan. Then combine:

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

Mix and sprinkle over cake batter. Then slowly pour over the mixture:

1 3/4 c. boiling water

Bake 40 minutes @ 350. (Completed cake will look like 1st picture.) Allow to stand 5 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

Spaghetti Sauce

My brother-in-law asked for this recipe, so I guess I'll put it on here. It is kind of a morph of my own creation, and some of Sarah's special features.

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
minced garlic
squash & zuchinni, chopped (optional)
1 can black olives, sliced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 sm. can tomato paste
garlic salt
onion salt
iltalian seasoning
dried oregano
fresh or dried basil
parsley flakes
1/4 c. sugar

*Brown ground beef w/onions. Drain & rinse. Whisk tomatoes, sauce, & paste until smooth. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6.

Raspberry Brownies

Brownies:

2 c. flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 c. plus 2 T. cocoa
1 1/2 cubes butter
1/2 c. shortening
6 eggs
1 T. raspberry extract
1 c. fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed), optional
1 can raspberry pie filling or 1 1/2 c. raspberry preserves

Whipped Ganache Frosting:

1 c. heavy whipping cream
7 squares chocolate almond bark, coarsley chopped

*Cream sugar, shortening, & butter. Add eggs. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet mixture. Stir in extract and raspberries. Bake in 9 x 13 dish @ 350 for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of center clean. While still hot, poke holes all over with the handle of a wooden spoon. Spread raspberry preserves or pie filling all over top. For frosting, heat whipping cream just until it starts boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Refrigerate for a couple hours, then beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Spread over brownies and raspberry topping. Store brownies in the refrigerator.

Smooth & Creamy Jello Salad

This is my grandma Snedeger's recipe, and it's soooo good!

1 sm pkg instant tapioca
1 sm pkg cook & serve vanilla pudding
1 sm pkg orange jello
8 oz cool whip
1 can mandarin oranges, drained

*Boil 3 c. water and add 1st three ingredients. Cook for a couple minutes just until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir well. Let sit out on counter over night. Add cool whip & oranges & stir well. Refrigerate and serve! You could also try different jello/fruit combinations - I am going to try raspberry next!

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

1 lg can sliced peaches
1 yellow cake mix
1 cube butter
cinnamon/nutmeg

*Heat dutch oven over coals until hot. Pour peaches w/juice into dutch oven. Sprinkle dry cake mix over top & cut butter into pats. Top cake mix w/butter and dust w/cinnamon & nutmeg. Cook on coals for 40 minutes.

Dutch Oven Dinner

We made this last weekend when we were camping.

1 lb bacon (about 5 pieces uncooked for lining dutch oven, cook the rest ahead)
1 pkg kielbasa sausage, sliced
1 head cabbage, chopped
1 bag matchstick carrots
3 lb potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
parsley flakes
salt/pepper

*Chop potatoes and soak in water for about 2 hours. Place uncooked bacon on bottom of dutch oven. Add all other ingredients and stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper, & parsley. Cook coals for about 1 hour.

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

These aren't gourmet by any means, but they are really easy and no flour means no mess.

• 2 cups peanut butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• In a medium bowl, stir peanut butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and into sugar and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Press a criss-cross into the top using the back of a fork.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Rainbow cupcakes

2 white cake mixes
2-12 ounce cans of lemon-lime soda
gel colors

Mix cake mixes with lemon-lime soda. (Don't add egg and oil or anything the cake mix calls for.) Divide batter into the number of colors you want. (Just think you could do team colors!) Add gel colors to batter and mix. Drop each color into 24 cupcake liners. Don't stir, just drop! Bake according to box directions. Let cool and frost.

Coconut Macaroons

2 Egg Whites
dash of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites, salt and vanilla until soft peaks form.
3. Gradually add sugar, beating until very stiff and glossy.
4. Fold in coconut.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoon about 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until set and lightly browned.