Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars
Flour Girls and Dough Boys

1/2 lb. butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
12 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cups raspberry jam, softened

Cream butter and sugar in mixer until well combined. Add flour and oatmeal and mix gently to make a crumbly dough. Pat 2/3 of dough into buttered 9x13 dish. Set aside 1/3 dough for topping. Combine cream cheese and sweetened, condensed milk in mixer and beat until smooth, this will be a fairly thick mixture. Drop cream cheese mixture onto crust and spread. Soften jam until pourable and spread over cream cheese mixture. Crumble remaining dough onto top of raspberry preserves. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

White Chocoalte Peppermint Popcorn
10-12 cups popcorn
1 1/2 C. crushed candy cane
8 oz. white chocolate or Almond Bark
1 tsp. peppermint extract
milk or dark chocolate


Pop 10-12 cups of popcorn and sprinkle with a little salt.
Crush candy canes very finely until you have enough for 1.5 cups and set aside.
Melt 8 ounces of white chocolate chips or Almond Bark.
After it is melted stir into the chocolate 1 to 1.5 tsp of Peppermint Extract. The chocolate may get a little lumpy, which is fine.
Pour chocolate over the popcorn and stir until it is evenly distributed.
Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the popcorn and stir until it is all mixed again.
Pour the popcorn out onto a layer of wax paper.
While it is drying, melt some regular chocolate chips and drizzle over the popcorn.
Let harden before serving.

Meringue Heart Cookies

Meltaway Meringue Heart Cookies (makes 24-30)
Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. C & H white sugar
red food coloring
crushed candy canes (about 1/4 c.)
Melted chocolate (your favorite kind)
Parchment paper or Silpat mat

Directions:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and a few drops red food coloring. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixture is smooth and glossy (about 5 minutes).

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat. Put mixture in a pastry bag or gallon ziploc bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe out thick hearts (to make them thicker I ended up drawing one heart then another one on top of it) onto your cookie sheet and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Then, turn off oven and leave meringues in the oven to completely cool (overnight is best).

Next, melt your favorite chocolate and dip the bottoms of your cookies. Set on wax paper to dry.
When completely set, remove from wax paper and serve! You can also store them in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.

*While you're at it you might as well use some of that chocolate & dip some cinnamon bears.....my latest guilty pleasure. mmmmmm!

Coconut Syrup

My friend gave me this for Christmas and it is soooo good! We've loved it on pancakes, waffles, and even plain toast or homemade bread. I lick the spoon every time. :)

Coconut Syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix the above ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp. coconut extract.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Creamy Pork Chops

not a very appetizing picture, but they're good, I promise!

Easy Sour Creamy Chops
4 (1 inch) pork chops
Sage
Salt
Pepper
2 TB. oil (I use less)
1 onion, sliced
1 C. beef broth
1/2 C. sour cream (I used plain yogurt)
1 TB. Flour

Rub chops with sage, salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet. Brown chops on medium-high heat. Add onion on top of chops. Pour beef broth over top. Cover; simmer 25 minutes. Combine sour cream and flour.

Remove chops from skillet and place on serving dish. Add sour cream to remaining onions in skillet and cook until warmed through, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour sauce over chops.

Grandma Iny's Prune Cake

I bought a big bag of dried plums at Costco the other day thinking they'd be a good snack. They tasted great, but the texture was not at all pleasant to me or the rest of the family! What to do?

Pioneer Woman had the answer {doesn't she always?}! I am loving her cookbook as of late- if you couldn't tell....

image from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Grandma Iny's Prune Cake

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 1 cup Prunes
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Canola Oil (I used applesauce)
  
• 1-½ cup Flour, Sifted
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon Allspice
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• _____
• FOR THE ICING:
• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cups Buttermilk
• ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon White Corn Syrup
• ¼ cups Butter
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Cover prunes with water. Bring to a boil and cook until soft and mashable, about eight minutes. Remove from heat, drain water, and mash on a plate. Set aside.

Mix together oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add buttermilk and vanilla and stir gently until just combined. Throw in the mashed prunes and stir gently to combine. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Pour batter into buttered baking dish (9 x 13 or so) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

While cake has five minutes remaining, make the icing:
Combine all icing ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Boil without stirring for 5 to 7 minutes, or until icing starts to turn dark. Do NOT allow icing to reach soft ball stage; icing should be caramel in color, but not sticky like caramel. Icing should be easily pourable.

Remove cake from oven and pour on icing immediately.
Allow to rest on the counter. Serve warm.

NOTE: There is absolutely zero “prune effect” associated with this cake. The end.

PW's Enchiladas

Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas- YUM YUM!

ingredients

• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
• _____
• FOR THE MEAT:
• 1-½ pound Ground Beef
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• _____
• FOR THE TORTILLAS:
• 10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
• ½ cups Canola Oil
• _____
• TO ASSEMBLE:
• 3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ½ cups Chopped Black Olives
• 1 cup Chopped Green Onions
• ½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Granola Bars

Homemade Granola Bars

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 - cup butter, melted
*you can use whatever mix-in's you like. This time I used peanuts, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, coconut, and chocolate chips. Other options include: golden raisins, peanut butter or butterscotch chips, dried fruit of your choice, flax seed, wheat germ, coconut, sunflower seeds, walnuts or pecans.


Preheat oven to 325. Line a 15x10x1 in baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non stick baking spray. Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into prepared pan and spread out the mixture. Press down to make it even. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes in the pan then cut into bars. Place the bars on a wire rack and cool completely. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Sweet Potato Soup

This was sooooo good! Perfect for a chilly night. I changed it up a bit to suit our family and use ingredients I had on hand.


Sweet Potato Soup
from Tongue N Cheeky

6 cups water
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
2 orange sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
2 white sweet potatoes, peeled & diced (I didn't have these & used all orange sweet potatoes)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 c. sweet white corn
4 oz. green chili's
1/2 c. roasted red bell peppers, diced (I didn't roast, just tossed them in with the potatoes & onions to boil)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (I used milk)
3 Tbsp. turkey gravy powder (I used brown gravy powder)
Cilantro to garnish (didn't use)

Fill a large pot with water, sugar, salt, sweet potatoes and onions (and bell peppers). Boil until sweet potatoes are softened, about 20 minutes (once cooked I smashed them up a bit to make it easier for little mouths to eat). Add remaining ingredients to pot, stir well and bring just to a boil. Serve immediately, slurping all the while.

Chocolate Cobbler

*This is what I made for neighbor gifts this Christmas. Easy, thanks to Lollychops, and SUPER delicious!

Chocolate Cobbler Recipe
6 Tbl butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 Tbl baking cocoa
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups of boiling water

1. Melt butter in 13x9 baking pan in a 350 oven.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, 3/4 cup of sugar, pecans, 2 Tbl baking cocoa, milk and vanilla in a small bowl; spoon mixture over the melted butter. DO NOT STIR TO MIX!
3. Mix remaining sugars and 1/4 cup of cocoa together and sprinkle over batter.. DO NOT STIR TO MIX!
4. Next, pour the boiling water over the top. DO NOT STIR!
5. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

The cobbler will be done when the cake is set. The top will be cracked, and its delectable chocolate sauce will be bubbling through.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

for gift giving:
In 3 different ziploc bags or some sort of other bags that you can seal - combine the following ingredients.

1st Bag (label this bag cake mixture)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbl baking cocoa

2nd Bag (label this bag chocolate sauce mixture)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of baking cocoa

3rd Bag
1/2 cup chopped pecans

all they have to do is add butter, vanilla, milk, and water....