Chocolate Whatever Desert

So we had a stand-by Mormon desert at enrichment night last night. The Whatever is because I have christened many different things. I think my favorite is Louisiana Yum Yum. It is definitely something that we all know about and love. Well, at least I love it. To add a holiday twist to this standard crushed candy canes adorned the top. The best part: I got to scrape the cream cheese filling bowl after making it. The worst part: We had such good attendance (a good part) that there was none leftover. So, if this appears at any holiday type gatherings I would not be offended in the least.

Chocolate Layer Desert

1 c flour
1/2 c butter
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Mix and press ingredients in an 8x 11 inch pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 c cool whip
1 c powdered sugar

Beat until smooth and spread over cooled crust.

Topping:
3 c milk
Large chocolate instant pudding mix

Make pudding according to package directions. Let set then spread cool whip on top. Finish of with walnuts or crushed candy cane on top.

Lemon Drop Cookies

Here is the recipe for the cookies I make every year. My mom requested that I put them on the blog. Just remember that this makes a huge batch. I made some a few weeks ago and froze half the dough. I only use my meat mallet to crush the lemon drops and it works fine.

4 cups flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. butter-flavor shortening
3 eggs
1 t. lemon extract
2 t. vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
1 pkg (6 oz.) lemon drops crushed

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar
juice of one lemon

Cream sugar, shortening and eggs; add flavorings. Stir in dry ingredients, lemon zest and crushed lemon drops. Roll into balls, flatten slightly and bake on parchment-lined baking sheets at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let sit on pan 1-2 minutes, then brush lightly with powdered sugar glaze and cool completely. Makes 4-5 dozen.

Shrimp Artichoke Dip

This is one I make for lots of potlucks and I always get a few asking for the recipe

4 oz cheddar cheese shredded
4 oz parmesan cheese shredded
1 (14 0z ) can of artichoke hearts drained
1/4 cup chopped green onions ( i omit b/c I don't like them)
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 t garlic salt
1 cup or more cooked peeled shrimp
paprika for garnish

preheat oven to 350 degrees mix all together and top with paprika bake 20 min can use toasted baguettes or crackers

I ususally double this when bringing it and it's always gone.

A Bundt?....oh, a Cake.

Sorry about the above reference to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, it was what I was thinking all day long as I baked smelled this amazing cake I made for my Enrichment Committee meeting. This cake will flip your lid. It was so good and I felt like Martha herself when all ranted and raved about it. So, if you need to impress and want an easy way here's one. Sorry, you don't get a picture of the whole cake. I didn't think about posting it untill I saw the reaction.

Orange Juice Cake

Yellow Cake mix
Instant Vanilla Pudding (small box)
1/2 cup Oil
1 cup Orange Juice
4 Eggs
Chopped Pecans (about 1/2 cup, or more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together. Don't over-mix! Spray bundt cake pan. Sprinkle chopped pecans on the bottom of the pan. Pour cake mix evenly in bundt pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes. You know when it is done when it starts to pull away from the sides and the inside ring. While baking, make your glaze.

Glaze:
1 Stick Butter
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Orange Juice

Combine butter, sugar and juice in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and turn off. When cake comes out of the oven, stir glaze well before spooning over hot cake so that the butter gets mixed back in. (When it sits the butter settles to the top.) The glaze will eventually seep through the cake giving it a juicey moistness all over. This is what your cake will look like after the glaze settles in. Let it sit for 1 hour before removing from your pan. To remove from pan, place your plate upside down over the bundt pan and flip.

We did eat in the last month and I did cook.

Except my apology for starting this blog than abandoning it in just as quick. I vow to you that my family didn't starve and I even tried a new recipe or two. So hopefully in the up coming weeks I'll post some of those. So I decided I needed to add a monthly challenge in order to get this blog off its feet. So this month's is: favorite Thanksgiving side dish or dessert. So think of all those delicious recipes you love and post one.

Aaron is accusing me of cooking a lot of soup. Well, not really accusing as much as just saying every time we have soup,"We sure eating a lot of soup." Between you and me he likes it as much as I do. Yes, Aaron and Harris have both told the old boy scout "pea soup" joke at dinner. Very funny. Needless to say, here's another favorite.e soup of ours.

Tomato Soup

2 Tablespoons of butter

2 cups onions chopped

3 Tablespoons flour

1 (15 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

4 cups water (or broth. I use chicken or beef broth)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 can (28 oz.) tomato sauce

3 beef bouillon cubes (if using broth skip this or cut in half)

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

Saute onion and garlic in butter and oil; stir in flour and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. Blend in tomato sauce and tomatoes, crumbled bouillon cubes, water and seasonings. Simmer 30 minutes.

Mexicali Salad

Spinach
chicken
shake and bake seasoning
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Ranch

coat chicken in shake and bake according to directions on box
then drain corn and beans add all ingredients to salad.
use light ranch and its pretty healthy

Zuppa Toscana

This is a favorite of Aaron's and mine. We now have dubbed it Chelsea Soup, named after our wonderful neighbor. Anna loves Chelsea and so to get her to eat dinner the other night, I told her we were having Chelsea soup. It didn't work perfectly but, I did have her saying "Yum! Chelsea (it kind of sounds like Chatzie when she says it) soup. So, my neighbor came up with this great soup via an Olive Garden soup. Now, I have never had the soup at Olive Garden, but I love this version.

16 oz. package of sausage
4 potatoes sliced with skins
3/4 cup chopped onion
11/2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 cups kale, washed and shredded
2 Tbsp. chicken bullion (I use chicken base..same thing)
1 qt water
1 pint heavy cream (or less)
pinch of red pepper flakes

Cook ground sausage until brown. Place onion and garlic in pot and cook until tender. Add chicken bullion, water and potatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Add kale, cream, and pepper flakes. Simmer 4 minutes more.