Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake

I have a Holiday gift for you!!  I’ve been terribly busy lately and haven’t been attempting too many new and exciting recipes but today something new and yummy surfaced.  Breakfast for today was not wanting to develop.  Nothing sounded yummy.  Still having many things to get done for the Holidays, I didn’t want anything too time consuming.  Decided something with apples would be good, but what?  Thought maybe apple pancakes?  But really didn’t want to mess with pancakes plus didn’t see any recipes that sounded appealing.  And then I found something that sounded like it could be really good and it could pass for a breakfast item.  I modified the original a bit and also used Cortland apples.  I also made a few simple scrambled eggs seasoned only with salt and pepper to go along with our Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake.  Simple scrambled eggs are not generally a favorite with my family--they want other additions and seasonings--but the simple scrambled eggs complimented the cake perfectly as they gobbled both up rapidly.
Below is how I made our Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake.  The results were awesome!  You will not be disappointed.

Fluffy Apple Coffee Cake

serves 8 or more

1 1/2 cups plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

4 small tart apples, such as Granny Smith, about 1 1/2 pounds

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

TOPPING:

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with baking spray or oil.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Peel and core the apples, and chop into chunks about 1/2-inch across. You should end up with 3 1/2 to 4 cups of apples.

Stir the chopped apple into the liquid ingredients.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon right into the liquids and stir just until no lumps remain.

In a small separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon with the brown sugar and butter.

Pour the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle the batter with the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, dropping it on the batter in small lumps.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, covering with foil at the end if the top is browning too much. When a tester comes out clean, transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting (if you can wait that long; we couldn’t). Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Snack Cake

I dislike opening something that I may not use the balance of before it goes to waste so it was important to me to know what I was going to make with the can of pumpkin I was about to open in order to make Pumpkin French Toast.  So this recipe ends up getting you a bonus.  You open a can of pumpkin to make the French Toast and then turn around and use the rest of the pumpkin for a yummy snack--no storing the pumpkin to hopefully use later and tossing out if you didn't use it in time.

Pumpkin Snack Cake
  1 1/2 cups  flour

  1 1/8 cups sugar

  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

  3/4 teaspoon baking soda

  1/8 teaspoon salt

  3  eggs -- beaten

  3/4 of 15 ounce can of canned pure pumpkin puree  3/4 cup  oil

       OR  1/2 nonfat yogurt + 1/2 oil to total 3/4 cup*

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Stir in eggs, pumpkin and oil until thoroughly combined.  Spread batter into a greased 9x10 or 9x13pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool, cut,  and enjoy!

Notes:
*Use your liquid measuring cup to eye-ball approximately 3 ounces of yogurt and then add oil until the total volume is 3/4 cup

*As I used this as a snack cake and wanted to keep it "healthier", I didn't frost.  We may be outside of norm, but many times we enjoy cakes and such without frosting.

Here's the frosting recipe from the 15x10" pan size recipe this snack cake was created from.....just in case you can't go without frosting (you'd probably want to make less).

  Optional Frosting:

  3 ounces cream cheese

  1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  6 tablespoons butter

  1 teaspoon milk

Pumpkin French Toast

Fall is upon us and today that calls for something with pumpkin!  I stumbled across a recipe for Pumpkin French Toast, made it with modifications, and then couldn't find the recipe to quickly share when I wanted to as for some reason I didn't save it anywhere!  I've had a scratch paper sitting in a pile of papers with ingredients listed on it.  I do that sometimes when I modify a recipe so if the results are better than the original I will permanently make those changes on the hard copy of the recipe.  For some reason I kept telling myself that was for something else I wanted to work on again but wasn't ready to do so.  I finally decided to deal with that scratch paper and when I actually looked at the info written, it was certainly not what I thought it was.  This scratch paper had a list of ingredients written in a column and then another list of ingredients in a column, but upside down.  Neither had a title--just a list of ingredients and modified quantities.  Eureka!  I found 2 recipes!  1) The ingredients I used to make Pumpkin French Toast for my crew.  2) The ingredients I used for another recipe I adapted on the fly to use up the balance of the now open can of pumpkin!  I had not left myself any notes as the plan was to get these in hard copy version immediately, but life got in the way.  Luckily memory returned so I remembered I ended up doubling the Pumpkin French Toast list of ingredients listed on the paper (the crew gobbled up the first batch too fast) and the other was an adapted pumpkin bars recipe based on how much pumpkin was left in the can.  Does anyone really care to know that info?  Maybe not, but it may help explain why my next post of Pumpkin Snack Cake has an odd listing for the amount of salt and sugar to use.

I dislike opening something that I may not use the balance of before it goes to waste so it was important to me to know what I was going to make with the open can of pumpkin.  So this recipe ends up getting you a bonus.  You open a can of pumpkin to make the French Toast and then turn around and use the rest of the pumpkin for a yummy snack--no storing the pumpkin to hopefully use later and tossing out if you didn't use it in time.  (I'll try to post the recipe for Pumpkin Snack Cake by tomorrow--it's up now.)

I probably wouldn't try making this with regular bread slices.  French bread that is a day or two old--or as I had, a loaf I had stuck in the freezer when I had gotten it from the day old shelf at a great price.  If the bread is too soft it will absorb too much of the liquid and turn out soggy.
Only do a quick dip on both sides--just touch the surface quickly as you don't want to soak the bread in the batter.

Pumpkin French Toast

4 large eggs
1/4 of 15 ounce can of canned pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (non-fat or light)
1/2 cup milk (skim is fine)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (to taste)
2 tablespoons sugar
16 (3/4-inch thick) slices of day-old French bread (about one loaf)

In a flat-bottom or wide-bottom bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, yogurt, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.
Heat skillet to medium-heat, wipe lightly with canola oil.
Quickly dip bread on both sides into the egg mixture.
Place on hot skillet and cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned; preferrably flipping only once.
Repeat with remaining bread.
Serve immediately with syrup.

4-8 servings--depending on appetites (=2-4 slices per serving)

Notes:*Use French bread that is a day or two old.  If the bread is too soft it will absorb too much of the liquid and turn out soggy.
*Only do a quick dip on both sides--just touch the surface quickly as you don't want to soak the bread in the batter.
*Use your liquid measuring cup to eye-ball 1/2 cup of yogurt and then add milk until the total volume is 1 cup
*Nutmeg can be a strong spice for some people so I usually start on the lower side--the original would have equalled the 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.
*You can cut the recipe in half if this is too much.  Or store the batter for a couple days and make the rest another day.  Maybe even better yet, make the full amount and cook them all and refrigerate leftovers in a plastic bag and gently reheat individual slices in the microwave for quick breakfasts or snacks later in the week.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

It's time!!!!!!!  Time for what?  Time to dig out the zucchini recipies!
Growing up I absolutely hated zucchini.  Well, probably many veggies if we are going to be honest.  Poor veggies!  It wasn't their fault.  My mom only knew how to serve veggies one way--cooked.....no, worse yet, over-cooked.  YUCK!  And thus the mere idea of zucchini being in something yummy like bread, muffins, or cake was an absolute turn-off and I would not take even a nibble.  Lettuce may have been the only veggie I had that was not cooked before served to us.  Fast forward to college and beyond and slowly I was exposed to raw veggies and steamed veggies.  The veggie world began to open to me.  Gosh my kids are so lucky!  At least I think so.  The most heat zucchini sees around our house is an extreme short steam or toss through an already cooked meal.  No, I take that back.  It does go into things where it absorbs the flavor of the other items it is cooked into such as lasagne, cake, bread, muffins, and the like where you do not taste the cooked zucchini.  My kids actually like raw zucchini.......and so do I.

You do not have to like zucchini to like this recipe!  Besides being chocolate you get an added bonus.........you are getting a cake chocked full of veggies!  YEAH!
This cake has great moistness. The zucchini absorbes the cocoa delivering the full flavor of chocoate, but without heaviness.

If you've been too afraid and/or sitting on the fence trying to decide if you should or shouldn't, it's time to jump in.  Give it a try!!  You'll be glad you did!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; unsifted

1/2 cup cocoa

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup soft butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons orange peel; grated

2 cups zucchini; seeded and coarsely shredded

1/2 cup milk

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Glaze

 

Preheat the oven to 350F.
1) Combine the four, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
2) With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
3) Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
4) Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
5) Drizzle glaze over cake.

Glaze:
Mix together
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat until smooth.

Grandma Jacobson's Kringle

Kringles are sooooo good, yet pretty pricey.  Guess what?  They aren’t that hard to make!!

I had saved this recipe way too long ago but it was in a Holiday issue and there’s no way I was messing with something new then.  Every once in a while I’d see it in my must try stack and it would nag at me periodically.  I don’t know what Solo is (called for in the recipe) and have not taken the time to do much more than a simple search into it.  I decided a thickened pie filling should work.  The new crops of fresh blueberries started coming out and that lit the fire of inspiration to set the time aside to give this one a try.  Surprisingly, it didn’t take near the time I had anticipated it would.

To be safe, I made ½ recipe.  I put the dough ingredients in my KitchenAid mixer and the dough was done in no time.  I tossed it in the fridge overnight.

I expected rolling it out would be a project in itself but surprisingly, the dough is actually easy to roll out--moving it is a little tougher but doable.  I have to make them again to figure out a better way to keep them from losing their shape in transferring them.  This was one time I followed the directions to the letter <well, minus the filling!> and I am sure it would be much better to assemble them after moving the dough  to the baking pan.  Oh, I also used a silicone mat and that made clean-up so easy.  I added a note about that in the recipe.

When rolling it out, only use the amount of flour that you have to in order to roll it out.  Don’t use so little that it sticks, just be cautious.  I’m sure too much flour will equal a less delicate kringle.

I made my own blueberry filling loosely based on a blueberry pie recipe I have.  I can’t really share it adequately at this point as thus far I’ve just thrown together blueberries, sugar to taste, and a bit of flour for thickening and heated it until it became a filling.

The results?  Can you say YUM!!!!?

The mistake?  I only made ½ a recipe (2 kringles) and they were gone in mere minutes!

Don’t be scared.  Give it a try.  You won’t be the only one glad that you did!

Grandma Jacobson's Kringle

Makes: 4 kringles

Make two kringles for your family of four and save the rest of the dough and filling in the refrigerator for another laid-back morning.

Or, the dough can be frozen and the filling refrigerated for a couple of months.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup sour cream

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 can (12 ounces) prepared cake and pastry filling, such as Solo (divided)

1 beaten egg

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 to 5 teaspoons milk

Preparation:

Combine flour, sour cream and butter in mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets and set aside.

Cut dough into quarters. Place one quarter of dough on a floured surface and roll with a floured rolling pin into 5- to 6-inch by 11-inch rectangle. Dough will be about 3/16 to ¼ inch thick.

Spoon one fourth of the filling (about 4 ½ tablespoons) into center of dough, spreading with back of spoon to within about an inch of the edge. Fold sides toward center until they almost touch, and then fold up ends. Carefully lift kringle onto prepared cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, beat egg. Brush beaten egg over kringle, dabbing a little under folded ends to help them adhere. Repeat with remaining kringle dough and filling, placing two kringles on each cookie sheet.

<You probably want to use a silicone mat or parchment paper for easier clean-up.>

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

While kringle cools slightly, measure powdered sugar into small bowl and add vanilla and 3 teaspoons of milk. Beat with a fork. Continue adding milk a little at a time until frosting is thin and smooth and dribbles easily from fork.

Drizzle frosting back and forth across warm kringle. Slice (a pizza slicer works well) and serve warm or at room temperature.

Banana Crepes

....they are yummy AND easy to make!
A while back I bought a ton of bananas real cheap and wanted to make something for breakfast with them--besides banana bread, muffins, cake, etc.  That was the first time I ever tried making crepes.  I actually had never even tasted a crepe but they have always sounded delightful.  Don't know why I waited so long to try making crepes--they are easy!
Crepes do take some time to make but the results are worth it.  If I was smart I’d get two pans going at the same time and it would go faster.  But I’m usually throwing together my filling(s) at the same time so maybe that’s why I’ve not done that yet.  You can even make the crepes one day and fill and eat them another day.  We’ve even been known to use leftover crepes in the way I grew up eating lefse—smear on a thin amount of butter, sprinkle with sugar, roll up, and enjoy!
I’m still coming up with fillings we like.  Blueberry is a front runner but fresh strawberries alone or with some of the blueberries was good too.  Tried using strawberries in place of the bananas but fresh ones are much better.  Raspberry should be good too but I cooked them too much this time around so the jury is out on those.  Raspberries may be like strawberries in which they are better off left fresh and uncooked.  I’m working on a blueberry filling taken from my blueberry pie recipe and happy tummies are being made.  I’ve also been looking for savory fillings but so far the reviews have not been too positive.  If you’ve had fillings you’ve liked let me know and maybe I can figure out how to make that filling.
I would think you could use and canned pie filling very successfully.

For now I’ll start with sharing the recipe I started with......Banana Crepes.  I’ve already modified how I make them from the original recipe—cutting corners and/or adjusting for personal preferences.  If you want to see the original go to: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Creamy-Banana-Crepes.  Taste of Home uses a mixture of sour cream and confectioner’s sugar with the fruit filling but I’ve never made them that way.  I had some low or non-fat vanilla flavored yogurt in the fridge the first time I made them and thought that could be yummy.  <It was.>  And we liked that so I’ve never tried sour cream.  I couldn’t see mixing sour cream/yogurt with sugar for the filling—what would you do with any leftovers?  I decided you could save that step and just sprinkle the filling with sugar—but in using yogurt we’ve found we don’t even need that extra sugar; don’t know that you would with sour cream either.  Below is how I make them J.

Creamy Banana Crepes

CREPES:

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

*BANANA FILLING: (I usually need to make more filling than this)

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 medium firm bananas, cut into 1/4-inch slices (if they are starting to get soft it’s fine)

ADDITIONAL FILLING INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (8 ounces) low or non-fat yogurt (plain, vanilla, or complementary flavor to filling) (or sour cream)

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

TOPPING:

Additional confectioners' sugar and toasted almonds (optional)

In a small to medium bowl, combine the water, milk, eggs, butter and vanilla.  Combine the flour, sugar and salt; add to milk mixture and mix well.  The original said “Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour”—I never have.  I mix it and it sits on the counter a bit while I’m getting ready to start cooking but that’s the most “sitting” my batter ever does. 

Heat a lightly greased 8-in. nonstick skillet; pour 3 tablespoons batter into the center of skillet.  Lift and tilt pan to evenly coat bottom.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until top appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer.  Remove to a wire rack.  Repeat with remaining batter.  The original says “When cool, stack crepes with waxed paper or paper towels in between“.  I just stack them slightly uneven.  Any leftovers unfilled crepes I let cool and then put in a ziplock bag and then to the fridge.

In a small skillet, heat butter and brown sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add bananas; toss to coat.  Remove from the heat; keep warm.  This goes fast so you can wait to do this step when you are getting closer to wanting to serve them.  We find we like them cooked a little longer than just tossing to coat so cook to your preference.

Spread about a tablespoon (more or less, to taste) of yogurt over the center of each crepe.  Spoon banana filling over yogurt filling; sprinkle with almonds, if desired.  Roll up crepes; sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and toasted almonds (both optional, but yummy and makes them “prettier”). 

Yield: 1 dozen.

*NOTE:  Fresh sliced strawberries alone or with some banana filling is an easy filling substitution/addition.

Beer Butt Chicken

Yup, it's exactly that and you don't have to like beer to love this chicken!  You also don't need one of those beer can holders they are selling in the stores. 
Summer is keeping me busy and off my blog.  It's been too long since my last post and this is as easy to share as it is to make.  This chicken is so easy and so yummy.  It's also perfect for summer as you don't have to heat up the kitchen.

Beer Butt Chicken

1  (4 to 5lb)  whole chicken

lemon pepper

seasoned salt

granulated garlic (optional)

1/2 can  beer

Season inside and outside of chicken with lemon pepper and seasoned salt (like Lawry's).  (I usually season with granulated garlic as well.)  Just shake each seasoning all over.

Stick the 1/2 can of beer up the chicken's butt, keeping beer upright. 

The beer keeps the chicken moist and serves as a neat way to have the chicken be held upright on the grill.

Place a doubled over piece of aluminum foil on grill grate to catch drippings to prevent flare ups.  (The aluminum foil should be several inches larger than the space the chicken will take up on the grate.)

Preheat grill on high.  Put chicken (beer can upright) on aluminum foil and cook on high for about 15-20 minutes then turn down to medium.  Cook until chicken is done, probably about 1 1/2 hours.

A 4 to 5 pound chicken should serve 4-6 people.  However, if it’s the first time you’ve ever had it the chicken may be the only thing everyone wants to eat!

Corn Dog Muffins

Everyone was hungry but it was so hot nothing sounded good to anyone and worse yet, food should already have been on the table--not just being planned.  Well, thown in a frozen pizza, but that can't always be the answer in this situation.  A suggestion finally came of hot dogs, baked beans, and potato chips.  Picnic-type food.  Good idea, but the good thing about being the "chef" is the veto power that can be wielded.....and the chef was not in the mood for baked beans.  For some reason this night something with hot dogs in it would be acceptable and appeasing the hot dog request was not out of the question, but the only things that came to "chef's" mind were flat out "not today".  What other things were there beyond hot dogs in baked beans or hot dogs in mac-and-cheese??  Neither of those were appealing to the chef's taste buds for the evening.  Hello, Google?!  There are some strange things out there.  There are some flat out disgusting sounding things out there.  There are some 'just throw a bunch of stuff on top of a hot dog' things out there. 
But then there was an interesting one that popped out, "Corn Dog Muffins".  Looked at that one and then Googled that phrase.  Of course there are tons of variations.  Settled on starting with the one below......although it was modified immediately as I wanted it to be more like having corn dogs than having corn muffins with some hot dog pieces.  Like I said, it was late so this was a rush job.  I cut each hot dog into fourths and put 2 pieces in each muffin tin--but in the rush I only ended up with batter for 16 muffins so ended up with 4 uncovered hot dog chunks so I cut the 4 remainder hot dog chunks into 4 pieces each and put one of those pieces in each of the muffins.
Yikes!  that explanation was a bit confusing!  Just divide the hot dogs up into the muffin tins :-) . 
It could be interesting to see what it would be like with slightly smaller chunks of hot dogs, but not this time.  I will mention.......be sure to grease muffin tins.  I used silicone tins and they still needed a little something.  Also, if they are left to sit a bit before digging them out of the tins they will stay together better than the first tray of them I dug into in the rush to feed the crew before they had to be in bed.  There are various add-ins I read of in just the couple of recipes I perused--cheddar cheese, canned green chillies, creamed corn instead of corn, garlic, diced onion, etc.  But getting "fancy" or kicking it up a few notches was not in the cards for this round.  I'd also like to try making my own corn muffins for this rather than a pre-fab box, but this was the exact scenerio that dictates having a couple boxes of corn muffin mix in the cupboard can really come in handy.  These would also be interesting to try as mini-muffins for little ones or for appetizers.
When all was said and done, although not the healthiest, but not the worst either, it was a quick meal that contained meat, bread and veggie and no one said "yucka". 
Oh, and don't tell anyone, those were "light" hot dogs in there.

Corn Dog Muffins

18 Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 packages (8-1/2 ounces each) corn bread/muffin mix
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
• 10 hot dogs, chopped, sliced, or in chunks

Directions

In a large bowl, combine corn bread mix and brown sugar.  Combine eggs and milk; stir into dry ingredients until moistened.  Stir in corn and hot dogs (batter will be thin).

(.......honestly, I didn't want some muffins with tons of hot dog and others with next to none so I threw the hot dogs in the muffin cups and topped with the batter)

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.  Bake at 400° for 14-18 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve immediately or refrigerate. 

Top with ketchup and/or mustard as desired.

Yield: 1-1/2 dozen. 

Drowning doesn't look like what you think

A friend shared this post and now I am too.  Please go here to read the full info:
http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

These are just a few highlights from the article:
*The Instinctive Drowning Response is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind.
*Of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening.
*This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Best Ever Baked Mac and Cheese

My cousin was causing a stir today--bragging about her homemade macaroni and cheese and her husband raving that it is top notch.  Time to share!  My husband used to make mac and cheese almost identical to this recipe......without using a recipe, but we stopped having his because he would use a ton of Velveeta to make it (didn't use cheddar cheese) and we decided it just wasn't that healthy.  Think it is time to revive it--the key is everything in moderation, right?!
(the notes in bold brown are her comments/adjustments to the recipe)

BEST EVER BAKED MAC AND CHEESE

8 oz. box Macaroni
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup
1/2 soup can whole milk (I use skim and its fine)
8-10 oz shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (any shredded cheddar cheese works)
1 egg, beaten
1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers

Boil the macaroni until just al denté, barely rinse in a colander with cold water, drain.
(I don’t rinse the noodles)

While the macaroni drains, combine the cheddar cheese soup and half a soup can of milk in a saucepan and heat just until bubbly.

Once the soup/milk mixture is beginning to heat, sprinkle in about half of the shredded cheese and let the mixture melt together. Set the soup/milk mixture to the side to cool off while you beat one egg.

(I don’t let it cool, not necessary)

Once the soup/milk mixture has cooled some combine the mixture with the cooked macaroni and the beaten egg in a large bowl.

(I do this in the pot I cooked the noodles in)

Pour macaroni mixture into a buttered 9x13-inch pan and cover with the remaining shredded cheese.

Sprinkle the crushed crackers on top of the cheese.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven until bubbly.
(mine was about 15 minutes)

Tom Yum Kung

A number of years ago I wrote myself a note to find out how Egg Drop Soup is made.  Something else always got higher priority on the list but recently I had a craving for a soup I used to get at a Thai restaurant I lived near.  So I’ve finally started dabbling with both Egg Drop Soup and Thai style lemongrass soup (Tom Yum).  Still have a way to go to come up with what will be my recipe for either one but this is one of my inspirations and decided it must be a sign that I should share it (and some others) as it was the featured recipe today at Food.com.  This one gets high ratings so it certainly has to be worth the effort.  The beauty is substutions and additions work too!!

You can use chicken in place of shrimp.
You can add more vegetables.
You can add your favorite noodles or rice.
Swap out (or not even use) mushrooms for another kind.
You get the idea........

Tom Yum Kung

• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced thinly (tough outer leaves and bulb removed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons galanga powder (Thai ginger)
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced (or one large strip of lime peel)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 -2 small chili pepper, de-seeded and sliced (as hot as you like or mild)
• 1 medium bell pepper, sliced (any color)
• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (or any small mushroom)
• 12 large raw shrimp, shells removed
• 1 (11 ounce) can coconut milk

Pour stock and lime juice into a deep cooking pot.

Place lemongrass in a food processor and process until finely grated. Add to pot. The bulb can be thrown into the pot for additional flavor (remove before serving).

Add the galanga powder to the pot.

Add garlic, chilies, peppers, and Kaffir leaves (or lime peel). Bring to a mild boil.

Add the mushrooms and shrimp. Gently simmer 'til shrimp is pink.

Turn down the heat to low then add the coconut milk and fish sauce. Taste to adjust seasonings, adding more chilies and/or fish sauce (instead of salt) as desired.

Serve in bowls with cilantro sprinkled over. And on the side, steamed jasmine rice and quarters of fresh lime.

"Different" Baked Beans

I've never been a fan of bean conglomerates.  They always seem yucka to me.  <Yucka=new fun to use word in our house thanks to Cookie Monster being on Top Chef.>  Last summer I wanted more veggies than were really available at a bbq so tepidly took a small amount, no make that 1/2 forkful, of a baked bean conglomerate.  Figured if they weren’t too bad I’d choke down a few more.  They were great!  I asked how they were made and the best answer I could get was “oh, I found the recipe online”.  Thanks.  With nothing to go on I started searching recipe after recipe.  I finally typed in “different baked beans” and amazingly a recipe called that came up and seemed much like what I had eaten.
I’m sure it’s not the same as that one didn’t have lima beans <thank goodness, we just do not like them in this house> and I’m still trying to tweak it for us, along with doing something about the bacon fat, but for now this is a great place to start and thought I’d share the starting point for now.

"Different" Baked Beans

• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can green lima beans
• 2 large cans pork and beans
• 1 can butter beans
• 1 pound bacon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 3 to 4 sliced onions

Chop and fry the pound of bacon, but do not drain the grease.

In a large Dutch oven, add the bacon and the beans. Mix and cook on stove or bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 to1 1/2 hours. Or you could cook it in a slow cooker on high for 1 1/2 hours.

Skim off fat before serving.

I'll stick with food coloring for my eggs, thank you.

I barely find the time to boil the eggs needed so we can dye Easter eggs before Easter day.......so when I saw an article telling me to try coloring eggs the natural way this year......well, all I could do was shake my head.  I wouldn't sway anyone from doing it; our whole family would probably get a kick out of doing it.  I just know it's not happening here.  If you'd like to give it a try just do a search for something like "vegetable-dyed Easter eggs" or "natural dyed eggs" and you'll find a wealth of info/directions and photos out there.  Fruits, vegetables, spices, tea and coffee are used.  There are wonderful photos of gorgeous results, including marbleized effects......I'll just be admiring them and sticking to my old standby of food dyes for our eggs.
If you give it a try I'd love to hear about your adventure!