MM’s Frozen Lemonade Pie January 11, 2011

For the crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
2 cups heavy cream
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 6oz can frozen lemonade concentrate (do not thaw)

For the topping:
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Make the crust: In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, amd melted butter. Press firmly on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 7 minutes; cool completely.

2. Make the filling: In a cold medium bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, stir together the condensed milk and frozen lemonade. Gently for the lemonade mixture into the whipped cream. Pour the filling into the crust; freeze overnight.

3. About an hour before you serve the pie, make the topping: Toss the berries in a medium bowl w/ the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside until ready to serve.

4. Let the pie come to room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting. Top each slice w/ berries!

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Chocolate Sybil cake

Ingredients
Cake:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey’s)
• 1 teaspoon nutella (optional)
Frosting:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

For the cake: Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl. Add to creamed mixture, continuing to beat. Add vanilla, orange zest and chocolate syrup to batter and mix well. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 60 minutes (the original recipe said 30mins but my cake took closer to 50 mins to get fully baked). Just before cake is done, prepare frosting.

For the frosting: Put butter, chocolate chips, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stirring ingredients together, boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts. Pour over warm cake.

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MM’s THAI SPAGHETTI

INGREDIENTS:

Salt (optional) for cooking the pasta
8 oz spaghetti
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package (8oz) pre-sliced mushrooms
2 cups pre-shredded carrots
1/2 pound already peeled and deveined medium sized shrimp (if you don’t care for shrimp you can sub baked popcorn chicken pieces instead. These come frozen and can be baked while the spaghetti is boiling)
4 oz (1 cup) fresh snow peas
1 jar (8oz) Thai peanut sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish
4 lime wedges, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add salt, if using, and stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook the spaghetti, partially covered, until al dente, 9 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and carrots and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms begin to yield their liquid, 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook, stiring, until they turn pink and opaque and are cooked through, 3 minutes longer.

3. During the last 2 minutes of the spaghetti cooking time add the snow peats to the pot and cook them until they turn bright gree and are crisp-tender.

4. Add the peanut sauce to the shrimp in the skillet, stir to mix, then cook until the peanut sauce is just heated through. Drain the spaghetti and snow peas well in a colander, shaking it a few times to remove any water that might still cling to the pasta. Ladle the spaghetti and snow peas into a serving bowl, spoon the sauce over them, and garnish with the cilantro springs. Squeeze some lime juice over the top of each serving.

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MM’s Barbecue Quesadillas w/ cliantro lime cream

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (16oz) coleslaw mix
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup pickle juice
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 package (18 oz frozen or 16 oz fresh)shredded pork or beef barbecue OR 2 cups shredded cooked chicken mixed with 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 package (8oz)shredded Cheddar cheese
16 flour tortillas (10″)

DIRECTIONS:

Place coleslaw mix, mayo, pickle juice, salad dressing, and sugar in a med-size bowl and stir to combine. Taste of sweetness, adding more sugar if needed.Cover bowl w/ plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.

Place the sour cream, cilantro leaves, and lime juice in a food processor or blender and preww until smooth, 30 seconds. Set the cilantro cream aside.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat a griddle or large skillet over med-high heat. Brush w/ oil.

Scatter an eigth of the BBQ meat, 1/4 cup of the slaw, and 1/4 cup of the cheese evenly over each of the 8 tortillas and top with the remaining tortillas. Place 4 quesadillas on the griddle or one at a time in the skillet.

Cook on one side until crisp, 2 minutes. Carefully turn over and cook 2 minutes longer on the other side. Place the quesadillas on a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm until serving.

Slice the hot quesadillas into wedges and serve with the cilantro cream drizzled over them or on the side.

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Trina’s Dad’s Chili

2 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 pound stew meat (beef, venison, etc) (optional)
1 medium onion …chopped coarsely
2/3 cup dark rum (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large can of tomato juice
1-12 oz can of tomato sauce
1 large can of tomatoes
1- 12 ounce can tomato paste
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 garlic cloves (fresh are best)
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2 bunches green onion.. chopped
2 bell peppers
1 tablespoon cummin
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
3 cans chili beans

Brown hamburger, stew meat, and onions in olive oil, drain. Add meat and the rest of the ingredients to big stock pot on the stove or to crock pot. Simmer 2 1/2 hours on the stove or 4 hours on high in the crock pot. Stir FREQUENTLY–flavors will blend after cooking for awhile. If you use rum, BE PATIENTt…it does not taste very good until it has cooked for at least 2 hours!

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Karen Tsang’s Slow Cooker Chinese Ribs

Approx. 2 lbs. Short Ribs
4 parts Soy Sauce
3 parts Black Vinegar
2 parts Sugar
1 part Rice Vinegar

Cut Ribs apart into smaller pieces. Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker, until half the ribs are covered. (The ribs will make more sauce.) Slow cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until desired softness. Serve with Rice.

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Coca-Cola Cake

Don’t make the frosting ahead–you need to pour it over the cake shortly after baking.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
Coca-Cola Frosting
Garnish: 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

Combine Coca-Cola and buttermilk; set aside.
Beat butter at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar; beat until blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat at low speed until blended.

Combine flour, cocoa, and soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with cola mixture; begin and end with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended.

Stir in marshmallows. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13- x 9-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Pour Coca-Cola Frosting over warm cake; garnish, if desired.

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Mississippi Mud Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan.
Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

Note: 2 (19.5-ounce) packages brownie mix, prepared according to package directions, may be substituted for first 7 ingredients. Stir in chopped pecans. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Proceed with marshmallows and frosting as directed.

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Amanda’s Decadent Delight January 10, 2011

Simple White Cake:
Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Angel Lush:
1 can 20 ounce crushed pineapple
1 3.4 ounce package of french vanilla pudding mix
1 cup extra creamy cool whip

Mix the pudding and pineapple then stir in the whipped cream until all is fully incorporated.

Jell-o Poke Cake:
1 13×9 cake of your choice
1 3 ounce package jell-o of your choice
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
1 8 ounce tub whipped topping of your choice (I am substituting the angel lush for this recipe)

Poke holes in cake with either a large fork or wooden spoon, about 1/2 inch apart.

Add boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water; pour over cake. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Then top with Angel Lush mixture.

(I used cherry jell-o for those who want to know.)

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Soft Sugar Cookies December 27, 2010

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract ( I usually use all vanilla)
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

PREPARATION:

Cream shortening and butter with sugar. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour milk into a large measuring cup; add extract(s) and baking soda. Into a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets then sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes at 375°. Store sugar cookies in an airtight covered container.

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