Author Archives: Ang

Jun13

Shrimp Pasta Salad

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I don’t really measure anything in this recipe. I add the seasoning and dressing to taste and depending on how much pasta and vegetables I’ve used. 

Cook shrimp with Old Bay seasoning. Toss with cooked rotini pasta and your choice of diced vegetables. I typically use red, yellow, and green peppers, tomatoes, and onions. Add your favorite Italian dressing (I use Wishbone Robusto Italian), Good Seasons dry italian dressing mix, pepper and more Old Bay seasoning, to taste.  Sprinkle the top with a little paprika. Yum!

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Jun13

Lemon Sugar Cookies

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These cookies are probably the easiest cookies I’ve ever made… and the most popular! I made Funfetti cookies (with Funfetti cake mix) one day and then later decided to try to make lemon cookies with cake mix, too. This is what I ended up with, based on the lemon cake that I make as well. You can’t really mess these up. So good! 

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 box Pillsbury Classic Yellow cake mix
  • 1 package lemon instant pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix and pudding mix.  Add oil, eggs, and extract; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4 thickness with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown.

Mar2

Club Soda Waffles

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Okay, these are not homemade waffles but they are a quick and easy option for waffles and I had to share them.  These waffles are so perfectly fluffy, but they brown nicely and are slightly crispy on the outside.  My mom found this recipe and my dad made them when I visited them in January. I’ve wanted to make them ever since! Yum!

Club Soda Waffle Batter

2 cups biscuit or bisquick mix

1 egg

1/2 cup oil

1 1/3 cup club soda

(This makes about 6 waffles in our Belgian waffle maker. )

From: Heloise

Feb1

Iowa Applesauce Cake

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My mom made this cake for New Year’s.  She was so excited to use the new cake pan that I gave her for Christmas from Williams Sonoma.  It was so beautiful! And it tasted great, too. You should have heard my mom scream when my dad attempted to cut the cake normally. “You have to follow the curve!” LOL

The recipe called for a cream cheese frosting but my mom just used a simple glaze made with confectioner’s sugar and water.  She also omitted the raisins and nuts.  She added  2 tablespoons of meringue powder which is something we both do with every cake.  It helps them rise more. 🙂

Iowa Applesauce Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine or butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter or margarine for 30 seconds. Add both sugars and egg; beat until combined. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add flour mixture alternately with applesauce to butter mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

From: ecookbooks

Dec24

Christmas Sugar Cookies

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A few days ago, Lindsey (Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings) posted this recipe on the What’s Cooking board.  They looked so good and she raved about them so much that I decided to try them myself.  I am so glad I did!  This really is a great classic sugar cookie recipe.  I added royal icing to some of them and I finally managed to make a cookie that compared to the iced sugar cookies that Scott has always talked about that his Aunt Barbara used to make.  Yay!

Lindsey says that these are her dad’s favorite recipe.  When I made these, I couldn’t help but think about and miss my dad this Christmas as he loves sugar cookies and I know he would love these! I am going to have to make them for him very soon! I also miss my mom as making sugar cookies on Christmas Eve is something we did together for many years when I was growing up.  But.. I think they will make great New Years’ cookies, too. 🙂

Christmas Sugar Cookies

From: Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings

Ingredients

1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Confectioner’s Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Oil
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp. Salt
Colored Sugar

Directions:In a large bowl cream butter and sugars.

Beat in eggs one at a time, until mixture is light.

Add oil and vanilla.

Beat until well blended.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.

Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until blended.

Wrap dough and chill for several hours.

Roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Flatten dough with the bottom of a glass dipped in colored sugar.

Bake at 325 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, until just set.

Let stand on cookie sheet before two to three minutes before removing.
(Makes about seven dozen)

Royal Icing using Meringue Powder

From: Joy of Baking

4 cups confectioners’ sugar 

3 tablespoons meringue powder

1/2 teaspoon extract (vanilla, lemon, almond)

1/2 – 3/4 cup warm water

Food Coloring

For Royal Icing with Meringue Powder: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder until combined.  Add the water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form (5 to 7 minutes). If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more powdered sugar or water. To cover or ‘flood’ the entire surface of the cookie with icing, the proper consistency is when you lift the beater, the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing for a few seconds before disappearing. Add desired food coloring.

The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

Makes about 3 cups

 

Dec24

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I have used this original Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe for several years.  I’ve tried a few other popular recipes but, believe it or not, these always seem to be the favorite.  So I guess the saying is true- if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: Very Best Baking

Ingredients:

 

 

 

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
  • 1 cup chopped nuts

 

 

 

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 

 

I like to make these into bars, too.

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Dec15

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

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I made these muffins to take to work and share with the teachers on my grade level.  The recipe was suggested to me on my cooking board and I couldn’t wait to try them.  Apparently this recipe is on a few blogs but I was referred to and used the one on Baked Perfection. Risa added cinnamon the the batter which I thought was a good idea. These muffins were easy to make and baked up nicely.  They were done in about 13 minutes.  I am not entirely sure why they are called doughnut muffins but I kept the original title of the recipe. 🙂

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
adapted from Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix; batter will not be smooth.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 12-15 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine ½ cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffing are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Yields 12 standard muffins.

From: Baked Perfection

Nov28

Thanksgiving Desserts

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This year, I made three desserts to take to my in law’s house for Thanksgiving: lemon cake, chocolate pie, and apple pie.  I am especially excited about the apple pie because it was my first one! It was so easy, I don’t know what took me so long. But I have to admit that I planned to make the crust from scratch and ended up using a Pillsbury crust… so I still need to conquer that goal!

Lemon Cake

I usually make this lemon cake in a bundt pan and top it with glaze but I wanted to decorate it for the holiday so I used Wilton’s decorator frosting. My plan was to make a really big turkey that took up the top half of the cake but I realized that I didn’t have enough frosting so I settled for a small one in the middle of the cake. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I was satisfied with my first attempt at drawing a turkey on a cake. 🙂

Chocolate Pie

This is literally the easiest pie ever. Three filling ingredients: chocolate pudding mix (1 large box), milk ( 2 cups), and whipped cream (1 cup).  Whisk them together and throw them into a large graham cracker crust and top with more whipped cream.  Set in the refridgerator for a at least a few hours.  I made this a couple years ago for Thanksgiving and everyone liked it so my mother in law asked me to make it again.

Apple Pie

I did a lot of searching for the perfect apple pie recipe.  My mom is the queen of pies.  So, when she suggested this Paula Deen recipe, I stopped looking for one.  It calls for a crumb topping but I didn’t make it. Instead I brushed the top with milk and sprinkled sugar over it, which is what my mom does. It came out beautifully! It browned nicely and was done in about 55 minutes.

Ingredients

  • two 9 inch pie crusts
  • 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 1/4 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Dash salt
  • 3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped cooking apples (I used Granny Smith and Fuji apples) 
  • 1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce (I used chunky applesauce)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of dough. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the apples, applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon the apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.

From: Food Network

Nov18

Slow Cooker Pizza Pork Chops

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I made these pork chops a long time ago, not sure how well they would go over. Pizza pork chops? And you make them in a crockpot? But I made them anyway and Scott really liked them.  Even though he tends to like the traditional smothered or fried pork chops.  Today, I finally got around to making them again.  I was in the mood to make a slow cooker meal that was easy to prepare. You spend less than ten minutes getting these in the crockpot. 

The only thing I add is more seasoning to the sauce- italian seasoning, basil, garlic, whatever I have on hand.  Also, I serve it over white rice instead of orzo.

Slow Cooker Pizza Pork Chops

Ingredients

6 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick (about 2 1/4 lb)
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/4  teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 cups tomato pasta sauce
4 cups cooked orzo
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Directions

1. Remove excess fat from pork. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown.
2. Place pork in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle onion over pork. Add pasta sauce.
3. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours.
4. Place orzo on platter. Top with pork and sauce. Sprinkle with cheese.

From: Betty Crocker website.

Nov9

Roasted Cornish Game Hens

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Many years ago my Aunt Mary made cornish game hens for a holiday dinner- I am pretty sure it was Christmas.  I was probably in early high school at the time. They were so good! I’ve wanted to make some ever since but I was also intimidated to try.  Well, tonight I finally did!  On a whim, I bought some at the store last night.  I came home and consulted a cooking board that I regularly frequent for advice on how to make them and recipe recommendations.  In the end, I didn’t follow an actual recipe or measure anything out.

I brushed the hens with olive oil and seasoned them with kosher salt, pepper, minced garlic, oregano, thyme, basil, and paprika.  I put water at the bottom of the roasting pan and added two teaspoons of onion soup because I didn’t have any chicken broth but wanted to add a little more flavor.  I cooked them at 375 degrees until they reached a temperature of 180 degrees.

They came out very well! My family enjoyed them and said I did a good job. (Although I am not sure if they were as good as I remember Aunt Mary’s being.) The paprika helped them brown nicely. They were very moist and tender.  I put off making them for so long because most of the recipes I’d seen were kind of complicated. This was a very easy way to prepare them for the first time. I will try one of the recipes next time!