Lemon Cookies for my hubby

My husband has a love affair with lemon. So when I saw this recipe in my mom's new Gooseberry Patch cookbook I knew I needed to make them for him. He absolutely loved them. I thought they lacked something, but I am also not a fan of lemon!

Mock Lemon Madeleines

8 oz pkg. cream cheese-softened
1/4 cup margarine-softened
1 egg
1 t vanilla
18 1/2 oz pkg lemon cake mix
1/2 cup chopped pecans (only mixed in to a few of them for me as hubby doesn't like nuts a lot of the time)
Garnish: Powdered sugar

Blend together cream cheese and margarine; add egg and vanilla. Stir in dry cake mix and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets (I used my silpads); Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, until bottoms are golden. When cool, sprinkle with powder sugar. Makes about 2 doz.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

One of my hubby's coworkers passed out 2 recipes, this one and an italian parm chicken (to make at a later date). We were hanging out on Saturday with not much to do so we decided to make these for lunch. The were really good! I will not add water to the mixture like the recipe calls for next time as it made it too drippy! This is how I made it:

2 large cans chicken (with white and dark meat)
1/2 cup of hot sauce (used a bottle I had in the fridge, but I really want to try it with Franks)
1/4 cup ranch dressing (I added this)

Sauce:
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 cup ranch dressing

Heat the chicken and hot sauce in a pan over med-low heat until it simmers. Stir in the 1/4 cup of ranch dressing. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until it's heated through.

Meanwhile mix sauce. Spread on bread and top with chicken mixture. Enjoy! This made enough for 3 sandwiches on reg. bread. (Not sure how much hubby put in his though)!

Taco Pie

My mom got another Gooseberry Patch cookbook and I got a few recipes out of it to make. This is one of them. It was so very good and will definitely stay in the rotation! Forgot to take a picture but I'll get one the next time!

1 can crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef
(called for onion but we don't eat)
1 can tomato sauce (I didn't have so I used one can tomato paste and one can water)
1 package taco seasoning
3 tbl sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
2/3 cups Doritos--crushed and seperated

Heat oven to 350.

Seperate crescent rolls and place in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate to cover the bottom and up the sides. place 1/3 cup of the Doritos over the crescent rolls.

Brown ground beef, if necessary drain, add tomato sauce and taco seasoning, bring to a simmer over low heat, let simmer 5 mins. Pour in to pan over Doritos. Spread sour cream over meat. Top with cheese and then rest of Doritos.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I had browned my meat and added the tomato sauce the night before. Really needed about 5 extra minutes in oven since it was cold!)

No bake cookies

So last night my hubby calls me from work to check on me and asks "did you make any treats tonight?". I had not but was in the mood to make something. I had a couple of hours til I would need to leave to go to my best friend's house for Girls Dinner Club so I thought I would whip up a batch of these lovely little cookies. I remember being 9 probably and my mom would allow me and my 13 year old sister to make these during the summer. And every summer after that we would make these at least once or a hundred times! Since I was 10 and I'm still using the same recipe I have no idea where it originated from!

We called them Missouri No Bake Cookies (but we're from MO so I'm not sure about the correct name!)

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Line 2 large baking sheets with wax paper, parchment paper, or alum. foil and set aside.
Combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute.
Add Vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oats.
Quickly drop mixture by heaping tablespoons onto lined cookie sheets.
Place in refrigerator until set. Once set remove cookies from sheet and place in air tight container in a cool, dry place.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies Take 2

I was on a wonderful new blog I found today called Cookie Madness and while I was browsing all of the wonderful cookies that are on there I came across this one. So the good people at Reese's changed the cookie on the back of the bag some years back and this is actually the one I made with my grandma all the time growing up! I am so happy to have it back in my recipe box, and this time I'm not gonna lose it!



Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups unsifted all purpose flour
2/3 cup Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (1 bag) Reese’s Peanut Butter Flavored Chips
(optional add-in) 1 cup of Reese’s Premier Baking Bits (I had some bags with only a handful or less in them of chocolate chunks and chips so I threw them in with my p.b. chips!)

Cream butter or margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet, or chill until firm enough to handle and shape small amounts of dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees f for 8-10 minutes.

Optional Step — Quickly press a few peanut butter cups into each cookie while hot.

Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet onto wire rack. About 5 dozen.

Weekly Menu 5/25-5/31

Monday: BBQ for Memorial Day at Mom & Dad's
Tuesday: Leftover pizza
Wednesday: Mom's Enchilada's
Thursday: Stuffed Pork Chops
Friday: Cornflake crumb chicken
Saturday: No clue, I have no idea what this weekend is going to bring yet!

And I'm researching cookies to make this week and it's either an updated peanut butter chip chocolate cookie or a chocolate chip pecan cookie. It may or may not happen tonight!

Heath Milk Chocolate Cookies

I think I should re-name this blog and start doing a daily cookie blog! I could make a different cookie everyday and probably never go through half of all of the ones I have flagged to make!

I had a bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits in my baking drawer forever and I was in the mood to bake. So I look on the back of the bag and there is a recipe for Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies and I thought that would be perfect....man was I right!

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbl milk
1 tbl vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Bag of Heath Toffee Bits (It called for only 1 cup and then you were to put some of them on top of each cookie before you baked but I didn't want to do that...so I didn't)
1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips (I added this)

Heat oven to 375.

Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg mixing only until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in toffee bits and chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping teaspons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet (I used the sil pad thingys). Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Yields about 3 dozen.

Mother's Day Brunch

I had my mom, sisters and hubby for Mother's Day brunch this year. I made Egg's Benedict in puff pastry that I found in a Taste of Home magazine my mother-in-law had and let me have.

Hashbrown Casserole that is a play on the one from Cracker Barrel that I've been making for years and can't remember where it came from.

A spinach salad with a yummy hot bacon dressing I found on Cooks.com.
HOT BACON DRESSING

4 strips bacon
2 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. bacon fat
1 egg
1 qt. box young dandelion stems or 1 head of endive or 4 cups fresh spinach.

Cut bacon in 1 inch pieces and brown, remove from pan and drain. To bacon fat add vinegar, water and sugar and heat to boiling. Beat egg in bowl and stir into hot mixture slowly. Clean dandelions or endive and put in individual serving dishes. Divide crisp bacon among servings, pour hot dressing over and serve at once. Serves 4.



I then made some Snickerdoodles for everyone to take home out of my Betty Crocker Bridal book (it's already on my blog). And made the cutest little bee's and daisy flowers that were in a Sandra Lee' magazine my mom got me! I served it all with new Lemonade Mimosas I got out of the same Sandra Lee magazine. I am uploading pictures and will upload recipes as I can!

Well I just realized I have no pictures of the food because my sister had her camera out so I'll have to have her send them to me so I can download them.

My first wedding cake!

I have had some people want to see all my cakes in one spot so I need to get the first cake I ever did on here. I love this cake. It turned out so great. I am proud to say I made this cake and that it was my first one ever!

Cakes from my sister-in-laws wedding...and stuff

I was so very honored when my sister-in-law asked me to make her wedding cake. I was so proud to do it for her!

I also got to make the cake for her wedding shower, which my other sister-in-law and I hosted. It was a wonderful day filled with great friends!

Restaurant Rave

I am a native Kansas Citian as I have lived in a southern suburb for my whole life. I love Kansas City. It has the best restaurants, great shops and wonderful spots for entertainment and sports. I have decided to start blogging more about great finds either through restaurants or the great decorating spots me and mom find!

So today we went to Le Peep which is nationwide and oh so good. They have a breakfast and lunch menu and trust me I had a hard time making a decision. I ended up having the french toast and bacon. Mom had the best egg's benedict that had spinach and other veggies on it and I had a bite best.bite.ever. and I'm usually not a huge egg's benedict fan! We will definitely be going back! (plus I'm dying to try the strawberry fields salad for lunch!)

Check out their online menu, then make plans to go!

White-chocolate pecan chocolate crinkles

I was searching AllRecipes.com for cookie recipes for 2 baskets I needed to make. One for my parent's neighbor who lost a father and one for new neighbors that moved in behind our house. So I came across for this recipe for Brown Sugar Chocolate Crackle Cookies. They were really flat, but really good!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate as it's what I had)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (used 1/3c since that's what some comments had said)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)and I also stirred in a cup of white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar


DIRECTIONS
Melt the chocolate chips and combine with the brown sugar and vegetable oil. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Stir in the vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Chill dough for a few hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets.
Drop teaspoonfuls of dough in confectioners' sugar and roll to coat. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool on racks.

My take on Baja Chicken Soup

At our local bar & grill they have the best Baja Chicken Soup so I thought I would try and re-create it at home. This is how I did it!

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in bite size pieces
1 tbl olive oil
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3 cups chicken broth
1 can ro-tel
2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 packed taco seasoning

Place olive oil in stock pan, heat over medium heat, throw in chicken. Cook until it's white on outside. (It will cook more so make sure and don't cook all the way through). Place can of soup and chicken broth in pot and bring to boil. Then place rotel, beans and corn in pot. Season to your taste with seasoning packet (I only used 1/2 for us). Simmer until heated through and ready to eat.

I'm Back!!!! And just in time for Mother's Day!

Well the best neighbors in the world got WiFi and were nice enough to let me come along! I am back on-line and feel like I'm back in the world of the living!

We are having a brunch at our house this weekend for Mother's Day and I am so excited! On the menu: Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, eggs benedict in pastry, hashbrown casserole, mini-cinamon muffins, and I'm debating on making the cutest cupcakes I saw in Sandra Lee's new magazine that has daisys and bees on them!

Then I have to make a batch of Snickerdoodles for my mom as she requested them and you can't deny your mom!

I can't wait to update pictures of what I've done while I've been off-line and to make even more new things!

xoxoxo
Crystal

Another Update----Books

Well I decided at that beginning of the year that I wanted to read more, with not working I thought I should have plenty of time, so I pledged to read 50 books in 2009. This is why the book list has shown up on the side of my page. Reading more has proven true. With Kevin working nights I find myself engrossed in books. My new love is Fern Michaels. Everyone of her books have grabbed me and they just make me want to keep reading more and more. I just went back to one of my fave authors Jennifer Crusie. I really love her writing and her subjects. So that's what I have been up to. Plus I finally figured out how to get on the computer at Starbucks so I'm good to start posting more. So in the days, well maybe weeks to come I will be posting more! In the meantime I am working on a cake for my BFF's Dad's Birthday for tomorrow and then my sister-in-laws wedding cake next week. So I'll have lots of cake updates and maybe some old recipes I have made that I need to post! I hope everyone is well!

xoxoxo
Crystal