Friday, August 20, 2010

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
This is from a recipe book I received at church but no author is cited.

Ingredients:
5 to 6 large cooking apples (7 cups) chopped
1 cup apple juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
1. Core, peel, and chop apples
2. Combine with sugar and juice in crock pot
3. Cover and cook either on low for 6-8 hrs or on high for 2-3 hrs (both work great)
4. Remove mixture from crock pot and blend on high until smooth (try to use a blender because otherwise it will splatter all over)
5. Return apples to crock pot and add spices
6. Cook on low for 1/2 to 1 hr until mixture reaches desired consistency (I like mine really thick)
7. Taste it and if you want to add more spices go right ahead :0)

Notes: I have used all kinds of apples from tart to sweet and they all turn out really well.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Hawaiian Haystacks!

Hawaiian Haystacks
Serves...6 people?

Recipe by Linda Peterson

Just to be fair, I will say I looked at melskitchencafe.com to get a basic idea. But then I did what I wanted to do!

Ingredients

Chickeny Saucy Goodness:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
4 heaping tbls brown sugar
1 1/2-2 lb chicken (3-4 chicken breasts), chopped in big cubes or shredded
1/4 cup freshly chopped onion OR 1 1/2 tbls dried chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp Chinese five spice*
crushed red pepper
5 tbl soy sauce (more if desired)**
1 1/2 tsp Worstchershierisreisire sauce (i have no idea how to spell it...)
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 tbls sour cream

Other Possible Haystack components
Rice (required)
chow mein noodles
pineapple
mandarin oranges
coconut
chopped bell peppers
green onions
celery
shredded carrots

*Chinese five spice is made up of cinnamon, anise, fennel, ginger, and clove (in that order of quantity). If you don't have it in your cupboard but you have some of the constituent spices, just shake in some of those in whatever seems like a good ratio to you!

**You may especially want to dash in more soy sauce if the pan seems dry or the mixture seems too clumpy as you're adding the flour. You can probably add up to a 1/4-1/3 cup and it would be great!

Directions:

1) In a large pan (I used a 14-inch roasting pan with deep sides), put the butter, brown sugar, chicken, onion, garlic, five spice, soy sauce, and worsterchireshrires sauce. Shake as much crushed red pepper as desired across the surface (1 to 1 1/2 tsp is a pretty safe amount, more if you want a kick).
2) Cook over medium heat until chicken is done
3) Gradually shake in flour, stirring thoroughly so it gets incorporated well. It will start to clump up a little bit around the chicken. (Add more soy sauce if desired)
4) Gradually pour in milk, stirring thoroughly to incorporate the flour/sauce mixture. Sauce should thicken a bit as mixed and heated.
5) Stir and heat till mixture starts to bubble a bit (NOT a full boil). Continue to stir and heat for about 40 seconds.
6) Add sour cream. Stir and heat till steamy--it's ready to eat!
7) Hawaiian Haystacks are a self-assembled meal. You put out the chicken mixture, the rice, and any desired stackers (mandarin oranges, peppers, etc) and people put whatever they want in their stack! Yum!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Storming of Normandy

Once upon a time...Linda and Marcia decided to pay homage to those great heroes at Omaha Beach.



Here are some closer shots:

c

The finished product!


Very surprised Dad & Keith :0)


And...we won 1st Prize!

Dead Bunny Cake

Submitted by Momma Crumb & Marcia Brisson

**This is basically a yellow cake mix with shredded bunny. I will get more specific directions later but I really wanted to add these photos :0)

First...save your chocolate Easter Bunnies or buy them when they go on sale! We keep them in the freezer so we can use them all year long. Chocolate is very expensive so this is a great way to save money!



Next...cut that yummy bunny up, shred it, chop it, however you want!


Then...make a yellow cake and sprinkle the chocolate on top. If the cake is warm it will melt pretty easy but you could put it back in the oven for a few minutes just to be sure.


Then...serve it up when cooled. I mean, look how delicious that is!



To add insult to injury, I even ate it on a bunny shaped plate. Mwa ha ha!


Viola! Try that on for size Bunnicula!




Bison Chili

Submitted by Casey Van Camp & Marcia Brisson

Ingredients:
Kidney Beans Dark
Kidney Beans Light or Red
Mushrooms any type your choice, I recommend portabella
2 Bell peppers
3 Banana Peppers
2 Hot Peppers, depends on how hot you want the chili to be
1 Vidallia Onion
Black Olives sliced
Salt and Pepper
Oregano
Basil
Olive Oil, Flavored if wanted
Chili Mix Powder
Meat

Directions:
Cook all the veggies in the olive oil when done mix with the beans in a large pot
Cook the meat then mix in with the veggies and beans in a large pot
Pour in the chili mix and other seasoning
Stir all together and let simmer for about an hour

Notes: Casey and Marcia are making this tomorrow and I will tweak the recipe as needed :0)