Brisson's Bakery

French Window Quilt

2011-12-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

finished dimensions 58"x78"

Supplies:

SANITY
inspiration
friends that will help you problem solve
youtube and blog tutorials
rotary cutter and mat

So this quilt has been on my to-do list since high school. I had all the yellow squares and little blue squares cut. I picked them up in November 2010 when home for Grandpa Brisson's 90th birthday extravaganza and have been looking at them ever since.

Each yellow block has 4 pieces sewn together, making the yellow "blocks" about 8.5" finished, and the little blue ones are about 2" finished (The white sashing between blocks is also 2" finished).

The quilting is really simple-- just straight lines presser-foot distance from the sides. I would have liked to do more, but I need more practice. Also, the lines work nicely on this quilt, which was a bonus.

Grandma Brisson's Potato Casserole

2011-12-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Amber Vernon (from Grandma Brisson)

Ingredients:
8 cups (2.5 lbs) cubed potatoes (I'd used peeled Yukon Golds)
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp onion powder
paprika
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Boil the potatoes in water for about 25-30 minutes or until fork-tender.

2. Mash the potatoes, Miracle Whip, cream cheese, salt, pepper, and onion powder (in addition, I'd go ahead and use a hand mixer to get them smooth too).

3. Put in a 1.5 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle paprika over the top of the potatoes.

4. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Gravy!

2011-11-21T19:41:00.001-08:00

So, I completely invented this recipe today, and it turned out rather well. I wanted to bring something different to Nick's law school Thanksgiving potluck, and while pondering on what was in my pantry, the idea of pumpkin gravy popped into my mind. I had never heard of such a thing, but I figured someone else probably had a great recipe out there. I searched, but the only non-Indian food style pumpkin gravy I saw was this really weird sounding stuff from Food Network. Pumpkin sage gravy? With bacon? Blech! I thought it sounded super gross. Since nobody had anything tried and true that looked appealing, I made up my own! Try it out for your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. It's tasty over mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, you name it. Hooray for the marvelous pumpkin!

Pumpkin Gravy
by Linda Peterson

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour (4 tbl or half a stick)
1 (15oz) can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 tsp paprika
Heaping 1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt (if needed--it depends on how salty the broth is)
1/2 water or more, depending on your desired consistency

1. Measure the flour. Measure the chicken broth. Have both standing ready. In a sauce pan over medium/high heat, melt butter; don't allow to burn. Immediately when melted, begin to shake in the flour a bit at a time, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon to thoroughly incorporate and form a roux. Don't allow to burn.
2. Lower to medium heat. As soon as butter and flour are mixed, gradually add chicken broth, constantly stirring to mix well.
3. Add pumpkin and spices gradually as well. Lower heat a bit if mixture seems to be losing too much moisture.
4. Mix in at least 1/2 cup water to thin the gravy. If you want it even thinner, gradually add more water, thoroughly mixing after each little addition. Go slowly so as not to overthin and dilute the flavors. This is a thick gravy.
5. Taste. Add 1/4 tsp salt and a dash more pepper if your broth was perhaps not salty enough.
6. Bring to the dinner table and glob it all over your plate and ENJOY!

MILK TOAST

2011-10-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp
Originally created and taught by Grandma Arline Brisson

When I learned it from Grandma, nothing was really measured, so I have never measured anything when I make it either.

Ingredients

Milk (I have used fat free to whole and there is not much difference)

Butter or margarine (1 stick or 1/2 cup)

Salt

Pepper

Sugar

French bread / baguette style - cut in approx. 1-1 1/2 inches wide

Directions

1. In a large pan, melt the butter and brown it...basically it means you cook it but not burn it. I would say put the heat on medium high and move the pan around to move the butter so it doesn't burn. This is the most important step b/c it affects the flavor...everything else is easy from here. In dark pans it is hard to see if the butter is brown so sometimes I would get a spoonful of it to take a closer look.

2. Once the butter is perfect, pour some milk in...I have never measured it, I usually just put in enough to fill 3/4 of the big pan...with enough room to dip the bread without spilling.

3. Turn the heat down to like medium low. You don't want the milk to boil over.

4. Add 1/4 cup of sugar

5. Add 1 tsp of salt

6. Add 2 tsp of pepper (this is approx. I usually measure the pepper by...are there enough black
specks in...and then I add a ton more.) Usually the browned butter + the pepper gives it that yummy kick.

7. When the milk is warm, put a piece of bread in the pan. Depending on how deep it is, you can dunk it with the spatula or whatever you need to do to get it all wet. Just a few seconds...careful not to let it fall apart.

8. Put it in a bowl or something that can catch the liquid.

9. Keep repeating until all the bread is gone...serve with syrup!!

YUM!!!

Pepitas! aka Pumpkin Seeds

2011-10-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp
from: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/pepitos/

Ingredients:
Pumpkin seeds from a carved pumpkin
Olive Oil
Salt (table salt)

Directions:

As you gut the pumpkins, keep all the seeds—and guts—in a bowl.

Throw them into a colander and rinse them under cold water, pulling away the chunks of pulp as you go (you don't have to be extremely thorough)

Spread the rinsed seeds out on a baking sheet.

Allow the seeds to dry several hours or overnight. And beware: they’re quite sticky/slimy, so don’t place them on paper towels! Just leave ‘em on the baking sheet and they’ll be fine.

When they’re nice and dry, go ahead and preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Begin by drizzling the seeds with a couple teaspoons of olive oil.

Use your fingers to toss the seeds around to coat.

Then salt and season the seeds to taste.

Pop ‘em in the oven for an hour or so, until the seeds are light golden brown.

Let them cool for a few minutes…then let the snacking begin!

Pepitas need to be stored in an airtight container if they last beyond the first day.

Puff Biscuits

2011-10-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup flour
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs and milk
3. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 pinch of pepper
4. Gradually stir in the flour so that it does not clump...a whisk helps!
5. Get a cupcake pan. Take a small section of a paper towel and dip it in vegetable oil, and coat each of the 12 sections evenly with oil. This will help the lil' guys puff up!
6. Pour the batter into the sections, about half way
7. This makes about 24 puffs total

Notes: Even if the puffs are cold and you want them the second day, they are still so good! You can eat them cold with jelly or toast them...they are not as puffy the second day but they are yummy!

Pus ‘n Chunks

2011-10-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp from Jayne Carlton
(see my notes at the bottom)

Ingredients: 1 lb. Link Sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ cups celery, sliced
½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced
2 med. Potatoes (already cooked and cut into pieces)
2 cans Cream of Celery Soup
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Milk (to think soup if needed)

Directions: Brown in a Large Pot:
1 lb. Link Sausage, cut into 1” pieces, remove from pot
Sauté in the drippings until barely soft:
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ cups celery, sliced
½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced

Add:
2 med. Potatoes (already cooked and cut into pieces),
or 1 can potatoes, cut into ½” pieces
2 cans Cream of Celery Soup
Heat through, but do not boil

Add:
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or can be served on the side)
Thin with milk as needed

Notes: Marcia = I usually use 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of cream of celery soup...I usually don't add onions but I always put in chopped carrots!

I also really like to have biscuits of some sort served to soak in the soupy goodness...especially Puff Biscuits!

Pad Thai

2011-08-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Linda Peterson

(I usually double it for 8 servings! But don't double the eggs).

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 package (6 to 8 oz) rice noodles (the thick kind)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup water
3 Tbl packed brown sugar
3 Tbl fish sauce or soy sauce
3 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl rice vinegar or white vinegar
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbl vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
4 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves
*Plus: 12-16 oz of tofu, frozen cooked shrimp, or chopped cooked chicken

Directions:
1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat 4 cups water to boiling. Remove from heat; add noodles (push noodles into water with back of spoon to cover completely with water if necessary). Soak noodles 3 to 5 minutes or until noodles are soft but firm. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water.

2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir lime juice, 1/3 cup water, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, cayenne pepper, and 1 tbl of the oil until well mixed; set aside.

3. In non-stick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbl of oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallot in oil about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until starting to brown. Add eggs, Cook about 2 minutes, stirring gently and constantly, until scrambled but still moist.

4. Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high. Cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken (sometimes I add a little cornstarch+water to thicken). Add tofu, chicken, or shrimp. Cook 2-3 minutes, tossing, until noodles are tender. Serve with chopped peanuts, bean sprouts, green onions, and cilantro. Additional lime wedges are also nice.

*If using tofu, stir-fry in wok before adding the eggs, then set aside. Proceed with the recipe.
If using shrimp, make sure it's cooked, peeled, deveined medium shrimp and that you thaw it beforehand.
If using chicken, stir-fry it separately with a little basil and garlic, then set aside.

A couple other notes: Don't double the shallot. don't double the cayenne. if you make a single recipe of this, i recommend cutting the cayenne in half, unless you really like spicy. I usually don't include the green onions or cilantro cuz nick isn't a big fan of those things, but I'm sure they'd be delicious! read the instructions on your rice noodle box, because they might be different from what the recipe says. also, I usually add a little corn starch+water mixture to help thicken the sauce a little bit. once you have the sauce and noodles ready, this recipe cooks up really quickly and it's SOOO GOOD. enjoy!

Blueberry Bars

2011-07-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp
From: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-bars/detail.aspx

These are so so delicious! Jessica Hubbard Stacy made some and they tasted like a cloud made out of blueberries!

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons cream cheese softened
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
Grease a 9 inch square baking dish.

To make the crust:
Cream shortening, sugar, one egg, milk and almond extract in a large bowl
Mix in flour and baking powder, stirring constantly
Spread crust evenly in baking pan
Top with blueberries.

To make the topping:
In a medium bowl, beat two eggs, and cream cheese until smooth.
Stir in powdered sugar and almond extract.
Spread over blueberries.
Bake 55 to 60 minutes, or until firm to the touch.
Cool in pan before cutting.

Potato Salad

2011-06-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Van Camp per Bob Van Camp

Ingredients:
Vinegar
Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil
Cumin
Mustard
Mayo
Potatoes
Red Pepper
Celery

Directions:
1. Boil the potatoes with salt and pepper (don't over boil, check at 10 min)
2. Cut up the celery into small pieces
3. Combined potatoes, celery and all other ingredients to taste.

Since Bob Van Camp doesn't measure anything this is the best I could add for now but once I try this out I will add more exact measurements.

Irish Michaelmas Pie

2011-03-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
http://www.littleshamrocks.com/Irish-Pie-Recipes.html#IrishMichaelmasPie

Ingredients:
12 oz. all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 oz. vegetable shortening
3 oz. chilled butter, diced
3 fl. oz. chilled water
pinch of salt
2 lbs. cooking apples
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground nutmeg (I didn't have this so I just added more cinnamon)
12 oz. blackberries (I cute each blackberry in half)
1 egg, beaten

***FYI 8 ounces is 1 cup

Oven 350F

Pastry Directions:
1. Prepare the pastry.
2. Place the flour in a large bowl and stir in the cinnamon and salt.
3. Rub in the butter and shortening with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Make a well in the center and add the chilled water.
5. Bring the mixture together using a round-bladed knife.
6. Once it has come together, knead for a brief moment and place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling Directions:
1. Peel and core the apples.
2. Cut into large chunks and place them in a saucepan with the sugar, cloves and nutmeg.
3. Cover with a lid and gently cook for 5 minutes or until the apples have softened. Fold in the blackberries and remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Cool completely. (I put mine in the fridge)

Make the Pie:
1. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out 2/3 on a lightly floured surface.
2. Line an 8 inch metal pie plate.
3. Strain the fruit but keep the juice. After all the fruit is in, pour back in the juice but only enough to cover half the pie. Otherwise, the juice will pour out the pan and into your oven.

I also took some of the juice and added it to the crust but then of course I had to add more flour to make the dough back to it's originally consistency. You don't have to do this but I thought it was a great way to flavor the crust. If you still have remaining juice, just keep it because you can use it later when serving to pour over the pieces if you want. It is really tasty!

4. Roll out remaining pastry and lay over the fruit.
5. Lift back the edge and brush the base with a little egg and seal the edge. Trim and crimp the pastry edges.
6. Brush the surface with the remaining egg and make a couple of slits in the top.
7.Scatter a little more sugar over the pastry and bake for 35 minutes. (I cooked mine longer because I like harder crust)

Serve hot or cold with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Chicken Tetrazzini

2011-01-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
From the kitchen files of Christina Bishop

Ingredients
2-3 chicken breats, baked or boiled then chopped (about 2" squares)
1/2 pkg (or more) of sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. butter
2 c. sour cream
(1) 10.5 oz. can of cream of chicken soup
8-10 oz. vermicelli (thin noodle) or other pasta (cooked)
Season salt to desired taste
Salt to desired taste
Pepper to desired taste

Directions
1. Brown chicken & mushrooms in butter
2. Add soup and sour cream to mixture
3. Remove from heat
4. Add seasoning
5. Cook pasta just until done (don't overcook)
6. Drain pasta and add to chicken mixture
7. Pour everything into a casserole dish (9x13 pan)
8. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 40 min. at 350 degrees
9. Remove tinfoil for at lest 10 min. before serving

Vegetarian Chili

2011-01-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Linda Peterson
(or vegan, if you don't use any cheese!)

I happened upon this recipe in 2007 while perusing some cookbook (with cheap, healthy, easy recipes for college students) that belonged to my roommate Amber. I thought it sounded delicious, and lo and behold it WAS delicious! This is the perfect time of year for this chili. It's very cheap, you can have most all of the ingredients in food storage, and it's really great to make for friends that are sick or just had a baby.

1 bell pepper (any color is good!)
1 sweet yellow onion
2 (15 oz) cans black beans
2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes (the big chunky ones by Hunt's are my favorite)
1 (15 oz) can corn
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cinnamon (THIS is the magic ingredient)

Chop up the onion and bell pepper. In the bottom of a big pot (where you will put all the rest of the chili ingredients), saute onion and bell pepper in butter till they just begin to brown. Add all of the canned ingredients in their entirety--DO NOT DRAIN. The liquid from the cans forms the stock of the chili. Add the spices. Cover and bring chili to a soft boil, stirring occasionally. Uncover, lower heat (REALLY low), and let simmer for 30-40 minutes, until desired consistency. Stir occasionally so your chili doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan; I've had that happen with different stovetops.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, cheesy biscuits, whatever you want! Yum!

I've also made a white chili version of this, with white beans and tomatillos, but I can't entirely remember what I did spice-wise...so feel free to experiment!

Butternut Squash Soup

2011-01-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Alisha Stamper

I tried this recipe from Our Best Bites and have loved it ever since. I look forward to the fall and winter because I know I can make this soup in abundance. The original is here, but here are my notes for what I do:

I use a whole lotta butternut squash. Probably double what they say. And therefore more chicken stock. I also use the biggest potato I can find, which translates to about 3 medium potatoes.

Sigh. This stuff is the BEST.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

2011-01-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Linda Peterson
MIND-BLOWING.

Courtesy of Krysta Whitmore courtesy of Paola Jellings courtesy of The Sisters Cafe. Krysta brought a dish of these enchiladas to Nick and I when Luke was about 3 weeks old. Rocked our world, seriously.

6 tbl honey
5 tbl lime juice (1 medium lime)
1 tbl chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded (Krysta says about 3 small breasts; she boils them with salt, pepper, and another 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
8-10 flour tortillas (soft taco size, not burrito size)
1 lb Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (this is the best cheese)
2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy whipping cream (ohhhh yeaaahhhh)

Mix first four ingredients and toss with the shredded chicken in a plastic bag.
Let marinate for at least a half hour.
Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.
Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving 1 cup cheese to sprinkle on top.
Place filled tortillas in the 9x13 pan. It might be a tight fit!
In a bowl, mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade, if any.
Pour mixture on top of tortillas, then sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a little browned and crispy on top.

Autumnal Couscous

2011-01-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Alisha Stamper

I created this cous-cous at home after having something similar at Whole Foods.

I box dry cous-cous (original)
dried cranberries
peeled, halved, seeded, diced butternut squash
brown sugar (approx one tbsp)
water
olive oil

cook the cous-cous according to package directions.

In a separate saucepan, boil two handfuls cranberries and a generous amount of diced butternut squash until the squash is edible. Drain.

Fluff cous-cous and separate any clumps. Mix in butternut squash and cranberries. Add brown sugar and mix all together. Try to not eat it all before you put it on the table :)

Light and Fresh Hummus

2011-01-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on Epicurious. It is for some sandwiches to make (which sound divine, great combination) but I just wanted to make some hummus as a dip for my bookgroup on Monday night. I did a few things differently, as noted below:

2 garlic cloves (minced & mashed into a paste with 1/2 tsp salt)*
1/3 c well-stirred tahini
16-19 oz can chickpeas, rinsed & drained**
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice***
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
3 tbsp water****
3 tbsp fresh parsley*****

* I just did a generous dashing of garlic salt, california style. Another thing I read in the reviews was to roast or broil your garlic.
** I used a 15.5 oz can
*** I used 3 tbsp AND just used the kind you buy, I did not buy lemons and squeeze out juice.
**** Used the reserved juice from the can of chickpeas
*****Used dried but did use the same amount. You normally use quite a bit less dried than fresh. There was a lot of green in this hummus but I loved it.

DIRECTIONS: in a food processor, blend together garlic, chick-peas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and cumin, scraping down the sides until smooth (You'll need to do this a lot. Don't want any large bits of chickpea). Add reserved liquid & parsley, pulse until combined. (You may need to add more of the reserved liquid.) Scrape out of food-processor, add salt & pepper to taste.

Can be made ahead and chilled (so they say).

Makes about 2 cups.

It tastes different than any hummus I've had in terms of flavor, and I think now that I have the basics down I'll try to make some other kids. WAY cheaper than buying, very easy and mondo delish!

Pineapple Marinade

2010-10-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Casey Van Camp via Derrick Riches on www.about.com

This sweet, fruity marinade works great on any cut of pork or chicken or steak.

Ingredients:

1 cup crushed pineapple
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey (Casey says to double the honey)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together and use immediately (only good for up to 7 days).
Soak the meat in the marinade for at least 20 min. prior to cooking

Notes: This is so yummy! For best results, use a grill. Avoid hamburgers because the marinade will make the meat fall apart from too much awesomeness. True story.

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas

2010-09-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson via McCormick
This recipe is not on their website. I even called about it! I have copied it down lovingly for you :0)

http://www.mccormick.com/Products/Herbs-and-Spices/Recipe%20Inspirations/Garlic-Lime-Fajitas.aspx

Ingredients:
1 tsp. Minced Garlic (dry)
1 tsp. Minced Onions (dry)
¾ tsp. Ground Cumin
¾ tsp. Oregano Leaves (dry)
½ tsp. Cilantro Leaves (dry)
½ tsp. Coarse Ground Black Pepper
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup orange juice
2 tbl olive oil
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
8 flour tortillas (8-inch)

Directions:
1. Mix juices, oil, and all spices & salt into a small bowl
2. Reserve 1/4 of marinade
3. Place chicken into a large resealable bag or dish and add the 3/4 of the marinade. Make sure pieces are well coated
4. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor
5. Cook and stir chicken in a large heated skillet on medium-high heat until lightly browned
6. Remove from skillet
7. Add bell pepper and onions with the reserve 1/4 marinade
8. Stir about 5 minutes or until tender
9. Return chicken to skillet
10. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until all is well heated and well mixed with the marinade
11. Serve in warm tortillas and enjoy!

Notes: I love peppers so I added probably double what was called for and sprinkled in extra spices. Also, it is really good if you have some shredded cheese, sour cream, rice, beans, cut limes etc. for sides

Cranberry and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

2010-09-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson via Elana's Pantry
http://www.elanaspantry.com/acorn-squash-with-cranberry-apple-stuffing/

Serves 4 Portions Cranberry Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:
•2 acorn squash
•boiling water, or apple juice
•2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
•1/2 cup dried cranberries
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
•salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, optional

Preparation:
Cut squash in half and with a spoon, remove pulp and seeds. In a large baking dish place squash cut-side down. Pour 1/4-inch boiling water into dish (or use 1/4 inch room temperature apple juice for extra sweetness). Place dish in oven and bake squash for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, cinnamon, butter, salt, and fresh ground black pepper to taste to make stuffing. Remove squash from the oven after the 30 minutes. Turn halves over and stuff center of each squash half with apple mixture. Return to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes (or longer) until squash and apples are tender

Slow Cooked Apple Butter

2010-08-20T11:48:00.001-07:00

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.

Hawaiian Haystacks!

2010-08-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

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!

Storming of Normandy

2010-08-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

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)

Nectarine Cobbler

2010-07-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Adapted from joythebaker.com
Submitted by Linda Brisson Peterson

Yield: makes 8-10 modest servings--good for a small gathering

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of cloves
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups sliced ripe nectarines, skins left on (about 3 nectarines)
1/3 cup brown sugar
black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium fry pan, melt and brown the stick of butter till nut brown (a little lighter than when browning butter for Milk Toast, Brissons). Don't let the butter burn.

3. Pour butter into 8 or 9 in square baking pan. This recipe will not fit in a pie dish.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and spices. Add milk and vanilla and stir it up!

5. Evenly pour the batter mixture over the butter in the baking pan. DO NOT MIX OR STIR. Ribboning the mixture over the butter works well.

6. Gently and evenly arrange the nectarine slices on top of the batter and butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar, then lightly dash black pepper over top of it all.

7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. The batter will magically migrate on top of the nectarines

8. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm with something ice cream or whipped cream.

Delish!

Chewy Fudge Brownies

2010-06-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Kate Moses http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/dining/26feedrex.html?ref=dining

Time: 1 hour, plus several hours’ resting

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), plus more for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups walnut halves (optional)
9 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour.

Directions: 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking pan. If using walnuts, spread on a baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and cover pan until chocolate is melted, about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla just until thick, creamy and beginning to lighten in color.

3. Whisk the butter and chocolate until smooth, then mix into the sugar-egg mixture just until well combined. Using a spatula, fold in the flour, using as few strokes as possible, until it disappears. Fold in the walnuts, if using. Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan.

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking after 22 minutes to avoid over-baking. When the tip of a knife inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, but not liquid, remove brownies from the oven. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and leave in the pan for several hours or overnight before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.
Yield: 24 brownies.
**Note from Marcia - These brownies are really rich so cut them smaller than a normal brownie portion. Get the milk ready!

Puss ‘n Chunks

2010-05-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Jayne Carlton

Brown in a Large Pot:
1 lb. Link Sausage, cut into 1” pieces, remove from pot
Sauté in the drippings until barely soft:
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ cups celery, sliced
½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced

Add:
2 med. Potatoes (already cooked and cut into pieces),
or 1 can potatoes, cut into ½” pieces
2 cans Cream of Celery Soup (Marcia does Cream of Mushroom)
Heat through, but do not boil

Add:
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or can be served on the side)
Thin with milk as needed

**The great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever vegetables you have...but the sausage is the most important part!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Banana Flavored!

2010-05-13T06:35:00.001-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Jenny Medlock

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 package instant banana pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon banana extract (the recipe calls for vanilla but I like to give it extra banana kick!)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together the flour and baking soda; set aside.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture gradually. Stir in chocolate chips.
3, Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Note: These are so so delicious!

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

2010-05-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Dublin Coddle

2010-03-26T14:02:00.001-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Jared Gillins
From Restaurant Eve chef Cathal Armstrong

Ingredients:
8 ounces bacon (preferably Canadian or Irish bacon, aka back bacon)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound sausages, preferably Irish breakfast variety
6 medium potatoes
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Salt
White pepper

Directions:
Cut the bacon into one-inch squares. Bring the stock and heavy cream to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add sausages, then bacon, replace the lid, and simmer for about five minutes. Remove sausages and bacon, reserving the liquid. Cut each sausage into four or five pieces and remove the casings. Peel the potatoes and cut onions and potatoes into thick slices.
Assemble a layer of potatoes in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole, followed by a layer of onions and then half of the sausages and bacon. Sprinkle the layer with some salt and white pepper, then repeat the process once more and finish off with a layer of potatoes. Pour the chicken stock and heavy cream over.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for about an hour. Salt and pepper to taste and serve warm in a casserole dish topped with chopped parsley.

Irish Stew

2010-03-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Jared Gillins
From The Irish Heritage Cookbook, ed. Margaret M. Johnson

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless stewing lamb, cut into chunks and trimmed
2 to 3 onions, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small turnip, peeled and sliced (optional) [I did not include this in our stew]
2 to 3 large baking potatoes, thickly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
1 1/2 cups water, homemade lamb stock, or canned low-salt beef or vegetable stock

Directions:
In a large Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium heat, heat the oil. Cook the lamb in batches on all sides until all the meat is browned. In the same pan, alternate layers of meat, onions, carrots, and potatoes, ending with potatoes. (If using turnip, add it with the carrots.) Sprinkle each layer with salt, pepper, thyme, and some of the parsley. Add the water, stock, or broth and cover tightly with a lid. Cook until the meat is tender 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (Alternatively, bake the stew in a preheated 300 degree Fahrenheit oven for the same amount of time.)

Check the pan occasionally and add more water or stock, if necessary, to make sure you have a thick gravy. Before serving, brown the potatoes under the broiler for a few minutes and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

Mills Inn Brown Soda Bread

2010-03-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson from Jared Gillins
From The Irish Heritage Cookbook, ed. Margaret M. Johnson

Ingredients:
2 cups coarse whole-wheat flour or 1 cup each wheat bran and old-fashioned oatmeal [I did the whole-wheat flour option]
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cold butter
2 cups buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a large bowl, stir the flours or wheat bran and oatmeal, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar together. With a pastry cutter, 2 knives, or your fingers, cut or work the butter into the dry ingredients to the texture of coarse crumbs [you can also do this pulsing in a large food processor]. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix until a soft dough is formed.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead lightly, just enough to form a large ball. Flatten slightly. With a sharp knife, make a cross on the top. Place the dough in the prepared pan and bake until the bread is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes.

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

2010-01-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Courtney Mangum via Marcia Brisson
From Katherine Reed, Hypnobirthing Instructor Extraordinaire

Ingredients
1 package German chocolate cake mix
1 small (3.9 oz) package Jell-O INSTANT chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
2 cups chocolate chips
½ cup hot water

Directions
Combine all ingredients up through sour cream, adding hot water just as all the ingredients are coming together. Once thoroughly mixed, add chocolate chips. Pour into a well-greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure it’s completely done, and don’t overbake. Remove promptly from pan and let cool on a cooling rack. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

**Note from Marcia
It is best served warm the next day, the first day I could taste the powder from the pudding mix. I drizzled chocolate frosting on it but it was way too rich. I think it would be better with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Sweet Potato Souffle

2009-12-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
From Kathy Squires in the Civilian Conservation Corps cookbook

Main Ingredients
*4-5 sweet potatoes (3-5 cups mashed)
* 3 eggs (beaten)
*tsp. vanilla
*1/2 cup raisins
*1 1/4 cup sugar (or less)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 stick butter (softened)

Topping Ingredients
*2/3 stick butter (softened)
*1/2 cup brown sugar
(cream butter and sugar together first)
*3 cups of Rice Krispies®
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)

Directions
1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into thick slices. Take a 9x13 pan and spray it with cooking spray. Add a little water and add the sweet potatoes.
Cover with foild and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hr. When the potatoes are ready, mash them.
2. Combine mashed sweet potatoes with all other main ingredients.
3. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. Remove and add the topping (a large spoon will help you spread it evenly).
5. Bake again at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cedar Plank Salmon

2009-12-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
Recipe card from http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

Ingredients
*Filet of fresh salmon (1-2 pounds)
*1 untreated cedar plank (available at most grocery stores)
*Lemon (sliced), black pepper, dill, garlic powder, salt, olive oil

Directions
1. Soak cedar plank under water approx. 20 minutes, while barbeque is heating. Medium heat recommended.
2. Season salmon to taste (pepper, spices, etc.). Lightly sprinkle olive oil on top of plank. Place salmon on soaked plank, skin side down. Place lemon slices on top.
3.Place in barbeque. A squirt bottle with warm water may be necessary to douse flame outbreaks around edges.
4.Cook approx. 8 mintues per pound. Cooking times vary depending on thickness of fish. Longer cooking times may be necessary because the plank absorbs more heat than items placed directly on grill.
5.Remove plank from barbeque. Serve and enjoy!

Sensational Peppermint Pattie Brownies

2009-12-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

Submitted by Marcia Brisson
From http://www.hersheys.com/

Ingredients:
24 small (1-1/2 inch) YORK Peppermint Patties
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.(325°F. for glass baking dish). Remove wrappers from peppermint patties. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; beat until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; blend well. Reserve 2 cups batter. Spread remaining batter in prepared pan. Arrange peppermint patties about 1/2 inch apart in single layer over batter. Spread reserved 2 cups batter over patties.
3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into squares. About 36 brownies.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Snacking Cake

2009-12-16T09:13:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 1-24-05
From: Pamphlet
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups canned pumpkin (1 15 ounce can)
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (can use 2 cups whole wheat flour and ½ cup all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups butterscotch morsels
• 2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans, divided

Directions
1. Grease a 9”x13” pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Beat eggs, brown sugar, oil, and pumpkin together until smooth.
4. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix just until blended.
5. Add 1 cup of the nuts. Mix just until blended.
6. Spread batter into pan.
7. Sprinkle with the morsels and the remaining 1 cup of the nuts.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.
9. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Mom Brown’s Homesteader Chocolate Cake

2009-12-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Date tried: June 1975
This is a versatile and easy cake to use for
Chocolate Cherry Cake
or as the Cake for Truffle
From: Belle Club presents Rib Stickers and Rib Ticklers
This is a compilation cookbook
from the Telephone Company
my mother worked for.
This was the 1st chocolate cake I made
from scratch when I was single.
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 2/3 cup cooking oil
• 2 cups water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa (can use 1/3 cup cocoa and 1/3 cup special dark cocoa)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar

Directions
1. Grease and flour a 9”x13” pan or 2 9” round cake pans
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Combine wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix into wet ingredients.
5. Pour into pan or pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

To make a Chocolate Cherry Cake

Ingredients
• 1 21 ounce can cherry pie filling

Directions
1. Turn the cake out to cool.
2. When it has cooled, cut into two layers using a serrated knife.
3. Spoon the cherry pie filling over the bottom layer.
4. Replace the top layer.
5. Make the frosting and pour over the cake.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
1. In small saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and butter.
2. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips.
4. Stir until the chips are smooth and completely melted.
5. Pour over cake. Let it cool for 2 hours before serving.

Tropical Fruit Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-12-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 11-20-09
From: I adapted the Spanish Fruit Cake from Thrifty Fun online
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 1 cup crushed pineapple
• 2 cup sifted flour (can use 1 ½ cups whole wheat and ½ cup all-purpose)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 6 ounce package Tropical Sensation dried fruit by Welch’s
(pineapple, mango, and papaya)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 2 packages cream cheese (3oz. each)
• 4 tsp. lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add buttermilk and mix until smooth.
4. Mix in crushed pineapple.
5. Sift dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture, Mix well.
6. Add dried tropical fruit and nuts. Mix well.
7. Turn into well greased 9”x13” pan.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool in pan 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
10. Spread on frosting.

For Frosting
1. Beat cream cheese with lemon juice, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy.
2. Add enough sugar to make right consistency to spread.

Spanish Fruit Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-12-16T04:25:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 12-24-07
From: Thrifty Fun Recipes online

Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup cooked or moist packed prunes, drained, pitted and chopped
(or 1 cup applesauce)
2 cup sifted flour (can use 1 ½ cups whole wheat and ½ cup all-purpose)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
¾ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 packages cream cheese (3oz. each)
4 tsp. lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Directions
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add buttermilk and mix until smooth.
• Stir in prunes or applesauce.
• Sift dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture, Mix well.
• Add nuts and raisins. Mix well.
• Turn into well greased bundt pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in pan 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
• Spread on frosting.

For Frosting:
• Beat cream cheese with lemon juice, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy.
• Add enough sugar to make right consistency to spread.

MILKY WAY CAKE

2009-12-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from Casey Van Camp's aunt Mifflin Farm
Submitted by Marcia Brisson

Ingredients for cake:
8 2.15 ounce MILKY WAY candy bars
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
6 ounces semisweet chocolate

Directions for cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan.
Melt candy bars and butter, stirring frequently, in large, heavy Dutch oven over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar.
Combine egg yolks, buttermilk and baking soda in small bowl until blended.
Combine flour and salt in another bowl. Add to candy mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in pecans.
In clean mixer bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into batter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 1 1/4 hours or until set and cake pulls away from sides of pan. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Unmold and cool completely.
Makes 16 servings.

Ingredients for frosting:
4 tb Butter
2 Milky Way bars; 2.15 ozs.each
1 tb Vanilla extract
1 c Powdered sugar; sifted

Directions for frosting:
Melt butter and candy together in a heavy saucepan.
Stir constantly over low heat until mixture is fully melted and smooth.
Beat in vanilla and sugar.
Spread on warm cake while frosting is warm and pliable.
Do top and sides.
Best to keep in refrigerator and not in warm area so frosting will set.

Cranberry Oat Squares

2009-12-12T15:44:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 7-10-09
From: Thrifty Fun Recipes. Doug likes these.
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup butter
14 ounce can whole cranberry sauce

Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 9x9 inch square pan.
• Measure oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter into a bowl.
• Using a pastry blender, mix together until crumbly.
• Pack half of the mixture into the pan.
• Spread cranberry sauce over the top.
• Put the remaining mixture on the top. Press down with your hand.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until a rich golden brown.
• Cool completely in pan.
• Cut into 36 squares.
This is very good served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Snow Topped Chocolate Mint Cookies

2009-12-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

Date tried:12-11-09
From: Taste of Home Christmas Cookies.
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients
1 10 ounce package mint semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 tablespoons butter, softened. (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar to roll the balls in

Directions
• Over a double boiler, melt 1 cup chocolate chips. Set aside to cool.
• Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla.
• Add eggs, beating well.
• Beat in the melted chocolate chips.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Mix in remaining chocolate chips.
• Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll into 1 inch balls, then roll in confectioners’ sugar.
• Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and centers are almost set.
• Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Gingersnaps

2009-12-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

Date tried: November 1976
From: Betty Crocker
Submitted by: Mother Crumb
These are the first cookies I made for Doug when he went to Japan and we were both single.
I guess they made quite an impression.

Ingredients
¾ cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
granulated sugar to roll the dough balls in

Directions
• Cream shortening and brown sugar.
• Add molasses and egg.
• Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.
• Cover. Chill 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees’. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
• Roll in granulated sugar.
• Place balls 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or just until set.
• Immediately remove from cookie sheet.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

Pecan Bread

2009-12-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 12-07-09
Recipe from: Thrifty Fun online
Submitted by Mother Crumb

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a 9"x 5" loaf pan.
Combine all the ingredients except the nuts.
Gently mix together without over beating.
Add nuts.
Put in pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Test with a toothpick to see if its done.
Turn out on a cooling rack and let it cool completely.
This has a great texture and flavor.

Golden Summer Punch

2009-11-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 11-28-96
From: Civilian Conservation Corps Cookbook
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

1 12 ounce can frozen orange juice (plus water to reconstitute)
1 12 ounce can frozen lemonade (plus water to reconstitute)
2 12 ounce cans apricot nectar
5 cups pineapple juice (or 1-46 ounce large can)

Combine. This makes about 2 gallons.

Creamy Hot Chocolate

2009-11-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Date tried: 1-26-09
Recipe from: Internet- Eagle Brand
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Ingredients:
1 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
½ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
(1 teaspoon raspberry or
1 teaspoon orange extract
can be used in place of 1 teaspoon of the vanilla)
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 ½ cups hot water (5 14 ounce cans)

Directions:
Combine in large saucepan. Heat. Do not boil. Serve with miniature marshmallows if desired.
This is great for camping because you do not need to bring the milk.

Lemonade

2009-11-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

Date Tried: 4-12-01
Submitted by: Mother Crumb

Combine in a 2 quart pitcher:
1 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (can use ¾ cup lemon juice and ¼ cup lime juice)
Add water to fill the pitcher. Shake or stir. Chill.

Double Nut & Date Tassies

2009-11-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

Recipe by Jessie Grearson
This was the grand-prize winner on http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/nut_date_tassies.html
Submitted by Marcia Brisson

Ingredients
Crust
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (see Note)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I like them finely chopped)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

Filling
4 ounces pitted dried dates (about 3/4 cup)
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I like finely chopped)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting or whipped cream for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 24 mini muffin cups with shortening

2. To prepare crust: Mix flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cornstarch, 2 tablespoons butter and salt. Divide the crust mixture among the prepared mini muffin cups (about 1 1/4 teaspoons per cup) and press evenly into the bottoms.

3. To prepare filling: Combine dates, water, brown sugar and 2 1/2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has cooked away, 8 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly, then process the date mixture in a blender or food processor until processed into a paste. Add cream cheese and vanilla; blend or process to combine. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in pecans. Divide the date-nut filling among muffin cups (1 generous teaspoon each), gently pressing the filling down and smoothing the tops.

4. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is lightly cooked, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the crust with a small spatula or butter knife and transfer the tassies to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar or serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Ingredient Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour has less gluten-forming potential than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure tender baked goods. Find it in the baking section of the supermarket or online at bobsredmill.com and kingarthurflour.com.

**I used regular flour and it worked just fine

**Be careful about overcooking the dates because they can become super hard with the sugar

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

2009-11-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Recipe by The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond
Submitted by Marcia Brisson
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/moist-pumpkin-spice-muffins-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Ingredients
Muffin Ingredients:
1 cup All-purpose Flour
½ cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Ground Ginger
½ teaspoons Nutmeg
½ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons Butter - Cut Into Pieces
1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
½ cups Evaporated Milk
1 whole Egg
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
½ cups Golden Raisins (optional!)
_____
Topping
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
_____
FOR FROSTING:
¼ cups Softened Butter
4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
½ pounds Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoons Vanilla

Muffin Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.
2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
3. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until it is fully incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla.
5. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins.
6. Fold gently until mixture is just combined.
7. Pour into a greased muffin pan—(fill halfway - this is enough for 12 muffins)
8. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin.
9. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool.

Frosting Directions:
1. To make the frosting, mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped.
2. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy!
3. Store in the fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.
__________

This is a great recipe but be sure that the muffins are completely cool before frosting them. The frosting is really rich so I would probably cut it in half or double the muffins.

FOCCOCIA

2009-11-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

obtained from the House of Bread in Salt Lake City, Utah. Submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

1 1/2 C warm water (99 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast or 1 T + 1.5 t
4 C unbleached white bread flour
1/4 C olive or canola oil
1 T sugar
1 T salt

Optional:
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground rosemary or thyme
1/2 C sundried tomatoes
3 Tbsp black olives drained and sliced

Prepare a starter: In a liquid cup, pour in the warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved and set aside for five minutes to allow it to proof.

Add the flour and salt to the starter. Then add the oil and begin to mix on a mixer for 5 minutes. Add additional water or flour as necessary to get a pliable dough. Add the herbs, olives and/or tomato to the last two minutes of mixing time. You do not want to pulverize the olives or tomato.

Put the finished dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for one hour. Punch down and place on a lightly floured surface and divide into four equal pieces and shape into a flat round. Lightly poke the dough several times with your finger tips. Brush with olive or canola oil. Place the dough on a sprayed baking sheet and let the dough undergo a second rising for 15 minutes.

Place the baking sheet into a preheated 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until nice and golden brown.

NOTES

I normally use olive oil, and no olives. I only cook it for 15 minutes—you still want it to be soft to your finger (don’t burn your finger though, it is hot), but a sweet reddish brown. Once out of the oven, wrap the ones you are not eating in foil immediately, this helps it stay moist.

I don’t mix with a mixer, I use a wooden spoon. The dough is ready when it just barely grabs at your hand. I usually add a little water and then a little more flour.

When poking the dough with your fingertips you want to be just hard enough that you do not go through the dough. I normally put some nails marks into it. I like my little finger marks all over, it gives it the right texture.

Recipe Index

2009-11-07T20:48:00.001-08:00

Beverages
Golden Summer Punch
Lemon-Limeade

Breads, Muffins, Rolls
Banana Bread the Brisson Way
Foccocia
Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Pecan Bread

Cookies
French Cookies
Monster Cookies
Snow Topped Chocolate Mint Cookies
Gingersnaps

Desserts
Pumpkin-Chocolate Tart
Chocolate Truffle
Double Nut Date Tassies
Cranberry Oat Squares

Entrees
Yaco Tacos
Polpettone (Meatloaf)
"Yam"-acotti

Sauces, Marinades & Dips
Pineapple Marinade
Fresh & Light Hummus

Soups
Ghanaian Peanut Butter Soup
Alisha's Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Sides
Tennessee Corn Pone

"Yam"-acotti

2009-11-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

Created and perfected by Alisha Brisson Stamper

You can make the filling up to 2 weeks ahead of time and freeze it (I normally make it the day before to cut labor time)

For Filling
1 large Yam (the kind that is orange*) (enough to fill a 9x13 glass pyrex dish after being peeled and chopped into 1" cubes)
1 30 oz container Ricotta cheese
1 15 oz container Ricotta cheese
2 packages manicotti (28 total)
2 tsp sage

For Parmesan Cream Sauce:
flour (5 tbsp)
butter (5 tbsp)
2% or higher milk (3 3/4 c.)
garlic (2 cloves or more per taste, finely minced)
garlic salt (2 shakes)
italian seasoning (basil, oregano)
Parmesan cheese (grated, powdered or fresh) to taste
mozzarella (shredded) (1 to 2 cups)

To make the filling:
First, bake the yam in a sprayed 9x13 glass dish. Bake for one hour, covered with foil.
Once done, mash yam with a fork or potato masher (or in a mixer). Add the 30 oz container of Ricotta cheese and sage as you do this. If needed, add a little water to smooth. Mix should be smooth and pastel orange in color (and it should taste kinda sweet). If it is too dark, gradually add the smaller container of Ricotta cheese until it is the right color and consistency.

Fill the uncooked manicotti with the filling you just made. Make sure they are completely filled (this gets a little messy, but it is fun). Freeze any leftover filling for up to 2 months.

Put filled manicotti in rows in a greased 9x13. Make Parmesan Cream Sauce and follow directions below.

Parmesan Cream Sauce:
The base for this sauce is 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp butter, 3/4 c. milk. The above amounts are 5x the base (which is the amount for ONE 9x13, which can be filled with 14 manicotti. If you are making the full 28, you need to double the sauce, and use two 9x13 pans to cook in). If you have extra, you can freeze it, or just refrigerate to use with pasta later in the week.

Add butter and garlic to a saucepan and melt butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add all the flour, whisking to combine well. Add all the milk at once, stirring continuously so as not to form clumps with the flour. Add the Parmesan cheese and 1 to 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, and continue to stir. Once it begins to bubble (cheese should be melted at this point), let it do so for a minute or two, then remove from heat (you should be able to tell as you are stirring it that it is thickening up). Add the seasonings to taste.

Pour Parmesan Cream Sauce over the filled manicotti tubes in the pan. Add enough sauce to cover the manicotti (save any extra). Add approx. 1/2 or 1 c. warm water to the pan.

Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove foil halfway through cooking time.

Remove from oven (will be bubbling) and sprinkle with 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Let sit 5 minutes minimum to cool.

*I include this distinction because on the east coast, Yams are called sweet potatoes, but in the west, they are called Yams. Having messed up many a recipe that called for "sweet potatoes" but really meant Yams, I'm reduced to just referring to the color.

Polpettone (Meatloaf)

2009-10-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

the way Mom makes it (from Select Italian-American Recipes, p.32) submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

350 degrees
1.5 hours
9"x5" pan

2 slices bread (I always use wheat)
3/4 c. milk (use no lower than 2%)
2 eggs
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese, (Mom always uses the grated type that you put on top of spaghetti)
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, place slices of bread in milk.
Add the rest of the ingredients except olive oil and meat.
Mix.
Add meat, mix again, by hand is best. Get 'em real dirty.
Use the olive oil to coat the bottom and sides of the loaf pan.
Place mixture in pan after shaping into a loaf.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/5 hours.

Serve with ketchup.

Golden Summer Punch

2009-10-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

by Mom, submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

serves 15 punch cups
1 6oz can frozen minute maid orange juice
1 6oz can frozen lemonade
1 12 oz can apricot nectar (Kern's is good)
1 #2 (2 1/2 c.) of pineapple juice (not frozen)

Combine juices, adding water that is called for on the cans of frozen juice.

You can freeze some of this mixture in ice cube trays to keep the punch cold while serving (regular ice cubes will water it down and ruin the flavor).

Tips:
Dress it up! Add thin orange or lemon slices.

Lemon-Limeade

2009-10-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

by Mom, Submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

For 2 quarts:

1/4 c. lime juice
3/4 c. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
water to fill

For 1 gallon:
1/2 c. lime juice
1 1/2 c. lemon juice
2 c. sugar
water to fill

Tips:
Combine juices and water in container. Use a whisk while adding the sugar gradually. This will help prevent a lot of sugar buildup on the bottom of the container.

Banana Bread the Brisson Way

2009-10-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

From: New York Times Cookbook
Perfected by Mom, submitted by Alisha Brisson Stamper

1/2 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 large egg
4 tsp lemon juice
2 c. flour (one cup regular flour, one cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2 or 3 whole bananas)
Optional: 1/2 c. walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream shortening and sugar.
Beat in the egg and lemon juice.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a sifter.
Fold into the batter, add bananas.
Stir.

Put into a greased loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool.

Delicious when warmed and topped with butter.

Alisha's Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

2009-10-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Idea given by a nice lady in the grocery aisle, perfected by Alisha Brisson Stamper

this is a basic recipe, so you can add, tinker or build off of it as you want, but this is the main structure:

tyson frozen chicken tenderloins (about 5)
2 cans western family chipotle chili diced tomatoes (these make all the difference! If you're in another region of the country, try a few out, find one you love and make it your own version!)
1 cup pace mild salsa
2 packages frozen corn (the smaller bag, not a big one. normally buy the sweet kind for this soup but any kind will do)
2 cans great northern beans
6 or so cans chicken broth (depending on how soup-like you want it)
white corn tortilla chips
mixed shredded cheese
sour cream

boil chicken in 1 can chicken broth (add water to cover if needed). after cooked thoroughly (about 15-20 minutes from putting on burner), shred and chop.

add tomatoes, salsa, beans (rinse them from can to get off sediment and sodium), corn and chicken. Add chicken broth to cover approximately 5 cans for this amount of other ingredients).

heat until pipping hot and corn is cooked.

serve with tortilla chips, sour cream and cheese.

FRENCH COOKIES

2009-10-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Provided by Darren Haycock /Suzanne Haycock and submitted by Marcia Brisson

2 cups brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 cup, (2 cubes) margarine or butter softened (room temp or very slightly melted—better if just very soft.
2 eggs whisked together
1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 cup warm water

Put first four dry ingredients in a bowl and hand stir ‘til mixed.
Add softened butter, 2 eggs that have been whisked together—can use a fork, and the soda dissolved in the warm water. Now Hand Stir everything together until well mixed. You don’t have to overdue it—these are better under mixed. Do not use a mixer!

Now add 2 cups of chocolate chips and gently stir ‘til evenly mixed.
Pour onto a well greased large jelly roll pan or big pan with sides. I use a jelly roll pan that is about 12 x 17 inches. Bake at 350 about 25 minutes. Don’t over bake. The batter will be pulling very slightly away from the sides of the pan. Take out of the oven and put on a cooling rack.

Quickly stir about two or three cups of powdered sugar together with a few drops of water to make a smooth glaze. If too thick to spread easily, add a little bit more water. If too thin and watery, add a little bit more powdered sugar. Pour on hot cookies and quickly spread all over. Quickly sprinkle on chocolate sprinkles. Let cool completely before cutting. These do much better if you let them cool several hours before cutting—cutting while still warm and they come out gooey and messy and don’t look good.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Tart

2009-10-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Provided by Amanda Pilmer and submitted by Marcia Brisson

Cake Ingredients
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
8 ounces creme fraiche
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Chocolate Crust 2 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate

Cake Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, creme fraiche, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until smooth.
3. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean bowl; discard solids.
4. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool at least 30 minutes.
6. Set a heatproof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of barely simmering water.
7. Melt chocolate in bowl, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.
8. Dip a spoon in melted chocolate, then drizzle chocolate over tart, forming decorative stripes.
9. Refrigerate until well set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Chocolate Crust Ingredients
Makes one 10-inch tart shell
1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
1/4 cup
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
4 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate Crust Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add butter; mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 5 minutes. Add egg; mix until ingredients come together to form a dough. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just thicker than 1/8 inch. Brush off excess flour; transfer dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan; trim excess flush with edge. Lightly prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake shell until firm, about 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

Ghanaian Peanut Butter Soup

2009-10-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Provided by Jun Yanagishita & submitted by Marcia Brisson

Ingredients:
3 cooked & shredded chicken breasts
1 chopped onion
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 minced or crushed garlic clove
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or however spicy you want it)
1 cup grated carrots
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cup peanut butter (I like crunchy, but creamy is fine too)
1-3 cups of water
**White rice! This is what you serve the soup over but you don't cook them together. I can't tell you how much to make but I would say at least 2 cups of uncooked = 4 cups cooked rice to start

Directions:
In pot, put in 1 Tbsp of butter and slightly cook onions and garlic. Add chicken broth and water. Put in pepper and peanut butter. Cook for 5 minutes until everything is blended together. Add carrots, tomatoes and chicken. Cook until vegetables are soft. If the soup looks too thin, add a mixture of 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is so yummy, after Jun made it once I begged her for the recipe immediately!

Yaco Tacos!

2009-10-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Originally Created by Mom
submitted by Marcia Brisson with some additions

Ingredients:
(1) 12 oz. bag of tortilla chips (I like TOSTITOS® SCOOPS!®)
**you want about 6-8 cups of crushed chips or cooked rice. I prefer chips.
(1) 10 oz. can of tomato soup
(1) 10 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup
(1) 10 oz. can of water (from an emptied can above)
(1-2) cans of chopped green chilis
(1) lb. of hamburger
(1) lb. of cheddar cheese (or I really like Sargento® Fancy Shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese)

Directions:
1. Crush the chips (not to dust, just about 1-2" pieces, not an exact science)
2. Brown the hamburger meat
3. Get a big bowl and mix everything together (but only 1/2 of the cheese)
Sometimes I like to mix everything and then add the chips and crush them into the wet mixture.
4. Stir it up with a big spoon and put it into a 9 x 13 ungreased pan and spread it out evenly
5. Cook at 350°F for 20 minutes
6. Take out and cover with the remaining 1/2 of the cheese & bake for an additional 10 minutes

Voila! Your guests will love you!

**I usually like to serve this with salsa (Pace® Picante) and Hidden Valley Ranch® on the side

Chocolate Truffle

2009-10-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Cake Ingredients:
(1) Devil's Food cake mix
(1) 8oz containter of CoolWhip
(12) Skor bars or mini bars

Fudge Sauce Ingredients:
(2) c. unsweetened cocoa
(1) c. brown sugar
(1) c. butter (cut into pieces)
(1 1/2) c. sugar
(2) c. whipping cream
(3) tsp. vanilla

Cake Directions:
1. Bake Devil's Food cake according to direction on box
2. Cool cake & crumble up
3. Crumble Skor bars & set aside
4. Divide cake into thirds (depends on serving dish)

Fudge Sauce:
1. Combine cocoa, sugars, cream & butter
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 20 minutes (make sure it's not grainy!)
3. Cool for 5 mi & stir in vanilla
4. Cool Sauce

Layers:
**thickness of the layers is up to you/dish size. I usually do 1-2" of cake to start with.
Cake crumbs
CoolWhip
Fudge Sauce
Skor Bars (sprinkle)
**repeat

Refridgerate & let it set overnight - it will taste much better!

Monster Cookies

2009-10-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

From Matt Walker in the 1996 edition of The Colonial Ward Culinary Guide to Life Submitted by Marcia Brisson
Makes 120 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups peanut butter
2 ¾ to 3 ¼ cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
5 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 12-oz bag chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Cream sugars and butter then blend in eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter
2. Sift together flour and soda then add to creamed mixture
3. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F

Tennessee Corn Pone

2009-10-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from Laurel's Kitchen
*submitted by Marcia Brisson
**you should really ask Mom about when she made this for Thanksgiving

Ingredients:
4 c. very juicy cooked and seasoned beans (especially pinto / kidney / black - whatever you want)
2 c. cornmeal
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 quart buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 c. margarine

Directions:
1. Heat beans until quite hot and pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish
2. Preheat oven 450°F
3. Mix the cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl
4. Melt the margarine and combine with buttermilk & eggs
5. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until smooth and pour them over the hot beans
6. Bake on the top rack of your oven until bread is a rich golden color and the sides of the corn bread pull away from the sides of the pan.
7. This takes about 30 minutes

Serves 10-12