Toffee Apple Dip

I first had this yummy apple dip at a family reunion. One of my aunts brought it. Don't ask me how it survived making it out of my grandma's goody cellar to share with everyone else. Maybe it was safe in the fridge. Who knows. This recipe takes about five minutes to make and tastes best with granny smith apples to balance out the sweetness of the dip. Make it and you'll be licking your plate just like my girls did last week. You just won't be able to help it.

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup toffee pieces

6 granny smith apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Combine first four ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with a until smooth. Add toffee bits and mix well. Cover and chill. Combine juice and apples in a bowl; toss well. Serve apples with dip.

German Pancakes

My Mom used to make a similar recipe of German pancakes in a big 13 x 9 inch pan. I always hoped I got to eat a part of the crispy, buttery edge. I tried making these pancakes in individual 2 - 3 cup ramekins to make them a little more fancy. I loved the result because it made even more crusty edge per serving. This is a great recipe to use when you have about five minutes to fix a meal and about two minutes to clean up. Serve it for breakfast, brunch, or dinner.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Remove top rack in oven and preheat to 475 degrees. Set four 2 - 3 cup ovenproof ramekins in oven to heat.

In a blender mix the milk, eggs, and flour. Scrape sides as necessary and blend until a smooth batter forms. Take hot ramekins out of oven and divide butter among each. Spread melted butter around to distribute evenly. Immediately pour batter into ramekins and bake for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the pans and how crispy you like them. The batter will bake, then puff up dramatically.

Top with powdered sugar, syrup, fresh fruit, yogurt, jam, honey, or milk and sugar.

Lemon Bars

I remember Mom making lemon bars and taking them to Aunt Blodwyn's house when we were little. I must have breathed in while taking a bite, because I got a nose full of powdered sugar. Have you ever done that? I'm sure I nearly died on that occasion, because I can't eat a lemon bar without thinking about it. Anyway, I've been saving this post for Spring. Lemon bars seem like something to make when it's nice and warm outside when we're all gearing up for lemonade stands and lemonade ice cream pie. But it has been in the 80s this week here in Texas. It feels like Spring to me. I love the shortbread crust to lemony goodness ratio in these lemon bars. I cut them a couple hours after making them, so they were still a little gooey. I'd let them set up for at least six hours. They were actually perfect the second day.

Recipe from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 cubes), at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

6 extra-large eggs at room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup flour

Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 pan, building up a 1/2 inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut and dust with confectioner's sugar.

Soft Buttery Breadsticks

Most of my family doesn't like most soups. Don't ask me why. It doesn't make sense to me. They could eat Mexican food every day and I could eat soup everyday. So we had some negotiations during dinner the other day and we decided that I would make soup once a week and Mexican once a week. Done deal! I do have pity on them a little bit as I try to make my own noodles, use random vegetables, and try a bunch of strange recipes. Some good, some not so good. I make these breadsticks to make up for the soup. It keeps everyone happy.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 stick butter

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except butter) in bread maker on dough cycle. (Or make by hand or with a mixer and let raise until double). When cycle ends, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Use a pizza cutter and cut into 1 1/2 inch strips. Melt butter and pour on large cookie sheet. Dip a strip in butter, fold in half length-wise and twist holding both ends. Place on cookie sheet and turn to cover in butter. Continue with all dough strips and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, herbs, or whatever else you would like. Cover and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Spinach Salad

When we lived in Rigby, Idaho we built a house on an acre lot. We had a monstrous garden that was bigger than my current suburban back yard. It was usually parched and full of weeds, but we did grow some edible plants like tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, onions, potatoes, and spinach. Olivia would sit out in the dirt and make "chocolate milk cake" in a sand bucket and I would try to figure out what to do with all of the vegetables the garden produced. That's when I first discovered this spinach salad recipe. I think the best part of the salad is the dressing. It's a sweet red wine vinaigrette that matches perfectly with the strong flavors of the bacon, mushrooms, and Swiss cheese. Reminds me of the windy summer days in Idaho.

Salad Ingredients:

1 package fresh baby spinach

1 small head of Romaine lettuce

12 ounces bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

3 cups Swiss cheese, grated

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon dry ground mustard

1 1/2 cups canola oil

1 medium purple onion, diced small

1 green onion, sliced

1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Directions:

Break spinach and lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Toss together with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese. Chill in refrigerator.

In a blender, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and mustard. Place lid on blender and blend on high. While blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Turn off blender and add onions and poppy seeds. Pulse blender once to mix. Pour in dressing jar. Refrigerate and shake well before serving.

Sugar Cookie Icing

Today was our fifth snow-day-so-stay-home-from-school day out of the last seven days of school. During our spare time my girls and I have been searching for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. We like to make them for Valentine's Day every year. Every year we try a new recipe. This time we tried more than one recipe and we still haven't found a keeper. I asked the girls if we should try another recipe today and they both said, "No!" so we didn't. I think my favorite one so far was this one from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. But I like the nutmeg in old-fashioned sugar cookies. So I would add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough just for a little extra flavor. These cookies turn out nice and flat, unlike the big, poofy ones in the picture. They work great with our new favorite icing. This icing dries hard and glossy after a couple of hours and the cookies can be stacked and/or wrapped in cellophane. When using two colors, the top color doesn't mix in with the bottom color.

We filled some plastic candy making bottles that we found at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts with the icing. Then we squeezed it on with very little mess. Well, except for the sprinkles. They were a very large mess, but so worth it.

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 teaspoons milk

4 teaspoons corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and glossy. You may need to add 1/2 teaspoon of milk at a time to get the right consistency. Do not add extra corn syrup or it will take longer for the icing to dry. Divide into separate bowls and add food coloring to each. Dip cookies, paint them with a brush, or use plastic squirt bottles to frost.

Wild Rice Mushroom Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. I love the combination of the fresh mushrooms and wild rice together. It's perfect for this time of year. Well, actually, it's perfect if you have fresh mushrooms in your fridge or if you are able to drive to the grocery store to get some. If you are snowed in waiting for the ice on the road to melt with no mushrooms in your fridge, this is not the perfect soup for you. So make it next week. It'll be good then, too.

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup half-and-half or light cream

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

In a medium saucepan combine the chicken broth and uncooked wild rice. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir in green onions; cook for 5 - 10 minutes more or until rice is tender. Whisk together half-and-half or light cream, flour, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir into rice mixture along with mushrooms. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Makes about 3 1/2 cups or 4 side-dish servings.

Poppy Seed Chicken

About ten years ago a friend shared this recipe with me. We made it for a Relief Society dinner we were in charge of together. I remember we were so worried about having enough food that we made a bunch of side dishes to go with it. We had rice, peach jello, rolls, and salad as well as dessert. I remember we added the peach jello at the last minute to make sure we had everything covered. I think we, or rather I, stressed myself out a bit much on that one. Now I serve it over rice and have vegetable on the side. I precooked the chicken and put this dinner together in eight minutes the other night. It's one of Olivia's favorites. She always requests it for her birthday dinner.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1 large family-sized can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cup sour cream

1 tube Ritz crackers, crushed

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Directions:

Mix chicken, soup, and sour cream. Spread in a 9 x 11 inch pan. Mix crackers, butter, and poppy seeds. Sprinkle on top of chicken mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 3o minutes or until bubbled and brown on top. Serve over rice.

*I sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in the crock pot on high for a couple of hours. Also, you can crush the crackers right in their package. It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to cook.