Spinach
Dip
(makes 3
cups)
A real
favorite with my kids.
½
tp 1 c. Mayonnaise
1
½ to 2 c. sour cream
1
package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach., thawed,drained
1
package (1.4 oz.) Knorr vegetable soup and recipe mix
1
c. (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained, chopped (optional)
3
green onions, chopped
Stir
all ingredients until well mixed. Cover, chill. This is good
with
crackers or in a hollowed out loaf of sour dough French bread.
Guacamole
This is mostly a "make it work" recipe. I start with roughly these measurements, then adjust the ingredients to taste.
4 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup finely diced tomatoes
1-2 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
½-1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Coarsely mash avocados; add all other
ingredients. Adjust ingredients to
taste. Cover and refrigerate until
served. Serve with chips.
7 or 8 Layer Dip
Layer in
a large baking dish (need one with 1 ½ to 2 inch sides):
1 large
can refried beans
1 can
chili, no beans (optional)
½ c.
chopped onion
1 ½ to 2
c. shredded cheese, cheddar and or Monterey Jack
Heat in
microwave until cheese melts. Then
layer:
1 small
can sliced black olives
2
tomatoes, chopped
Sliced
avocados or quacamole
16 oz.
sour cream
Can
garnish with anything that looks/tastes good.
Finger Jello
This is Grandma Pam’s recipe. The kids love to play with their snack!
4 pkgs. Jello (3 oz. each)
3 pkgs. Knox geletin
4 cups boiling water
Mix
and pour into a cookie sheet.
Refrigerate until set. Cut
with cookie cutters or cut into squares or long, thin, “worms.”
Prosciutto Asparagus Spirals
I was looking for a way to use some
asparagus. I combined a couple
recipes I found on the internet.
Yum!
1 sheet puff pastry sheets,
thawed
¼ cup dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
leaves
2 oz. prosciutto
4 oz. fontina cheese, thinly
sliced
15 asparagus spears, trimmed
Heat the oven to 400°. Unfold the pastry sheets on a lightly
floured cutting board. Spread a thin
layer of dijon mustard over the pastry with a pastry brush. Sprinkle thyme evenly over pastry. Top with prosciutto. Spread another layer of dijon mustard
over prosciutto. Top with
fontina. Cut pastry into 15 thin
strips. It helps to score it with
a pizza cutter, then cut with kitchen shears. Tightly wrap 1 pastry strip around each asparagus spear,
fontina-side in. Place the
pastries seam-side down on baking sheets.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
Ugly Dip
This is from my neighbor, Kim
Crowell. It is an addicting,
unexpected combination of flavors.
1 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ jar red pepper jelly
Mix onions, pecans, cheese
and mayonnaise. Shape into a ball
and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate several hours until firm. Pour jelly over cheese ball. Serve with crackers.
Makes 1 large cheese ball or 2 regular ones.
Cranberry Salsa
This recipe tastes like Southwestern Christmas—the
oranges are just ripening at Christmas and the cilantro and chilis make it
taste southwestern while the cranberries and apples make it taste
traditional. I love it!
1 lb. cranberries
3 granny smith apples, cored
and sliced
3 oranges, whole with peel
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
4 serrano chilis, remove
seeds for milder flavor
1 cup sugar
Chop all ingredients (except
sugar), one at a time, in food processor.
Mix with sugar. Set out at
room temperature for 1 hour, then chill.
Serve with tortilla chips.
Makes 2 quarts.
Mexican Chip Dip
Angie Hale brought this to our recipe
exchange. I couldn’t stop eating
it, even though I was supposed to be on a diet!
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese,
softened
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch
Dressing Mix (not ranch dip—too salty)
1 can Mexicorn
1 small can green chilis
1 small can sliced olives
Drain all liquid from the
cans. Combine all
ingredients. Serve with chips,
crackers or vegetables.
Ranch Cheese Ball
A yummy variation
2 8-oz. pkgs. Cream cheese,
softened
1 1-oz. pkg. ranch dressing
mix
2 ½ cups shredded cheddar
cheese
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
In a medium bowl, mix
together cream cheese, ranch dressing mix and cheddar cheese. Shape the mixture into a ball. Roll the ball in the chopped nuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with a variety of crackers.
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
We love to eat our seeds from our Jack-o-lanterns!
Seeds from pumpkin
Salt
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 400°. Separate the seeds from the stringy
pumpkin guts. Rinse. In a small saucepan, add the seeds to
water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half Tbsp. of salt for every cup
of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil.
Let simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and drain.
Spread about a Tbsp. of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting
pan. Spread the seeds out over the
pan, all in one layer. Bake on the
top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes. When browned to your satisfaction
remove from the oven and let the pan cool.
Pumpkin Pie Seeds
This is our favorite way to eat pumpkin
seeds!
1 cup pumpkin seeds, rinsed
& dried
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. + ¼ cup sugar,
divided
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Spread pumpkin
seeds on baking sheet and roast in 250° oven for 45 minutes or until completely
dry and light brown. In a large
bowl, stir together pie spice, salt and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the seeds and the ¼ cup sugar, sitrring
constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts. Scrape seeds into pumpkin pie spice mixture and stir to
coat. Store in airtight container. 3-4 servings.
Crockpot
Sugared Pecans or Walnuts
I LOVE candied nuts so I tried
this for our recipe exchange. Even
though it didn’t turn out the way I expected, they were still yummy. I’m leaving my notes.
Ingredients:
16
ounces pecans or walnut halves
1/2
cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup
powdered sugar
1/4
teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
1/4
teaspoon ground ginger
Preparation:
Turn slow cooker to HIGH about 15 minutes in advance. In
hot slow cooker, stir together the nuts and butter. Add the powdered sugar,
stirring to blend and coat evenly. Cover and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes.
Reduce the heat to LOW and remove lid; cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally,
for about 2 to 3 hours, or until the nuts are coated with a crisp glaze.
Transfer the nuts to a bowl.
In another small bowl, combine the spices; sift over the nuts,
stirring to coat evenly.
Let cool before serving.
***A note about this recipe. This is the first time I’ve made this,
and I don’t think it’s a complete success. There can be several reasons for this:
A. The recipe is lame
B. My crockpot is lame
C. I’m lame J
D. Any combination of the above.
I do believe the recipe has
potential. I used walnuts because
they are half the price of pecans, but I think the pecans would have made a
huge difference. Also I like my
candied nuts very sweet, so I added sugar several times during the
process. If I had added it all at
the beginning, the sugar (in theory) would have a chance to caramelize into the
yummy, crunchy crust that it should be.
Plus, my crockpot does tend to be lame sometimes. I still believe in the potential, but
it’s not there yet. The next time
I will start with 1 ¼ cups powdered suar, and increase the spices to 2 ½ tsp.
cinnamon, ½ tsp. cloves and ½ tsp. ginger.***
Baked Brie (w/ variations)
This is a mis-mash of a couple different Pampered Chef
recipes. It is very simple to
make, but looks so elegant!
¼ cup finely diced dried apricots
¼ cup almonds, chopped
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. apricot preserves
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 pkg (8 oz) refrigerated crescent
rolls (look for cresent sheets—they are not separated into triangles)
1 4” round (8 oz) Brie, rind included
(the larger one from Costco works, too—you just have to roll out the cresent
dough a little to fit)
1 egg, lightly beaten
apples (I like Granny smith) and
pears, sliced thin
small baguette, sliced thin
Preheat oven to 350°. Finely dice apricots. Chop almonds. Snip parsley.
Combine apricots, almonds, parsley, preserves and mustard; mix
well. Unroll srescent dough on
lightly floured cutting board.
Separate dough crosswise into two squares, pressing seams to seal. Place brie on one square of dough; set
aside remaining square. Trim
corners from first square, leaving about a 1” border around brie. Scoop apricot mixture evenly over top
of brie. (you can also cut the
brie in half horizontally and scoop half the filling in the middle and half on
top). Using small cookie cutter,
cut one shape from each corner and center of remaining square of dough. Trim corners of dough. Place dough over brie, pinching seams
to seal, if necessary. Fold and
crimp edges of dough to seal.
Using large spatula, transfer brie to stone. Brush egg over entire surface of dough using pastry
brush. Place cut out shapes over
dough; brush with egg. Bake 30-35
minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Remove from oven ; let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serve with apple, pear and/or baguette
slices.
Variations:
Cranberry-Walnut Baked Brie:
Use above recipe but omit
mustard. Substitute sweetened
dried cranberries for the apricots, chopped walnuts for the almonds and currant
jelly for the apricot preserves.
Brown Sugar-Dijon Brie:
For filling:
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
Mix together and use for filling in
recipe above.
Sun-dried Tomato-Pesto Brie
For filling:
¼ cup pine nuts
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil,
drained, patted dry and chopped
1 Tbsp. prepared basil pesto.
Mix together and use for filling in
recipe above.
Fresh Fruit Bruschetta with Orange-Honey Cream
This is from Our Best Bites cookbook. I’m not sure to catagorize this. It’s perfect for a brunch.
1 thin baguette (I used Hawaiian
Rolls—soooo yummy!)
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup sour cream
3 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. orange zest
1 ½ cups diced strawberries
1 cup finely diced mango
1 cup finely diced kiwi
Preheat oven to 400°. Slice bread in ½” slices (or Hawaiian
rolls in half). Place in a single
layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Use a pastry brush to brush each piece with melted butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle
evenly over bread slices. Bake for
10-12 minutes or until edges are toasted.
Set aside to cool. While
bread is toasting, combine sour cream, honey and orange zest. Stir to combine and place in the
fridge. Gently combine fruit. When the bread is cooled, place about 1
Tbsp. fruit mixture on each toasted bread slice and drizzle with sour cream
mixture. If needed, thin sour
cream mixture with ½-1 tsp. orange juice.
Garnish with mint leaves, if desired. Serve immediately.
Hot
Pepper Jam
This
recipe needs some tweaking. The
first time I made it, it didn’t set up properly, so I had to remake it. I included directions in case it
happens again. It’s delicious,
though, so I will try it again. I
love it poured over cream cheese or made into ugly dip and served with
crackers. I liked the amount of
heat—I removed all seeds and membranes from the jalapenos.
10 bell peppers (all red or any combination of red, green, orange,
yellow)
5 jalapeno peppers
1 cup cider vinegar (I used ½ cup white and ½ cup white balsmaic
raspberry blush)
1 box Sure Jell Fruit Pectin (not low sugar)
½ tsp. butter
5 cups sugar
Prepare bell peppers and jalapenos by removing seeds and
membranes. Chop finely in food
processor. Measure 5 cups. Discard any remaining peppers (I had exactly
the right amount, but my bell peppers were pretty small). (There was a lot of juice—is this why
it didn’t set up? Next time I will
strain the juice first.) Prepare
jars and rings by washing well.
Heat seals in hot water.
Start heating water in steamer.
Place peppers in a 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Add vinegar.
Stir in pectin. Add butter
to reduce foaming. Bring mixture
to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high,
stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil
exactly 1 min., stirring constantly.
Remove from heat. Skim off
any foam with metal spoon. Ladle
immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8” of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with seals and rings. Place jars in canner. Process 12-15 minutes. Remove jars to cool completley. Check seals. If lid springs back, refrigeration is necessary.
If jam doesn’t set, follow these directions:
Wash ½ pint jar and ring.
Heat seal.
To prepare pectin
mixture, gradually add petin to water in small saucepan, stirring
constantly. Bring to boil on
medium heat; boil 2 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
To prepare trial batch, measure 1 cup unset jam, 2 Tbsp. sugar and
1 Tbsp. pectin mixture into a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring
constantly. Boil 30 seconds,
stirring constantly. Remove from
heat. Skim off any foam with metal
spoon. Immediatley pour into
sterilized jar. Cover and let
stand up to 24 hours to check set of jam.
Meanwhile, store remaining pectin mixture in refrigerator.
To prepare remainder of batch (if trial batch sets well), prepare
remainder of batch in 6- or 8-qt. stockpot, remaking no more than 8 cups of jam
or jelly at one time and using same directions as for trial batch with the same
measure of sugar and pectin of EACH 1 cup jam. Ladle into sterilized jars, filling to within 1/8” of
tops. Wipe jar rims and
threads. Cover with heated seals
and rings. Process jars as usual.
Dill Dip
This is a classic from Brett’s mom.
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. bon apetite spice
2 tsp. chopped chives (dried)
Mix.
Peppermint Crunch Puppy Chow
A great Christmas variation!
5 cups Rice Chex cereal
10 ounces white chocolate
1 cup crushed candy canes
1 cup powdered sugar
Pour cereal into a large
bowl. Melt white chocolate
according to package directions.
Pour melted chocolate over cereal, stirring and folding until the cereal
is completely coated. Fold in the
crushed candy canes. In a large
ziploc bag or covered container, add the powdered sugar. Pour the chocolate covered cereal into
the bag or container. Seal and
shake until all the cereal is coated with the powdered sugar. Discard excess powder and enjoy! Store at room temperature up to 2
weeks, if it lasts that long!
