Lisa's Pasta Salad

This is my new favorite pasta salad and it's sooooo easy!

2 cups dried bow-tie pasta
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
3 oz. small fresh mozzarella balls, halved
Handful fresh basil leaves (shred if large)
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing


1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and rinse well with cold water.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, strawberries, cheese, and basil. Add the dressing; toss again.

Makes 6 cups

SLUSH

This is a fun drink my Grandma Jensen always made us around Christmas time and New Years...
Landon, Myself and the girls LOVE IT. I also made some for some neighbors this year and they all wanted the recipe so give it a try.

In a Bowl:

4 cups sugar
6 cups boiling water
let cool
2 1/2 cups Orange Juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
5-6 Mashed bananas
4 cups Pineapple Juice
1 tsp. vanilla

put into any container with a lid and freeze for 24 hours.

serve it up by mashing the slush with a fork. Put into glass and mix Orange Pop and 7 Up.

Rosemary Bread (AKA Macaroni Grill's Bread)

Delicious Bread, taste's just like Macaroni Grill's. Ben told me it tasted better than the restaurants, more moist and soft he said :)

Ingredients

1 cup water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Place Ingredients in Bread maker and set machine to the dough setting.

2. After it rises, remove and let dough rest about 5 minutes and split dough into 2 pieces.

3. Let loaves rise again, until doubled.

4. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes (watch carefully, until lightly brown)

5. Remove from oven and spread butter and sea salt over the top of loaves.

*Serve with Olive Oil and cracked pepper!

Grandma Wood's Marshmallow Fudge

This Recipe is from Tirzah:

It's actually from Grandma Knight, Grandma Wood's mom. We make this every year as a family effort, it takes a lot of elbow grease and arms get tired, so we take turns.

4 c sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Bring to a rolling boil while stirring. Turn to medium heat and boil 5 minutes without stirring. Do not scrape sides when boiling.

In large bowl, place the following ingredients in order given:

3 pkg chocolate chips
3 pints marshmallow cream
1 10 1/2 oz Hershey bar, broken
3 oz Baker's unsweetened chocolate, placed on top

Add at end:
2 tsp vanilla
2 c nuts (optional)


Pour hot syrup on top and let settle for about 1 1/2 minutes before starting to stir. Stir until bubbles form and start to pop-that's how you know it's really creamy. It kind of loses it's shine and becomes lighter in color, too. Add the vanilla and nuts, if desired, at the end.
Pour into well-buttered cookie sheet, which will get scored when cutting fudge or line baking sheet with foil and spray.

Twist on Yams

Kemren is my pickiest eater. He doesn't like beans, tomatoes, or yams, but I'm making him take bites of everything like a good mom:) I almost made him an Idaho potatoe today, and decided to not. So as soon as he saw the yams, he was complaining, "NO!!" all through dinner he said "NO!" Finally he had his bite, he said "Those are not yams. No way are those yams, what are they?" He's so cute!

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

(I used yams)

4 small sweet potatoes

1/4 c brown sugar

3 Tbsp light sour cream

1 tsp fresh grated orange rind

1 Tbsp fresh orange juice

2 tsp butter (I used 2 Tbsp)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 Tbsp toasted pecans for garnish?

Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a fork. Place on an aluminum foil lined jelly roll pan.

Bake 350 for 1 hr 15 min

Cut a 1 1/2 inch stirp from the top of each potatoe, carefully scoop out pulp into a bowl (leave the shells intact)

Mash the pulp, with all ingredients ( I had premixed mine) Spoon back into the shells

Bake 350 for 10 min. Top with toasted pecans!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

Mykelin actually found and made these, she might make these her recipe, but till then... They are the best pumpkin cookies ever! "Just like little moist cakes". I was asking her to make me some cookies for YW, but she said she was tired of chocolate chip, peanut butter, snicker doodles, and sugar cookies, she said she will make any other kind of cookie.... I was proud of myself for thinking of pumpkin! She doubled this, and it made enough cookies!

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 c butter (softened)

1 c sugar

1 c canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 c flour

1 ts cinnamon

1/2 ts salt

1/2 ts pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 350

Mix butter, sugar, and pumpkin till combined (will be lumpy)

add egg and mix well

Sift dry ingredients then add chocolate chips (or pecans) (or both:) to pumpkin mixture JUST TILL COMBINED,, (Scrape bowl as you go)

Drop tablespoons onto cookie sheet, and col till barely golden 10 - 12 min.

ice while they are still warm.

ICING

1/2 c brown sugar (packed)

3 Tb butter

4 ts milk

1/2 ts vanilla

1c powdered sugar

Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan, over low heat till sugar is dissolved Remove from heat and cool.

Whisk in powdered sugar till smooth

Spread a teaspoon of icing over each cookie, it should run down the sides a little bit..

Garnish with chopped pecans right away if you like nuts on it!

Best Hamburger

I don't have a picture of this hamburger, but it was so delicious. It is our new favorite, I was weary about trying it because of some of the ingredients but oh man, it was great.

Recipe From: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 pounds 80/20 Ground Beef
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
• Tabasco Sauce, To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Red Onion, Sliced
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• ¼ cups Real Mayo
• Kaiser Rolls
• 1 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
• Your Favorite Lettuce

Preparation Instructions

Place the ground beef into a medium mixing bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper. Add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce. With your hands, mix the meat and seasoning well. Set aside.

Next, for the onions, heat a medium skillet over low heat. Add in 2 tablespoons butter. Dump in the sliced (not too thick, not too thin) red onions. Now add 2 generous tablespoons brown sugar. Give it a toss to combine the ingredients, and then allow the onions to caramelize over low heat for about twenty minutes, tossing occasionally.

While the onions are caramelizing, make the spicy mayo: Place ¼ cup mayonnaise into a small bowl and simply add a few dashes of Tabasco. Stir together and test for taste.

Next, slice the Kaiser rolls in half and spread each half with about ½ tablespoon of butter. Place them face down on a grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Lightly grill the rolls so they’ll be tough enough to hold the spicy mayo. Let the rolls cool on a plate until you need them.

Form the meat into two patties and place on a grill pan or skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Allow each to cook about 3 minutes, then using a spatula, rotate 45 degrees, leaving it on the same side.

Flip the burger and cook it for a couple of minutes, rotating it 45 degrees again to get the nice grill marks.

Now add a large helping of caramelized onions over top of that glorious patty, followed by an equally generous helping of crumbled blue cheese.

As it finishes cooking, spread the spicy mayo on the Kaiser rolls and transfer the burger onto the bottom half of the bun. Top with a handful of greens and top with the bun.

Hot Pockets

This is my new favorite lunch and once you have home made hot pockets you will never eat frozen ones AGAIN.

Recipe from: Our Best Bites

Breadstick dough:

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut about 8-10 equal portions. Leaving a little bit of a "margin" on the right and left sides, add toppings with the cheese going on last.

Stretch the dough out a little to give yourself a bit more dough to work with. Fold the left side over the middle and then the right side over that. Starting at the bottom of the "mummy," tightly roll the filled dough, stretching it very gently as you go to make sure you're getting a tight seal.

Place on a sprayed cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt, Garlic Powder, and Parmesan Powdered Cheese. When finished, cover the pan with a clean cloth and preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

When oven has heated, bake pockets for about 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. For shine, you could brush the tops with a bit of egg white mixed with water during the last 5 minutes of baking, or you could rub a little butter on top of the rolls while they're still hot.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS:

Bake according to directions and allow to cool. Place in a Ziploc freezer bag, squeezing out all the air. When ready to serve, just pop in the microwave for 2-3 minutes (depending on how fast your microwave cooks).

Cinnabon

I know, I know, Mom's cinnamon rolls are the best. However, this is the perfect recipe for when I want to be lazy and use the bread machine. Try it out, I promise it won't disappoint. It really is a cinnabon clone.

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Freezer Tips:

After shaping the rolls and placing them in the greased pan, they could rest, covered, in the fridge overnight. In the morning, simply place them into the preheated oven to bake--a very fast breakfast. The unbaked rolls also freeze well (I used 2 8-inch square disposable pans and put 6 rolls in each pan.) The night before, simply put the pan into the fridge. In the morning, they're ready for the oven. Easy and great to have on a cold morning. I was a little concerned that they didn't look doubled before I baked them this way, but they rose perfectly in the oven.

Hamburger Soup (Crock Pot)

Alright, it's soup season for us right now! Awesome, I love fall. This soup I really
love. It might not be your favorite but I love it.  I usually eat this soup with Mom's
yummy Cinnamon rolls but I think she needs to add that recipe on because truthfully
they are the BEST and she is only worthy of putting her recipe on this blog.....



3 Large potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
1 can peas
3 onions, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 lbs browned hamburger
1 can Tomato soup and 2 cans of water
1 Tb. brown sugar.


Place vegetables in a crock pot . Season with salt and pepper.
Put hamburger on top. Mix soup and water and pour on top.
 Cook on high for 2-4 hours

Cherry Cheese Cakes

Okay guys this is a fun recipe for cheese cake. It says Cherry because we like Cherry the best
 but you can use any flavor you want...

2 Pkgs 8 oz.  Cream Cheese (softened)
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
1 can cherry pie filling
20-24 Nilla Wafers

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and eggs. Mix until well blended. Spoon into individual foil lined baking cups. With a Nilla wafer on bottom for the crust. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min. or until they lose their shine. Chill overnight spoon cherries topping on top.

Crockpot Chicken Stew

This is a delicious stew that serves many people.

* MORNING *
1 jar Pace Salsa
4-6 chicken breasts
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chile powder

Combine salsa and spices in crockpot, stir. Add chicken and stir to coat.
Cook on Low

* LATE AFTERNOON *
Shred chicken, then put back in crockpot.
Add:
1 can corn (drained)
2-3 cans pinto beans (drained)
1 can chicken broth

Stir, and cook on High until heated through.


* SERVE WITH *
diced avacodos (my favorite)
diced tomatoes
shredded cheese
green onions (optional)
tortilla chips
Salt and Pepper

I usually serve this stew with cornbread as a side dish. Tyson even likes to eat his with warm tortillas.

Basic Pizza Dough

I usually double this recipe and it makes a small pizza for Drew and a medium size for Jeremy and I.

1/2 t. dry yeast
6-7 T. warm water (100 to 110 degrees) divided
1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
cooking spray
corn meal

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl for 5 minutes.

2. Place flour and salt into food processor, pulse two times until well blended.  With food processor on, slowly add yeast mixture through food chute.  Add enough remaining warm water, 1 T. at a time, until dough forms a ball. Process 30 seconds.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead 4 - 5 times.  Place dough in bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top of dough.  Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees) for one hour or until double in size.

3. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

4. Roll dough into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.  Place dough on pizza stone that is preheated and sprinkled with corn meal.  Top and bake according to recipe.  Yield: 1 10 inch crust or eight slices.

Margherita Pizza

We make this pizza almost every Friday for our pizza movie night.  It is light and tasty.  In the summer, this recipe helps us to use up all of the fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden.  Enjoy!

1 t. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 (10 inch) pizza dough using Basic Pizza Dough recipe
2-3 thin sliced tomatoes
1 pkg. fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices
3 T. fresh torn basil
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. fresh ground black pepper

1.  Position an oven rack in the lowest setting. Place a pizza stone on the lowest oven rack.

2.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Preheat pizza stone for a few minutes before baking pizza.

3.  Gently brush 1/2 t. oil over Basic Pizza Dough.  Pat tomato slices with a paper towel.  Arrange cheese over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border.  Top with tomato slices.  Slide dough onto preheated pizza stone using spatula.

4.  Bake at 500 degrees for 9 minutes or until crust is golden.  Drizzle with remaining 1/2 t. oil.  Sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper.  Yield 8 single servings.

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

To see the original version visit www.RecipeGirl.com, I did modify it to my preference. And It wasn't really picture worthy because Madison loves to bake so she wanted to help me, hence the swirls were not pretty. I will post a picture next time I make it though, and I definitely will be making it again.....

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda (make sure your baking soda is fresh, change it every 30 days)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2-2 cups mashed ripe banana (3-4 large Bananas, don't mash the bananas to much or you'll lose some banana flavor)
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3-1/2 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda & salt.

3. In a separate large bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; fold in flour with a spatula (don’t over mix).

4. Spoon Nutella into a medium dish and soften in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of the banana bread batter to the Nutella and stir until blended well. Spoon Nutella batter alternately with plain banana bread batter into the prepared pan. Swirl batters together with a knife (if you use to much of the nutella batter it won't do a pretty swirl so make sure you add it slowly and don't add to much. I had left over nutella batter.)

5. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check the oven at 45 minutes to check the top of the bread for browning. If it’s browning too quickly, cover lightly with foil for the remainder of the baking. Cool for at least 15 minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

Suckers

Another fun treat my mom made us when we were kids. She would have different molds for the
suckers for certain holidays.


Wash molds with soap and water. rinse and let dry. Grease molds with shortening. Place on greased surface. (cookie sheet works great) Insert stick and clamp with metal clip till stick is held secure

* 1 cup Sugar
* 1/3 cup White Corn Syrup
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 tsp, flavoring
* Food coloring
Combine first three ingredients in pan.Cook over med. heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil. add thermometer cook stirring occasionally. to hard crack stage (300 degree's) Remove from heat add oil flavoring and coloring Pour hot candy into prepared molds. remove candy from molds when cool and beginning to hold their shape. place on another flat surface to continue cooling

15 small or 10 large lollipops

Peanut Butter Play Dough

Here is a fun recipe my mom always made for us when we were little. It's great for the kids
to play with and they can eat it also. Great for those little kids that still stick everything in there
mouth.

*1 cup Peanut Butter
*1 cup Light karo syrup
*1 1/2 cups Dry milk
*1 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar

Mix all together. Knead slightly. and let the kids play

Chocolate Pudding Pops

Here is a fun yummy treat for your kids in the summer time.

* Chocolate  pudding (make as directed on box)
*Pop Cycle Sticks
*Ice trey or pop cycle trey

Poor pudding in Ice cube treys. cover with plastic wrap and poke stick in so it will hold the pop cycle.
Freeze for about 4-5 hours or when pop cycle is hard.

Pin Wheels

Here is a healthy snack I got from cooking group in my ward. The theme was "Kids Snacks"
Me and Jordyn found it to be good but Peyton was not to fond of it.

*1 wheat or white flour tortilla
*peanut butter
*Granola
*honey

Spread your peanut butter (thin) on your torilla, sprinkle granola and then spread some honey over it.
Then roll up and cut into little pin wheels

Barbeque Chicken Quesadillas

I have been on a quest to find fast, delicious lunches for awhile now, a family can only eat so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  Here is one of our new family favorites, don't forget to make your own family adjustments.  I used a green jalapeño, three different kinds of cheeses (Swiss, Mozzarella, and Monterey Jack) and lightly brushed the barbeque sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's tasted perfect with it) on top of the chicken instead  of on all the toppings.  I also chopped my jalapeño very small, while cutting Ben's bigger because he is a fan of spice..  Also, I didn't put barbecue sauce on Madison's, she loves mustard so I put honey mustard on hers.  This recipe belongs to Chef Curtis Stone.

Ingredients

4 10-inch-diameter flour tortillas
2 cups (about 8 ounces) coarsely shredded roast chicken
2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 red jalapeño, finely chopped
Salt
1/4 cup purchased barbeque sauce
Canola oil, for brushing

This is the perfect way to use up left over roast chicken. Serve them with fresh cilantro and hot sauce. 

1. Arrange the tortillas on a work surface and divide the chicken, cheese, cilantro, and jalapeño among the bottom halves of each.
2. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle each with a tablespoon of barbecue sauce.
3. Fold the uncovered tortilla over the filling to form a half moon shape.
4. Heat a large flat griddle pan over medium heat.
5. Place 2 quesadillas on the griddle.
6. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the tortilla is crisp and golden and the cheese has melted.
7. Transfer the quesadillas to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven.
8. Repeat with the remaining 2 quesadillas.
9. Cut the quesadillas into wedges and serve.

Loni's Salad

This was my mom's traditional Sunday dinner salad.  I loved it every Sunday while at home.  It became a Sunday favorite in my home, also.  It really didn't have a name, so I named it Loni's salad because she loved it the most.  Growing up, we ate Sunday dinner around 1:00.   Our Sunday school was at 10:00 to 12:00. Sacrament meeting was at 7:30 at night and lasted until 9:00 p.m..  This was good for the farmers who had to milk their cows before they could attend.  My dad milked in the morning, went to priesthood at 8:00, Sunday school at 10:00. We ate dinner, discussed the gospel, he napped, then changed and milked the cows at 5:00, washed, changed and went to Sacrament at 7:30. It was probably no big deal.  But now I think about it, it was a lot of washing and changing for him. 

INGREDIENTS:     One large pkg. Cherry Jello (Sugerless works fine also)
                                Boiling water and ice cubes
                                2 to 3 Ripe bananas
                                Miniature white marshmallows
                                8 Oz Cool Whip

INSTRUCTIONS: 
1.   Pour pkg. of cherry jello into mixing bowl and add 2 cups boiling water.  Stir until jello  is dissolved and then add 1 tray of ice cubes; stir until the jello starts to thicken; remove any left over ice.  Put in fridge until it partially sets (soft pudding consistency).  This usually only takes 15 to 20 minutes.
2.   Stir in 1/2 to 2/3 of the Cool Whip (my mom used real sweetened whipped cream) and briskly stir with a whisk until smooth and creamy pink.  If the jello sets up too hard, use an electric mixer to mix it the best you can,  it will still taste good.  My mom cut the bananas into cubes and added 1 cup or more of miniature marshmallows.  She stirred in these ingredients and cooled in the refridgerator til after church.  I have also added fresh cut up strawberries to it with good results.

Golden Potatoes (Funeral Potatoes)

Mixing Bowl:
6 potatoes cooked
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup diced green onions
Sauce Pan:
1/2 cube butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
crushed corn flakes


Cook,Peel and grate potatoes. Mix in grated cheese gently add onions. Melt butter in sauce pan with soup. stir in Sour cream. Poor over potatoe mixture and mix. Put in buttered dish. Dot the top of potatoe mixture with butter. cover with crushed corn flakes. Bake at 350 for 1hour

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

The Highams' first post... and it's not even a family favorite! We just felt left out in this recipe-posting frenzy, and so desperately took the opportunity when given last night, to make a blog-worthy recipe, one that could almost measure up to "chocolate pudding cake" and caramel marshmallow balls. It took an hour to research (well, maybe not quite so long to find the brownie recipe... I get carried away looking at food blogs :), and another thirty minutes to go to the store and get cream cheese (and, we figured as long as we were going to the store, we might as well pick up some things for dinner, so we wouldn't break our promise to not eat out as much, that we just made three days ago), and then another fifteen minutes to put together. They were taken to a ward party at the park, and (I think I have the right to say) quickly eaten, though I've alway thought that people mostly choose the desserts that look good, and that doesn't really say anything about how they taste. However, I can say that if you're a fan of cheesecake and chocolate, they did taste very good :) And you could always substitute your fav brownie batter for this one... I got the recipe from smitten kitchen ( http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/cheesecake-swirled-brownies/ ), where a lot of our recipes will probably come from :D

PS- Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but you have to give us some credit, since we had to take them at the park, when it was already getting dark! Because in what strange dimension would the Highams ever have time to take pictures of the food they were bringing to a party... we are always late!!

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies

Brownie Batter:

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

2/3 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 t. vanilla

2/3 cup AP flour

Cheesecake Batter:

8 oz cream cheese, well softened

1/3 c. sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 t. vanilla

Make Brownie Batter:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a medium sized heavy saucepan over medium low heat, whisking occasionally, until just melted
3. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in 9x9 baking dish.

Make Cheesecake batter:

1. Whisk together the cheesecake ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a butter knife (I think the best way to do this is to fold bits of the brownie batter over the cheesecake batter, then swirl!)
2. At this point, you could also add chocolate chips (I was going to, but forgot!)

Bake Brownies until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes, then enjoy!

Spiders

My mom made these with us every Halloween.!

Ingredients

• 1 pound chocolate confectioners' coating
• 1/2 bag of butterscotch chips
• 1-2 (8.5 ounce) packages chow mein noodles

Directions

1. Chop the chocolate confectioners' and butterscotch chips and place into a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the chow mein noodles so they are evenly distributed. Spoon out to desired size onto waxed paper. Let cool completely before storing or serving
2. Eyes: you can use RED M&M'S or you can buy yougurt covered rasins and a dot of black frosting.

Snickerdoodle cookies

This is my families favorite!

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4- 3 cups of flour

Cinnamon sugar:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

-Roll into one-inch balls.
-lightly flaten with a fork
-dip each ball into cinnamon sugar
-bake until they rise up and crack on top. They do not brown very much.

Mell-O Jello

Saucepan:
1 Lg. lemon pudding
mix according to directions

Bowl:
1 Lg. orange jell-o
mix according to directions
*combine together- whisk
1 can mandarine oranges (drained)

Set in fridge. Takes about 4 hours to set

Topping:
1 small Instant lemon pudding
1 cup milk- MIX

Seperate Bowl:
1 small whipping cream
- after whipped add 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- mix together with pudding and spread on top of set salad

Basic Rolls

Bosh or Kitchen Aid:

1 cup crisco

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. salt

Pour 2 cups boiling water. stir and cool down 

Bowl:

2 Tbs. yeast

1/2 cup warm water

4  beaten eggs

2 cups flour

Stir to gluten

Add 4-5 1/2 cups flour 

Raise until doubled in size. Roll out like a pie. Brush with butter and cut 16 pie shaped wedges.

 (pizza cutter works best) Roll each wedge up like a cresent roll. Let Raise. Bake at 375 15- 20 min.

Brush tops with butter when taken out of the oven.

Bake at 375 15- 20 min. Butter after out of oven

Veggie Burritos

This was something I made up, hope you like it.

Steam:

Carrots
Cauliflower
Broccoli

Once Veggies our steamed, put them in a warmed flour tortilla shell. Sprinkle with grated cheese and Ranch dressing to taste. Wrap up and enjoy

Halloween Candy Bark



I made this the past couple of years for Halloween. Very Yummy if you like white Chocolate
Landon says its a "Girl Food"

Ingredients

• 16 Halloween-colored Oreo cookies
• 1 1/2 cups broken small pretzels
• 1/3 cup M&M'S
• 1/3 cup Rees's Pieces
• 1 1/2 pounds white chocolate, broken into squares
• 2 cups candy corn
• orange and brown sprinkles

Directions

1. Spread the cookies (break in half), pretzels, Reese's Pieces and M&M'S evenly onto a lightly greased small baking sheet. Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave, stirring frequently until melted. Remove from the heat while there are still a few chunks, and stir until smooth. White chocolate burns easily.
2. Drizzle chocolate with a spoon over the goodies in the pan, spreading the top flat to coat evenly. Top with candy corn and sprinkles. Let cool until firm (Freezer for 20-30 min.). Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Pudding Cake



Cake:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter(2 squares)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 sour cream
1 tsp. soda
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix flour and sugar in a bowl. In saucepan boil butter, cocoa, and water. Pour into the flour and sugar mixture, mix. Add sour cream, soda, eggs, vanilla and salt. Blend. Pour into a large greased cookie sheet with sides. Bake 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Cool cake. A boxed cake mix may be used if desired.

Chocolate Topping:

1 small pkg. of Chocolate jello instant pudding
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened)
3 cups milk
12 oz. Cool Whip
Big Block Chocolate Bar

Make pudding using 3 cups milk as directed on package. Let set up a couple of minutes. Add softened cream cheese and mix in  good with beaters. Spread over cooled cake. Spread Cool Whip over pudding layer. Sprinkle grated chocolate bar on top. Refrigerate. Landon likes to Add Toffee along with the chocolate bar.