Recipes Reviews and Gadgets

My husband decided to make homemade pizza last night. His half was going to be made of the wild game he hunted this past fall. I do not like moose or deer, so my half had chicken (store bought!). He started his quest, by trying to figuring out how he was going to make the dough. His best meals are made on the grill, so this was new to him! I mentioned we had some pizza dough mix we purchased from King Arthur Flour (it is only 45 minutes from our home, so we buy different things there often). He was very happy he did not have to figure out how to make dough from scratch. He followed the recipe, and added some Italian herbs to the mix (nice touch!). Next he found some organic tomato sauce, and threw in some herbs and garlic. He raided the pantry and found some dry mushrooms and olives (two of my favorite items). He managed to find buffalo mozzarella in the fridge and shredded that to add to his masterpiece.

He cooked his deer burger and my chicken - in separate pans - and added that to the pizza. I have to admit the outcome was quite good, and none of his wild game spilled over to my side! He said he will offer more recipes for his wild game in some future posts!

I saved this recipe from the Nestle website. I have only made them a few times, as I do not always have caramel ice cream topping available. I tried it with butterscotch once, it was just as good, and very SWEET! I suppose if you are a chocolate addict you could use fudge sauce!

• 1 3/4 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, (optional)
• 3/4 cup butter  melted
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 cup caramel ice cream topping

PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Grease bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

COMBINE oats, 1½ cups flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Stir in butter; mix well. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture; press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with morsels and nuts. Mix caramel topping with remaining flour in small bowl; drizzle over nuts to within ¼ inch of pan edges. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture.

BAKE for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack; refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars.

These go nicely with any Italian dish, but are especially nice with pasta. They are pretty simple to make and have a nice aroma!

Italian Herb Muffins

2 C Flour

2 Tbls grate parmesan or romano cheese

1 Tbls sugar

1 Tbls Italian seasoning

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/4 C butter, softened

1/2 tsp garlic powder

In bowl, combine flour, cheese, sugar, Italian seasoning, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and oil; stir wet mixture into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for five minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. In a small bowl combine butter and garlic powder. Serve with warm muffins. Batter should make 10 muffins!  Makes nice little mini-muffins also!

Not too far from my home is an Italian deli, every time I go in there I cannot resist buying a small bag of Amaretti cookies! I really love how they are crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. I decided to find a recipe and make myself. It is a bit of work, and the almond paste is a bit expensive, but they really are good!

8 ounces almond paste
3 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar (put sugar in food processor if not available)
1/2 c. flour
Granulated sugar for sprinkling cookie tops before baking

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Break up almond paste. Beat egg whites until foamy and add to paste and mix well. Slowly add the sugar mixing well after each addition. Add flour to almond mixture and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. A piping bag with a 1 inch round tip well yield a more consistent sized cookie.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar and Bake 20 minutes.

This Italian amaretti cookie recipe will yield about 40 cookies.

I really love these as side dish to burgers or steaks, or too bring to parties. The last time I made them, the peppers were really hot though. Everyone ate them, but they were drinking several beverages! You can grill them or bake/broil them. They are really easy to make.

10 Jalapenos cut in half and cleaned out good

4 0z of cream cheese (softened)

1/2 C shredded Cheese (I have used Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Colby, Whatever I have)

5 slices of bacon cut in half

Mix the cream cheese and cheese together and stuff into your jalapenos. Wrap bacon slices around stuffed jalapenos. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes until just about brown, then broil for another three minutes. If you are going to use the grill, keep an eye on them the entire time.

You can make as many as need for a group just adjust the amount of cream cheese and cheese!

Serve hot!

These are perfect for chocolate lovers! Easy to make and rich tasting. I got this from the Nestle’s website.

Chocolate Crumb Bars

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips divided
• 1 can (14 oz.)sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BEAT butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

COMBINE 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in a small, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread over hot crust.

STIR nuts and remaining morsels into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack.

These are easy cookies (but they can be messy), and have just three ingredients. They are very good, and I like making them for different holidays. If you are creative, you can even decorate them nice and fancy, if you really want to take the time. They will be gone so fast there is really no point in decorating them, but they do look nice with some colored sprinkles at least.

Cracker Cookies

Ritz Crackers

Creamy Peanut Butter

Almond Bark (melted white chocolate) or Melted Chocolate

Make Sandwiches out of two Ritz Crackers and a good amount of peanut butter, not too much you do not want these really thick. Melt the chocolate of your choice in a double boiler on the stove. Keep it on low the entire time. I prefer the white chocolate. With some tongs carefully dip your sandwiches in the chocolate. Put on wax paper in fridge to harden. If you want to decorate with sprinkles do so before they harden. Or decorate with frosting after they harden. They are as simple as that! Great for the summer, because you do not have to turn on your oven!

These are a nice dessert and you can use any jam or jelly you prefer, sugar free even! They are quick and easy to make and great to bring to friends or a party!

• CRUST
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• TOPPING
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup  jam (I have used strawberry and blackberry)
• 1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) milk chocolate chips

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 9-inch-square baking pan.

FOR CRUST:
COMBINE flour and granulated sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto bottom of prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 18 to 22 minutes or until set but not brown.

FOR TOPPING:
COMBINE flour, nuts and brown sugar in small bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

SPREAD jam over hot crust. Sprinkle with morsels and Topping.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

These are chewy, gooey, and very sweet. Great to make when you have leftover marshmallows hanging around or perhaps Peeps from Easter! Even if the marshmallows are getting hard they will work great in this recipe, so do not throw them away. I have had this recipe a long time and they taste great. I just made a batch the other day!

Smores Cookies

3/4 C butter, softened
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C  brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C graham cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 C semi-sweet chocolate
1 C mini marshmallows (you can use large if you want to take the time to cut them up)

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in egg and vanilla. Combined flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and salt. Mix well and add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and and marshmallows.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets about 3 inches apart.

Bake in pre-heated oven 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8 minutes. Enjoy!

This crumb cake recipe has made my Aunt Julia famous among her friends. She is well known amongst her family and her friends for her baked goods. Good cooks run in our family. My grandmother, and all of her daughters loved to cook. My mom and my aunts all have great recipes to share. They have now passed them down to my sister, cousins and I. My cousin Karen said my aunt would love to share this with my readers.

Crumb Cake

2 cups Bisquick
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix above ingredients together and put into a 9×13 greased and floured pan.  Add topping.

Topping:
Melt 1 stick margarine and 1/2 cup Crisco
Mix together 2 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon
Add melted margarine and Crisco and make crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes
SERVE!