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Showing posts from September, 2011

Teddy Bear Cookies

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CUTENESS!! I teach a Sunday School class at church that is all little girls and it's fun to bring them treats now and then and they love it! I thought that this Sunday instead of getting tiny packages of candy I would get Serena to help me bake some treats for them. She is in the class too. She was delighted to help and we had fun making these cute little teddy bears on a stick. I used a Peanut Butter Cookie  recipe and two different sized cookie scoops. The head was a size 30 and the ears a size 100. Arrange the head and the ears so they touch on the baking sheet. Insert the stick towards the bottom of the ball (head). Bake for 12 minutes @350°. Remove from the oven and gently but firmly press the M&M's for eyes and a mini Kiss for a nose into the cookie. Allow to cool on the baking sheet and then carefully remove with a spatula. She is beginning to really feel the 5 years that is between her and the boys especially since her puppy died a few weeks ago (the s...

Prize Winning Peanut Butter Cookies

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I found this recipe years ago and played around with the ingredients till I had them the way I liked them and named them Prize Winning Peanut Butter Cookies because I was entering them into a contest. Haha! No, I didn't win. But that's okay, from the way they disappear it's a win here in this household. ☺ And that's good enough for me. I added small chocolate and peanut butter chips in tonight's batch but I usually like to add the little round Reese's ice cream topping thingys but since I didn't have any on hand I just used what was in the cupboard. They are so good! Unfortunately we were out of milk but that would have been perfect with a warm peanut butter cookie!! Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup peanut butter 2 eggs ¼ cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3½ cups flour 12 oz. mini chocolate chips 6 oz. Reese's peanut butter sprinkles Additional sugar         ...

Praline Cheesecake

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                                                                     Cheesecake love Every now and then I get to the point where thinking about baking cheesecakes occupies a lot of my time. That's how I know it's time to do something about it. This past weekend we were host family at church and I decided to take advantage of such a time and bake this super easy, super delicious cheesecake to serve for our dessert. Okay for one  of the desserts . You see I had been thinking about pies too. Heaven help me with the sugar craving! I didn't manage to get a picture of it when it was uncut because, well, it's just not the thing to d...

Chocolate Chip Bars

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MMM -YUMMY! I'm sure there's a million and 1 chocolate chip bars recipes floating around out there but this is what I make when I'm short on time and want something easy that I know will turn out right without a lot of fuss. Saturday was one of those days that most definitely fit into that category! We had a very busy weekend partly due to some miscommunication between my hubby and me (can anyone identify?!) and the day stretched out loooong and... well I'll spare you the details!☺ Our son who loves to work in the kitchen asked if he could help in any way by baking something for me and with the youth group coming here for volleyball on Sunday night the answer was YES!! Bless his sweet heart!! Here he is with his finished product. He was so pleased when those things disappeared in a heartbeat and everyone enjoyed them! Especially when a few people commented how good they were before knowing that he baked them. It's always fun to see him basking in the glow of hi...

Candied Pecans

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In preparation for a dessert I hope to make in the near future I made these today for a garnish. Can you spell I.R.R.E.S.I.S.T.I.B.L.E?! They are super delicious! and easy to make. I tried to remember where I got the recipe but neglected to write it down when I found it. So if this is like a recipe you have on your blog let me know, I'll be happy to link to your blog and give you the credit. ☺ 1 egg white 1 Tablespoon water Beat with a hand mixer until frothy. Add: 1 lb. Pecan Halves and stir. Pour in an avalanche of sugar   (1 cup) 1 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon ( I omitted the cinnamon because of what I want to use them for but it would be delicious in there otherwise!) Toss until well coated. Then spread onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake @275° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow to cool before storing. Be Blessed!

Pumpkin Cutout Cookies

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When I was growing up these cookies were always a part of Autumn at our house. I don't remember my Mom ever using real pumpkin for these or anything for that matter. She always substituted Butternut Squash. I did use real pumpkin (canned) for these though. They are super soft and very fragile. I mixed the dough on Saturday and didn't get around to baking them so I decided to bake some on Sunday for our supper treat after a refreshing walk through the woods. It was a gorgeous Fall day and far to beautiful to spend inside so we turned all the techy stuff OFF and spent some time enjoying the beauty of Nature.The cookies are almost easier to eat with a fork than holding them, but regardless of how you eat them they are scrumptious with the caramel icing! Ingredients: 1 cup shortening , I used Lard because I had some I wanted to use up but other forms of shortening work too 1 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup pumpkin ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking p...

Honey BBQ Chicken Pizza w/ Caramelized Onions and Smoky Mozzarella

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say yes to yum Today is sort of a low key day around here. The men of the house are off to the mountains to do some work at the cabin and it didn't work for any of my daughters friends to spend the day, so we went to bed later than usual (for her) last night and got up when we felt like it and haven't done much of anything today, unless it counts that we made some minus flash cards for her to practice and baked a cheesecake and mixed some pumpkin cutout cookies that are in the fridge waiting for the right mood. They may or may not get baked today yet. And we took a nap. It's cool and rainy and we're meeting my MIL for supper in town so I think other than picking up a bit around here we will just keep it low key. helping to make the cheesecake Yesterday when I was out and about rounding up our groceries I found some Smoked Mozzarella Cheese and was intrigued. So I purchased a small amount to try in this pizza with some rotisserie chicken that was hanging out in ...

Taco Soup

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With the weather turning cooler I now have an excuse to make soup. I like soup a lot if it has lots of good flavor. So today because it's cooler, and because I missed my pretty red Dutch Oven I decided it's time for my favorite soup. ☺☺☺ Several years ago I was at my neighbors house for lunch and when I walked into her house I smelled two delicious smells and this was one of them. Yum! The other smell was mulled cider, another yum that I always love to smell but am not all that crazy to actually drink it. Anyway, this soup is scrumptious on it's own or with some added ingredients like cheese, chips, sour cream, avocados, etc. Sometimes I like to make it without the meat and eat it with long grain brown rice. I suppose black beans would be good in there too, although I've never tried that. Here goes: 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 1 lb. lean ground sirloin 1 red pepper*, diced 1 green pepper, diced 1 medium onion, diced ½ cup salsa 2-3 Tablespoons Hot Sauce ...

Hidden Pear Salad

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Last week was a long one that was filled with the peeling of many pears, so naturally my mind went to things that can be made with pears. I tried a Spiced Pear Cake with Praline Topping but decided it was too spicy although the Praline topping was scrumptious! Then I thought of this molded jello that I have made before. It's simple, looks pretty, and tastes yummy! That's good enough for me!☺ Ingredients: 1-16 oz. can pears, liquid drained and reserved 1-3 oz. pkg. lime jello 1-3 oz. pkg. cream cheese ¼ teaspoon lemon juice, I used lime 1-8 oz. Cool Whip Bring pear liquid to a boil. Stir in gelatin until dissolved. Cool until syrupy. Puree pears in a blender. Beat cream cheese and lemon juice until fluffy and smooth. Add pureed pears and mix well. Fold Cool Whip into pear mixture then fold in cooled jello . Spoon or pour into 4½ cup mold* that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. *I used a double recipe for the Tupperware mold. It didn't quite all...