Tami's Really Cool, Tasty and Delicious Pretzel-Jello Stuff

I've eaten this jello salad that Tami, my niece-in-law (niece-in-law?), makes; and it is really yummy! I know, pretzels with jello might make you think twice, but you should think a third time and just try it.

I missed out when she took it to Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, because I spent Turkey Day at my in-laws. But Tami graciously gave me the recipe, and now I am going to propel her to culinary fame by posting it here, on my cookbook blog. ;-)

TAMI'S PRETZEL-JELLO SALAD

CRUST:
2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cubes melted butter
FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
8 oz cool whip
JELLO:
6 oz jello pkg.
water
2 cups cold orange juice (optional)


CRUST:
Mix the crushed pretzels, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and butter together.
Flatten the mixture into a 9x13 inch pan; bake at 400* for 10 minutes, then cool completely.
FILLING:
Mix the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar together until smooth; blend in the Cool Whip.
Spread over the cooled pretzels, making sure to seal the edges so the Jello mixture won't leak through.
JELLO:
Make the jello according to package directions, substituting the 2 cups juice INSTEAD of the 2 cups cold water, if desired.
Slowly pour the jello over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Do this slowly and carefully so you don't pour a hole into the cream cheese. [Refrigerating the cream cheese stuff first might help; it might harden it up a little. Maybe also letting the jello cool to room temperature before you pour it—Loralee].
Refrigerate until jello is completely set.
EAT:
Serve to your family and friends at the next big gathering (like New Year's Eve).
It's yummy, but don't eat it all by yourself!

Oven-Baked, Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast

This is a traditional Christmas breakfast dish in our house. It's great for Christmas because you prepare it the night before, and then in the morning you toss it into the oven and by the time you're through opening your gifts your breakfast is cooked. And it is sooooo yummy! I should really make it for other occasions than Christmas. Like tomorrow. Mmmm.


Oven-Baked, Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
a drizzle of maple syrup, about 1 Tbsp.
12 oz. white bread cut into cubes (about 3/4 of a loaf)
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 1/2 cups milk
3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
cinnamon
additional nutmeg
1-2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into about 1/4-inch cubes

Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and maple syrup until well-blended.
Put half of the bread cubes into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the bread in the baking dish.
Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the top of the bread and cream cheese.
Put the remaining bread cubes into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg; then press it all down a little.
In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, 1 tsp. nutmeg and milk. Blend well.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread. Press it all down again, if necessary, to make sure all the bread cubes are moistened.
Scatter the little butter cubes over the top of it all.
Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and then cover the baking dish with the foil. (Cooking-spray side down, right?)
Put it in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, put the French toast into a cold oven.
Turn heat to 350 and bake for about 1 1/2 hours—until it's not soggy anywhere.
Remove from oven and serve it warm.
It's really delicious as is, but I suppose you could top it with blueberry syrup. Or whipped cream on top would be yummy.

Merry Christmas!

Accidental Applesauce

Every year, for Thanksgiving, I bake an apple pie. For Jason. He loves apple pie and since I am a nice mom, I make it for him once a year, on Thanksgiving.

Well this year I blew it. I overcooked the apples (enough for two pies!) and had to make them into applesauce. It turned out to be the best applesauce I've ever had! Really! And I already liked applesauce.

And, yes, I did buy more apples and I still made apple pie. And it was delicious.



ACCIDENTAL APPLESAUCE

I don't really like Granny Smith apples, which are traditionally used in apple pies (I'm sure this is because they are too sour to just eat them). So I use several different kinds of apples in my pies—these are the ones I chose this year:

8 honeycrisp apples
4 Granny Smith apples
4 Jonagold apples
4 Braeburn apples

You also need:

2 Tbsp. lemon juice
about 1 cup water
sugar, to taste (I probably used 3/4 to 1 cup)

Peel, core and slice all the apples. This takes forever!
Put them into a great, big pot and toss with the lemon juice.
Add the water.
Cover the pot and put it on the stove, over low heat.
Go to your sister's house (or a friend's house) and forget all about the apples for about an hour. When the lightbulb goes on, call your kids and shriek into the phone, "Turn off the stove! Yes, the burner where the apples are."
Hurry home; check out the apples. Are they too mushy to use in a pie? Good.
Use your magic wand to blend it all into applesauce.
Stir in sugar, to taste.
Put the applesauce into smaller containers and refrigerate.
Eat it before it grows mold (within a week or so).

Makes about 3 quarts of really delicious applesauce!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day

Every year I use a few special recipes for Thanksgiving, and I was actually going to post these recipes before Thanksgiving so that you could try them if you wanted to. But it's too late now. Still, you could use them for Christmas. :-)

These are the specials of the house:
1. A yummy stuffing bread that makes great stuffing. Make sense? Probably not, but you'll see. And the bread also makes great turkey sandwiches on the day after.
2. A delicious veggie dip--a family recipe I inherited by marrying Bruce.
3. Chip dips. Actually, we only have chips and dip when we Thanksgiving with the North side of the family. (I know; you're thinking, "What about the South side?" We don't talk to them.)
4. Egg-nog cream pie. Actually, I don't make this every year. But my kids ask for it every year.

So to make up for never posting new recipes, I'll post all of these holiday recipes here, today. And, as a bonus, I'll include a new cranberry recipe that I tried out this year. (What good is a family dinner if you can't experiment on the family?)


STUFFING BREAD
Bread that tastes like stuffing. Bake this a few days before turkey day, dry it, and use it to make extra-yummy stuffing. See? Or use it for sandwiches.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/3 cups chicken broth, warmed up (think bath-water, not boiling)
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. celery seed
5 - 5 1/2 cups flour

Melt butter in a frying pan, add the onions and saute until onions are soft. Set aside to cool.
While the onions & butter are cooling, mix the warm broth, sugar and yeast in a large bowl to proof (wait about 5 minutes, until it's bubbly and/or foamy).
After your yeast is proofed, whisk in the eggs and the butter/onion mixture.
Add salt, poultry seasoning, pepper and celery seed.
Mix in 3 cups of the flour. Then add more flour, to make a soft dough.
Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a clean, covered bowl; cover and let rise until doubled--about an hour.
Punch dough; knead for about 30 seconds and shape into two loaves. Place loaves in greased pans, cover with a towel and let rise until about doubled--about an hour.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (until it looks, smells and feels done).
Remove from oven.
Slice it and dry it or just eat it. Yummy!

BRUCE'S MOM'S VEGGIE DIP
Well, actually I think it was around before Bruce's mom got it. But I got it from her. :-)

3/4 cup Miracle Whip (I use light, but never fat-free)
3/4 cup sour cream (light is good, fat-free is yuck)
1 1/2 tsp. dill weed
1 1/2 tsp. Bon Apetit seasoning
3 Tbsp. dry minced onion (I like to use onion powder because it makes the dip smoother)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Dip your veggies in (no double-dipping!) and enjoy!


CLAM DIP (for chips)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (6.5 oz.) can minced clams, drained, but reserve the broth
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
dash Bon Apetit seasoning (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, clams and 2 Tbsp. of the reserved broth; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more reserved broth, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


GREEN ONION CHIP DIP

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2-6* green onions, finely chopped (*how oniony do you like it?)
milk, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, onions (to taste), and 2 Tbsp. milk; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more milk, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


EGG-NOG CREAM PIE

1 baked pie crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups egg-nog
3/4 cup milk
nutmeg, to taste
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. rum extract
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, egg-nog and milk together.
Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens and boils.
Remove 1 cup hot mixture and quickly whisk into egg yolks. Return to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla, rum extract and butter. Stir until butter is melted and completely combined.
Cover closely with plastic (put the plastic right on the surface of the pudding) and let cool completely to room temperature.
Pour egg-nog pudding into the pie shell. Refrigerate. When it's cold, make the whipped cream:
In a medium bowl, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer at high speed. Stop when cream forms peaks, or you'll be making butter! Spread cream on pie and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. Slice and serve!


CRANBERRY JELLY
All right. It's still really tart. But not bad . . . for cranberries.

zest from 2 oranges
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. water
2 cups cranberries
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves

Process orange zest and sugar in a food processor until the sugar turns orange and the zest is chopped fine. (If you don't have a food-processor, a blender works. If you don't have either, you can skip this step.)
Put zest, sugar, lemon juice and water into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cranberries to pot and cook until they begin to pop. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and cloves.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.


So, there you have them. SIX new recipes! Enjoy.

Eewwww!

Check out this great picture of our Halloween Slime Punch:

Thanks Becky!

I'm not sure why I even keep this blog

Really! I hardly ever post anything at all. And then the link from my other blog to here makes me feel bad because it keeps telling me the last post was 3 weeks ago; 4 weeks; 6 weeks . . .

Maybe one day I really will post another recipe. But in the meantime, this post, today, will make my other blog say there's something new to read here, so I can stop feeling bad about myself and my pathetic cookbook blog. ;-)

Zucchini Casserole

Have you ever grown a zucchini plant? They are prolific, to say the least. I mean, we only have one plant and it's already produced a zillion pounds of zucchini. Well, OK. We've only had three so far. Three really big zucchinis in about a week. But fortunately zucchini is yummy, and it's versatile too . . . zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini cookies, grilled zucchini, zucchini pickles, zucchini pie . . .
(How many times can you use the word "zucchini" in one paragraph?)

But the one we eat the most often is zucchini casserole. I first had it at a family reunion when I was about 10, and I loved it. Actually, at age 10 I'm surprised I even tasted it. But since I did, and since I liked it even then, you know it must be good.

ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE

1 box stuffing mix (like Stove-Top Stuffing)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3 cups julienned zucchini
1 carrot, grated
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream

Melt 3/4 of the butter. Mix the melted butter with 3/4 of the stuffing mix in a 9-inch square baking pan. In a separate, small bowl, mix the remaining butter and stuffing mix together; set aside.
In a large bowl, mix zucchini, carrot, onion, cheese, cream of chicken soup and sour cream together. Spoon the zucchini mixture over the stuffing that's in the pan.
Sprinkle the remaining stuffing mix over the top.
Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes.
Serve hot and yummy! :-)

Pineapple, Cucumber and Mint Salad

I tried this new recipe just last night. On the first reading, I thought it sounded pretty good so I put it on this weeks' menu. When I looked at it again (yesterday afternoon--just before dinner time) I thought it sounded a little weird, although it might be good. But I was committed--I'd already bought all the ingredients--so I made it.
And . . .

Yummy! It is unusual, but very good. :-)

PINEAPPLE, CUCUMBER AND MINT SALAD

1 cup fresh pineapple, coarsely chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (I used oyster sauce)
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

More Marvelous Muffins

Mmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmm!

On May 16 our friends Grant and Janae had their first baby—an absolutely beautiful little boy. And as an excuse to visit (like we needed an excuse) we made a whole bunch of muffins and took some over. I already posted the Blueberry Muffin recipe [just click on the link :-) ], but here are the recipes for the Orange-Cranberry Muffins and the Bran Muffins. (These are also from The Best Light Recipe cookbook.)

CRANBERRY-ORANGE MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, chopped fine
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
tiny pinch of cloves (optional)
2 tsp. grated orange zest [I use a little more--I like it orangey!]
1 cup sugar [I think you could get away with 3/4 cup]
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine cranberries and orange juice in a microwave-safe container; cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let stand, covered, until softened and plump. Strain cranberries, discarding juice.
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. You can use cupcake-papers, but I think they're nicer if you just spray the pan. Also, the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but they must use a bigger tin than I do. This recipe makes 18 muffins in my tins (about 2 to 3-inches across the bottom of each cup).
Process the sugar with the orange zest until pale orange, about 10 seconds. If you don't have a food-processor, just chop the zest very fine and then mix it in with the sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and 1/4 of the sugar together. Set aside.
Beat 3/4 of the sugar and the butter together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until very fluffy. Add vanilla.
Turn mixer to low-speed and add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating just until incorporated, followed by 1/2 cup of the yogurt, scraping down the bowl as needed. Repeat this process two more times, alternating between the remaining flour and yogurt. Mix just until ingredients are incorporated.
Gently fold in the cranberries.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip them out onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Yum!

And now, the

BRAN MUFFINS

1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 2% or whole milk (don't use 1% or fat-free. Yuck!)
6 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray your muffin tin.
Stir the wheat bran, yogurt, milk, molasses and vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined; let sit for at least 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the sugar together; set aside.
Beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Beat in 1/3 of flour mixture until just incorporated, followed by 1/3 of the bran mixture, scraping down bowl as necessary. Repeat this process twice more, alternating between the flour and bran mixtures, until ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Gently fold raisins into the batter.
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, flip them onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Yum, yum!

Guests and Brownies

Last night Ben and Tami and their cute little girls came over for dinner. Did we think to take pictures of them (or at least the cute little girls)? Well, no. But here is the brownie recipe Ben asked for.

The first time I made these they were yummy and gooey; the second time not so much. But I think the difference was this: The first time I made them was for a big party, and the recipe didn't make enough. So I mixed up a cheap (and I mean probably the cheapest one available) brownie mix and added it to the home-made recipe—but I didn't use a bigger pan. So they were thicker, which probably added to the gooeyness factor. Well, try it out either way—it's a yummy recipe.

BROWNIES

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. warm water
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder [I am not about to pay for espresso powder just to make brownies with! Instead, I borrowed some Pero powder from my mom—which I'm sure coffee-people would say is NOT the same at all, but I don't know the difference.]
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter [I never remember to buy unsalted butter, but if I have it I use it.]
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine [buy baking squares, don't use chocolate chips]
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla and espresso powder together; set aside.
MIcrowave the butter and chocolate together at 50% power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. [whisk, whisk, whisk!] Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (like PAM). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes.
Cool for as long as you can stand to wait. Eat them up!

Mary's Bread (honey-wheat bread)

I am trying to sprout wheat berries (which is just a fancy name for wheat—the kind you'd keep in your food storage). You might ask, "Why?"

Let me tell you: I am going to teach a four-part series of bread-making classes for Relief Society. It was a brilliant idea which I am almost regretting. Anyway, part one is basic white bread; part two, wheat bread; part three, sourdough; and I'm not sure what I'm doing for part four.

OK. The white bread is easy; I also have the sourdough pretty much figured out. But the wheat bread—well, we're supposed to be learning how to use food-storage stuff. Hmmm. The wheat bread recipe that I always use (Mary's Bread) is really just like fancy white bread; you use half wheat and half white flour. So I'm trying out recipes that use 100% wheat, and I'm trying this recipe for sprouted-wheat bread, which is supposed to be super-healthy. Hence the wheat sprouts.

Last week I read instructions for sprouting wheat—it's supposed to be really easy. But I think instead of sprouting wheat I was brewing beer. The wheat berries got all nice and swollen, and then the water turned murky and got foamy on top. Not quite the results I expected. So I threw it out, looked up some different instructions online (your source for infinite and true knowledge), and started again last night. If I really get wheat sprouts this time, I'll post a picture and the instructions.

Won't that be cool?!

But for now I'll post the recipe for Mary's Bread. We first had this honey-wheat bread in Tennessee, where Mary Meredith made it every week for Sacrament Meeting. It is delicious! In fact, we had a visitor to our ward say, "This bread is so good, you should pass around butter and jelly with it!" (Read that statement with a Southern accent.)

Well maybe we shouldn't pass jelly with the sacrament, but the bread is delicious!

MARY'S BREAD

2 cups warm water
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil [or melted butter makes it tasty]
3-4 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups white flour

Butter and Jelly for eating it with ;-)

In a large bowl, combine water, honey and yeast; let proof about five minutes ('til the yeast is all foamy).
Add salt and oil; mix well.
Stir in 2 cups wheat flour and 2 cups white flour. Continue adding equal parts wheat and white flour, mixing by hand, and then kneading until you have a soft, elastic ball of dough.
Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour).
Punch down and knead 30 seconds.
Shape into two loaves; place loaves in two greased bread pans and let rise until doubled.
Place pans into a cold oven.
Turn oven to 350 degrees and bake bread for about 35 minutes.

Yum!

Brasilian (?) Salmon

Here's the salmon recipe Bruce mentioned. I don't know if it's authentic Brasilian—it's just a recipe I found on the web. It is the only "Brasilian salmon" recipe I found on the web, and it is exactly the same on every site. But, authentic or not, it is really good!

SALMON BAKED WITH BRASILIAN RUB

4 salmon fillets, 5 to 6 oz each
zest of 1/2 large orange
juice of 1/2 large orange
juice of 1/2 large lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a shallow dish large enough to hold the salmon, combine the juices, salt and pepper. Add the salmon, turning to coat with the marinade. Let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes, turning the fillets once.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil and grease with a little of the melted butter.
In a small dish, combine the orange zest, brown sugar, chili powder and minced garlic. Rub the marinated salmon with the brown sugar mixture. Place fish in the pan, and drizzle with the remaining melted butter.
Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. (If you're using a whole fillet, it needs to cook longer, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.)

I bet this would be yummy on other kinds of fishies, too!

Easter Sunday

We just had Easter; and so, naturally, food was a big deal on Sunday. Well, OK, food is always a big deal to me, a big-time foodie.

Anyway, we started the day with a delicious, raspberry-filled coffeecake. Then, after church, we had a simple meal of scrambled eggs and toast for lunch.

A humble dish of scrambled eggs. This is what happens when you dye the eggs before you cook them!

And for dinner we had a . . . non-traditional Easter meal: an excellent pot of Feijoada (Brasilian black beans), served with Farofa and rice, cucumber salad, a tossed green salad, and a lovely salmon fillet, seasoned with an orange-zest rub. It was truly a most excellent meal. So, for your culinary delight, I'll give you the recipe for the Feijoada.

I grew up eating "Rice and Beans," made by my Brasilian mother. She used to tell us that in Brasil they would serve it with every dinner. She also told us—almost every time that we ate it—that the rice with the beans make a complete protein. Hmm; ok. All I know is that it's probably my favorite meal; it is comfort food to me.

All right, here is the recipe:

FEIJOADA

1 lb. black beans, rinsed, with the little rocks and yucky-looking beans picked out
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1-2 good-size smoked ham-hocks or ham-shanks
1 stick (about 6-inches long) of pepperoni [optional—but I always use them]
1 red-wine sausage link (about 6-7 inches long), sliced [actually, this is the first time I used one of these in my beans, and it was fabulous!]
dried onion, to taste [probably about 1-2 Tbsp.]
garlic powder—a few dashes
1/8 tsp. baking soda
salt, to taste

In the evening—the night before you want to eat the beans—clean them, rinse them and put them in a large pot. Cover them with water, so the water-level is two to three inches above the beans. Stir in 1/8 tsp. baking soda, put a lid on the pot and go to bed.
In the morning, drain the beans in a colander and rinse them with clean water. Rinse the pot too.
Put the beans back into the pot and cover with water the same as before (about 2-3 inches above the beans). Put your ham-hocks/shanks down into the beans; add the dried onion and garlic. Stir in the other 1/8 tsp. baking soda. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low; cover and let it simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and periodically making sure there's still some water in there.
After 3-4 hours, remove the ham. Remove the meat from the bones and return it (meat, not bones) to the pot of beans. If you're using a ham-hock, discard the skin along with the bones. [Actually, Mom leaves the skin in her beans—she thinks it's yummy. I heartily disagree.]
If you're using it, slice the pepperoni stick into thin slices and add them to the pot. Add the browned sausages slices to the pot, too. Continue to cook for another hour or two—until the beans are tender enough. Taste it. Add salt, if needed.
Serve hot, over hot rice. With lemon or lime juice, and nice salads on the side. Yummy!

Buttercream Frosting

My brother-in-law, Rick, turned 50 this week. So Melanie (my sister) came over and we spent the day making goodies for a surprise party tonight. (Rick thought she went to work this morning. But no, we were right here, playing in my kitchen.)

Well, it just wasn't enough that I built the birthday cake. NO, she had to go and tell everyone that the frosting recipe was here, on my blog. So, to make an honest woman of her, I will post it. ;-)

But first I have to tell any and all party-goers that I actually made it wrong. Which, in this case, I think was good, because it is a really buttery recipe. Well, anyway, I'll try to explain where the mistakes came in, and maybe you can duplicate the whole mess.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
The mistake way:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 sticks of butter, each one cut into 4 pieces, and softened
* this was part of the mistake: about 2 cups powdered sugar *

In a large, heat-proof mixing bowl, combine the 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Put the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water [I just put it right into the simmering water—just make sure it's simmering, not boiling]. Whisk the stuff until it's thin and frothy and reaches a temperature of 160 degrees.
[OK. Here was my first mistake: I only let it heat to 140 degrees; although, really, I don't know if that would cause a big problem.]
Remove from heat and beat at medium-high speed until it reaches room temperature, 5-8 minutes. [Here was my second mistake—I got impatient and didn't let it cool enough—it was still warm to touch.]
Add the butter, one piece at a time and beat at high speed until thick and fluffy.
[OK. Next mistake. Because the egg and sugar stuff was too warm, the butter just melted—also, I got impatient again—and it never did get thick and fluffy. So I added powdered sugar until it seemed to be the right consistency.]


So, that was the first batch of frosting, which wasn't enough for the great-big cake. And since I had to make another batch, I thought I'd try to do it right the second time.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
The right way: (mostly):

2 large eggs
2 large egg whites [actually, the recipe calls for 3 whole eggs, but I opted to use 2 eggs, and 2 egg whites]
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 sticks butter, each one cut into 4 pieces, and softened

In a large, heat-proof mixing bowl, combine the 2 large eggs, 2 egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
Put the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water [I just put it right into the simmering water—just make sure it's simmering, not boiling]. Whisk the stuff until it's thin and frothy and reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. [I used the whisk attachment of my magic wand—it kept my shoulder and arm from wearing out during several minutes of steady whisking.]
Remove from heat and beat at medium-high speed until it reaches room temperature, 5-8 minutes.
Add the butter, one piece at a time and beat at high speed until thick and fluffy. [Just go away and let your stand-mixer do its thing. Or, if you have to use a hand-mixer—bummer for you! You'll have to babysit it until it's done.]
At the thick and fluffy point, the frosting can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days. But it will get hard, like a stick of butter, so you have to let it warm to room temperature before you can spread it on a cake. Mmmmm!

Now, here's what Melanie doesn't know:
She saw me put the first batch of frosting onto the cake. Then, after she left, I started on the second batch of frosting. Well, the second batch was smooth and silky and delightful; in comparison, the first batch was sugary—and pretty much like what you'd get in a can from the store. So I scraped most of the first batch of frosting off of the cake and mixed it in with the yummy second batch. Voila! Delicious buttercream frosting. And, it was just enough to spread the outside of a half-sheet cake.

So, after all of those convoluted instructions, do you think you can make a good batch of buttercream frosting?

Double Chocolate Cheesecake

A lot of people think cheesecake must be really difficult to make. I think this is because it is so rich, and because it costs so much to buy just a single slice of cheesecake. But, actually, cheesecake is a very easy dessert to make. (I should quit telling people how easy it is to make my recipes, and just open up shop somewhere!)

When I first made this double chocolate cheesecake, I wondered if the white chocolate would make a difference—there's so much more cream cheese than chocolate. But you really can taste the white chocolate and it's delightful.

Perhaps in tribute to my absolute favorite part of this recipe, it should be called Triple Chocolate Cheesecake. Because the chocolate-hazelnut crust is a different chocolate flavor from the cake itself, or the ganache topping. And this crust is to - die - for! Seriously, I could just spoon it up and eat it by itself. (Or it could make a really nice ice-cream topping.)

In the photo, my cake is topped with white chocolate curls, which made it look very elegant. I'm not telling you how to make them though, because it would be a very lengthy explanation. I'll bet you could find directions online somewhere if you tried.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

CRUST:
2 cups Nabisco Famous Wafer crumbs
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

FILLING:
10 oz. white chocolate

4 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
5 large eggs
5 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
5 Tbsp. sour cream
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

GANACHE TOPPING:
12 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/4-inch)
1 cup heavy cream

Line the bottom of a 9 to 10-inch springform pan with foil; tuck foil underneath pan bottom, assemble pan, then tighten the foil up the sides of the pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper, the size of the pan bottom, and place in the bottom of the pan. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

For the crust: In food processor, blend crumbs, nuts and sugar until hazelnuts are ground fine. Add butter and combine well. Press into bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake at 325-degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

For the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the flour and the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, melt the white chocolate; stir until smooth. In a slow stream, add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture, beating, until filling is well combined.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into the crust. Place the cheesecake into a roasting pan [actually I use my deep-dish pizza pan]. Set the roasting pan in the oven and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the outside of the springform pan. Bake for about one hour--until a thin knife comes out pretty darn clean. Turn off the heat and keep the oven door ajar, leaving the cake in the oven for one more hour.
Remove the pan from the water bath and fold the foil down away from the sides of the pan. Place on a cooling rack and let cake cool to room temperature.
Now you can put it into the fridge.

For the topping: Place the chocolate pieces in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, but do not let it boil. Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces. Tap the bowl on the counter to settle the cream into the chocolate, then let it sit for 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir, being careful not to incorporate a lot of air into the ganache. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.
Let the ganache cool--so it's cool to touch, but not set-up.
Do not remove the sides from the springform pan until the cake is topped, and the ganache has a chance to set up!
Pour ganache over the top of the cooled cheesecake; spread evenly.
Refrigerate until the topping is set (give it a couple of hours), then remove the springform sides. Return to refrigerator until 1/2 to 1-hour before serving.

Thoroughly decadent!

Raspberry Trifle

OK. You could probably make this with a cake mix and instant pudding. But that’s just not as cool.

So this recipe actually involves a series of recipes (see below). And you really could use any kind of fruit—I think pineapple would be great, or strawberries, or blueberries, bananas, blackberries . . . But the raspberries were really delicious, and they made it look very pretty, too.

RASPBERRY TRIFLE

1 recipe Sour Cream-Vanilla Pudding
1 recipe Raspberry Puree
1 recipe Sponge Sheet Cake
3 cups fresh raspberries
lightly sweetened, freshly whipped cream

To assemble the trifle: Cut cake into approximately 2-inch squares. Cover bottom of trifle bowl with cake pieces. Tuck 2-3 fresh raspberries between outer cake squares; scatter some more berries over center (use about 1 cup berries). Spread 1/3 of raspberry puree over center. Cover all with 1/3 of Sour Cream-Vanilla Pudding. Repeat two more times. Before serving, top with whipped cream.


SOUR CREAM-VANILLA PUDDING

5½ Tbsp. cornstarch
1⅛ cup sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
6-7 large egg yolks
4¼ cups whole milk
vanilla, to taste (1-2 tsp.)
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 stick)
1½ cups sour cream

Mix cornstarch, sugar and salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in egg yolks and in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. [Do not let it boil.] Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter; stir until butter is melted and completely incorporated. Cover closely with plastic, and let cool to room temperature. Mix in sour cream. Refrigerate, closely covered, until ready to use.



SPONGE SHEET CAKE

6 large eggs, separated and brought to room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract (optional; but if you don’t use it, increase the vanilla to 1 tsp.)
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 cup cake flour

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a jelly-roll pan; line pan bottom with waxed paper, allowing 1-inch overhang on each end. Do not grease paper.
In a large bowl, whip egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt, increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat to soft peaks. Slowly sprinkle on 3 Tbsp. sugar; continue to beat until whites are shiny and thick, 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, vanilla and hot water; beat at high speed 1 minute. Slowly add ½ cup sugar; beat until mixture is pale, shiny and almost as thick as marshmallow cream—4-5 minutes longer.
Scrape yolk mixture over egg whites; gently fold with rubber spatula until about 2/3 mixed. Sift flour over egg mixture; gently fold until flour is completely incorporated. Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Bake until lightly browned and center springs back when gently pressed, about 12-15 minutes.
Immediately after baking, free the cake edges from the pan sides with a knife and smooth a sheet of waxed paper over the cake top. Place another sheet pan or cookie sheet on top of the cake. Flip over as shown, then lift off the baking pan. Let the cake cool completely, then gently peel the waxed paper off the cake bottom, removing the bottom crust. Flip the cake top side up, then peel off the second sheet of waxed paper, removing the top crust. (Can be wrapped in plastic, then in foil and refrigerated for 1 day).

RASPBERRY PUREE
Sounds kind of like “Raspberry Beret.” But I don’t really know that song.

2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
3-4 Tbsp. sugar

Puree berries and sugar in blender or food processor. Strain through fine sieve, pressing on solids to release juice; discard seeds. (Can be covered and refrigerated 1 day.)

Now that all the ingredients are made, you can assemble the trifle, as described at the very beginning of this post. :-)

It Really IS Spring!

Trees budding, changeable weather, tulips popping up, grass greening—it is springtime! So, naturally, this is the time for Pasta Primavera (which literally means Springtime Pasta). This recipe has nothing to do with the big party last week. It's just a really yummy, family-favorite around here—even the kids love it. And that's saying something!

PASTA PRIMAVERA

3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 lb. asparagus, tough ends snapped off
1 small zucchini, diced
1/4 cup slivered ham
1-2 small carrots, sliced thinly
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry basil
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz. linguine or fettucine, cooked according to package directions

Slice the asparagus diagonally, in 1-inch slices, leaving the tips whole.
Melt butter in a large saute pan; add asparagus, zucchini, ham, carrots and mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes, uncovered; then cover and cook 3 more minutes. Add the salt, basil, nutmeg and peas; toss to combine. Pour heavy cream into pan and let cook until large, shiny bubbles appear on surface.
Toss vegetable mixture with pasta; add half of the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Serve hot and pass the remaining Parmesan.
Delish!

I think this would be good with some shrimp tossed into the sauce, too. I'll have to try that out some time (although, then my kids probably wouldn't like it so much.)

Chocolate Mousse Pie

I have a friend who swears chocolate mousse pie will induce labor. It’s never worked for me;
but it’s still delicious anyway. And this recipe is to-die-for heavenly!

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

1 Oreo pie crust
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. water
2 large eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. heavy cream, chilled
whipped cream, for topping

Combine chocolate and water in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1-inch of barely simmering water; melt, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat.
Whisk egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. of the sugar, and the salt in a medium bowl about 30 seconds. Pour melted chocolate into the egg mixture and whisk until combined. Let cool about 3-5 minutes.
In a clean bowl, beat egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy (1-2 minutes). Add remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar, increase speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Whisk a few strokes by hand, making sure to scrape any unbeaten whites from the bottom of the bowl.
Using a whisk, stir about ¼ of beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it; gently fold in remaining egg whites with rubber spatula until a few white streaks remain.
In the original egg-white bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. With a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate stuff until no white streaks remain. Spoon mousse into the pie shell. [Or you could skip the pie shell and spoon it into individual serving dishes. But then it wouldn't be Chocolate Mousse Pie.] Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. (May be refrigerated up to 24 hours.)

Serve topped with whipped cream.

Strawberries

The Strawberry Bouquet the other night was truly spectacular. I even had one friend who said she thought it was made of real roses. I grant you, she forgot her glasses that night; but still . . .
The roses were made of chocolate-dipped strawberries and strawberry candies, which were all skewered and set into a styrofoam block. The greens really are just silk plants (you can't eat those!)—to make the whole thing look nice.

I think that if I had some good marketing skills a basket of these roses could easily sell for $75 (which works out to be about $1 per "flower"). But you, you lucky readers, can make your own for substantially less. [Although, if you don't want to take the trouble, I will happily make you one for $75—if you live in Salt Lake
County. ;-) ]

And not only is it beautiful, it is really tasty, too!

STRAWBERRIES

a handful of slivered almonds

green food coloring
1 cup finely chopped nuts (I use blanched almonds)

1 cup shredded coconut

2 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry jello

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

red sugar (cookie/cake sprinkles)

green sugar

In a sandwich baggie, toss the slivered almonds with green food coloring until they are green all over. Let them dry on paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine nuts, coconut, jello, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly [I find it easiest to knead it by hand.] Pinch off a little of the dough and mash, roll and pinch it into a strawberry shape. Roll it in the red sugar, then dip the top end in a little of the green sugar. Insert a green almond into the top for a stem. Voila! Strawberries!

Very cute, and tasty! [Sounds like what Bruce says about me. ;-) ]

Chocolate

Some of the upcoming recipes will require you to melt chocolate. Chocolate is very fussy; if you don't do it right it will "lose it's temper." (And yes, that really is what chocolatiers call it—losing it's temper.) Basically, this means the chocolate will look ugly and won't be smooth-textured when you're done. You don't want to make chocolate lose it's temper!

I've found all kinds of worky instructions for melting/tempering chocolate, and I'm sure they give you the true and correct way to do it every time. But it involves buying a special chocolate thermometer, and heating and cooling and heating and cooling several times until it is just right. So this is the easy way to get it right most of the time:

This is for real chocolate--not chocolate chips (or Hershey bars, etc.) I'm talking about something like a Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking bar (I also like the semi-sweet). Or the really nice, expensive chocolate you can buy at nicer baking supply stores, like Peter's chocolate.

But for our purposes, we'll use two Ghirardelli bars, which you can find at the grocery store.

• Chop your chocolate into small pieces, no larger than 1/2-inch.
• Put about half of the chocolate pieces in a heat-proof bowl (I use a soup bowl).
• Bring 2 inches of water to simmer in a small saucepan, over medium heat.
• Set the bowl of chocolate over the pan, reduce heat to low. Do not let the water boil under your chocolate. It just needs to be hot.
• DO NOT LET ANY WATER GET INTO THE CHOCOLATE!
• Let chocolate sit until the pieces are glossy, have lost definition, and are fully melted around the edges.
• Remove bowl from heat and gently stir the chocolate until it is completely liquid (you don't want to incorporate a lot of air into it).
• It should just barely feel warm to touch--not hot at all.
• Now it is ready for dipping or molding.
• When the chocolate cools off too much to be used, add a little more chocolate to the bowl and repeat the process.
  
  

Simple. :-)

Garlic Chicken and Parslied Potatoes

Last night was our ward's Relief Society birthday social. The menu was fantastic, and received rave reviews.

The Garlic Chicken was excellent! A dish of tender chicken breasts, subtly seasoned with herbs, and served with a sauce that’s a garlic-lover’s dream. This recipe will fill your home—and maybe your neighbor’s—with an irresistible aroma. As a matter of fact, a friend came over to my house yesterday the afternoon to deliver some potatoes for the dinner, and she said as soon as she opened her car door she could smell the good things cooking inside the house.

Don't let the amount of garlic deter you. This dish really is superb! [If you don't believe me, you can ask Marian. ;-) ]

CHICKEN WITH GARLIC SAUCE

2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. sage
1 1/2 tsp. rosemary
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 (6-oz.) boneless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp. olive oil
20 garlic cloves, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 white onion, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp. soft butter mixed with 1 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. Italian parsley (optional—for garnish)

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine flour, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper on a plate. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess flour. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil in a large sauté pan set on medium-high heat until sizzling, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook for 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a baking dish.
Add the remaining olive oil to the sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat until sizzling, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and onion and cook until the onion softens and the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Pour the wine into the saute pan and cook until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock and boil until reduced by half, about 7-8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter-flour mixture, stirring until it has melted completely. Return the pan to the heat and boil for a minute, until the sauce thickens.
Spoon sauce over chicken breasts, and bake for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken topped with sauce and garnish with Italian parsley.

And the perfect compliment to this savory chicken dish is the subtle flavor of Parslied Potatoes. These yummy potatoes take less than an hour to make, from start to finish, and they go good with just about anything!

PARSLIED POTATOES

3 lbs. small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into about 1-inch cubes (think potato salad)
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt
black pepper, freshly ground
dash paprika (optional)
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped parsley

Absolutely dice the potatoes before you cook them! (This way the skins won't shred off while you are trying to chop them up.)
Put the potato cubes into a large pot; put in the bouillon cubes and add water to cover it all (about 7 cups water). Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender. [Check them after 10 minutes, and then about every 5 minutes or so after that until they are done.] Scoop out 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid; set it aside.
Drain the potatoes in a colander. Put the butter, reserved cooking liquid, salt, dash pepper and paprika into the cooking pot. Stir until the butter is melted, then return the potatoes to the pot. Add the parsley and toss gently until potatoes are covered with the other ingredients.
Serve and enjoy . . . with anything!

Coming up next . . . the fabulous dessert-bar recipes!

I am the new Enrichment Night Board Leader in our ward, and I am in charge of our Relief Society birthday social/dinner. For the main course we are having Chicken with Garlic Sauce (delectable!), Parslied Potatoes, a small salad bar, and dinner rolls. I have divvied out a lot of the dinner work among ladies in the ward. But I am very fussy about my desserts not only being delicious, but also delightful to behold; I am making the dessert bar. But I can't decide just which desserts I want to make.

Should I go with the "Delectably Rich" menu of:

• White Chocolate Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
• Raspberry Trifle
• Lemon Meringue Pie
• Strawberry Bouquets (which would have the chocolate-dipped strawberries--like I did for Valentine's Day and some delightful hand-made, soft candies that look like strawberries)
  

Or should I go for the "Chocolate Decadence" menu of:

• White Chocolate Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Topping
• Chocolate Cake/Ice-Cream Roll, with Raspberry Sauce (although I haven't decided whether to use chocolate ice-cream, or vanilla. I'm thinking probably vanilla.)
• Chocolate Mousse Pie with Mint Whipped Cream
• Strawberry Bouquets (which would have the chocolate-dipped strawberries--like I did for Valentine's Day and some delightful hand-made, soft candies that look like strawberries)
  

I haven't heard from the Relief Society presidency as to their preference. But they seem to trust me implicitly. The party is March 10. Which menu would you choose?

Tangy Whipped Cream

I made this to go with my Valentine's Day cake. It was pretty good with chocolate cake, but it is fabulous with fresh raspberries.

TANGY WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sour cream (not the lite kind)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Beat all ingredients together, at high speed, until soft peaks form. Serve immediately. (With fresh raspberries!)

Hmmmm...

Never mind on that last one. I made it last Friday and it wasn't so great after all. Not that it was nasty or anything. I bet freshly cooked chicken would be far better than canned. Even so . . .
Maybe it requires someone else making it, or maybe having it at a party, to truly enjoy it. :-)

Crunch Salad

Our friend, Jill Rushton, brought this yummy salad to our Christmas party this year. It's really tasty, and way easy to make.

CRUNCH SALAD

1 pkg Rce-a-Roni fried rice
1 small green onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery, chopped
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can turkey or chicken, drained
enough mayonnaise to make moist
1 can rice noodles [These are in the oriental section of the grocery store. They are just chow mein noodles, but instead of the big ones that come in the bags, these noodles are smaller and come in a can.]

I think it would also be good with a handful of toasted, sliced almonds, and maybe a couple Tablespoons of finely diced red bell peppers.


Cook the Rice-a-Roni as directed on package. Toss rice with all remaining ingredients except for the noodles. Put in fridge to chill. Mix noodles in just before serving.