Sunday, July 5, 2009

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip

Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

♦ 3 Boneless, Skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
♦ 1 Jar of Marzetti's Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing
♦ 1/4 C of Hot Sauce/ Buffalo Wing Sauce -as hot as you like
♦ 2- 8 ounce pkg of cream cheese (softened)
♦ 1 1/2 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese


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Directions:

♦ Mix all ingredients in a mixer for 2 -3 minutes until mixed well.
♦ Put in slow cooker on low for 2-3 hours before serving.
♦ Serve with corn chips, rolls, pretzels or celery sticks.

ENJOY!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad


Ingredients (Salad):


  • 9 c. Torn Spinach
  • 1 pint fresh strawberries
  • 1/2 c. slivered almonds or pecans; may toast them also for a nice taste
Ingredients (Dressing):

  • 1/4 c. Vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. Chopped red onion
  • 1 tsp. poppy seed
  • 1 tsp. sesame seed
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • 1/8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce


Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a shaker and mix well, or you can also put them in a blender.

** The blender will create more on a whipped dressing that is fluffy and doesn't separate when it sits like the other method that sits in the shaker.



Notes:

** I usually at least double the dressing recipe.

** I always put more onions than the directions call for, but I like onions.

**Also feel free to try other fruits than just strawberries.

** It is really hard to find strawberries certain times of the year, so try your favorite apple or berry [like raspberries] they do make good substitutes.

Apple Tart

Apple Tart

Ingredients [Cake]:

♦ 1 T Sugar
♦ 1 C Sugar
♦ 2 Lg Eggs
♦ 1/4 C Milk
⇔Mix well and add with dry ingredients below.
♦ 1 C Flour
♦ 1 tsp Baking powder
♦ Pinch of salt
Directions:

⇔Sift together all the dry ingredients before adding to wet ingredients.
⇔Pour cake mix into a greased 8X8 pan or a greased 9X13 pan
⇔Add a can of drained pie apples, carefully placing them on top of batter
⇔ Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown in 350ยบ oven
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Ingredients [Cream]:
♦ 1 C Cream
♦ 1 C Sugar

⇔Simmer on stove for 5-10 minutes or until sugar melts.
⇔On removal of tart from oven,pour sauce over cake, both sauce and cake must be hot.
⇔Leave to cool.
***Great served alone or with a scopp of vanilla ice cream.
ENJOY!!

Gingersnap Pear Tart

Gingersnap Pear Tart


INGREDIENTS :

  • 1 cup gingersnap crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine
  • 1 (8 ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 (8 ounce) package fat-free cream cheese
  • 1/3 plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 large ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter.
Press onto the bottom and 1/2 in. up the sides of a 9-in. spring-form pan coated with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 5-8 minutes or until set.
Cool on a wire rack.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheeses until smooth.
Beat in 1/3 cup sugar, flour and vanilla.
Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
Pour into crust.

Combine pears, cinnamon and remaining sugar; arrange pear slices over cream cheese mixture.

Place pan on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until almost set.
Immediately run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

ENJOY!

Egg & Sausage Bake



Sausage & Egg Bake ~


8-10 Servings


Ingredients:
* 1 Lb sausage
* 6 eggs
* 6 slices bread, cubed
* 1 tsp dry mustard
* 2 C milk
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 C grated cheddar cheese



Directions:
* Brown sausage and drain
* Mix eggs, milk, salt and mustard together.
* Add bread, cheese and sausage.
* Pour into rectangle [8X11 or 9X13] glass pan lightly greased.

**NOTES:
May also add chopped onions, peppers, tomatoes, bacon, cooked hash browns or any other item you choose, just add an egg or two to get more liquid into the bake.
For an added personal touch you may also add 1/2 tsp of your favorite spice or herb; such as, basil, parsley, Italian seasoning, or the like.

** REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT **

* Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

* Let stand for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!
~Breeze

Serves 8-10

Swiss Vegetable Medley Bake


Swiss Vegetable Medley Bake ~ January 19th 2009



INGREDIENTS:

* 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 (6 ounce) can French-fried onions
* ground pepper to taste

* I use frozen broccoli/cauliflower without carrots

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Set aside 1/4 cup of cheese, and 1/4 cup of onions.

2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine thawed vegetables, mushroom soup, 3/4 cup Swiss cheese, sour cream, remaining fried onions, and pepper. Pour ingredients into a 2 quart casserole dish.

3. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle reserved cheese and onions on top of the casserole and bake additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Coffee Milk



Simple & Delicious!

4 ounces of Coffee Syrup to 8-10 ounces of Ice Cold Milk

CoFfeE SyRuP

If you are not lucky enough to be in a region where you can get hold of this liquid gold, you can make you own pretty quickly.....and economically I might add.

It is made by taking equal parts strong coffee to sugar, I use white sugar myself.

3 cups of strong coffee to 3 cups sugar; 5 cups of strong coffee to 5 cups sugar.......you get the picture. :o)

Bring sugar and coffee to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then let cool.

Add to Cold Milk & Enjoy! *

I am certain you can get creative by adding ice, pop in a blender and come up with a frozen drink like your local Starbuck*ets for much less, so have fun with it.

**Also, I think if you add some other flavors to jazz up this already great drink you might surprise yourself.

Flavors to try that come to my mind right away are a couple drops of liquid hazelnut, amaretto, vanilla, cinnamon essence or any other flavor you like.
Maybe try a dash or two of your favorite spices such as cloves, cinnamon, etc to make your own version of it.

Let me know if you try it out and tell me what you think.

Below is some history on the syrup/drink that I pulled from Wikipedia.

-Happy Reading!

~Breeze




History-
Coffee milk was introduced to Rhode Island sometime in the early 1930s. It came about from creative diner and drugstore operators trying to attract new customers with creative drinks. One of these operators, who is lost to history, sweetened leftover coffee grounds with milk and sugar. This created a molasses-like extract that became popular. Coffee milk became a favorite among Rhode Islanders and created a demand for this coffee syrup. The demand was so great, that in 1993, it beat out Del's Lemonade as the official drink of Rhode Island.[2]

Availability-
In southeastern parts of the U.S. region of New England, it can be found in the dairy case of stores right next to other flavored milks such as chocolate and strawberry, and is often found on the beverage menus of diners throughout the state.

One such diner, Friendly's, actually offers free refills on coffee milk. This is very surprising since it is not as inexpensive to produce as most drinks that are granted free refills.

The drink is difficult to find outside of the New England region, however, and travelers requesting it are often mistakenly served coffee with milk. One well-known brand of coffee syrup is "Autocrat". The Autocrat company, which also produces the Eclipse and Coffeetime brands, is based in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It is the official state drink of Rhode Island and a favorite tradition among many Rhode Islanders

Timeline-
* 1930s- Coffee milk was introduced to Rhode Island.
* 1932 - The Silmo Packing Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts, began marketing a more refined version called "coffee syrup", under the Silmo name.
* 1938 - Eclipse of Warwick began marketing a more refined version of what was being made and called it "coffee syrup." Their slogan was, "You'll smack your lips if it's Eclipse."
* 1940s- Autocrat of Lincoln begin making their own mixture of corn syrup and coffee extract. Autocrat's slogan is "A swallow will tell you."
* 1991 - Both companies, Autocrat and Eclipse, used to vie for the coffee syrup business. Their rivalry ended in 1991, when Autocrat bought the Eclipse brand name and secret formula. Both labels are now produced by Autocrat and are available in stores.
* 1993 - After much political debate the Rhode Island State Legislature proclaimed Coffee Milk as "The Official State Drink of Rhode Island" on July 29, 1993. The Providence Journal-Bulletin newspaper covered the story.