Snickerdoodles

 

The secret ingredient is cinnamon chips. Don't you think?!

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

1 1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend the above ingredients with a mixer until the lumps are gone and it's fluffy.

2 3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. cinnamon chips

Whisk the above ingredients in a separate bowl from the butter/sugar mixture, then add to the sugar/butter mixture all at once.  Stir together with wooden spoon until just combined.

3 Tbsp. white sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine these two ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup, then pour it onto a plate. Roll dough into balls and then roll the ball in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place the balls of dough two inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet (or use parchment paper).

Bake in a 400-degree oven for eight minutes. Be careful not to overbake, unless you really like crumb-y cookies.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

My friend Shannon gave me this recipe when we did one of the volleyball team dinners together. It's genius. This fed 18 people for one of our family dinners and doubled it fed 40 volleyball players and coaches. (Serve with Cilantro Lime Rice.) If you're not feeding all those people, freeze some for next time.

2 Pork Sirloin Tip Roasts (they come in packages of four at Costco for under $20)

1 jar of Mango & Peach Salsa (refrigerated section at Costco)

1 cup brown sugar

Place two pork roasts in a large crockpot.

Blend salsa and brown sugar together in a blender. Pour over pork roasts in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. The roasts should shred easily with a fork when they're ready.

Mom's Pecan Pie

 

This is in the first Sisters' Cookbook. Every year I wonder if this recipe makes one or two pie fillings - it's one. Mom always made this for Thanksgiving, sometimes using walnuts when pecans were too expensive. It's one of my permanent Thanksgiving Dinner assignments. (I always use this pie crust recipe. The pastry!)

3 eggs

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp flour

2 c. dark corn syrup (buy it in October! Trust me. Each bottle is two cups)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. pecans, chopped

Beat eggs until they are thick and lemon-colored.

Mix flour and sugar together; add to eggs. Beat well.

Stir in corn syrup, vanilla, salt and pecans. Pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. (In Utah it's always at least 50 minutes.)

Sunday Scotcheroos

 

When Brian finally gets home from church on Sundays, he needs a Scotcheroo. You get it.

1 c. light Karo syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. creamy peanut butter

6 c. Rice Krispies cereal

Topping

1 c. milk chocolate chips 

1 c. butterscotch chips

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, slowly heat Karo syrup and sugar, stirring constantly. When the sugar is completely dissolved and it's bubbling a little, take it off the heat and stir in the peanut butter until the mixture is smooth.

Put the Rice Krispies into a large bowl (like your biggest Tupperware bowl) and pour the syrup and peanut butter mixture over it. Mix with a spatula until combined. Transfer the mixture to a greased, 9x13" pan and spread evenly.

For the topping, melt the chips together over medium heat on the stove while stirring constantly, or microwave if you prefer. Once the chips are completely melted, pour over the Rice Krispies. Spread the butterscotch/milk chocolate topping evenly with a spoon or spatula. Cool until the topping has hardened.

Zuppa Toscana

 

There's a healthier version of this on Our Best Bites. I changed it so much to match what I have on hand that I created a totally different soup. My kids call it Pepperoni Soup and it's been a weekly favorite for the last few months.

16 oz. ground Italian sausage (I usually use Jimmy Dean)

1/2 tsp or more crushed red pepper flakes 

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 small sweet onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 14.5-oz cans regular chicken broth

4 small to medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

3 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup baby spinach, chopped (I chop more to add to individual bowls)

Parmesan cheese

Cook sausage in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. When sausage is just cooked, drain the fat and add the onions, continue cooking for 2 - 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Transfer to a soup pot. Add chicken broth, Italian seasoning and potatoes and gently boil for about 7 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour. Slowly add milk and cream, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Turn heat down a little and add cream cheese. Continue to whisk until the cream cheese is melted completely. Pour the mixture into the soup pot when the potatoes are cooked. Add salt and chopped spinach. Serve with more spinach and grated Parmesan cheese.

Sweet & Spicy Chili

 It's chili cook-off season! This is a winner. 

1.25 lbs. lean ground beef

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp (or less if you can't stand the heat) red pepper flakes

1 TB chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 (15 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes

1 (4 oz.) can green chilies

4 (15 oz.) cans kidney beans (or a combo of beans you like - pinto, navy, black, whatever)

2 (10.5 oz.) cans tomato soup

1.5 cups V-8 juice

1 cup brown sugar

Garnish: sour cream, cheese, finely chopped onion

Instructions:

Brown beef in a large frying pan or skillet. Drain fat. Add chopped onions and bell peppers right when the meat is browned. Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are just soft. Add the garlic and stir for about a minute. Add the spices and stir, then transfer the whole thing to a large pot. (If you're using a large Dutch oven, you don't need to change venues.)

Add the rest of the ingredients to the meat mixture (except garnishes) and stir. Keep it on low heat for at least an hour. The longer the flavors have to sit together, the better it will taste.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins (or bread)

 

One of my favorites from Emil and Colin's baking class with Chef Freyka Nunez del Prado. I've included her pro-tips. :)

2 medium zucchinis, peeled and shredded

¾ cup sugar

½ cup Canola oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

1 ½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

¾ cup mini chocolate chips, lightly dusted with ½ a teaspoon of flour

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Shred zucchini in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for at least five minutes. Squeeze all the water from the zucchini and put it in a different container, discarding the liquid.

In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and all the wet ingredients.

In a separate mixing bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Use a spatula to combine – do not over mix.

Add chocolate chips to the batter.

Pour into loaf pan or spoon into lined muffin cups. Bake loaf for approximately 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Bake muffins for 25 minutes, but check (with a toothpick) after 20 minutes. Cool for ten minutes.

Grandma Peggy's M & M Cookies

 

This is Mom's official cookie recipe for posterity and also because it's on a tiny piece of paper in an overstuffed recipe box hanging on for dear life :). Mom has written in pencil directions for tripling the recipe for obvious reasons. (This is not the tripled version.) Mom always bought the holiday M&Ms to use in her cookies. 

3/4 stick Crisco Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening

 

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 3/4 all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

6 oz. plain M & M (seasonal colors are the best)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. 

Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. 

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in M & Ms.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet (or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper). Bake 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. 

Cinnamon Bread French Toast

 

Our kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Lee overnight after Thanksgiving and Grandpa Bob made French Toast with Cinnamon Bread from Kneader's for breakfast the next morning. What?! This "taste treat" is so much better than some of my Dad's other food ideas. I put it over-the-top with Melissa's Buttermilk Syrup.

1 loaf of Kneader's Cinnamon Bread (makes about 13 slices)

6 eggs

6 tsp vanilla

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Cut cinnamon bread into 1/2-inch slices. 

Whisk together eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and milk. Pour into a small baking dish (7"x 9"). Soak slices of bread on both sides. Fry on a hot griddle. You know the rest... :)

Salsa Fresca

Tomatoes are on! I have millions of them, so it's time for fresh salsa.

4-5 tomatoes, diced

1 tsp. garlic, minced

1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 jalepenos, seeded and finely chopped

3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Aunt Julie's Teriyaki Marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. oil (vegetable or canola)

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 T. sugar

2 T. vinegar

Whisk all ingredients together and pour over meat, poultry, or fish; cover tightly and marinate for 2 - 24 hours. (I use Zip-lock freezer bags.)

Sarah's Salad

The classic! I think we started making Sarah's Salad a tradition when Jen worked at the Lion House when she was in high school. I love this salad. (I had to make a couple of changes, one out of necessity and the other by choice. I used American cheese from the deli and I had to make my own Miracle Whip because we were out - if we had any to begin with. Maybe it had just been a long time, but it tasted even better than I remembered.)

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

3 strips bacon, chopped (I used bacon crumbles from Costco, and as Jen says in the first Sisters' Cookbook, it's WAY more than three strips)

1/2 10-oz pkg frozen peas

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 c. shredded or cubed Swiss cheese (this is where I substituted American cheese)

2/3 c. chopped green onion

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. Miracle Whip

Wash and drain lettuce. Dry thoroughly! Dice bacon and saute until crisp; drain on a paper towel. run hot water over frozen peas and drain. Mix mayo and Miracle Whip together.

In a salad bowl, layer lettuce, sugar, salt, pepper, peas, cheese, onion, and mayo mixture in that order. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss all together right before serving. Garnish (ahahahaha) with bacon.

Raman Chicken Salad

Brian's sister Dena brings this salad to family parties and it was always a favorite of mine and Brian's, but now it's Bridget's all time favorite too. Probably shouldn't admit this, but our rice vinegar is five years old and we used it anyway! Alexa said it was fine.

Dressing:

3/4 cup Canola oil

3/4 cup rice vinegar

4 Tbsp sugar

2 season packets from Chicken Top Ramen

Whisk together and set aside.

Salad:

1 head of cabbage, shredded (I sliced it thin, then chopped)

2 pkgs chicken ramen noodles, boiled for EXACTLY two minutes and drained

1 Costco rotisserie chicken, chopped (the equivalent of about 3 cooked chicken breasts) 

4 green onions, sliced

4 Tbsp sliced almonds

4 Tbsp sunflower seeds, salted and roasted

Mix dry ingredients and pour dressing over. Stir with tongs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for as long as possible and for at least two hours. (If the recipe is doubled, which it always is for family parties, still use just one head of cabbage and don't add more chicken.)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Bridget got a cake decorating kit for Christmas and she would love to be making cakes and cupcakes all day every day. I found this recipe for Red Velvet Cake and we made adjustments using red velvet emulsion and cupcakes. They were DELICIOUS. They could have made 24 cupcakes if we had two muffin tins, but we only have one and a half.

Cake/Cupcakes

2 2/3 c. flour (the original recipe calls for cake flour, but we didn't have that)

1/4 c. natural, unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. red velvet emulsion (or an entire 1 oz. bottle liquid red food color)

1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

1 1/3 c. buttermilk at room temperature


Frosting:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I like Watkins clear vanilla)


Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-count muffin tins with paper baking cups and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift to remove lumps of cocoa powder.

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until completely combined. Add eggs and mix well. Add oil, red velvet emulsion, vanilla, and vinegar. Stop to scrap down the sides as often as you need.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer, three times for each.

Evenly distribute the batter into the baking cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Frosting Directions:

Cream all ingredients together until there are no lumps and it's light and fluffy.

Smoothies

It's summer! Smoothies for breakfast. Another thing I make all the time that I haven't written down ever, so here you go.

2-3 ice cubes

2+ cups frozen fruit (we like strawberries and peaches best because they are less seed-y than some)

1 banana

1 yogurt (vanilla works with everything)

2 tsp. honey

Fruit juice (orange juice doesn't really work, but apple always does)

Put ingredients in order into a blender. Pour juice in last and fill until about 3/4 of the level of the fruit. Pulse a couple of times, then blend until you don't see any big chunks. Add more juice if it's not blending. Enjoy!

Bowties and Sausage

This recipe is in the second Sisters' Cookbook, but I don't think I've ever made it the way I've written it down there. Hm! It's an easy skillet dish that makes 75% of your family happy. (I'm a C-average around here. I've accepted it.) The Paremesan cheese on top didn't make it into the photo, but you get the idea.

1 lb. Farfalle pasta (bowtie) cooked al dente and set aside

1 lb. Italian Jimmy Dean sausage

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 15-oz. cans petite diced tomatoes (if you can find the kind with oregano and basil - bonus!)

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

2 T. fresh parsley (I didn't have any tonight)

1/2 tsp salt

Parmesan Cheese

In a large skillet, cook the sausage until all the pink is gone, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the chopped onion and continue to cook for about a minute. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and cream, add the salt and parsley and stir well. (You need a big skillet for this, if you didn't get that already.) Let the sauce simmer on medium-low for about 10 minutes and it should thicken up. Put the cooked pasta into the sauce and stir combine. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the top.

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe comes from my neighborhood cookbook and we love it, but I haven't made it very often because the directions are messy. I'm going to attempt to clear them up here so that my mind can rest.

2/3 of a 16 oz. bag of Country Pasta noodles

Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.


4 cups chicken broth

1 small cube chicken bouillon

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

Put all ingredients into a large soup pot, bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook vegetables for about 10 minutes or until they're soft.

Add to the vegetables and chicken broth:

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

2 cups chicken, cooked and diced (I used a rotisserie chicken)

1/4 cup melted butter and 1/3 cup flour whisked together

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper

With a large whisk, blend ingredients together. Add cooked noodles and stir with a large wooden spoon.

Fresh Raspberry Pie

I had the brilliant idea to use something from the weekly specials at Kohler's (the local grocery store that advertises in the Lehi Free Press) in a recipe from the Lehi Historical Society Cookbook, make and photograph the recipe and publish it alongside the weekly Kohler's ad. The only hitch is we get the new ad on Monday and the paper is put together early on Tuesday. That means 24 hours to find the recipe, get ingredients, make it, take a picture of it. Are you sweating too?! It worked, though! And this pie was DELICIOUS. I cheated with a Marie Callendar's pie crust, but as always, back off.

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

3 Tb cornstarch

1 Tb white corn syrup

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red food coloring

3 Tb dry raspberry flavored Jell-O

1 quart or 4 cups fresh raspberries

1 pre-baked pie crust

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, water, cornstarch, corn syrup, salt, and food coloring. Bring to a boil and cool until nearly clear and thick. Add Jell-O and mix well. Cool. Fold in whole raspberries. Pour into baked pie shell.

Refrigerate. Serve with fresh whipped cream. (The recipe adds, "or Cool Whip," but you're better than that.)

Maya Angelou's Cold Potato Salad

I tried a lot of potato salad recipes before this one, but zero after this one. KnowwhatI'msayin'?! You'll need the Costco mayo jar for this :).

6 c. peeled, diced, cooked potatoes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 c. finely diced celery

1 c. chopped dill pickles

1 c. sweet relish

8 large hard-boiled eggs, 4 chopped, 4 whole

2 c. mayonnaise

Fresh parsley, chopped

First! A perfect hard boiled egg: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently place each egg into the boiling water (I use a spoon). Continue to boil for 12 minutes. Drain water quickly and fill the pot with cold water and as many ice cubes as you can fit. If you have time, refrigerate the eggs for a while until you're ready to use them. About 90% of the eggs peel easily and perfectly.

Back to potato salad. Combine potatoes, onion, celery, pickles, and chopped eggs. Whisk mayo and sweet relish together. Pour a third of the sauce over the rest of the ingredients and stir, then pour the next third and stir, then the final third and stir. Slice the remaining four eggs and arrange on top of the salad in the bowl. Dust with parsley. Refrigerate for a few hours, or for as long as you can before serving.

Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce

Salmon is my favorite. I was craving it while I was at the grocery store yesterday and the guy at the fish counter (I was at Harmon's, btw) bore his testimony of Verlasso Salmon when I asked for salmon. They're raised in ocean water! Not so fishy taste! Vitamins! Whatever - wrap it up. But! It's the best salmon I've ever tasted. We used Allyn's recipe from the second Sisters' Cookbook, but I cut the sauce recipe in half as I always do and that's how I've listed it here. (It's still a lot of sauce.)

Salmon

4-5 lbs. fresh salmon filets

Olive Oil

Lemon Pepper Seasoning

Fresh Chopped Dill or substitute dry dill

Prepare a large cookie sheet by getting a big enough piece of tin foil to cover the bottom of it, then crumpling it up a little and spreading it out flat on the cookie sheet. Spread a little olive oil around with a paper towel on the tin foil.

Place the salmon filets skin side down on the foil-covered cookie sheet. Pour a little olive oil on each filet and rub it in with your fingers. Sprinkle each filet with lemon pepper and then dill. Sometimes I bake the fish in a 425 degree oven for about 17 minutes, which is fine. This time I did 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven, then I moved the fish to the second-to-the-top rack (about six inches from the top of the oven) and broiled it for four more minutes. That made the top a little crisp and it was perfectly cooked throughout without being dry. I recommend the broiled method if you can trust your oven. (Set a timer for 3 minutes on the broiler so you can keep a close eye on it.)

Cucumber Dill Sauce

1 c. peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers

1 1/2 c. mayonnaise

3/4 c. sour cream

3 T. lemon juice

2 T. fresh or dried dill

3 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

Whisk together mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, dill and lemon pepper seasoning before adding the cucumber. Refrigerate for a few minutes before serving.