Family Recipes

B has a little potluck today at work to celebrate the opening of the Summer Olympics. He requested I find something to make that might use all the crazy amounts of basil we have. I decided since there's no proper kitchen at his work place that it should be something cold. Of course, this doesn't use even a small fraction of our basil. Come to find out (after making this), there will be a little contest. I'm not sure what the criteria is, but he requested I make a little placard stating the name of the dish, the country of origin, and that it was made with home grown basil.

This soup is rather involved, but it's really all prep. There's no cooking at all. I adjusted the ingredients just a bit to make up for the extremely strong garlic I used. I think it turned out pretty well, but I have no point of comparison, either.

( Classic Gazpacho )

I am a little surprised I didn't already have a recipe for apple pie in my archives, although perhaps that's because it's just so easy to make. Either way, B was asking for it the other day, so I did a little digging and came up with what is pretty darn close to the best apple pie I've ever had. The only thing that would have made it any better is if we had actually waited for the pie to cool. Because of our impatience, we were eating apple pie soup, but that's okay. It still tasted great!

( Apple Pie )

I hate when I run across a recipe I really want to make and am missing one measly ingredient. I don't like to run to the store for just one thing unless it's absolutely necessary and will often times put off making that particular recipe until I have all the necessary ingredients. Of course, with the power of the internet, a lot of times it is possible to find substitutions for various ingredients.

Today, while trying to make my potato casserole, I realized I had cream of mushroom but not cream of chicken soup in the pantry. While this normally wouldn't even slow me down, one of our dinner guests is allergic to mushrooms. I had too much to do to bother going out for one can of soup, so I decided to do a quick search. I found this particular recipe plastered all over the place (if it was just in one place, I'd give them credit). Sadly, I had to do a substitution for one of the ingredients in this recipe as well, but it all turned out okay in the end. As a matter of fact, it turned out much better than okay. B said he liked it better than the typical can of cream soup. I have to agree, it was pretty darn tasty stuff!

This recipe makes about one can of soup.

( Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup )

This has to be the absolute best recipe I've ever found for rugelach. It's not a terribly sweet cookie but is quite rich with the nuts and cream cheese. They turned out so beautifully and weren't really that difficult to make at all. The only thing I don't like about the recipe is that it only makes 32 cookies. I felt I was being stingy on the rugelach when I made my Christmas cookie plates this year for gifts, but we didn't have any left over at all. I found the recipe in Everyday Food from December of 2007. Of course, I made a few changes to the recipe (when have I not?).

( Walnut and Brown Sugar Rugelach )

Yum! These are not only incredibly delicious, they're also terribly easy. Everyone loved them! Honestly, I wish there was a marshmallow somewhere between the jumbo size and the mini size, since I think these are just a little too large. Unfortunately, making my own marshmallows would then make this a not so very easy recipe, so jumbo it is!

( Marshmallow Puffs )

Otherwise known as "Nehmon Toodoos" here, these lemon cookies are simply the best. I picked them because of the name and because they looked pretty. I wasn't terribly sure they would turn out alright based on the ingredients, but I was extremely surprised by them. This cookie wound up being a favorite, and not just for me! I will definitely make them again. I'm already trying to come up with other flavors that might work (failing miserably, because the lemon is so good, though!). This recipe is from Taste of Home's Best-Ever Christmas Cookies and Candies (2005).

( Lemon Snowflakes )

This is by far my favorite new recipe this year. I found this recipe in Taste of Home's Christmas Cookies and Candies Recipe Cards issue (2007, of course). I want to find Marie Capobianco from Portsmouth, Rhode Island and give her big kudos, because these cookies simply are the best. I made a few adjustments and I'll point those out in the notes as usual. Seriously, if you're intending to try a new cookie and even remotely like the flavors of raspberry or pistachio, give these a try. They're not nearly as complicated as they sound and they are so yummy! These were devoured so quickly here!

( Two-Tone Christmas Cookies )

I am surprised I haven't already posted this since it's one of the snack mixes I have been making at Christmas for years (ever since my mother found the recipe and shared it). It's very simple, with one main ingredient and a quick seasoning packet. As far as snack mixes go, it doesn't get much easier than this. With all the different cheese crackers available these days, this recipe can be a bit more personalized.

( Mexican Cheese Crackers )

This is my favorite beef stew ever in the world.  My mom used to make it when I was a kid and I have it cooking in the crockpot overnight for supper tomorrow.

This was so easy and so tasty. Everyone loved it, and I didn't have to stand over the stove flipping bread. The bread didn't all fit in one layer in my pan, so I wound up stacking a few pieces on top of the first layer in the middle of the pan. Instead of serving the French toast by individual slices of bread, I cut it as I would a casserole. I didn't chop my pecans since I wanted to be able to easily avoid them when giving the French toast to my daughter. I added cinnamon, but who knows how much. My best guess is probably about two or three teaspoons. Almond flavoring would also be good in this, but I didn't bother with it this time around. Maybe next time... ;)


( Baked French Toast )

I love pumpkin pie, I love cheesecake, and I love gingersnaps. Combine the three and we've got a great recipe for pumpkin cheesecake. I believe the original recipe called for solid pack pumpkin and for some reason I had extreme difficulty finding that. I used pie filling and dumped the spices and it turned out perfectly. Granted, I had to add a tiny bit of time, possibly about 10 extra minutes or so. Everyone loved it. Of course, it will be much better if there is a longer period of time for the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator. Mine didn't have quite long enough. I think it came out of the oven about 6:30 AM and was served less than 12 hours later. This is an excellent recipe for first time cheesecake makers (me) as I had no problems with any cracking or sinking or anything. I couldn't have asked for a better looking or better tasting dessert.

I did add a few extra cookies than what it says here, and possibly a few extra nuts. I didn't measure my crust ingredients out very carefully, but I did do random taste samples. ;)

( Pumpkin Cheesecake )

This is one of the dishes from last Sunday. I am pretty sure I didn't follow the recipe exactly and I've already adjusted to reflect most of the changes, but I can't remember if I put the honey in the salad or not. I'm pretty sure I did. I'm also pretty sure I failed to put in any salt. This is probably one of the better Waldorf salads I've ever had, but fresh cherries in December aren't exactly cheap (or tart). Tart cherries would have been better, and I'm not entirely certain fresh is necessary for a recipe like this, but the salad still turned out well. I would definitely make it again. There wasn't any left after six adults and a toddler had their way with it.

( Cherry Waldorf Salad )

This was an unexpected side dish. I love asparagus (when cooked properly, of course) and had planned to serve it as the side dish for last evening's meal. I didn't want to make just the same old asparagus so I decided to be a little creative. This was the well received result.

( Mushrooms and Asparagus )

I was looking for an Oriental salad that would go with my Oven Baked Almond Chicken (from Dream Dinners) last night and realized I had a limited supply of ingredients with which to work. I ran over to AllRecipes.com (as I usually do lately) and started searching. Thankfully, I found a couple recipes I could sort of improvise and combine. It actually turned out pretty well.

( Oriental Salad )

I am not a big fan of blueberries but I know they are good for me so I've decided to try and start using them a little more often. I made these muffins for Sunday morning breakfast and everyone loved them, including me.

( Blueberry Muffins )

I get requests for this pasta salad after I've served it at a bbq or some other function.   I thought I would share it with you all.   This makes a VERY large bowl of pasta salad and you will probably have to make it a couple of times before you get the ingredients to suit your tastes.

I took two yummy things to eat, adjusted a pasta recipe I love to make and created a whole new dish, which is now my favorite thing to make for dinner.  It requires alot of pans, but it's pretty easy to make.

I love scones. I don't think I've ever bothered to make them before, and while they might be a little on the messy side, they're completely worth it. This recipe is very versatile and super easy. Make a batch fresh, mix up the dry ingredients and put them in a jar, print a recipe card with the instructions, and put everything in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, a serving dish, a nice kitchen towel, and you've got a wonderful hostess gift.

( Simple Recipe for Scones )

Every now and then we buy too many bananas to eat before they turn brown. When a banana is too brown to eat, we stuff it in a bag in the freezer and save it for banana bread or muffins. They look absolutely disgusting and get all slimy and nasty, but they are so sweet and are perfect for baking. Our frozen banana collection was starting to take over our freezer, so this morning I decided to make muffins. These are some of the best muffins I have ever had!

( Crumb-topped Banana Muffins )

Since we've been doing Dream Dinners I have been putting a little more thought into the side dishes I make. Tonight we had Steak Salsa Verde (quite tasty), which B grilled since we didn't want to heat up the house with the broiler. Because he was grilling the steaks, I cooked the corn and beans in the microwave (boring, I know, but they were steamed and turned out just fine). I wasn't sure what to do with the potatoes, however, so I browsed through my How to Cook Everything (Mark Bittman) book for grilled potatoes and came up empty (I was pretty shocked to be honest since the book really does cover how to cook nearly everything). My next search was on line at AllRecipes. Since I am not one to leave a recipe alone, I decided to look for a couple recipes and put what seemed like the best ideas together to make my own dish.

( Grilled Potatoes and Onions )

I absolutely love the potato salad at Red, Hot, & Blue because there is no mustard used in the recipe. I found a recipe (and doctored it a bit) that is very similar and very tasty.

( Mustard Free Potato Salad  )

B and I were looking for something new to make for dessert. He didn't want pineapple upside down cake (or anything else I've ever made before) since he seems to think it's tired and wouldn't impress his aunt, so I dug around and found this recipe. I must admit, it tasted a lot better than I expected it would. It's great for the German Chocolate lovers out there who don't want to fuss with the frosting.

( Earthquake Cake )

I'm posting this because this is such a great recipe for brunch, it is super easy (and yummy!), and my mother has lost her recipe. I made this today for breakfast and it is so good. Thanks to Cynthia for leaving me a copy of the recipe she used!

( Monkey Bread )

I love lasagna. I'm rather surprised I didn't have any of my many recipes for lasagna already posted. We had friends over for dinner yesterday and this is the lasagna I made. It turned out very well, even though I made a few blunders. Oops!

( Lasagna )

Spring is in the air (at least it is in DFW) and it has been screaming at me to make something that's seriously lemon. As luck would have it, Betty Crocker sent a newsletter out this week with a glorious recipe for this luscious lemon cake. Granted, it involves a box mix and a container of frosting, but all the better! That's less work! Besides, no one will ever know this isn't from scratch.

( Lemon Drop Cake )

B's parents wanted to see Sophie, so I invited them over for dinner. I had no idea what to make until I opened the freezer door and saw the pork roast staring at me. B and I had a maple flavored Hormel pork roast when we were in Michigan this past holiday season and it was excellent. This recipe is pretty darn close to being the same thing.

( Maple Glazed Pork Loin )

OK, this has to be one of my favorite deserts now. I absolutely loved the way this turned out. It's even better warm. My sister made this for us from a Tastefully Simple boxed mix she ordered from a friend and I loved it so much I had to find a recipe. This really is a huge hit!

( Chocolate Ugly Cake  )

Of course, I didn't make this dish according to the recipe, but B and I both agreed that the recipe was silly. I'll post the original and my modifications. This was another hit. Honestly, I think this is the most luck I've ever had with a Pillsbury recipe magazine. For those interested, the January/February 2007 issue of Pillsbury (Casseroles and Slow Cooker) is where I've been getting most of the recent dishes I've made.

On a brief note before posting the recipe, my sisters have been raving about Dream Dinners. If you get a chance, check it out. If there's one near you, it's worth it. Take a friend and have some fun!

( Mediterranean Bow-Ties )

This dish didn't look quite as good when it came out of the oven as I had expected, but it tasted wonderful. It was a hit with my husband and my in-laws. I love it when dinners turn out this well.

( Nacho Chicken Casserole )

Yet another hit from this little Pillsbury book, and yet another recipe I doctored before trying the first time. I'm so bad about that. I really do think it's a sickness I have. ;) In any case, this is certainly I dish I would make again, mainly because it's similar to something I've made before and because we both dig on good pasta dishes.

( Sausage Ravioli Casserole )