Cowboy Caviar

I begged a friend (Jennifer Clark) for this great recipe.....Enjoy!!!

1 can black eyed peas(drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can white corn (drained)
4 Roma Tomatoes diced
4 green onions chopped
4 avocados diced
1 sm. can green chilis chopped
1 pkg of Zesty Italian dressing mix
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. oil
mix all together and serve with Tortilla or corn chips

Pumpkin Bars & Pumpkin Cookies

PUMPKIN BARS

4 eggs
1 - 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup oil
one 15 ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

ICING:
One 3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened (I used and recommend butter)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly comined and the batter is smooth.

3. Spread the batter in an ungreased nonstick 13 by 10 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

4. To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Makes 48 small bars or 24 larger ones.

PUMPKIN COOKIES
1 c. Shortening
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Pumpkin
1 Egg
2 c. Flour
1 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
½ tsp. Salt
Preheat oven to 375* cream shortening, sugar and pumpkin. Add egg and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes Cool and ice with cream cheese icing(makes 48 cookies)

Creamy Ranch Chicken

Creamy Ranch Chicken
adapted from Better Homes and Garden's Quick and Easy Recipes & Stephanies Kitchen
start to finish: 20 minutes
serves about 4

6 slices bacon
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons ranch dry salad dressing mix
1 1/4 cups milk
3 cups dried medium noodles(I used egg noodles)
1 tablespoon finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Start your water for your pasta. Cook noodles according to package directions.
2. Cut bacon into narrow strips. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels; discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings.
3. In the same skillet, cook chicken in reserved drippings until no longer pink, turning to brown evenly. Sprinkle flour and salad dressing mix over chicken; stir well to coat the chicken. Stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in bacon.
4. Serve the chicken over the noodles. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Gooey Caramel Popcorn

* Taken from McMillan Ward Cookbook submitted by Rachael Parry

2 batches of Hot Air Popcorn popped

Bring to a boil the following :

2 C brown Sugar

1/2 C. Butter

1 C. White Karo Syrup

Add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. Cook on medium for approx. 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and stir over popcorn . You can add M & Ms and candycorn into to it too if you like

Mini Hashbrown Quiches

Mini Hashbrown Quiches

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 package Seasoned Hash Brown with Peppers, thawed

15 large eggs

½ Cup heavy cream

3/4 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.Cut Bacon, into ½ inch pieces brown in small frying pan ,drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil into a large 5 qt skillet or dutch oven. Saute hash browns until slightly golden. Spoon a heaping Tablespoon of hash browns into 16 regular muffin cups that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 5-7 minutes then remove from oven. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and garlic salt until well combined. Fill each muffin cup nearly full with eggs. Top with a pinch of cheddar cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until eggs are cooked through. Remove from muffin tins, top with crisp bacon pieces and serve warm.

Cinnamon Stack Biscuits

Cinnamon Stack Biscuits .....from" mmmcafe"

‘Okay are you impressed? What else is there to say! These little treats look like are difficult they to make, and they taste great! They remind me of a cinnamon scone. Basically, they are a substitute cinnamon roll, but much simpler and still just as tasty.


2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs. sugar
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening

Combine all of the dry ingredients, then cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until mixed well and slightly crumbly.
Then, slowly stir in:

2/3 cup milk

When dough begins to clump, knead with hands for about 30 seconds, or until dough forms a ball. Flour your surface to prevent sticking, and roll out your dough in a rectangle. Cut off edges to make perfectly straight sides of your rectangle.
Next, apply the filling:

3/4 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 HEAPING Tbs. cinnamon

Spread filling evenly to each edge of the rectangle. Cut rectangle from left to right (long-ways) into 5 strips and stack directly on top of one another like so:

Cut into 12 equal pieces and flip each individual piece into a cupcake tin.

Bake for 12-14 minutes at 400.

While they are in the oven, make icing:
1 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs. water

Mix together. It should be fairly thick.
Drizzle each biscuit with icing while still warm to enable it to melt. Serve and enjoy!

Guest Chef 's in Anissa's Kitchen

My Niece Claire joined us for Labor Day and showed me her mad kitchen skills making cream cheese icing for our cinnamon rolls............Yummmmmm



Did you know that powdered sugar doubles as an anti aging treatment? Do I still look 40?

I would like to introduce you to grandma's little sous chef..............Laila isn't she cute?

Claire...I think Laila ate all the cream cheese icing....................... Can you make more?

Hamburger Rolls

1 pound hamburger

1/4-1/2 cup onion chopped

1/2 can condensed tomato soup

3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp or more barbecue sauce

1 C. shredded Cheddar Cheese

10 hamburger buns(or 1 recipe of bread dough like the one used in pigs in a blanket)

Brown together the hamburger and onion. Add the soup, sugar and barbecue sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. You can add more barbecue sauce to make it the consistency you like. Serve on buns.

If using bread dough roll out into 10 equal rounds, and fill close ends of dough together like you would a regular roll, let rise 20 minutes. Bake at 375* for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Chicken Salad

The light sweetness of green grapes and the crunch of almonds provide perfect counterpoint for this creamy chicken salad." recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups diced and chilled,
cooked chicken meat
1 cup chopped celery(optional )
2 green onions finely diced
1 cup sliced, seedless grapes
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh
parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:
1.In a medium bowl, whip cream to soft peaks.
2.Combine meat, celery, green onion, grapes, almonds, parsley, salt, and mayonnaise with whipped cream. Chill. This great served in a croissant

Homemade Reeses Peanutbutter Bar

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Bars(Source: RecipeZaar.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 cellophane package and 3 extra grahams)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup smooth peanut butter

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:- Mix butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. (An easy way to measure the peanut butter is to put 1 cup of water into a measuring cup, and then add enough peanut butter to it that the water reaches 2 cups).-

Press mixture into a 9x13" pan.- Melt chocolate chips in microwave and stir until smooth (try a minute first, and then check).- Spread chocolate carefully over peanut butter layer with a spatula. (Having one person to pour the chocolate and one to spread works well!).- Let the chocolate cool for a while, and then cut into bars before the chocolate is completely hardened (or else the chocolate layer will just crack).