Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Okay so here is a recipe for Peanut butter cup, peanut butter cookies.

My Cookies 

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Brownie Balls

So I signed up to bring in something for class on Thursday seeing as it is our last day and such. Well when some people around me saw that I wrote "Brownie Balls" they were a little curious so I figured I better elaborate.

They are brownies, rolled into balls, a cherry put into it, and then dipped in chocolate.

Make 2 batches of 9x13 pans of brownies, if you need a quick brownie recipe here is one.
Let it cool for about 20 minutes but do not wait until they are completely cooled down.
Use an ice cream scooper to roll the brownies into balls.
Place one cherry into the middle of each ball.
Let sit until they harden, cooled completely.
Then dip into chocolate, coating completely. Let sit until chocolate is hardened completely.

Then they are done and fabulous. =)

Thanksgiving

Alright so I know the normal route for Thanksgiving dinner is Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli cheese casserole, rolls, and stuffing. But here are some recipes to mix things up every now and then. 


Something other than the regular Turkey recipe


Roasted Butter Herb Turkey


Prep Time: 30 min
Inactive Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 3 hr 0 min

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons garlic herb sauce mix (recommended: Knorr)
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 (32-ounce) bag celery and carrot party sticks
2 large onions, large dice
1 (32-ounce) container low-sodium chicken broth
12-pound turkey, thawed if necessary
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
3 (3/4-ounce) packets fresh herbs poultry herb blend (sage, thyme and rosemary)
1 lemon, thickly sliced
Directions
In a small bowl, combine softened butter, poultry seasoning, garlic herb sauce mix, and crushed garlic. Use a fork to mix together until well combined. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes, until firm but not hard.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Arrange celery, carrots, and half of the diced onions in the bottom of a roasting pan. Add chicken broth and set aside.
Rinse the thawed turkey and pat dry. Use your finger to carefully loosen the skin around the entire bird. Take the butter mixture and cut into large pieces. Place the butter pieces under the skin of the entire turkey. Rub the remaining butter pieces on the outside of the skin and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the inside of turkey cavity with remaining onions, fresh herb poultry blend, and lemon slices. (Truss if necessary.) Insert the pop-up thermometer at an angle about 3-inches down from the neck cavity and 2-inches from the breast bone, in the thickest part of the breast.
Place turkey on the bed of vegetables in roasting pan. Place in the oven and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. Roast for 1 hour, then baste with pan juices every 20 minutes until thermometer pops up or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 180 degrees F, about 3 hours. 


I am a huge fan of mashed potatoes. These are amazing and have so much more flavor over normal mashed potatoes. 


Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes


Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients
4 pounds white creamer potatoes
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh or dried chives
2 tablespoons alfredo sauce mix (recommended: McCormick)
Salt and pepper
Directions
In a large pot cover potatoes with cold water by 1-inch. Add garlic salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower temperature and simmer until tender.
While potatoes are simmering, pour buttermilk in a saucepan and add butter. Bring to a simmer. Add chives and alfredo sauce mix. Remove from heat and set aside.
Drain potatoes and return to the pot. Using a potato masher coarsely mash the potatoes until smooth. Slowly add the buttermilk mixture and mix until creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 


Red Mashed Potatoes


Ingredients


16 medium red potatoes, cubed
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic & herb seasoning by McCormick Grillmates 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder


Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon of the crushed garlic to the water for flavor. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes, and add the butter. Mash until the butter is melted. Mix in the half-and-half, sugar, garlic & herb seasoning, garlic powder and remaining garlic. Mix potatoes with an electric mixer until smooth.

Easy A

Easily Adulterous

This movie tells teens, don’t sleep with anybody, but say you did. This is what Olive, played by Emma Stone, does throughout this movie. When Olive’s obnoxious and foul mouthed best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), demands that Olive must have lost her virginity over the weekend spent without her, Olive lies to shut her up. This lie is overheard by Bible-thumping Marianne, which causes this lie to spread through the school causing the entire student body to start paying close attention to Olive as she is now viewed to be available. When we see Olive confront Marianne about the rumor she is acknowledged with this exceptionally great conversation,

Marianne: “There’s a higher power that will judge you for your indecency.”
Olive: “Tom Cruise?”
Marianne: “You've made your bed... I just hope for your sake, you've cleaned the sheets.”

When Olive’s gay friend, Brandon (Dan Byrd), comes to her after having learned the truth and asks her to have a fake hook up with him, giving him instant straight status, she agrees. When Brandon tells his friends about the favor, they also want help and are willing to pay generously for the fake flings.

Olive soon realizes that there is a difference between being available and being the school slut. As it so happens, they are reading the book The Scarlet Letter, the book is summarized very well throughout the movie in case you have not read it. Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter is forced to wear a red A on her clothing as a symbol of adulteress behavior, which Olive takes the initiative and embroiders an A on all of her clothing to make this title of “School Slut” to a whole new level.

Emma Stone plays the role of Olive, the clean cut high school girl that tells a white lie which spreads like wild fire. You may recognize Stone from Zombieland, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and Superbad, as she plays this role with as much great humor as the rest, but now mixed with a clear and meaningful message.

Aly Michalka, known from Hellcats, is seen playing Olive’s foul mouth best friend. While Amanda Bynes is recognized in She’s The Man, What a Girl Wants, and Big Fat Liar, she plays a drastic change from her normal psychotically chipper characters to Marianne, the Bible-thumping girl that spreads the rumor school wide. We then have Dan Byrd from A Cinderella Story and Cougar Town, playing Olive’s gay friend that urges her to have a fake hook up with him to boost his status in this hell known as, High School.

This is defiantly a comedy, as well as a bit of a romance. The movie is great for many different age groups, just remember it is rated PG-13. Appealing to many people, mainly high schoolers, but also anyone that happens to have hated high school as there is a bit of advanced word play throughout this movie, which is not something you would be likely to see from many of today’s teens, it is still easy to follow. This movie makes for a great movie to see with friends, family, or even a date.

Pies

Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter (melted)
1/2 cup sugar
Directions: 
1. Spray pie pan with cooking spray
2. Mix together: Graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar
3. Form into pie pan. 


Creamy Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
1/2 cup cold milk
1 package (6-serving size) vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup butterscotch
1/2 cup vanilla chips
2 tbs. milk
2 1/2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
1. After making crust, mix together 1/2 cup butterscotch, 1/2 cup vanilla chips, and 2 tbs milk in microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Smear to coat crust, let cool. 
2. In large bowl beat milk, pudding mix and spice with wire whisk for 1 minute. (Mixture will be very thick.) Whisk in pumpkin. stir in whipped topping. Spread in crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set.
3. Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:
4 tbs milk
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate
1 tub (8oz.) frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed.

Directions:
1. Combine chocolate and 2 tbs milk in microwave safe bowl, microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and spread evenly on bottom of crust. Refrigerate about 1/2 hour.
2. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth; gradually add sugar, beating well. Beat in peanut butter. Reserve 1/2 cup whipped topping; fold remaining whipped topping into peanut butter mixture. Spoon into crust over chocolate. Cover; refrigerate about 6 hours or until set.
3. Garnish with reserved whipped topping. Cover; store in refrigerator.

Apples are Fall-ing

So now that it is Fall and people are headed out to apple orchards and Octoberfest's all through the area, I thought I would share some recipes that are always great to use when you buy all those apples and then realize you don't just want to eat all of them by themselves.

Apple Sauce Recipe

I like my applesauce to have chunks of the apple in it as well as some of the peel, which sounds weird, I know. Yet this is how my grandmother used to make it, so if you don't like it...too bad for you. 

3 lbs (8-9) baking apples (golden delicious, macintosh, etc.)

"You need apples that are sweet - NOT something like Granny Smith's. Yeah, I know you like them (why do sweet women like sour apples???) and even if I did, they still wouldn't make good applesauce - you'd have to add a lot of sugar." - pickyourown.org
Brown sugar to taste (about 1/4 cup)

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste, we don't think there is much wrong with adding much more cinnamon, either)

2 to 3 tablespoons water, if needed

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Spray 2 shallow baking pans with cooking spray.

Cut apples in half vertically and core them. (I use a melon-baller).  Place the halves, cut side down on the baking sheets, cover with aluminum foil.

Bake apples until tender, about 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slide the peels off about half of the apples, or how every many you prefer.

While the apples are still warm, mash them with a fork (we leave it a little chunky), stirring in some brown sugar, a pinch of salt, ground cinnamon and water (if needed) to help scrape up any brown bits in the pan and to lighten the texture of the applesauce. (I've made this many times and have never needed to add water).

Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Now I know most of you have your own recipes for Apple Crisp but here is one just in case you do not know how to make it. 

What You'll Need:
* Three lbs of apples
* 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
* 1/2 cup of light brown sugar (pack it tightly)
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
* 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup of rolled oats
* 4 tablespoons of cold butter (Half a stick)
* 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans (OPTIONAL!)

How to Prepare:

The first step is to chop the apples. Remember to remove the core. In one bowl, add the apples, lemon juice, and sprinkle on some cinnamon. In the other bowl, combine the brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Now combine the bowls and mix together. Grab another bowl and mix the flour, sugar, oats, and sliced butter. Now use two forks to combine the flour mixture until it looks crumbly. (Add the chopped nuts.) Grease a 9x13 baking dish and spread the apple mixture on the bottom of the dish. Top it with the flour mixture. 

Cook for 30 - 45 minutes at 375°, or until the apples are soft and topping is browned. I know everyone tops theirs off with something different but I like to top mine off with either homemade whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Sugar Snaps!

So whenever my Mom has the urge to swear she will say "sugar snaps" instead. Making the fact that she is saying "sugar snaps" instead of a swear word makes the whole thing a little ridiculous because everyone knows what she is really thinking. But anyway! One day she brought home some sugar snap peas and that made me laugh, because I just kept thinking about how she uses the term. When I asked her what we could make with them she told me to find something that I would like because she was just going to eat them on their own, uncooked and fresh from the market.

There are so many different recipes that you can use sugar snap peas with but I found this one and love it. This recipe is super easy and so light, it's great. You can even add chicken with this recipe if you would like some type of meat with it. Sugar snap peas are usually hard to find but they are so good.  Putting sugar snap peas in stir fry is a great way of cooking them as well.You can put it in any type of stir fry, really, but if you put them with peanut sauce, chicken, bell peppers, and water chestnuts...they are great.

                                                                  Birdwatching.com

Tortilla Soup

This is actually our White Chicken Chili Soup recipe, but I add homemade tortillas to it and it is wonderful! It may be a little spicy for some so you may need to alter some of the recipe to suit your own tastes. This is an awesome recipe to use throughout fall or winter because it is different from so many other soups but is still something warm for the cold days.

3 15oz cans great northern beans, drained
2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken, or you can boil chicken and use that along with the real chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper
1/2 can chili peppers (4oz), I use real ones, diced.
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 (10.5oz) can cream of chicken
1 (10.5oz) can cream of celery
1 (10oz) can diced tomatoes with green chili's

In a large crock pot, combine beans, chicken, onion, green pepper, chili peppers, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano. Stir in chicken broth, cream of chicken, cream of celery and tomatoes with green chili's.
Cover, cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or high heat for 4 to 5 hours.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top each serving with some cheese and tortilla chips.

To make the Tortillas or Tortilla Chips, just use this recipe. 
For the Tortilla Chips, you can use this recipe but when you roll out the dough for a tortilla, you can cut it into strips and then bake on 400F until crisp, all the way through. So that they can be broken up and put on top of your soup with cheese.

Tomato Sauce and Meatballs Already!?

Alright so my family does not make the big homemade tomato sauce and meatball with ravioli dinner all the time. It is usually reserved for Holidays and Birthdays. Turns out that my mom had planned on making it this week and I didn't even know it. So Monday night when I was reading all these nice comments, thank you by the way, I read one that asked about a good tomato sauce recipe, which was really entertaining because my mom and I had just started making the tomato sauce! So here is one of our recipes, just remember that my Mom does NOT use a recipe so as she was throwing things in I was writing them down as quickly as possible, while trying to figure out how many tablespoons she was pouring into the sauce, at random to the untrained eye. 

Semi Homemade Tomato Sauce

Pour a 105 oz can of Contadina Tomato Sauce into a slow cooker.
Mix in:
1/2 cup shredded of each, Provolone, Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano cheese.
About 1 teaspoon garlic salt
About 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced

Taste and add more seasonings as you see fit. You can NEVER have too much cheese. Now let simmer 4-6 hours on Low.

Next we have the homemade meatball recipe, you will soon realize how completely ridiculous these family recipes are, because we do not have them written ANYWHERE. These are all made from scratch and learned by watching, many times.

Homemade Meatballs

All you have to do is, follow my directions, exactly.
In a large mixing bowl,

About 4 lbs ground sirloin
1 lb Italian sausage
Mix together well, by hand, literally, use your hands!
Add about 15 oz (give or take) Italian style bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
The rest of your minced parsley from the tomato sauce.
About 1/2 cup of each, Provolone, Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano cheese.
1-2 cloves fresh pressed garlic
Then 6-12 eggs
Add eggs and bread crumbs as needed.

KEEP MIXING!
If you can put in hands and make soft, ball sizes without sticking to hands, you have the right consistency.
Now brown all sides in skillet, then put in baking dish. Pour sauce over, to lightly cover, then bake 2 hours on 225F. So sauce is thoroughly absorbed through meatballs.

Cozy Ideas for Chilly Nights

Alright, so I know that we are now entering Fall and these last couple of nights have extremely chilly. Get ready to curl up in front of your fire place with a warm blanket and this great combination of foods. So, I was given a slow cooker for Christmas and still have not found anything I would actually use it for. I don’t enjoy chili, pot roast, sloppy Joe’s, or pulled pork sandwiches. So recently I went and bought a slow cooker recipe book. Crock Pot Slow Cooker Recipes for All Occasions, 2005. If I could find the link, I would put it on here. Sorry!
I found a recipe in the Slow Cooker recipes for Triple Delicious Hot Chocolate. It is amazing and only takes about 2 hours to make. It is even better if you make your own whipped cream. Since you already have the heavy cream, for the hot chocolate, you can whip it up in a mixing bowl. Whip the heavy cream into stiff peaks, and then add granulated sugar. Whip until the sugar is thoroughly dispersed throughout the cream. If you make the whipped cream, wait until about 10 minutes before the Hot Chocolate is finished, for best taste.
To go with your Hot Chocolate and Whipped Cream, you can also make Finnish Biscuits. I was given this recipe from a Finnish friend. They are called, Aunt Hanna's Biscuits or Hanna-tädin piparkakut. When I finally found a recipe in English, I forgot to save the page so I put the recipe at the end of this blog. They are very simple to make and I have already made a couple more batches in the last couple of days since the first because they are just so amazing. Just remember that these are Finnish Biscuits, so they are sweet but not overly sweet. They go great with your tea, coffee, or even hot chocolate. So enjoy curling up by your fire with a warm blanket and these great recipes.
*Aunt Hanna’s Biscuits*
* Ingredients *
½ cup softened butter
½ cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sour cream
* Directions *
Cover baking sheets with parchment and preheated almond oven to 350F or 180C.  In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until blended.  Mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the butter mixture a little at a time.  Blend in the cream until a stiff dough forms.  Chill if necessary.  Using 1 teaspoonful of dough at a time, roll into small balls.  Place on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 10 minutes or until very light golden and set.

Love of Cooking

From the beginning I have always had a passion for cooking. It is something that just makes you feel so much better, because you always know that you can get something wonderful from something so simple. You start off with just a few small ingredients, that don't seem like they have much meaning, and they turn into something immaculate.

Having a love for cooking is something that comes naturally in my family. We are a largely Italian family and this may not come as a big shock, now, but that is a pretty big clue to what I like to cook, and eat, the most. Pasta! Any type of pasta, really. Tomato sauce with ravioli and meatballs, all made from scratch...amazing. 


Food is connected to our lives so immensely that we don't even realize it. Every time you turn around there is an event that encompasses food in one way or another. Whether is it going out to eat or having a potluck, there is food at every event. From dating to church events and then all the way to milestones in ones life such as; Birthdays, Graduation, and Confirmation. We, as humans, have a hankering for food and comfort. While most people, at Christmas, celebrate with Ham or Turkey my family, instead, has the ultimate Italian meal. We make; stuffed mushrooms, chopped salad, braciole, prime rib, ravioli, meatballs, Italian sausage, Italian bread, tiramisu, and even cannoli, all from family recipes that have been passed down for generations. 

My family likes to make and try new things, quite often. So I am going to be cooking many different types of food; from breakfast to dessert, maybe even some new and exciting beverages, all in the next 14 weeks. So I will be sharing recipes and great new ideas for cooking. While experimenting with family favorites and some new recipes that I have not even tried, myself, I will be sharing recipe secrets and experiences.