When my boyfriend and I first got together, I learned that his favorite dinner was chicken fettuccine alfredo.  So, of course, I decided I must learn how to make this.  Now, his ultimate favorite would include sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.  I can do the sun dried tomatoes, but not the artichoke hearts.  Yuck.  However, you could easily add them into this.  Just throw them into the sauce while cooking.

I got this sauce recipe from an old Betty Crocker book I have.   It was a simple, straightforward recipe that I tweaked a bit, and now my alfredo sauce is my boyfriend's favorite.  I think it's pretty dang good, too. 

It is awesome with regular fettuccine.  We've also used it with spinach fettuccine, and it turned out fantastic.  This last time we used colorful bow-tie pasta.  While still good, I think I'll stick to the fettuccine. 

I love this sauce, because it's easy to play with and make all kinds of different dishes. Throw in chicken, tuna, shrimp... whatever sounds good to you.  We've used it as a pizza sauce for a chicken and broccoli pizza, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven! 

I don't really measure anything anymore when I make this.  I just kind of play by sight and tastebuds!  I'll give you general measurements, but play with it to make it suit your tastes. 


Ingredients:

2 generous tablespoons butter
1 cup heavy cream
about 6oz bag of Italian Cheese Six Cheese Blend
Salt and pepper


Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add cream.  Bring to boil.  (This is where I'd add the sun dried tomatoes, if using)  Reduce heat to med-high and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to thicken.  Add salt and pepper.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Keep stirring until well blended.  This is where you use your tastebuds to decide if you need more cheese, salt or pepper. 
Pour over hot prepared pasta, spread on pizza dough, or if you are like me, eat it from the pan! 

   For the longest time, I thought "coffee cake" was a cake made with coffee.  I mean, it's right there in the name, right?   Well, it's been a while now since I learned that "coffee cake" is cake you eat with coffee.   However, this is the first time I have actually made one.  

 It turned out moist, and delicious.  The topping had just enough of a crispness to it.  The blueberries melt in your mouth.   I ate it with my coffee this morning.  Superb.    It was also super easy to make.  All of the ingredients were ingredients I already had on hand, which is why I decided to make it when I saw the recipe.   I ate it the morning after I made it, after it had cooled down, and it was very good.  I imagine it is even better warm!


I made 2 of them.  One to keep here, and one to take to a birthday gathering I was going to.

I got it out of "Gooseberry Patch Christmas: Book 13", which I checked out from my library.  You can see it (and buy it!) HERE.   =) 


Ingredients:

Cake:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract  (I used lemon juice since I didn't have extract, and it came out fine)
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons flour, divided
1&1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries
4oz cream cheese, cubed

Topping:
2 tablespooons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cold butter

*Next time, I want to try using brown sugar for the topping instead of white sugar.

Directions:

For cake:
Preheat oven to 375* F.  Flour the bottom of a 9" baking pan.
Blend together sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Blend in egg and lemon.
In a seperate bowl, combine 1 cup flour baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Add alternately with milk to sugar mixture.  Blend in cream cheese.  It will be a bit lumpy, that's okay.
Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour.  Fold into batter.
Pour into prepared pan.

For topping:
Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and cold butter in a food processer.  Grind until coarse crumbs.  Or, cut butter into ingredients until coarse and crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly overtop the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cake tests done.  Serves 6. 

 

I've been craving cookies for a few days now.  Okay- weeks.  Not just any ol cookie, but chocolate chip cookies.  Tonight I broke down and made some.  Okay- had my daughter make some.  But she wanted to.  I didn't force her! 

I found this recipe at AllRecipes.com.  It seemed pretty basic, used ingredients I have, and  had a whole bunch of really good reviews, so I decided to try them out. They came out lightly crisp, with soft chocolatey insides. They do not get puffy, nor do they fall flat.     Now, my picture isn't the greatest and I apologize for that.  My boyfriend (who is a photographer) had to take my son to karate class, and I was afraid there wouldn't be any left by the time they got back!  They are so good! 

I will say, 100%, that my craving is sated! 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract                   
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Combine butter and sugars.   Beat until smooth.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each one.  Add vanilla.
4. Dissolve baking soda in hot water.  Add to bowl.  Add salt.  Stir until well blended.
5. Add in flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between each addition. 
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Drop by teaspoon (or tablespoon or whatever gives you the size cookie you like) onto a baking sheet.  I always very lightly spray mine with cooking spray, else I never get them back off. 
8. Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

  My daughter is a fan of chocolate.  What tweenager isn't?  Especially girl tweens.   When I broached the subject of what we should have for "dessert" on Christmas, she immediately popped up with FUDGE!  She's a big fan of fudge, too.  So, we did some research and found this recipe on Food.com.   She made it mostly herself, and it turned out spectacular.  If you like the mint and chocolate combination, you will love this.  It is super easy to make, too!

I didn't get a picture of what the fudge looked like when cut into squares. In all honesty, we cut it while everyone was here for Christmas dinner, and it was gone before I thought about taking a picture!!  It's that yummy!

  Ingredients:

• 1 12-oz bag of chocolate chips (about 2 cups worth)
• 1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 6 oz white candy coating
• 2-3 teaspoons peppermint extract
• green food coloring
• Assorted sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

1. Line an 8-inch square pan with wax paper, or with foil lightly greased with butter.
2. In a heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate chips with 1 cup of the sweetened condensed milk.   Stir until smooth and saucey!
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
4. Spread half the melted chocolate into the pan.  Chill for at least 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in another heavy saucepan, melt the white candy with the remaining sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Stir in peppermint and add the food coloring until it is your desired shade.
6. Spread over the chilled chocolate layer.  Put back into the fridge for another 10 minutes, or until firm.
7. Warm the remaining chocolate mixture.  Spread over the chilled mint layer.  If decorating with sprinkles, add these now.
8. Chill for at least 2 hours, or until firm.
9. Cut into squares and devour!

I have not tried it, but I am betting that the white candy layer in this could be changed to any flavor and color to suit different palates or occasions.   I would like to try it again with red coloring and maybe a cherry flavoring, perhaps for Valentine's Day. 

  I got this recipe from the Taste of Home website.   They were amazingly easy to make, and so good, I thought I wouldn't have any for Christmas day to share.  I was pretty sure my Boyfriend and Brother were going to devour them up!   Luckily, they are easy to make, so whipping up another batch wouldn't have been an issue.  They are ooey and gooey and so, well, heavenly!   I see these often in my future. 


Ingredients:

12 whole graham crackers  (yeah, I didn't use that many)
2 cups miniature marshmallow
2 cups caramel sauce  (I used the homemade sauce, which is linked.  Store-bought would be fine)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup flaked coconut



Directions:

Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with foil. Place graham crackers in pan; cover with marshmallows.

Heat caramel over medium-low heat until smooth.   Spoon warm caramel over the marshmallows.

Sprinkle almonds and coconut evenly over top.

Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes or until browned. Cool completely. Cut into 2-in. squares, then cut each square in half to form triangles.

  I love this mix.  It was super easy to make (once you melted the chocolate right), and can be adapted to fit ANY holiday or occasion. Simply add color!   It says you can melt the chocolate in the microwave, but this did not work for me.  It was too clumpy to drizzle.  I melted it on the stove and it was fantastic. 

For Christmas, I used Christmas themed M&Ms, and green and red food coloring.  Adapt candies and colors to suit the current holiday or theme.  One of these I saw even substitued red hots for the M&Ms!   Be creative!


Ingredients:

8 cups air popped popcorn (plain)
2 cups (approx.) pretzels (can be twists or sticks)
1/2 cup M&Ms or desired candies
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts (or any nut of choice)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
milk as needed
Sea salt
food coloring in desired colors
sprinkles as wanted


Directions:

  First off, I dipped my pretzels in melted chocolate and rolled them in sprinkles for added festivity.  You can do this step, or not.  It's totally up to you.  It was fun for the kids. 
  Melt chocolate over low heat on stovetop.  If using the white, you can add food coloring or leave it white.  Once melted, dip half of the pretzel into the chocolate.  Place on wax paper lined baking sheet.  If desired, cover with sprinkles.  Do this while chocolate is still sticky!  Let dry. 

Layer a wax-paper lined baking sheet with popcorn.  Sprinkle evenly with roasted nuts and candies.  Melt chocolate chips over low heat on stovetop.  I had to add a bit of milk to mine to get a thin enough consistancy to drizzle.  Drizzle over popcorn mix.  Do the same with the white chocolate, adding food coloring if desired.  Drizzle over popcorn mixture.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  If desired, add sprinkles and colored sugar. 

Once the chocolate drizzles have hardened, break the popcorn mix apart and add coated pretzels.  Store in an airtight container.

  Over the Christmas holiday, we had bought a bag of pears from Costco with the idea that we would slice them up and serve them with some homemade caramel for snacking on.  Well, that didn't happen, so here we were with a bag full of pears and in desperate need of something to do with them.  They were starting to turn, so I knew I had to bake them into something, and quick. 

 I found this recipe, which Boyfriend decided sounded perfect.  I made my attempt.  My results were less than spectacular, though the taste was alright.  Enough that he asked that I still blog it, so that next time we can tweek it a bit and hope for better results.  The biggest and most important suggestion I would make is to use fruit that is still firm and not getting soggy.  It came out very wet.  We are talking standing liquid in the pan, almost full.  While the taste was still pleasant, it isn't a very good visual. 


Ingredients:

topping:

                                       (I had the pears in this picture, and they weren't suppose to be.  My bad!)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola oil

filling:

3 pounds firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

 

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350*F.   Spray an 8x8 pan lightly with cooking spray.

 

For topping:

  In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with a fork until thoroughly and evenly moistened.  Set aside.

 

 

For filling:

  Mix all ingredients in a larger bowl.  Stir until pears are well coated. 

 

 

To assemble:

   Dump filling ingredients into prepared pan.  You can be fancy and arrange them all pretty, or just do like I did and dump them and then just make sure they all fit in there okay.   Then sprinkle the topping over top, until all the topping is used.  Bake for about 40 minutes, or until pears are tender and topping is browned. 

 

                                                                         (before baking)

 

                                                                                  (all done!)

 

  Serve hot, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream if that's your thing!