Fondue

9oz brie cheese cubed and rind removed
1/4 C. chicken broth
1 clove garlic
parmesian cheese shredded
cooked shrimp,chicken, steak. Blanched brocoli,cauliflour. Apples. Cubed french bread.

Crush garlic and rub on bottom and sides of fondue pot. Place remainder of garlic in bottom of sauce pan. add chicken broth. Add  brie cheese when broth is hot and  stir with wooden spoon to melt. Add parmesian cheese to taste. If to runny add more cheese. If too thick add more broth.   Pour into fondue pot and serve with meat, veggies, fruit, bread or anything you would like to dip.

Apricot Jam

8 C. diced apricots
1/4 C. Lemon Juice
6 C. Sugar

Combine and  bring to boil. Cook on medium high heat continually stirring for 15-20min min or until slightly thickened. Process in jam jars 10min.  I love this recipe because you don't have to use pectin. Also dont worry about peeling the skin off the apricolts either. Just remove the pits and dice. I added  jalapeno to a batch and reduced the sugar to 5 C. instead of 6 . Eat with cream cheese and crackers. Yummy!!

Cake Pops -By Kami

Cake Pops  (Our new favorite way to eat cake)

1 cake mix, mixed and baked as directed, cooled completely...(I usually make with cake extender)

3/4 can vanilla frosting (or make your own it's better)

High quality melting chocolate, melting chips or choc. chips

Sprinkles

In a large bowl crumble the cake mix into very fine pieces.  Stir in 3/4 can of frosting until well mixed (will be sticky).  Scoop out batter using a cookies scoop into your hands and roll into a 1" ball.  Place on a lined cookie sheet (waxed paper) and insert a sucker stick.  Cover and Freeze.

Melt chocolate/coating into a glass bowl.  Take 3-5 pops out of the freezer at a time and quickly dip in chocolate and shake with sprinkles.  Place in a styrafoam square to dry so they look pretty.  Repeat.  These are so fun and easy to make.  You can mix and match cake/coating flavors to your taste.  Our favorite is chocolate cake with vanilla coating.  I am making and packaging 200 for a wedding next week!  Wish me luck!!!! 

My kids (and the neighbor kids) love them...they are so fun to eat and the possibilities for flavoring/decorating them are endless!

They are also great for favors/gifts.  The one pictured on the right was made for my daughters dance teammates to wish them luck before a dance competition.  They are darling

boxed up as a boquet too!  Have fun!

Bunny Buns - Mindee W.

The kids and I saw these cute buns in this months issue of The Friend (April 2011).  We decided to give them a try last Sunday.  They do take some time and patience, but they were really yummy and fun to make!

Ingredients:
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tb.grated orange peel
5 1/2 cups flower, sifted
Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 tsp. butter.

1. Sprinkle yeast in warm water and set aside
2. In another bowl, blend milk, sugar, shortening, and salt.  Cool until lukewarm, then add eggs, water with yeast, orange juice, and orange peel.
3. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough.  Let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Knead dough 5-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic.  Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover bowl and put in a warm place.  Let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.  Punch down and let stand for 10 minutes.
5. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 thick.  Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long.  Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes.  Cut one of the strips into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls (for tails).
6. Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet.  Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end.  Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.
7. Cover bunnies and let raise in warm place for 45-60 minutes, until nearly double in size.  Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
8.  For the glaze, stir powdered sugar, water, and butter together.  Frost bunnies with the glaze while still warm.

* Changes:  I did a thicker vanilla frosting instead of the glaze and added decorations to make bunny faces.  I did mini choc. chips for the eyes, jelly bean decors for the nose and chocolate jimmies for the whiskers. This recipe made about 23 buns for us.

My new favorite Oatmeal Cookie recipe

These are so yummy and stay soft for a couple days.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: about 70 cookies

1 C butter softened
1 C shortening
1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C white sugar
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t water
3 C flour
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
4 C oatmeal (quick cooking or regular)
4 C chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi sweet)
1 C. walnuts
1.C. Coconut

May substitute chocolate chips for raisins.

1. Cream together the butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar. Cream the mixture well, now! I would get to creaming this buttery bliss for about 4 minutes.

2. Add your vanilla and water and mix just until combined.

3. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients (all but the chocolate chips) together with a wooden spoon.

4. Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture and stir to incorporate. Add your chocolate chips, give them a stir to incorporate and you are good to go.

5. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a sprayed cookie sheet.

6. Bake at about 350 degrees for 8 minutes. (For convection ovens bake at 325 for 6 1/2 minutes). Don't over bake my friends! When your cookies have cracks down the middle, take them out and let them finish cooking on the pan for about 3-5 minutes

~ One Pot Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew~ Sundee Yardley

I'm always looking for a good one pot crock pot meal. I found this recipe in a magazine while waiting at the doctors office with Kallie and Rayne. It was a $400.00 winner of a recipe contest. It is healthy and yummy.

Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew

2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces.
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 tsp curry powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper and/or cayenne pepper
2 15-oz cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained.
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1-9 ounce pkg. fresh spinach.

Hot cooked rice

Directions. In a slow cooker add chicken, onion, and garlic. Then add curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Stir in drained beans, undrained tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on high heat for 4 to 5 hours or on low heat for 8 to 10 hours.

Stir lime juice into cooked stew. Stir spinach leaves into stew and let stand 2 to 3 minutes to wilt. Serve with rice. Make 8 (1 1/2 cup) servings.

~Hamburger Veggie Skillet~

This recipe is best when using fresh garden veggies, and can be played with using and combining different veggies.  I decided to try it with some asparagus, it's one thing I cant grow in my garden, but wish I could. I had it and the other things on hand, so decided to whip it up for dinner the other night. I DO have to admit it's much better with the red potatoes, onion, carrots, and squash from my garden, but the asparagus in this was sure a yummy combo!

* 1lb hamburger, ground (don't drain off the grease, unless it's tons. Works well for the veggies to not stick)

* One medium sized onion, diced

* 5-6 whole carrots, peeled, chopped in circles or cubed

* 6-8 Red potatoes, skins left on and cubed

* One bundle of asparagus, cut into thirds

* Salt, pepper, garlic salt, and parsley to taste

In large skillet brown the hamburger, onion and seasonings.

Add the carrots and potatoes, cook these until tender.

Then add the asparagus, cover and cook about 10 min longer, stirring occasionally.

Serve & Enjoy!! 

Me and the fam love this made all different ways, it's easy, and you only dirty up one skillet :)

Just added the asparagus...

 Lookin good....

 Ready to dig in......