Glazed Peanut Butter Bars - Mindee Williams

I make this recipe often at my house. I love the chocolate glaze!

Prep: 15min Bake: 25 min. + cooling
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. water
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

GLAZE:
1-1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

In a large mixing bowl , cream the butter, peanut butter, sugars and water. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the four, oats, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.
Spread into a greased 15in. x 10in. x 1in. baking pan (school sized cookie sheet). Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until slightly browned.
For glaze, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chips and peanut butter; pour over warm bars and spread evenly. Cool completly on a wire rack before cutting. YIELD: 4 dozen.

Crock Pot Chili - Robyne Zollinger

This is a good comfort food that we like to have on cold days with some corn bread.
This is a recipe that I put together. I could never find a recipe that I really liked so I made this one up and have entered it in a couple of Chili Cook-Offs. I received awards for best flavor and Judges' Favorite. So I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as we do.

Crock Pot Chili

2 Tbsp. Oil
1 large green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 lbs. ground beef
2 cans light red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 (8 oz.) can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. Chili powder

Saute pepper, onion and garlic powder in oil together in a large skillet until onions are translucent in color. Add ground beef and brown with pepper and onion. Fill large crock pot 1/3 full of water. Drain and rinse the beans and tomatoes and put in the crock pot with the meat, pepper, and onion. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Stir together. Add brown sugar, cumin and chili powder. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low all day until ready to serve.

(The ingredients might not be quite the exact amounts because I don't measure things when I cook. I usually base my cooking on the way it smells and tastes. But I think this is a fair estimate of what I use. Add more or less sugar and seasonings to your own liking.)

Spinach Chicken and Pasta Salad

Thanks for letting me sneak in on this fun site! I am a neighbor to the Williams and we are so glad to have the them in our neighborhood!!
My daughter in- law made this salad for our get together and I couldn't get enough. It makes a big amount so you could cut it in half. Enjoy, Crisanne Black

Spinach Chicken and Pasta Salad
16 oz bowtie pasta cooked
11/2 bags fresh baby spinach
2 cans mandarin oranges drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 cups cooked chopped chicken(I use canned from Sams)
1 6 oz bag craisins
2 cups chopped green onions
6 oz honey roasted peanuts

Mix dressing and marinade cooked pasta in it for 2 hours or longer.
Add rest of ingredients, toss and enjoy!!
Dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 t. salt
2/3 cup teriyaki sauce
6 TBS sugar
1/2t black pepper

Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments

This gingerbread dough looks and smells like real cookies, but bakes up rock hard. They will keep and smell great for years. You can use this dough to make gingerbread men, garlands, ornaments and houses. We made these in our ward because we are donating a Christmas Tree to our local Festival of Trees. We also did some other fun ornaments: dried oranges, cinnamon sticks, barbed wire snowfakes, and we are also going to attach pinecones that have been sprayed with glittler spray.

3 tbs. shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 teas. baking soda

3/4 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon of each: cloves, ginger and cinnamon

Beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy, stir in molasses. Sift the dry ingredients together. Stir them into shortening mixture in 3 parts alternating with a 1/4 cup of water each time. Dough will be stiff. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Cut dough into 3 pieces. Knead to warm dough slightly, then roll each piece out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookies out with a gingerbread pattern of your choice. Use a drinking straw to punch hole where the ornament will hang (I punched a hole before and after the cookies were baked). Place cookies on cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes in a oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees, turn oven off and let cool in oven (I didn't have time for this step because I had to bake tones of them so I let them cool slightly on a cookie sheet and re-punched out the hole before I removed them to a rack). After removing cookies, let dry for about 3 days to totally harden. These cookies are purely for decorative purposes and not to be eaten. If you wish you can seal cookies with 3 coats of clear acrylic and decorate with colorful acrylic paints when dry. *I used puff paints which worked really well.

Lemon Cake

This recipe is a request from Sylvia. Sorry it took so long
to post. This was actually Mindee's wedding cake and it is
just a really refreshing,moist cake. One of my favorites!

First bake 1 Betty Crocker Super Moist Lemon cake mix as directed on
box into 2 9inch rounds (or use 2 cake mixes for 2 9X13 rectangle pans)

Mix Instant vanilla pudding according to directions.

When cake has cooled spread 3 tablespoons of pudding on top of first cake then
place second cake on top of the first cake .Carefully wrap cake in tinfoil and freeze .

Frosting; Mix
1 C. shortening
1/2 C. milk
2 lbs powdered sugar
4-5 drops vanilla extract
add
1/2 to 1 can cream cheese frosting

Remove cake from foil and generously spread with icing. There should be enough icing also to pipe decorative boarder to edges if desired. Cake will thaw in about 30min to 1hr. Serve while still chilled.

Pumpkin Roll - Robyne Zollinger

I just love this time of year. It's always a great excuse to make such yummy desserts!



Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs
1 C. sugar
3/4 C. pumpkin
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 C. + 2 Tbsp. Flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Beat eggs until lemon in color. (Approx. 5 minutes) gradually add sugar, pumpkin and lemon juice. In separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Fold into the pumpkin mixture. Spread into a 15x10 baking pan that has been greased. (I spray my pan, then I line it with wax paper and spray it again.) Bake at 375* for 15 minutes. Right out of the oven, turn it onto a terry cloth towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll towel and cake up together and let cool.

Filling:

1 cream cheese (8 oz.)

1 C. powder sugar

4 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat all ingredients together until spreadable. Once cake has cooled, roll out the cake and spread the filling on the cake and roll it back up. Cut into 1/2" servings.

We like to cover it in foil and freeze it. Then when we are ready to serve, we just pull it out of the freezer and slice it.

(Sorry about the spacing in the typing. Tried to fix it but couldn't)

Tennessee Pumpkin Bread - Cindee Backus

This is such a moist and delicious fall treat. My husband
and daughter can't get enough of this yummy treat. Be sure
to follow the directions completely as it may
turn out heavy textured.

In a bowl sift dry ingrediants;

5 c. flour
3/4 t. baking powder
3 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. nutmeg
2 1/4 t. salt

In another bowl combine wet ingrediants;
3 c. canned pumkin
1 c. water
1 1/2 t. vanilla

In mixing bowl cream together;
1 c. shortening
4 c. sugar
to this add 6 eggs (2 at a time) and cream well

To creamed mixture alternate dry ingrediants with wet ingrediants on low speed, scraping down bowl as needed. When mixed you may add 1C chocolate chips with 1 1/2 c. walnuts. Pour mixture in greased loaf pans and bake @ 350 degrees for 45-55 min. Yields 5-6 small loaves. Yummy!