Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix

A simple and easy snack.

Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake

For Pentecost I wanted to make a cake with red a nd white, so i found this recipe at http://www.chow.com/

For the berries:
2 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1/2 medium lemon)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
For the cake:
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lightly packed lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
For the filling:
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
For the frosting:
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
For the berries:
Combine all ingredients in a medium nonreactive mixing bowl and toss to thoroughly coat strawberries. Let macerate at room temperature at least 20 minutes before using.
Strain macerated berries and reserve syrup separately. For the cake:
Heat oven to 350°F and arrange rack in upper third. Butter and flour two (8-inch) cake pans. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a mixing bowl; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine vegetable oil, water, lemon zest, vanilla extract, egg yolks, and 1 1/4 cups of the sugar. Whip on medium speed, until mixture is airy and light in color, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl; add dry ingredients and whip until smooth, about 1 minute more.
In a clean bowl, whip egg whites to medium peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute more. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the cake batter until evenly incorporated; gently fold in remaining egg whites until just combined.
Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Bake until surface of cakes springs back when pressed and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove cakes from the oven, and let cool 15 minutes. Run a knife around the perimeter of each, and turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the filling and the frosting. For the filling:
Combine mascarpone cheese and heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. For the frosting:
Place the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer and the whip attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Combine vanilla extract, sugar, and heavy cream in the chilled bowl and whip at medium speed until medium peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least one hour. (The frosting can be prepared up to 12 hours ahead.) To assemble:
Using a long serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes as necessary so they are level. Place cake rounds on a clean, dry surface and, using a pastry brush, brush 1/2 of the reserved strawberry syrup on the cut side of the first cake round; repeat on the cut side of the second cake round.
Evenly spread 1/4 of the mascarpone filling over the cut side of the bottom cake layer. Arrange strawberries standing upright, stem end down, over the mascarpone layer and trim as necessary to create an even layer. Cover berries with the remaining filling, being sure to fill in any empty space.
Place second cake layer over mascarpone and strawberries, cut side down, pressing gently to secure it. Using an offset spatula or a long, thin spatula, spread 3/4 cup of the frosting in a thin layer over the top and sides of the cake. Return remaining frosting and cake to the refrigerator until frosting on cake is set, about 15 minutes.
Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides of the cake. Let sit in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving.

I would not rush to make this recipe again. I found it was not quite sweet enough and my berries were not the greatest.

Chocolate Revel Bars

These cookie bars are oatmeal on top and bottom and fudgy chocolate in the middle. Great combination.

Shrimp Piccatta

16 Tiger Prawns

1 1/2 tbsp flour

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup olive oil1 dash of granulated garlic

1/4 cup minced Vidalia onion

1/4 lemon sliced, quartered

1/4 cup capers, drained

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup shrimp stock or water

salt and pepper to taste seasoned

1 lb. cooked pasta

Take peelings from shrimp and place in 3 cups of water. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to low and simmer 10-15 minutes. Strain and reserve 1 1/2 cups. In a large mixing bowl, season shrimp to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle in flour. In a large skillet, combine butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions sautee for a few minutes until tender. A lemon and shrimp. Cook until pink and curled, approximately 2 minutes. Add capers, parsley, herbs, lemon juice and white wine. Bring to a simmer, reduce wine to 1/2 volume and add shrimp stock. Bring to a rolling boil and cook until slightly thickened. Season to taste using salt and pepper. When ready to serve, place hot pasta in the center of 4 serving dishes and top with the picatta sauce and 4 jumbo shrimp.

Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

This recipe was outstanding.

Baked Mini Corn Dogs

This recipe was featured in the new Food Network Magazine.

Baked Mini Corn Dogs:

1 cup reduced-fat milk

1 package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

9 reduced fat hot dogs, halved crosswise - (I used Nathan's mini hotdogs)

1 large egg, beaten - I omitted this part

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (optional) - I omitted this too

Warm the milk to about 100 F in a sauce pan; pour into a medium bowl. Spring in the yeast and left soften for about 2 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, brown sugar and corn meal with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper; stir to make a sticky dough.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. After the rise i wrapped each hotdog in the cornbread and placed onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet. I baked the dogs in a 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Corn Chowder with Dumplings

This recipe is from Taste of Home. My chowder came out really thick because i stirred some of the dumpling mixture in to thicken it. i also added a bit more of the chipotle pepper in.

Stained Glass Bead Bowls

Stained glass beads

pie plates

soup cans foil

Place the stained glass beads in the bottom of a pie plate to 1/4" thickness. Place in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, do not over bake. Cool for 5 minutes. Place a piece of foil over the top of a soup can leaving a 2"-3" "FLARE". Place your plastic disk from the pie plate onto the soup can and quickly mold into a bowl shape, let cool. if the disk is not pliable place bake into the oven for 3-5 minutes.

Ritzy Chicken

For these chicken strips I used boneless, skinless chicken breast and cut into strips. We all enjoyed this recipe.

Plain Hummus

Excellent hummus recipe, I loved the consistency, it was not loose.

Red Pepper Hummus

I saw this recipe at allrecipes.com I added 1 T crushed red pepper flakes and 1 T olive oil. Great recipe. You may want to increase the salt , I did.

Thai Steak Skewers

This recipe was in the June/July 2009 Taste of Home Magazine. I would switch to a more tender cut of beef next time, the flavor of the marinade and sauce was very good.

Spinach Feta Pine Nut Tart

This recipe was great. I love spinach and feta cheese together. The addition of the pine nuts was great. i will be making this dish again.

Meat Lover's Baked Ziti

In a large pot cook 1lb. of ziti pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, fry 2 lb. of meatballs and set aside to cool and cut in half. Warm 4 cups of marinara sauce on the stovetop, over medium heat. In a medium bowl stir together 1 egg, 1 15 oz. container of ricotta cheese, 2T grated Parmesean cheese, 2 T fresh pasrsley, salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the pasta with 1 C of the marinara sauce. In a 9X13 pan layer half of the pasta, drop by tablespoon dollups of the ricotta mixture. Layer meatballs then half of the remaining sauce. place the rest of the pasta, remaining sauce and sprinkle 1 C of mozzarella cheese on the top. bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Barbecue Snack Mix

I found this recipe in the March/april 2008 Hannaford magazine.

Watermelon Pops

These Popsicles are so cute and easy to make. i used strawberry and lime for my gelatin. The kids really loved this dessert.

Chili Cornbread Salad

I saw this recipe on Lara's recipe blog Recipe shoebox a few days ago. It sounded so great that i purchased all of the ingredients and served it tonight for dinner. We were are very pleased.

Chicken Chipulos

We were not overly crazy about this recipe. I will say it was super fast and easy to make. The recipe needed salsa and jalapeno peppers and maybe some black olives, needless to say it was not flavorful.

Rachael Ray's Chicken Cigars

I served these tonight with salsa, they were very good.

Marshmallow Sheep Cupcakes

I saw this idea in a magazine the other day. These were cute and easy cupcakes to make.

Rhubarb Cake

Another yummy recipe from allrecipes.com. I loved the crispiness around the edges of this cake, it was caramelised.

Baked Spring Rolls

This recipe from allrecipes.com was very good. I liked that the spring rolls were baked and still crispy with out being deep fried.

I served the spring rolls with this sauce: 1/4 C mushroom soy sauce, 2T rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp. sesame oil, 1 T brown sugar, a dash of chili oil, a dash of granulated garlic. Whisk together and serve.

Chili's Chicken Crispers

Chili's Chicken CrispersHoney Mustard Dressing:

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

a pinch paprik

apinch salt

Batter:1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup chicken broth (Swanson

)1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup self-rising flour

6 to 10 cups shortening or vegetable oil (amount required by fryer)

10 chicken tenderloins

1/2 cup flour

Instructions:1. Make honey mustard sauce by combining ingredients in a smallbowl. Cover and chill until needed.2. Heat shortening or oil in fryer to 350 degrees F.3. Combine beaten egg, milk, chicken broth, salt and pepper in amedium bowl. Whisk for about 30 seconds todissolve salt. Whisk in 1 cup self-rising flour. Let batter sit for5 minutes.4. When you are ready to fry the chicken, coat each piece with dryflour (1/2 cup in a medium bowl), then dunk the chicken into thebatter. Let a little batter drip off the chicken and lower it intothe hot oil and fry for 7 to 9 minutes or until it's golden brown.Depending on the size of your fryer, you should be able to fry 3 or4 tenderloins at a time.Drain fried chicken strips on a rack or paper towels for a minuteor so, and serve with the honey mustard dressing on the side fordipping.Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entree.Source: The Secret Recipe Forum - www.recipesecrets.net/forumns

Fried Baby Artichokes

First you need to remove the outer leaves of each choke until you reach the yellow interior. Next cut off the top 1/3 of the artichoke and trim the stem down pretty close the the bottom of the artichoke. Place in cold water with a bit of lemon juice as you are preparing the other artichokes. When you are finished trimming all of the artichokes dry completely. Deep fry in batches of vegetable oil for approximately 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Next fan out the leaves so the artichoke looks like a flower, being carefully not to pull out the leaves. Now you are ready to fry the chokes again. Fry in batches until the artichokes are golden. Drain on towels and sprinkle with salt. Serve.

Carrie's Chinese Chicken

I saw this delicious recipe at Cooking with Carrie. I served my dish with snow peas, Napa cabbage and sesame seeds.

Crockpot Ham

In a crockpot place: 1 head of cabbage shredded, 3 tart apples chopped, 1 good size boneless ham. in a measuring cup mix 1 C apple cider and 2 T maple syrup. Pour over the top and cook on low for 6 hours.

pecan Crusted Chicken Tendeers & Salad with Tangy Maple dressing

I saw this recipe on a Rachael Ray DVD we have and the kids wanted to try the recipe. The recipe was even tastier than I thought it would be. This recipe is a keeper.

Cinnamon Sour Cream Streusel Bread

Excellent, moist bread. I had to put the bread away before i devoured it myself!!

Irish Soda Bread with Currants & Raisins

Today i used this recipe and substituted the currants and cranberries for the raisins and I also switched the flour to whole wheat flour.

Lazy Man's Ribs

I used boneless country style ribs for this recipe and "shredded" the meat right before serving. Excellent sauce.

Honey wheat Sandwich Rolls and Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

The roll recipe was very good. i did not use a bread machine so I adapted for that. The chicken was great, tender and moist.