Karin’s Rice Krispie Treats

by penji1

Karin's Rice Krispie Treats

I take requests and this is the first one for my friend Natalya!  Every Friday at work I have a team meeting and since I am in charge I try to bring treats every week.  I made these last week for the team meeting and Natalya asked for the recipe.  I call them Karin’s Rice Krispie treats because I got this recipe from my neighbor Karin.  Enjoy Natalya!

6 cups Rice Krispies

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter (I’ve found that smooth works better than chunky)

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 bag butterscotch or peanut butter chips

Pour cereal into a big bowl.  Melt corn syrup, sugar and peanut butter on medium until well blended and pourable.  Pour over cereal in bowl and mix well.  Press into jelly roll pan (one of those cookie sheets with sides).  Melt chips together on medium until well blended.  Pour and spread mixture over treats in pan.  Let sit until chocolate sets.

Perfect Winter Beef Stew

by penji1

Almost every Sunday in the winter, I make a big crock pot of soup or stew so that Bob and I have something to take to work for lunch.  This is a new recipe from Kraft so we’ll see how everyone likes it.

3/4 cup Italian dressing (I like Kraft Zesty Italian)

2 pounds beef for stew, such as beef chuck roast, cut into 1″ chunks

6 slices bacon, chopped

1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)

3 cups sliced mushrooms (yuck! left those out)

3 cups sliced carrots (I used whole baby carrots)

3 medium potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into large chunks

1 (14 1/2 oz) can stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 (14 1/2 oz) can beef broth (I used 2)

Place dressing and beef in large resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (I marinated over night).  Cook bacon.  Place all ingredients in large crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours and then on high for 1 hour, removing lid for last 30  minutes of cooking time to thicken broth.

Chocolate Better Than _ _ _ Cake with Penuche Frosting

by penji1

I’ll let you fill in the blanks!

One of Courtney’s favorite cakes and requested for her birthday dinner.   Another recipe that I’ve been making for so long that I can’t remember where it came from.

1 devil’s food cake mix

1 small box chocolate instant pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans (I use walnuts)

Heat oven to 350.  Grease 10″ tube pan (can also use bundt pan).  Blend cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and vanilla on low speed for 1 minute then on medium for 2 -3 minutes.  Batter should be well blended and thick.  Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.  Pour into pan, smoothing top with spatula or knife.  Bake until top springs back when lightly touched and sides start to pull away from sides of pan, about 50 – 55 minutes.  Cool completely then top with

Penuche Frosting

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 cup whole milk (I use 1% because that’s what I have and it works just fine.)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Simmer brown sugar and butter on medium heat, stirring constantly, until well combined.  Add milk and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and cool just slightly.  Add to powdered sugar and beat on low until frosting is smooth and creamy, 2 -3 minutes.  Pour over cake immediately while still warm.  (If frosting does harden, reheat until soft.)

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes

by penji1

This is a combination of two different recipes – another Courtney favorite requested for her birthday along with the steak.

Spray a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (or a double layer of regular foil) with cooking spray.  Pour a 32 ounce bag of frozen Southern Style Hash Browns (chunky kind not shredded) out on foil and drizzle with Ranch dressing (I use Hidden Valley).  Mix with large spoon or spatula until hash browns are lightly coated with dressing.  Push hash browns towards center of foil forming a lose rectangle with foil exposed on all four sides.  Sprinkle generously with shredded cheddar cheese and then sprinkle generously with bacon bits.  Grab two long sides of foil and fold tightly 2 – 3 times over hash browns then fold ends tightly up leaving a little bit of breathing room on ends.  Place foil packet of potatoes on upper rack (about 8″ above flame) of gas barbeque with burners on low (about 400 degrees) and cook for about 45 – 60 minutes.  Open carefully!

Southern Style Salsa

by penji1

This is a Pampered Chef recipe, it looks a little different because there are no tomatoes in it but it tastes delicious!

Courtney wouldn’t even try it for a long time but now loves it and requested it for her birthday dinner.

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (I just use entire pepper)

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (ditto)

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup sliced green onions (I use entire bunch)

1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro (I hate cilantro so I don’t include it)

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 (15 oz) can Southern style pre-seasoned black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (I can never find the pre-seasoned kind in the grocery store so I just use a can of regular black-eyed peas which will be near the beans not the veggies in the store)

1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

1/3 cup Italian dressing (I use Kraft Zesty Italian)

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

large corn chips or tortilla chips (I use those Tostitos Scoops)

Chop all three peppers with Food Chopper.  Slice green onions with Chef’s Knife.  Snip cilantro with Kitchen Shears.  Place peppers, onions and cilantro in Small Batter Bowl.  Press garlic into bowl with Garlic Press.  Add remaining ingredients and mix gently.  Refrigerate 1 – 2 hours to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with chips.

Sour Cream (or Yogurt) Coffeecake

by penji1

One of Courtney’s all time favorites!  She and my niece Heidi once snuck home from church and ate the entire coffee cake (or what was left of it which was way more than half) and then headed back to church.  Everyone came home ready for more coffeecake and it was gone!  I pulled this recipe out of a magazine once a long time ago and so can’t remember exactly where it came from.

Follow directions carefully and take your time.

Heat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 x 13″ pan.

Beat on high until lightened in color and texture, about 3 – 4 minutes:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened (I put in microwave for about 10 seconds)

1 cup sugar

While that is mixing, whisk together the following in a separate bowl:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

and then in another bowl, combine

1 1/4 cups sour cream or yogurt (I prefer sour cream)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Now back to the butter and sugar mixture, beat in 1 at a time:

2 eggs

Now add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 parts (beginning and ending with flour mixture) on low.  Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly.  Prepare Streusel topping by combining the following until it resembles coarse crumbs:

2/3 cup flour

2/3 cup walnuts or pecans (I prefer walnuts)

2/3 cup sugar or packed brown sugar or combination (I prefer just brown sugar)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle streusel over batter and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Hello world!

by penji1

I love to cook and bake and people are always asking for me recipes so I thought I would start blogging about what I’m making by posting recipes and pictures.  My daughter Courtney’s 18th birthday is tomorrow and we celebrated today with some foods that she loves so today seemed like the perfect day to start since I made more food than I would on an average day.  I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.  Please leave comments or questions for me.