Holiday Cookies Archive #2

C.O.P. Cookies


Candy Cane Cookies


Candy Cookies


Caramel Shortbread


Cheesecake Brownies


Cherry Buns


Cherry Crowns


Cherry Winks


Chewies


Chewy Noels


Chinese Chews/Haystacks


Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


Chocolate Chip Cookies


Chocolate Chip Meltaways


Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies


Chocolate Christmas Trees


Chocolate Cream Cheese Squares


Chocolate Crinkles


Chocolate Mint Snow-Top Cookies


Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (no bake)


Chocolate Snowball Cookies


Chocolate Streusel Bars


Chocolate Sundae Cookies


Chocolate Walnut Crumb Bars


Choco-Scotch Crunchies


Choose A Cookie Dough Recipe


Christmas Crackers


Christmas Crunch Bars


Christmas Ginger Snaps


Christmas Macaroons


Christmas Mice Cookies


Christmas Shaped Cookies


Church Window Cookies


Coconut Cookies


Congo Squares


Cookie in a Jar


Corn Flakes Cookies


Cornflake Christmas Wreaths


Cowboy Cookies (oatmeal)


Cream Cheese Cookies with Apricot Filling


Crème De Menthe Chocolate Squares


Crème Wafers


Crescent Cookies


Crispy Crunchies


Date Nut Balls


Date-nut Pinwheel Cookies


Diabetic Peanut Butter Cookies


Disgustingly Rich Brownies


Doodles


Double chocolate chip cookies


Double-Chocolate Crinkles


Eatmore Cookies


Eggnog Cookies


Elizabeth's Sugar Cookies


Elves Quick Fudge Brownies


Emily Dickinson's Gingerbread Cookie Recipe


Emily's Best Brownies


Famous Oatmeal Cookies


Firemen Cookies


Fluffy Shortbread Cookies


Forgotten Cookies


Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies


Fruit Cake Cookies


Fruitcake Squar es


Fry Pan Cookies


Gems


Ginger Cookies


Ginger Crinkles


Gingerbread Baby


Gingerbread Cookies with Butter Cream Icing


Gingerbread Men


Gingerbread Men


Ginny's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies


Glory's Golden Graham Squares


Glory's Sugar Cookies


Gramma Chapman's chocolate coconut drops


Grandma Elsie's Zimt (cinnamon) Cookies


Grandma J's Butter Cookies


Grandma Olson's Parkay Cookies


Great Grandmothers Sugar Cookies


Gum Drop Cookies


Gumdrop Gems


Haystack Cookies


Ho-Ho Bars


Holiday Cereal Snaps


Holiday Chocolate Butter Cookies


Holiday Raisin Walnut Bars


Holly Cookies


Hungarian Cookies (Little Nut Rolls)


Ice Box Cookies


Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies


Italian Cookies


Jacob's Peppermint Snowballs


Jam Bars


Jessica's Famous Brownies


Jessie's Chocolate Chip Cookies


Jubilee Jumbles


Juliet's Peanut Butter Blos soms


Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies


Kentucky Colonels


Kiefle (cream cheese cookies with jam filling)


Kifflings


Kiss Cookies

Holiday Cookies Archive #1

Holiday Cookie Recipe Archive #1

1-2-3 Cookies


7 Layer Cookies


Allie Nelson's Famous Snickerdoodle Cookies


Almond Crescent Shortbread


Amish Sugar Cookies


Andies Candies Cookies


Angel Crisps


Angenets


Applesauce Cookies


Apricot Fold-Overs


Aunt Edy's Molasses Crinkles


Auntie Linda's Ginger Gems


Bakeless Dream Cookies


Banana Drop Cookies


Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World


Biscotti


Biscotti Blueberry Cookies


Boiled Chocolate Oatmeal Drop Cookies


Brownies I


Brownies II


Brown Sugar Shortbread


Brownie Cookies


Brownie Delight


Buccaneer Snowballs


Buried Cherry Cookies


Butter Cookies


Butter Nut Balls


Butterballs


Buttery Almond Balls


Butterscotch Haystacks

Spring 07 Roma/Plum Tomato Harvest

I got yelled at for not posting any pictures of the garden... These Pictures say it all! These were taken May 22, 2007. If you want a larger view... just click on the pictures.

The Bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil was part of a Christmas gift from my sister Denise!

Anyone have any really great unique AND delicious Tomato Recipe's?? We have plenty of Basil and Parsley (and Chives & Sage & Tarragon & Rosemary ...) growing too!

This plant was one for the record books! It grew out of a compost pile that I had started earlier last year. Combine that with added extra composting of egg shells, tea and coffee.

And for those of you who complained... guess you need to come Florida if you want to taste them!

And String Beans Too!!

Spitzad - Zucchini, Onions, Tomatoes & Yellow Squash

This is one of those great summer dishes that I would like to share. My mother made this dish a lot in the summer while growing up and it's one of the few vegtables dishes that Mark actually loves. I'm not really sure how it's spelled, so I spelled it like it's sounds.

It's great to make when the bounty of tomatoes, zucchini and squashes are at their peak. It's definitly versatile allowing for many variations. It's an excellent side dish. It goes great over rice and with pasta.

Get the frying pan going over med-high heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons of your favorite oil. Start with the onions, then zucchini/squash and finally the tomatoes. As you cut them, put them directly into the hot frying pan and let them start cooking in the oil. After vegetables are done, chop up herbs to your liking and add to vegetables reserving some for the end. Add salt and pepper to your taste cover and stir every 15 minutes or so. Keep it covered, allowing some steam to escape, but let it retain some of it's juices, especially when serving it over rice. After about 40 minutes or until veggies are cooked, remove from heat and sprinkle with cheese reserving about tablespoons. Mix gently and top off with reserve cheese. The basic recipe consists of:

1 med Zucchini sliced into 1" pieces
1 med Yellow Squash
- sliced into 1" pieces
1 med-large onion cut in 1/2
- cut into 1/2" verticle slices
3 cups of tomatoes
- quartered
4 tbsp Fresh Basil chopped
3 tbsp Fresh Italian Parsley chopped
1 tbsp italian seasoning (dried)
1 cup of grated cheese, parm. reggiano, locatelli, etc all work well.

Use any combination of herbs you want. I found that the dried Italian Seasoning works well when used with fresh herbs.

The day I made this, I used 2 green squash (in picture above) and 2 yellow squash, one very large "sweet" onion and about 3/12/ cups of tomatoes. It also refrigerates very well and never tried freezing it. For it's simplicity, you gain something that is very healthy and tasteful. I like to serve it with a my egg & cheese pasta, but that's for another time.

Skillet Lasagna

On a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen, they demonstrated an effective method of making Lasagna on the stove in one pan, hence, skillet Lasagna. After watching the episode (and specifically this segment) a second time, I was off to the store to gather up the ingredients. Even though I love lasagna, it can be quite the time consuming process to put together! (Nothing still beats a lasagna layered with homemade pasta sheets!) I used the Barilla lasagna sheets but they used regular lasagna noodles in the show.

I think Mark will agree with me, this dish came out absolutley delicious! It made so much that I was even able to freeze some for a future meals! The recipe is available on the America's Test Kitchen website. If you are looking for a fairly quick way to make a very tasty lasagna, I highly recommend this recipe! Finire di mangiare! (Eat Up!)

A Favorite Winter Dinner

Sweet Potatoes, Apples & Onions with Chicken-Apple Sausage

This was so good, I thought I'd share! I whipped this up pretty quick tonight while I was on the phone with Dee. (Love and Miss you!)

I also made an awesome variation of the classic mac 'n cheese, which I will also share!





More To Come . . .

Smothered Pork Chops - Picante Style

After buying some very nice butterflied boneless pork chops, to just season and throw them into the oven just wasn't going to happen. So I opened the refrigerator, started pulling stuff out and the following was the end result. This dish was so good, it has become a favorite at the dinner table. And personally, I think it's very easy to make as it cooks and cleans up beautifully in my Le Creuset.

The sauce that is left on the bottom is so delicious that I will freeze it or use it for something else. I had made roasted chicken the next night and we used it to pour over the rice.

I was going to take the pork out of the pot to plate them and snap some pictures. However, I decided to just snap the picture as they were. This shows you exactly what they looked like when I took them off the stove. I usually serve this with plain white rice and a vegetable. It would also work well with potatoes.

Some Notes on the Recipe:

Pork - If I need to sear one at a time, I reserve them on a plate to trap any of the flavorful juices that escape. Boneless chicken breast work well too.

Oil - I use a blend of Olive/Canola oil.

Wine - You can certainly use red wine in a pinch. The white I use is generally on the dryer side and don't hesitate to use less if desired. You can certainly substitute chicken or beef stock.

Salsa - I like using Pace Picante Sauce because it is nice and chunky. Picante means hot in Spanish but we use the mild version. I also like using Cha chi's Mango Salsa. Using a "sweeter" salsa/picante sauce is a preferential taste, which I think adds another layer of flavor to this dish. You can substitute sugar for the Splenda.

Here's the recipe:

Smothered Pork Chops - Picante Style
Servings: 2

2 Boneless Pork chops
2 Tbsp Cooking oil, more if needed
2/3 Cup White Wine
1 1/2 Cups Pace Picante
2 Packs of Splenda

Place salsa in small mixing bowl, add splenda. Mix well and set aside.
Heat oil over medium-high heat. Quickly sear/brown pork chops on both sides, one at a time if necessary. Remove from pot.

Being very careful as this will splatter, slowly pour wine into the pot and deglaze. Allow alcohol to evaporate. Place pork chops back into pot including any juices that escaped. They may overlap if needed.

Spoon all the salsa/picante sauce over chops. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover loosley. Cook 20 minutes, less if pork is thinner, longer if thicker.

Serve Immediately.