Peanut Butter Cups

October 26th was my dad's birthday and I had in my mind to make these but my daughter showed up at the house in labor so that planned kind of got side lined. Dad loved this recipe that my sister-in-law introduced to our family. He was gracious about liking a lot of foods and treats but this one he REALLY liked. My daughters say that if they liked a guy it was one of the treats that they would make to take to them. So I finally decided that they sounded good and wanted to remember dad.

Put the graham crackers and put them in a zippered bag, seal, and roll them out to crush them, this can be done if a food processor but I prefer to do it by hand so the crumbs are an uneven texture in the candy

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, butter, and peanut butter together. It can be a little stiff so if you have a stand mixer it is easiest to use. (Another one of my Favorite Appliances.)

My sister-in-law would always make them in a 9x13 pan and cut them in bar form. They can be very pretty served that way on a nice tray... We usually make small balls and place them in mini cupcake holders. Orson Gigi in Salt Lake has a lot of different colors and patterns for holidays and special occasion.
In a time constraint you can just make a single layer .

While you are making the peanut butter balls place the chocolate chips in a small sauce pan and slowly melt them, stirring constantly. If you want you can put some on the bottom of the cup and then put the peanut butter ball on top, then put more chocolate on top of that. I usually just drop the chocolate on top and let it slide down the side of the cup to fill in a little bit.

In a layer pan just melt the chocolate and spread like frosting over the top.

These should go in the fridge for awhile to set the chocolate a little.

Peanut Butter Cups

1 pkg. graham crackers
2 c. peanut butter
4 c. powdered sugar
2 sticks softened butter, not melted
1 pkg. chocolate chips.

Mix together graham crackers, peanut butter, powdered sugar and softened butter, blend well. Form into balls or place in mini cupcake holders. Melt chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter mixture.

One of my favorite appliances

One of my favorite appliances in my kitchen is my rice cooker. I like to make large batches of rice and freeze some in zippered bags or Food Saver bags for later meals. It is so quick and easy to use on a fast paced day. This is one of those appliances that I thought that I could live without and I did for a long time but I sure do like it! My daughter and I have done chicken and rice in it and love it better than the traditional oven method.

Lemon Chicken

One of our favorite restaurants here in Orem recently closed, it was a part of our Christmas Eve tradition so we were very sorry to see it go. Our tradition actually started with my husbands father many years ago. With Christmas Eve being such a busy time he started ordering Chinese Take Out for the family. It was to help make the evening easier for the family little did he know that it would become one of our favorite traditions. At times has been kind of tricky when the date falls on Sunday. One of my favorite dishes from this restaurant was Lemon Chicken, the sauce was soooo good. I finally found a recipe that I like to try and replace the one I could no longer buy.

Cut the chicken breasts into smaller pieces or use chicken tenders.
In a zippered bag coat the chicken well with the flour mixture.
Heat oil in a skillet and brown the chicken, until golden brown.
About 3-4 minutes on each side.
Place in a 9x13 pan.
Cover with the lemon sauce, bake for 20-25 minutes until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

Lemon Chicken

1 c. flour
1 t. seasoned salt
4-6 boneless chicken breasts, cut into medium size pieces
3 T. olive oil
1/3-1/2 c. lemon juice, depending on how tart you want it
1 t. lemon zest
1/3 c. sugar
1 ½ T. cornstarch
¼ t. salt
1 c. water

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, seasoned salt in a Zip Lock bag. Add chicken and shake until chicken is completely coated. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on both sides, about 3-4 minutes a side. Set aside.

Mix lemon juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Slowly add water until thoroughly mixed and no lumps remain. Place chicken in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Clam Chowder

When I was much younger I had this strange idea that I didn't like any form of seafood. After my husband and I had been married awhile my father-in-law treated us to a weekend in Newport Oregon. There in Newport I tried really good clam chowder for the first time. While working on a project there in Newport my father-in-law found Mo's on the wharf on Newport Bay. After a few family vacations there it has become a favorite family destination and Mo's has become a favorite place to eat. Since we don't get to Newport Oregon as much as we would like to I began a search to find a clam chowder recipe that came close to Mo's, while not the same it is a very good version from a land locked cook. And since it is officially soup season I've been craving it. I also realized that seafood was something that I really did like.

Place the onion, celery, potatoes, salt, and clam juice in a pan and cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until vegetables are tender.
Meanwhile fry bacon until crisp. (I have become some what of bacon snob, I only like the ranch style bacon sold at most butcher blocks. It costs a little more but doesn't fry down as much as typical packages of bacon. I usually buy it when it's on sale and freeze it.)

Chop the bacon into small pieces and add at the very end.

Make the soup base and add to the vegetables to thicken, add the clams.

Before serving add the bacon and ladle into bowls.

Garnish with butter and two-three drops of Tabasco sauce.

Clam Chowder

1 c. onion finely chopped
1 c. celery finely diced
2 c. potatoes, finely diced
¾ c. flour
¾ c. butter or margarine
1 qt half and half
1½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
3-4 6½ oz. clams, undrained

Combine vegetables in small saucepan. Drain clams: pour juice over vegetables; add enough water to cook. Cook covered, until tender. Meanwhile, melt butter in large heavy saucepan. Stir in flour until blended and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in cream until smooth, blended and bubbly. Return to heat; cook and stir with wire whip until thick and smooth. Add vegetables and clams heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

For even better flavor add chopped bacon slices and a few drops of Tabasco.

Huevos Rancheros

Bring chile sauce and diced green peppers to boil.
Add eggs to the sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and steam until eggs are desired doneness.
Place eggs on warmed corn tortilla

Add cheese and avocados.

Huevos Rancheros

Corn tortillas, 1 each

eggs, 2 each,

2/3 cup chili sauce (homemade if you have it)
2 heaping tablespoons salsa

1 heaping teaspoon green chilies
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

grated cheddar cheese
Avocado wedges

Heat chili sauce, salsa, and green chilies in a small skillet until mixture begins to boil. Make small indention in center and crack two eggs into it. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until eggs are set to the desired stage.

While eggs are cooking, microwave corn tortilla for 15 seconds. Slide eggs and sauce out onto the corn tortilla, top with grated cheese and 3-4 avocado wedges.

I love, Love, LOVE, Dishes

When I was a teenager I went to visit an aunt in Wyoming. While playing in a out building on the property with my cousins I found a set of green dishes stacked on a shelf and obviously forgotten. When I showed them to her she smiled and said they must have belonged to the original ranch owners. Several months later a package arrived at my home in Arvada Colorado from this aunt. Much to my surprise in the box was this small set of depression glassware and the beginning of a LOVE of collecting dishes.

This is the latest addition to my collection.

I love to decorate with dishes for the seasons
This is a combination of the depression glass and my mother's china.

I love to get little plates for the Holiday's and take treats to my neighbors.
Entertaining and table presentations are important to me.
This is the same rack for a wedding with different plates to go with the color scheme.
Just after this wedding KUTV in Salt Lake City did a report on Lead Poisoning in imported dishes. I had purchased an entire set of these dishes at a local store.
Just a small sample of the many dishes I own.


After the report came out my oldest daughter and I decided to take a sampling of our dishes and have them tested. The complete set of dishes that I had recently purchased tested the highest levels of the day, yikes. I promptly returned them to the store and only received 50% back for them...I explained to them my concern for the lead content and even wrote to the manager, two years later those dishes are still sold in that store. Many stores import plates from China, Mexico and other places that are inexpensive but are not safe either.
Many people have this in their homes around where I live, this dish tested quite high as well. It now is only a place holder for the person on their special day and we no longer serve food on it.

As a cook and now a blogger I am always looking at dishes to serve on or take pictures with, for example the very first picture on this blog. When I purchased those there was a sticker with a code and the word passed on it. I was curious to know if legislation had been passed on imports of dishes from outside of the country and it caused me to do a little research only to find not much has happened since the story came out. I have tried to reach Jim Matheson to see where his investigation has gone but still haven't received any information.

Warning: This time of year there are many dishes that are inexpensive and so cute for the Holiday Season please be careful! I found these guidelines and thought that I would pass them along.

What do I look for?

The following hints are generally useful, but they are only hints. Certainty comes only from testing. Many manufacturers will have test records for the patterns they make. If you know the manufacturer, you should ask --

Potential risk factors include:

1. China handed down from a previous generation. These heirlooms were made before lead was recognized as a hazard.

2. Home-made or handcrafted china, either from the U.S. or abroad, unless you are sure the maker used a lead-free glaze or high-temperature, commercial firing practices.

3. Highly decorated, multi-colored inside surfaces (the part that touches the food and drink).

4. Decorations on top of the glaze instead of beneath it. Can you feel the decoration when you rub your fingers over it? When you hold the piece at an angle to the light, can you see brush strokes above the transparent glaze surface? Has the decoration begun to wear away?

5. Corroded glaze, or a dusty or chalky grey residue on the glaze after the piece has been washed. THIS TYPE OF CHINA COULD BE QUITE DANGEROUS. STOP USING IT AT ONCE. Any combination of factors 1 through 4 deserves particular attention. Factor 5, which could indicate extreme danger, is fortunately quite rare.

How do I minimize my risks?

1. Don't store food or drink in questionable china pitchers, bowls, etc. The longer food remains in contact with a china surface containing lead, the more lead can be drawn into the food.

2. Don't serve highly acidic food or drink in questionable china, especially to children. Acidic foods and drinks will leach lead out of china much faster than neutral foods like rice or mashed potatoes or neutral drinks like water or milk. Examples of acidic foods and drinks are: cola-type soft drinks; orange and grapefruit juice; applesauce and apple juice; tomatoes and tomato-based products like ketchup and spaghetti sauce; salad dressings with vinegar; tea and coffee.

3. Don't use a questionable piece of china in your everyday routine. Your favorite coffee mug, the bowl that usually goes into the refrigerator with leftovers, the everyday china your children use -- these are the pieces of china to focus on. China that you use only on special occasions is of less concern (particularly if you follow tips 1 and 2).

4. Don't heat or microwave in questionable china. Heat can speed up the lead-leaching process. These precautions aren't necessary, of course, if the china is lead-free or very-low-lead -- i.e., meets the stringent California warning standards. (California has a higher standard for imports than the national regulations!)

Wassail and Hot Chocolate/ Warm Drinks to HELP With Swine Flu

I received this email the other day and found it helpful and thought that I would pass it along with a couple of recipes that I use during cold and flu season.

"H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tract and proliferates only there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.
Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.
What most N95 respirators (face masks) are designed to filter is about 95% particulates of 0.3, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net.
Tamiflu drug does not kill the virus, but it prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks during the virus’ natural cycle.
While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps not fully highlighted in most official communications – can be practiced:
Frequent hand-washing.
“Hands-off-the-face” approach except to eat, bathe, etc.
Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected person. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C, or Vitamin C tablets that contain Zinc to boost absorption.
Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive."

.
Last weekend my sister brought me a pitcher of Wassail (half empty pitcher above) because I was feeling a little under the weather. This drink not only excites me for the holiday season but makes me feel better at the same time. The warm drink and soothing scents help to clear a stuffy nose.

Wassail

2 c. water
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 t. whole cloves

Heat one half hour but don't bring to a boil. Remove that cinnamon and cloves.
Add:
1 c. sugar
1 6 oz. can orange juice concentrate
juice of 1 lemon
6 c. water

Heat thoroughly and serve warm.


Hot Cocoa Mix (I keep this in storage all of the time)

2 c. non dairy creamer
3 c. powdered sugar
3/4-1 c. cocoa
1/2 c. non fat dry milk
1/4 t. salt
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. To serve, spoon 2-3 heaping teaspoons mix into mug, add 1 c. boiling water and stir. (Makes 4 c. mix)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know where this recipe originates from but I am guessing Stephanie Ashcrafts 101 Things To Do With a Cakemix. At any rate I got if from a cooking class at Macey's Little Theatre. It is so easy and tasty I love them in the fall. You simply take a spice cake mix and add a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree and belnd them together, that's all

Blend them very well. Add a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips.
I take a small ice cream scoop to make them even and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

Way too easy but yummy.

Herbed Stuffed Pork Chops

Luckily my daughter got my herb pots into the garage before it froze. When I found this recipe from the Cooking Club I was delighted because I still had fresh Rosemary and Thyme.

( I cut the pork open too wide, it just needs a pocket to put the cheese and basil in, mine melted out a little too much fyi.)

While the chops were cooking I made creamed peas and potatoes (already posted) another memory of my mom and dad.

1 garlic clove, minced
1 t. chopped fresh Rosemary
1/2 t. chopped fresh Thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 8 oz. pork chops, 1 inch thick
1 oz. provolone cheese, thinly sliced
3 T. fresh Basil, chopped
1 t. olive oil

Mix together garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. With a small knife, make a horizontal cut in each pork chop to create a POCKET. Fill each pocket with cheese and basil. brush with oil and rub half of the Rosemary mixture one one side of the chops. Heat heavy medium skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add pork chops, brush the other side with oil and rub remaining mixture on the meat. Coo 10-12 minutes or until pork shops are pale pink in the center, turning once.

Zucchini....

While I was gone and my garden froze some of the extremely large zucchini survived up under the plant. One of my first projects was to clean seed and grate the zucchini. Most of it I froze in two cup measurements to make zucchini bread (recipe already posted) for my neighbors for Christmas this year.

I also made zucchini brownies, one of my son-in-laws favorite recipes.

Dave's Zucchini Brownies

2 c. flour

1 c. oil

3 eggs

2 1/2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. soda

1/4 t. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

3 t. vanilla

2 c. grated zucchini, folded into the batter

1/4-1/2 c. cocoa

Pour in a greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Dave's traditional frosting

1 cube butter

6 T. milk

4 T. baking cocoa

1/2 c. nuts

Bring to boil, take off heat. Pour in powdered sugar until spreading consistency.

This time I used a cream cheese frosting because I wanted the white color to make spider webs on top of the brownies.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 c. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2-3 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

Mix together ingredients and spread on cake or cupcakes.

I took my neighbors a section of the spiders web with the following poem. (I started this in my neighborhood years ago and since none of them know I even have this blog I am safe to pass it along.)

It's time for treats!
It's time for fun!
And you'll have both
Before a day is done.

These treats you see
Are yours to enjoy.
The fun comes in
When your wits you employ.

Think of a neighbor
You want to treat.
Make a surprise.
(It doesn't have to be sweet.)

Secretly give it,
Include this poem.
Smile to yourself,
And quickly go home.

The sooner you do,
The sooner the fun.
Lots will have treats.
Even more will have fun.

So do it now‑-
Halloween's near.
Find someone quick
And spread trick-or-treat cheer.

(I did not write the poem but introduced in in my neighborhood on a cute little ghost)