Potato Gnocchis, from Mashed Potatoes

While I didn't get any pictures of them finished, here they are. I was too busy eating. You can use leftover mashed potatoes and it really is easy.

1. To about 4-6 cups of mashed potatoes, add 1 egg, and 1/2 cup of flour at a time, mix until it has a semi-firm consistency that hold its shape. (About like play dough)
2. Roll out into snakes about 1-2 inches wide and cut into pieces about 2 inches long
3. Turn each cut piece onto its side, pressing thumb in center to make a well
4. In a pot of boiling water, with salt and oil added, drop 8-10 gnocchis in
5. When they float, they are done, drain and serve with your favorite sauce

Meatballs

I made these for meatball subs and for some sauce. Its nice to have spaghetti and meatballs for lunch and this recipe makes a whole lot.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 1 c bread crumbs, regular or Italian
• 1 green pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 medium to large onion
• 2 tbsp worcestershire
• 1/4 c grated romano
• 1 egg

Directions:

• In a food processor, combine garlic, green pepper, and onion, pulse until minced
• In a large bowl, combine above mixture with meats, egg, worcestershire, bread crumbs, and cheese
• Roll into balls and place on baking tray
• Bake at 325 for 30-45 minutes

Dinner Rolls and Scotcharoos (not together though)

Rich and Tender American Dinner Rolls, from p. 455 of the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. This is an oldie, I made them at Thanksgiving. I will never go back to Pilsbury rolls, ever. I can't believe how simple they are to make. I wish I had known sooner.

This was my daughter's birthday scotcharoo "cake." I made mushrooms and a cat from marizpan.

Scotcharoos:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. light corn syrup
• 1 generous c. peanut butter
• 6 c. Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Melt sugar and corn syrup in a pan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved--it should not be grainy and should be just about boiling.
2. Add above mixture and peanut butter to cereal in a big bowl, mix well
3. Press into a 9 x 13 pan
4. Allow to cool
5. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together on stove top or in microwave, mixing well
6. Spread over cooled mixture, allow time for frosting to set

You can decorate it any way you like.

Phoencian Bread

This is "Phoencian Bread" (pita bread) from my son's history activity book, Story of the World Vol. 1. It is one of the activities from the chapter on Phoencia. We ate ours warm, with honey and the others stuffed with ham and cheese. The latter is not very accurate but it was yummy, escpecially while the bread was warm.

St. Ambrose

This is my take on a Milanese dish, credited to St. Ambrose. I made this for his feast but never got around to posting it.

Ingredients:
Chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts pounded flat
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• sea salt
• 2 tbsp grated hard cheese, like romano or parmesean
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp water

Sauce:

• 10-12 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1/2 c white wine (I used Chardonay)
• 1/4 chicken broth
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• pepper
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/8 c half and half
• olive oil

• 1 lb of pasta boiled, drained

Directions:

1. Pound chicken to about 1/2 thickness
2. Mix grated cheese with breacrumbs, cheese, pepper, and sea salt to taste
3. Beat egg with water
4. Preheat oven to 400 and start water for pasta
5. Coat chicken in egg and then in bread crumbs, placing on an ungreased, rimmed baking tray
6. Cook in oven on 400 for 15-20 minutes

For the sauce:

1. While chicken cooks and pasta boils, sautee mushrooms in a pan with olive oil, butter, shallots and chicken broth over medium heat
2. When mushrooms are tender, add garlic, cook 1-2 minutes, and then add wine
3. Mix cornstarch with cold half and half (I put mine in a cup and stir it around with a fork)
4. Add cornstarch mixture, and stir
5. Season with pepper to tasteServe chicken over pasta with sauce on top, garnish with grated cheese

St. Lucy's Braids

I did not have any little candles for these or candied fruits, so I used M&M's. The recipe was delicious and came from here. I used toothpicks to hold each layer together. It was absolutely delicious, I can't wait to make it again next year.

Chicken Sandwich with bacon, swiss and honey mustard

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breast, cut in half and pounded to about 3/4 in. thick
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 c. flour
• 2 c. bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 8 rolls
• 8 sliced swiss cheese
• 8 strips of bacon, cut in half and cooked
• prepared honey mustard sauce

Directions:

1. Mix paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper with flour
2. Flour chicken, dip into egg and then into bread crumbs, laying on a baking sheet
3. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, turning once
4. Assemble sanwiches, with bacon, swiss and honey mustard.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed-Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4-5 chicken breasts
• 1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid
• 8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 2-3 strips of bacon per chicken breast
• paprika
• pepper
• toothpicks

Directions:

1. Combine spinach with feta and pepper to taste.
2. Slice chicken breasts down the middle to form a pocket (you could also pound them out)
3. Stuff chicken with filling and seal up with 2-3 tooth picks
4. Wrap 2-3 pieces of bacon around chicken
5. Sprinkle with paprika
6. Bake on 325 for one hour or until juices run clean on chicken
   

Meat Loaf-- My family's way

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bulk Italian sausage
• 2-3 lbs ground beef
• 1 c. Italian bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large green pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 2 tbsp worcestershire
• 1/4 grated parmesean or romano cheese
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce

Steps:

1. In food processor, add garlic, green pepper, onion, pulse until minced
2. Add all ingredients EXCEPT tomato sauce in a large bowl and mix well
3. Shape into loaf in along pan and pour tomato sauce over the mixture
4. Bake, covered on 325 for about 1 hour or until loaf is firm or thermometer registers 160 in center

Sometimes we serve this with mashed potatoes and spoon the pan sauce over them.

Thankyou Grandma, for passing this one down.

Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

• 5 chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise about 1/2-1 inch thick
• 2 cups flour
• 3 eggs beaten
• 4 cups bread crumbs
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• dash fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• dash cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. In one bowl, add flour 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste, 1/8 tsp paprika, and a few dashes of cayenne, mix with a fork
2. In a second bowl beat eggs
3. In third bowl add bread crumbs and remainder of spices, with a dash of pepper and cayenne
4. Dip a strip of chicken into flour, shaking of excess
5. Next dip floured chicken into beaten egg
6. Last, roll chicken piece in bread crumbs, shaking off any excess and lay on a greased baking sheet
7. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces
8. Bake at 400 for 7-8 minutes and turn, then bake for 8 more minutes or until juices run clear
9. Serve with your favorite sauce (mine is ranch mixed with a generous amount of hot sauce)

Easy Salsa Dip

This salsa dip is just cream cheese spread on the bottom of the bowl, covered with salsa and cheese on top. It is one of my favorite quick snacks.

Apple Crisp

I used this recipe. However, I did not layer any of the crumb mixture on the bottom, I put it all on top. I also halved it, so that we would not be eating it all week. Additionally, I used 4 Cortland apples, I thought they were a little soggy but otherwise they were fine.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Cookies

The dough was the recipe that you find for chocolate chip cookies on the back of the chocolate chip bag. I added 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder (I should have added 5, will do next time) and instead of chocolate chips, I used Reeces Pieces candies. These were so good, nice soft and moist.

Buttermilk Sandwich Bread

This is another recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I had some extra buttermilk that I wanted to use before it went bad. I didn't have any honey so I proofed the yeast before adding it with the same amount of sugar as the recipe called for honey. The recipe also said to add all of the dry ingredients, including yeast, at once, which I sort of did out of order.

The only dumb thing I did, was actually follow the recipe in one place, it did not say to oil the baking pan, so my bread stuck. Hence there is no picture of it out of it's loaf pan. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't pretty or easy to get the thing out of the pan. The result was a nice fluffy loaf with just the right crust, perfect for sandwiches.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

I got this recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Its the Basic Sweet Dough Recipe on pg. 470 and the Cinnamon Roll Recipe on pg. 474. The dough has to rise twice, once when you make it and once after it is rolled out. I put mine in the fridge at let it do it's magic overnight. I put it in the oven right away in the morning and made the icing, which was super easy, while they baked.

PS The cookbook is definately worth having, it's very well-done in my opinion and actually contains at lot of good information about cooking, in general.

Teriyaki Marinade

Wisk following ingredients together in medium bowl:

• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 2-3 inch piece of ginger peeled and minced
• 5 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp pepper

Marinade over night for best result.

I use this for steak tips on the grill. I buy the steak at Costco, make the marinade and then throw it into the freezer in a large plastic bag.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Ingredients:

• 2lbs baby spinach
• 1 package of filo dough (found in the frozen section)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8-10 ounces, feta cheese, crumbled
• olive oil
• pepper
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, sautee garlic and green onions in olive oil, about 6 minutes over medium heat.
2. Remove garlic and onions to a large bowl
3. Using same skillet and working in small batches, cook spinach until wilted and add to bowl with green onions and garlic
4. Add feta cheese to your taste (I like a lot) and mix well
   Melt unsalted butter
5. Open filo dough and slice strips of about 3-4 inches in thickness
6. Working quickly, brush butter thinly onto one strip of filo dough, adding about a 2 heaping tbsp of spinach mixture, until it is gone
7. Fold into triangle shape and place on rimmed baking sheet
8. Brush triangles on the outside with remaining butter
9. Bake for 30-45 minutes (or until triangles are a light, golden-brown) on 325

Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 whole chickens
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4 stalks celery, halved
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 carrots
• 1lb pasta
• 8-10 cubes bullion
• pepper

Directions:

1. Put chickens, onion, celery and bay leaves into pot and cover with cold water
2. Boil until chickens are fully cooked
3. Remove chickens, cool and debone
4. Remove and discard, celery and onion
5. Skim the top, and remove all the oil
6. Add bullion and carrots
7. When carrots are about half-way tender, add deboned chicken, shred into smaller bite-size pieces
8. Add pasta
9. Add fresh ground pepper to taste and more bullion if desired

I did not boil my pasta first, but you can do this so that it won't soak up the broth. I also used up the contents of two leftover boxes of pasta that were half-full.

Bacon Mushroom Burger Baked Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1lb pasta
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 lb bacon, cooked, drained and chopped
• 6-8 button mushrooms,
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 2 tbsp McCormick's Montreal Seasoning
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef while you cook the bacon, draining both of excess fat
2. Boil pasta to al dente
3. Sautee peppers for 3-5 minutes, add mushrooms and onions until all are soft
4. In a large bowl mix ground beef, bacon, onions,peppers, mushrooms, 1 can of stewed tomatoes and seasonings
5. Layer mixture in an overn safe bowl with cheese
6. Cook for 1 hour on 300, or until cheese is bubbly

Buttermilk Biscuits

These are buttermilk biscuits from 100 Cakes and Bakes, a book that I cannot find right now. I cut them out with leaf and acorn-shaped cookie cutters, for a more festive look.

All Saint's Day Cookies

I did spell out "Happy All Saint's Day" in letters, but I did not take a picture, with the rest of the dough, I made fall shapes. This recipe comes from page 46, of the book The Cookie Jar. It was originally a recipe for Christmas cookies. The gray leaves are my poor attempt to make brown. I would definately make this again, but with less runny icing. A lot of the icing seemed to end up on the newspaper, which my son tried to eat whenever I was not looking.

Crustless Egg Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/4 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 10 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 300
2. beat eggs and add spices
3. layer green peppers and onions on bottom of 9x13 pan
4. layer cheese on top of green peppers
5. layer mushrooms
6. pour melted butter over top
7. pour egg mixture over over layered vegetables and cheese
8. bake at 300 for 45-55 minutes, or until center is cooked

Steak Subs (and waffle fries)

I did not make the waffle fries, they are Alexia. We bought a huge bag at Costco, they are delicious.

Steak Subs:

• 1- 1/2 lbs of steak, sliced thin
• 1/2 green 1/2 red pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion or 1/2 one large onion, sliced
• 5-10 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp worcestershire
• 1 tsp onion powder
• provolone or american cheese
• sub buns (or rolls, if you call them that in your neck of the woods)
• olive oil

Directions:

1. In large skillet, add steak and peppers with 1 tbsp olive oil, sautee over medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. add onions, mushrooms, seasonings and worcestershire
3. cook until steak and vegetables reach desired doneness, if you find that you have trouble timing this, try cooking the steak and the vegetables in a separate skillet
4. assemble subs with cheese, place under broiler until cheese melts, if desired

Soul Cakes

Soul! soul! for a soul-cake! I pray, good misses a soul-cake-- An
apple or pear, a plum or a cherry, Any good thing to make us merry, One for
Peter, two for Paul, Three for Him who made us all.

Soul Cakes

• 1 yeast cake (I took this to mean 1 packet of yeast, and it worked)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 cups flour
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 lb. butter
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Dissolve the yeastwith 1 teaspoon of sugar in the lukewarm water and let it stand in a warm place. Cream the butter with the sugar. Add the milk which has been scalded and slightly cooled and then add the yeast. Sift the flour with the salt and cinnamon and add to the mixture, kneading for a few minutes. Place in a bowl and allow it to rise in a warm place to double its bulk. Shape the dough into round buns and bake at 375 degrees F. for about thirty minutes or until lightly browned. Originally, these cakes were shaped like men and women and were given raisins or currants for eyes.

I think this recipe was originally in Cooking with Christ, by Florence Berger.

I did not think I would really like these too much but they are great, I ate mine with butter, I plan on giving a few to some friends.

Yellow Cake with Buttercream Icing, for All Saint's Day

Happy All Saints Day

This was a basic Yellow Cake recipe, from the Better Homes and Garden Cook Book. I would post it, but I cannot find the book. I can't find the book that I got the Buttercream Icing recipe from either. This cake was very light tasting and the buttercream icing was rich and smooth. I had to double the recipe to make enough icing to frost the cake initially and the decorations on the cake were made from a second, more stiff buttercream.

My children decided to reach over the cake and mess up the lettering. It is very hard to keep kids away from cake. As of posting this, about half of the cake remains.