Because I know you care....

I love making rolls, and they were soooo tastey : )

And isn't the pie pretty? Here's the story, I was in charge of bringing the whipped cream for everyone, and I didn't bring enough so my mean, mean, mean sister only let me spread it on half of my perfect pie : ) But that half looked really pretty ; )

Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Pie

And my meager holliday offerings?

Two pies from the Pioneer Woman, and rolls. of course.

They were delicious, especially the chocolate curls on top of the pie. But seriously if you have to make one choose that chocolate cheesecake.

Key Lime Pie

and

Chocolate Pie

I even made the chocolate curls, the chocolate curls! It was so pretty.

Okay and word to the wise, you may want to not eat the key lime pie with the chocolate pie, it does weird things to your tastebuds. Just seperate them by like ten minutes or something, or eat the lime one first.

I am always surprised how easy pies are to make, give these ones a shot, they were yum!

Chocolate Cheesecake Pie-- ATTN RALPHIE

You will LOVE this pie. I didn't even make it. I made two other yummy pies, but someone made this one and it was to. die. for.

Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

1 1/2 C Vanilla Wafer crumbs (about 36 wafers)
1/3 C confectioners sugar
1/3 C Hershey's cocoa
1/3 C margarine or butter, melted
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (14oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 C (6oz) semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 dgs. Combine crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and margarine; press firmly on bottom and up side to rim of 9" pie plate. In mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk then melted chocolate chips. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Pour into prepared crust and bake 30-35 minutes until center is set. Cool. Chill thoroughly. Garnish as desired.

Yum-o.

Pumpkin pie trick

This is a great way to get a nice consistency - and a way to save a bit of money - with your pumpkin pie this year. Follow the directions for Libby's pumpkin pie - but use powdered milk instead of canned evaporated milk. I use a 2 cup pyrex measurer. Fill the measuring cup to 1 1/2 cup line with powdered milk, then add water until the liquid reaches the same 1 1/2 mark. Mix well - then gradually add to your pie mixture. It seems to combine the pie a little better and keep it at a creamy custardy consistency without any curdling. It works really well for us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Broccoli Cheese Soup- yum

Blaine, who is not a fan of soup, just called over from the kitchen "oh man, this is so good, I am licking the bowl like it's cake batter". That's right! Delicious Broccoli cheese soup with no velveeta!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Another great one from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

1 can chicken broth (or I just used chicken base and 2 C water)

1 small onion, diced

1/3 C flour

1/4 C butter

pepper to taste

2C milk (I used 1%)

1 1/2 C shredded chedder cheese (the sharper the better, I had some extra sharp...hot dang it was good)

1/2 C shredded swiss cheese

steamed chopped broccoli (I totall forgot to chop it, whoops)

Simmer chicken broth and onion for 15 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve.

I had no gumption to make bread bowls tonight but it would have been awesome with them. Enjoy!

Chicken Artichoke Calzones

I got this recipe from a posting made on Kayla's other cool recipe blog (www.recipemamas.blogspot.com. They were definitely a crowd pleaser.

We had these for dinner tonight and they were SO GOOD and so easy. Easier still if you had some leftover chicken, which we never ever have.

Pizza dough (I doubled this recipe and made 4 honkin big calzones)
shredded mozzarella cheese
cooked chicken (I just boiled some)
pesto
chopped artichoke hearts (I bought a giant jar at Costco, anyone have any other atrichoke heart recipes for me to try??)
olive oil (for brushing)

Preheat oven to 500. Put cookie sheet (or pizza stone, if you're fancy) in while it preheats. Divide pizza dough in half and roll into 7 or 8 inch circle. Spread each with pesto, stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge. Add mozzarella, chicken and chopped artichoke hearts to one half. Fold other half over and fold edges over to seal. Transfer to hot cookie sheet, brush with oil, and bake for 13-15 minutes

Homemade caramel in 15 min

We had this at our super saturday and it was amazing, so I thought i would share.

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup Karo Syrup
1 stick butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar

Melt butter over med/high heat, add syrup and brown sugar and bring to a boil, boil 1 min. add milk, bring to a boil, remove from heat.

Slice up apples and pour lemon juice on the top so they don't turn brown, then just dip in the caramel. You can add a little extra by having nuts or chocolate sprinkles to dip in too. This was so good, everyone loved it.

Cauliflower Soup

I have a little secret shopping job that I do once a month at a local soup and sandwich shop. Sorry to be so vague, but I've been sworn to secrecy ;). Anyway, the last time I was there I got cauliflower soup, it was delicious! And then a couple days ago cauliflower was on sale for cheap at Macey's. So I found a knock off recipe and made it tonight, it was really yummy! And woohoo...I even took my very own picture of the soup. Knock yourselves out!

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

2 Tbs margarine or butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 t salt

2 C milk

1 can (14oz) chicken broth

1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 C shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better)

1 C pepper jack cheese

In 4 quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 C water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender ( with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 C cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

Alfredo Pasta bake

I got this from this blog http://eoberrys.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes
I hate bottled alfredo sauce but this was actually way good. I added a little extra milk in mine just to make sure it wasn't dry.

Alfredo Pasta Bake
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)
Ingredients:
8 oz pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup mushrooms
1.5 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced
1 jar alfredo sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls butter
Directions:- Preheat oven to 350 degrees- Coat the bottom of the two small or one medium baking dish with a thin layer of alfredo sauce. In a medium bowl, mix the pasta, broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, garlic and alfredo sauce until combined. Place mixture into baking dish and top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter on top of the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

Rachel's notes-I like to use Classico Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce. And when I bake it I wait until it starts bubbling and then I turn on the broiler for just a few minutes just to brown the cheese, just don't burn it. Burn=no good.
I also don't follow this recipe to the "T". If I think it needs a little more of this or that I add it. Just don't use too many noodles. I usually don't use the whole package of refrigerated noodles if you use too many noodles add more sauce otherwise it won't be very moist. Okay enough of this. If you try this let me know what you think. I love Ambers blog (which I got from Tia's blog) I have gotten about 4 recipes from her that my family love. Sigh... I wish spell check would work.

Ahem.

I have an announcement.

I got a new camera! And having a new camera and hopefully a new computer sometime in the next few days means that maybe I can put pictures on the computer and it will take less than six months for my computer to load them!

And if that happens then maybe I can post pictures of the recipes I make...you know, like a real recipe blog.

In honor of that I took a picture of something I made the other day.

It looked disgusting.

But maybe it will look better on a full screen. I dunno.

Just sayin'...to all you nay sayers who won't try a recipe just because it doesn't have a picture...you better start thinking of another excuse.