Sunday, November 30, 2008

Vegetable / Potato: Sweet Potato Casserole

From Shelly Carey

Ingredients
4 lbs sweet potatoes (4 ½ cups peeled, boiled and mashed)
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs, beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk (or evaporated
Topping
¾ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup pecans, chopped

Directions
For filling, mix together sweet potatoes, brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter softened, eggs, vanilla and milk. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Spread mixture into the pan.

For topping, crumble together and spread over sweet potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until light brown.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Entree / Vegetarian: Thai Sesame Noodles

From Kristy Carey

Ingredients
1 bottle Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame dressing (to taste)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons. honey
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 lb box of thin spaghetti, cooked, drained
1 cup shredded carrots
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions
Mix soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, and crushed red pepper. Mix in dressing. (More peanut butter, honey, or soy can be added.) Pour mixture onto cooked pasta and toss. Toss in carrots, green onions, and cilantro.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Dessert / Main: Bananas Foster

From Jackie Schuler

Ingredients
1 pint vanilla ice cram
2 Tablespoons butter
½ cup dark-brown sugar
¼ cup dark or gold rum
3 bananas, peeled, halved crosswise and then lengthwise

Directions
Set ice cream out to soften. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat butter, sugar and rum over medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth and bubbly, 4 to 6 minutes.

Add bananas, and cook, gently swirling skillet, until bananas are just warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Scoop ice cream into bowls and top with bananas and caramel sauce. Serve immediately.

Dessert / Main: Triple Treat Torte

From Marlene Winter
Note: Delicious!

Ingredients
½ cup cold butter or margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cups finely chopped dry roasted peanuts
Filling
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8 oz) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
Topping
1 (3.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 ¾ cups cold milk
Grated semi-sweet chocolate, optional

Directions
Cut butter into flour until crumbly; stir in the peanuts. Press onto the bottom of a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. For filling, beat sugar, cream cheese and peanut butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping. Spread over crust.

In another mixing bowl, combine pudding mixes and milk; beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Spread over filling. Top with remaining whipped topping. Sprinkle with chocolate if desired. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Yields: 20-24 servings.

Dessert / Main: Tira Mi Su

From Shelly Carey
Note: This is one of our family's favorite desserts. In Italian, "tira mi su" means "pick me up".


Ingredients:
6 large egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 lb Mascarpone cheese (or 16 ounces cream cheese - I use cream cheese)
1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 packages plain ladyfingers (packages are 3 ounces each)
¼ cup cold, very strong coffee (or more than 1/4 cup)
1 Tablespoon water (or 2 Tablespoons rum, if preferred)
2 Tablespoon baking cocoa

Directions:
Beat egg yolks and sugar in saucepan, with a wire whisk until well blended. Beat in milk. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce to low. Boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat. Place plastic wrap directly on mixture and refrigerate one hour.

Mix egg yolk mixture and cheese with whisk until smooth. Beat cream and vanilla together until stiff.

Separate and arrange ladyfingers into one layer in a baking dish. Drizzle ladyfingers generously with the prepared coffee. Spread half of cheese mixture over ladyfingers. Spread half of whipped cream over ladyfingers. Sprinkle cocoa over layer. Repeat layers. Sprinkle the top surface with cocoa. Refrigerate four to six hours to set.

Note: I like to be generous with the amount of coffee that I put on each of the ladyfingers. The ladyfingers end up more soaked than not, when I make this recipe… Enjoy!

Dessert / Main: Spiced Pecans

From Mary Carey (from Mercy Nicosia: Pat’s wife)

Ingredients
1 egg white, slightly beaten
2 ½ Tablespoons water
½-3/4 cup sugar
dash salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
4-5 cups pecan halves

Directions
Mix all ingredients except pecans. Fold in 4-5 cups pecans. Spread on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Use a spatula to turn every 20 min. Nuts should be crispy, not wet looking. Give as gifts: put wax paper in a new tin and add the pecans!

Dessert / Main: Pistachio Torte

From Marlene Winter
Note: This is everyone’s favorite!

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick margarine, softened
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
8 oz cream cheese
¾ cup powdered sugar
16 oz Cool Whip, divided
2 (3.4 oz) packages pistachio flavored instant pudding mix
2 ½ cups milk
Chopped nuts
Cherries

Directions
For the first layer: Mix 1 cup flour, 1 stick softened margarine, 2 Tablespoons sugar and 1 cup chopped nuts. Line the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch cake pan with the mixture.

For the second layer: Mix 8 oz cream cheese and ¾ cup powdered sugar. Add 8 oz Cool Whip. Mix well and pour over first layer.

For the third layer: Beat 2 packages instant pistachio pudding mix with 2 ½ cups milk. Pour over second layer.

For the fourth layer: Spread remaining Cool Whip (8 oz) over third layer. Top with chopped nuts and cherries. Refrigerate a couple hours. Keeps well in refrigerator several days.