Hot Cranberry Cider

Makes about 2 quarts

1 quart apple cider or juice
1 32 oz bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

In saucepan, bring ingreidents to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 mins. Remove spices.

Southwest Tortilla Quiche

4 Flour tortillas
3 eggs
1/3 c milk
1/2 cup ham, diced
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 Tbsp. Green Onions, chopped
2/3 cup canned corn drained
1 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp red hot pepper sauce to desired taste
Spray room temp tortillas with cooking spray and press into large muffin tins, custard cups or tortilla fluted pans. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and season to taste. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture into each tortilla shell and bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until set. Serve warm with salsa. Prep time: 5 mins. Cook time: 55 mins. Mission Tortilla cookbook

Cherry Dessert

Empty 2 cans of prepared cherry pie filling into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle 1 pkg white cake mix (dry) over cherries. Sprinkle 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans over cake mix. Evenly pour 1/2 lb (2 cubes) melted butter (be careful to evenly distribute). Bake at 35o for 40-45 mins.

Grandma Jocelyn Cowles' Dinner roll recipe

Use Bread maker dough setting for 90 mins.

1 1/2 cup warm milk
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. shortening
5 cups flour
The amount of flour seems to vary. If the dough is sticky, add flour as you shape each roll. I keep the dough covered with a damp cheesecloth while shaping and letting rise. I put the rolls in a warm place to rise about 20 mins before baking. Place on lightly sprayed cookie sheet, bake about 20 minutes at 350. Makes between 20 - 24 rolls.

Fine's Spice Chicken

8 half breasts, chicken
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 tsp. minced dried onion
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp. Fine's Herb Spice
8 oz can mushrooms and stems, drained
Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Lay chicken breasts in the pan. Combine remaining ingredients and spread over chicken breasts. Bake at 300 for 4 hours. Before serving sprinkle with sliced almonds or fresh parsley.

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cubes of BUTTER
4 Tbsp. powdered cocoa
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk

Mix flour, sugar, and baking soda togehter and set aside. Heat BUTTER, cocoa, and water in a small sauce pan on low to a low boil. Add the dry mixture and mix well. Then add the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk. Mix well and pour into a greased 10x15 pan. Bake in oven at 400 for 20 mins.

Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar, set aside in a bowl. Melt 2 cubes of BUTTER and 4 Tbsp cocoa. Stir constantly. When completed melted, add 1 tsp of vanilla and 6 Tbsp. buttermilk. Pour this mixture into the powdered sugar and mix well with hand mixer, scraping sides frequently. Pour/spread the frosting on the cake right when it is removed from the oven. Optional: Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top.

Pear-Cream Cheese Salad

1 can (16 oz.) Pear Halves
2 pkg (r serving size) Lime Jello
1 1/2 c. ginger ale or cold water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 pkg (8 oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Drain and dice pears, reserving syrup. Add water to syrup to make 1 1/2 cups; bring to a boil. Dissolve gelatin in boiling measured liquid. Add ginger ale and lemon juice.

Beat cream cheese in large bowl at medium speed of electric mixer until smooth. Gradually stir ing gelatin. Chill until thickened.

Add pears and nuts. Spoon into 5 cup mold which has been sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Chill until firm, at least 4 hours. Unmold. Makes 10 servings

Pumpkin Pudding Treat

This is a recipe from Jenny Berry Krull

1 1.5 oz pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 12 oz can fat free evaporated milk
1 15 oz can pumpkin (plain canned pumpkin)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Beat together pudding and milk. Refrigerate for 5 mins. Mix in pumpkin and spice. Spoon into individual bowls and refrigerate for 10 mins (or more).

Curried Rice with Almonds

3 cups cooked rice
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup parsley minced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup toasted almonds, finely chopped

Blend butter and curry powder, add to rice. Mix in parsley salt and almonds. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. serves 6

Festive Winter Salad with Walnuts and Apples

1 pkg (10 oz) European Style salad mix, washed
1 thinly sliced tart apple
1 pkg (4 oz) bleu cheese crumbled
1 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine salad, apples, walnuts, and bleu cheese. Whisk together oil and vinegar and pour over salad. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Serve immediately. 6 servings. 10 min prep time.

Peanut Butter Crunch Cake

This is a recipe from Aunt Eileen.

1 pkg super moist yellow cake mix
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 pan. Beat cake mix dry, brown sugar, and peanut butter on low speed until crumbly. Reserve 2/3 cup of the crumbly mixture. Beat remaining crumbly mixture, water, oil and eggs on low speed, scraping bowl frequently, 2 minutes. Pour batter into pan. Stir nuts into reserved crumbly mixture; sprinkle over batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. 40-45 minutes.

Frozen Fruit Ring for Punch

This is a recipe from Nancy Morelock. And of course, her rings were BEAUTIFUL.

12 oz Frozen Raspberry or cranraspberry punch/juice concentrate
Mix up per directions. Fill up 1/3 of ring with juice.*
2 pkg frozen berry mix (*Can place some of this fruit in the ring with the juice above)
3 lemons
3 limes
Grapes (green or red, I like green)
Nectarine
White Grape Juice Concentrate (Mix with 3 cans water)
2 Liter bottle of 7UP

Carefully peel lemons and limes in spiral shape being careful not to break as much as possible.
Coil the peels into flowers. You can choose either edge to be the top. Place the 6 flowers around the frozen ring. Slice the nectarine and place between the flowers. Pour more of the frozen berry mix around the flowers and on the ice ring. Carefully pour more of the juice over the fruit, about another 1/3 of the ring. Freeze. Then pour the rest of the juice (and if you want more of the fruit) in the rest of the ring and freeze.

Make the punch with the white grape juice concentrate, water and 7UP before serving. Take ice ring out of freezer and place in hot water in sink until just loosened from the ring. Put the ring in the punch bowl. VOILA

Quesadillas Huevos Rancheros

Photo: Antonis Achilleos

Daniel doesn’t care for chicken, and I can only eat so much red meat, so I’m often looking for alternative protein sources. Eggs are my current favorite.

Quesadillas Huevos Rancheros

• YIELD: 4 servings
• COURSE: Breakfast/Brunch, Snacks

Ingredients

• 4 6-inch corn tortillas
• Grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 3 sliced hard-cooked eggs
• Salsa

Preparation

• Lay tortillas on a cookie sheet. Place in a 325° F oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top 2 of the tortillas with grated Monterey Jack cheese and hard-cooked eggs. Top with the other tortillas. Bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and decorate with spoonfuls of salsa.

Melissa Clark, Real Simple
APRIL 2004

Meatloaf

This is the best meatloaf EVER. I have friends who request this (okay, maybe just friend – this post is dedicated to Whitney)

• 3 slices soft bread
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 c onions, minced
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp each pepper, sage. mustard, celery salt garlic salt
• 1 T Worcestshire sauce

Heat oven to 350. Tear bread into loaf pan. Add milk and egg. Add meat and seasonings, mix thoroughly. Bake 1 hour.

Tomato-and-Mango Salad with Curry-Orange Vinaigrette

A fun summer salad. I made this for some friends and it was a hit. It kind of reminds me of the pineapple-red-onion-mint salad.

Image Credit: Randy Mayor; Mary Catherine Muir

Tomato-and-Mango Salad with Curry-Orange Vinaigrette

This recipe is also delicious with peaches or nectarines in place of the mangoes.

• YIELD: 6 servings
• COURSE: Salads

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh orange juice (about 6 oranges)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), cored and cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges
• 2 medium mangoes (about 2 pounds), peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced mint leaves

Preparation

• Bring the orange juice to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 25 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in oil, curry powder, and salt. Cool to room temperature.
• Divide the tomato wedges and mango strips evenly among 6 salad plates. Drizzle evenly with dressing; sprinkle with mint.

Cooking Light
JUNE 2001