Saturday, December 31, 2011

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ham and Cheese Sliders
Recipe found HERE

24 good white dinner rolls
24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce (you probably could half this...I had plenty extra)
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. You do not have to use all of the sauce! Just use enough to cover the tops. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Roasted Garlic Dip





1 head garlic
16 ounces cream cheese
2 cups shredded Asiago cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup fresh, chopped parsley
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut a half inch off top of head of garlic. 
Place garlic in a small baking dish. Drizzle top with olive oil.
Cover dish with aluminum foil and roast for 40 minutes to 1 hour. 
Allow to cool slightly. 
To "harvest" the roasted garlic, squeeze the cloves from the husk. 
(You may want to roast a couple of heads of garlic, as this is so sweet and wonderful that you will eat the cloves straight from the skin before they ever can dream of becoming part of the dip.)
Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. 
With a food processor or electric mixer, blend cream cheese, Asiago cheese, heavy cream, sour cream and parsley until well-blended.
Add garlic and blend again. 
Spread mixture in a greased casserole or baking dish and top with shredded mozzarella. 
Bake 20 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. (Serves 8-12, depending on appetites)



Recipe found HERE

Friday, December 30, 2011

PUFF PASTRY CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Easy . . . simple . . . delicious!
Let start.

You will need:


Puff pastry sheets
Pie filling of your choice
egg wash (one beaten egg)
Turbinado sugar
Glaze

Cut your sheet of puff pastry into squares. I cut down the 3 vertical marks that are previously there.  I was left with 3 strips.  I cut each strip into 3 squares.  They are not perfectly square, but that's o.k!  You can make yours larger if you like.  Take one of your squares and place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center.  Don't use more than that, or you will have a mess.


These blossoms are meant . . . to blossom.
They won't be perfectly closed .



Lay  your cherry blossoms on a parchment lined baking sheet.
If you don't have parchment paper, grease your pan lightly.



This sugar is quite yummy!


Bake at 375 degrees until very golden.
15 to 20 minutes.
Don't worry if a bit of your filling runs out.
You can take a knife and push it right back in.


Prepare the glaze while the blossoms are baking . . .
Make the glaze the consistency you like.


Once the blossoms have finished baking, glaze them while still warm.
see . . . little Cherry Blossoms.
You could also make Blueberry Blossoms.


Drizzle Drizzle . . . Glaze Glaze
You will not be able to resist eating one or two or three.
It's o.k. . .  REMEMBER . . . they are little!

Found HERE

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Mexican Casserole




Easy Mexican Casserole
SingForYourSupperBlog.com
(Printable Recipe)

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed (I didn't use the whole bag)
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water
sour cream and salsa for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and drain off fat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, onion, taco seasoning, soup and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.

Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. Put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture, then half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and salsa. 


Here's how I made it the other night:


Layer of tortilla chips, mix together ground beef w. taco seasoning, cream of chicken soup, and since I didn't have tomatoes or onions, I mixed 1/4 c salsa in.  Topped with cheese and baked.  It was good! I left out the beans and water.  

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Cake Batter Rice Krispies Recipe

Cake Batter Rice Krispies Recipe(From Here)
Ingredients:
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup yellow cake mix (the dry cake mix, not prepared into a batter!)
  • 6 cups crispy rice cereal
  • 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Method:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.
Ali’s Tip:
I actually increased the cake batter to 1/3 cup for my recipe to give it a little extra cake batter kick (the 1/4 cup seemed just a little too subtle to me), but add as much in as you like!
***Note: Many readers have asked what to do with the remaining cake mix.  If you would like to use it to whip up a batch of cake mix cookies, just measure out 6 oz. of the remaining cake mix, and combine it with 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil, and 1 egg.  Stir until mixed.  Then form into cookie dough balls, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.***

Swiss Cheese Canape Cups


I forgot to take a picture when I made these, but this is what they looked like, only I made them in a mini cupcake pan, so they looked more like cups.  But either way, they were great!

Swiss Cheese Canape Cups


  • 8 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed
  • 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1 egg white, lightly beaten
  • Optional:  Alfredo Sauce for dipping

Directions

  1. Cut each slice of bread into four squares. Press squares into greased miniature muffin cups. In a bowl, combine the butter, parsley, horseradish and mustard. Stir in cheese. Add egg white; mix well. Place about 3/4 teaspoonful in each bread cup. Bake at 400 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until filling is set and edges of bread are golden brown. Serve warm.  May serve with a little Alfredo sauce for dipping.  

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Raspberry Frosting





1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
dash of salt
Optional: drop of vanilla and/or almond flavoring

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and raspberry jam together until well mixed and smooth. Add powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until you reach a consistency that you desire. I used 3 cups for this recipe, which I found perfect for piping. Frost cupcakes- either by spreading frosting onto the cupcakes with a knife or by scooping the frosting into a piping bag for a more decorative look.

From RecipeGirl.com

And I just found a recipe for Strawberry frosting along with a really cute and easy way to decorate them!
Check it out HERE!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Pretzel Hugs

You will need:
2 bags of Hershey’s Hugs
1 “Pounder” bag of Pretzel Snaps
Big baking sheet
Waxed paper – for easy removal.

Preheat oven to 300
1. Unwrap Hugs
2. Line baking sheet with waxed paper – if you don’t have waxed, use parchment, but I strongly suggest you use paper just for ease. If you don’t have either, just use a non-stick
baking sheet.
3. Lay one pretzel down for every Hug and top each pretzel with a Hug.
4. Pop in the oven for 2 min, just until they are glossy and softish.
5. Remove from oven and let sit for 1 more minute, to continue the softening process.
**This is the only step you can make a mistake on – by laving them in the oven too long they will completely melt and run through the pretzel and all over your sheet and you won’t have a sandwich, just a mess.
6. Now top each hug with another pretzel pushing down gently, so it sticks together.
7. I pop the baking sheet in the fridge for 20-30 min. to cool them off.You could most certainly let them dry at room temp, it will just take a little longer and trust me, you are going to want to eat these right away!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Pizza Bites

Pizza Bites
Pizza Bites
1/2 batch Perfect Pizza Crust dough
mozzarella cheese, about 20 cubed pieces
sliced pepperoni
For topping:
olive oil
Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.  Divide the pizza dough into roughly 20 equal sized pieces.  Take one of the dough pieces and press in a cube of cheese and two slices of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the dough down around the filling and seal.  Place in the pan, seam side down.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Each piece of dough should be touching each other in the pan. (It may seem crowded, but will be fine.)
Lightly brush the tops of the dough with olive oil. Sprinkle on Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature, with dipping sauce if desired.
Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats
Post found HERE

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Easy Santa Hat Brownie Bites

Santa Hat Brownie BitesAdapted from The Crafty Kook

1 box brownie mix
24 small strawberries
2 cups white chocolate chips


- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 1 mini-muffin pan
- Prepare brownie mix according to box's instructions and fill cavities 3/4 of the way full (I had some leftover brownie mix that I just baked off as regular brownies because I didn't have enough strawberries)
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean
- Let brownies cool and use this time to hull and clean the strawberries
- Once cool, place strawberries upside down onto brownie bites
- Melt white chocolate in a double boiler and transfer into a piping bag
- Pipe a ring around the base and a small dot on top -- work quickly, the white chocolate can dry fast and clog up your tip!