Chocolate Crunch

I found this new recipe that I want to try. It is a lot like "Butterscotch Delight" which is one of our favorites.

Chocolate Crunch
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups Dream Whip
2 5 1/2-ounce instant packages chocolate pudding mix
5 1/3 cups milk
Whipped topping
Maraschino cherry

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together margarine and brown sugar. Mix in flour and nuts. Press into a 9 × 13-inch dripper pan and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese to soften. Add powdered sugar and cream together until smooth. Whip Dream Whip according to package directions and fold into cream cheese mixture. Spread mixture over top of cooled crust and chill for 20 to 30 minutes.

Mix together pudding mix and milk in a large bowl. Whisk with a wire whisk until mix is dissolved. Allow to thicken slightly. Pour pudding mixture on top of chilled cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm. Cut in 24 pieces. Garnish with whipped topping and a cherry.

Authentic Italian Pasta

When Cindy Vickery was in Australia she learned to make Authentic Italian Pasta.
She sent me a few notes about it....and I am cleaning up my email and decided to put the notes here for safe keeping.
Today, I went to the home of a lady in our branch (Italian) and had her show me how to make ravioli. We made enough dough to make fetuccini and cannelloni as well!!!! ") She also made a creamy cheese sauce that is so yummy....I hope I can make it as good sometime. Now I'm ready to buy a pasta maker. Sure makes it thin and pretty.

Hi! Well, Milva uses a hand pasta maker that is imported from Italy. She told me that I should get one before coming back over....:) Spoken like a true Italian of course! :) I was wondering about a kitchen aide one....but have decided I'd go with what the `pro' suggests. It sits on your counter and is hand cranked. One side makes flat sheets and then there are two cutters on the opposite side for fetuccini and a smaller one for a spagehtti size. Using the same egg pasta dough, you can make all of these different types of pasta. Cannelloni are tubes...you cut a rectangle looking piece about 4"x3", fill them with a filling, roll and lay them in a dish as for enchiladas and bake them in a sauce.....we used the same filling today as for the ravioli which was a spinach/ricada cheese one, but you can use a meat filling as well. One thing I've learned here, there are a dozen or more common Italian sauces that you can serve your pasta with. When I came here I had no clue how many there were....I have been so used to using only a tomato based spagehtti sauce with ground beef which is a Bolanaise sauce. Today we made this creamy cheese one that uses...butter, blue cheese, grated parmesan cheese and cream, thickened with a little cornstarch and water. Wow. Good. I just came to the computer to write down the recipes when I read your e-mail. I need to convert the grams into cups and oz. Milva doesn't measure anything...I sortof estimated amounts as she put them in. She also told me of a pasta dish where you saute mushrooms, green pepper, sundried tomatoes and sliced black olives in olive oil with a little basil and salt. When done, mix with hot cooked pasta and loose (freshly grated) parmesan cheese (probably 1 cup???). Mix the cheese with the hot vegies and pasta to melt. Serve. Sounds easy, but good huh. Everything Milva makes is wonderful. I probably have ten different things that she has taught me while here. I'm going to put them into a `Milva Cookbook' and when I get it done, I will share it with you ! ")

Sunflower Coffee Cake

I saw this on TV today in my hotel room in Denver....hope I remember everything.....they made it with orange but I think lemon would be good too.

SUNFLOWER COFFEE CAKE

1 16.3 can of refrigerator biscuits (Pillsbury Grand Flaky Layers)
2 T. melted butter + more for the pan
1/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. orange or lemon zest
GLAZE
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 oz. cream cheese
2 T. orange or lemon juice, more as needed
Butter a 9" cake pan. Place one biscuit in center of pan. Cut the remaining biscuits in half and place in pan around the center biscuit to form a sunflower. Brush with melted butter. Mix together the nuts, sugar and zest and sprinkle over the biscuits. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, 'til lightly browned.
Stir together glaze ingredients and drizzle over warm coffee cake.

Camping Vegetables

Some recipes I found on Paula Deen's that I want to try out this summer on a camping trip.

COAL ROASTED SWEET POTATOES
4 lg. sweet potatoes, split but not cut through
1 cube butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
Place each potato on 2 layers of heavy duty foil. Top each one with 2 T. butter and 2 to 3 T. brown sugar. Wrap in foil and place on hot coals for 1 hour, until soft and cooked through.

ZUCCHINI OR GREEN BEAN BUNDLES
1 T. butter, per person
salt & pepper & Silly salt
1 lightly peeled & thinly sliced zucchini, per person OR 1 c. green beans, per person

Place zucchini or green beans on a square of heavy duty foil. Top with butter. Sprinkle with salt & pepper & Silly salt. Wrap in foil & place on hot coals for 10 minutes for zucchini or 15 minutes for green beans.

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

I wanted to make scalloped potatoes but I wanted them to cook while I was at church. So this is what I did. Everyone liked them!

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes
Spray crock pot. Layer in crock pot:
6 large peeled & sliced potatoes
1 grated onion or dry onion flakes
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan Cheese
Make Sauce:
Melt 1/4 c. butter
Add:
1/4 c. flour
3/4 to 1 c. milk
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Stir, heat slightly in microwave and pour over potatoes.
Cook on high 3 to 4 hours until cooked through.

Maple Glazed Carrots

Marcia got this recipe in the newspaper. They are yummy!! These are great served with Maple Chicken.
8 chopped carrots (bite size pieces) I used a bag of frozen carrot pieces
Mix together
1 c. maple syrup
3 T. melted butter
1/4 t. ginger
Stir and pour over the carrots. Bake in oven or crockpot until tender.