Lemon Bars - Marjean's recipe

Lemon Bars - sooo good. The best recipe around. We make it all the time and it is so easy and sooo good!

Crust

  • 1 cup soft butter or margarine

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

  • 2 cups flour

  • shake of salt

  • Combine and mix well. Press into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Filling

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 4 eggs

  • 1/4 cup flour

  • 1/3 cup lemon juice

  • Combine flour and sugar. Mix in eggs one at a time then the lemon juice.


Pour into slightly cooled crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 additional minutes.

Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar and let stand.

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Gotta use up those raspberries. Tried this tonight and it’s worth making again. Yum.

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Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Author Cathy Trochelman

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Coffee Cake

  • 2 c. all purpose flour

  • 2½ tsp. baking powder

  • 1/4 c. milk

  • ¾ c. sugar

  • ½ c. sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

  • ¼ c. butter softened

  • 1 large Phil's Fresh Egg

  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

  • optional: 1/2 tsp. lemon extract

  • 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel

  • 1 1/2 c. fresh raspberries

Crumb Topping

  • 1 c. sugar

  • ⅔ c. flour

  • 6 Tbsp. softened butter

Glaze

  • ½ c. powdered sugar

  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. In a medium bowl, combine 2 c. flour and baking powder. Set aside.

  3. Beat 1/4 c. milk, ¾ c. sugar, ½ c. sour cream, ¼ c. butter, egg, lemon juice, lemon extract (if using), and lemon peel until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended.

  4. Fold in raspberries

  5. Spoon batter into a greased 10 inch springform pan and sprinkle with crumb topping (see below).

  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes.

  7. Remove from oven and cool at least 20 minutes in pan before removing.

  8. Combine ingredients for glaze and drizzle over cooled coffee cake.

Cranberry Salsa Recipe

Pinning this to the blog so I it forever. It's a keeper and delish!

 

Cranberry Salsa Recipe - Jenny Agle

 

12 oz pkg. Fresh Cranberries
¾ Cup Sugar
1 Medium Jalapeno (remove seeds…can use up to 2 jalapenos)
2 Green Onions
1-2 Tbls. Fresh Cilantro
¼-1/2 tsp. Cumin

 

Put all ingredients into a food processor. Process until mixture is coarsely chopped. Store in refrigerator for several hours before serving or overnight to allow flavors to blend. Serve with tortilla chips or over softened cream cheese with crackers. Makes 3 cups!

Zucchini Banana Bread - worth making

First attempt at a garden in Massachusetts yielded a few vegetables, Zucchini being one! Seems the deer / rabbits do not care for this green vegetable? 

I looked for a new recipe this morning and came across this banana / zucchini bread combo. Worth making again. Good stuff.

Ingredients
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup chopped pecans (or not)

Directions
In a bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar and oil. Add bananas and mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; stir into egg mixture. Stir in zucchini and pecans just until combined.
Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.

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Pizza Chicken

Chris and I are 2 weeks into Atkins. Trying to loose weight and get healthier. Cravings for pizza have subsided a little after I baked this thing called pizza chicken.  Mmm - pretty good. High calorie surely but low carb.  I found a similar recipe on hand but altered to what I had on hand. The boys liked it so it may be on repeat. Thought I'd jog down what I did so I could recreate it.

 

Ingredients:

  • 4 large boneless-skinless chicken breasts (6-8 oz. each) cut into strips pound flat.
     
  • 1/2 cup mayonaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup pizza sauce - lowest card you can find.
  • 1/2 cup parm cheese
  • 1 tsp. Pizza Seasoning (get it from Winco)
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion salt
     
  • Shredded Mozzarella Cheese - enough to cover the top of chicken.
  • 2 oz. sliced pepperoni (regular or turkey pepperoni)

Place chicken in pan. Mix ingredients and 1/2 spread over chicken. Layer another row of chickenand spread remaining mixture. Top with cheese and pepperoni.

Bake 400 for 30 mins or until cooked through.

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Kathy Pitt Sugar Cookie

Kathy Pitt makes the best sugar cookies and boy do I miss them. While the ones I copy from her recipe are super good, nothing can beat the way she does it. She's got the magic baking touch. This recipe was copied from the Stampin' Up! cookbook. The only reason I keep shortening on hand is to make these cookies.

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BEST EVER Sugar COOKIES

  • 1/2 C. butter softened
  • 1/2 C. Shortening
  • 1-3/4 C. Sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • 2 tsp. Vanilla
  • 6-1/2 C. flour, fluff before measuring
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 C. sour milk (add 2 TBS. of vinegar to 1 C. Milk)

Directions: Cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Continue beating for  few minutes. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt thoroughly. Add to creamed mixture along with sour milk. Beat until flour is mixed well. Do not over beat. Chill in refrigerator until dough is firm.

Roll out on a floured surface, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters.

Bake 350 for 10 min - cookie bottoms should be barely golden brown. 

Cool and frost.

FROSTING:

8 cups powdered sugar
1 cube butter
2 tsp. vanilla
About 1 cup heavy cream

Combine all ingredients and whip the heck out of them!  If the icing is
too thick, add more cream a tablespoon at a time until it is the right
consistency. Good luck!  K.
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Turkey Brine - Tested and approved!

I've tried this once before and we all loved it. It's not often we host Thanksgiving. We are hosting a small (tiny) gathering this year. Since I know this is a good one I thought we'd try it again. YUM - I can't wait. The original recipe came from the Pioneer Woman blog.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups Apple Juice Or Apple Cider
  • 2 gallons Cold Water
  • 4 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary Leaves
  • 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 1-1/2 cup Kosher Salt
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Peppercorns
  • 5 whole Bay Leaves
  •  Peel Of Three Large Oranges

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Stir until salt and sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and cover. 

Allow to cool completely, then pour into a large brining bag or pot. Place uncooked turkey in brine solution, then refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours. 

When ready to roast turkey, remove turkey from brine. Submerge turkey in a pot or sink of fresh, cold water. Allow to sit in clean water for 15 minutes to remove excess salt from the outside. 

Discard brine. Remove turkey from clean water, pat dry, and cook according to your normal roasting method.

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Apple Pie - Seriously good ... and easy!

Scoured the web and found this apple pie recipe. So good and super easy. I made a few adjustments so I typed out the recipe below. We have so many apples from our apple picking trip, we need to use them up!

Ingredients:

  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 5 LARGE CAMEO apples - peeled, cored and sliced
  1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the apples. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. Cover with crust.
  3. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.
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Caramel Pecan Popcorn

When a craving comes around sometimes you need to satisfy it. I've been craving caramel pecan popcorn from the Chocolate Covered Wagon (Utah). Their caramel popcorn is so chewy and has a great flavor. After googling a few recipes I think this recipe comes close - I've altered it for my purposes below.

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Ingredients:

Caramel

  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • ¾ c. granulated sugar
  • ½ c. butter
  • 1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1½ c. light Karo syrup or corn syrup
     
  • 16 c. popped popcorn (or 4 bags of microwave butter popcorn)
  • 2 c. pecans (halves)

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients (except popcorn & nuts) in large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, making sure to STIR constantly. Stir, Stir, Stir! You don't want it to scorch or burn. Keep stirring as it boils until it reaches the soft ball stage, 234 degrees on your candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and immediately pour over the popcorn. Stir until coated. Spread onto cookie sheets or wax paper. Let cool.

I cooked on medium heat till the soft ball stage and I think it came to that stage to hot to fast. Next time I will cook it much slower, lower heat and remove from heat around 220. I wanted the caramel to be softer. Still tasty but not as chewy as I wanted.

Most Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

3 cup flour

1 t baking soda

2 t hot water

1/2 t salt

2 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped PECANS

Cream sugars well. Add eggs and vanilla and cream again. Add flour, soda salt and water, mix well. If dough is sticky add a little flour. Spoon onto cookie sheet or parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Mom's amazing chocolate chip cookies.

Mom's amazing chocolate chip cookies.

These cookies are to die for. Seriously YUM. When my mom bakes you know the end result will be seriously good. She's been making these cookies for a while now. They are Andrew's favorite and she makes entire batches just for him. In fact she sent him across the country with a farewell batch!

I decided to make these for the first time with tips from my mom. They turned out perfectly.  Below is the recipe. The biggest tip... cream! And extra tips from my mom via text below.

text tips from mom...

text tips from mom...


Creamy Sweet Potato Salad

I still subscribe to quite a few magazines. Print is not dead to me. I love a quick read and flipping through magazine pages. I came across this amazing potato salad recipe. It sounded so good and it was. I did alter the recipe a little as I was missing a few of the ingredients.  What are peppadew peppers anyway???

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sweet potato salad

I altered the recipe with what I had on hand.  Boy - this is totally worth making. Yummers.

My version of the Creamy Sweet Potato salad:

4-5 medium sweet potatoes

2 Tbsp of onion flavored olive oil

5 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup sliced green onions

1 red bell pepper cubed

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup dill

salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice up sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces. Toss with flavored olive oil and roast at 400 for 15 min or until tender.

2. Chop up eggs, onions, red pepper and add to roasted potatoes.

3. Premix mayonnaise, yogurt and dill. Add to potato mixture.

4. Chill or serve immediately.

 

 

Blackberry pie bars

Below is the recipe I found for the blackberry pie bars. Super yummy. We've made them three times in the last few weeks. Gotta use up those berries.  We've had them hot, cold and warm.  I think I prefer the warm version... Sure does make a pretty dessert (forgive the phone photos).

Blackberry Pie Bars

Blackberry Pie Bars

Yum, Yum, Yum! Blackberry pie bars.

Yum, Yum, Yum! Blackberry pie bars.

Blackberry Pie Bars

By Kathleen, June 28, 2014 From Gonna Want Seconds website

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line an 8X8 baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to extend a couple of inches on two opposing side.  Spray with nonstick cooking spray

3. Make the crust by adding to the bowl of a food processor the flour, sugar and salt.  Pulse for about 30 seconds to combine ingredients.  Add the cubed cold butter and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of peas.  Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture to use as a topping and set aside until needed.  Pour the rest of the crumb mixture into prepared pan and press into pan.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden.  Cool completely.

4. Make the filling by mixing together, in a medium bowl, the eggs, sugar , sour cream, flour and salt until well combined.  Spread the berries in a single layer on the cooled crust.  Spoon the filling batter over the berries.

5. Evenly spread the reserved crumb mixture on top of the filling.  Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the filling is just beginning to turn golden and is set.  Cool bars completely on a baking rack then refrigerate if desired.