Living 2 Eat |

… from one of my favorite ‘foodies’, Linda Mathieu

Midland, Michigan

Hot Roast Beef Party Sandwiches

*WINNING RECIPE

Prep: 20 min., Cook: 6 min., Bake: 30 min. Get ahead of holiday parties. Plan to stash a few batches of these casual, three-bite sandwiches in your freezer.

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 (9.25-oz.) packages dinner rolls
2/3 cup peach preserves
1/2 cup mustard-mayonnaise blend
3/4 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef, chopped
1/2 pound thinly sliced Havarti cheese
Salt and pepper (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Heat walnuts in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant.

3. Remove rolls from packages. (Do not separate rolls.) Cut rolls in half horizontally, creating 1 top and 1 bottom per package. Spread preserves on cut sides of top of rolls; sprinkle with walnuts. Spread mustard-mayonnaise blend on cut sides of bottom of rolls; top with roast beef and cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover with top halves of rolls, preserves sides down, and wrap in aluminum foil.

4. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Slice into individual sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Note: To make ahead, prepare recipe as directed through Step 3, and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in refrigerator, and bake as directed in Step 4. For testing purposes only, we used Rainbo Dinner Time Rolls, Hellmann’s Dijonnaise Creamy Dijon Mustard, and Boar’s Head Londonport Roast Beef.

Yield:  Makes 12 to 16 servings

From Southern Living, 12/2008

This recipe is for the Martha Stewart types that believe in creating homemade Halloween goodies.  Although I am not a big fan of candy corn, I am told this is an incredible recipe…   if you attempt this, be sure and take a few pictures and send so that I can post as a follow up.   Ben

Candy Corn

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup white corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup powdered milk

food coloring (optional)

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in pan and bring to a boil stirring CONSTANTLY.

Turn heat low and boil 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

In a separate dish, combine powdered sugar, salt, and powdered milk.  Add all at once to the mixture in the pan.

Add food coloring if desired.

Stir until cool enough to handle.

Shape into creative pieces.

Ben,

This is GREAT!!!!

A friend made it for us…she is from England and this is a recipe from there….some make a shortbread crust but this one was perfect for me.

Donna E. Godfrey

Massanutten, Virginia

Banoffee Pie

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
10 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cans sweetened condensed milk
3 bananas

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 oz square semisweet chocolate

1. Graham cracker crust

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place graham cracker crumbs in a bowl, then add cinnamon and sugar, stirring to mix. Melt butter. Pour melted butter over crumb mixture, stirring with fork to combine. Use hands to finish mixing, until crumb mixture is thoroughly combined. Press evenly into 9″ pie plate, then bake on center rack for about 10 minutes, until crust appears dry.

Set aside to cool.

2. Bananas

Peel and slice bananas - not paper thin, but on the thinner side - and layer in cooled graham cracker crust. Press lightly with a spatula to flatten bananas together.

3. Dulce de leche (the “Toffee” in “Banoffee”)

There are several ways to make homemade dulce de leche - for the patient, ***traditional way - cooking the unopened can in a water bath. I went with a more impatient method, a bit dicier but certainly quicker:

Scrape approximately 1 1/2 cans sweetened condensed milk (a bit more or less won’t hurt) into a medium-sized saucepan, preferably enameled or nonstick.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and steadily, for about 20 minutes, or until it deepens to a golden-brown color. Use a wooden spoon or a heatproof spatula to stir and watch carefully, as mixture can burn quickly.

Have banana-filled pie crust ready nearby. When the condensed milk becomes thickened and golden-brown, remove it from the heat. Use the wooden spoon or heatproof spatula to scrape mixture out of pan, and pour over bananas while still warm. Spread dulce de leche around with a spoon or metal offset spatula to cover bananas completely, touching edge of crust.

Refrigerate pie until filling is completely cool.

4. Whipped cream and serving

When filling is completely cool, make whipped cream. Using electric mixer, whip heavy cream with brown sugar, starting on medium and increasing in speed, whipping until beaters leave strong peaks in cream.

Using spatula, spread whipped cream over top of pie, creating swirls and peaks.

Grate semisweet chocolate in a light, even sprinkle over top and refrigerate until set.

Serve and enjoy!

GHOST CUPCAKES

• 24 baked cupcakes
• 24 Nutter-Butter cookies
• Chocolate frosting
• Vanilla frosting
• Tube of chocolate decorator’s icing

SPIDER CUPCAKES

• 2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts or crispy rice cereal
• 3/4 cup dry chow mein noodles
• 24 baked cupcakes
• White frosting  

Coat each baked cupcake with chocolate frosting and partially insert a Nutter-Butter cookie into the top. Frost the remaining cookie with vanilla frosting. Draw a spooky expression on each ghost with the decorator’s icing. Makes 24.

Make the spiders by combining the chocolate chips and milk in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until smooth. Stir in the peanuts or cereal and chow mein noodles.

Drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper. Stick on extra noodles for spider legs and chill. Frost the cupcakes white. Then top each cupcake with a spider. Makes 24.

Special thanks to Disney’s Family Fun Magazine.

One of my favorite cookies in the entire world is a snickerdoodle… let me know what you think of this recipe.    Be sure and save a few for me!  Special thanks to Cinnabon for this incredible recipe.

Grandmother’s Snickerdoodles

2 T. Makara Cinnamon
2 T. sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix Makara Cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl and reserve for topping.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine butter, margarine and sugar; cream well. Add the eggs and beat again until light and fluffy.

Sift dry ingredients together; add them to the egg/butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Chill dough one hour.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Form the chilled dough into 1″ balls and roll them in reserved Makara Cinnamon and sugar. Place them on greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies will puff during baking, then fall, leaving a crackly sugar top.

Makes 6 dozen cookies.

Cinnabon French Toast

2 Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

2 eggs

2/3 cup half−and−half

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1 T. sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1−2 T. butter or margarine

Slice Cinnabon rolls in half horizontally. Place them, cut side up, on a plate and allow to dry for 20−30 minutes.

Combine eggs, half−and−half, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. Whisk together until all ingredients are well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

At serving time, preheat oven to 400, and place Cinnabon halves in a shallow baking dish. Pour French toast batter over halves and allow to soak for 5−10 minutes until moist.

You may weigh the rolls down (cover them with waxed paper and place a heavy skillet on the paper) during this time to make sure batter is absorbed into the

dough layers.

Heat a heavy skillet and melt butter or margarine in it. When butter is hot, place the Cinnabon halves into the pan, gooey side down. Sear until golden brown. Turn the halves over, and place the skillet in the oven.

Bake 8−10 minutes or until rolls are puffed up and golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Made from two bundt cakes, this jack-o’-lantern will light up any party. Because of its delicious homemade pumpkin flavor, this cake is sure to be carved up in a hurry. If you’re pressed for time, substitute three boxes of spice-cake mix for the ingredients we’ve listed here. Serves 24.

CAKE:

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

FROSTING:

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Approximately 9 cups powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350º and butter two 10-inch bundt cake pans.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, pumpkin, and vanilla extract until smooth.

In another large bowl, beat the butter or margarine and oil together with an electric mixer until combined. Next, beat in the sugar. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Alternately beat in the milk/pumpkin mixture and the flour mixture until just combined.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Directions for Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract. Then beat in the powdered sugar gradually until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. Color about 1 cup of the frosting green and the rest orange.

Assemble the Cake:

Trim the bottoms of the cakes so they lie flat against each other. Frost the flat surface of the bottom cake and place the other cake on top. Frost the entire cake orange. When the frosting dries, add green frosting leaves and top with the ice cream cone to create a stem.

Decorate the Cake:

Sprinkle sugar over your work surface and use a rolling pin to flatten 12 large yellow and white gumdrops together into a pancake about 1/4 inch thick. Adults only: use a knife to cut out the eyes, nose and mouth. Microwave 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips for about 60 seconds. Dip the left side and bottom of the facial features in the melted chocolate. Dab a small amount of water onto the top surface of each feature, sprinkle the edible glitter on top, then press the facial features onto the cake.

Special thanks to Disney’s Family Fun for this recipe.

I had forgotten how good plain old wings can be, till I ate them with the Deerfield Fire Dept. Station 4 cooks on Sunday.

It is a nice touch to serve these with a “bone” bowl and warm towels for cleaning fingers — there’s just no way to eat these with a fork. They are truly finger food!

Jan Norris

www.jannorris.com

Original Buffalo Wings

1.5lbs chicken wings; tips snipped from wings and wings halved
salt and pepper
oil for frying
1 - 1 1/2 sticks butter (no margarine or spreads)
1/2 - 1 bottle Crystal hot sauce (or your choice of hot sauce)

Clean, wash and pat-dry the wings. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a skillet to 355 degrees or until it sizzles when wings are dropped in. Fry wings until golden; remove and drain on paper towels.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt butter together with hot sauce. Place wings in a shallow casserole dish and pour sauce over cooked wings — toss well to coat. You can hold wings in warm oven in sauce; or serve immediately. I like to leave them in the sauce for a while, and serve them dripping with it.

Serve with blue cheese dressing, and celery and carrot sticks.

Ben,

Dougie bars are the special treat Doug and I would share along the way!

One day, I went to Doug’s office with my mom when he opened a drawer, and there was a whole container full of them!  On the evening of my Homecoming Gala in Pratt, Kansas, Doug presented me with a silver platter of Dougie bars in front of 1500 people.  I was so excited, but they were all eaten by the time the show was over.  I didn’t even get one!

Shortly after giving up the Miss America crown, I went to Pratt to do a few events, including a concert at Pratt Bible Church.  At that time, I was engaged to be married, and as a thank you gift, the church compiled their favorite recipes and put them into a recipe book for me to have as we started our marriage.  On page one was the recipe card for Dougie Bars.  Under “Number of Servings,” it says “one.”

Tara Holland Christensen

Miss America 1997

DOUGIE BARS

1 cup sugar

1 cup Karo light syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups Special K cereal

½ bag chocolate chips

½ bag butterscotch chips

Microwave 1 cup sugar and 1 cup Karo light syrup on high for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter.  Mix together well.

Add 6 cups Special K cereal.  Mix together well and press into 9×13 pan.

Melt ½ - ¾ bag of chocolate chips and ½ - ¾ bag butterscotch chips together. Spread over top. 

Cool and enjoy!