Sweet & Salties

If there's anything I like almost as much as dark chocolate, it's chocolate with something salty. Carrie sent me this recipe. Yum!

Recipe:

Line a cookie sheet with greased aluminum foil.

Bring to a boil in a saucepan and simmer for five minutes:

1 C. Butter
1 C. Dark Brown Sugar

On cookie sheet layer:

Saltines - enough to cover, close together.

Pour the butter/brown sugar mixgture over the crackers and bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 10 minutes (depending on your oven -- watch it).

Remove and immediately pour over the crackers:

1 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips (my preference is Nestle's), spreading them as they melt.

Sprinkle with:

1/2 of a 12 oz. bag of brickle bits (chopped nuts work great, too).

Cool to room temperature, and then chill in the refrigerator. If they stay in the refrigerator long enough to harden, break them into pieces like peantut brittle. Enjoy!

Note from Carrie: You can also mix peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. In fact, any chip mixture that strikes your fancy works well.

Thanks so much, Carrie! Can't wait to try this.

Spinach and Artichoke Baked French Bread

I saw this on the recipe forum on CWAHM.com (Christian Work at Home Moms), and thought it sounded scrumptious. Tammy Embrich gave me permission to share it with you. Enjoy!

12 oz bag fresh spinach, stems removed, cut in a wide chiffonade
14 to 16 oz can artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 loaf French Bread

Cut the artichoke into small pieces and add to the spinach. Next add the mayo. and cheese, and mix these with a spoon until equally blended. Cut the French bread diagonally into 1 inch slices and top with mixture.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until slightly browned on top (10 to 15 minutes). This also can be baked without the bread and served as a warm dip.

Tammy owns and operates two work at home websites, a work at home forum, a recipe site and three blogs. She offers free work at home job leads for the job seeker, business work at home articles, tips, and more. You can visit Tammy at http://www.onestopwebemployment.com and http://www.cookin-at-home.com

Banana Wheat Bread - Breadmaker Recipe

Recently, we ate at a local Penn Station. I ordered a Reuben made with turkey instead of corned beef - delicious! Afterwards we went to the Salvation Army Store next door, and I found a Regal Breadmaker Machine for $3.99! Since then, I've made lots of bread, experimenting with recipes. Tons of fun! Here's what I made last night:

Banana Wheat Bread

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 egg (I used 1/4 cup EggBeaters)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Kroger bread machine yeast
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

On my machine, I used the 'Wheat' setting with 'Light' crust. Enjoy!

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. - Jesus Christ (John 6:51)

Pepper & Salmon Soup

A recipe from the files of Alyice Edrich, The Dabbling Mum! I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it sounds wonderful. Alyice says the soup has a real peppery kick, but you can’t stop eating it. If you try it, please drop back by and let me know.

1 # salmon filets, skinned and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
2 C mushrooms, chopped
1 C onions, chopped
1/2 C orange bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 C celery, chopped
3 C russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
32 oz. chicken broth, low sodium
2 C water, plus 2 Tb
1 tsp dill weed
2 Tb fish sauce
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 Tb black pepper (use 1 tsp if you don’t want it real peppery)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 C milk
1/2 C heavy cream
1 Tb cornstarch

Directions:

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-low heat.
When oil is hot, add onions and bell peppers.
Sauté for 4 minutes, stirring continually.
In a large soup pot mix together broth, water, fish sauce, celery salt, sea salt, black pepper, dill weed, onions, bell peppers, and raw veggies.
Cook over medium-high heat until potatoes are tender, about 60 minutes.
In a separate skillet, pan-sear salmon for five minutes and set aside.
When potatoes are done, add salmon to soup pot, lower heat to medium-low, and cook for another 5 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.
Mix cornstarch and 2 Tb warm water together until smooth and liquidy.
Add cornstarch mixture to soup and blend well.
Add cream, milk, and lemon juice. Cook for another 3 minutes.
Serve with warm, toasted, buttered bread. (Nico suggests Hawaiian bread.)

Optional:
Add 1 C fresh green beans, cut into thirds.

About The Cook:
Alyice Edrich is a work-at-home mom with an award winning online magazine. Visit her website, http://thedabblingmum.com/, to learn how you can earn a living working from home, too. Or stop by her personal blog, http://alyiceedrich.com/, to learn more about life on the prairie.

Donna's Dill Dip

Wonderful to dip potato chips, chicken strips, or potato skins.

1/2 C. Sour Cream
1/2 C. Mayonnaise
1 tsp. Dill Weed
1 Tbsp. Dill Pickle Juice
Dill Pickles - chopped finely

Mix all ingredients.

I usually have to double or even triple this to have enough! As the flavors blend, it tastes even better. Sometimes I add some garlic or onion powder, too, and I always use Claussen Pickles.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Dream Cake

This is a light, yummy dessert perfect for summer.

Bake according to directions in a 13 x 9 inch pan (I use a larger broiler pan, so the cake's spread out more.):

1 Yellow Cake Mix

Poke holes in baked cake with toothpick or a fork. Pour over the cake:

1 Can Crushed Pineapple in Juice (More if you really like pineapple.)

Whip:

1 8-oz. pkg. Cream Cheese, softened (I've tried the lowfat, and it will do.)
1 Large Pkg. Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 C. Milk

Pour over pineapple.

Pour over all:

1 Large Tub of Cool Whip

This cake is best when made and refrigerated overnight. Some recipes call for nuts on top, but I prefer it without. I think it's called 'Dream Cake' because the original recipe called for Dream Whip, but I have to say using Cool Whip is a whole lot easier!

I haven't tried yet, but one of these days, I'm going to mix it up a bit, and try some new combinations for this such as, using chocolate cake mix, cherry pie filling, and chocolate pudding. Or how about orange cake mix, mandarin oranges, and vanilla pudding?

Anyone else got an idea? Leave a comment!

Topsy Turvy Links!

I find it amusing how people find this recipe site. Several people have stopped by looking for a Topsy Turvy Cake. For fun, I looked it up, and found there's a cake pan called the Topsy Turvy Cake Pan by Wilton.



I found another book called Topsy Turvy Optical Illusions. Looks like a fun book!



My son and I have been hooked on Nintendo games in the past. Here's a game featuring Yoshi.



Apparently, a lot of you are looking for Topsy Turvy Dolls. I found a site where they can be purchased. Click HERE.

AND for those who don't want to spend that much, I found an HGTV site that has sewing instructions for making your own! Click HERE.

Broccoli Casserole

One of my favorite vegetables is broccoli. I buy the huge bags at Sam's Club, and periodically I steam a couple of cups, topping it with a little bit (well, I start out with a little bit!) of butter and salt. Lately I've discovered squeezing a bit of fresh lemon over the top really brings out the flavor. But when I'm fixing a big dinner, I make Broccoli Casserole - a much richer dish. As with all these recipes, forget counting the calories. If you're going to do that, steam it instead.

10 oz. pkg. chopped broccoli

Steam til done, but not overly so. Drain well.

Mix together*:

1/2 c. Mayonnaise
1/2 c. sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tbsp. onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 egg, beaten
Dash of black pepper

Mix well with broccoli. Spoon into greased baking dish.

Mix:

1/2 c. crushed Saltines
2 tbsp. melted butter

Top broccoli with cracker mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until topping is golden.

*Sometimes I add about a 1/2 pkg. of onion soup mix to the mayonnaise mixture to make it really onion-y. Warms up well!

Thousand Island Dressing

Recently we ate at Bob Evans Restaurant. The people at the next table muttered and groused, so I tuned in to hear what upset them. Someone had ordered a salad with Thousand Island dressing, and when the new menu change went into effect, guess what had been eliminated?

It got me to thinking about how frequently I used to fix homemade Thousand Island dressing. Now I suppose Ranch has taken its place - or at least it did at Bob Evans!

1 C. Mayonnaise
1/4 C. Chili Sauce (Ketchup may be substituted - but only in a pinch.)
1/4 C. Sweet Pickle Relish
2 Hard-boiled Eggs, chopped
1/4 tsp. Onion Powder (Better with chopped green onions, but since my family won't eat onions, I've learned to adapt.)

Mix well. Refrigerate.

Options:

Chop and Add: Stuffed Olives (one of my favorites), green pepper, or onion.
Top with Paprika.

To read about the origin of Thousand Island dressing, click here.