Nikki's Nummy Bread Dip

My new friend, Nikki, brought this outstanding bread dip that was to die for to the Witches Brew last week! I can't wait to make it myself! Later, Doug, who'd dished up a plate of treats to enjoy alone during the party, asked, "WHAT was that?!?!" It was a hit!

8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups grated cheese

1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 cup chopped ham

1 can green chilis

1/2 cup green onion

Mix well, put in a greased pie plate and bake for 1 hour. Spiders and Bugs optional! Serve with torn pieces of french bread or chips or crackers. The french bread was AMAZING!! Enjoy!

Witches Brew

The Witches! Wigs, Warts, Hats and Furs. Quite the motley crew, we were!

Since my home is small and I don't have a ton of room for hosting a large party, I decided to keep it small and invited only fourteen women. The invitation asked them to "come in their best witch's attire and bring a great appetizer to share".

I set the table and lit the candles, using all black and white and orange. I didn't go for the spooky, creepy feel, since we were all such elegant witches.

Using what I had on hand, I created some fun and funky type candle holders, including this orange Pier One decanter (that is awkward to pour out of anyway.) It made a great candleholder by putting a rose vase inside and sitting the black candle on top.

The black and white pumpkins were my new addition to my Halloween collection this fall. Selected by my daughter, Liza, they are two of my favorite pumpkins.

I set out black and silver chargers for the guest to put their appetizers on when they arrived, to keep things going along with the theme.

Of course, a little dry ice added to the punch is a must for a "brew".

This $1.69 cent hat is my most fabulous creation of the year! With embossing powder/glitter, a glue stamp and an awesome swirly rubber stamp, this hat is fantastic and so easy to make! Instructions are on my regular blog, here.

My favorite quote of the season: Eat, Drink, Be Scary! It's written in chalk on a piece of black cardstock scrap.

I debated and debated over whether to serve the brew from goblets or these canning pint jars. Goblets would have looked more elegant but, goblets spill easily and since we were moving about for the games and activities, I went with the jars. The tags, purchased long ago at Staples for a scrapbooking project, were then stamped 1 -14, so that everyone knew who's was who's. The number also indicated who was on which team later in the night for the games.

This Black Hat Society sign was downloaded from the internet and perfect for what we became by the end of the evening... friends connected in a new way...by our black hats.

The easiest way to have a party is let the guests share in the cooking. I asked the gals to bring an appetizer or dessert and we had quite the spread. We could never eat it all, but we did put a good dent in it! Apples and caramel dip, a very delicious bread dip, cheesy salsa dip and chips, pumpkin roll, eclairs, layered chocolate caramel bars, seven layer cookies and beautiful tasty tarts! MMMM!

I served two brews for this party. The lime/pineapple slush, because, as my daughter says, "When else can you serve green drink?" and my favorite old standby with the white grape juice and gingerale!

Black, White and Swirls galore... kind of witchy and magical.

I'd made the large broom and hung the sign on the top,"Broom Parking" then tied these miniature versions of the broom along the banister as little thank you gifts to my guests. They all got to choose a broom as they were leaving. They added to the decor and were a fun little gift, too.

Baked French Toast Strata

This recipe was a huge hit with the entire family. Lately, I've seen several recipes that were similar and actually had a version of baked french toast last weekend. This one was pretty quick and easy and yet tastes like something that you've worked for hours on. It's a must try! And best of all, it can be made the night before and just baked when it's time to eat. It'd be a great Christmas morning meal!

1 loaf French bread

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

1 1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash salt

Tear french bread (I used half Sara Lee multigrain bread and half french) into pieces that are about the size of a large marshmallow. Cover the bottom of a well buttered 9 x 13" pan. Combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a blender and mix until blended well. Pour mixture over the bread slices. Cover the bread totally and use a spatula to make sure that it's saturated completely with the milk-egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. (I made it and only waited an hour or so before baking. It was just fine.)

Topping:
1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Spread topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes at 350 until puffy and golden. Serve with maple syrup. Enjoy!

Red Pepper Dip

I don't even remember where I discovered this recipe but can I just say that it is nu-uh-ummmmy! For my birthday girl's night out sleepover, we each brought the makings for an appetizer. It was risky on my part but I brought the ingredients for a first try of this one. OH MY! I'm so glad that I decided on this. I followed the recipe to a T last night and then came home and did a second attempt in my own version and loved it even more. It's so festive and beautiful, not to mention delish! Try it! You'll love it!

You'll need:

2 red bell peppers

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Place the peppers in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a soft boil for about 30 minutes. Remove from the water, drain well but quickly! Place the peppers in your food processor while still hot. Add the brown sugar and salt. Puree until smooth.

Then, here are the two options.

Spread the cream cheese in a platter and pour the puree over it. Serve with crackers or chips. (We used Lime Doritos. OH MY!) The puree was pretty runny though. SO, I tried Plan B today.

Here's Plan B:

After making the puree, mix in the cream cheese and serve as a dip. It will be a soft dip. Much less messy and still pretty.

ENJOY!

Wicked Halloween Bling!

Happy Halloween! My second tablescape on the new antique table! Setting this table each month is like decorating for Christmas! I love it! First, a few shots with the lights on!
These fabulous boots were my inspiration for the whole table. They look pretty wicked from outside as you drive by our home at night!

The black blingee pumpkins on the upsidedown candlesticks were purchased to match the boots... a great start to the table. Now, to turn the lights down low and light the candles.

Here's my October table for two. A romantic little candlelight dinner in a purple mist (tulle) and glitter.

The layers: Black Charger, translucent orange charger, white dinner plate, orange salad plate. My mom, knowing that I love setting a pretty table, picked up the orange chargers at a thrift store last Christmas. 12 for $2! Sweet!

The fabulous wine bottle candlabra was a birthday gift from friend, Marilyn! I love it! It slips into any bottle just like a corkscrew. Being that we don't drink alcohol, it will be interesting to see what other ways I can put it to "work".

The fishbowl type candle holder from Pier One (purchased after Christmas for a song or should I say a carol?!) is filled with purple foil tinsel. Candle from Hobbie Lobby.

One of my favorite decorating quotes: Candles are to be burned not dusted.

Cute little Vintage Happy Halloween is from Taipan and I made the blingee orange potion book in the background. It's a $1 book from the thrift store, painted orange and then stamped with the words, "Spells & Potions", then sprayed with glitter spray. Yagottaluv glitter spray!

Doug described this table as "dining in a mist".

Hope you enjoy!

Wendy's Homemade Apple Dumplings

Wendy's family tradition, like ours, is to serve the birthday girl's favorites for their birthday dinner. Last night, I got to choose! I chose lasagna, green salad, garlic bread and "anything appley"for dessert. I'd choose apple desserts over chocolate anytime! What a delightful surprise! I'd never had a real true apple dumpling like this before, but, this would be my birthday request from now on! They were fabulous! Here's Wendy's recipe and a few photos to go along with.

Crust
2 Cups Enriched Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
2/3 Cups Shortening
1/2 Cup Milk

Place flour, baking powder and salt in medium size bowl and mix it together with a fork. Add the shortening to the bowl and cut in shortening. Add milk to bowl and use a fork to just moisten the mixture. (I used my food processer.)

Apples
6 apples
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
3 T. butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon Boil 1 cup sugar, 2 cups water, 3 Tablespoons butter and ½ teaspoons cinnamon for 3 minutes. Peel apples and remove the center. Mix together ½ cup sugar and 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Roll out ¾ pie dough and cut into 4’s. Put 1 apple on each piece of dough making sure it will cover the whole apple. Add 1 T. cinnamon sugar mixture into the middle of each apple. Roll out the rest of the dough and cut into 2’s, put apples on dough, and add cinnamon sugar mixture. Bring dough up around and cover each apple. Put in 9x13 pan. Do not have apples touching. Pour boiled mixture over apples and cook at 400 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Good served hot with half and half poured over. Enjoy!

Spinach and Bowtie Chicken Salad

The first time I tried this recipe was at Miki's baby blessing dinner. Wendy's sister Kris made it and I fell in love...with Kris and the Salad! It makes a LOT of salad (two big salad bowls) and is great for a large crowd. Everyone is still talking about it! (Not my photo, but I love the idea of adding the sesame seeds to it too!)

Dressing:

Blend in blender until smooth:

1 c veggie oil (Kris used 1/2 c olive and 1/2 cup canola)

2/3 c White wine vinegar

2/3 c teriyaki sauce (Kris used kikoman teriyaki marinade)

6 T Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cook 12oz Bowtie Pasta. Rinse and drain.

Add to dressing and refrigerate 2 hours or over night. When ready to serve add:

4-5 Cooked chicken breast

1 bunch chopped green onion

3-6 oz cans mandarin oranges

6oz craisins

6oz honey roasted sliced almonds

spinach 28-32oz

Toss all and serve immediately (You can toss all except spinach a head of time, refrigerate and add spinach right before serving.) Enjoy!

Fajita Night!

Doug and I hosted 4 siblings dinners a year for two years and this had to be my favorite. Everyone was assigned what to bring for the fixings and we had so so much food!

The menu:
Steak or chicken fajitas with peppers, onions, mushrooms and fresh Cilantro

Spanish Rice

Guacomole

Spanish Beans

Pepper Jack and Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream

SalsaChips

Pina Colada Slush

Citrus Water

Tres Leche with fresh strawberries

The table:It was just fun to have everyone in the kitchen, chopping, cooking, laughing and then we all assembled our own fajitas. A most tasty dinner and fun excuse to use my fiesta plates!

I hung a few battery powered paper lamps over the table just for fun.

The pina colada drink is to die for! To frost the glasses, I called Chili's and talked to the bartender there (being that I have no clue what they put on alcoholic drinks... I just know that they are pretty.) They told me to dip the rim of the glass in pineapple juice then to dip the wet glass rim in a bowl of sugar. Voila!

After each meal, we sit around the table and enjoy the tabletalk, so there were peanuts, burnt peanuts, hot tomales and other sugary treats to just munch while we gab.

The questions for tabletalk:
Table talk questions:
What would you say is the most important material "thing" in your life right now?

What's a typical day in your life right now?

If you could, what would you change in your life right now?

What's the first thing you think about in the morning?

What do you think is your most valuable role in your life at this moment?

If you could be someone else for a day, who would that be? Why?

What do you do every day that you would love to hire someone else to do for you?

What rituals do you go through every day for the sake of your good looks?

What are your favorite words to live by?

Who do you talk on the phone to more than anyone else?

Aside from the temple or the ranch, Is there a place you've been that made you feel closer to heaven?

Can you pinpoint any one moment in life that you'd call a "turning point"?

What mannerisms would you say that you have that are strikingly similar to one of your parents?

Aside from Christ, who in your life have you tried to pattern yourself after more than anyone else?

What one experience would you count as the highlight of the last five years?

What has been your greatest success and what did you learn from it?

Do you feel that you are a better parent than your parents were and why or why not?

What is the happiest memory of your childhood?

What song did you sing as a child that you've taught your children to sing as well?

What prejudices have you overcome that you once had? How?

What are you teaching your children about life that you did not know as a child?

What character traits do you think that you have passed on to your children?

How is your life different today than you pictured it being ten years ago?

Aside from the Sunday School answers (pray & study scriptures), what's something that you do every single day that you could not go a day without doing?


What would you say is the most important material "thing" in your life right now?

What's a typical day in your life right now?

If you could, what would you change in your life right now?

What's the first thing you think about in the morning?

What do you think is your most valuable role in your life at this moment?

If you could be someone else for a day, who would that be? Why?

What do you do every day that you would love to hire someone else to do for you?

What rituals do you go through every day for the sake of your good looks?

What are your favorite words to live by?

Who do you talk on the phone to more than anyone else?

Aside from the temple or the ranch, Is there a place you've been that made you feel closer to heaven?

Can you pinpoint any one moment in life that you'd call a "turning point"?

What mannerisms would you say that you have that are strikingly similar to one of your parents?

Aside from Christ, who in your life have you tried to pattern yourself after more than anyone else?

What one experience would you count as the highlight of the last five years?

What has been your greatest success and what did you learn from it?

Do you feel that you are a better parent than your parents were and why or why not?

What is the happiest memory of your childhood?

What song did you sing as a child that you've taught your children to sing as well?

What prejudices have you overcome that you once had? How?

What are you teaching your children about life that you did not know as a child?

What character traits do you think that you have passed on to your children?

How is your life different today than you pictured it being ten years ago?

Aside from the Sunday School answers (pray & study scriptures), what's something that you do every single day that you could not go a day without doing?

Harvest Cook-Off

A fall harvest dinner/“Cook-Off“that was actually held last September. Our Senior Singles Family Home Evening was a delightful little "cook-off" where the seniors brought some of their favorite recipes to be served in addition to Connie’s incredible vegetable-beef soup and Sophia’s homemade whole wheat bread. Everyone else's dishes made for quite the feast! We had amazing baked carrots, several sweet treats, chicken salad on puff tarts, an awesome pasta salad, coleslaw…fabulous foods!

The tablescape was all about food and harvest and preserving, with a bountiful basket of garden produce and preserved goods to go along with the devotional message about spiritual self-reliance.A few empty canning jars with small votive candles inside them brought a little extra light!

For table talk, each Senior was asked to tell about their favorite thing that their mother cooked. The conversation was fascinating. The foods that these seniors ate as children included lots of "bread and milk", mushes made from things that I'd never heard of and many other foods that we'd never consider today as a "staple".

My sister-in-law grows some of the most fascinating flowers and vegetables in her garden and the basket/centerpiece was filled with many of them. Beautimous, if I do say so myself!

Easy Roasted Tomatoes

Blogging friend, Laura, sent me this recipe last fall when I had fifty-six tomato plants ripening by the dozens every day. After canning 120 quarts of tomatoes, 100+ quarts of salsa, giving away 15 bushels of tomatoes, I still had tomatoes coming out my ears! Thankfully! This was one of our favorite ways to prepare the tomatoes. They can be eaten right out of the oven or put in freezer bags for winter. Serve them over pasta or put them into soups. Anyway around it, they are fabulous!

Cut tomatoes into to small pieces (no need to blanch or peel!) Snip fresh basil on top. Press about 10-12 cloves of garlic. (I buy garlic by the quart at Sam's Club and add tablespoons.) Add Sea-salt, lots of pepper, and sugar (Lara uses Splenda or Stevia)Sprinkle extra-virgin olive oil over the top. Mix with your hands. Roast at 450 for an hour or longer, stirring once. You can roast with juices left in the pan, or until the juices are evaporated. Enjoy!

Connie's chocolate cakes

Connie is one of my favorite cooks in this world. Her homemade caramels and handdipped chocolates are divine... as in truly heavenly. Connie is one of those friends that everyone dreams of because I can break a fingernail and she's there with something fresh and nummy to make me feel better. My two favorite things that she makes, however, are her chocolate cakes. The cake is homemade and moist and marvelous. But. The frostings. Oh. My. Heck. They are out of this world delish. I can't share the recipes without sharing this story....

For almost thirty years now, I've been "expected" to take my secret brownies to every single Corbridge family event ever held. This past summer, on the week of the Corbridge Reunion in our back yard, I was overwhelmingly busy with things to do, including host the reunion and teach Relief Society the next day. The whole week was a blur of business. Connie, being Connie, offered several times to help. Finally, I took her up on the offer and she baked her delicious German Chocolate Cake for me. On the day of the reunion, it was a hit to all who tried it. Fast forward two weeks, when my nephew was leaving for his LDS mission and the family dinner was to be held following church. As my sister-in-law was handing out food assignments and checking off her list, she asked that I make... me expecting "what else but brownies".... that nummy german chocolate cake that we had at the reunion! My brownies had been forgotten!

Now for the rest of the story... I had another insane week with more than any sane woman should ever have on her plate, the week of the Farewell. The night before, I was just about in panic mode after baking two cakes before frosting the cakes. Connie came over and basically said, "Move over. Let me do it." and made the german chocolate frosting. The next morning, with me in Overdrive and still trying to catch up with the To Do list and being prepared to reach my Relief Society lesson, I ended up staying home in our ward and Doug took off to the mission farewell. As he loaded the kids, he placed my much stressed over cakes on the roof of his van and took off down the street. The crashing noise that he heard was "an angel catching the cakes and placing them not so gently right side up on the street!", according to Doug. Needless to say, not wanting me to totally meltdown, he picked them up off the street and headed to the family gathering. I found out about the accident after the fact, thanks to a wise husband and a wise sister-in-law, who insisted, "Soph will be better off not knowing about this." They scooped the scrambled cakes into plates and served them anyway. Everyone said they tasted great, regardless of how they looked. Seriously. MUST TRY Recipes!

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cube butter or margarine, softened
4 TBS. Cocoa – I use heaping spoons full

¾ cup water
¾ cup cooking oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ tsp. soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Put first four ingredients in mixing bowl.
Bring oil and water to a boil and pour over ingredients in mixing bowl - beat together.
Add eggs, vanilla, soda and salt – mix well.
Add milk - mix well - pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. My oven will bake the cake in 28 minutes.

German Chocolate Frosting
1 cup cream
3 egg yolks - beaten
1 cup sugar
1 square butter or margarine
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook 3 or 4 minutes or until mixture appears it has thickened.
Remove from heat - Add 8-10 ounces of coconut and 1 – 2 cups of chopped pecans, walnuts or sliced almonds - more if you like.
Pour over cake and let cool before cutting.

Plain chocolate frosting
1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 cube butter or margarine softened
½ - ¾ tsp. almond flavoring – more if desired
Slowly add enough milk to desired spreading consistency

Enjoy!

Summer Garden Casserole

We made this simple and healthy casserole at our Relief Society Activity Night as a group, then each of us brought one home for dinner tonight. All of the women loved it and I can't wait to bake mine this afternoon. It's a great way to use some of the zucchini that gets piled up during the harvest season of the year! Loved it and it's so versatile. There were no specific amounts to any of the ingredients. It's a "little of this and a little of that" type recipe.

Layer loosely in the pan...(enough to cover the layer below)
chopped zucchini (quartered lengthwise then sliced)

chopped carrots (quartered lengthwise, then sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

frozen corn or fresh corn cut off the cob

about 1/2 cup uncooked rice

finely chopped onion

browned hamburger (cooked with onions and peppers or how you like it...mine had garlic too)salt and pepper again to taste

Pour tomato juice over the entire thing (don't make things float, but add enough that it will moisten everything in the pan). Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees. Enjoy!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Oh my gosh! This is so dang good! This recipe was a combination recipe. I used the fruit recipe from a friend and the cobbler from my sister-in-law's mother's recipe. Together, we've made the perfect pair! It's a little labor intensive, but, this is seriously one great cobbler! It was so good that it didn't need ice cream!

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

8 cups sliced peaches

2 tsp. lemon juice

Peel and slice peaches. (To peel peaches quickly, drop whole peach into a pan of boiling water. Leave in water about ten seconds then remove and drop into cold water. The skin will just slip off.) Put peaches in a large saucepan and cover with above ingredients. Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute and pour into an ungreased 9x13" pan.

(One of my favorite cooking tips is used with butter. Whenever a recipe tells you to "cut" in the butter, chill the butter and then shred it into the flour with a large cheese grater. The butter melts in perfectly during baking!)

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well and cut in 1/2 cup butter

Then, mix:

1/2 cup milk

2 slightly beaten eggs

Toss the liquid mixture into the dry mixture but do not mix too much. Drop by spoonfuls on the hot fruit. Pat smooth. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve warm with ice cream or half and half.

I loved this recipe! Make sure to be generous with the sugar on top of the cobbler before baking and I even added a touch more after for looks. ENJOY!

Great ways to use French Bread

French Bread is one of the most versatile breads ever. I use it frequently and quite often, it becomes the main dish. Here's a few of our favorite ways to serve it:

• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover both halves with a tuna fish spread. (2 cans tuna, mayo to taste, about 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish, salt and pepper) Then, top with sliced fresh tomatoes, more salt and pepper. Smother in shredded colby-jack cheese. Broil on low with the oven door open until the cheese is melted or bake for about fifteen minutes.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Spread your favorite or leftover spaghetti sauce. Cover with your favorite pizza toppings. Smother in mozzarella cheese. Bake or broil.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover with a fresh breshetta. Load it up with salt and pepper and fresh Romano cheese. Broil or bake.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Cover with ground hamburger (cooked with peppers, onions and garlic) OR shredded chicken or pork. Cover with BBQ sauce. Cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake or broil till cheese is melted.


• Slice it in half lengthwise. Chop a mixture of your favorite veggies finely or in a food processor. (We use broccoli, carrots, green onions, tomatoes...) In another bowl, mix 1 cup ranch dressing and 8 ounces of cream cheese. (Or add ranch until spreadable consistency.) Spread the ranch and cream cheese mixture. Cover entire bread with veggies. Eat fresh!


• Use leftover french bread for french toast. Slice into 1" slices. VERY good!


• Mix up some fantastic spinach artichoke dip or sausage and cheese dip, let everyone just tear the bread and dip! Num! Serve with a good salad and you've got a great quick meal!

Enjoy!