Lazy Daisy Cake

In May, 2008, our first year of marriage, I made this cake for Lincoln's birthday. I accidentally put in 2 TABLEspoons, not teaspoons, of Baking Powder and as a result, the cake expanded to overflow the pan and into the oven everywhere! It then shrunk back to half its original size, Lincoln was a good sport and told me it was perfect just the way it was. :)

Lazy Daisy Cake

Beat 2 eggs until foamy
Add 1 level cup of sugar (omit 1 T.)
Beat for 3 min.

Melt 3 T. butter in 1/2 c. milk and heat just enough to melt butter
Sift together 1 c. flour
1 full rounded t. baking powder

Mix SLOWLY (if using a mixer, keep it on speed 1)
add cooled milk and butter at the same slow speed
add 1 t. vanilla.

Pour in greased pan (9x9" for 1 batch, bundt pan or 9x13" for 2)
Bake at 350 deg for 35 min. or until cake pulls from sides of pan

To be served with light powdered sugar on top or as a base to strawberry shortcake

I usually make 2 batches to fit in a Bundt pan which makes this appear decorative and is perfect for strawberry shortcake


by Michelle, Barbara's granddaughter

Coconut Crust Chocolate Pie

I love this coconut crust because it is super easy to make...

for those of us who haven't mastered the pastry pie crust yet.

Plus, it tastes awesome.

COCONUT CRUST CHOCOLATE PIE

Crust:

2 c. coconut

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 c. melted butter

Filling:

4 squares bakers semi-sweet chocolate (4 oz.)

2 c. mini marshmallows (or 16 large)

1/2 c. milk

3 oz. cream cheese

3.5 c. thawed cool whip

Heat oven to 350. Mix coconut, pecans, and butter. Press onto bottom and up sides of 9=inch pie plate. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

Microwave chocolate, marshmallows, and milk in large microwaveable bowl for three minutes or until marshmallows are melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Beat in cream cheese until smooth. Refrigerate until slightly thickened. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon into cooled crust. Refrigerate until firm, about three hours. Garnish with chocolate curls. Before cutting, dip bottom of pie plate briefly to loosen crust.

by Sarah, wife of Barbara's son Jared

Roasted Tomatoes, African Coriander Bread

Brenda, Karen and Cheryl at breadmaking class in Wisconsin

May 2010

Roasted Tomatoes

(to toss in pasta, top chicken or bruschetta, or serve alongside chicken or beef)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice and core tomatoes. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper and sliced garlic. Bake 30-60 minutes, until juices have evaporated. Store in a plastic zip-top bag in refrigerator or freezer. You can also slow roast tomatoes in a 250 degree oven 3 to 4 hours.

African Coriander Bread
(hands down, my favorite bread from our class)

2 pkgs. dry yeast
1-1/2 c. lukewarm milk
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 T. ground coriander
2+ T. grated orange peel
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 egg
1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour
4 to 4-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Stir in remaining ingredients except flour. Stir in enough flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Place in greased bowl, cover, let rise until double, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough; divide into halves. Shape each into a loaf. Cover and let rise.

Heat oven to 375. Cut slash in top of each loaf. Bake until loaves are folden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

**Note: when baking the bread we always did the final rise on a parchment-covered, upside down cookie sheet. That way the parchment could easily be slid from the cookie sheet onto a preheated baking stone. Immediately after sliding in the bread, 5-6 ice cubes were tossed in a cast iron skillet kept in the bottom of the oven.)

by Brenda, Barbara's daughter

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Mixed Apple Salad, Peanutty Noodles, Peanut Butter Pie & Spicy Mulligatawny

I have been deliberating all week,

trying to decide which recipe to contribute.

Now I can't seem to narrow it down!

Of course none of my pictures are relevant to any of the recipes,

but they are all of the kids with their food —

Preston's picture-perfect pancakes

and the normal pandemonium of dinner at our table.

Always fun, there's never a dull moment!

I know it's getting a little warm outside,

but on those rainy days I still love a bowl of soup.

My all-time favorites are always salads and pasta.

Here are my latest favorites, and just for fun,

I'll even throw in Tyler's favorite southern tradition for dessert:

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

4 c.chicken broth

2 c. water

2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded

1 (4.5 ounce) package quick-cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. butter

2 c. heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.

2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

3. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Original Recipe Yield: 8 servings

Mixed Apple Salad

Dressing:

1/4 c. fresh (or not fresh -- I'm not terribly picky) lemon juice

2 T. honey

1 tsp. olive oil

Dash of salt, pepper

Salad:

2 c. chopped Granny Smith apple

2 c. chopped Fuji, Honeycrisp or Braeburn apple

1/4 c. Crumbled bleu cheese, feta or Boursin cheese

2 bacon slices, cooked or crumbled, or 1/4 c. toasted pecans

4 c. mixed salad greens

Peanutty Noodles

Set aside:

2 carrots, julienned

Saute 30 seconds:

1 t. oil

2 t. ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

Add:

1 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. soy sauce

3 t. rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 t. chili garlic sauce

1/4 t. salt

Simmer 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.

Saute 5 minutes:

2 t. oil

2 c. red bell pepper strips

1 lb. snow peas, trimmed

Cook 1 lb. linguini according to directions on package.

Add carrots, peanut butter mixture, and bell pepper mixture to linguini, toss well.

Sprinkle with:

Cilantro

Peanut Butter Pie

Crust

Mix together:

1 pkg. graham crackers, crushed


6 T. butter


1/3. c. sugar


Bake 8 min. @ 350.
Sprinkle hot crust with 1 c. chocolate chips
 


Filling

Beat until stiff:

1 c. heavy whipping cream


Slowly add:

2 T. powdered sugar
 


In separate bowl, beat:

8 oz. cream cheese


3/4 c. crunchy peanut butter


Add:

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

whipped cream mixture


Spoon into crust, refrigerate over night.

Spicy Mulligatawny

Saute:

1/2 lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces*

Set chicken aside.

Saute 5 minutes in 2 tsp. oil:

1 c. chopped, peeled apple

3/4 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped carrot

1/2 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped bell pepper

Stir in:

2 T. flour

1 T. curry powder

1 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

1/4 t. salt

Cook 1 minute.

Stir in:

2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth

1/3 c. mango chutney*

1/4 c. tomato paste

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes. Add chicken. Cook 2 minutes until heated through.

*changes I made: I used a can of cooked chicken and 1/2 c. mango juice instead of the chutney —but then I had to put in a little less water with my chicken broth bullions so that it wouldn't be too liquid. I also tossed the entire thing in the crock pot to simmer after mixing in the tomato paste.

by Stephanie, wife of Barbara's son Brandon

Chicken Quesadillas, Red Beans & Rice, Balsamic Dressing & Salad

I love Mom this much!

I want Mom's cooking, not a stupid icicle.

I remember wanting to serve Mom or Dad breakfast in bed on special occasions. I have since realized that this is not very enjoyable or practical for the following reasons...

1) It is hard to sit up in bed when there is a window behind you and you have no headboard.

2) The food has a tendency to spill when it is on a cookie sheet (This is because you didn't want to spend money on a "bed tray".)

3) It is boring to eat alone. (Everyone else has left to fix their own breakfast.)

4) If someone does stay to chat, they sit on the bed and disrupt the food on the cookie sheet all over again.

5) There is usually something that I need so I have to call loudly to get someone's attention.

6) It is hard to get out of bed when I am done because I have a cookie sheet and other paraphernalia on my lap.

7) etc.

Chicken Quesadillas

1 c. shredded cooked chicken

1 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 c. Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dressing

1/4 c. diced green chilies, rinsed and drained

4 (9-inch) flour tortillas, warmed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chicken, cheese, ranch & chilies in a bowl. Divide the chicken mixture evenly between each tortilla; fold in half to seal. Place quesadillas on a baking sheet & bake for 15 min. or until cheese is melted. Optional: Cook quesadillas in a skillet

Yummy Red Beans and Rice

30 oz. can small red beans (or 2-15 oz. cans)

1/2 t. white pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. paprika

1/4 t. salt

3 T. butter

Pour beans with liquid into a large saucepan. Add pepper, paprika, butter, garlic powder and salt. Heat on medium. When beans begin to boil, use a fork to mash some of them against the side of the pan. Stir constantly until they get to a smooth creamy texture with some whole beans. Cook your favorite rice and serve with the red beans on the side or on top of the rice.

Cheryl's Favorite Balsamic Dressing & Salad

2 pkgs. Good Seasons Italian Dressing® Mix (dry)

1/4 c. olive or canola oil

3 T. water

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Garlic powder, onion powder, dry basil and salt and pepper (to taste)

* a combination of mixed greens, baby spinach & romaine

* Feta cheese

* Craisins

* Toasted nuts (pecans, almonds or walnuts)

* Crispy won ton strips (optional)

by Cheryl, Barbara's daughter

Apricot Chicken

Bennetts at Canyonland 2010

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the Bennett family favorites is also one of the easiest recipes on earth. Maybe that's why it's one of our favorites... ;-} . It is for Apricot Chicken and some of you may already have this recipe.

Apricot Chicken

1 pkg. chicken thighs with bone in (i.e. from Costco, 8 - 10 thighs) with skin and fat removed

Mix:

1 jar (10 - 12 oz) apricot jam

1 jar (8 oz) Russian dressing

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place chicken in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover with the above sauce. Bake for 1-1/2 hours at 325 degrees (loosely covered with foil for the 1st hour). Turn thighs over and continue baking uncovered for 1/2 hour.

Serve over rice:

3 c. oriental rice

4 c. water

by Kirsten, Barbara's daughter

Beef Nacho Casserole

Beef Nacho Casserole

2 lb, ground beef (pre-cooked)

2 c. salsa

2 c. corn (about one can)

½ c. mayonnaise

1 T. chili powder

8 oz. Colby jack cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve with corn chips and salad (like a taco salad).

by Allison, wife of Barbara's son Doug