mocha cream bars (from Wanda from Kristi from...?!)

BROWNIE BATTER

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup nuts (optional)

1/3 cup cocoa

MOCHA CREAM

1/2 tsp instant coffee

1 Tbsp hot water

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 Tbsp cocoa

2 cups powdered sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Grease 9 x 13 inch pan. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Add flour. Divide batter in half. Add nuts to one half and spread in pan. Blend cocoa in remaining half and spread over first layer. Bake at 350F for 30 - 35 minutes. Frost when cool.

For Mocha Cream dissolve coffee in water. Add remaining ingredients and beat until fluffy.

OKAY!

That's the original. I changed it around a bunch. To me nuts are never optional unless there are alergies lurking around. Also in the mocha cream, I couldn't bring myself to add a raw egg yolk so I used a few Tbsp cream to make it "mocha CREAM"! Also instead of instant coffee I put in a Tbsp, yes a WHOLE complete TBSP espresso powder. Oooooo these are good! Store in fridge if you have time to get them there before they get eaten.

Dena? Are you there, Dena? Have I ever thanked you for introducing me to espresso powder? My life has changed for the better and I am forever indebted unto you! I ALWAYS use it instead of instant coffee.

mango cream cheesecakes (individuals)

24 vanilla wafers

2 large ripe mangoes, pureed to make 2cups

2 1/2 8oz pks cream cheese, room temp

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 large eggs

whipped cream for garnish

sliced, peeled mangoes

Heat oven to 325F. Place wafers into paper-lined muffin tins.

Whip up the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla till fluffy. Add mango puree and whip up well. Add eggs one at a time, beating only till mixed in. Spoon filling into muffin cups till nearly full. Bake for 25 minutes till edges are golden and filling is set. Cool on counter for an hour, then refrigerate. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh mango slices.

my latest spinach salad

In a bowl put a few handfuls of baby spinach. Add:

3 boiled eggs, sliced

1/2 pkg bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

1 cup mushrooms

handful of crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup toasted almonds

1/2 cup frozen peas

raspberries for garnish

DRESSING:

blend the following ingredients with handheld blender:

1 Tbsp oil

1/4 red/purple onion

few drops garlic oil from Watkins

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

salt and pepper to taste

Instant success!!!!

scrummy bacon cornbread

1 14" castiron frypan

1/2 pkg bacon, cut into 1" pieces

1 1/2 cups corn meal

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup oil

2 to 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Heat oven to 350F. Fry bacon in cast iron pan on stove top. When bacon is nearly crisp shut off heat and spread bacon evenly in pan. Don't drain bacon fat. Meanwhile mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Pour wet ingred into dry and mix until just barely mixed. Add peppers and stir in a bit. (I add peppers to 1/2 my batter AFTER it's in the pan. There are little mouths here who don't appreciate it too spicy hot!) Pour batter into still-hot pan on top of bacon. Bake at 350F till toothpick inserted comes out clean. (20 to 25 minutes...this somewhat depends on how much your pan has cooled while you've mixed the other ingredients.) 

Serve warm. I served this with a cream sauce made with sauted mushrooms and chicken. Top with shredded cheese. mmmmm

i-love-walmart all-day sipper

1 cup from Walmart (one of those summer cups with a straw and rubber gripper)

ice

water

1 slice of any or all of the following: orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit

The cups that I have, one has gell-filled sides and one has just the double walled. I get one ready with citrus slices and ice and water in the morning and replenish the ice and water probably 4 or 5 times through the day. I find the citrus gets stronger as the day progresses cuz I stab it so often with my straw. 

I have finally realized why babies are so attached to their sippy-cups! lol

(today's the first day I added grapefruit and I LOVE it!)

sesame porridge bread (large recipe)

(the secret to the delicious nutty taste in this bread is the sesame seeds.)

61/2 cups boiling water

3 cups cereal*

(*this can include a mixture of any of the following: cracked wheat, rolled oats, Sunny Boy, Red River, bran, nuts raisins, currents, cream of wheat, corn meal, flax, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds in small amounts, or anything else that inspires you.)

1 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup lard

2 TBSP salt

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

splash vinegar

4 eggs, whisked till not stringy anymore

1 cup water

1/4 cup instant yeast

12 - 14 cups white flour

In Bosch bowl pour boiling water over cereal and seeds. Mix well. Add lard, salt, sugar, vinegar and molasses. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and eggs and mix well. Mix in flour until just past soft dough consistency, not too stiff. Mix very well. Let rise till double in bulk. "Punch down" by switching Bosch on for a few revolutions. Let rise again. Shape into 6 loaves. Grease each loaf and place into greased bread pans. Let rise to double. Bake @ 350F for 40 minutes. (This is where I don't follow the instructions. I bake @ 325F for 35 minutes. This somewhat depends on the altitude of where you live. Bread is done when it is golden brown and a tap on the top sounds hollow. These loaves burn easily so I bake them on the middle rack, not close to the bottom of oven.)

Makes wonderful crunchy toast.

strawberry spinach salad (slightly revised)

...from Fran

Fill a bowl with fresh spinach

sliced strawberries

sliced mushrooms

crumbled feta cheese

bacon bits (optional, but not really)

little bit of coconut

walnuts or pecans or sliced almonds

DRESSING:

1/2 cup oil

3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1 1/2 tsp minced red onion (or more)

2 TBSP sesame seeds

2 TBSP poppy seeds

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp paprika

Shake dressing together and pour as much as you like over salad right before eating. We plan to eat this a lot all summer!

on hosting...

You have caught on by now, I'm sure, that hosting (or is it hostessing if you're a lady?!) is one of my favorite pass-times. I once said that I felt like I learned something new every time we had a new "batch" of over-nighters. I don't know that I learned so much this time, but I am definitely going to do a few things again. Things that worked beautifully this time.

~buy a neutral colored bouquet at Pricesmart. Not from a florist since it's way more expensive there. (Unless the florist is your friend and will give you a good deal. Or unless you don't mind spending the money!) I got cream roses and white lilies (think Easter) in a wrapped bundle and then brought them home and made a "sphere arrangement" by popping them into a large fish-bowl-style rose bowl. Not the ruffly edged kind; I don't like those! I put big rocks into the bottom of the bowl first and flower-fed water. Anyway, for every different colored table cloth I used, I scrounged on my ribbon rack and made a bow-like knot and tucked it among the roses to match the mood and moment. While this may sound like a lot of work and difficulty, it's not. I didn't even tie the ribbons, just looped them around and tucked them in. Oh, one of them I pinned together with a stick-pin so the two colors would be easier to keep together. But the pin hid itself among the flowers so no one knew it was there!

~About tablecloths. Maybe I've said this before, but anything works for a tablecloth. For instance, last summer I ordered some fabric on-line for a dress. It arrived at my house and lo and behold, it had CLEAR stripes among the beautiful aqua and tan. It now makes an overlay on my one-board length table. I put an old snagged white fabric behind it and no one knows the snags are sitting there either! Vicki from Country Stitches will send you anything you want, too! She's my go-to adviser when it comes to table decor. She speaks my language!! Heather, too, puts gorgeous colors together~ black tablecloth with bright coral napkins and then vintage-style pale silvery aqua dinner set. OK, this is rambling already, but think about that piece of fabric you're planning to take to the next fabric exchange, be it a knit, a denim or even burlap. It WILL, I promise, WILL...make a table covering of some sort. Contact me if you need ideas! (I might buy it from you...or you could give it to me for my birthday in 4 weeks!)

~One little sojourn that helped the work aspect out was the dollar store. Dollarama, I believe. They have lovely paper service for not a whole lot of $$$. And if you get a variety of plates and napkins, you can set a gorgeous color coordinated table in any mood you choose and then NO DISHES TO WASH! I found cobalt blue in checks and stripes, as well as bright green. Mix and match. There were hexagonal plates in a toille in burgundy and cream. 

~If your brother hears you loudly proclaim you'd love to acquire some real linen sometime for fabric napkins to go with a natural-colored linen tablecloth you already have and then he goes shopping in Mexico and remembers your wish and buys you what he thinks is the ugliest four colors of linen as a joke and it's enough to make 6 napkins each and YOU are secretly sooo impressed with ALL FOUR COLORS and the fact that he fulfilled your second love language by giving you a generous gift...then mix and match your colors to go with your black/gray/gold striped plates (real stuff this time) and enjoy a colorful Easter morning breakfast! (very nice run on sentence, huh?!) I think I just used the lavender and aqua; saved the coral and green for another occasion. Does anyone else love fabric napkins like I do? 

~One other thing I've figured out over the years and probably all of you do this, is make up your guest beds...all of them if possible...before your guests arrive. It didn't work this time and we were scrambling last minute. Whatever you do, don't expect them to do it. They aren't as comfortable rooting around in your linen closet as you are! That said, I do make an exception now and then if there's a baby coming. Moms often have favorite blankets, etc along.  But have the playpen set up. It's more welcoming. Often parents of young children live in an exhausted state, and after having traveled a long time with these road-weary young ones, it's that much more daunting to have to make up beds when in their hearts they are wishing for showers and unpacking instead! Like I said earlier, we missed that this time. There simply was NO time to get Ron and Jamie's room ready before they arrived. That didn't feel good! Someone, I think maybe it was Carl, sneaked in there and quickly made the bed while I got supper cleaned up.

~Jamie and I loaded a cart with fresh fruit and veggies and cheese and cold cuts "in case". We wondered if it was overkill cuz howEVER could seven of us eat that much in just three days? However, when Sunday evening our meal count went rapidly and unexpectedly from seven to 22, we were glad we could pull out 5 lbs of strawberries and 2 big bunches of bananas and many other things to feed the 5000!!! My preplanned menu using Jeanette's recipe of apple fritters flew right out the window and I did feel a little tense for a bit. But lesson learned: load that cart to the top! Just in case!

~Oh! And do plan menus ahead of time. It works.

Well, anyway, we don't do everything right! But you're welcome here anytime and we'll try to have everything ready for you!

maple sweet and sour sauce

1 c ketchup

1/2 c maple syrup

1/4 c finely chopped onion

1/4 c vinegar

1/4 c soy sauce

2 TB mustard

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients.  Cover and shake well to blend.  Good as a sweet & sour sauce for anything and also as a marinade. Wow this smells good...I've just dumped it into a panful of chicken breasts for lunch. Can't wait to sample!
It's from Heather! (Thanks again...got more for me?!)

Heather's raised yeast waffles

1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups warm 2% milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

In large bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in milk, eggs, and butter. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; stir into yeast mixture just until combined. Cover and let stand and rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake in preheated waffle iron until golden brown. 

NOTE: I used instant yeast and did no presoaking with the yeast. Excellent results. These waffles smell like baking fresh bread and are soooo light and crisp.