Rootbeer Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. root beer extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

Mix brown sugar, butter, and egg until fluffy.
Stir in buttermilk, root beer extract, flour, baking soda and salt.
Mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Heat oven to 400°.
On greased cookie sheet, drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart.
Bake 6-8 minutes or until almost no impression remains when lightly touched.
Remove cookies immediately from pan.
Place on rack and frost with glaze.

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 t. root beer extract
1 T. hot water

Mix sugar and butter. Stir in root beer extract and water. Spoon over cookies and let set.
Enjoy!

Review: I liked these cookies more than I thought I would. The reason for this being that while I was making them I decided to sample the dough, like I do with all the cookies I bake. Anyway, I took a taste of the dough and it was NOT good. I spit it out dissapointedly and just stuck the remaining dough in the fridge thinking that I probably woukdn't end up baking it. Well I got thinking about it and decided I might as well bake the dang cookies, so I did! And they were really good! I would deffinitely make these again.

Recipe from Dish Delish

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls- (ht)

For Dough:
1/3 cup milk or soymilk
2 Tbs butter
½ cup canned pumpkin or mashed cooked pumpkin
2 Tbs granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour

For Filling:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs melted butter

For Icing:
¼ cup (4 Tbsp.) butter
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
½ to ¾ cup sifted powdered sugar

Directions

Prepare rolls: In a small saucepan, heat milk and 2 Tbsp. butter just until warm (120 – 130°) and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly.

In large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed. Beat in egg and yeast. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flours. Add half of flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed for 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto floured surface. Knead a few turns to form a smooth dough, sprinkling with enough additional flour to make dough easy to handle. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 12×10-inch rectangle.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jelly-roll style. Pinch seam to seal. With a sharp serrated knife, gently cut roll into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls cut-side-up in greased 9-inch-square baking pan. (At this point the rolls can be covered and refrigerated overnight if necessary).

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls about 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack. Cool 10 to 15 minutes.

While rolls are cooling, prepare icing: In small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cool over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and cool mixture slightly. Stir in vanilla, salt and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. If necessary, add more powdered sugar for desired consistency.

Drizzle icing over warm rolls.

Recipe from Love and Olive Oil

Pizza Muffins

Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cups chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup chopped ham
10 oz can mushrooms, drained and chopped (optional)
1 green or red pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup shredded marble cheese
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp dried chillies

Dough Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder

Method:
Stir together all filling ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and oil. Pour this over filling and stir well.
Combine flour and baking powder and add to mixture. Stir to blend well.
Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins.
Bake 20-25 minutes @375º or until lightly browned. Serve hot or cold.
Store in fridge or freezer. Yields 1 dozen muffins.

Review: These were okay, a little bland but if you dipped them in ranch or something they tasted pretty good. I think all they would need is a little salt and stuff to spice it up a bit.

Recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Chicken Artichoke Bake

8 oz penne rigate, dry
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 egg(s)
1 1/4 cup(s) milk
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 cup(s) chicken breast halves, boneless skinless, cooked and chopped
2 cup(s) monterey jack cheese
1 jar artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1 package(s) spinach, chopped (frozen), 10 oz.
1/2 cup(s) parmesan cheese, grated, divided
1/2 cup(s) breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp butter, with salt, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make pasta according to package directions.

Saute onion in a little olive oil until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in onion, pasta, Jack cheese, chicken, artichokes, spinach (thawed!), and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Place mixture in 3-quart baking dish and bake (covered) for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup Parmesan, paprika, bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle mixture over casserole and bake, uncovered, for 10 additional minutes.

Review: This casserole was okay, but I don't think it made it onto a top ten list for anyone in my family. It wasn't as flavorful as I had hoped it would be and none of us liked the spinach in it at all. I would probably only make this again if I just happened to have all of the ingredients already on hand and I needed to use them

Recipe from You've Got Supper

Apple-Cider Pie

Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup ice water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
Filling:
2 cups apple cider
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
7 Braeburn apples, peeled and quartered (about 3 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon sugar
Preparation
To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1/3 cup flour and ice water, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. Combine 1 2/3 cups flour and salt in a bowl; cut in margarine and shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water mixture; toss with a fork until moist. Divide dough in half. Gently press each half of mixture into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap, and cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll one half of dough, still covered, into a 12-inch circle, and chill. Roll other half of dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle; chill.

To prepare filling, bring cider to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan over high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 20 minutes). Cool completely.

Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine cooled cider, 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, and pie spice in a large bowl. Cut each apple quarter crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Stir apple slices into cider mixture.

Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 12-inch circle; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing dough to extend over edge of plate. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Spoon apple mixture into crust, and brush edges of crust lightly with water. Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 11-inch circle, and place on top of apple mixture. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Press edges of dough together; fold edges under, and flute. Cut 6 (1-inch) slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife. Combine egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush top and edges of pie with egg mixture, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet, and bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove pie from oven), and bake an additional 45 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Review: I was kind of dissapointed with this recipe. It smeeled good while I was making it, it looked and smelled awesome when it was done baking. But then when I finally tried it, it was really tart and not as good as I ahd hoped it would be. Next time I would put some salt in the crust and I would use a bunch more sugar in the filling and maybe even cut back on the lemon juice.

Recipe from My Recipes

Sunday Beef Stew- (ht)

1 1/2-2 lb. lean stew beef, cut into even smaller bite-sized pieces (just pull out a pair of kitchen shears and cut anything that looks like you'd need to use a knife and fork on)
4-5 medium red potatoes, chopped
4-5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 12-oz. cans or 3 c. vegetable juice cocktail (like V8 or even Bloody Mary mix)
1 10-oz. can condensed tomato soup
10 oz. water (just use the can from the tomato soup to measure)
1 tsp. basil
2 beef bouillon cubes (or 2 tsp. beef base)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Now...this is super tricky. Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a large oven-safe pot that comes with an oven-safe lid.
Cook in heated oven for 3 hours. Remove from oven and serve. Awesome, huh?
You can also cook this in your slow cooker on low for 9-10 hours (or until vegetables and meat are tender) or on high for 5-6.

Serve with a loaf of French bread or homemade rolls and some honey butter

Recipe from Our Best Bites

Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows- (ht)

makes about 50 1" marshmallows

3 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup water
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
14 teaspoon salt
about 1/2 sleeve graham crackers

Line a 9x13 pan with plastic wrap and spray it uniformly with cooking spray. Set aside.

Put the 1/2 cup cold water and the 3 envelopes of gelatin in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to sit and bloom for 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Once it has started boiling, do not stir. Bring to 250F, or until a small amount of syrup dropped in a glass of cold water forms a rigid ball.

In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Mix well.


Attach the mixing bowl to a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment and start the mixer on low speed. Carefully pour the boiling sugar mixture down the side of the mixing bowl. Increase the speed to medium high and add the salt. Mix until stiff, shiny and white, about 5 to 12 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the pumpkin mixture until combined. Return the bowl to the mixer and mix for an additional 3 minutes. You can test to see if it is ready if you dip a spatula in the mixture and it should form a continuous ribbon off the spatula into the bowl.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours.


Put the graham crackers in a food processor and process until you have very fine crumbs. Lay a piece of waxed paper on the counter and spread out about half of the crumbs. Turn the marshmallow pan over onto the crumbs and remove the plastic wrap.

Cut the marshmallows into squares about 1" x 1". Place the remaining crumbs in a bowl and dip the individual marshmallows in the graham cracker crumbs until all sides are covered.

The marshmallows are best eaten fresh, but can be kept in an airtight container or about a week or in the freezer for a month.

Recipe from Taste and Tell

Swiss and Bacon Dip

8 slices bacon, chopped
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 rounded teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup smoked almonds, coarsely chopped
bread and/or veggies, for dipping

Preheat oven to 400F.

Brown bacon in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Drain crisp bacon bits on paper towels.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon, Swiss and scallions with cooked bacon. Transfer to a shallow small casserole or baking dish and bake until golden and bubbly at edges, 15 to 18 minutes. Top with chopped smoked almonds. Place dip on a platter and surround warm casserole with breads and carrots for dipping.

Review: This dip is really, really, REALLY good! The only down side to this stuff is that it's SO not low fat. I ended up using green onions instead of scallions and honey mustard instead of dijon because that is what I had at home but it still turned out really yummy!

Recipe from Taste and Tell