spinach salad

1 cup cannola oil
5 TB vinegar
4 TB sour cream
2 TB sugar
1 TB dijohn mustard
1&1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp garlic puree
1/2 tsp. minced onion
Mix above for dressing
Pour over:
4 chopped hard-boiled eggs - (boil in water by covering with cold water, then bring the water to boil. Turn off heat and leave covered with a lid for twenty minutes. Best hard boiled eggs! Cool and chop.
1 lb bacon or amount to taste. Cook in microwave between paper towels till crisp. Cool and chop.
bean sprouts - wash
1 small box fresh washed mushrooms, sliced
fresh washed spinach
Toss with dressing the second before eating. Enjoy!

Crab and Corn Chowder

approximately 2 cups chicken broth
1 and 1/2 tsp. seafood seasoning
1 and 1/2 stick of butter
3/8 cup of flour
3 cups milk
3 15 oz. cans of cream style corn
1&1/2 cups chopped green onions
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb. of lump crabmeat (we use the costco canned crab)

Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk untill smooth, add milk all at once. Stir till thickened. Add corn, green onions,and seasoning. Add chicken broth to desired consistency. Simmer on low about ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in crab meat just before serving for optimal tenderness or add crab and turn off heat. Warm right before serving.

RASPBERRY CHIFFON PIE

The heavy cream must be ice cold; if not, it won't hold stiff peaks, no matter how long or hard you beat it. Soften the cream cheese at room temperature; the microwave will cause the cheese to separate.

Serves 8 to 10.

INGREDIENTS
Fruit Layer
12 ounces frozen raspberries (2 cups)
3 tablespoons powdered pectin (Sure-Jell)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Pinch table salt
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 (9-inch) pie shell , baked and cooled (see related recipe)
Chiffon Layer
3 tablespoons gelatin , raspberry flavored
3 tablespoons boiling water
3 ounces cream cheese , softened
1 cup heavy cream , chilled
Whipped Cream Topping
1 1/4 cups heavy cream , chilled
2 tablespoons sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
1. For the fruit layer: Cook frozen berries in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to give up their juice, about 3 minutes. Stir in pectin and bring to full boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and salt and return to full boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much puree as possible. Scrape puree off underside of strainer into bowl.

2. Transfer 1/3 cup raspberry puree to small bowl and cool to room temperature. Gently fold fresh raspberries into remaining puree. Spread fruit mixture evenly over bottom of pie shell and set aside.

3. For the chiffon layer: Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in large bowl. Add cream cheese and reserved 1/3 cup raspberry puree and beat with electric mixer on high speed, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup cream and beat on medium-low until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Beat on high speed until cream holds stiff peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread evenly over fruit in pie shell. Cover pie with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

4. For the whipped cream topping: When ready to serve, beat 1 1/4 cups cream and sugar to stiff peaks. Spread or pipe over chilled filling. Serve.


You can use any pie crust recipe that you want, you just have to bake it completely before you do the above steps. Here is the crust recipe that they used for this pie:

N0-FEAR PIE CRUST

The pastry can be pressed into the pie plate and refrigerated for up to 2 days or double-wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 1 month. Once baked and cooled, the shell can be wrapped tightly in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Makes one 9-inch Pie Shell.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened but still cool
2 ounces cream cheese , softened but still cool
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Lightly coat 9-inch Pyrex pie plate with cooking spray. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in bowl.

2. With electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl, stopping once or twice to scrape down beater and sides of bowl, until completely homogenous, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture and combine on medium-low until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until dough begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds. Reserve 3 tablespoons of dough. Turn remaining dough onto lightly floured surface, gather into ball, and flatten into 6-inch disk. Transfer disk to greased pie plate.

3. Press dough evenly over bottom of pie plate toward sides, using heel of your hand. Hold plate up to light to ensure that dough is evenly distributed. With your fingertips, continue to work dough over bottom of plate and up sides until evenly distributed.

4. On floured surface, roll reserved dough into 12-inch rope. Divide into three pieces, roll each piece into 8-inch rope, and form fluted edge. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

5. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly prick bottom of crust with fork. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack. (If large bubbles form, wait until crust is fully baked, then gently press on bubbles with kitchen towel. Bubbles will settle as crust cools.)

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

These are an old family favorite, but I don't know if anyone has the recipe. I have been craving them and I didn't have the recipe so I found this one online. Hopefully it is the same as the regular one. I am making them tomorrow, so I will let you know.



ROLO COOKIES
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
60 Rolo candies
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and soda; blend well. In large bowl, beat sugars and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Slowly add flour mixture; blend well. For each cookie with floured hands, shape about 1 tablespoon dough around caramel candy, covering completely. Place on ungreased sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes or until they start to crackle on top. Cool slightly and remove from sheets. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm so that the sugar will stick. Makes 60 cookies.

Bruschetta stuffed Zucchini

I made this recipe up a couple of weeks ago and it turned out really yummy. The kids loved it too. Unfortunately it was made up so don't kill me if the amounts are a little off, these are guestimates.

Take 2 large zucchini and cut the top 1/3 off (lengthwise) I cut it so the ends curved up a little bit to form a little boat shape. Chop the top 1/3 of zucchini into small cubes and set aside for later. Take a spoon or mellon baller and scrape out the seeds and middle pulp section of zucchini. Once the boats are prepared, place them in a 8x8 or 9x9 glass oven proof pan. Lightly salt and pepper insides and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a skillet on the stove heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over med-high heat.
Add chopped 1/2 onion, chopped zucchini tops, and 2 Tbsp minced garlic. Sautee a few minutes till the onions carmelize. Turn the heat down to med so garlic won't burn. When they are carmelized to your liking add 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes. I used grape tomatoes and just cut them in half. They were so sweet and delicious and not too juicy, but you can use whatever kind you have. Stir frequently until tomatoes are just heated through. Sprinkle about 3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar over all and season to taste. Turn off heat and add 1/2-1 cup italian bread crumbs over the skillet mixture and stir to coat all veggies. If it looks dry at all add more olive oil. It should be moist.

Spoon skillet mixture into zucchini boats till full. I had extra filling so I just let it fall in the pan. Drizzle with Balsamic vinegar over all.

Bake 20 minutes uncovered. Open oven and sprinkle 1/2 cup or more to taste with parmesan or mozzarella cheese over tops. Bake 10-15 minutes more. Until cheese is brown and bubbly. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Pork

Back in the day, Dad used to beg me to make this for his birthday or Father's Day! After I had over two kids, I stopped making it because it is a lot of work. I'm recording it here in case you want to go to the effort and because the recipe is in tatters!

Ingredients
7 oz. lean pork
1 TB. Sherry or red cooking wine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 carrots
1/2 onion
1 green pepper
1 can chunk pineapple
1 glove garlic
3 eggs
1 T. flour
3 TB. cornstarch
1 pint oil
3 TB ketchup
1 tsp. soy sauce
3 TB vinegar
3 TB sugar
1/2 C. water
Cut pork into squares and sprinkle with sherry, S&P, and set aside. Cut and boil carrots for a few minutes. Cut onion, green pepper and pineapple into chunk sizes. Beat eggs, mix with flour and 2 TB cornstarch. Coat pork with mixture and deep fry in canola oil and remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Fry carrots, onion and green pepper for one minute. Set all on paper towel. Mix ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, 1 TB cornstarch and water. Heat 4 TB oil in fry pan and cook mixture until thick. Place pork, vegetables and pineapple into sauce and cover well. Cook rice and serve together. It really is delicious, at least that is how I remember it! Somebody make it and see if it is as good as we remember!

To make this less time consuming, cut and prepare all the vegs and meat the day before, and make the sauce. Then the day of, just coat all of them, deep fry, warm up the sauce, cover and serve.

Cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes!

My friend in the ward makes these and they are to die for!!

1 box chocolate cake mix- Mix the batter as stated on the box, however do it in this order:
*Eggs- beat until frothy and light yellow
*Add water and oil and ONE HALF (1/2) large box of chocolate cook n' serve pudding mix
*Then add the chocolate cake mix and a small amount of vanilla (around 1/2 tsp or so)

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 8oz brick cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla
mini chocolate chips (optional)
*Mix all ingredients, adding as many (or none) chocolate chips as desired

Spoon cupcake batter into paper cupcake liners only half full. Then add about 1 1/2-2 teaspoons of cream cheese batter in the centers. Spoon a tiny amount of batter on top of cream cheese, although it's okay if the cream cheese is still showing.

Bake according to your cake mix box instructions, although my friend said hers were supposed to go in 18-22 minutes and she took them out at 13-15 minutes. You want the toothpick to come out almost clean. Frost with whatever frosting you want and top with sprinkles. My friend used a pink frosting and piped it on with a jagged point, then added some pink crystal/glittery type sprinkles on top, and put a small silver edible ball in the very center. They were very fancy and yummy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I know, I know, this is a classic which most of you have - but I am adding the classics for our Christmas Cookbook, a few a day, per Danielle's request.

6 chicken breasts
6 slices ham, luncheon meat kind
6 slices swiss cheese, enough to cover surface
1 small box fresh mushrooms
1 small can healthy request crm of mushroom soup
1 small can healthy request crm of chicken soup
16 oz. light sour cream
½ large chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
Lawrys seasoning, salt, pepper
Minced onion

Pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet until about 1/4” thick, then sprinkle lightly with lawrys seasoning salt, pepper and minced onion, then ham, then cheese, then roll up and place in sprayed 9X13 pan, seam down. The chicken breasts are so huge that I cut them in half and make smaller ones. Half is plenty for most women. Mix rest and spread over top, with a little more lawrys in the sauce and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 275 degrees for three hours. Can assemble the night before. You can also make this and cook it for four hours at 250 degrees for the whole time you are at church.

Lemon Fluff Cake

This is a Monson classic, repeated here by request.

2 pkgs 3 oz. lemon jello
3&1/2 cups boiling water
½ to ¾ cup juice from lemons *I like it fairly tart so I always use ¾ c.
2 cups whipping cream
1 box crushed vanilla wafers
1 cup sugar

Dissolve jello in boiling water. Refrigerate just until it starts to set. I put it in the freezer and check often until it just starts to set up, not liquidey anymore. Then remove and beat it on high for exactly ten minutes. Add the sugar and lemon juice beating on a lower speed to mix. Then fold in the cream. Crumble the wafers in a food processor or you can just put them in a large zip lock bag and stomp on them. Put crumbs on the bottom of a 9X13 pan reserving ¼ of them to sprinkle on top. Pour in the jello mixture and refrigerate or stick back in the freezer if you are in a hurry

* variations: You can make lime fluff cake or lemon lime (I used 1 package lemon and one package lime jello) or orange fluff cake. Be sure to use only ¾ c juice though. I haven’t tried raspberry and then add smooshed berries for the juice. Hmmmm that might be yummy!

Beet and Scallops Salad

Beet and Scallop Salad

I made 9 salads out of this.
Ingredients:
Fresh or homecanned beets; 1 quart
Salad dressing; white balsamic or *homemade
Fresh parsley; 1 small bunch, 2 sprigs for each salad
Walnuts; 1 small package chopped, sweetened (see below)
Blue Cheese, 1 small container crumbled
Broadleaf lettuce, about 3 leaves per salad, to lightly cover base of plate
Scallops, 2 for each salad (I bought them from Costco)
Bacon, 1 piece
Cream Cheese; 1 four oz. package

Cook fresh beets in boiled water with the skins on till just fork tender, then remove from water and skin them. Slice in flat slices across the whole beet about ¼ “thick. Place one on top of another, like a sandwich, with similar shape. Cool. Then slice a ¼” slice of cream cheese and put between the beets.
*I used home canned beets, cutting them to the same thickness and shapes as above.

Salad dressing: Use light balsamic bottled dressing or *I made homemade: 3/4th cup canola oil, 1/4th cup white wine vinegar, 1 TB dijohn mustard, 1/4th tsp pureed garlic, 14th tsp lawry’s, s&p dash, 2 TB fresh lemon juice, 3TB sugar or to taste. Make it ahead though so as soon as the scallops are done you can immediately put them on the plate and drizzle the dressing overall, top with the blue cheese, and serve.

Put 1 TB water in a frying pan then add the walnuts and squirt honey bear honey over all the nuts about 2 Tablespoons. Stir until all the water is absorbed and the nuts are coated about three minutes. Turn out of the pan onto a plate to cool.

On each salad plate, arrange lettuce pieces, not heavily, just about 3-4 leaves.
Place a beet sandwiches on the lettuce, sprinkle the sweetened walnuts, with one on top of the beet, with a sprig of parsley. Set aside.

Cook in a frying pan 1 slice of bacon till crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and crumble. Sprinkle the crumbles on the lettuce and beet, just a few each salad.

In the bacon grease, fry the scallops on one side and then the other. I did that after everyone was sitting down. Do not overcook them! Only five minutes, two and a half each side on medium. Then place the warm scallops, two on each plate, one on either side of the beet and quickly drizzle salad dressing overall and lightly sprinkle blue cheese crumbles. Serve immediately.

Chicken and Sausage Jambaylaya

A recipe from my older sister Heidi that she swears by.

Ingredients:

1+ pound of chicken breasts (Or use one pound of de-veined, peeled, and de-tailed shrimp.  Ben and I used shrimp the other night instead of chicken and it worked great.  It taste more like Spanish paella with shrimp.)

1 package sausage (Like Pepperidge Farm or whatever you want.)

2 cups uncooked brown rice

1 green pepper chopped

1 small onion chopped

2 (10 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can of chicken broth

1 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

salt to taste

Directions:

Cook chicken in a little olive oil until browned.  (If using shrimp, skip this step.  Don't cook the shrimp this early.  See below.)

Add in sausage, green pepper, and onion.  (If using shrimp, this is your first step.  When onion is tender, then add in shrimp and cook on both sides till pink.)

Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, water, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, salt, and rice.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes

These pancakes are my FAVORITE.  Just a little  note, do NOT substitute the buttermilk in this recipe for anything else (or try to use milk and lemon juice instead).  Buy real buttermilk if you're going to make these.  It's what makes the recipe.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup melted butter, plus some for frying

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

In a large bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter in another bowl.  

Combine the dry and wet ingredients JUST UNTIL A LUMPY BATTER FORMS.  Do NOT over-mix this batter or else you'll get flat heavy pancakes.  It's supposed to be lumpy and thicker.

Heat some butter on a griddle or in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Spoon 1/3 cup of batter onto pan and sprinkle the top of pancake with blueberries while it cooks.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.  (These take a little longer to cook all the way through, and to heat up the blueberries.)

I like to serve these with homemade raspberry syrup.

1 pkg of frozen raspberries (I just use whatever I have left frozen in the freezer from the summertime.)

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

Combine the water, butter, and sugar in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat till thickened.  Add the raspberries and boil till thickened more, stirring constantly.  You may have to use a little cornstarch to thicken up the syrup to how you like it.

Spicd Pork Chops with Mango-Mint Salsa

Ben and I tried this recipe from Cooking Light the other day and it was excellent.

Chops:

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

4 boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl and then sprinkle evenly over front and back of chops.

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and then heat over medium high heat.  Add pork.  Cook about four minutes on each side or until browned and cooked all the way through.

Salsa:

1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled mango (About one large ripe mango.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Mix all the above in a bowl and serve over chops.  Best if this sits in the fridge for a bit (covered) before it's served over the chops.

Suggested Side--Roasted Sweet Potato Fries:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

2 large sweet potatoes, cut in half and then each half cut into six wedges

Combine the first four ingredients and then coat the potato wedges with the mixture.  Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until insides are tender and outsides are crunchy.

Upside Down Berry Cobbler

This recipe is so simple and fast and is SO good.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 cups fresh berries (I always mix raspberry and blackberry.  And don't be afraid to use a few more berries than this calls for.)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray eight inch round cake pan with cooking spray.

In medium bowl, combine shortening, sugar, flour, baking powder, egg, and milk.  Mix until well blended.  Pour batter into pan.  Spoon berries over batter.

Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.  Store in refrigerator.

Chicken and Veggie Chowder

I love love love this recipe.  I make it all the time.  It's from the Southbeach diet cookbook, so it's really healthy too.  ALWAYS double this recipe though, if you're feeding more than 2-3 people.  Ben and I eat the below just by ourselves.  It stores well and tastes even better the second day too.  You can serve it as a meal or serve smaller portions as an appetizer to a meal.

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken broth

2 carrots, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 oz mushrooms, sliced ( I always use more than this.)

1 clove garlic, minced ( I always add more than this too.)

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (Dried thyme works just as well.   Just use a third of the amount of fresh.)

1/4 tsp salt (Use a little more than this.  To taste.)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4" strips

2 T trans-free margarine (I just use real butter.)

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 cup 1% milk (I use 2%.)

3 spears asparagus, cut into 1" pieces, or 1 cup broccoli florets (I've never use broccoli, I like the flavor the asparagus adds to much.  And...I ALWAYS add more asparagus than it calls for.)

1 T chopped fresh parsley (Again, just use 1/3 the amount of dried instead, if you want.)

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, combine the broth, carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove half of the vegetable mixture to a food processor and process until pureed. Return to soup pot.

Stir in the chicken, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.

Melt the margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour until smooth and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in to the chicken mixture. Add the asparagus or broccoli, parsley, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, or until heated through.

Mama Walker's Chili Ala Molly

FINALLY...I'm posting something on the food blog!  Here's the chili recipe Rachel wanted.  It comes from the mother of a good friend of mine.  I love this chili recipe because it's heavy on the beans while leaving out all the stewed tomato stuff I'm not such a big fan of.  This recipe is "to taste," so it's kind of Marilynn-style.  Just put in whatever sounds good to you.  This is just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef (I use 4% lean, usually.  Use meat this lean so you don't have to drain it when cooking or else you lose all the garlic and onion flavor that's cooking with it.)

salt (to taste)

fresh ground pepper (to taste)

1 yellow onion chopped

minced garlic (To taste, I use two to three cloves.)

1 large can of tomato sauce (I think it's 28 ounces, but whatever is closest to that size.  Or just use two small 15 ounce cans.)

1 large can of red kidney beans (Again, I think it's 28 ounces, or do two small 15 ounce cans.  You can also sub in one small can of pinto beans--one 15 ounce red kidney beans and one 15 ounce pinto in that case--so this is four-bean chili instead of three.)

1 can of black beans (15 ounces)

1 can of great northern white beans (15 ounces)

1 pkg of chili seasoning

1/3 cup of ketchup

2 tsp chili powder

1-2 cups frozen corn (White or yellow or a mix of the two--however much you want.)

Instructions:

Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil.  When the onions are getting tender,  add in the ground beef and cook till the ground beef is browned.  Mix in salt and pepper to meat as it's cooking.

Place meat mixture in crock pot.  Add in all the rest of the ingredients (including liquid from canned beans) and mix around.  Cook on low at least six hours.

*Goes really well with cornbread with honey and butter.  We also usually add cheese, sour cream, and sometimes chopped green onions on top when served.

Whole Wheat Waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
milk to desired thickness

*optional ingredients: cinnamon, nutmeg. and bananas

In a medium sized bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Then stir in eggs,oil, and milk to dry ingredients. The amount of milk will vary depending on how thick you like your batter. Just add a little at a time. After batter is made, I usually add a generous amount of cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg.

Some of my favorite toppings are berries and whip cream, or yogurt and syrup is really tasty as well!

Andrea's Wheat Bread

This recipe is from Garrett's sister Andrea. She has tweaked it and perfected it over several years and it is my favorite bread ever! I usually eat about a half a loaf in one sitting. The white flour makes it lighter and fluffier than whole wheat, but it is still mostly wheat flour. The thing I love about this recipe is that it only has to rise one time so it is much faster than most bread recipes. The other great thing about this recipe is that it makes three big loaves so you can give them away or freeze them for later use. Enjoy!

In a small bowl combine:
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
set aside for 15-20 minutes

Mix in Bosch:
7 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups really hot water
Mix until blended well blended about 5 minutes.

Then add:
2 tbsp salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup mesquite honey (you can find this at Trader Joe's, it's way better than regular)
mix until well blended, about 5-10 more minutes

Next add:
1 more cup wheat flour
yeast mixture from small bowl
mix well

Add:
3-4 cups white flour
Mix on high for 10 minutes

Place dough in three greased loaf pans (shape into loaves). Cover all three pans with a warm damp rag and let rise for 35 minutes or double in size. Cook 45 mins. at 350 degrees. Tip pans on their side and place on counter to cool, (this helps them to not fall while they are cooling). When they are mostly cooled but still warm rub each top crust with butter and serve.

Lobster Bisque

Marilynn Monson’s Original LOBSTER BISQUE
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup butter plus 6 TBs
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. pureed garlic
• Two handfuls baby carrots
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
. 1 or 2 LARGE lobster tails (I used 2, but it is expensive,so 1 would work too,it would just have less chunks of meat which is fine and many restaurant lobster soups don't have tons of meat chunks in them.)
• 1 cup cooking white wine, or white grape juice
• 1 quart canned tomatoes
• 6 cups LOBSTER SHELL stock
• 1 quart half and half
• 3 tablespoons parsley
• salt to taste, 4 TB flour, 1 TB Cheasapeake bay seafood seasoning
• ground black pepper to taste, 1 TB sugar, or to taste
First make the lobster stock by cutting the back of the lobster down the middle with scissors then slide your thumb against the shell and lift out the meat. Set aside the meat for later use. Cut out the yellow sack nearest the head; on the meat,not the shell, and discard. Put the shells in 6 cups of water with bay leaves and ¼ of the large onion and 1 tsp. pureed garlic. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 1 hour. This is the secret of this soup. Don’t shortchange the time and if you start earlier let it simmer longer up to twice as long. Not full boil, just simmering. Then add the meat and watch closely for when it just turns opaque throughout. About five minutes and then remove the meat to a plate and cool. Chop it in a food processor medium fine. Cover and set aside.
DIRECTIONS
1. Melt the butter (1 square) over medium heat in a large saucepan, add the onion, and carrot, that has been chopped fine in a food processor.. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens.
2. Add the wine and tomatoes. Bring to a gentle boil, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes more leaving the shells in.
3. Remove the bay leaves. Remove the lobster shells, picking off any meat they may still have on them. Discard shells. Add the thyme and seafood seasoning. Process until very smooth with a hand blender. Simmer at a low temperature.
4. Melt in a saucepan 6 TB of butter, stir in the flour till smooth, then add the half and half stirring constantly until very smooth. Add to the stock with the chopped lobster meat and heat through. Add remaining seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with fresh romano cheese sprinkled on top. Enjoy!
This is obviously soup for a special occasion since it is expensive! I had to make up a lobster bisque recipe after having and craving it from an expensive restaurant lately. It drew rave reviews from the company at our recent dinner party! They loved it! Dad wants me to sell it and make millions! Right!

I know many of you have heard me talk about my "martha stewart" friend Alisha. She is an amazing baker. This is one of her recipes. I took it to a party a few weeks ago and we sat around, eating them and pretty much crying (out of joy for our mouths:).

They are: Divine Chocolate Cake with Almond Butter Frosting

Warning: they are NOT lowfat! However, it isn’t quite as bad as it looks b/c the recipe is really

1 ½ times a normal one (it makes a 9 inch cake AND 12 cupcakes or 36 cupcakes). Enjoy!

Cake
3 sticks butter
1 cup dutch process cocoa
2 ½ cups flour
2 ¼ tsp bak soda
¼ tsp salt
2 ¾ cup brown sugar
6 eggs, room temp
2 cups buttermilk
1 Tb vanilla
¾ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350
In a large mixer, cream butter and sugar together till light. Add in eggs, 2 at a time, till blended. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingred: cocoa, flour, soda, salt. In another bowl, mix hot water, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Mixing on low, alternate dry ingred with wet, till just blended. Don’t over mix. Scrape into pans.

Cupcakes: bake 18 min, till set but moist.
9 inch round cake: butter, flour, bake 60 min.

Almond butter frosting:
2 sticks butter, room temp
2 tsp almond extract
1 TB milk
1 pound powd sugar.

Beat butter, add extract, mix in powd sug, add milk if needed. Frost generously.