Creamy Lemon Bars

I just made these for a family party and, oh my, they were good. The recipe comes from ourbestbites.com. Definitely worth checking out!

(Note: instead of using lemon, I used lime. The coloring still looked like lemon because of the eggs, so next time I might add a drop or two of green food coloring to make it look more like lime. Also, I don't have a good zester, so I skipped the peel. It still was great. I also doubled the recipe, so it took about 3 limes to get 1/2 cups fresh lime juice. Enjoy!)

Creamy Lemon Bars

20 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold real butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese (you can use 1/3-less fat cream cheese)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. grated lemon peel, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (don’t even think about opening a bottle!)
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. (The foil isn’t too pretty, but it makes clean-up and cutting the bars a cinch!)

In a bowl, combine Nilla Wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup flour and the brown sugar. Chop butter into small pieces and then cut into crumb mixture with a pastry blender.

If you don’t have a pastry blender, just use 2 knives, or even your fingers to break up the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min.

While crust is cooking, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 2 Tbsp. flour, and baking powder; mix well. Blend in 1 Tbsp. lemon zest, and lemon juice and then pour mixture over crust.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until center is set. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. These bars improve with time. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining 2 Tbsp. grated lemon peel just before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftover squares in refrigerator. (As if you'll have leftovers!)

Cheese Fondue

• Fondue:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• Paprika (optional)
• Sliced green onion (optional)
• Dipper Ideas:
• Thick Pennsylvania-style pretzels
• Toasted garlic bread
• Apples or pears
• Saltine crackers
• Favorite veggies (celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers)

Directions

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour in melted butter and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk milk into flour mixture and constantly stir until mixture thickens and begins to boil.
2. Lower heat to simmer; stir in Ranch and cheese until smooth. Pour into a fondue pot and sprinkle with paprika or green onion, if desired. Serve with dippers.

Chunky Crockpot Chili

2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 16 oz. can kidney beans (drained)

1 16 oz. can black beans (drained)

1 29 oz. can tomato puree

1 can condensed beef broth

2 cups of salsa

1 14 oz. can diced tomato (undrained)

1 cup water

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. dried basil

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. A-1 sauce

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Fritos (optional)

diced green onion (optional)

shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Brown ground beef and combine with remaining ingredients in a crockpot. Cook mixture on low heat for 6 hours. Serve on top of Fritos and top with green onion and cheddar cheese.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 large sweet potatoes, boiled, drained, peeled & cubed
2 beaten eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together in a 9 X 13 pan. Bake 350° for 25 minutes.

Topping:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Grapenuts (or cornflakes or any plain cereal)

Mix together. Place on hot potatoes. Bake 10 minutes or until the marshmallows melt.

*The original recipe used canned yams then mashed and whipped them into the other ingredients so it had more of a mashed potato feel.

Flawless Focaccia Bread

This post is from my friend Marta's blog. If it's on her blog, you know it's good!


Focaccia Bread
2 hours, start to finish

2 cups warm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast (not instant)
1 Tbs. sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1-2 Tbs. Italian seasonings

Toppings.
1/2 cup butter, melted
garlic salt
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions.
1. In small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

2. Blend together remaining 1 1/2 cup warm water, dissolved yeast, sugar, flour and salt in mixer bowl. Combine well. Mix in Italian seasonings. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise to double or more (about an hour).

3. Grease a 9x13 pan. Scoop dough into prepared pan, dough will be very sticky. You'll be tempted, but don't add any extra flour. Butter your clean hands and coax the dough into all the edges of the pan.

4. Let dough rise again for 20 minutes, meanwhile preheat oven to 400. Before baking, poke indents in the focaccia with your fingers. Drizzle melted butter over the top of the bread. Sprinkle some garlic salt over the top and add a couple handfuls of Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake 20 minutes. After cooling for ten minutes, turn focaccia out on cutting board and slice into thick breadsticks. Pile them into a bread basket and serve to hungry guests.

enjoy.

banana bread

Yummy! My favorite banana bread recipe

1 cup sugar
1/2 c shortening
2 eggs
2 tsp milk
1 tsp soda disolved in 1/4 cup water

2 cups flour
pinch of salt
3 bananas

mix

cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Makes one loaf or 4 mini loafs

Potato Caserole

I've really been into one dish meals.
Here is one that I really like!

1 pkg(8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken broth
3 lbs red potatoes thinly sliced (I just had baking potatoes and they worked fine)
1 pkg (6 oz) diced ham (smoked is yummy)
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup frozen peas (I hate peas but didn't mind them in this dish)

Preheat oven to 350
spray 13x9 baking dish
mix cream cheese, sour cream and chicken broth until well blended
add potatoes, ham, and peas and 1 3/4 cups cheese
stir gently to coat all ingredients
spoon into prepared baking dish
sprinkle with remaining cheese
bake for one hour or until potatoes are tender

enjoy!