1 loaf French bread
4 tbsp butter, softened
2 cloves garlic, chopped or 2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shreded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Cut bread in half lengthwise. Place, cut sides up, in shallow baking pan. Mix butter and garlic until well blended. Spread evenly onto bread halves. sprinkle with cheese.
Bake 15 min or until cheese is melted. Cut each bread half crosswise into 6 slices. Serve warm.
Talk about scrumptious! This is just awesome and so easy.
1 pkg yellow cake mix (2 layer Duncan Hines)
2 cups cold milk
1 1/4 cups water
2 pkg (4-serving size each) Jello Lemon Flavor instant Pudding & PIe filling
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tables powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Pour batter into greased 13×9 baking dish.
Pour Milk and water into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes and granulated sugar. Beat with wire whisk 2 min or until well blended. Pour over cake batter in dish. Place baking dish on baking sheet to catch drippins, as mixture does bubble.
Bake 55 min to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 min. Mixture will thicken slightly as it cools. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Spoon onto serving dishes. Serve warm; garnish with raspberries if desired and whipping cream.
There’s no need to reheat leftovers. This cake is also delicious as a cold treat. The lemon filling transforms from sauce and gooey to thick and custard-like. Yum….
It appears that everybody around me is getting or has gotten a new car in the last 2 weeks. Randy and I have been looking for a month, but have just not made up our minds on the type, style and color we really want. If we find the style and make, we cannot find the right color, and if we find the right color, it is the wrong model. So we continue to search car lots, computer and basically anyting that has the word “new car” attached to it. Our daughter and her husband came by on Saturday with a new car. They have entered the world of “minivans” since they seem to have several children always at their house, besides their own. They were so excited to show us all the bells, whistles and how the doors opened and closed with the touch of a button, how you can lay down the seats to create more floor space and all 17 drink holders which will be used for trash, I’m sure, as I have had these same kids in our car and am always having to dig bent straws, chewing gum, old M&M’s, show tickets, price tags off toys that they couldn’t wait to open. Well, you get the idea. So now they will just have more spaces to hid “kid trash”. But they are so excited, rubbing their hands over the new clean smooth seats and vowing never to let the kids eat in the car. We have bets on how long this rule will actually last, one week, one weekend? Will keep you updated on that. Anyway, as they were showing us the “upholstery” we quickly remembered when we lived in California and Jodi was in the market for a car. She was gainfully employed and asked Randy if he would go with her to look at cars. She had her budget and knew pretty much what kind of car she wanted. So one Saturday, off they went. I kept Jaden with me at home, just knowing that they would come home with a new car for her and Jaden.
When they walked in the door, I could see that their mission had been accomplished. But……..there was a story to be told. As they had gone for a test drive in one of the cars, Jodi commented how well she liked that car to Randy and begain to ask about the resale value and questions in general. When they were sitting in the car, waiting for the salesman to go ask his manager about the “best deal” he could give them, Randy begain to show Jodi some of the details of the car, one that she hadn’t noticed. “Randy, this is really nice gray color upholstery in this car, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is, in fact, Jodi, this is actually the upscale mouse fur that is shaved very close and the reason this car costs a little more is how many mice they had to use to create all the interior of this car. See the nice smooth texture and the color is all the same.” Jodi then proceeds to ask him, “how many mice do you think it took to cover all the seats and door sides?” Well, we can ask the salesman when he comes back, maybe he will know. So when the salesman came back to the car, she proceeded to ask him if he knew how many mice it took to cover the inside of the car? You can imagine the look on his face. Randy just could not hold it any longer. He begain to laugh until he cried.
So from that point on, we always ask, when buying a car, “I wonder how many mice it took to cover all the seats and doors?” before we buy. After all, we want to be sure to get the “royal mouse fur”, nut just any common mouse fur for us! No siree! Will keep you posted if we join the ranks of the new car owners. Until then, every day, something else breaks on my car, today, the sun roof wouldn’t close, the other day, the back door will not open at all. So I guess the positive is, when you are on the right side of the car and wanting in, since the door won’t work, just climb in through the sun roof. At least, that will be Randy’s thought.
Buy cubed steak (this is much more tender than just buying round steak and having to pound it tender)
Mix 1 egg with 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour mixed with 3 teas garlic powder, 1 teas dried parsley, salt and pper
Cut steak into small pieces, as this makes it easier to work with. I cut each piece into the size of 3 to 4 bite sizes. Dip each piece into egg mixture and then into flour mixture, being sure that each piece is covered well with flour. Do this until you have coated each piece of steak and layed it out to dry while finishing the entire package.
When finised coating the steak, bring about 1 cup of oil in a large skillet to sizzling. With a fork, lay pieces of steak, not touching another piece into skillet. Brown well on each side and lay out on a plate, which you have covered in paper towels. Continue till all steak pieces are browned on both sides.
In the remaining oil, lower heat to low and slice 1/2 onion into pan drippings. Stir continually so it won’t burn. Add about 1/3 cup flour, sprinkling it over the onion/drippings mixture. Sprinkle more salt and pepper to taste and add 1 can of beef broth and stir until thicken. I usually add 1/2 can of French Onion soup mixture also. If this mixture is not think enough, add cornstarch mixture of 1/2 cup water which you have stirred in 1 tables cornstarch, to the broth mixture stirring constantly (use a whip if needed).
Layer steak into a greased dutch oven and pour broth mixture over meat. Bake in 350 preheated oven for 45 min. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and fried okra, green beans and sliced tomatoes.
Good morning to each of you! I just received a call from my daughter, Jodi. When I asked her what she was up to this morning, she told me, “chasing Caleb (her one year old, who began walking at 10 months) around” She told me that she was just waiting for his next nap so she could get something done. She said, “in fact mom, some people live from pay check to pay check, I live from Caleb’s nap to Caleb nap.” Then she yelled, “gotta go, he just broke a glass lid”j. I am loving this, she is getting paid back every single thing she ever did to us. And…….Caleb is only one, next month. God is Good……..
Now, I need to tell you about last night. We did have chicken fried steak and I think it was the best we have ever had (not to toot my own horn) but I made the Paula Dean recipe and it was just amazing. Will post it this afternoon, but gotta go celebrate a friends birthday. Have a wonderful Friday!
, softened extractPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread coconut on a baking sheet, then toast in oven until golden. Remove from oven and place in a bowl, reserving about a handful of toasted coconut separately. Generously butter a 9-inch pie pan. Toss toasted coconut with melted butter until coconut is well coated. Press coconut butter mixture into buttered pie pan to form a crust. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. In a double boiler or a microwave, melt the chocolate. Let cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat in egg yolks 1 at a time. Add cooled chocolate, blending well.
In a large chilled bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and glossy. Add remaining brown sugar to egg whites, and beat well. Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the sugared egg whites. Fold in the chilled whipped cream. Pour into coconut crust. Sprinkle the reserved toasted coconut over the top of the pie and chill overnight.
3/4 pound green beans
2 tables olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
2 tables cider vinegar
1 teas sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Place green beans in a steamer basket set over a large saucepan of boiling water. Steam until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 mins.
In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Add the shallot and cook over high heat, stirring until softened, about 2 mins. Add the vinegar and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the beans. Season with salt and pepper, toss well and serve.
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teas celery salt
1/2 teas garlic salt
1/2 teas cayenne pepper
4 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs, lightly pounded*(I use 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which I have pounded slightly between two sheets of waxed paper)
1/2 cup oil
Place a rimmed nonstick baking sheet on the lower rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450. Put the beaten eggs, panko and flour in 3 seperate bowls. Season the flour with the celery salt, garlic and cayenne. Dust the chicken with the flour, then dip in the egg and finally in the pank, pressing to help the bread crumbs adhere.
Pour the canola oil onto the preheated baking sheet. Carefully dip the chicken in the oil, being sure to coat both sides evenly, and set them on the baking sheet. Bake for about 20 to 25 min until they are golden brown and crispy. Turn halfway through and drain on paper towels before serving.
This is a great way to have your “fried chiken taste” without all the oil normally used to make the chicken crispy. Serve with a fresh salad and Sweet and Sour Green Beans, which I am putting on the blog in a minute. They are so good and good for you. Great taste and low calorie.
A dear friend of mine gave me a new Southern Living Cookbook for my birthday and every recipe in it is “chocolate”. So since friends are coming over tonight for dinner, I decided to make the “chocolate Velvet Pound Cake”. Randy and I both had to slice into it while it was still hot and it is so velvety and yummy, I can’t even begin to tell you. The recipe for it is:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips melted
1 stick of butter, softened
3 eggs
1 8 oz container of sour cream
2 cups flour
1 16 oz box of light brown sugar
2 teas vanilla
1 teas baking soda
1/4 teas salt
1 cup boiling water
Melt the chocolate chps. Beat the butter and brown sugar until well blended, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time beating just until blended with the sugar mixture. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and blend well. Add the baking soda and salt to the flour and stir. Add flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Gradually, at low speed, mix in the boiling water. Pour into a 10 cup greased bundth pan and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. Turn onto cake plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
I am serving mine tonight with caramel or hot fudge sauce and ice cream. It is so moise, you will love it. All too easy!
Chocolate Castles 