Pasta Salad -- Amber Perry

Pasta Salad

6 green onions

1 lb bacon (cooked, broken up)

1/2 lb grated swiss cheese

16 oz pasta (I used penne)

mix together and refrigerate

Whisk together:

2 C mayonnaise

1/2 C sugar

4 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Add to pasta mixture, may add vegetables such as frozen peas, broccoli, snap peas.

*I left out the bacon the night of book club. Men are much more fond of bacon than the ladies in my experience.

Cranberry - Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip -- Melissa Mills

INGREDIENTS:
12 ounces fresh cranberries
4-5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, light or regular, softened
Crackers, for serving

DIRECTIONS:
Pulse the cranberries in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped (alternately, you can do this task by hand). Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a covered bowl or tupperware and refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to overnight) so the flavors have time to develop and the cranberries lose a bit of their tartness.

When ready to serve, spread the cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate or 9-inch pie dish. Top with the cranberry-jalapeno mixture, spreading evenly over the top of the cream cheese.

Refrigerate for up to an hour before serving. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Peanut Butter Popcorn -- Shirley Morris

Peanut Butter Popcorn

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup Karo syrup

1 cup sugar

Bring ingredients to a boil.

Pour over popped popcorn.

Roasted Vegetables -- Shirley Morris

Roasted Vegetables

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch pieces
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
• 1 large red onion, peeled, halved, and cut in 1-inch wedges
• 1 lb. red or russet potatoes, cut in cubes
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 16-oz. can chick peas (garbanzos), rinsed and drained
• 2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tsp. packed brown sugar or granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. Position an oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Place all vegetables, garlic, and chickpeas in a large shallow roasting pan.

3. In a small bowl combine the oil, rosemary, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables; toss well to coat.

4. Roast, uncovered, about 45 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring twice.

Asian Grilled Salmon -- Julianne Clark

Asian Grilled Salmon (Barefoot Contessa recipe)

Found on sisterscafe.blogspot.com

1 side of fresh salmon, boned, but skin on-cut into 6 servings

(about 3 pounds) * I use frozen wild salmon from Costco—individually wrapped-skin on

For the marinade:


2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard


3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce


6 Tablespoons Olive Oil


½ tsp minced garlic

Light BBQ and brush grilling rack with oil to keep fish from sticking. (I use tin foil)

While grill is heating, prepare marinade by whisking ingredients together. Drizzle half of the marinade onto the salmon (skin side down) and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Place salmon skin-side down on the hot grill; discard the marinade the fish was sitting in. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Turn carefully with a wide spatula and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes. The salmon will be slightly raw in the center, but don’t worry, it will keep cooking as it sits.

Transfer fish to a flat plate, skin side down, and spoon the reserved marinade on top. Allow the fish to rest for 10 minutes. Remove skin and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Butternut Squash Soup -- Misha Bradford

Butternut Squash Soup

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled,

seeded, and cut into 2-inch chunks (about 7 cups)

2 T. unsalted butter

1 leek, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise, sliced thin,

and washed thoroughly (about 1 1/2 cups)

Salt and pepper

4 cups vegetable broth (Misha used chicken stock instead)

1-2 cups water

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

Pinch cayenne pepper

Sour cream

1. Place squash in bowl, cover, and microwave until paring knife glides easily through flesh, 14 to 18 minutes, stirring halfway through. Carefully trasfer squash to colander set in bowl (squash will be very hot) and drain for 5 minutes; reserve liquid.

2. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add squash, leek, and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until squash pieces begin to break down and brown fond forms in bottom of pot, 10 to 13 minutes.

3. Add 2 cups broth and scrape bottom of pot to loosen and dissolve fond. Add remaining 2 cups broth, reserved squash liquid, 1 cup water, thyme sprig, bay leaf, and cayenne. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until leeks are fully tender, 6 to 7 minutes.

4. Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Working in batches, process soup in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Return soup to clean pot and bring to simmer, thinning with up to 1 cup water to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste; serve with dollop of sour cream. (Soup can be made up to 2 days in advance.)

*** Misha roasted the squash instead of microwaving it.

Also instead of vegetable broth she used chicken stock.

She also made rosemary garlic bread croutons on top.

Oreo Truffles -- Christy Young

OREO TRUFFLES

• 1 package Double Stuffed Oreos
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened (you can use up to 8 oz., I just like this consistency better)
• Dipping chocolate

Chop Oreos up finely in a food processor. Save some of the finely crushed Oreos for garnish later and set it aside. You don't need too much.

With hands (or a spoon, I just think hands are faster), mash softened cream cheese and crushed Oreos until well combined.

Roll into 1" balls and place on a wax covered cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 15 minutes.

While balls are in freezer, melt chocolate according to directions.

Pull the Oreo Truffles out of freezer, and dip into chocolate. Garnish with reserved Oreo crumbs before the chocolate sets up.

Let chocolate set, refrigerate and enjoy!

Favorite Frosting and Filling -- Amber Williams

Perfect Cupcake Frosting

by ourbestbites.com

I will do the conversions for you to make it easier. I usually make the last one.

For filling 24 cupcakes only or frosting big tops on 12 cupcakes:

3 T all purpose flour

1/2 c. milk (whole milk is best but I have used skim and been fine)

1/2 c. real quality butter (***Land O Lakes always works best for me)

1/2 c. granulated (not powdered) sugar

1 t. vanilla, or any other flavoring you want

For frosting big tops on 24 cupcakes:

6 T. flour (1/4 c. + 2 T.)

1 c. milk

1 c. butter (2 sticks)

1 c. sugar

2 t. vanilla

For frosting big tops on 24 cupcakes PLUS filling each one with frosting:

9 T. flour (1/2 c + 1 T.)

1 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. butter (3 sticks)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 T. vanilla (sometimes I do 2 1/2 t vanilla + 1/2 t. almond extract)

Put your flour and milk in a sauce pan - I use a large flatish one that has more surface area to heat up. It makes this step go super quick. Whisk together before turning on heat. Then turn heat about to medium. Whisk continuously and it will start to thicken. This is crucial that you cook the flour enough! I keep slowly whisking (scraping the pan) until it is the consistency of nice smooth thick vanilla pudding. Then let it cool to room temp. (I let it rest on a cool burner for a few minutes then stick it in the fridge, because who wants to wait!) It needs to be cooled completely or it will kill the butter.

While it is cooling, beat the butter and sugar in a mixer with the whisk attachement, scraping sides if needed, for about 2-3 minutes until it is well combined and fluffy. Then it usually sits there until the flour/milk mixture is cooled.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, along with your vanilla. Here is the magic - beat on the highest speed you can without stuff flying out--- for like 8 minutes. It is long, but oh so worth it. After 8 minutes, the goopy mess you started with turns into velvety fluffy frosting. Stir in food coloring if you wish.

*** Important tips:

1) For some reason this frosting only works with high quality butter. NOT even Costco butter. It stays lumpy and weird. I always use Land o Lakes. Good butter is totally worth the extra dollar anyway.

2) If you beat if for 8 min and it still looks strange, try to go a minute or two longer and on a higher speed if you can. This takes a little patience!

3) Store at room temperature in a sealed container. It may separate in fridge. (I did it once and it was fine though.) Can be made a day ahead and left at room temp in well sealed container, and will still come out looking great next day.