Coconut Syrup -- Julianne Clark

If you like coconut at all, you really need to make this syrup. Carl calls it the sweet nectar of life. It's so good, you could drink this stuff. Seriously. You might want to double the recipe.

COCONUT SYRUP

7-8 Tb. butter

3/4 c. buttermilk

1 cup sugar (I usually put in 3/4 c. to make me feel better)

1/2 tsp.

1 tsp. coconut extract

Place first 3 ingred. in saucepan on medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will fizz, so give it a few minutes to settle down--the foam eventually settles. Store in the fridge--I usually heat it up a little in the microwave before using. YUM!

Christmas Casserole

1 pound Jimmy Dean sausage

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

2 slices bread, chunked

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 small can diced green chilies

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage and drain.

Beat eggs.

Beat together milk and sour cream.

Mix eggs, bread, green chilies, cheese, and milk mixture.

Fold in sausage. Add salt and pepper.

Pour into ungreased 9"x9" baking dish.

Cook uncovered for 45 minutes at 350.

Serve immediately.

I usually double the recipe and use a 9"x13" dish. The cook time increases - to an 1 hour or even 1 1/2 hours. See what works for you, your altitude, and your oven. We take this to Bear Lake and it takes longer to cook there. Also this dish is great for trips or busy mornings because it can be made ahead of time and just refrigerated until the morning.

Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of my favorite meals I have ever eaten.

Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

from Keeping Up Cookbook

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. lime juice

1 T. chili powder

1/2 t. garlic powder

1 1/2 pounds chicken, cooked and shredded

Stir together honey, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder until combined. Add chicken and let sit in marinade for at least 30 minutes.

2 (10-oz.) cans green enchilada sauce

1 cup half and half

flour tortillas - (we love to cook our own from Costco)

shredded colby jack cheese

Mix enchilada sauce with half and half. Spread roughly 3/4 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Fill flour tortillas with marinated chicken and shredded cheese, roll-up, then place side-by-side in baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with more cheese. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Awesome French Toast Casserole and Buttermilk Syrup

This is an awesome breakfast!! One of the best parts is that you make it the day ahead and pop it in the oven in the morning. The worst part = I hate cutting/touching cream cheese, but I love eating it. It is good with regular syrup, but AMAZING with buttermilk syrup (which by the way, would make anything smothered in it amazing. I'm just saying.)

French Toast Casserole

from Keeping Up Cookbook

10 slices of French Bread, crusts removed (I like Country French Bread in the bakery)

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, cut into small cubes

12 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 t. cinnamon, more for sprinkling on top

1/2 t. salt

Cut bread into cubes or strips. Layer bread and cream cheese cubes in a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Whisk together eggs, milk, syrup, cinnamon and salt. Slowly pour egg mixture over bread and sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight. Bake uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until casserole is puffed and center is set. Slice and serve hot with buttermilk syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup

from Our Best Bites cookbook

3/4 c. buttermilk

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 cup real butter (no substitutions - why would you want to?)

2 T. corn syrup

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla

1. Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a 4-quart pan. (It will grow, so it needs to be a big pan.)

2. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to low(ish) - just make sure it's still bubbling. Cook, stirring very frequently, for 7-9 minutes or until the syrup reaches a rich golden brown. (I doubled the recipe for YWs and it took about 15 minutes.) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

3. Put on any breakfast food, muffin, fruit, ice cream, cake, dessert, or licked off a spoon. Yummy!

Marshmallow Fondant

(I just cut and pasted this from a blog I StubbledOn. I think it looks awesome! I think the kids would like to help with it. Oh, marshamallows - what can't you do?)

How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

Marshmallow fondant is easy to make and pretty fun to use. You can cover cakes and cookies with it to give them a smooth professional-looking finish or you can cut out shapes and designs to decorate your icing with. Its cheaper to make your own fondant than it is to buy it pre-made plus the pre-made stuff tastes a bit like cardboard unless you are willing to pay for a very high end product.

All you need is:

1. Marshmallows - they can be big marshmallows or mini ones, either one works fine.
2. Icing sugar - You'll be mixing the icing sugar into the marshmallows to make a dough so I usually make sure that I have an entire bag on hand.. but I rarely use the whole bag.
3. Food colouring
4. Flavoring oil - This is optional. If you don't add this your fondant will be sweet and flavorless which works well if your got all the flavors your want in your cake already

This time I decided to make it with those mini fruit flavored marshmallows. I had to sort them by colour first. I figured they would add a little bit of flavor to the fondant so I wouldn't have to add much flavoring oil.

I use gel colours to dye my fondant but regular food colouring will work too. You won't be able to get really dark colours without making your fondant sticky, but for lighter colours you can just even it out with more icing sugar.

I also had lemon oil and coconut flavoring on hand.. oh la la the value brand (which still works fine).

Step One:

Take a couple of handfuls of marshmallows and put them in a microwave safe bowl. Add a couple of drops of water and toss the marshmallows in it until they are all a bit damp. If you are going to just make one colour then put the whole bag of marshmallows in the bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of water. If you're going to put flavoring oil in, add it now and add less water

I like to make smaller batches because its easier to add the colour to the melted marshmallow than it is to work the colour into the fondant later.

Step Two:

Stick the marshmallows in the microwave for ten seconds at a time until the are puffed up and easily stir into a goo with a wooden spoon. Tip: Grease your spoon with butter, things can get a bit sticky.

Step Three:

Add food colouring to the melted marshmallows until you get the colour you want. Remember that you're going to be adding icing sugar which will lighten the colour so make it a bit brighter than you need.

Step Four:

Start folding icing sugar into the marshmallow goo until it becomes a soft and fluffy dough. Grease your hands with a bit of butter and turn the marshmallow out onto a table sprinkled with icing sugar. Continue to knead in icing sugar until the fondant is stiff enough to roll out.

If you add too little icing sugar the fondant will be very sticky- Just add more icing sugar

If you add too much icing sugar the fondant will be very stiff and hard to roll out - knead in a little bit of butter

Fondant with the icing sugar kneaded in.

Finished fondant!

For this batch of colours I made larger batches of lighter colours and then worked some extra gel colouring into the already made fondant to make smaller batches of darker colours. The dark purple and dark green were made from the a light pink and light green.

All you need to do is knead the gel colour in.. it takes a while to get it all mixed in which is why I only do it for smaller batches.

To store your fondant wrap them in pieces of lightly greased plastic wrap and keep them either in a big ziplock bag or a tupperware container. The fondant is essentially a sugar paste (its just marshmallows and icing sugar) so it has a shelf life of three or four months. If it feels a bit stiff and hard to use after being stored for a long time you can soften it up by kneading a bit of butter in or putting in the microwave one-two seconds at a time.

Now its ready to roll out and use to decorate your cakes and cookies!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies -- Amber Williams

** These are my new favorite cookies! So yummy!! I have had them for breakfast everyday since I made them. I didn't add the peppermint extract to the dough - I think the kisses give it just the hint of mint it needs.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening

1/2 c. real butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

optional: 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife

1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips

48 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Meanwhile, combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the centers are set but still soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Top each cookie with an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss. Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden. If necessary, after the cookies have cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.

Cranberry Relish -- Gretel Sampson

1 12oz package fresh cranberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 jalapeno, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1-2 T fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp cumin

Chop the cranberries, pepper and onions. Add the other ingredients and serve over cream cheese with crackers.

(I mixed mine in the food processor... it chopped and blended everything perfectly.)

Hot Corn Dip -- Megan Archibald

Hot Corn Dip

· 1 (15 ¼ oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

· 2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chilies, drained

· ½ C. chopped sweet red pepper

· 1 C. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

· 2 Tbsp. chopped jalapeno pepper

· 1 C. mayonnaise (not light or low fat)

· ½ C. grated Parmesan cheese

· 2 Tbsp. sliced olives

· Tortilla chips

In a bowl, combine the corn, chilies, red pepper, Monterey Jack cheese, and Jalapeno pepper. Stir in mayonnaise and parmesan cheese. Transfer to an ungreased 2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with olives. Serve with tortilla chips. Yield: about 3 cups.

Magnolia's Famous Banana Pudding -- Erin Massey

Magnolia's Famous Banana Pudding

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 1/2 cups ice cold water

• 1 (3.4-ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (preferably Jell-O brand)

• 3 cups heavy cream

• 1 (12-ounce) box Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutions!)

• 4 cups sliced ripe bananas

1. In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.

2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

3. To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5-quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours - or up to 8 hours, but no longer! - before serving.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn -- Amber Williams

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Recipe by Our Best Bites

16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn)

1 lb Almond Bark

1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!)

2 tea. peppermint extract, or a few drops of peppermint oil

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

*one bag microwave popcorn has about 10 cups in it, so if you're air-popping, do about 20 cups.

Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.

Unwrapping the candy canes to crush them is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. I put my candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin.

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. I just break it up and put it in a glass measuring cup and microwave on 1 min intervals until it's nice and smooth.

When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. (I think next time I will use less peppermint extract - it seemed more minty than neccessary.) It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. If you use a peppermint oil it shouldn't seize at all, just make sure to only use a few drops as oil is stronger than extract. Pour over popcorn and candycanes.

Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer and leave it alone!

While the popcorn is setting, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. I really like dark chocolate to counter-balance the sweetness of the almond bark, but I know there's a lot of dark haters, so do what you want!

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off.

Nanaimo Bars -- Gretel Sampson

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (optional- I didn't use)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons custard powder (I couldn't find this, online I found that you can substitute vanilla pudding powder)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate
• 1 teaspoon butter

Directions

1. In the top of a double boiler, combine 1/2 cup butter, white sugar and cocoa powder. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Beat in the egg, stirring until thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut and almonds (if you like). Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8 inch pan.
2. For the middle layer, cream together 1/2 cup butter, heavy cream and custard powder until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Chill to set.
3. While the second layer is chilling, melt the semisweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons butter together in the microwave or over low heat. Spread over the chilled bars. Let the chocolate set before cutting into squares.

Prosciutto Basil Wrapped Dates -- Shirley Morris

Prosciutto Basil wrapped Dates

Dried dates halved and pitted (bigger the better)
Goat cheese (small package)
Fresh basil leaves
Prosciutto cut into strips
toothpicks

Spoon goat cheese into each date half.
(If dates are smaller close two halves together.
For larger dates wrap halves individually.)
Wrap with basil leaf or half a leaf if the leaf is large.
Wrap a strip of prosciutto over basil.
Stick with toothpick to hold in place.
Broil on low 10 minutes.

Chicken and Couscous Salad -- Misha Bradford

Chicken and Couscous Salad

(Cooking Light, MAY 2004)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

Salad:

1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 c uncooked couscous

1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken (about 6 ounces) (using rotisserie or leftover chicken makes this recipe super fast & easy)

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/2 cup diced radishes (about 3-4 large)

1/2 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Dressing:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation

To prepare salad, bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Spoon couscous into a large bowl; cool slightly. Add chicken, onions, radishes, cucumber, parsley, pine nuts and dressing; toss gently to combine.

Berry Almond Cream Chocolate Cake -- Suzanne Kingsford

Berry Almond Cream Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
Devil's Food cake mix
1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1/4 (or more to taste) powdered sugar
1 t. pure almond extract
1-2 c fresh berries - raspberries, strawberries, blackberries

Make cake according to mix but after mixing, add chocolate chips. Pour into 2 9" round cake pans or one 12" round pan. Bake according to package until done all the way through. (12" round is usually about the same as a 9X13 pan.) Once done, let sit in the pan for about 10 min and then invert onto a cooling rack. While cooling, make Almond cream. Mix whipping cream until almost set. Add powdered sugar and almond extract and beat until at a spreadable consistency. Top with berries going around the cake starting on the outside and work into the middle. For strawberries, cut into 1/4 pieces and add onto cake with points going toward the center.

This cake is super easy and looks fancy.

Lemon Chicken -- Rebecca Anderson

Lemon Chicken

from Favorites Cookbook

1 lb. chicken breasts
flour
lemon pepper
butter
freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pound chicken, roll it in flour and place it in buttered skillet. Sprinkle it generously with lemon pepper. Cook on both sides until done on medium heat. Reduce heat to low then make a glaze with butter and lemon. Serve with white or brown rice. It's also good with salmon or trout.

Easy Frozen Key Lime Pie & Easy Oatmeal Pie Crust-- Julianne Clark

Easy Frozen Key Lime Pie

4 limes

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy or reg. whipping cream, whipped

Whipped cream and lime slices for garnish (opt.)

From limes, grate 1 Tablespoon peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In large bowl with wire whisk, stir swetened condensed milk, lime peel and lime juice until blended; set aside. In small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into lime mixture, 1/3 at a time. Pour filling into cool crust. Freeze at least 3 hours, or until firm. If not serving pie same day, wrap frozen pie with plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 week. To serve, garnish pie with whipped cream and lime slices.

Easy Oatmeal Pie Crust

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

1/2 c. chopped nuts (opt.--I usually do walnuts or pecans)

Mix oats, brown sugar, melted butter and opt. nuts together. Press into a pie pan or square cake pan. Doesn't need cooking or chilling (I do chill it for this pie, though.) Use whenever you might use a graham cracker crust. It is soooo good!

Derby Pie -- Kristin Bryant

Derby Pie
1/2 C butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
a cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
*9-in unbaked pie crust

Mix the ingredients together and pour it into a 9-in unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until center is set. Serve warm with ice cream for a yummy treat! For real Kentucky Derby Pie . . .add a couple of Tablespoons of Kentucky Bourbon.

Caramels -- Andrea Fredrick

CHRISTMAS CARAMELS

This is my Nana Jackson's recipe. We make them every Christmas. We've given them as neighbor gifts, sent them to missionaries and enjoyed eating the edges when we wrap them. These are one of my favorite Christmas traditions....

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups regular whipping cream (NOT Heavy whipping cream)
2 cups white sugar
2 cups white corn syrup
pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix sweetened condensed milk and whipping cream together in a double boiler, placed over a pan of about 2-3 inches of boiling water. Prepare a 10 x 13" glass pan by greasing the bottom and sides with about 1 Tablespoon of softened butter. Set aside.

In a large heavy pot, stir together sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook on medium heat until boiling. Add 1/2 cup of the cream mixture to the syrup mixture and stir well. Continue adding 1/2 cups of cream every 3-5 minutes, stirring often. This process will take about 30-40 minutes. Caramels will begin to deepen in color and thicken in consistency. When all the cream has been added, measure caramel temperature with a candy thermometer and cook until caramels reach 236-237*** (SEE NOTE BELOW) degrees (but not to soft ball stage). To check, you can take the caramels off the heat and drop a ball of caramel into a cup of cool water to check consistency. If it's still too sticky and soft, continue cooking a little longer, but be careful not to go past the soft ball stage, or caramels will be hard. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tsp. vanilla. Pour into buttered pan, but don't scrape the edges of the pan too much. Scrape the caramel that sticks to the sides of the pan with a spatula into a small bowl, because this tends to be harder than the rest of the caramel. (This is great to give the kids spoonfuls, when cooled:-). Let caramels set for 10-12 hours, then cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper. Makes about 100.

***We've lived at sea level and I had to cook them to 250° there. Now we're at 5200 feet and I only need to cook them to 233°. If, for some reason, your set caramels still seem too soft, you can put them back into a pan and re-heat them to 237 degrees. I've only had to do this once, but it works☺

Egg-Hashbrown Casserole -- Katie Dunn

Egg-Hashbrown Casserole

List of ingredients:
1/2 cube of butter
1 large 30 oz. frozen hashbrown bag
8 oz. cheddar chees
8 oz. monterey jack with jalapeno cheese
3/4 lb. ham or precooked bacon
5 eggs
1 cup of milk
Optional: sour cream and salsa to serve with casserole

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Melt 1/2 cube of butter in 9x13 pan
Add 1 large 30 oz. hashbrowns bag (frozen section)
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes breaking up hashbrowns occationally
Mix 8oz. cheddar cheese grated,
8 oz. Monterey Jack with Jalapeno grated,
3/4 lb. ham cubed or pre-cooked bacon cut into small squares
Mix seperately 5 eggs, and 1 cup of milk together
Put ham and cheese over hashbrowns. Then POUR milk and egg mixture over all. Do not mix.
Bake 375 degrees for 40 minutes loosely covered with foil.
Serve with sour cream and salsa or plain.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder - Shirley Morris

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder -- Shirley Morris

1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 1 - 12.5 oz can of chicken

½ cup chopped onion or 1 tsp. of onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

3 Tbsp. butter

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup hot water

1 tsp. ground cumin

2 cups half and half

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or 1 cup of Mozzarella

1 (15 oz.) can creamed corn

1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies

¼ tsp. hot sauce (Tabasco)

1 bag tortilla chips

In large saucepan, brown chicken, onion, garlic, and butter. Dissolve bouillon in hot water and add to chicken. Then add cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until cheese melts. To make ahead - Pour into a freezer bag and freeze.