Chocolate Buttercream

Serves: 3 cups

A simple recipe for classic chocolate buttercream frosting. Perfect for frosting cakes, cookies, brownies, or cupcakes.

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions
Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Stir Fry Beef and Broccoli

1 cup or 1 steak lean tender beef sliced into strips
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 finely chopped clove of garlic
2 T. oil
2 cups broccoli
1 can mushroom pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup beef stock
1/4 cup peanuts
1/2 cup green onions (about 6)

Toss beef in mixture of cornstarch and soy sauce. Stir fry 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic in oil; add beef. Stir fry beef to degree of doneness desired and remove from pan. In same wok, bring broccoli and mushrooms to boil with 1/2 tsp salt, stock, peanuts and green onions. Cover wok, reduce heat and cook 3-5 minutes. Return beef to wok and cook briefly together.

For flavorful variation use celery in place of broccoli.

Sandy's Orange Jello Salad

Cook until Thick:
1 3-ounce box cook and serve vanilla pudding
1 3-ounce box cook and serve tapioca pudding
1 3-ounce box orange jello
2 cups water

When cook add:
1 can mandarin oranges
1 can pineapple
2 bananas, sliced
1 carton 8 ounce cool whip

Makes a large jello salad.

Cinnamon Rolls

from Tonya Ferrin

2 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. yeast
6 cups flour (more or less)

2 pounds brown sugar
2-3 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped (optional)

1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup milk

1. Add hot water into mixing bowl with kneading hooks. Add (in this order): powdered milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, 4 cups flour, and yeast. Beat for a few minutes.
2. Add an additional 2 cups flour. Slowly add flour until dough slightly pulls away from bowl (want as sticky as possible, while still handleable).
3. Turn on high and knead for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl that has been coated with pam. Cover and let rise until doubles in size (about 20-30 minutes).

***While dough is rising, prepare filling***
4. in a quart size pan, add brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Melt and stir. Add pecans if desired. Keep warm on low heat to maintain spreadability.
5. Roll out half of the dough at a time on a floured board. Roll into a rectangle, spread with half the filling, and roll. Slice into approximately 1" portions.
6. Arrange in pan and allow to rise until double in size. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375*
7. While baking make the icing. In a mixer combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1/4 cup milk. Add enough milk to make the icing easy to spread.
8. Let cinnamon rolls cool for 5 minutes before icing.

Salad with Swiss

Salad we had at Marci's
For the Salad:
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head ice burg lettuce (or 2 heads red leaf)
1 bunch spinach (or 2/3 bag pre-packaged spinach is easier)
3/4 lb. swiss cheese (grated)
1/2 of a purple onion (chopped)
1 small can mandarine orange (drained)
1/2 lb. bacon (cooked and crumbled) If you have to you can use "real bacon bits" but cooking and crumbling your own bacon is yummier
approx.
1 cup sliced red grapes (You can use as many or as few as you want)
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup sugar

For the Dressing:
3/4 TBS poppy seeds
1/3 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 TBS mustard
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup grated onion


Cook almonds in sugar over medium heat until sugar is melted. Stir constantly and don't scorch the sugar.
Cut chop and toss everything together.
Blend or shake dressing. Toss in dressing right before serving.

Oven Chicken and Linguine

from Grandma Jean

1/2 cup butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
8 chicken thighs (2 1/2 pounds), rinsed and dried (I use breasts)
8 ounces linguine or spaghetti (or angel hair)
Boiling salted water
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste
1 small unpeeled orange, quartered

Melt butter in a 10 x 15 rimmed baking dish or pan in a 400 degree
oven, remove pan from oven. Stir onion, garlic, basil and pepper into butter.
Place chicken in the butter mixture, then turn over. Bake, uncovered,
until meat near bone is no longer pink when slashed, about 45 minutes.

Ten minutes prior to removing chicken from oven, cook linguine
in boiling, salted water until al dente (about 13 minutes). Drain. When
chicken is done, lift from pan and keep warm. Add pasta and cheese
and toss and lift with two forks to mix well. Season to taste with salt.

To serve, mound a portion of the pasta mixture on each of four plates.
Flank with two pieces of chicken and an orange wedge. Before
eating, squeeze orange over chicken and pasta. Serves four.

Angel Chicken Pasta

from Grandma Jean

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 T. butter
1 7-oz pkg. dry Italian salad dressing
1/2 cup water
1 can cream of mushroom
1 4-oz pkg. cream cheese or sour cream
1 16-oz pkg. angel hair pasta

In a large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add pkg of dressing. Blend in water and mushroom soup. Blend in cream cheese and stir until smooth. Heat through gently.
Arrange chicken in a large dish and pour sauce over. Bake in a preheated 325* oven for 60 minutes. Cook noodles. Serve chicken over warm angel hair pasta.