get ready to GO GREEN!

MARCH COOKIN NIGHT

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

6:30PM

THEME: GO GREEN

*BRING A RECIPE THAT CONTAINS SOMETHING GREEN*

PARTY TIME

Fun times at our January Cookin Night! What a turn out! We had 20 chicks come to share and sample Party Foods.

I will post pics and recipes that have been emailed to me and as more recipes come in they will be posted as well. Thanks for coming and sharing.

Sticky Carmel Corn

1 1/2 c pop corn--popped and salted and place in a large bowl...1 cube butter--place in a 3 qt. or bigger pan and melt...then add2 cups Karo syrup,2 cups brown sugar & bring to a boil...take off heat, stir in 1 tsp. baking soda and stir well... Mixture will puff up, pour over popcorn and stir until well coated. Serve sticky...Bev's addition...if you want to make it more crunchy spread out on cookie sheets bake at 275 and stir every 15 minutes for about an hour...

GOLDEN GRAHAM TREATS

1 BOX GOLDEN GRAHAMS
1 BOX CORN CHEX
3 CUPS COCONUT
2 CUPS CHOPPED PECANS
MIX 3 CUPS BUTTER, 2 CUPS WHITE CORN SYRUP AND 2 CUPS SUGAR. HEAT UNTIL ALL IS MELTED AND TOSS WITH THE CEREALS. ENJOY!!

BACON WRAPPED SMOKIES

There really are not measurements to this recipe. You use how ever many smokies you want.

Wrap each lil' smokie in a half a piece of bacon. I cut a pack of bacon down the middle when I opened the package. Secure with a toothpick. Place all the wrapped smokies in a baking pan and sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar on each one. Bake at 350 for 45 min. You want the sugar caramelized and the bacon crisp.

Nibbles Bev MacKay

2 cups sugar

2 cups butter

1/2 cup white corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

2 pkg plain corn pops (from chip section of grocery store)

In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, butter, syrup and water. Stir and bring slowly to a boil. Stir constantly, add nuts and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches 265-270 degrees. (hardball stage)Remove from heat and pour quickly over corn pops. Stir quickly to coat. Break apart as it cools. Enjoy.

JANUARY COOKIN NIGHT

OUR JANUARY COOKIN NIGHT IS FAST APPROACHING.

THURSDAY, JAN. 14

6:30PM

MICHELLE'S HOUSE

THEME:

PARTY FOODS

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

Recipes From November Cookin Night

Here are some of the recipes that came from our November cookin night. Thank you Vicki, for typing them up for us. Photos can be found in the previous post.

Cranberry Chutney--Mary
1 bag (16oz) of fresh cranberries
2 apples peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup golden raisins
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c honey
1/2 c orange juice
1 tbsp. orange rind
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
walnuts--optional
1/2 c. black raspberry liqueur--optional
Combine all ingredients except liqueur in a large saucepan and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until desired consistency.Remove from heat and add liqueur if desired.(recipe from Las Vegas Review Journal)

Chocolate Balls--Suzi
3 large hershey choc bars w/almonds
1 8 oz. cool whip--frozen
vanilla wafers crushed
Using a double boiler, (or a makeshift one) melt the chocolate. Add the coolwhip and blend. Mixture will be soft and sticky. Drop by teaspoon or small cookie scoop into bowl of crushed vanilla wafers. Roll and place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate
Helpful Hints:**Don't let the chocolate get tooo hot. Just needs to be warmed**Best to use frozen cool whip**May need to shape the chocolate into balls by hand after rolling in wafers
GOOD LUCK!!!


Almond Pinecones--LeAnn
1 1/4 c whole almonds
8 oz cream cheese--softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
5 crisp bacon slices crumbled
1 tbsp. chopped green onion
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. pepper
Combine cream cheese, and mayo. Add bacon, onion, dill and pepper. Cover and chill overnight
Shape mixture into two pinecone shapes and press almonds into mixture just enough to stick, overlapping the almonds. (completely cover the outside of the pinescones) Garnish with pine sprigs

Holiday Fruit Salad--Connie and Her Mom
Beat together 2 eggs, 1/2 c sugar, 1 1/2 tsp flour and juice of one lemon. Add 1 cup of pineapple juice and cook until thick. Cool. When ready to use fold in 1 cup of whipping cream that has been beat until stiff. Salad Part:
3 bananas cut into pieces
4 slices of pineapple cut inot pieces or you can use the tidbits if not using fresh
red seedless grapes cut in half
marshmallows
dates cut into pieces
walnut pieces
Add all of this to first mixture to make the salad. Most delicious!

Thanksgiving Raspberry-Cranberry Jello--Paula
1 lg. pkg cherry jello
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce (crush with a fork)
1 sm can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 pt. sour cream
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese--softened
1 lg. pkg raspberry jello
2 pkg. frozen raspberries ( about 16 oz. )
Dissolve cherry jello in 1 1/2 c boiling water, add cranberry sauce, and pineapple. Chill until firm. Next mix sour cream and cream cheese well with an electric mixer. Spread over chilled layer. Final layer, dissolve raspberry jello in 1 1/2 cups boiling water, stir in raspberries.Pour over sour cream/cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm. This looks nice in a jello mold, but fits better in a 9x13 pan. Great for Thanksgiving.

Red and Green Cheese Ball--Michelle
8 oz. cream cheese--softened
1/4 c mayo
1 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped fine--could substitute dried
3 chopped green onions
2 pkg. of Buddig lean Pastrami or can use lean pastrami from the deli
about 4 oz garlic
salt to taste

Holiday Recipes

The CHICKS

Bev and her cuter than ever gingerbread house.

Our November cookin night was so much fun! We had a pretty good group there this month..about 16 chicks. Bev showed us her gingerbread house making skills. She made it look soooo easy. The night before, her husband even decorated one....a redneck gingerbread single wide trailer. It was the best. Many shared some family recipes that were very close to them. Connie lost her mom last month to cancer and she shared a recipe that her mom always made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She even brought a picture of her mom to show. The cheese balls were a hit as well. It really got us excited for the holidays...everyone wanted to go home and set up their Christmas tree when the night was done. I will post the recipes that were emailed in, that saves me from having to type them on the blog. If your recipe is not here, email it to us so I can post it.

Bev's husband's redneck house.

Connie with a picture of her mom and her fruit salad.

Le Ann made this cheese ball shaped like pine cones...it was not only cute but yummy too!

Annette made some delicious pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. That's what I call holiday tastes!

Susie made some melt in your mouth chocolate balls....so sweet and so good.

Michelle, describing her delicious cheese ball.

Mary shared a Cranberry Chutney. It was full of fresh fruit and the smells of the holidays.

Vicki also made a cheese ball. All the cheese balls had different flavors and they were all delicious.

One of our chicks, Donna, could not be there, but she sent her peanut brittle and her recipe. This candy always reminds me of Christmas.

Dixie Peanut Brittle
2 C Sugar
1 C light Corn Syrup (Karo)
½ C Water
1 pkg 16 oz RAW Peanuts
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Butter or Margarine
1 tsp Vanilla
Candy Thermometer (a must!!!)
Heavily butter a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in heavy sauce pan. Cook slowly; stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook to soft ball stage (240 degrees – about 30 minutes).
Add peanuts and salt. Cook to hard ball stage (295-300 degrees). Stir constantly. DO NOT ALLOW MIXTURE TO BOIL OVER.
Remove from heat. Add baking soda, butter and vanilla. (Mixture will bubble) Stir completely.
Pour mixture evenly on cookie sheet. Spread as evenly as possible. Work quickly – mixture is hot. Once spread, soak sauce pan. (This will save you a lot of scrubbing.) When completely cool, break into pieces. Store covered.
Note: Buy your peanuts early. They only come out once a year and go quickly. I start looking for them in October. I buy my supply and put them in the refrigerator. Walmart usually has them in their Baking Aisle.
This is my Mother’s recipe and she has made this since I was a child.

The following cheese ball recipe is from Vicki--

Sharp Cheese Ball

12 oz. cream cheese softened

1 jar old english cheese spread

2 tbsp minced onion, 1/4 tsp coarse grind pepper, 1/4 tsp salt,

1/3 c. blue cheese salad dressing

Mix together, shape into cheese ball, refrigerate. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

NOVEMBER COOKIN NIGHT

Hello Cookin' Chicks!

Mark your calendar! Tuesday, Nov. 10th, 6:30pm, at Michelle's home.

Our theme is "Holiday" cooking and baking, and our demonstration will be Gingerbread Houses. We Chicks are waiting to sample all of your Yummy recipes and add them to our books! You are welcome to bring more than 1 dish if you wish. We know that you all have some delicious idea's to share.

Don't forget to invite all your chick friends too. The more, the merrier!

Don't forget to bring copies of your recipes to share or you can email them to us so we can post them on our blog.

give me 5 of fewer

Even though our numbers seem to be getting less and less...we are still having a great time getting together and sharing good company and recipes. This month our theme was recipes with 5 ingredients or less. Some of us cheated a bit and had a few more ingredients but the recipes were delicious as usual!

Vicki made apple dip. This is a recipe that is so fitting for this time of year!

1 c. brown sugar

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese--softened

1/2 bag Heath toffee Bits

Put into a bowl and mix together. Serve with sliced apples.

Michelle made something that she said did not really have a name, so we dubbed it Sammie's Shepherds Pie. She also did not type up the recipe but it is basically layered with green beans, ground beef (browned) and seasoned with taco seasoning, mashed potatoes and then cheese. Bake until warmed through. It was so good and also a great recipe for the fall weather.

Bev made Aunt Maggie's Rice What a great spin on a basic side dish. 1 c rice, browned in 1 TBS butter, add 1 c chopped onion after rice is browned. Add 2 cups water and 3 chicken bouillon cubes, 1 can mushrooms (sliced & drained) and a pinch of rosemary and 1/2 tsp marjoram. Cook at a simmer for 45 min with a lid on.

I (Paula) made grape salad. I got the recipe from my sister in law, Janna. It is a little different so people are always surprised at how good it is.

2 8oz pks. cream cheese (softened)

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 tbs vanilla

5-6 lbs red seedless grapes

2 cups chopped pecans (opt)

brown sugar for garnish

Beat together cr. cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Stir in grapes and pecans. Sprinkle with b. sugar just before serving. (don't mix the b. sugar in)

Connie made some rich, rich brownies! They were super simple and if you like chocolate...well, you will love these!

You will need 2 boxes of brownie mix--(the box will say family size for 9X13 pan)

3 symphony bars (6.8oz) any variety

Make one box of brownie mix according to pkg directions. Spread it into a 9X13 pan. Place the 3 candy bars on top of that. Make the 2nd box of brownies and spread that over the top of the candy bars. Bake at recommended temp for 40-50 min. It depends on what type of pan you use. (metal, glass, etc)

Cool before cutting into squares.

Suzi made a delicious crock pot chicken. This meal is a great one to put in the crock pot in the morning and have ready to eat at the end of your day.

Becky's Crock-Pot Chicken
1 bag of chicken breasts
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix (dry--by H.V. Ranch)
1 8 oz. cream cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
Put chicken, soup, and seasoning in crock pot. Cook all day on low (8 hours). Add cream cheese for the last 1/2 hour. Serve over noodles or rice.
**You can either shred, cube, or leave the chicken whole**