1 yellow onion, diced

6 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons sugar

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

28 oz can Italian style diced tomatoes

1 cup water; may also use pasta water or chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes OR a pinch of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Optional: 1 lb. ground beef, pork or Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled. I use ground beef, salted.

If using meat, brown in skillet and drain on paper towel lined plate. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add garlic and oregano. Saute for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring frequently to scrape the bottom of the skillet to ensure the garlic doesn't burn. Add Italian seasoning, basil, black pepper and salt, and saute for an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant. Reduce heat to low.

Add wine and sugar. Stir to combine and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes to reduce. Add all tomatoes, water or broth, bay leaves, pepper flakes and paprika. Stir to combine, cover and simmer on low for at least an hour, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency.

Remove the bay leaves. If desired, you may add the sauce to a blender or use an immersion blender if you prefer your sauce to be smooth. This is a personal thing and completely optional. Do not blend if you prefer a chunkier sauce; I don't blend mine. 

If using meat, add cooked meat to the sauce and simmer for 2-3 minutes before serving. Serve hot over pasta. I love this sauce with ground beef over rotini pasta. 

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

salt to taste

1/2 - 3/4 cup Greek nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup grated Parmesan and Romano cheese

1 - 2 tablespoons minced garlic

onion powder to taste

Shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

chopped parsley for garnish, fresh or dried

Preheat oven to 400*. 

Cut squash width-wise and remove seeds. Brush with olive oil and salt to taste. Place squash halves cavity side down on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. 

While squash is baking, in a medium sized bowl combine yogurt,  lemon juice, garlic and onion powder if desired (I prefer it without).

In a separate small bowl mix grated cheese and bread crumbs. Add  1/4 of the cheese and bread crumb mixture to the yogurt mixture and mix well.

Once squash is tender, slice off enough of the round end of the squash so that when you turn them upright they will sit flat. Turn them upright and divide the yogurt mixture between the two squash halves, placing it into the squash cavities. Top each squash with the remaining bread crumb and grated cheese mixture. Garnish with shredded Parmesan and parsley if desired. The residual heat from the roasted squash melts all the cheeses and yogurt and the bread crumbs help meld all the flavors and juices together. Serve hot and enjoy!

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons Buffalo Wild Wings Asian Zing Sauce

1 - 2 tablespoons honey

Cook each bag of sprouts in the microwave according to package instructions, minus 1 minute of cooking time for each bag. Empty both bags of cooked sprouts into a microwave safe dish and add all remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and microwave another 1 - 2 minutes or until piping hot. Serve and enjoy! 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar (for less tang, use 1 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon-sugar mix: 

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350*. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter an sugar for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Cream for 1-2 minutes longer.

Stir in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, just until combined. 

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and ground cinnamon. 

If time allows, wrap the dough and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. 

Roll into quarter-sized balls until round and smooth. Drop into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and coat well. Using a spoon, coat for a second time, ensuring the cookie balls are completely covered. Place on prepared baking sheets.

*To make flatter snickerdoodles, you may press down in the center of the cookie balls before baking. This helps keep them from puffing up in the middle.*

Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for several minutes before removing from the pan to wire racks to cool completely. 

Store in an airtight container.

 

1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chilled, cubed butter, all purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Rub the mixture together with your fingertips until it resembles a wet, sand-like texture. 

Pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Using your hands, gently mix the dough until it comes together. Avoid over mixing to ensure a tender, melt-in-your mouth texture. Carefully roll into 10-12 equal sized balls, handling as little as possible. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated 350* oven for 12-15 minutes until bottoms are just lightly brown. The tops of the cookies should remain pale. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.

While still warm, roll the cookies in the confectioners sugar and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cookies have cooled, roll them in confectioners sugar again for a thick snowy finish. Yields 10-12 cookies. Store in air tight container.

2 - 8oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 - 7 oz. package white candy melts

1 - 24 oz. package white almond bark

Red and green colored sanding sugar or sprinkles

Instructions: 

Prepare a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the crumbled cakes and cream cheese until well combined. 

Using a small cookie scoop, portion the cream cheese/cake mixture into 1 inch balls and roll into a smooth ball. Repeat with remainder of the mixture, placing onto the paper lined cookie sheet. 

For best results, place the rolled balls in the freezer until very firm before proceeding with dipping and decorating.

Place the white candy melts and white almond bark in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir vigorously to allow the candy to continue melting with the residual heat. Return the candy to the microwave and heat in 15-second intervals, stirring well between each, until the candy mixture is smooth. If the candy is too thick for dipping, add up to 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening or coconut oil and stir well. 

Dip each ball into the white melted candy mixture, tapping on the side of the bowl to remove excess melted candy, then place dipped candy back onto the paper lined cookie sheet, decorating immediately with colored sugar or sprinkles if desired.

Place the dipped candy on the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until firm. Keep stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper.

5 carrots

24 oz. bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 small white onion, diced

64 oz. chicken broth or chicken bone broth

12 oz. can evaporated milk

4-6 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt 

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar or a cheddar blend

sliced green onion or chives for garnish if desired

Peel and dice potatoes and carrots into 1/2-1 inch cubes. Set aside. Peel and dice onion.

In a stockpot, cook bacon until crisp. Either fry slices and then crumble when cooked, or dice raw bacon and cook. Remove bacon from pot and reserve. Drain bacon drippings, leaving 1 tablespoon of bacon grease in the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the bacon drippings along with the diced onion. Saute onion until soft. Add peeled and diced potatoes and carrots to the pot, then add the chicken broth or chicken bone broth (for fuller flavor and more protein) and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Using a potato masher, smash at least half of the potatoes until smooth, leaving some chunks of potato for texture. In a cup or small bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the evaporated milk until smooth. Add to soup mixture, stirring constantly until soup returns to a boil. Continue stirring until soup thickens and reduce heat to low. 

Add garlic salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, yogurt and shredded cheese, stirring frequently to prevent the soup from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot. Add crumbled bacon and remove from heat. Serve with additional shredded cheese, sliced green onions or chives,  and/or reserve some of the bacon crumbles to add to individual portions. 

**Mom's serving suggestion: Hot garlic toast would be wonderful with this hearty soup.**

1 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage 

1/2 cup milk or water

*NOTE: Any type or combination of cheeses to equal 16 ounces may be used, including any type of cheddar, American, Swiss, Parmesan, pepper jack, etc. I do recommend using bulk cheese and grating it yourself but packaged shredded cheese is perfectly acceptable. Just be aware that the anti-caking agents added to packaged shredded cheese will make a difference in the texture of the baked sausage balls and make them a bit dryer than if you grate your own cheese. Also, in my humble opinion Jimmy*Dean bulk sausage is the best for this recipe, and I particularly like the hot sausage. But any sausage flavor works for this recipe.*

Preheat oven to 350*.

In a large mixing bowl, break up raw sausage and add remaining ingredients. Using well scrubbed hands and/or plastic gloves, mix all ingredients together until well combined and no dry mixture is seen. Roll into quarter-sized balls and place onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or foil. Bake at *350 for 20-25 minutes or until set and lightly browned on bottom. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Serve warm if possible. 

Keep refrigerated in a tightly covered container if not used immediately. To reheat, microwave in 10-second intervals until warm.

For longer storage, may be frozen by wrapping tightly in plastic wrap then placed in freezer bags or another air tight container. Thaw in the refrigerator before warming in the microwave. 

2 sticks softened real butter, not margarine or spread

2 - 8 ounce packages softened cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon extract or flavoring

3 1/2 cups self rising flour

grated lemon peel from one lemon, plus the juice

For the glaze: 

1 cup of sugar

1 1/2 cups water

grated peel from one lemon, plus the juice

1 tablespoon lemon flavoring or extract

Preheat oven to 300*.

Generously grease and flour a tube pan or 3 loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon peel and juice of one lemon, then gradually add flour until all is well combined. Spoon batter into prepared tube pan or loaf pans. If using a tube pan, don't fill more than 2/3 full as this cake rises a lot during baking but subsides as it cools. It may be necessary to grease and flour a small cake pan or loaf pan for any excess batter. 

Bake in preheated 300* oven until no longer gummy in the center and golden brown, 55-80 minutes depending on pans used. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out almost clean, but not gummy. Don't over bake; better to remove it a little early than to over bake it. Place on wire rack to cool.

Prepare glaze:

In a medium sauce pan, combine water and sugar. Stir and bring to a medium boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Add grated lemon peel, juice of 1 lemon and lemon flavoring. Stir well and pour hot glaze slowly and evenly over the still warm cake(s) and allow to cool on wire rack to room temperature.This will soak into the cake and make it moist and delectable. 

Wrap tightly in aluminum foil or place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar, more to taste

Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or flavoring, or flavoring of your choice

For optimal fluffy whipped cream, chill your bowl and beaters in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before proceeding. 

To the chilled bowl and with chilled beaters, add the whipping cream and whip on high speed for about 2 minutes, or until cream is thickened but not stiff. Pause the mixer and add the powdered sugar and flavoring if used, then whip until cream is thickened to your liking. Be aware that if you over beat the cream, it will begin to separate into butter and buttermilk, and there is no recovering from that. Use immediately or place in an airtight container for longer storage. Keep in the refrigerator.

Recipe may be increased, just keep the proportions for cream, flavoring and confectioners sugar as you increase it. 

Whipped cream made with confectioners sugar will stay stable and firm for several days at least. The cornstarch in confectioners sugar is the secret to firm, stable whipped cream.

Another variation: Add a tablespoon or more to taste of baking cocoa to the whipping cream when you add the confectioners sugar. You will also need more confectioners sugar so add more sugar to taste and continue beating until firm. 

You may also add food coloring, a drop at a time, mixing well after each addition, until you get the color you like. This works well for shower themes, etc.

1 small can chicken breast, drained

1/4 cup diced water chestnuts

1/2 cup sweet relish or to taste

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

4 boiled eggs, diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup mayonnaise or to taste

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours for best flavor and texture, but it's great immediately. Serve as a sandwich, with crackers, on lettuce cups or on wraps.

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla if desired

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the mixture evenly until about 1/4 inch or less in thickness. Cut into small rectangles, about 1 1/2 inches by 2 inch strips.This dough does not spread much, so make the cookies the thickness and size you want the finished cookies to be. Using an offset spatula or wide bladed knife, transfer to prepared baking sheets. Dock each cookie by pricking with a fork evenly 3 or 4 times down the length of the cookies.

Bake until just golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and transfer carefully onto wire racks to cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough. Dough may be refrigerated if it becomes difficult to work with. 

After cookies are completely cool, place into an airtight container for storage.

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) real butter, melted

Filling: 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup real butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, divided

Preheat oven to 350*F and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish, or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine all crust ingredients thoroughly until they form a dough. Transfer dough to the prepared baking dish and use a spatula or your hands to press into an even layer. 

Bake crust for 13-15 minutes or until just golden.

As crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, add all filling ingredients except for 1 cup of coconut saved for topping. Combine well and pour over baked crust, spreading into an even layer. Top with remaining 1 cup of coconut.

Bake for an additional 25-28 minutes or until set in the middle and coconut begins to brown. Remove pan from oven and place on a wire rack to cool before cutting.