Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking:

Balkan Marinade:
3/4 cup
For Lamb or Pork. Do not let the meat marinade for longer than 2 hours.

Crush together in a bowl:
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Wisk in:
Grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil

We cut the lamb into one inch cubes, put them in a zip top bag in the fridge and let them marinate. Once ready to cook, thread them onto soaked wood skewers. Grill about 8-12 minutes total.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 loaf Texas Toast bread (extra thick slices)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat until smooth, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture onto large jelly roll pan (18 x13 x1). Spread to cover the surface. Place 12 slices of Texas Toast bread in a single layer to cover pan. Mix together eggs, cream, salt and vanilla. Spoon mixture over each piece of bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Remove from pan and serve. If not serving immediately, turn each slice of bread over (this will prevent bread from sticking to the bottom of the pan). Makes 12 servings.

JoAnn Gordon – Warden (Retired), California Rehabilitation Center – “The Hotel California”

Seasoning:
8 ounces dry ranch dressing
7 teaspoons dill weed
7 teaspoons lemon pepper
7 teaspoons garlic pepper
7 teaspoons Pico de Gallo seasoning

Mix above ingredients together and set aside. (There will be enough seasoning for a couple of batches of snack mix and enough left over for seasoning on meat, salads, etc.)

Pre-heat oven to 350°

In a large metal baking pan, mix the following:
4 cups honey-roasted peanuts
16 ounces salty mini pretzels (or pretzel sticks)
16 ounces of Cheez-It crackers (use a mix of cheddar, white cheddar, etc)
16 ounces oyster crackers
12 ounces corn oil
6 tablespoons Seasoning (from above)

Stir well until each piece is coated. Bake in oven for 6 minutes. Remove and stir again. Bake another 6 minutes. Let cool.

Thanks Kris P!

Brownies:

1 1/2 cups Butter, melted
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
3 cups Sugar
6 Eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon Salt
2 1/4 cups Flour, sifted

Mint Frosting:

3/4 cup Butter, softened
3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Peppermint Extract
8 drops Green Food Coloring

Ganache Topping:

3/4 cup Butter
2 1/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray

Brownies:
Whisk together melted butter and cocoa powder.
Then add sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla and salt.
Mix well, then add sifted flour. Stir by hand. Do not over mix.
Pour into greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.

Cool for a few minutes and then place in freezer for 20 minutes.
Mint Frosting:

While brownies are in the freezer make the first layer of topping.
Mix the mint frosting ingredients thoroughly.
Evenly frost brownies and put back in freezer for 20 minutes.

Ganache Topping:

Melt the butter and chocolate and whisk together.
Drizzle warm chocolate over brownies and spread smooth with a spatula.
Put back in the freezer for another 20 minutes.

Recipe copied from this blog: Kaysville Momma

TEXAS ROAD HOUSE SWEET YEAST ROLLS –
From the trainer for all the bakers of the Texas Roadhouse chain (so they say)

1/2 sol. oz. cake of yeast or 1 pkg. active dry yeast (next time I think I will use 1 1/2 packets)
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups milk- scalded and cooled to lukewarm
3 tablespoons of melted butter – cooled
1/2 cup sugar
2 quarts all purpose flour
2 whole eggs
2 tsp. salt

Soften yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar.

Add yeast, milk, sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter. Beat thoroughly. Let stand until light and foamy.

Add melted butter, eggs and salt. Beat well. Add enough flour to form soft dough. Sprinkle small amount of flour on counter and let dough rest.

Meanwhile, clean and dry bowl; grease clean surface of bowl. Knead dough until smooth and satiny. Put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in bulk.

Punch down. Turn out on floured board. Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes.

Shape dough into desired forms. Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes (until golden brown). Baste immediately with butter.

Yield: 5 to 6 dozen (depending on the size – I made mine kind of big and got about 3 dozen)

My tips (most of you know the level of cook/baker I am = novice, so some of these will sound like common sense, bear with me!

• Scald the milk first so you don’t have to wait around for it to cool back down.
• My friend “C” who sent me the link to this recipe said 2 quarts flour = roughly 8 cups. I used about 8 also.
• I made mine in my Bosch, so only mixed it on level 1 for 5 minutes. I’ll probably mix it a little longer next time.
• Each raising will take about one hour.
• Cut straight when making the portions. I ended up with kid sized and adult sized rolls {wink}.
• This recipe took about four hours to make from start to finish.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cut up
1/4 cup butter
1 packet Lipton Savory Herb with Garlic
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
3 cups water

Put chicken, butter, Lipton soup mix and 1 cup of water into crockpot and cook on low for six hours. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour on top of chicken, mix, cook for one hour more.

See, super easy and delicious! Really delicious with some hot out of the oven bread too.

Photo courtesy of Stephanie’s Kitchen

I only wish that I had come up with this recipe, I found this recipe and it’s to DIE FOR! Give it a try…. Make them and tell me what you think….

Chocolate Ganache Cupakes

adapted from Ina Garten’s Chocolate Ganache Cupcake recipe
makes 12 regular cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 16 ounce can Hershey’s chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour

for the chocolate ganache:
melt together
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

for the white chocolate ganache:
melt together
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until combined. Scoop the batter into muffin cups (we used my mini cheesecake pan) and bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until set. Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the ganache and let set on a wire rack.

**Add Heath bits to the top!

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat for the chops. Add 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Season chops with salt and pepper, then add to hot skillet. Cook the chops for 5 minutes on each side.

Transfer the chops to a platter and cover with foil. Return the pan to the heat and add remaining tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, and chopped onions, thyme, rosemary and garlic, then saute  for 4 to 5 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, honey, and chicken stock. Cook until liquids have been reduced by half.

Once glaze has reduced by half, turn off the heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Stir until butter has melted into the glaze. Add the chops back into the pan and coat them with the glaze.

*I found this recipe in Rachel Ray’s book 365: No Repeats, page 54 and made some tweaks to it.

4 Eggs
2 cups Milk
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar

Mix all ingredients in a blender and cook like pancakes.
Top with yogurt, fruit and whip cream.
Makes about 30.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 sliced carrots
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup barley
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons beef bouillon
4 stalks celery — sliced
2 onions — chopped
1 small tomato paste
1 can whole tomatoes — diced
2 cups noodles — pre-cooked
1 small peas (6 oz) — drained
2 small green beans — drained
1 can kidney beans — drained
1 can garbanzo beans — drained
1 package frozen spinach — chopped

Cook first 13 ingredients for 45 minutes with one gallon water. Then add remaining ingredients. Simmer several hours until the barley is tender.
Source:“Della Fontana Restaurant”
Yield: 9 quarts