Cheese Bread from Jillee's mom

1 loaf french bread, sliced lengthwise
3 Tablespoons chopped green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread out on sliced french bread. Place bread onto a foil lined baking sheet and cook at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. (Keep an eye on it after about 10 minutes). Allow to cool for a few minutes and slice.

And apparently once you buy green onions, you can re-grow them again and again, just submerge the ends (the root ends) in water, put in your windowsill, and new green onions will grow an inch in just a few days.  After a week or so you'll have a little crop you can snip and use again.  Gotta try this. Thank you, Pinterest!

Decadent Chocolate Cake

Cake:

• 2 stick butter
• 6 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 c water
• 2 c sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in 2 quart or larger saucepan; add cocoa and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in sugar Add salt, soda and flour, and stir well. Blend in eggs, milk, and vanilla. Bake in a 9x13, greased cake pan in 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes

Frosting:

• 1 stick butter
• 6 Tbsp powdered cocoa
• 6 Tbsp milk
• 1 Tbsp hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lb confectioners sugar, sifted

Melt butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa and milk and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add water, vanilla, and sifted confectioner sugar, and mix well. This frosting is not stiff. Frost cake while cake is hot and frosting is still warm. Let cool before cutting.

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Dressing:

·        1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

·        2/3 cup light sour cream

·        1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce

·        1 teaspoon ground cumin

·        1 teaspoon chili powder

·        4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

·        1/4 teaspoon salt

·        1 spoonful Adobo sauce (optional) for an extra kick

Combine ingredients and stir well.

Salad:

·        4 cups shredded romaine lettuce

·        2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)

·        1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

·        1/2 cup diced peeled avocado

·        1/3 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion

·        1 (15-ounce) can black, Kidney, or Pinto beans, rinsed and drained

·        1 (8 3/4-ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained

Be sure to use romaine lettuce as it is sturdy enough to stand up to the moist ingredients and won’t wilt as quickly. Combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately, but salad is still good the next day.  

Panera’s Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz shell pasta or other small pasta shapes

4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)

¼ to 1/3 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk, cream, or half-and-half

4 oz American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces

8 oz extra sharp Vermont cheddar, shredded

2 tsp – 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (adjust according to your tastes)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp hot sauce (like Frank’s)

In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain well.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat.  When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for 1 1/2 minutes whisking constantly.  (If you use the lesser amount of flour, you’ll need to cook it a little longer, but it’ll taste less “floury.”  Sauce will be a little thinner, but will be just a cheesy.)  Gradually whisk in the milk/cream until no lumps remain.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes. Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more.  Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce.  Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta.  Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce.  Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through.  Serve hot in bowls with spoons.   (You can use white american cheese and white cheddar cheese to make white macaroni and cheese.)

Fruit salad dressing

This makes enough dressing for a big bowl of fruit salad.  Bridget got the recipe online somewhere and made it for her "break the fast" today.  It was delicious.

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened  (the recipe called for strawberry cream cheese but we didn't have that)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup crushed pretzles or nuts (optional, she didn't use this) to give a little crunch

Mix all ingredients together, pour over bowl of cut up fruit.  (Bridget's fruit salad was cut up fresh pineapple, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, and grapes.)  Serves at least 8.

Clotted Cream

Yield:  about 1 c. clotted cream

Ingredients: 2 pints heavy cream, preferably with a high fat content and not ultra pasteurized (try to find Cedar Summit Farms or similar.)

Method: Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Pour the cream into an oven safe pan or dish such that the cream rises one to three inches deep. Cover the pan or dish, and bake for eight to 12 hours, or until the cream has formed a thick, yellow skin. Cool the cream at room temperature, and then refrigerate it for eight hours. Skim the yellow clotted cream from the top and serve. You may use the cream that remains below for baking.  When you serve the clotted cream with your scones, split the scone, dollop the clotted cream on the scone and add a smaller dollop of jam (strawberry is traditional) on top.

Cream Scones

Yield: 8 scones

·         2 c. all purpose flour

·         ¼ c. sugar

·         1 T. baking powder

·         ½ t. salt

·         1 pint (2 c.) very heavy cream

·         2 T. butter, melted

·         1 T. sugar

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients with a fork. Pour in the cream and stir it in with a fork. Give the dough a few gentle kneads with your hand. Transfer the dough to your baking sheet and pat it into a circle roughly 10” in diameter. Cut the circle into eight equal triangles and separate them. Brush the scones with the melted butter and sprinkle them with the sugar. Bake for 17 minutes, or until they spring back a bit when pressed. These scones are best the day they are baked. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Recipe note:  The proportions of cream to flour are correct.  Measure your flour by scooping and leveling.  I use an exceptionally thick cream.  If your cream is thin, begin with 1 ½ cups and add additional cream as needed.  The dough should be very soft.  You can increase sugar to ½ cup and add 1 cup blueberries (fold in very gently); or increase sugar to half a cup and add ½ cup dried cranberries with 1 tbs. grated orange zest.  Top with the tablespoon of sugar and bake as directed.  Serve with clotted cream and jam, recipe to follow.