Yogurt Pie

Yogurt Pie
An easy, light dessert that is great for summer! Recommended flavors are Lemon, Lime, Strawberry, and Blueberry.

Ingredients:
1 3 oz. package flavored Jello
1/4 cup boiling water
1 small container yogurt (matching with the Jello flavor)
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip
1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust


Directions

1. In a large bowl, add boiling water to Jello; stir 2 minutes to completely dissolve. 
2. Whisk in yogurt. 
3. Fold in whipped topping. 
4. Pour mixture into graham cracker crust. 
5. Refrigerate, covered, until set, about 2 hours.

Lasagna

Lasagna

(From Ginny)
These are the proportions I've come up with based on my memories of making lasagna growing up, and with the help of the recipe on the Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna box. I love using the Oven-Ready Lasagna - it's super easy and it bakes really well. I recommend assembling everything at least an hour or two before baking so it has time to sit and soak in the juices.
p.s. Barilla says this makes 5 servings but you could easily serve 10+ people with this, especially if you have garlic bread and some sort of veggies to go with it!

1 box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna
2-3 24-oz jars Marinara/Spaghetti sauce (we grew up with Ragu, but I prefer Newman's now)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound sausage, ground or sliced
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1 c. (8 oz) small curd cottage cheese
2 eggs
4 c. (1 lb) mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 oz shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a large skillet, brown beef and sausage until cooked through
3. In a bowl combine ricotta, cottage cheese, eggs, 2 cups mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan; stir well
4. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
5. For the bottom layer, pour one cup of sauce and spread evenly
6. Top with 3 sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagna. The sheets will expand while baking to the ends of the dish.
7. Pour about 1 1/2 cup sauce and 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture on the first layer, top with 1/4 cup of the mozzarella, a bit of Parmesan, and 2/3 cup of the cooked meat.
8. Continue for 3 more layers
9. For the final layer, top with 3 sheets of Oven-Ready Lasagna, pour the remaining sauce, top with remaining cheese mixture, mozzarella, and any remaining Parmesan. 
10. Cover with foil and place in pre-heated oven, bake for 30 minutes, or until it starts to get bubbly. If you have a food thermometer, the center of the lasagna should be cooked to about 165 degrees.
11. Once baked, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is brown and starting to bubble (it could start to bubble over a bit around the edges here, so put a pan underneath to catch the drips or at least turn your stove fan on).
12. Let rest about 15 minutes before cutting.

What other variations do you like for your lasagna?

Good Eats Roast Turkey

Good Eats Roast Turkey

"We've been using this recipe for our turkeys for several years now, except we don't roast it, still cook it in the Oven Bags!" -Christy

For the brine:

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

1 gallon heavily iced water

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Canola oil

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Recipe from Christy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe.html

Christy's Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

"This is my favorite pumpkin pie recipe, will never make it without cream cheese again!"

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

1 piece pre-made pie dough

Whipped cream, for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Recipe from Christy 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-pie-recipe.html

Thanksgiving holiday food

I seem to have misplaced my Thanksgiving notebook and am trying to recall all the things that we liked to include in the traditional Thanksgiving meal... what am I missing?

Main meal

• Turkey
• Gravy

Sides

• Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Butternut Squash and Apples
• Cranberry Sauce
• Olives
• Pickles
• Deviled Eggs
• Grammie's Strawberry Jello (how could I forget this?!)

Vegetables

• Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
• Glazed carrots

Bread

• Rolls
• Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Desserts

• Pumpkin Pie
• Mince Pie
• Chocolate Pie

What are some traditional foods that you have added to your Thanksgivings over the years?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cornbread

Cornbread

This is from Martina McBride's cookbook, Around the Table.
This is half of her recipe, which fills a very large baking pan, 13x9. If you have that, just double it and plan on freezing some or feeding a crowd.


2 1/2 tbsp butter melted (plus 1 tbsp for greasing pan)
3/4 c buttermilk
3/4 c milk
2 eggs
1/3 c veg oil (I use olive)

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
1/3 c sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

2 oz diced green chile (can)
1 c shredded pepper jack cheese (plain jack OK too)

I use an oval 13 x 9 baking pan - greased with the extra butter

Combine first 5 ingredients, mix lightly.
Combine dry ingredients, stir just till mixed.
Add chiles and cheese.
Pour in pan, bake 350, 40 to 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

If you prefer a plainer cornbread, this recipe is from Jane, and also very good.

Golden Corn Bread (Yankee Style)

1 c flour
1/4 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c cornmeal
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/4 c oil

Combine dry
Whisk together eggs, milk and oil, add to dry.

Grease 9x9 pan. Bake 425, 20 - 25 minutes.

As you know, for me, "The code [recipe] is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules."

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded Jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
12 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups salsa (or less, to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, 1 cup of the cheese, and 3 Tbsp cilantro (if used).
Spoon 1/4 cup of chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam sides down in greased 13x9 baking dish. Top with salsa and remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Serve with additional sour cream, salsa, and cilantro (if desired).

Recipe from Grammie Cressy

**This is Grampa's favorite meal!**