Jalapeno Poppers

8 Lg. Jalapeno Peppers
1 pkg. (8oz) Cream Cheese
1 pkg. (16 slices) Bacon

Cut Jalapenos in half length wise,  leave stem but remove hull inside and all seeds and veins.  Fill Jalapenos with cream cheese to level with edges of pepper.  Wrap each hal with one slice of bacon diagnoly to cover all of papper and cheese.  Place on cookie sheet and Bake @ 375degrees for about 25-30 mins until bacon is crispy.

My cousin Christy mades these years ago at a New Years eve party and I have been thinking about them since.  I finally decided to try to make them myself and boy were they DELICIOUS! and went FAST!!! They are not Hot because you have removed all the veins and seeds.

Best Ever Banana Cake

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp.  Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 14 cups Sour Milk
               (1 Tbsp. Vinegar or Lemon Juice in 1 cup Milk - let sit a
                 minute.  /or use Buttermilk)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe Bananas (approx 3-4 Bananas)
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts (optional)

Frosting:
1 pkg (8oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, softened
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 cups Powdered Sugar

For Cake; Mix dry ingredients, set aside.  Cream Butter and Sugar.  Add Eggs and Vanilla, beat.  Alternate mixing in dry ingredients with Milk and Bananas.  Fold in nuts if using.  Makes one 9x13 pan, two 8in layer cakes or about 24 cupcakes.  Bake @ 350degrees for 40-45 mins for the 9x13 pan.  For 8in layer cakes or cupcakes bake 25min.  Let Cool and frost before serving.

For Frosting;  Cream Butter and Cream Cheese together add Vanilla, thenslowly add in powdered sugar.  Beat Well.  (this makes extra frosting)

***My niece Colie made this with her Activity Day group.  I absolutly LOVED it and I HATE BANANAS!  Thers is just something about this cake. It is so moist and flavorful a classic. It reminds you of something your grandma would have made.  Delicious!  I have converted several banana haters aswell ;)

Tropical Trifle

1 Yellow or White Cake mix  will need eggs, oil and water.  (mix according to box instructions, then spread batter on prepared jelly roll pan or lg cookie sheet with edges.  Bake 350 for about 15 mins til golden and cooked through)

2 lg pkgs. Vanilla, Banana Cream or Coconut Cream Pudding will need milk.  (mix according to package instructions for pie filling, chill in fridge til ready to assemble trifle)

1 pkg Strawberry Glaze or Danish Dessert (dilute with cold water to a thinner consistency)

2-3 pkgs Fresh Strawberries, wash, remove stems and slice berries, then mix into glaze.

2-3 cans pineapple chunks, drain juice

6-8 Bananas, peel and slice as needed when layering trifle.

3 8oz Cool Whip, thawed and ready to spread.

When cake is done and cooled, cut into large squares so as easier to layer.  In a large glass or see through bowl start layering your ingredients.  First a layer of cake, then spread 1/3 the pudding evenly over cake, next spoon the strawberries with the glaze over the pudding layer (make sure each layer touched the glass so it will show through evenly) Next sprinkle pineapple and banana chunks over glazed berries.  To top of the layers spread a layer of cool whip evenly over fruit (again remember to touch the edges of the bowl).  Then start all over again,  Cake, Pudding, Glazed Strawberries, Pineapple and Banana Chunks, Cool Whip.  You should have enough ingredients for a total of 3 layers ending finally with Cool whip.  Chill.  Then spoon out into bowls to serve.

This is a Falo Family Favorite! 

     

Carmel Apple Cake

This Caramel Apple Cake recipe is from Paual Deen's, "The Lady and Sons" cookbook. 

 It is a delicious cake for fall, so fitting for a carry in.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted)

2 1/2 cups diced apples, canned or fresh

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Cream together sugar, eggs, and oil.  Add flour; mix together until well blended.  Add vanilla, nuts, and diced apples.  Spread into a lightly greased and floured 13 x9 baking dish; bake for 45 to 60 minutes.

Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  When cake is done, punch holes in it with a knife and pour topping over.

Caramel Topping:

(I cut all of this recipe in half, it was just way too much butter and sugar.)  This is the cut in half version.

1 1/2 stick of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1/8 cup of milk

Heat all ingredients together over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Let boil for about 2 minutes.  Pour over warm cake.

Serves 15-20

Magic Sauce

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
1 well-crumbled bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Gently warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet or pan, until it is just hot. When hot remove from heat.

While the oil is heating, lightly pound the rosemary, thyme, and oregano in a mortar and pestle.

Stir the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt into the oil. Then add the bruised herbs and lemon juice.

You can use this now, but know - the oil just gets better as it ages over a few days. Keep it in a refrigerator for up to a week/ten days-ish. It thickens up when cold, so if you need it in a liquid state, place it in the sun or in a warm place for a few minutes.
Makes ~2/3 cup.

I call this magic sauce. In part, because it makes everything it touches shimmer with deliciousness. It's magic like that. Technically, it's a riff on a chimichurri sauce - one that veered off the rails in a big way. Much tweaking has rendered it a distant second cousin. If that. In fact, the hallmark of that sauce, parsley, I skip entirely. But I love this. Love love love. And I use it a hundred different ways. Copied from 101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swansen.


I came upon this recipe and had to copy it and put it into my "Looks good , will try" section so I dont forget it. It really does like amazing and can't wait to try it soon!

Fresh Peach Pie

Ingredients:
6 large ripe peaches
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp almond extract (can use vanilla)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp. Lemon juice
Frozen pie shell

Directions Bake 1 pie shell per instructions. Set aside and cool.
Mix together the sugar and corn starch(mix well).
Mash 2 peaches and combine with the following in a saucepan: mashed peaches, sugar, cornstarch, water. Cook for 5 minutes, until it boils and is no longer cloudy.
Add the almond extract and butter.
Stir until the butter is melted and the consistency is thick and gel like.
Slice 4 large peaches for filling.
Place the sliced peaches in the glaze stir lightly to coat then spoon into pie shell.
Chill in the refrigerator. (about 1-2hrs)


Emily and I just made these tonight for Dad's birthday tomorrow. The glaze turned out GREAT! Emily also had the idea to stir in fresh sliced Strawberries for one of the pies, can't wait to try that one. She said fresh raspberries would be good to...I agree and think we will be make this very soon!

Grilled Zucchini

Zucchini
Olive Oil
Salt
 Pepper
Garlic
Italian seasoning

Slice zucchini in long thin (1/4in) slices. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, rub them around to make sure all slices are coated. On a hot grill quickly grill on both sides, then serve. Super easy!!! Super deliciouse, this is my absolute favorite way to eat zucchini and it goes well with lots of dishes!

Greek Style Shish Kabobs

Pork Meat cut into chunks (We used sirloin end chops and Lesa just cut around the bones)

Marinade:
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Oregano (Heavy)
Rosemary (med)
Mint (light)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic

Red Peppers, cut into chunks
Sweet Onion, cut into chunks

Sorry no measurements...I just whisked the oil and lemon juice together and added the spices as I went. Marinade meat for a couple of hours, this will make the pork meat tender and flavorful (left it marinading while we were at church). Soak your skewers in water before you start threading the meat and veggies. Grill and squeeze additional lemon juice over cooked kabobs if you like. DELICIOUS!! We also grilled sliced zucchini with this and did a veggie rice stir-fry. Great Sunday dinner ;)

Kneaders Raspberry Bread Pudding

Cream Mixture:

1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
4 cups heavy cream
3 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Filling:

5 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup apple juice

Vanilla Sauce:

1 1/3 cups unsalted butter
5 tablespoons flour
3 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar

directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Add bread cubes to the cream mixture. Mix until all of the bread cubes are well coated. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread can soak up the cream mixture. Stir every five minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the raspberries, sugar, and apple juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Layer a 9x13 baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour raspberry filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

4. While the bread pudding is baking, make the vanilla sauce. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and add flour. Stir for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has a nutty aroma, do not brown. Add cream and sugar and boil until mixture is thick, remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

5. Remove bread pudding from oven and cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm and top with vanilla sauce.

Serves about 15. Realistically less because it is THAT GOOD!!!

SMOKED SALMON AND AVACADO SUMMER SALAD



Avocado 1 ripe but not too soft
Ripe cherry tomatoes 100g
Red onion 1 thinly sliced
Smoked salmon 250g cubed
Pink grape fruit 3 to 4 section from the whole
Lettuce leaf 3 to 4(optional)
Parsley leaf few chopped
Dressing
Olive oil 4 table spoon
White Vinegar 1 table spoon
Lemon juice 1 table spoon
Sugar ½ teaspoon
Salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:
Wash and peel the avocado and quarter it. Cut it into 1cm-wide strips and then into similar-sized cubes. Cut the cherry tomatoes into half .Take all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Toss avocado slices with lemon juice. Arrange the avocado, pink grapefruit in lettuce leaves and chill it for 2 to 3 hours. Now arrange cheery tomatoes and thinly sliced onion and cube or thin slices of smoked salmon. Then pour the dressing over it. Toss well. Garnish with parsley. You can serve immediately or refrigerator for 10 15 minutes before serving that’s up to you how you like to have it.
Your fresh cool smoked salmon and avocado summer salad is ready to cherish. I hope you will like this healthy salad..

Artichoke, Chicken and Sun dried Tomato Salad

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 T. vegetable oil
1 can artichoke hearts (14 oz)
1 red bell pepper
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup pitted green olives
3 T. parsley, minced
4 cups mixed baby spring greens (clean and dry)

-DRESSING-

2 T. red wine vinegar
5 T. olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. dried oregano
1/8 t. black pepper


-Pound the chicken breasts just until evenly thinned down. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Pan fry the chicken for about 5 minutes per side. Set aside.


Cut the bell pepper into strips and briefly cook in a pan over medium heat, 6-7 minutes or until it has begun to soften. Another great alternative is to roast the pepper. But I didn't have time today.

Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over them and soak for 15 minutes. Then drain and mince them.

The artichokes.

Canned artichoke hearts are very delicate, and if you want to keep them from falling apart in your salad, you need to take a little care with them.

Carefully cut each heart into 4ths, and press each one into a paper towel to get rid of the excess brine. Keep the artichoke quarters together with your fingers as you cut them and drain them.


Then, when the salad is finished, place them on top, not mixing them with the other ingredients. That way they'll stay pretty and not fall apart!

Slice or coarsely chop the chicken, and combine with the pepper, parsley, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.

Then, make the dressing. Simply whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and coat well.

Place the chicken mixture on top of the baby greens. You can do this either on a big platter, or on individual plates. The dressing from the chicken will kind of settle down into the greens. Add your artichokes at the end.

Luscious Lemon Squares

4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

4 cup granulated sugar
grated lemon peel from 1 lemon, if desired
1 cup lemon juice (3-4 Lemons)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 eggs

Powdered sugar

This is a betty crocker recipe. I have quadrupled it to make a lg cookie sheet. Cut softened butter into flour and powdered sugar mixture. Press into bottom of cookie sheet. Build up sides slightly. Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins til slightly golden. Do not over bake. Mix on high speed remaining ingredients for 3 mins until frothy. Pour over partially cooked crust. Return to oven and bake 30-40 mins til set and light golden, again do not over cook. Let cool and dust with powder sugar.

These are a family favorite! Tia Concha used to make them for every family get together. They are so heavenly and melt in your mouth. I tried to make these years ago but for some reason they didn't turn out and I never tried them again. Recently Angel made a batch using Poway, CA lemons while we were visiting Linda (who has access to free lemons year round, LUCKY!)anyways they were divine to say the least! We had to make another batch the night we returned to Utah to share with our family here.

I'm not sure why they didn't turn out so long ago, but I'm sure glad Angel helped me out!

Black Bean Corn Salsa

1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Corn, drained and rinsed
3 Roma Tomatoes, small dice
1 Red bell pepper, small dice
2-3 avocados, diced
1 Serrano pepper, minced
1/2 red onion, small dice
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 lime or lemon, juiced
1/3c. Italian dressing
Salt, pepper, garlic to taste
opt. Cayenne pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, and chill or just dive in!!! Really great with Tostitos hint of lime chips. To quote my nephew Hunter "This stuff is sooooo addicting!!!" We made this for Father's Day Dinner and it was GONE QUICK. Mahonri(who normally hates tomatoes) and I were craving some the next day so we made another bowl and it too was GONE by the end of the day. I think this is going to be our summer favorite!

Mango Peach Salsa

2-3 Mango's, peeled and diced
1 lg can sliced peaches, diced
1/2c. Red onion, minced
1 Serrano pepper, minced
1/2c. Cilantro, minced
1/2 lemon, juice
2 heaping Tb. Pineapple Jam (or Peach Jam)

Mix all ingredients add additional lemon juice or sugar to taste. Should have a little heat but not hot and tangy from the lemon but not sour.

This is really good served over fish or my brother who hates fish put his on his steak, either way DELICIOUS!!!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

In large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients:
2 ½ C. Flour
1b C. Sugar
1 t. Salt
3½ t. Baking Powder

then add in wet ingredients and Mix:
1¼ C. Milk
1 C. Oil
3 Eggs
1 Tb. Vanilla

In separate bowl, combine:
3/4 C. Softened Butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/4 C. Brown Sugar
Mix until smooth.

Open a 9 oz. can of Crushed Pineapple, drain and set aside.
Open a 9 oz. Can of Pineapple rings, drain and set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch pan, (Wilton’s Cake Release is the best for preparing cake pans) and spread brown sugar mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan. Place pineapple rings until there is a single layer covering the bottom of the pan. With a spoon, tuck crushed pineapple in and around the pineapple rings until you have one solid layer of pineapple. If you so desire, you may add maraschino cherries in the middle of the pineapple rings instead of pineapple.
Place in preheated oven (350)and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, checking at 5 minute intervals between 35 and 45 minutes. When the cake is lifting away from the edges of the pan, it is ready.
Happy Eating. This recipe is from Candice Salima (candicesalima.com)

Years ago I lived down the street from Candice and she shared this recipe with me. It was the very best scratch cake I have EVER eaten and with all the gooey brown sugar and pineapple...WOW! The cake is moist, dense and not too sweet. I had lost my copy of the recipe and was so happy to find it again on her website. I have already made it twice in the last week, we like it that much!!!

All American Chocolate Cake

This cake is HUGE and really rich! You may need a gallon of milk per person but soooo worth it! It has layer after layer of cake and fudge frosting, gooey deliciousness!!!
Great for any event or party!

CP Shrimp Wanton Soup

I love love love this soup! It is so fast and easy but yet sooo delicious!!!

Ling ling Potstickers

This are soooo good! Great for any party or just for lunch. The best method to cook them is to just follow the directions on the bag. They come out juicy, tender and with just enough crispiness, mmmmm mmmm and the dipping sauce....heaven!!!

Broccoli Slaw

Everything comes in the bag at Costco and Wow is it delicious!!! It kind of has an Asian flavor and comes with Chinese crunchy noddles and sliced almonds. It's great just the way it comes or I bet if you wanted you could add green or red onion and chicken chunks too.

I first tried this at our ward Mother's Day dinner and it was my favorite thing there! Then I used it at our cousin Garden Party tonight and again it was so yummy!!! So if your out of time an need a great salad give this a try, my mom and I love it!

The Chessecake Factory: Lemoncello Cream Torte

This is only at Costco during the summer months. It is a lite summer dessert. I usually serve this with fresh strawberries and blackberries mixed with a little honey for a nice shine and a little sweetness. Delicious!!! Elegant dessert with little effort.

When this is not available I like to use the cream cheese danishes they make at the Costco bakery. Also very delicious!!!