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Showing posts from December, 2012

Debbie's Chips and Salsa

My cousin Debbie invited my dad and me up to Salt Lake City yesterday for dinner. In addition to enjoying some wonderful family time, we had a delectable meal of chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, refried beans, chips and salsa, and coconut cake. Though all the food was delicious, I thought the salsa was particularly good and unusual in that it had a slightly sweet taste to it. So I asked Debbie for the recipe. It doesn't require any fresh ingredients other than fresh cilantro, so it could be made any time of year. 2 cans diced tomatoes 3 tablespoons dried minced onion 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic 2 mounded tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 cup lime juice, fresh or reconstituted Combine ingredients in blender and pulse until the salsa reaches the desired consistency. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes. Just before serving, add 1 bunch finely chopped fresh cilantro. Serve with Tostitos Hint of Lime Tortilla Chips.

Nothing Bundt Cake

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Hope you all had a great Christmas! Here's a recipe that you can use to get you through the blah's of January. It would also be a great recipe to use to celebrate New Year's Eve next week. Whenever you choose to serve it, it will be amazing! The recipe for this cake originally called for a cream cheese frosting, but when I made it that way, it seemed as thought the cream cheese and chocolate flavors competed instead of blending. So when I made this for a Christmas party last week, I changed the frosting for a simple chocolate ganache with white chocolate swirls on the top. I loved it, the chocolate just went a lot better than the cream cheese did.  Nothing Bundt Cake adapted from Favorite Family Recipes Cake 1 package devil's food cake, German chocolate cake, or chocolate cake mix 1 package instant chocolate pudding 1 cup sour cream 4 large eggs 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup oil 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips Topping 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter...

NUTELLA NO-BAKE COOKIES

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I had never before partaken of Nutella in any shape or form but I had bought a jar of it at some point and time and stuffed it in the cupboard. Then I was grazing the fields of Pinterest and came upon www.shugarysweets.com  and the featured recipe was Nutella No-Bake Cookies. Now I have always loved me some No-Bake Cookies and my daughters words kept sounding in my ears...."Oh Mama, Nutella is the best stuff EVER!" So I figured out that I had everything I needed to make this recipe and set right to work. Myself, my family and my friends are all so glad that I did. The flavor of the hazelnut spread bumped up the richness of the original recipe by at least 5 decimals. If you haven't tried this recipe yet, then you really need to. 2 cups sugar 1/4 cup cocoa 1/2 cup milk 1 stick butter 1 teaspoon vanilla pinch of salt 1/4 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup Nutella 3 cups quick oats Over medium heat cook sugar through butter. Boil 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredien...

Shrimp and Cream Cheese Spread

This simple recipe is a long-time Clark family classic. We've never made it without our homemade chili sauce, but I assume that you could make do with a commercial version, if pressed. 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1 to 1/2 cup chili sauce (this is a key source of the spread's flavor, and homemade chili sauce is by far the best; I haven't actually measured the exact amount, but there should be enough for there to be a thin layer over the cream cheese) 1 hard boiled egg, chopped 1 4-ounce can tiny shrimp, drained and crumbled 1/2 to 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (optional) Crackers (we usually use Ritz crackers or Wheat Thins) Spread softened cream cheese on a flat platter, approximately 9 inches in diameter. Top with chili sauce and sprinkle with chopped, hard boiled egg and broken shrimp. Add parsley, if desired. Chill. Serve spread on crackers.

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

I've always loved this type of brownie. The pillowy marshmallow topping makes them a comfort food for me. This classic recipe, with very slight modifications, is from Six Sixters' Stuff blog. 1 cup butter (2 sticks) 2 cups sugar 1/3 cup cocoa 4 eggs 1 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla 1 (10 oz) package of miniature marshmallows Soften butter and blend in sugar and cocoa. Beat together and add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one. Add flour, salt and vanilla and mix well. Spread on large (10 x 15 x 1-inch) greased cookie sheet. Bake 22-25 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and cover entire top with 1 package of miniature marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes, until marshmallows are soft and puffy. Cool and frost with chocolate frosting. Chocolate Frosting: 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened 1/4 cup milk 1-2 tsp vanilla (depending on your taste) 3 tablespoons of cocoa 2-3 cups of powdered sugar Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. Add more powdere...

You know that Santa Wants These Cookies Next Week!

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Guess who's coming in just a few days!!! I know that all of you out there are going to be making cookies for the big guy next week. I also have it on good authority that these are just the ones that he's going to want with a nice big glass of milk. (None of the rest of you are going to complain either!) So here's an early Christmas Gift from Cutler's, an amazing recipe for simply amazing cookies, or you could always just come and buy some from us! Merry Christmas from all of us at Cutler's, hope all of your wishes come true. Cutler's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 1 tsp vanilla  2 large eggs 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda  3 1/4 cup flour (we use cake, but all-purpose should be about the same) 2 cups (one 12-ounce bag) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I suppose you could add milk  chocolate chips if you really wanted to!) Cream sugar and butter/margarine.  Add vanilla an...

Spinach-Chicken Stromboli

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I like to use recipes that use other ingredients that I already have on-hand or know how to make really quickly. This is one of those recipes for me. It starts with a basic bread stick dough and then you add chicken, left-over would work great and a few other things. It comes together really quickly and it tastes amazing! It's kind of like an inside-out pizza. Spinach-Chicken Stromboli Our Best Bites, Mormon Moms in the Kitchen by Sara Wells and Kate Jones page 160 1 recipe bread stick dough, or you can use a tube of refrigerated pizza crust 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning 3 1/2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, divided (I use the pre-shredded kind from the store) 2 cups loosely packed spinach leaves (you can leave them out if you hate them!) 8 ounces shredded, cooked chicken breast (about 2 cups) 2 Roma tomatoes, diced Alfredo Sauce , or Marinara to dip in Preheat your oven to the temperature the bread stick dough specifies, or if you're using the refrigera...

Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple Bites

Easy, easy appetizer. The salty, chewiness of the bacon makes a good combination with the sweetness of the pineapple and the brown sugar. 1 whole pineapple, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (the original recipe called for canned pineapple, so that is an option, but fresh pineapple is so much better; actually, I used pre-cut fresh pineapple from Costco) 1 pound thin-sliced bacon, cut in half 3 to 4 tablespoons dark brown sugar Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap each chunk of pineapple in a half strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a wire baking rack or lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with brown sugar. Preheat broiler. Place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes. Keep your eyes on the pineapple bites so they don't burn. Let cool slightly and serve. Makes 25 pineapple bites.

French Baguettes

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I know what you're thinking, but I promise this recipe is super simple and just yummy! You can eat these baguettes plain, with butter, as garlic bread, virtually any thing you can think of bread-wise can be done with these. And the best part, it's only going to take you about 45 minutes total to make these babies! French Baguettes The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner by Liz Edmunds page 225 1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees) 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (2 packets) 2 teaspoons sugar, divided 2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour 2 teaspoons salt Melted butter, for brushing on loaves (optional) Proof the yeast in a small bowl, using 1/2 cup water, all of the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Stir quickly to combine and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate. Let this stand for about 5 minutes or until foamy. If this mixture doesn't get bubbly, you need to start over.  In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, blend flour (you usually want to start with the leas...