FUDGESICLES (and some questions for you)

With warm weather approaching and kids already out of school, it is time for kid friendly recipes. These fudgesicles are not only tasty, but they are inexpensive to make using every day ingredients from your pantry. If you do not have Popsicle molds, just use 3 ounce waxed paper (bathroom) cups and popsicle sticks.

In heavy bottom, medium size saucepan, mix:
3 cups milk
¼ cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup corn syrup (light)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring to gentle boil on medium high and boil 1 minute (make sure you stir constantly). Remove from heat and add 1 cup of milk chocolate chips, stir to melt.

Pour into Popsicle molds (or 3 ounce waxed paper cups). Freeze overnight.
NOTE: About an hour or so after you put the paper cups into the freezer, insert a Popsicle stick in the center, and return to freezer.

TROPICAL FRUIT QUICK BREAD

This tropical quick bread was still too hot to cut when I photographed it, so I don’t have a photo of the inside of the bread, but trust me, it is excellent. To give you an idea of what it tastes like, it has bananas, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, vanilla & rum extract in it.

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter flavored Crisco
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed RIPE bananas
(1) 8 oz. crushed pineapple, well drained
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon rum extract
Cream the butter and sugar together, then add everything else and mix until smooth. Place in a greased 8½ x 4½ x 2½ loaf pan (the bigger loaf pan) and bake at 350 for one hour. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

NOTE: Some people in my family complain that coconut shreds get stuck in their teeth, so I run the coconut through the food processor just for a few seconds to make the shred a little finer.
NOTE: It is my cardinal rule that you never eat quick breads like this on the first day. Always wrap them tightly while hot and do not unwrap them until day two. If you do this, the flavors develop AND the bread will be much more moist.

FAMILY STYLE ITALIAN PENNE BAKE

When my children were little, I tried to “invent” recipes but I was not very good at it. One recipe that is embarrassing to admit was a combination of plain tomato sauce, ground beef and Italian seasonings (cooked for about 20 minutes) and then mixed into elbow macaroni; that was it…not even any cheese! It was horrid by today’s standards, but the kids always ate a lot of it and I did not know any better. Hey…that was 30+ years ago! I have learned a few cooking tricks since then.

Today’s family style penne bake is one of our favorites these days. It is rich, filling, very satisfying and leftovers reheat extremely well on day two. Served with a veggie, salad and dinner rolls, it is good enough for company. 1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 cup onion chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 cup chopped carrot
1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 12 ounce can tomato paste
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry oregano
2 teaspoons dry sweet basil
½ teaspoon fennel seed
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 pound Barilla mini-penne pasta
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese (grated)
1 tablespoon butter

In large pan, sauté ground beef until no longer pink (drain well). Return meat to pan and add onion, celery, carrot and garlic; sauté until veggies start to wilt. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste, 4 cups of water, salt and pepper, oregano, basil, fennel seed and sugar. Mix well and SIMMER two hours (stirring occasionally). What you want is for the sauce to reduce to a nice thick consistency (do not add any extra water).
After sauce has cooked down, boil the mini-penne (using directions on penne box) and drain. Stir in a tablespoon of butter to coat pasta, then stir in sauce and half of the (grated) cheese into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with other half of cheese and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese has browned a little, like this:NOTE: Once you get this sauce to the simmering stage, you can put it in the crock pot and let it cook in there all day. If you do that…just prop the lid open just a little, so the sauce can reduce and thicken.

ALMOST SNICKERDOODLES

What is that saying…necessity is the mother of invention? Well, the other day, I set out to make Girlichef’s Snickerdoodle cookie recipe. I was almost finished with the dough, when hubby came into the kitchen and glanced at the recipe. He looked at me and said, “cinnamon, huh?” one of those semi-non-committal offerings that tells me (after 38 years of marriage) that he would rather I made his beloved peanut butter cookies. Now…what to do; I have the cookie batter 75% done, so there was no backing out. Solution? I put the cinnamon back in the pantry and added vanilla extract, butter extract and rolled them in plain sugar. The results were huge 4” sugar cookies that hubby is thoroughly enjoying. Whew!

So, here is Dar’s recipe with a couple of hubby approved changes:

2¼ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup butter flavored Crisco
1½ cups white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter extract
white sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 400° and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In stand mixer, cream butter and Crisco until light and creamy (about 1½ minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add eggs and extracts; continue to beat another 30 seconds. Mix all dry ingredients together and add to butter-egg mixture. Mix just until combined (about 20 seconds).

Roll dough into 1½” balls (a slightly heaping tablespoon full) and roll in plain white sugar. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes and immediately transfer to a baking rack to cool.
NOTE: These are big 4” cookies, so do not place them too close together on the cookie sheet (they spread). If you want smaller cookies, just make the dough balls smaller.
NOTE: If you want to frost these cookies, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract, 2 teaspoons milk and 1½ cups of powdered sugar (whisk until smooth). You can add a little more milk if it is too thick or another spoon of powdered sugar if it is too thin.

VEGGIE RICE

When my carnivorous husband grills, I usually make this for myself instead . It is filling, healthy, spicy and delicious. Topped with cold avocado, sweet cherry tomatoes, a little cheddar, light sour cream and a piece of whole wheat garlic bread, it is my guiltless pleasure!

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

1 cup of chopped onion
1 clove of garlic minced
½ cup celery chopped
1/2 cup carrot chopped
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup raw rice
3 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 (15 oz) black beans
1 cup fresh corn
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1½ tomato cans of water
(1) 4 ounce Ortega mild green chilies

Sauté onion, garlic, celery, bell pepper in 1-tablespoon canola oil until onion is transparent. Stir in raw rice and let it sauté with veggies until it become opaque. Add the diced tomatoes, water, black beans, corn, carrot and flavorings. Cover the pan and lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes (do not raise the lid). After 20 minutes, rice should be cooked and veggies tender. Stir in mild green chilies. Mix well and serve with cold avocado, cherry tomatoes, cheddar cheese and light sour cream.

NOTE: This reheats very well and is even tastier on day two.
NOTE: I also like to eat this rolled up in a warmed tortilla.

NO-BAKE ECLAIR CAKE

In a late night surfing session, I found a recipe called Eclair Cake. It is not really a cake, but a combination of ready made ingredients that(when put together)make an ooey-gooey dessert that looks heavenly. I didn’t even write down the ingredients, I just sort of filed the idea away. Well, last weekend, I made my version and it was even better than I hoped for! Even Picky-picky husband loves this one.

Basically, it is three layers of graham crackers separated by two layers of vanilla pudding and topped with a fudge-y frosting. Make sure you make it a day BEFORE you want to serve it so that the graham crackers absorb a little moisture from the pudding and become “cake like”. This was so good that I made it for my own birthday!

(2) 3½ ounce instant French vanilla pudding
1 pound of graham crackers
8 ounce Cool Whip thawed
3 cups of milk

CHOCOLATE TOPPING

6 tablespoons butter (melted)
6 tablespoons boiling water
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place a single layer of graham crackers in the bottom of a 9x13 dish (breaking to fit if necessary). In a large bowl, whisk the instant pudding with 3 cups milk until well mixed, then fold in the Cool Whip. Immediately pour half of this mixture over the graham crackers, spreading it out evenly.

Put another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding and then another layer of pudding mixture. Top second layer of pudding with a final layer of graham crackers. Cover the dish tightly, with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about an hour before you frost it.

After an hour of chilling, mix melted butter, boiling water, cocoa and vanilla until well blended. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Immediately pour the frosting over the chilled pudding dessert and smooth it out.

Place dessert (uncovered) in fridge for an hour or so (until the frosting feels dry to the touch),then stretch plastic wrap over the pan(stretching it tightly so that it doesn't sag and touch the frosting). Refrigerate overnight (important).
NOTE: I use a glass 9x13 pan so that the plastic grips tightly to the glass and doesn’t sag down onto the frosting. Not necessary, but it looks prettier if the plastic doesn’t leave wrinkles in the frosting. A Tupperware 9x13 with snap-on lid works great too.

NOTE: After this "cake" has been in the fridge, overnight, it is easy to cut into squares to serve because the graham crackers are soft.

CARAMEL PECAN PIE

This sinfully rich and heavenly caramel pecan pie will be a hit at your next potluck, trust me! Baked in a shortbread type piecrust, it is perfection. I like to chop the pecans fairly small so that it is easier to slice (and easier for kids to eat). It is the perfectly sweet ending to any special meal.

36 Kraft caramels (individually wrapped kind)
¼ cup butter
¼ cup milk
½ cup white sugar
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
9" Shortbread pie crust (recipe below)

In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, heat caramels, butter, and milk over low heat (keep stirring) until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
Stir together sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt; add melted caramel mixture gradually. Stir in chopped nuts and pour into unbaked piecrust. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool until filling is firm.

SHORTBREAD PIE CRUST: In large electric mixer bowl, mix 1 cup flour (spoon into cup and level off), ½ cup butter flavored Crisco, 1 teaspoon sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix until crumbly. While mixer is running, add 2 tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon of beaten egg and ¾ teaspoon white vinegar. Beat until dough forms a ball. Use fingers to press dough into 9” pie plate (and up the sides). I use a two-piece 9” tart pan.