"Fancy" Mac and Cheese

This is from my friend Lamar, who is an incredible cook. No Kraft Dinner for him! It's not quick and easy, but it's fabulous!

1. Pick your favorite pasta shape (I like the little shell shaped ones)and boil 1 pound in lightly salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving half a cup of the pasta water, just in case.
2. Grate 1/4 pound each of Fontina, Gruyère, and Smoked Mozzarella (orpick your favorite cheeses)
3. Make a bechamel sauce as follows:
4. warm 1.5 cups of milk in the microwave. just enough so it's roomtemperature or so. doesn't need to be hot
5. preheat the oven to 350°F
6. mince 2 cloves of garlic
7. over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. sauté the garlic for about 1 minute in the melted butter.
8. *before the butter browns*, add 4 tablespoons of flour. stir until thick and pasty. don't brown the rue.
9. add 1/2 a cup of the milk, stirring to dissolve the rue. add as much of the remaining milk as you would like to make a sauce that's as think as you want.
10. Add 1 teaspoon of finely ground white pepper (black is okay, but you get specks in the sauce)
11. put the cooked pasta into a casserole dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray and coated with unseasoned breadcrumbs
12. in the casserole dish, mix the grated cheese, bechamel sauce, and pasta. reserve some of the gruyère to sprinkle on top, or grate more.
13. if the sauce is too thick, add any remaining milk or some of the reserved pasta water until it thins to your liking
14. sprinkle reserved gruyere on top and bake at 350° until the cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown.

Awesome Potato Casserole

From my friend Michelle, in a recipe exchange. She says "I could live off this stuff; It's great for potlucks, too."

• 2 Lbs Hash Brown Potatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 can cream of potato soup
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup diced ham
• 2 cups shredded cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped onions, optional

Mix all ingredients in a gigantic bowl, transfer to a 13X9 casserole dish, add whatever topping you wish, Cover and Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Topping ideas: 2 cups corn flakes mixed with 1/4 cup butter works, but I usually just add about 1 c cheese when there's only 10 minutes left on the timer.

Cajun Pasta

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 oz. andouille sausage ( i use chicken sausage)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Cajun Creole seasoning
• 8 oz, raw peeled shrimp or crawfish
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound linguini pasta, cooked and drained
• 2 Tablespoons chopped green onion

Heat a large saute pan and add butter, then saute the andouille until lightly browned. Add garlic, shallot, jalapeno, and Cajun seasoning and saute for a minute or 2. Add shrimp and toss for one minute, then add cream and simmer until slightly thickened. Toss with pasta and green onion.

I got this from my friend Julie in a recipe exchange - sounds fabulous!

Ham and Cheese Sandwiches for a Crowd

For 100 sandwiches

• 100 soft bakery rolls, sliced but not all the way through
  (you can use buttercrust, kaiser, Texas or hamburger)
• 1-1/2 5-pound Krakus Polish Ham, sliced thin
  other hams work but are too salty, I think)
• 4-1/2 lbs Swiss cheese, sliced thin

Spread

• 2 lbs unsalted butter, softened (may need a little more)
• 1 9-oz jar horseradish mustard (may not want to use that much)
• 1 1-1/4 oz jar Poppy Seeds
• 1 cup minced onion or onion flakes

Spread filling on both insides of rolls. Add slice of ham and slice of cheese (if really thinly sliced, then use 2 of each). Wrap sandwiches individually in aluminum foil. Freeze. When needed, thaw and bake at 350* for about 15 minutes. If cooking directly from freezer, you'll need to increase time to approx. 30 minutes. Depending upon what roll you use, and the temperature variation in your oven, you may have to cook longer to get it hot in the middle.

This is another one of Aunt Diana's stand-bys - she always had these in the frezeer. It helps to have help making them (take a couple hours on a Saturday), but then you've got them for the winter - or a really big party.

Easy Chicken Divan

• 4 chicken breasts, cook then cool and cut up
• 1 pkg. Chicken Rice-A-Roni prepare as package directs
• 20oz. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked
• 1 c. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. curry powder (it makes all the difference!)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• cheddar or mozzarella cheese, grated
• fine bread crumbs or crushed croutons/dressing cubes

Spread prepared Rice-A-Roni on the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Spread cooked broccoli on top of rice. Mix the cut up chicken with mayonnaise, soup, curry powder, lemon juice. Spread chicken mixture on top of broccoli. Top with grated cheese and bread crumbs or croutons. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

This is straight from Aunt Diana's cookbook. Henri likes more chicken than rice, so I usually add a couple of more breasts...but you can modify for your family's tastes. It's one of my all-time favorites. It freezes well (before or after baking), and it's just as good the next day as leftovers.

Paula Deen's Symphony Brownies

OK, I guess by now y'all know that I love Paula Deen! So I had company over for dinner last night and I made these brownies. They were a huge hit. They are yummy warm and gooey served with French Vanilla Ice cream. We let ours cool so it would set and then we cut them into 2x2 inch squares and heated each square in the microwave for 10 seconds. We served with French Vanilla ice cream. I wish I had taken a picture, but by the time I thought about it, they were gone. I'm not even a big fan of nuts in my brownies, but these are amazing!

Ingredients:
One 17.6-ounce package brownie mix with walnuts
Three 5-ounce Symphony candy bars with almonds and toffee chips

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions. Line a 13x9 in cake pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Spoon in half of the brownie batter and smooth with a spatula. Place the candy bars side by side on top of the batter. Cover with remaining batter. Bake according to package directions. Let cool completely, then lift from the pan using the edges of the foil. This makes it easy to cut the brownies into squares.

Never Fail Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup shortening

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut shortening

into flour mixture. Add sugar, eggs, baking soda, vanilla,

and milk to flour mixture. Chill dough before cutting into

shapes. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Frosting:

1 stick of soft butter

powdered sugar

milk

1 tsp. vanilla

I just add a little bit of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk

to the softened butter. I just play with it until I get the

thickness I want.

Cake That Kids Can Make aka Easy Cobbler

• 1 can pie filling
• 1 can crushed pineapple drained
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Spread pie filling in the bottom of 9 by 13 pan. Cover with crushed pineapple and then with the DRY cake mix. Melt the butter and pour over the top of the cake mix. Bake for about 1 hour or until the top is golden brown.

** I usually use Cherry Pie filling with the yellow cake mix, but Blueberry pie filling with Lemon Cake mix is also a good twist.

I just got this recipe from my cousin's wife Yvonne. It sounds yummy!

Original Ranch Cheddar Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup Original Ranch Dressing
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together dressing and
flour. Coat each chicken breast with dressing mixture.
Arrange in a baking dish. Combine both cheeses and
sprinkle on chicken. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Aunt Diana's Christmas Breakfast

Egg Casserole

**must be made the night before

• 4 slices white bread, torn up (wheat works fine, too)
• 1 lb. cooked sausage (crumbled) or links (cut into bite-size pieces) - eliminate for vegetarian
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 12 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• dash of pepper

Grease 13x9x2 inch pan. Place bread, cheese, sausage in bottom of pan (in that order). Beat eggs well, in separate bowl. Add milk mustard, salt and pepper to eggs. Pour egg mixture into pan, over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake in preheated over at 350 for about 40 minutes or until eggs are set in center. Eggs will be bubbly brown on the top.

Serves 10-12 regular people. Serves 8-10 Lesters.

Hasbrown Casserole

• 2 lbs. frozen hash brown potatoes, cubed (plain is best, but you can use O'Brien style if you want)
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 16 oz. container sour cream or sour half-and-half
• 1/2 stick margarine or butter, melted
• 1 tsp garlic salt OR 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt (optional if using garlic salt)

Topping:

• 2 cups crushed Corn Flakes, 1 stick melted butter; mix.

Mix all ingredients together in a Big Bowl. Put mixture in an ungreased 13x9x2 inch pan. Add topping. Bake at 375 for 90 minutes. If baking at the same time as the Egg Casserole (at 350), increase baking time for hash browns to approx. 2 hours.

Serves 10-12 regular people. Serves 6-8 Lesters

We usually make one more pan of potatoes than eggs, as people generally take more potatoes than eggs. The potatoes make great leftovers (much better than the eggs), so it's not a problem if there are any left. The eggs must be made the night before to set up. I typically make the hashbrowns the night before, too - just to get them done at the same time. I also really like the potatoes as a side dish for a dinner (it's good with any kind of roast beef, chicken, etc.). You can put less cheese (down to 1 cup) in each of the recipes, if you want. If you don't like mushrooms, you can use cream of chicken, or cream of celery soup instead.

Aunt Diana always made this for the Lester Family Christmas Breakfast...and we still do.

--cinda

Apple Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions: Mix ingredients together and
serve with apples slices.

My Mom's Lasagna

This is a delicious and easy lasagna recipe that I love!

1-1 1/2 lbs. cooked ground beef
1 package lasagna noodles(I use 9 noodles-3 per layer)
1 (1 lb. 10 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 large container of small curd cottage cheese
3-4 c. shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
2 eggs
pepper to taste

Layer in a 9 X13 dish as follows:
-spaghetti sauce and beef combined
-noodles
-cottage cheese,eggs, pepper combined
-shredded Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Continue layering (makes 3 layers) and end with a generous layer of the shredded cheese. Bake at 375* for 30 minutes or until cheese/sauce is boiling on the sides.

Rosemary Biscotti

I made this recipe for the County Fair, and I won 3rd place!!! I also entered my brownies recipe and that won 2nd place!!! The browine recipe was posted Aug 15th.

Here is the recipe for the biscotti!!!
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 cup dried currants (these are small seedless raisins)

I could not find currants so I used raisins instead.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, sugar, rosemary, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in currants.

Cut dough in half and mold each half into “logs”. They should be about a foot long and an inch high. Bake for 35 minutes and let cool. Cut into slices. Bake 7-8 minutes on each side.

Apple Slices

6 apples peeled, pared, and sliced
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teas. finely grated lemon rind
1 teas. cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in an 8x8 inch baking
dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until
tender. This makes a good side dish with pork.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Peanut Butter Fingers

1 c. margarine
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
2 c. oatmeal

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.
Add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix and add all dry ingredients.
Spread on large baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 10 to 12 minutes.
When cooled, spread with additional peanut butter and then frost
with chocolate frosting.