Caramels

Makes a firm set but chewy caramel. Very good flavor! You will need:

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup (Karo or other)

3 cups heavy whipping cream USED IN SUCCESSION (I like Gold Meadow Old Fashioned Style)

Bring the sugar, the corn syrup, and 1 CUP CREAM to a boil, stirring constantly until the color deepens to a golden brown-beige color. Then add:

1 more cup of heavy whipping cream.

Cook again until the color deepens to a light golden brown. Add:

1 more cup of heavy whipping cream

Cook stirring constantly until candy thermometer reads 230. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir well. Pour into buttered 13x9. Allow to set, cut into squares and wrap in squares of waxed paper.

Acini de Pepe Salad (Frog Eye Salad)

This makes a big salad for parties or pot lucks, serves 25. Saves well for leftovers too. Start this the night before you want to serve it, or at least 12 hours minimum beforehand.

You will need:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1-3/4 cup pineapple juice *

2 eggs

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 box acini de pepe pasta

3 cans mandarin oranges 11 oz each

2 cans pineapple chunks 20 oz each

1 can crushed pineapple 20 0z

1 carton cool whip 9 oz

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup flaked coconut (optional)

The night before you want to serve the salad, combine in a saucepan the sugar, flour, salt, pineapple juice and beaten eggs. Cook over medium heat until thick then stir in the lemon juice. Set aside to cool. Cook the acini de pepe pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Combine pasta with egg mixture in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, combine the pasta mixture with the oranges, all of the pineapple, cool whip, marshmallows and coconut. Fold all together and chill until ready to serve.

*Get the pineapple juice from the cans of pineapple, drain the pineapple saving the juice and then save the pineapple for the next day when you put the salad together.

Cranberry Salsa

This is a very tasty salsa, made with cranberries, my friend Christina brought it to our Christmas party. Serve over bricks of cream cheese with wheat thins crackers. Great pot luck or party dish. Buy a few extra bags of cranberries during the holidays and freeze them to make this recipe in the summer. Freezing cranberries is easy and works well, just place the bag of cranberries into a freezer bag.

12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded
3 green onions
1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well chopped and combined. Chill for at least a few hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.

Potatoes Au Gratin (Homemade)

8.5 cups sliced potatoes
1-1/2 cubes butter (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cream
2 cups chicken broth plus 3 chicken boullion cubes added
White pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese to top

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until partially done, 3-5 minutes, and drain. Place potatoes in a 13x9 dish. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in flour to make a smooth paste. Add the milk, cream, and chicken broth and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add pepper and pour the mixture over the potatoes. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, add the cheese on top and bake for an addition 4-5 minutes.

French Chicken Veronique over Curried Rice

When I make this I always do the curried rice with it. Best to start by cutting up the chicken breasts, then switch to preparing rice first (recipe below under the chicken recipe), get it into the rice cooker then continue with the chicken, that way the rice can sit up to one hour in the cooker and stay warm. This recipe serves 4 with leftovers.

French Chicken Veronique over Curried Rice
2-4 large chicken breasts, depending on how much chicken you want
4 tbsp butter
Salt and Pepper
1-1/2 Tbsp finely minced green onion or shallots (regular onion may be substituted, but very very finely minced).
1 cup dry white wine, or substitute 1 cup water with 1 tsp vinegar added
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 to 1 cup fresh green grapes (I use a half cup, I LOVE them but Trent thinks the grapes are weird.)

Trim chicken and pound it with a mallet or rolling pin to about 1/2" flat. (Don't skip this step, it makes the chicken much more tender. You can lay a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken to pound it, reduces any mess). Cut the pounded chicken into 1/2" strips, then cut across into rectangular cubes, about 1 x 1.5 inches.

Melt butter in a skillet until very hot but not brown. Add chicken, season well with salt and pepper. Saute the chicken over high heat, turning to cook all sides, just until the raw look is gone and it's turned whitish (it will not be cooked through yet, about 5 minutes), then remove the chicken to a paper plate, leaving as much of the juices in the pan as possible.

Add shallots to the skillet, and saute in the chicken juices briefly, just until slightly soft. Add the chicken back into the skillet. Add the wine. Cook over high heat until the wine has reduced by half. Add the cream, add the grapes, and cook over medium high heat until it is a saucelike consistency, probably 10-20 minutes. Serve over curried rice.

Curried Rice
1/2 cube butter
1 onion, peeled and finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/4" cubes (apple is delicious in this but optional)
2 cups white rice, uncooked
3 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and add the onion, and garlic and saute about three to five minutes until soft. Add the curry powder and apple (if you are using apple) and stir to combine, cook this together for about one minute but don't allow it to burn, add rice to the frying pan and cook until well blended with the curry mixture, remove from heat.

Add the curry/rice mixture to the rice cooker along with the chicken broth. Toss in bay leaves and stir to combine. Set your rice cooker to the white rice setting and cook. Make the chicken while the rice is cooking, leaving the rice to stay warm in the rice cooker while you prepare the chicken. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Chex/Crispix Puppy Chow

1 Cube Margarine

6 oz. peanut butter chips

12 oz or larger Crispix cereal

3 cups wheat chex (I would say this is one small box)

2/3 cup peanut butter

6 oz chocolate chips

1-1/4 cups powdered sugar...

then 1/1/4 cups powdered sugar again

Place cereal in a large bowl. In another bowl, melt butter, peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power, one minute at a time, until smooth and melty. Pour over cereal. Stir until coated well. Mix 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar onto the coated cereal mixture. Place this mixture in a PAPER grocery bag. Add the other 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar gradually and shake to mix and coat the cereal to look like puppy chow.