These recipes are sent out monthly with my newsletter.

April 2008
Baked Cheese Snack

1 can crescent dinner rolls
1 8oz block cream cheese (full fat--nothing but the best for my friends!)
dried dill weed
egg wash
dippers-- crackers, apples

Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap crescent rolls and leave it as one piece. Pinch seams together and lay the cream cheese in the middle. Sprinkle both sides of the cheese generously with dill weed, and wrap up the cheese with the crescent roll, kind of like a package. Once the cheese is covered, flip it over so that the seams are all on the bottom. Brush with an egg wash (just beat up an egg...) and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

October 2007
Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

~ 1 cup pumpkin seeds
1-2 Tbl oil
4 Tbl sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
a tiny bit of cayenne pepper-- depends on how spicy you want them!

Slice open that pumpkin and pick out the seeds and pick off the goopy guts. Spread the cleaned seed on a baking tray sprayed with non-stick spray (or use parchment paper). Bake at 250 until dry, probably about an hour. Let them cool.

Combine 2 Tbl sugar, salt, cumin, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne in a bowl. Heat oil in a pan and add the other 2 Tbl sugar and the pumpkin seeds. Stir constantly until the sugar carmelizes on the seeds. Dump the seeds into the bowl with the spices and stir to coat. Let cool, if you can, before eating them! (I should also tell you they keep for a week, but really, they won't last that long!)

September 2007
Balsamic Pan Chicken

An early marital staple and a super quick school night dinner!

You'll need:
Chicken breasts, either flattened or sliced thin if you're lazy like me
Salt and pepper
Tablespoon or two of olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Honey
Basil, dried (c'mon, we live in Ohio. Our basil is either dead for the season or eaten by japanese beetles.)

Salt and pepper your thin chicken. Heat oil is a big ol' skillet over med-hi heat, and then cook the chicken until it's no longer pink. Once that's done, push the chicken to the sides of the skilled and pour in some honey, some vinegar, and some basil. (Don't ask me how much, you're making a simple sauce here!) Mix that all around and then mix the chicken around so that it's good and saucy. Heat through for a minute or so, and you're done! This goes really well with some rice and broccoli. And if you're lucky enough to have leftovers, chop it up and put it on a salad the next day!

August 2007
The 2007 Dessert of the Summer

I have made this so many times this summer, I have the recipe memorized.

1 pie crust
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (1/3 fat is OK, but really, you're eating a pie crust here. Go full fat!)
3 cups sliced fruit of your choice, nectarines, plums, peaches, blueberries, etc.
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbl. flour
splash of cream or milk
cinnamon and coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 450 and grease a tart dish or big pie plate. Unroll the pie crust in the dish and spread the cream cheese in the middle of the crust, leaving a little room around the outside.
Mix your fruit together and toss it with the sugar and flour. Pour in over the cream cheese and fold the edges of the crust over. (You won't cover all of the fruit.) And don't worry if it looks funny, just remind people that they are eating "rustic" food!
Rub a little cream or milk over the exposed crust and then sprinkle on some cinnamon and coarse sugar for that gourmet touch.
Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a special treat.

July 2007
Karrie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Buy a bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips. Follow the recipe on the back with these exceptions:

-instead of softened butter, make it REALLY soft. Not quite melted, but as soft as possible. If it melts, that's fine too. You'll just have to stick your dough in the fridge for a bit before baking.

-instead of 3/4 cup white and 3/4 cup brown sugar, use 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 full packed cup of brown sugar. Dark brown sugar is best, but light brown is fine, too.

-instead of 2 full eggs, use 1 full egg plus 1 egg yolk and 1-2 tablespoons of water.

-instead of just stirring in the chocolate chips, pour them in and then go check the mail, let out the dogs, etc. By over mixing the chips in, they get broken up some and the chocolate gets better dispersed.

-instead of baking them until they're brown all over, undercook them just a bit, just until the edges are brown and the middles are still soft. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack.

-instead of keeping them on the counter, store them in the freezer and pull them out one at a time. Or, if you're like my neighbor's kids, eight at a time. :)

June 2007
RISSOLES: An Australian BBQ favorite!

1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground turkey
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten

Place all ingredients into a large bowl. Mix well until combined.
With wet hands, form mixture into 12 patties, about the size of a hamburger. Patties should be flattened at time of making, as they split on the sides if you try to flatten them when cooking.
To cook, grill over medium-high heat. Do not press down with a spatula, and don't flip them until juices form on the top.
When serving, you don't eat it with a bun. (perfect for those low-carb friends, eh?)