Pasta with Clam sauce

I refuse to let this blog fade out :)

I just made this for the first time so I haven't had time to "perfect" it. But I think this would be yummy as a cream sauce as well.



5 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
2 6-1/2 oz, cans of chopped clams, drained
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped (I use dry and next time I think I'll add a little less)
2/3 cup bottled clam juice
1 Tablespoon dried oregano ( I don't care for oregano and thought it was way too strong. I won't add this next time)
1 Tablespoon dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet, add garlic and sauté until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add clams and parsley continue cooking for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and boil gently for 3 to 4 minute. (this is where I would add a little heavy whipping cream and some parmesan cheese). Pour over cooked pasta and toss gently.

PB cookies, so easy!

Preheat oven to 350
1 c Peanut Butter
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 c chocolate chips

mix in a bowl and bake for 10 minutes

no flour, seriously. so easy.

Chili

I love soups but never want to make them in the summer. One more reason why I love the Fall :)
Here is a recipe I recently tried and it was so good! You may not know this, but Ruby Franke has a recipe blog with some great recipe's.

http://goodlookinhomecookin.blogspot.com/2009/08/hungry-man-chili.html

good lookin home cookin

Bruschetta....................Courtney Brown

a nice appetizer from the garden

4 roma (doesn't have to be roma) tomatoes
hand full or so of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons or so of olive oil
salt
baguette

chop it all up (but keep the tomatoes somewhat chunky) throw it in a bowl, let the flavors marry each other for a while and serve on top of sliced bread. My husband likes to toast his bread in the oven first. The smell alone always gets me, love it!

Honey-Lime Chicken

Melt 2 T butter in baking dish.

Place 1, 1/2 lbs chicken strips in dish over butter.

In a bowl mix the following:

3 T garlic, minced
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 TB soy sauce
1 tsp lime zest

Pour over the chicken. Top with sliced red onions. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Cook longer if your chicken is extra thick.

When the chicken is done cooking remove chicken. Pour juices into sauce pan with 1/3 cup water and 2 TB cornstarch. Cook until simmering and thick.

Serve chicken and sauce over hot buttered rice.

Trail Mix Cookie

Little Sis had her baby. I knew I would be in the hospital for a long time. I added a few changes to a classic recipe so as to take the edge off my hunger. They turned out wonderful!

Beat on high for 2 minutes (do NOT skip this):

1 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1, 1/2 cup brown sugar

Beat in one at a time:

2 eggs
2, 1/2 t vanilla

Add and mix until barely encorporated:

1, 3/4 cup flour
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon

Add and mix until barely encorporated:

3 1/2 cups oats
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut

make mounds the size of about 1, 1/2 Tbl. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the hot pan for 10 minutes. The place them on your cold counter top for another 10 minutes.

Common Cookie Blunders

-Using butter that is room temperature. You want to use cold butter. It takes more work to blend in the sugar. But it is well worth it!

-Over cooking! The butter gets too hot and thinned that it can't support the flour. Another reason to use cold butter. I cooked this first batch for only 8 minutes. The second batch I left for 8 minutes, 45 seconds so you can see what a huge difference this makes!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken in Cream Sauce..............Courtney

I can never go wrong when I throw this together, a favorite among my family members.


1 can chicken broth
about 12 ritz crackers, finely crushed
2 T parmesan cheese
4 chicken breast (I don't really use only 4, but just for writing a recipe sake)
oil ( I prefer olive)
1/2 c chive and onion cream cheese ( I usually just use the whole tub
2 cups rice (give or take according to your family)


cook rice using 1 1/4 c of broth and 1/2 cup water

mix cracker crumbs and Parmesan in a dish. Dip chicken in crumb mixture, turning to evenly coat both sides. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken; when done, transfer to plate; cover to keep warm. add remaining broth and cream cheese to skillet; bring just to a boil, stirring constantly. cook 3 minutes or until thickened; spoon over chicken. Serve with rice and some veggies.

Smores Brownies

Found this recipe bloggin! Thought I'd share!


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
12 big marshmallows (I also diced 6 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in. Up to you!)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a heavy saucepan of simmering water. Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

Easy Chocolate Trifle - Kristy

Sorry this has taken a while.

2 (4 serving) instant chocolate puddings
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tubs cool whip
prepared brownies, cubed
1 lb strawberries or raspberries

1. Add milk to the 2 pudding mixes. Beat with whisk until well blended. Mix in 1 tub of cool whip.
2. Layer brownie cubes, pudding mixture, strawberries and additional cool whip in a trifle bowl or glass bowl.
3. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

BBQ Beef Brisket

1 Beef Roast
1 onion chopped
2 Tb. butter
2 cups ketchup
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tb. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Put roast in crock pot on high until thawed then turn on low till meat falls apart. (At least 8 hours.) Remove all fat. Saute onions in skillet in butter and add to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients and leave on medium for an hour or two. Put meat on sandwich bread.

This is Melanie's recipe and it is soooo good. We make it up and it provides sandwiches for a week.