Cookie Quest Fudge Hit

The Cookie Quest continues...

Thursday I brought my No-Bake Fudge to my day job. It was a hit! These melt as you're eating them. They literally fall apart - I think because I made the last batch with evaporated milk instead of the regular milk. Oh, YUM! They're so good I had to share them for fear of sitting down to a fudge banquet alone and devouring all! Today I'm making more to fill up the Teddy Bear again! Come back soon to see the other no-bake cookies added along with the fudge today and Sunday.

I am joining A Vision to Remember at I Am Only 1 Woman.

Creamy Tacos

Cold, wintry days bring cravings for soup, chili, and other delicious foodies to warm us up and feel cozy. Do you like cheese? Try this easy wintry day recipe for the family.

2 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

Velveeta cheese

Evaporated milk (1 can)

Red kidney beans (1 can)

Rotel tomatoes with green chilies (2 cans)

tortilla chips

Season and brown the beef. In separate pot melt Velveeta cheese with the evaporated milk on medium low. When cheese is melted, mix with the beef. Add other ingredients except chips. Crunch chips and put in serving bowls. Pour beef/cheese mixture over the chips, and you've got Creamy Tacos!

For a different dessert, try peppermint bark/candy recipe and cashew bark. For the cashew bark (called bark because you use almond bark), you just use cashew pieces instead of the peppermint. My friend made the peppermint and cashew bark and brought me some this morning. YUM GOOD!

Picture of my friend's peppermint and cashew almond bark I tasted today.

I'm posting to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

No-Bake Fudge and Peppermint Characters

Today a vendor gave me a Santa container filled with white chocolate peppermint candy. His wife makes the candy. Last year they gave me the peppermint/white chocolate candy in a teddy bear container. Mr. Santa and Mr. Teddy Bear are both adorable. 

This evening I made the no-bake fudge and put it in the empty teddy bear container. The fudge is delicious (it even matches the teddy bear!). Next I planned to make peppermint candy*, but I think I'll hold off on that since Mr. Santa has plenty for us to munch on. 

 
Peppermint Candy
1 large/long peppermint stick
1 package almond bark
Melt almond bark on low on the stove, or melt in a small crockpot. Break peppermint candy in pieces. Mix peppermint pieces in melted almond bark and drop spoonfuls on wax paper. 
Yummy snack and can't stop eating it!
HAPPY NO-BAKING!
I'm joining Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle.
I'm joining Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple. 
I'm joining Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home

Christmas No Bake Cookie Quest

I'm  on a quest for No Bake Cookies! If you have a Christmas No Bake Cookie recipe, you are invited to add it to my No Bake Cookie list.
Currently, I'm in a transition of a fixer-upper cabin major remodeling. Most of the walls are about to come down, and a Mediterranean home has been custom designed to fill the little cabin's place. In the meantime, I'm celebrating Christmas in my little cement-floor kitchen with no frig and no stove. Ah, but that's where microwaves, electric skillets, toasters, and the like come in perfectly handy. Oh, yes, and I do have a frig in our RV on the property while we're renovating. Baking in the Christmas season is one of my favorite things to do. RV baking works, but I decided to go on a quest for No Bake Cookies. My first choice is a recipe from my friend, Pattie, No Bake Fudge Cookies. This recipe is printed in one of my favorite new cookbooks, Favorites from our Table:
Prepare ingredients ahead.
2 c. sugar            
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
Dash of salt
1 T. vanilla
3 c. quick-cooking oatmeal, uncooked (place in lg. bows)
1/2 c. peanut butter
Wax paper, available

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a hard boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Pour into bowl of oatmeal and add peanut butter. Mix well and drop quickly by tablespoon onto wax paper.

  To order cookbook, contact me.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!  

FUN COOKIE BAKING! 

I'm joining Sister Saturday at Southern In My Heart.http://southerninmyheart.blogspot.com/

Skillet Cheesy Chicken

For the little and big kids who love macaroni and cheese, try this recipe out:

1 whole chicken cooked and deboned
evaporated milk (1/2 of a 12 oz. can)
Cream of Chicken (1 can)
Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (mild or regular)
Macaroni & Cheese (1 box, prepared)

Cook macaroni and cheese as directed on box. Buy lemon pepper or other herb-cooked chicken already cooked and purchased from the grocery store. Add deboned chicken and add to cooked macaroni and cheese. Then add evaporated milk, cream of chicken soup, and Rotel tomatoes and chilies. Serve with flour tortillas or over a bowl of tortilla chips. So Good!

Cranberry Fruit Dip

Try this cranberry dip recipe for your favorite tart fruits.

Cranberry Fruit Dip

14 oz. sweet condensed milk
1 can whole cranberries
1 box cream cheese

Blend milk and cream cheese. Mix in the cranberries. Serve with tart fruit and/or crackers.

This weekend I made this sweet dip for fruit. I even dipped fresh very tart fresh cranberries in the dip. I tried dipping apples, too. They were good, but the best fruit to use are green grapes, strawberries, and any other tart fruit. My husband and I dipped the little twist crackers that you find in the grocery store aisle near pretzels. These little crackers have a bit of a sweet taste. Mr. Kitchen Hospitality said he liked the crackers dipped in the fruit dip better than the fruit.

Happy dipping!
I'm posting to Rednesday at It's A Very Cherry World!

Hot Corn

The couple who invited my husband and me over along with other friends for Thanksgiving are the perfect hospitable host and hostess. The two of them make a great kitchen team. He does the cooking and makes the best Italian dressing. He said he’d email me the recipe. Imagine trying to not indulge with a second helping. It was difficult, but I managed only the one serving.

As a thank you gift for the Thanksgiving invitation, I brought a pinecone topiary Christmas table ornament and my old favorite dish, Hot Corn. 

Hot Corn

2 cans Shoepeg corn, drained (optional: 1 bag frozen white corn)

1 pkg. cream cheese

1 small can jalapeno pieces, drained

1 T. butter

If using canned corn, mix all ingredients together and heat until cream cheese is melted and corn is bubbly.  If using frozen corn, cook as directed on package. Drain, then add the other ingredients. If you prefer spicy hot, do not drain jalapenos. For medium spicy, drain. 

For Thanksgiving I made this recipe. It’s usually a favorite. This time, however, we all got a surprise with the first bite! WOW! It was very spicy hot. I did not drain the jalapenos. So if you don’t like hot, remember to drain the jalapenos. If you like mild, leave the jalapenos out altogether. It’s great that way, too.

Tangy Sweet Yams

Today I made a new recipe: Tangy Sweet Yams

5-6 yams, peeled and cut in small chunks
1/3 can frozen orange juice (no water added)
1/2 large bag mini marshmallows
2 cups brown sugar

Boil yams 'til tender in electric skillet or large pot on stove. Drain most of the liquid. Add the frozen orange juice, brown sugar, and marshmallows. If it's too tangy, add more brown sugar and marshmallows.

Yummy delicious!

Plans for the day had changed. Friends had invited us for their family Thanksgiving dinner today. However, they had major water problems and had to get a repairman out. First, the dinner was delayed two or three hours. Then, I received a text saying it was canceled. I had planned to bring my yams, so I fixed them for hubby and me. They were oh so yummy good!

Posting to Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound

Vegetable Soup Leftovers

This Thanksgiving week we've had turkey, ham, yams, hot corn, mashed potatoes, tater tot casserole, rolls, apple pie, mixed berry pie, and pumpkin pie. Most of that was served on Thanksgiving Day at our friends' home, and I ate a taste of each - not even a 1/2 cup serving each either! If you eat a taste of each, then you can manage to eat only one plate full. Seconds? No way, not when I've finally lost a few pounds that took forever to lose. On this chilly Thanksgiving week, however, Mr. Kitchen Hospitality and I have enjoyed simple vegetable soup leftovers. I had made a large batch of the soup to eat throughout the week. To change it up, I added Velveeta cheese and kidney beans. First, you make the vegetable soup:

Easy Beef Vegetable Soup

3 lbs. lean beef
1 lg. (32 oz.) V8 or tomato juice
1-2 bags frozen vegetables
Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Ground Cumin
Chili Powder

Season and brown beef. Drain. Add V8 or tomato juice and vegetables.

That's the original vegetable soup. Add Velveeta cheese and kidney beans (unless you already have beans in your soup). Pour in a bowl, add a few corn tortilla chips and enjoy!

Frog Eye Salad Tradition

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! At this family holiday season I'm thinking of my mother and mother-in-law who have  both passed from this life. One of the things that comforts me is to prepare recipes that  they both loved. The Frog Eye Salad was my mother-in-law's favorite dish to bring to a  gathering as it made plenty for a large group. When I've brought it to holiday and special  occasions, people are always so curious to know what it's made of. They never guess that it's a pasta because it's served as a dessert.   FROG EYE SALAD

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1943,150176-249197,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 1 c. Acini di Pepe pasta 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained 1 sm. can crushed pineapple, not drained 2 sm. pkg. French vanilla instant pudding Cool Whip Cook 1 cup of pasta in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain carefully as the Acini di Pepe is a very tiny pasta. Add oranges, pineapple and juice with pudding. Add pasta and Cool Whip. Enjoy! Do you have a favorite recipe that has become a family tradition? I welcome your comments and would love to have you follow my new blog, Kitchen Hospitality!

Memorable Thanksgiving Meals

Does McDonald's offer a Thanksgiving specialty? I think you get the basic menu. But when you're on the road on Thanksgiving Day, McDonald's may be the only thing open besides a truck stop. My family and I were traveling across the States several years back, pulling our fifth wheel to our scheduled meeting near Tulsa, Oklahoma. We stopped at a McDonald's built over an interstate freeway. Though I'll always remember the melancholy feeling of being far from home and family, eating our McDonald's meal watching the flow of traffic below is an experience we enjoyed.

What are special Thanksgiving memories of yours? I'd love to hear your comments.