Holli Moore's Brownies

This is my favorite brownie recipe as of late.

2/3 cup butter
2 squares unsweetened  chocolate (I use Bakers)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp each vanilla, salt, baking power
1 1/2 cups flour

Melt butter and chocolate together over medium heat on stove, slowly, do not let boil, take off heat and add sugar, then eggs, then rest of ingredients, mix well by hand, butter and flour a 11in baking dish, pour in, bake @ 350 four 30-45 min, take out when toothpick comes clean, let cool and enjoy!!

Creamy tomato and peanut soup

If you like peanut butter as much as we do, you might enjoy this soup. It comes out pretty runny and is intended to be served with rice. I adapted it from a similar recipe that I had.

Sautee in olive oil:
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 small yellow onions, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
8 small new potatoes, quartered

Add the following and simmer 20-30 minutes:
2 cans veggie broth
1 can chicken broth
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Add and stir:
~1/2 Cup whipping cream (or half and half or evaporated milk)
3/4 Cup crunchy peanut butter

Serve with rice.

Caramel Apple Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (I only used 8 because my friend told me to. I thought it was great with eight!)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups all purpose flour

1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!) (You really shouldn't preheat this first step because you're supposed to refrigerate your dough for an hour or so)

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.

Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)

When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.

Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)

Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off. *just a note, if you are twisting the cookies off and the caramel keeps making a big mess and you're cookie is falling apart, you probably need to wait longer for the cookies to cool more. (10-15 min)

Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

*They are so good warm. If they're not warm, heat them up for 10 seconds in the microwave.

Here's the blog I got the recipe from:

http://scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com/2010/11/caramel-stuffed-apple-cider-cookies.html

Peanut Butter Fingers

So you remember the peanut butter fingers we used to get at school that were the best!? I used to love them. Well here is a recipe that tastes very similar. It's a mixture of Hodgkinson's recipe and OurBestBites.com. I LOVE THEM!

Mix in a large bowl:

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

Add and mix well:

1 Tbs vanilla

1 c. melted butter

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. peanut butter

Add and mix well:

3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

Bake in a sprayed 12 x 15" pan at 350 for about 15 min. (until puffed and just barely getting golden brown)

While hot, spread with:

1 - 1 1/2 c. peanut butter (I probably used about 1 1/4 c)

Cool in the fridge so the PB hardens.

Frost when cool:

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. cocoa power

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c butter, softened

1/3 c boiling water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Now, this obviously makes a ton. Normally I half it and bake it in a 9x13" pan. They are good cool, but better warm. And they are SO GOOD if you heat them up for 10 seconds in the microwave!

Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad

I saw this in September's Southern Living and wanted to make it for the next gathering. Yesterday was Eli's baptism lunch and the perfect occasion to try it out. It was a hit and sooooo delicious! I know there were several requests for it and if this post of it is unreadable (try enlarging it), please comment and I will redo it. Enjoy!

We like carrot Soup!

We made carrot soup this weekend. If anything I would have backed off on the cayenne and maybe used more broth because it came out pretty thick. Great fall flavor.

4-5 lb carrots washed and chopped in 3-4 pieces each
2 onions quartered
1-2 bell peppers (green, red or orange) cut in strips
1-2 potatoes, chopped
Olive oil drizzled over veggies (~1/4 C?)
2 tsp ginger
1/4-1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (to taste, it can be spicy!)
~4C chicken broth
1-2C half and half (milk or cream should work fine)

Sautee veggies in olive oil until onions are soft. (Raw potatoes would take a little more time, so consider steaming them a little before adding other veggies. I used a baked potato I had in the fridge.) Add some salt. Add broth and steam until carrots and potatoes are soft. Transfer half of veggies and some broth to blender and puree. Puree remainder of veggies and broth. Return mixture to pot. Add spices and half and half and bring to simmer. Garnish with sour cream and/or cilantro. Enjoy!

Orange Julius Drink

We enjoyed this with popcorn Sunday (General Conference evening) while Evan and Emily & kids and Alan and Megan & kids were here.

1 6-oz can frozen orange juice
1 c water
1 c milk
1/4 - 1/2 c sugar
1 t vanilla
7 ice cubes

Put all ingredients in blender and process for 30 seconds. Serve immediately. Makes 6 cups.

Hot Citrus Drink

Over the years we've enjoyed this yummy drink on cold winter evenings with popcorn. First is the regular recipe and the second is the half recipe with reduced sugar.

2 c sugar
2 qt water
2 c orange juice (fresh juice is the best, but if you don't have it, use diluted concentrate)
3/4 c lemon juice (again, fresh is best)
1 t vanilla
1 t almond extract

Mix all ingredients in sauce pan and heat through.

Half Recipe with Reduced Sugar

1/2 c sugar
1 qt water
1 c orange juice (or add a second cup for extra orange juice flavor)
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract

Mix all ingredients in sauce pan and heat through.