Broccoli Bacon Quiche

Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
6 tbs chilled butter
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 tbs cold water

Filling:
16 oz chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup scallions, diced
6 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 slices bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 425. Combine the flours, salt, and butter in a bowl. Mix with pastry blender or fork until the consistency of cornmeal. Add just enough water to make the dough come together. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 12 inch circle. Place in a 10 inch pie plate. Crimp edges with fingers and prick crust all over with a fork. Bake until light brown about 10 minutes.

Beat eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl. Add onion, broccoli, bacon, cheese, and pepper. Pour into crust. Bake 50-60 minutes until puffed, light brown, with the center set. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Notes: Most pie plates are 9-inch, so be sure of your size. If you don't have a 10-inch plate, decrease the eggs to 4, the milk to 1 cup, the scallions to 1/3 cup, and the broccoli to 10 oz. This crust is very crumbly. If you have a mat to roll on, this works the best. You could also use parchment paper or wax paper, but these usually are too narrow. It can be done just on a floured counter top. Keep some water handy to patch any tears when it comes time to transfer to the plate. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time, this takes about 1 1/2 hour to make.

Susie's Potato Bacon Soup

½ onion, chopped
8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 potatoes, cubed
2 cups water
1 can evaporated milk
3 tbs Butter Buds
¼ tsp salt
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Cook potatoes and onion in water until tender. Don’t drain the water.

2. Slightly mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Add evaporated milk, Butter Buds,
bacon, and salt. Add milk to thin it if needed.

3. After it has cooled slightly, stir in cheese. Garnish the soup with grated cheese on top.

I love this soup. I always double it, because it is never enough. Here are some tweaks that I've made. Be sure that the potatoes are Russets. I've tried other varieties, and none do the job like a plain Jane Russet potato. I cook the bacon in the same pot as I make the soup in. I use pepper bacon (Daleys from Costco is the best ever). It adds a lot more flavor than regular bacon. Even after draining the grease from the pot, you're still left with some bacon flavored pepper flakes. I have also added a couple of cups of frozen broccoli, peas, and cauliflower, (just to make me feel better about all of that cheese and bacon). Broccoli is by far my favorite addition. Thanks for the recipe Susie!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

3 c pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce to taste
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or to taste
1/2 tsp. onion powder or to taste
Little salt

Take seeds out of pumpkin and wash thoroughly. Lay on towel to dry (overnight is best). Mix butter, Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt together. Stir together with seeds until all seeds are well covered. Lay out single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste after 1 hour 15 minutes, it doesn’t take long for the seeds to burn.

It's probably a little late in the year to post these, but they are so yummy, so remember them for next year!

White Chicken Chili

Sarah’s disclaimer: I’m not really one to follow recipes. I just throw a little of ‘this’ or ‘that’ in. I combine different recipes, and use what I happen to have in the kitchen. So last night I made white chicken chili—a combination of two recipes, minus whatever I didn’t have, plus a few things I thought would be good. It was SO GOOD, that I decided to sit down and try to remember my recipe. I kind of just throw spices in, so I guessed on measurements. I hope they are accurate enough!

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic (or to taste)

2 lbs chicken breast—boneless, skinless

1 ½ Tbsp cumin

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1-2 tsp basil

2 tsp dried cilantro (or 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro)

3 cans white beans—do not drain (white kidney, navy, etc…) (OR use dried white beans—2-3 cups, soak overnight)

1 can green chilies

1-2 cups chicken broth

In a large pot, sauté garlic and onion in olive oil. Cut chicken into strips or thin slices (If you want it shredded—strips work well). Add chicken to pan and sauté until cooked through. Use two forks to shred the chicken. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips, cheese, etc.

Spaghetti with Tomato Garlic Cream Sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups milk
4 tbs butter
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups diced tomatoes*
18 oz pasta**

1. In a medium sauce pan, sauté garlic in butter over medium heat until very lightly browned. Watch carefully, this will burn fast.

2. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes. The roux should be a light golden brown.

3. Add tomatoes, milk, salt, and pepper. Simmer until thickened, stirring frequently. Serve over pasta.

*If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, this takes 2 of the 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes. I like to use Italian style (with basil, oregano, etc.)

**I have used quite a few varieties of pasta. If you use a tube or curly shaped pasta,
you’ll only need a pound of pasta.

Edible Skeleton

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought is was cute. The head is a head of lettuce filled with dip, olive eyes and nose with a green pepper smile. The joints are mushrooms, the bones are celery and carrots, the ribs are slices of green pepper, the heart is a tomato, and tips of fingers and toes are olives.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

2 c sugar
½ c softened butter
½ c shortening
1 c sour cream
3 eggs
5 ½ c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
¼ tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl cream sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, and eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated.

Add remaining ingredients and beat at low speed until soft dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1-2 hours or until firm.

Heat oven to 350. On a well floured surface, roll dough to ¼ - inch thickness. Cut out cookies with cutters. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet after 2 minutes and place on cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool, then frost. Let frosting set before storing.

Notes: For best results, keep extra dough in fridge while rolling. If you have a silicone mat, no flour is needed when rolling. Parchment paper or silicone mat placed on cookie sheet produces best results. The frosting below is some of the best cream cheese frosting ever. It goes great with these cookies.


Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

11 oz softened cream cheese
⅓ c softened butter
4 ½ c sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange zest

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl; gradually beat in sugar. Beat in juice, vanilla, and zest until fluffy.