Jambalaya

I shifted this a little from another Snow family favorite from Audrey Goodrich. She's Dave's cousin. Impressed I actually know that? Me too. You can add pepper/chili powder as much as you want to make this spicier, but what I have listed is pretty spicy to start with.

Seasoning:
2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp rubbed sage

Additional ingredients:
2 T butter
1/2 lb chopped ham (2 c)
3/4 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (2 c)
1 c. onions, chopped
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped green peppers
1 T minced garlic
1/2 c. canned tomato sauce
1 c. peeled and chopped tomatoes (I usually use fresh ones, but diced tomatoes in a can work fine as long as you drain them)
2 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c. uncooked rice (this recipe uses white rice. If you want to use brown, you will need to add more liquid and cook for longer.)

Combine seasoning in a small bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, melt butter over high heat. Add ham and chicken and cook until meat starts to brown. Stir in the seasoning mix and 1/2 c each of onions, celery, and bell peppers, and the garlic. Cook until vegetables start to get tender, about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring fairly constantly and scraping pan bottom as needed. Stir in the remaining 1/2 c. each of onions, celery, and bell peppers and the tomatoes. Remove from heat. Stir in the stock and rice, mixing well.

Transfer mixture into and ungreased 9 x 13 in pan. Bake uncovered until rice is tender, about 1 hour. Stir well and remove bay leaves. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Waffles with Buttermilk syrup

Can you tell what my favorite ingredient has been lately? This is another gem from the Snow family cookbook, courtesy of Jileen Ward. I have no idea who she is, but I thank her for this delicious contribution to the Snow family collection. This is a good one for special breakfast day too.;)

Batter:
2 c. flour
2 T baking powder
2 T cinnamon
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks (save the whites)
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 T vanilla
1 1/2c. milk
3/4 c. melted butter

Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together. Then add egg yolks, pumpkin, vanilla, milk, and melted butter. Beat 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into the batter. Cook in waffle iron.

Buttermilk syrup:
1/2 cube butter (not margarine)
1 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 c. buttermilk (or sub 1 T lemon juice plus 1/2 c. milk)
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter, sugar, corn syrup, and buttermilk to a boil and remove from heat. Add baking soda and vanilla. It will bubble up quite a bit, so make sure your pan is large enough. Stir until it settles. Serve warm over pumpkin waffles.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

So I've always wanted to find a recipe that combined pumpkin and sugar cookies, as I love both quite dearly. It never occurred to me to figure it out on my own. So this recipe is an adaptation from my mother-in-law's super yummy sugar cookie recipe, which can also be found on this blog.

1 c. butter or margarine
4 to 6 c. flour (I usually end up using 5)
2 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I like to line my baking sheets with parchment paper, but if you want to leave them plain, that's fine. You shouldn't need cooking spray.

Cream butter and sugar, then add vanilla and eggs. Slowly add pumpkin puree and sour cream, mixing until they combine well. You will probably need to scrape the sides at least once.

In a separate bowl, combine 4 cups flour, salt, soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add to butter mixture, scraping from the sides as needed. Add flour as needed to form a slightly sticky, mostly firm dough. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Roll and cut cookies as desired. This dough will behave exactly like regular sugar cookie dough. Bake 8-10 minutes. (If you pull them out of the oven just before their edges start to turn brown and leave them on the pan for a couple of minutes, they stay really soft and yummy. If you like crispy sugar cookies, this recipe is not for you.) Transfer to rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate at will!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
1/4 c (1/2 cube) butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 T milk (to thin as desired)

Combine cream cheese and butter and beat on high until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well, scraping sides to assure everything mixes well. Gradually add powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached.

*blogger was not uploading photos when I posted this. I actually have a picture that I will happily post at a later date.*

Breakfast Pizza

We love to have "fun breakfast" on Sunday mornings. Our usuals include egg mcmuffins, stuffed crepes, German pancakes, or coffee cake. Every once and a while, we do something really fun. What could be more fun than pizza for breakfast? This recipe is so far off from the original I found I don't remember where, so I don't feel bad claiming credit for it.;) I'm sure you could use a refrigerated pizza crust if you like, but I don't, so I included my favorite pizza crust recipe as well. Enjoy!

Crust:
2 1/2 c flour
2 3/4 tsp yeast (about 1 packet)
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
3 T olive oil
1 c. very warm water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and oil with wire whisk for about a minute. Add remaining flour until dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead for 5 minutes until nice and springy. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, then shape on pie plate or baking stone. If you like extra thick crust, let it rise for about 30 minutes before you bake it. I bake for 17 minutes before I add the toppings.

Toppings:
10 eggs, scrambled the way you like them
1 lb. cooked breakfast sausage (I used Honeysuckle turkey breakfast sausage, it was delish)
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon too. My kids like it better.)
1 packet country gravy, prepared with a little less liquid to make it nice and thick
grated colby jack to taste

When crust is mostly cooked (starting to brown on top) remove from oven and sauce with the country gravy. Top with eggs, sausage, bacon, and grated cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is nice and melty. Then cut and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

This was a life changing recipe I took from my friend Natalie's blog, Perry's Plate. If you haven't checked it out at my behest yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. A wide variety of delicious recipes can be found there and she even has a search engine you can use to find whatever you never knew you were looking for.;) Enjoy!



Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
adapted from Cara's Cravings

Brownie Batter:
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 T vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 T flour
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" or an 11x7" baking pan.

For the Brownies:
Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl, and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

For the Cheesecake:
In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in remainder of ingredients until smooth.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over top, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the center doesn't jiggle when you nudge the pan. Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving.

Taco Pasta Shells

This one was kind of a fun take on Tacos. I'm always trying to trick my kids into eating different things, especially meat. I swear they're vegetarians. Anyway, they love noodles and they tolerate tacos, so I made these the other night. It's an adaptation of a recipe I found in my sister's ward cookbook.

12 Jumbo pasta shells
1/2 med. onion, chopped
6 oz. cream cheese
1 c. grated cheese
1 lb ground beef (I used turkey burger)
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 small jar taco sauce (about a cup) -- the recipe says you can also use red enchilada sauce
Fritos
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta shells. Cook hamburger in onion until brown. Add taco seasoning and prepare as on the packet. Add cream cheese and heat slowly until melty. Spread 1/4 c. taco sauce in bottom of pan. Fill shells with meat mixture. Top with the rest of the taco sauce and melted cheese. I think some sliced olives would have been nice too, but I was a little time crunched that night. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Serve with Fritos and sour cream.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is another yummy adaptation from a Snow family recipe. I make my own pie crust, so I included that recipe, but the recipe called for frozen pie crust which I'm sure is yummy as well. The problem with a frozen pie crust is twofold: 1) it costs money. I'm not paying $3 or $4 for something I can make myself pretty quickly with flour and shortening. 2) you have to buy it ahead of time. That requires forethought. Hee hee. Anyway, here it is!

Filling:
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 can chicken broth
2/3 c. milk
Shredded chicken (She means the cannery stuff, but I cook and cube mine)
Peas and carrots (this means frozen ones. I used garden carrots and broccoli with frozen peas in mine. If you use fresh veggies, make sure you cook them a bit before you put them in or they will be just a little crunchy.)
2 frozen pie crusts (or use the recipe at the end of this post)

Melt butter. Add flour, onion, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat when it's a paste. Add chicken broth and milk. Return to heat and boil for 1 minute. Add chicken and veggies. Form pie crust. Pour mixture in crust. Put other crust on top. Pinch edges and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

*sidenote* you probably already know this, but if you'll put a little layer of tinfoil over the edges of the crust until the last 5 minutes of baking, the crust edges won't fry.

2-crust pie:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup plus 2 T shortening
4 to 6 T cold water

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or kitchen knives until particles are the size of small peas. (*sidenote* I finally bought a cheap little pastry blender at Wal-Mart for around $4. It changed my life.) Sprinkle with cold water, 1 T at a time until all the flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves the side of the bowl. Divide dough in half and shape into flattened rounds between wax paper. Refrigerate for 45 minutes until dough is firm but pliable. Then roll out and form your pie crusts. If it's too hard to roll, just let it sit on the counter until it softens up some.

*another sidenote* this one is good to make ahead of time and pop it in the fridge until you're ready to cook. We do it on Sundays sometimes so we can just stuff it in the oven when we get home from church.