FABULOUS FOOD FROM TWO LUNCHEONS

I went to two luncheon's today. One at 11:00 and one at 1:30--we didn't eat until after 3:00 at the second one. Thank goodness. The food was outstanding. I will post the recipes here as I get them from my friends.

This was fabulous. We put it on French bread. She used Simply Fruit for the raspberry jam.

RASPBERRY HONEY BUTTER--brought by Marcia Ogden
From the Lion House Cookbook

1 lb of butter (4 cubes)
1 cup of honey
1 cup of raspberry jam
1 tsp vanilla
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the honey, jam, and vanilla beating until it is mixed in.

This unusual fudge was delicious. I was going to take my piece home but I took one bite and ate it all!

CHERRY CHEESECAKE FUDGE –brought by Marcia Ogden

1 pound white chocolate, in chunks, or real white chocolate chips
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup drained maraschino cherries, in halves or quarters

Carefully melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave on low power, stirring every 20 seconds to make sure it doesn't burn. Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute on high, so that it's slightly warm and softened.

Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl. Add the white chocolate and beat until the mixture is well-blended. Fold in cherries. Pour in an 8-by-8-inch pan that's been buttered or lined with foil or plastic wrap. Chill several hours or overnight, until firm. Makes about 5 dozen 1-inch pieces. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Very good.
RASPBERRY & DARK CHOCOLATE FUDGE --brought by Marcia Ogden

12-ounces dark dipping chocolate, or a 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup regular or heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam, at room temperature

Melt the chocolate or chips in a large bowl in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds to make sure they don't burn. Marcia used a double boiler. She says she doesn’t dare do it in the microwave.

Pour whipped cream in a glass cup and heat in the microwave about 30 seconds, until it's warm. Add the warm cream to the melted chocolate, and blend the mixture together with an electric mixer. Add the jam and continue beating until well-mixed.

Pour the mixture into an 8-by-8-inch pan that's been buttered or lined with foil or plastic wrap. Chill until firm, 2-4 hours or overnight. Makes about 5 dozen 1-inch squares. Store in the refrigerator.

I was only going to eat 1/2 of the following sandwich as I had another luncheon to go to in the afternoon. I ate it ALL and thought, how can I eat another one without being obvious? I didn't do it but I wanted to. You could bake these and then keep in the fridge for late night snacking. Mmm.

Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches--brought by Jo Tuckett

2 dozen small rolls
6 oz. Swiss cheese
8 oz. sliced ham
1 ½ T. poppy seeds
1 ½ T. prepared mustard
1 stick butter, melted
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. minced onion

Make sandwiches with rolls, ham and cheese. The ones I made I used Miracle Whip and a little mustard on the sandwiches. Mix the 5 remaining ingredients well with a wire whisk and pour over sandwiches. Leave uncovered until butter sets. Cover with foil. They can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or overnight.Bake 15 min. at 350. Enjoy!

The following salad was very good:

CASHEW SALAD--from Worldwide Ward Cookbook

Salad:
3 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped
4 C cashews
1 6-oz bag craisins
2 apples, chopped
2 pears, chopped
4 oz Swiss cheese, cubed

Dressing:
Prepare dressing the day before
3/4 C canola oil
2/3 C sugar
1 Tbsp red onion, finely grated
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp ground dry mustard
1/3 C fresh lemon juice

Combine all salad ingredients and toss with dressing immediately before serving. Makes 12 servings.

I brought the following. I make them every Christmas for pot lucks and then wonder why I only make them at Christmas. These aren't hot--with the cayenne--but have a tiny bit of a bite. I didn't use this much cayenne today but wish I had because there was no bite.

I got this off the food network years ago. I think I tweaked it a bit. Yup, just checked, I did. Originally called for chopped onion and it was hard to get the onion to hold together with the rest of the mixture. You could use 2 fresh garlic cloves, pressed if you want instead of the garlic powder. Original recipe called for twice the cayenne.

SPINACH PARMESAN BALLS --Food Network --brought by Lynne Snyder

1 pound package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed somewhat dryish
5 eggs
1 Tbs. onion powder
10 Tbs. butter, melted
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese—I just use the Kraft grated cheese in the green canister
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. slightly rounded cayenne pepper

1 ¾ cups Italian bread crumbs

the oven to 350°Squeeze excess water from spinach and put in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Form into 1-inch balls. Place the balls closely together on baking sheet. Cook in top half of oven until firm to the touch and just the tiniest bit brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

This is what I took to the second luncheon. It's a very good salad and very showy. Everyone wants the recipe.

POPPY SEED SALAD DRESSING—Lynne Snyder

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cold pressed safflower oil or any salad oil
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
1 Tbs. poppy seeds
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. dry mustard

Mix all ingredients together. ½ hour before serving pour over:

1 red onion, sliced thin
½ pound to ¾ pound mushrooms, sliced

When ready to serve pour over:

1 head lettuce, chopped
1 (10-oz.) pkg. spinach,
chopped

Note: The original recipe called for adding some crisp cooked bacon cut into small pieces and about ½ cup cottage cheese to the lettuce/spinach just before tossing with the mushrooms and dressing.

I always use red onion and mushrooms. Lately I have been adding re-hydrated dried tomatoes and chopped red or yellow or orange bell pepper and even substituting a chopped bunch of green onions for the red onion. If I do that I leave out the poppy seeds. Actually I could leave them in but I am out of poppy seeds at the moment.

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

This is a wonderful fudge. If you like peanut butter this is for you. I don't even like peanut butter and I love it.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk*

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add milk and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Boil two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well with a portable mixer or stir like crazy with a spoon. Pour over powdered sugar--I sift mine first--and mix with a mixer, again, or stir like crazy with a spoon, until all sugar is incorporated. Pour into an 8 inch square pan. Chill, cut and serve.

*We don't keep milk in the house so I put about 2/3 of a half-cup measure full of canned milk and fill the rest of the cup with water--it works fine.

PS It's best eaten warm, right out of the bowl. Don't tell anyone. Only the one who makes the fudge should have that information.

PPS I have made batches and batches of this. Everyone who tries it loves it. This takes less than fifteen minutes to make.

HELLO DOLLIES or MAGIC COOKIE BARS

Everyone has this recipe!

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1-1/3 cups Coconut
1 cup Chocolate chips
1 cup chopped Pecans
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs in medium bowl. Press onto bottom of greased foil-lined 13x9-inch baking pan.Sprinkle with coconut, chocolate chunks and nuts. Pour condensed milk over top.Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Lift foil out when cool and cut.

VEGAN CHEESE BALL--Lynne Snyder

I had forgotten how good this was.

1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup water
1 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 Tbs. arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Real Salt
1 tsp. prepared mustard, Dijon if possible
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 (8 oz.) container Better Than Cream Cheese
Chopped nuts (optional)

Put flour in a dry pan over medium heat; stir constantly until the flour is a bit brown. Wisk in remaining ingredients (except oil, Better Than Cream Cheese and nuts) stirring until mixture is very thick. Remove from the heat and add the olive oil; let cool until barely warm. Stir in Better Than Cream Cheese and refrigerate until very cold. Form mixture into a ball and roll it in the chopped nuts.

Note: I don’t usually form it into a ball, I just put it in a storage container and refrigerate. When I serve it we put it into individual smaller containers (like a custard cup) to eat with crackers, etc.

VEGAN CLAM DIP--Lynne Snyder

When we were Vegan two of our boys "stole" the Vegan Clam Dip and barricaded themselves in a bedroom with a bag of chips. They thought they had the "real" non-vegan version. They practically ate the whole batch before coming out. When we told them they blustered and stammered but they had been caught--they couldn't tell the difference!

1 (8 oz.) pkg. Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
½ cup soy milk
1 Tbs. A-1 steak sauce
1 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
½ cup dry Chicken TVP (or plain TVP or seafood TVP if you can find it)
additional soy milk if needed

Blend everything (except TVP) together well; then add TVP. It will take about 15 minutes for the TVP to re-hydrate and the dip to thicken (if it gets too thick add more soymilk, a few drops at a time). Serve with fresh vegetables and chips.

CLAM DIP--Lynne Snyder

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 can clams
½ tsp salt
½ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. black pepper (very important)
1 good glug Worcestershire sauce, about 1 ½ tsp. to one Tbl.

Put cream cheese and all seasonings and calm juice* in blender and blend until super smooth. Add clams and blend until a little chunky. Taste and adjust seasonings.

*I have noticed that as the years progress the canning companies are putting less clams and more clam juice in the cans. You may want to hold a little of the juice out and add only if the dip is too thick.

Serve with chips and all kinds of veggies.

SPINACH PARMESAN BALLS--Lynne Snyder

I got this recipe off the food network and modified it just a bit. I love these. We served them at our boy's wedding last year.

1 pound package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
5 eggs
1 Tbs. onion powder
10 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. garlic powder
1/4 slightly rounded tsp. cayenne pepper*
1 3/4 cups Italian bread crumbs

*Less if the heat bothers you. They aren't hot but they do have just a tiny bit of a bite.
Preheat the oven to 350°

Squeeze excess water from spinach and put in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Form into 1-inch balls. Place the balls closely together on baking sheet. Cook in top half of oven until firm to the touch, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, serve immediately.

BREAKFAST CASSEROLE or EGG SOUFFLÉ—Betty Helquist--a friend of Lynne's

This is a wonderful Christmas breakfast. Very rich but very good.

8 slices bread, cubed
2 cups grated cheese
1 lb. Sausage, either bulk sausage or links, cut up or bacon, chopped. Cooked.

Layer in 9x13 inch baking dish in order given. Mix the following and spoon over:

4 eggs, beaten
2¼ cups milk
¾ tsp. prepared mustard

Heat together and spoon over the top:

1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ can milk
Cover and refrigerate overnight or several hours. In the morning bake for 1 ½ hours at 275° (glass pan).or 300° metal pan. Serve immediately. Cover with foil if it has to wait to be served.

Serves 12-14.

ORANGE CRAISIN ROLLS—Gaye Marrott--a friend of Lynne's

Gaye makes these for her very spoiled husband.

Dough:
1 1/8 cup orange juice
1 large egg
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. dried orange peel
1 pkg. yeast

Filling:
1 TBs. butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
1-2 tsp. dried orange peel or freshly grated
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup finely chopped almonds

Glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. orange peel
1-2 Tbs. frozen orange juice concentrate

In bread maker place dough ingredients in order given. Run on dough cycle. Remove dough from the machine upon completion of the dough cycle and roll into a rectangle on a floured work surface. Add only enough flour to prevent sticking. Brush dough with melted butter. Mix sugar and orange peel together and spread evenly over dough. Sprinkle with dried cranberries and nuts. Roll dough jelly-roll fashion, beginning on the wide side. Cut into 12 eual slices and place in 9x13 in grease d pan. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free location for 30 to 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350° oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Mix glaze ingredients and drizzle on warm rolls.

SAUSAGE-FILLED CREPES—Gaye Marrott--a friend of Lynne's

Another recipe Gaye makes for her hubby on special occasions. A bit of work but worth it.

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 Tbs. cooking oil
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt

Combine eggs, milk and oil. Add flour and salt; beat smooth. Pour 2 Tbs. batter into greased skillet; tilt. Cook on one side; invert onto toweling. Repeat to make 16.

Place 2 Tbs. sausage filling down center of each crepe; roll up. Place in 11¾ x 7½ inch baking dish. Cover chill, bake covered in 375° oven for 40 minutes.

Mix sour cream with melted butter. Spoon over crepes. Bake uncovered 5 minutes.

Sausage filling:
Cook 1 lb. Bulk sausage and ¼ cup chopped onions.

Drain. Add:
½ cup shredded cheese
1 (3 oz.) pkg cream cheese
1/8 tsp. marjoram.

Serves 7-8

JODIE'S SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 C. cooked, mashed, dark orange sweet potatoes
(about 2 lg. or 3 med. potatoes)
1 C. Sugar
½ C. Butter
2 Eggs beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/3 C. Milk
Method:

Peel, slice and boil potatoes for 20-25 min. Mix other ingredients in a bowl. Drain potatoes, add to mixture, beat with mixer on high until smooth. Pour into lightly buttered 9X13" dish. Top with:

Topping
1 C. Brown sugar
1/2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Butter softened
1 C. chopped Pecans

Cut brown sugar, butter and flour together until crumbly. Add pecans, sprinkle on top of potatoes mixture . Bake at 350 for 30 min.

KNOR SPINACH DIP—off the Knor Vegetable soup package

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
1 cup Knorr Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 Green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Cut the top of a loaf of French bread; tear insides out, leaving an intact crust. Fill bread with dip and serve with torn bread as “dippers.”

ARTICHOKE DIP—Lynne Snyder—originally from JoAnne Young

This is really good! We serve it at Thanksgiving and Christmas and sometimes Easter.

1 cup mayonnaise (or less, see note at bottom)
1 cup Parmesan cheese (just the dry sit-on-the-shelve kind)
8 ounces cream cheese
5 pressed garlic cloves
1 can and a half artichoke hearts, Reese (or use marinated artichoke hearts, see note), chopped

Put in quiche dish at 350 for 20 minutes to one half hour. Scoop up with thin slices of baguette.

Note: I used marinated artichoke hearts because I buy those humongous jars at Costco (to make a couple of pasta recipes) so I cut the mayo down to 3/4 cup because the artichoke hearts have oil on them.

ANYTHING CREAM PIE (BANANA, COCONUT, VANILLA, ETC.)--Trish Snyder

We went to Smithfield to Tricia and Bentley's house for Thanksgiving this year. She made a vanilla and banana cream pie. They were fabulous! They make a good pudding too if you don't have a pie shell. Mmm. I want some now.

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. flour
2 cups milk
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla (I use much more)
1/8 tsp. salt
2 bananas or 1 cup coconut or whatever you want to add
1 pre-baked pie shell or graham cracker crust

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a pan. Stir in milk, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Put egg yolks in a small bowl and mix well with a fork. Add some of the hot sugar/milk mixture into the eggs, then mix the eggs into the hot sugar/milk mixture in the pan. Stir well. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour into a pie shell or add bananas or coconut and pour into pie shell. Chill.

CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE--Trish Snyder

My grandmother served this casserole for holiday dinners when I was little. She died when I was about ten. My brother Steven resurrected the recipe when I was in my teens and I decided I loved it. Its been a Thanksgiving tradition ever since.

1 head cauliflower,* broken into bite sized pieces
2-3 cans cream of mushroom soup (2 for a normal size head of cauliflower, 3 for a gigantic one)
1 pound of bacon, cooked crisp and chopped *
16 oz. package of shredded cheddar cheese *

Boil cauliflower pieces about five minutes,* until just soft. Drain. Mix soup, bacon, drained cauliflower, and cheese. Pour into a casserole dish and bake in a 325 degree oven. Check after 20 minutes, if not bubbling in the center let cook for fifteen minutes longer.

*Christmas, 2007--Modifications I made:
I used 1 1/2 heads cauliflower. I used less bacon--precooked, crumbled bacon--probably about 1/2 cup. I also forgot to buy cheese but had some Velveeta--I know, processed cheese food (don't shudder. We use it to make the cheese/salsa sauce for dipping corn chips, which is rather tasty). I used about 1/3, maybe a little more, of a 2 pound box of Velveeta, cut into chunks. I heated this with a large (called a family size) can of cream of mushrooms soup and then poured it over 1 1/2 heads of cauliflower that I had boiled for 3 minutes. I put this into a 9x13 pan, sprayed with a vegetable spray. Topped it with a good layer of the canned french fried onion rings and heated in the oven. People said they liked it a lot better than the green bean casserole so many people make for the holidays.

CRANBERRY SAUCE--Lynne Snyder

This recipe came from Lila Burke who lived in our ward years ago. She said, "The cranberry people have changed the packages of cranberries from one pound to twelve ounces, a 'more convenient size,' but what it really means is that they will only sell the more convenient size next year and will charge the price as the pound package." And she was right. That's exactly what they did.

1 (12 oz.) pkg. cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 to 2 oranges, juiced

Chop cranberries in a food processor. Leave a but chunky. Mix cranberries, sugar and orange juice. Let stand, stirring every couple of hours until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate. Will keep a very long time in the fridge or it can be frozen.