Chattanooga Chew Chews

Good day to all of you!  Sorry I've been MIA for awhile, but I was busy with getting ready for Christmas and there wasn't always time to grab the camera and take step by step pictures of the recipes. I do want to share a few with you now, maybe you can use them for a New Year's party.  I've got my stuff all ready for my annual New Year's day meal of Black eyed peas!

I got this recipe back in 2008 and everyone seems to really like these bars.  I usually double the recipe and make them in a 9" x 13" pan.

Chattanooga Chew Chews

Crust:
4 Tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans (sprinkle on top of the crust)

Topping:
1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons) butter
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, or less

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment paper.  Or don't line it with anything.  The bottom isn't that sticky but the sides are, so you'll have to pry them a bit if you don't.

Prepare the crust.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the softened butter and brown sugar until well blended.  Stir in the flour. Mixture will be very dry and border on sand-like.  Pour it into the prepared pan and press down as much as possible.  Sprinkle the pecans over top.  Set aside for now.

Prepare the topping.  Place the butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat; when butter is mostly melted, stir in the brown sugar.  Continue heating until mixture begins to boil, boiling for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Pour the hot mixture over the crust.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over top.  Let the chips sit for a few minutes to melt, then gently spread the with a spatula to coat.

Allow the bars to cool for at least 5 hours.  If you want to speed things up, let then cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature, then put then in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.  When chocolate is firm but still soft, cut into bars.

I cut these on the small size because they are rich.

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Well I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, we did, but now on to the New Year!   Mary

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to share this cute picture with you that I found on the internet.

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope that you day is one filled with lots of love and laughter and hope you have a Blessed day with whomever you choose to share it with!

Mary

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take the time and say how thankful I'm for my followers!  I hope that you enjoy the recipes that I share and I do it for fun, so I hope you are having some fun along the way too!

Blessings to you and your love ones today, Mary

Sugar Coated Pecans

 Hi everyone, hope you are all ready for the big eating feast that is coming soon, I know I'm ready!!

Today I thought I would share a recipe with you that I found over on Allrecipes.com back in 2006.  The first time I made these, I knew that this recipe was a keeper.  In fact, one year I made some of these for a party and I had to hide them from my daughter, because she would have eaten the whole pound of pecans by herself!  See the pecans in the picture above?  Those are some of the BEST pecans that you can buy and sadly you can only get them only once a year.  They are packaged freshly picked by this company and I've only been able to get them when someone is having a fund raising event.  So if you ever see these at this time of the year, stock up on them!!

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  First you need to add your water and vanilla, then separate one egg, using only the white portion, give the dog the yolk, he will thank you for that!  Then measure out your sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and salt; then whip together the egg white and water until frothy.

 Now take your pecans and add them to your egg white mixture, tossing until all of the pecans are covered.

 Now add your cinnamon/sugar mixture, stirring until pecans are coated.

 Now spread out the pecans on a greased baking sheet or use a Silpat like I did.

 Put into your preheated oven, and bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

After the pecans are done, remove from oven and let cool.  DO NOT eat when they are hot/warm as they will not taste good at all.  Let them cool thoroughly before eating.  Store in an air tight container, or hide them all for yourself!

Seriously, these are so good, that it is hard to stop eating them.  My daughter calls them "crack"!

Sugar Coated Pecans

1 egg white
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound shelled pecan halves
1 cup white sugar (can use Splenda)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Grease a 11" x 15" baking sheet with sides.  In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white, vanilla and water; set aside.  In a smaller bowl, mix together sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Add pecans to egg white, stir to coat the pecans evenly.  Pour cinnamon/sugar mixture over the pecans, tossing to coat pecans evenly with mixture.  Spread the pecans on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake at 250 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool.  Store in an air tight container.

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These are so good, I hope you give them a try!    Mary

Veterans Day

I just wanted to take the time today to say Thank you to all of our veterans who have served our country!  THANK YOU!!

Cranberry Orange Relish

 Well with Thanksgiving right around the corner I thought I would share my recipe for Cranberry Orange Relish.  What makes this different then your regular one is that I use orange juice in place of water.  When cranberries go on sale after all of the holidays, I usually buy 3 or 4 bags and place them in my freezer so that I can have this relish all year long!  Cranberries are so, so good for us too!

Now I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients but you will need, one bag of cranberries, one cup of sugar and one cup of your favorite orange juice.  I usually mix my sugar and orange juice together in my saucepan and let it heat up until all of the sugar is melted, then I add my whole cranberries.  Oh, make sure you go thru them first and discard any of those that look bad to you.

Then I bring them to a boil, stir and reduce the heat to just a low simmer, you don't want them to bubble over onto your stove, what a mess that is to clean up, yes, I've done it many a time.  Cook until you get it to the consistency you like, and remove from the heat.

 As you can see, some are mush and others are whole.  After removing from the heat, let them cool.  Then serve or put into a container and place them into the refrigerator to thicken up some.   YUMMY!!!

Cranberry Orange Relish

1 bag of whole cranberries, picked over and discard any bad ones
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of orange juice

Mix the sugar and orange juice into a medium saucepan.  Heat so that the sugar dissolves.  Now add your cranberries to this mixture, bring to a boil and than reduce the heat to simmer.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until it is the consistency of your choosing.

I found this recipe over on Allrecipes many years ago.

Hope you all have a great day, bye for now!

Mary

McMuffin Casserole

Hi everyone!  Today I want to share with you a recipe that I found HERE.  It was a very simple and easy recipe to make and I think the kids would like this too.  Now I thought it really needed something else added to it, but I did forget to put in the salt and pepper, so that may have made a difference.  I know maybe some melted butter, for some added taste would do the trick, not much, maybe a tablespoon or two.

First I sprayed my dish with some PAM, than arranged halve of my english muffins (I cut each halve into six pieces).  Next put a layer of shredded Cheddar cheese and then a layer of Canadian bacon (I found these cute little mini ones).  Then repeat this process again.

 Now mix together your milk, eggs and seasonings and pour over your casserole.

Looks good doesn't it.

 Now put either foil or plastic wrap over your casserole and refrigerate for at least one hour or more.  I mixed mine together in the morning and let it set all day, you want your milk mixture to be absorbed into the English muffins.

 Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

 Cut and serve.  Good for either breakfast or dinner!

Well this is my recipe for today, I hope you will give it a try!

McMuffin Casserole

4 English muffins, split 
6 oz Canadian bacon
1 cup cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
salt
pepper

Grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Cube English muffins and chop Canadian bacon. Add half of the cubed English muffins in a single layer. Top with half of the Canadian bacon and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Layer the remaining English muffins and Canadian bacon and 1/2 cup more cheese.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until combined. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the casserole. Wrap the baking dish with plastic wrap and place refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day.

 Bake at 325 degrees 45 to 50 minutes. 

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Mary

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

 Hi everyone!  I hope all is well with all of you, we are doing great here!

Today I want to share a recipe that I received in my e-mail in-box.  You can see the original post  HERE.  Boy oh boy is this one a winner!  Now some people have been sharing this recipe as a dip, but I like it as a soup recipe.

 First spray your crock-pot liner with PAM, than just add the following ingredients, chicken breast, black beans, corn, Rotel.

 Then add your seasonings and dry Ranch dressing mix.

 Now the cream cheese, you can see I cut mine into big cubes, but you don't have to if you don't want too.  Give it a stir to mix it up as much as you can.  Put the lid on and set it on LOW.

 Cook on LOW for 8 hours.

 Now remove your chicken breast (I used three because that is what came in the package I bought).

 Shred the breast with two forks, smells heavenly too!

 Put the shredded chicken back into the crock pot, stir and let cook for another 30 minutes or until you are ready to serve it.

Serve with chips, I happen to have some blue corn tortilla chips this time.

This is so good that I want to make it again, real soon!!  Leftovers are even better the next time around.  Now if you don't like Rotel, you can substitute a can of diced tomatoes.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, do not drain

1 can Rotel, do not drain

1 ranch dressing mix packet

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 8 oz package cream cheese

2 chicken breasts or 5 chicken tenders, frozen

Spray your Crock pot liner with PAM.  Then put in chicken breast, black beans, corn, Rotel, Ranch dressing mix, cumin, chili powder and cream cheese.  Give a stir.  Cover and turn crock pot on LOW for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, remove chicken breast and shred with two forks, return the shredded chicken to the crock pot, stir and cover; cook for another 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Serves 4 to 6.

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Share with http://www.flourmewithlove.com/2012/11/mix-it-up-monday.html

Well this is my recipe for today, hope you give it a try, this is a keeper!                   Mary

Crock Pot Creamed Corn

 Hi everyone!  Today I want to share with you a recipe that I found over on Pinterest.  Now this one is a winner!!  My cousins where here a coupe weeks ago and I had to try this recipe as it looked so good! I made Grandma D's meatloaf, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Slaw and this creamed corn.  Now in the picture above, those are the ingredients I used to make half a recipe with.  You can find the original recipe HERE

 This recipe is so EASY!!  First I sprayed my liner with some PAM,  than all you do is Dump all of the ingredients into your crock-pot!  I did a quick stir.  How easy is that.  Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

Here is what it looks like, so yummy!!  I put the amounts that I used for half a recipe in parenthesis, which makes about 8 to 10 servings.

This would be a great recipe to take to any of the upcoming holiday meals that will be coming are way very soon.  Enjoy!               Mary

4 lbs. frozen sweet corn (2 lbs.)
2 8 oz blocks cream cheese, diced into 1 inch squares (1 8 oz block)
1 stick (4 oz) of salted butter (1/2 stick)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (7 Tablespoons)
4 tablespoons of sugar (2 Tablespoons)
1 teaspoon black pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt (1/4 teaspoon)

Directions

Throw all the ingredients, without any sort of ceremony or circumstance, into a crockpot on medium or low for at least 4 hours. If you need it done faster, cook it on the stove or on high in the crockpot, but be prepared to sacrifice a little of the savory goodness that results when corn is allowed to soak in dairy for hours. All of the cream cheese pieces should be completely melted and will easily break down and combine with the cream and butter to make the ‘gravy’.

Do not over-salt. There is plenty of salt in the butter and cream cheese. Over-salting will ruin this dish.

Serves 20 - 25

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Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Hi everyone!  Well gee, I have another recipe for you but forgot to take a picture of all of the ingredients that you will need to make this one, sorry.  Here is another recipe that I found on Pinterest, you can view the original recipe HERE.

First off you will need to grease a 9"x13" baking dish.  Then you will need to separate your cinnamon rolls out, like you see below.

Then cut eight of the rolls into fourths and put around in your pan.

Then cut the remaining eight rolls into eight pieces and sprinkle those around the other ones in the pan.

Now mix together your eggs, melted butter, cream, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.

Pour over your prepared cinnamon rolls.

I went ahead and sprinkle whole pecans on the top instead of chopping them.

Here they are in the oven ready to come out.

Now take the little icing containers and drizzle the icing over the casserole.  I just let my icing sit on the counter top and didn't bother with microwaving them and the icing drizzled just fine.

Here is the finished casserole.

Now I like cinnamon rolls ALOT but I'm not really crazy about packaged cinnamon rolls.  Both of my daughters and their boyfriends cleaned this up in one morning, so they really liked it.  Now this recipe would be very easy to halve, if you needed less.  So give it a try and see what your verdict is on this casserole.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of melted butter or baking spray
• 2 cans (12.4 oz each) refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Garnish

• Icing from cinnamon rolls
• Maple syrup (if desired)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish.
3. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside.
4. With the first 8 rolls, cut each roll into 4 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish.
5. With the last 8 rolls, cut each roll into 8 pieces, making sure to fill in any bare spots and then just layering on top.
6. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces.
7. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1/4 cup syrup.
8. Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
11. Drizzle icing over top.
12. If desired, spoon syrup over individual servings.

Hope to be back soon with another recipe for you to try.       Mary

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Mississippi Roast

 Hi everyone today I want to share a recipe that I found over on Pinterest with you.  I really wanted to try this recipe because for one thing it's a crock-pot recipe and for another everyone was talking about how good it was too, so there was only one way to find out and that was to give it a try.  You can find the original recipe HERE.

Spray your liner with PAM, add your roast.  Now sprinkle on the dry ranch dressing mix and the au jus gravy mix.

Lay your stick of butter on top of the roast

Then you add about 5 pepperoncini peppers that you find in a jar, by the pickles.  My store only had the slices, so I put about 3 heaping tablespoons on top.  Do Not add water.  Put the lid on your crock-pot and set it to LOW.  Let cook for 8 hours.

Now my roast was about 2 1/2 pounds since there are only the two of us, but you can use up to a 5 pound roast with the exact same ingredients.  Of course I forgot to take a picture of it when it was done.  While it was good, hubby and I were not wild about it but my daughter asked for the recipe as she really liked it.  I guess it is one of those recipes that you'll have to try and decide for yourself if you like it or not.

Mississippi Roast
1- 2 to 5 pound roast
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix, dry
1 package Au Ju Gravy mix, dry
1 stick butter
about 5 pepperoncini peppers (in a jar, by the pickles)

Well that is all for this recipe, so give it a try and I hope you like it!             Mary

How to Separate an Egg Yolk from an Egg White

I saw this video on a follower blogger blog and I just had to share it with all of you!

http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/cooking/1160651.html

The video is not in English but you will be able to understand it just by watching it.

Hope your week if off to a great start!              Happy Cooking,                      Mary

Chewy Toffee Almond Bars

Hi!  I'm back with another recipe.  We had a break in the hot weather recently and I decided it was time to turn the oven on, poor thing, hasn't been used all summer long! 

I was going thru my cupboards to see what I had (usable) on hand and found a bag of Heath Bits 'O Brickle toffee bits from Christmas time.  So I decided to make this recipe.







Mix together the sugar and flour until fluffy.

Then add flour, beating until well blended.

Press into cookie sheet.  You need to grease ONLY the sides.

This was the hardest part!  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.  Set aside.  Forgot to get a picture of it baked.

Combine the toffee bits and light Karo syrup (which I didn't have, so I used dark).

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until toffee is melted (about 10 to 12 minutes).  Add 1/2 cup coconut and 1/2 cup almonds.

Spread toffee mixture to within 1/4 inch of crust.

Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup almonds and 1/4 cup remaining coconut over top.

Bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Cut into bars.  These are so good that they will be put on my Christmas platters for the neighbors this year.

 

 

Chewy Toffee Almond Bars

 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/3 cups (8oz. pkg.) Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sliced almonds, divided

3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes, divided

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease sides of 13"x9"x2" pan.  Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Gradually add flour, beating until well blended.  Press dough evenly in prepared pan.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Meanwhile, combine toffee bits and corn syrup in medium saucepan.  cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until toffee is melted (about 10 to 12 minutes).  Stir in 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup coconut.  Spread toffee mixture to within 1/4 inch of edges of crust.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup almonds and remaining 1/4 cup coconut over top.  Bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.  About 36 bars.

 

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Linked to: http://www.flourmewithlove.com/2012/08/mix-it-up-monday_26.html

 

Well I hope you give these a try, they are very good!  Mary