Congo Bars

My grandmother always made these cookies, and they are so good! I don't know if I like them more for the memory or more for the taste, but either way, they sure make the mouth water.

Congo Bars
3/4 cup butter, melted

2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

3 eggs

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 TBS vanilla extract

.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325* degrees.

2. In large mixing bowl, combine butter and brown sugar; cool slightly. Beat in eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Pour batter into a 9x13 pan. Bake for 25 - 30 mins. When almost cool, cut into squares. Eat with milk and lots of other people, or you may end up eating them all by yourself.

Biscuits on a Stick

So last night we went up into the mountains for Family Night and I learned the yummiest dessert. First you have to find a branch. You need to shave all the bark off of it. Next you get a container of refrigerator biscuits, take 1.5 and roll them into snakes. You then wrap your snake around the bark less stick making sure that the end of the stick is completely covered and the end is sealed off. Next you roast it over the fire until it is nice and golden brown. Pull the biscuit off of the stick, and fill it from the open end (there should only be one open end) with honey butter. Yummy!

Finnish Berry Dessert

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups blueberries
• 1-1/2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
• 1 cup unsweetened raspberries
• 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1-1/2 cups apple-raspberry juice
• Frozen vanilla yogurt, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine fruit and 2 tablespoons sugar. In a saucepan, combine cornstarch and juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool for 10 minutes. Pour over fruit; toss to coat. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Serve in individual dessert dishes; top with frozen yogurt if desired.

By the way, this is super scrumptious, and super healthy! It only has about 78 calories, so for the health conscientious out there, enjoy this!

Flaxseed Bread

1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups white bread flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat bread flour
1/2 cup flax seed, coarsely ground
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Add ingredients to bread machine pan according to manufacturers directions.
2. Select Basic White cycle and press Start.

Makes one (1 1/2 pound) loaf.

***Disclaimer***
Yes, I know homemade bread not made in a machine is so much better, but I don't have the time to knead all that dough by hand. If I tried to do that, the baby would be into everything, so I cheat and use the bread machine. If you want a recipe that is made from hand, click here.

Hobo Dinners

First off, I have to apologize, I didn't take any pictures of our dinners, so you will just have to use your imagination. Hobo dinners aka tinfoil dinners are perfect for camping!

Meat of your choice (however much you want)
1 Potato
1 celery stalk
5-6 baby carrots
Onion
salt and pepper

Take the meat of your choice (Steak is always good, as is chicken but ground beef will do as well) cut it up into small pieces and place in a large piece of tinfoil. Chop the potato into cubes (about the size of a dice), add to tinfoil. Throw the carrots into the tinfoil as well. Dice the onion, and add to your concoction (I didn't specify an amount, because everyone likes different amounts of onion). Salt and pepper to taste.
Roll the tinfoil tightly so no juice can escape, and no ash can get in. Put the package of food onto hot embers. Let sit for about 45 minutes, turning once.

Open and enjoy!

This recipe is very general. The beauty of hobo dinners is that it is completely to your taste. Add whatever you want, or subtract whatever you want. Just make sure it is wrapped tightly, and you enjoy it when it is finished!

Strawberry Blossoms or Stuffed Strawberries

Strawberry Blossoms

12 large, fresh strawberries, washed
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T confectioner's sugar
1 T sour cream

Cut stems off the strawberries to make a flat base.  Cut the berries in thirds (to form 6 "petals") vertically to within 1/4 inch of the base (Don't slice through the base).  Pull "petals" apart slightly.

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and sour cream; beat until light and fluffy. With a pastry bag (or if you don't have one, a sandwich baggie with the end cut off works great too) and star tip or small spoon, fill strawberries with cream cheese mixture.

Tasty!

Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Basil Soup

(adapted from Taste of Home website)

Makes: 6 servings

Time: 15-20 minutes

2 Tbs. chopped green onion

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 ½ tsp. olive oil

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can condensed chicken broth (undiluted)

1 1/3 cup water

¼ tsp. pepper

¾ c. heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs. chicken broth

2 Tbs. minced fresh basil

2 tsp. sugar

1. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, water, and pepper
3. Stir in cream, additional broth, basil and sugar
4. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through.

Cooking!

Hi.  I figured because no one ever checked this, I would just merge it into a cooking blog for me.  A place to keep some of my fav. recipes.  I admit, I stole the idea from Tricia, but I think it is a good idea, so I want to do it to, so there!  :)  Sorry to all the girls.  It just seemed no one wanted to participate on this, so I am taking it over.