New Extraordinary Chefs Post

I've had some recipes that I've wanted to share and I'm going to start posting them on my other blog at http://excellentchefs.blogspot.com/

Here's my latest recipe, stuffed shells. Enjoy!

Holiday Treats

Matthew was coming down the stairs and decided that this picture needed to be taken, so I obliged. He loved how it showed my treats with the mess surrounding me :)

Every year we love to make and eat holiday treats.

I always like to try new things that look extra yummy.

Here are the recipes I picked this year...

Honey-roasted peanut butter bars with chocolate ganache
(I used fudge chocolate cake, semi-sweet chocolate chips & regular crunchy peanut butter)
I figured why not use what I have instead of buying the exact ingredients.
This recipe was super yummy and we LOVED it! We'll definitely make this again.
It's like an extra yummy peanut butter bar with chocolate!!

Snickerdoodle sandwiches

We really liked this one too. The filling is cream cheese and honey! What's not to LOVE about that.

Chocolate snickerdoodle drops

(I had to guess on some parts of the posted recipe because the online recipe was incomplete)

This one I'm sure would be better if the recipe was correct.

They were okay and I did the best with what the recipe did say :)

Strawberry rice crispy treats

(I used strawberry marshmallows)

What's not to love about rice crispy treats!! I love these so much more with flavored marshmallows. I had to give as many of these away as I could otherwise I would have eaten the ENTIRE pan myself :0

Ummm, I'm hungry all over again!! Wish I still had some to eat!!

I had to pull double time at the gym just so I could enjoy these!

*pics taken 12/24/09

Family Night Fun!

We didn't grow pumpkins this year so we decided to go buy some for FHE.

This is our pumpkin patch--Broulim's grocery store!

They have this little mini straw maze in the front of their store and there are pumpkins through-out. Of course the kids had to check out all the pumpkins before choosing theirs'.

This is Lexi's pumpkin. Of course she's happy to have the "little" one. She requested we find her a little one and Ethan found this one for her.

This is the one Kalin chose, but of course it was too heavy for her to carry.

You can barely see Ethan because it was pretty dark, but he's coming out of the maze.

For dessert we thought it would be fun to make donuts. The recipe I saw on http://www.bhg.com/ and wanted to try was Spiced Pumpkin Doughnuts.

It's okay if they're not so round going in the fryer, 'cause they puff up and then you're good.

Nothing like a little grease to end your day with!

Every thing's better covered in spiced sugar!!

Doesn't this close-up just make you want to lick the screen?

Mountain of temptation!!!

The biggest problem is I started working out and watching what I eat! This plate of donuts is calling my name and will be for the next few days, so I better put them in everyones' lunches!

*pics taken 10/19/09

Festive Strawberries

Aren't these the cutest 4th of July Strawberries? Check out how to do these, by clicking here. They are super simple!

Yummy Goodness

So I made mention on facebook to the best roll recipe I've ever had and I thought I'd share it here since I couldn't leave it as an update on facebook :) This recipe was given to me by a friend in Albuquerque and it's originally from our old Bishop's wife Jeni.

It was a good thing I made these rolls for someone else and they didn't stick around my house. Otherwise I would have eaten them all by now.

**Notice the slim fast in the back ground. I thought that was pretty ironic! Those rolls would have been much yummier, hence, the reason for the slim fast in the first place :)

You can make the recipe as follows or you can take the easy route like I do and throw all the ingredients in the bread maker and set it to the dough setting. I'm not one for kneading and my bread maker makes the best dough, so why not! Hope you enjoy.

Jeni’s Rolls

· 1 cup warm water
· 1 Tablespoon quick rising yeast
· 1 Tablespoon sugar

Combine above ingredients and set aside.

· 3 eggs
· ½ cup sugar
· ½ cup melted butter or margarine

Mix the eggs and sugar. Add the melted butter and yeast mixture. Mix until combined.

· 4 cups flour
· ¾ tsp. salt

Add the flour and salt. Knead. Put a dishtowel over the bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 ½ hours or until doubled.

Knead again adding ½-1 cup additional flour (add the flour until dough stops sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl. No more then 1 cup.)

Divide into two balls of dough and roll each ball into a large circle. Cut circles into fourths—like a pie. Cut each fourth into three equal triangles. You will have 12 triangles. Roll each triangle from the big end to the point into a crescent roll.

Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray. Put a dozen rolls on each cookie sheet. Gently cover with kitchen towels and let rise in a warm place for 1 ½ hours more or until rolls double in size.

Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter or margarine.

Gourmet Cooking!

Love Chocolate? Me too!!

Here is our new extraordinary chefs blog! We have a monthly cooking group where we cook those fun gourmet things and here is our new blog. This month we made anything chocolate!!! Check out the great recipes that we have listed!! We have pictures too...

Easy Oreo Truffles

All I can say is YUM!!! This is for all those of you who asked for the recipe. The name says it all--it's so easy!

Salsa Recipe

Here's the chip salsa recipe that I didn't post last night. I didn't have it near me when I posted and I was too lazy to go get it--it was late. Thanks again to Lynne for the recipe. It's not mine originally.

-6 Roma Tomatoes diced

-1/2-1 red onion (use your own preference on how much)

-2-3 avocados diced

-1 can black beans (drained)

-1 can corn (drained)

-1/2 bundle of cilantro

-1 juice of a lime

-2-3 Tbsp of white vinegar

-1 tsp of balsamic vinegar

Mix all up and eat with "A Taste of Lime" tortilla chips! Yum!

A Long Day

Have you ever had one of those days where it just seemed like if something could go wrong it would? Welcome to my day. I'm not going to ramble on about it 'cause it would just bore you, but let me just say that I'm so grateful for friends who always help lift me out of the funk!

Now, these pictures aren't much to look at, but I wanted to share the recipes that I ended up using.

So, we finally had our Bunco night and I was so rushed for time that I didn't have time to take pictures before everything started.

Can I just give a shout out to my Albuquerque friends who first introduced me to Bunco. I had no idea what it was when I first was invited, but once I found out that it was just an excuse to get together and have good quality girl bonding time (chatting, laughing, cackling, screaming, etc.), I was all for it. Every group plays differently, but for me, I don't really care, I just like the company! Thanks everyone who came, it was a blast!!

This was Dr. Maya Angelou's Caramel Cake recipe that I found on MarthaStewart.com. It took a long time to make and my caramel syrup didn't turn out right, so I went to the store and ended up buying caramel syrup. It was good, but I think it was too much work to make again. One of those "tastes good, but not worth all that work". Sorry Angelou!

This was the Double Tomato Bruschetta that I got from allrecipes.com. I've never made bruschetta before, but I love tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong with that! I think these were yummy.

Okay, so you're wondering why I have a picture of chips on here, but it's because I had already started cleaning up and put the dip away. I don't know the name of the recipe, but I originally got it from Lynne Clark and I love this recipe. It's a dip with tomatoes, avocados, black beans, corn, red onion, vinegar, balsamic vinaigrette & lime juice and it's so addicting!! It's best with the tortilla chips with a hint of lime--yum!! Thanks for introducing me to this Lynne.

Okay, so as a side note, Tiff I just need to hire you to throw parties for me, 'cause my feet are killing me from standing in the kitchen all day. How do you make it look so easy?! It's sad to say that I hardly made anything and I took all day! Ridiculous, I know!