Pecan Pie

1 1/2 cups pecans (chopped)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 pre made 9-inch gramcracker crust
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Caramel Sauce, recipe follows
Confectioners' sugar, for on top

Directions


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spread the pecan pieces and the chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of the pie shell.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake until the filling sets, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Cut into individual servings and serve with a drizzle of Caramel Sauce and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.



Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup whole milk


Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Add the cream (be careful; it will bubble up), whisk to combine, and remove from the heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk, then add up to 2 more tablespoons, until the desired consistency is reached. Let cool until just warm before serving. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( you may need a little extra)
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 egg
Directions
In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar; using a hand held mixer on medium-high speed cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light in color and has a fluffy texture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then add the vanilla extract, lemon zest and egg. Beat until blended, 1 or 2 minutes longer. On low speed, gradually add the sifted flour and salt, mixing until just blended.
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 2 balls. Place each half between 2 pieces of waxed or parchment paper and roll into 5-inch diameter disks. Place the dough on baking sheets and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or as long as 24 hours.
When you are ready to roll and bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with silicone liners or parchment paper. Place 1 disk of the cookie dough on the work surface and remove the top sheet of paper. Lightly dust the surface of the dough with flour. Roll the dough out starting from the center to an even thickness of 1/8-inch. Using decorative cookie cutters cut the dough directly on the parchment paper. Use a spatula to transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet. Place the cookies at least 1/2-inch apart.
Gather the dough scraps and reroll them to make additional cookies. Only reroll the dough once.
Bake the cookies 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges and firm to the touch. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
The cookies can be stored in resealable plastic containers or cookie tins for 1 week. To frost the cookies prepare a recipe of royal icing as follows and decorate as desired.
Royal Icing:
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon milk
1 pound confectioners' sugar
Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat slowly until well blended. Then beat at medium-high speed until the icing forms stiff peaks, 6 minutes. If icing is not stiff enough add more sugar if it is too stiff add more milk. Use immediately or place in a plastic container with a lid until ready to use. Allow icing to dry for at least 24 hours before packaging.
Yield: About 2 1/2 cups

Orange Dream

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of Orange juice

1 cup of vanilla ice cream

4 ice cubes

2 TBS of honey

Directions :

Blend Honey and ice cream in blender.

Then add orange juice and ice cubes.



Tip: Chocolate ice cream is good too!!!!

Apple Season!!!!!!

Its that time of year again!!!!!!!!!!!! Its apple season!!!!!!!!! time to go apple picking and spend some time with your family!!!!!!!! Got lots of apples???????? Go check out these recipes. They are my FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://livsrockinrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/02/crunchy-apple-pie.html

AND



http://livsrockinrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/05/apple-sauce.html

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients
Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 (9-inch) pre cooked pie crust
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows
Directions
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.


In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.


Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and cream of tartar continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Garlic Bread Sticks

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour

2 tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

⅔ cup milk

½ tsp salt plus 1/2 tsp more

3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted plus 4 tbs

1 tbs of garlic plus 2 tbs of garlic (pressed or chopped)!!!!!

2 tsp of basil (optional)



Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients and gradually add milk to form a soft dough.
Knead gently 3 or 4 times on a floured surface.
Roll out into a rectangle about 10″ x 5″ about an 1/2 - 1 inch thick and cut into 12 sticks.

2. Put the 3 tbs of melted butter a into a large baking dish (I use a 13″ x 9″ rectangular glass dish) and turn the sticks to coat them with the butter.

3. Bake at 450°F for 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Stir garlic, basil, and 1 tbs butter in a sauce pan on medium for about 1 minute. Add the rest of the butter and stir till melted, then pour over sticks.

5. Sprinkle with rest of salt.

Serve warm.

Broccoli Pasta

Yield: Serves four! But you can easily double or triple!




Ingredients:



2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 a stick of butter

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 of an onion chopped finely

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

1/2 teaspoon of parsley

1/2 teaspoon of basil

1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

1 pound of pasta (any kind)

1/2 0f a head of Broccoli

Parmesan cheese

1 or 2 Chicken breasts


Directions:




1. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil.

2. Once the water boils add pasta and cook for how ever long it says on the pasta box. Then drain pasta.

3. Put the first 10 ingredients into a pan and saute until onions are brown.

4. Add the broccoli and cook till it is soft not mushy.

5. Full cook chicken in the oven or pan.

6. Add the broccoli mixture and chicken to the pasta and sprinkle with the cheese.

Apple Sauce

Ingredients:



8 apples



5 cups water



1/2 cup white sugar



1/2 cup brown sugar



2 tsp cinnamon






Directions:




1. Peel skin off apples.





2. Cut apples into very small pieces. (Throw away core)






3. Combined everything into a pot or crock pot.





4. Cook on low all day.



5. Every 2 hours stir.




6. If it turns to apple sauce before the day is over that is fine.



7. Take off heat and store in plastic containers.

Request's

Hello everyone! For the next two weeks I am going to take requests from you.

Here is how it works:

You can leave a comment on my blog for a recipe of something that I have not posted yet.

So if you want a cookie recipe or a peach cobbler recipe or any thing else just comment with what you want.

Then I will put all of the requests in a bag and pick 4 random requests.

Then I will experiment with a whole bunch of recipes and find out the best recipes and post them on my blog over the next two months.

To have your request entered you can do 1 or more of the following:

Post about my post and blog on your blog. = 4 entries

Facebook about it. = 3 entries

Or tweet about it. = 2 entries

Then comment with the link(s) so I can count your entries.