Baked Spiral Bites

Mom made these once for a Relief Society thing once. Maybe. But, I remember them, and knew they would be good to make for book club the month I hosted.

2 pkg. (8 oz ach) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 jar (5 oz) Kraft Pimento Spread

Seperate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal.
Spread rectangles evenly with pimento spread; roll up. Cut into 1-inch thick slices. Place on cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Special extra: Prepare as directed, sprinkling 1 Tbsp. Oscar Mayer real bacon bits or sliced green onions over pimento spread before rolling up dough rectangles.


I love these things! I love pimento cheese spread, but it is really hard to find. I have had to ask if stores carry it. Luckily, our Wal-Mart does. Plus, crescent rolls from a tube? I know they are probably going to kill me, but as a luxury item once a year they can't be that bad.

Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

I was hoping fall cool weather, and thought making soup would encourage it to come quicker.

1 lb. sweet Italian sauage, casings removed

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups beef broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup red wine

4 large tomatoes-peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup thinky sliced carrots

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

1 (8 oz) can tomatoe sauce

1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini

8 oz fresh tortellini pasta

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. In a 5 quart Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.

2. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

3. skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

We really liked this soup. The kid Chubbs gobbled it up. Big Chubb said that this soup was just like what he ate in Italy which means it must be good. The only thing that I would change about this recipe was the zucchini. I don't particularly care for boiled zucchini.

Here is a good substitute for red wine: beef broth plus a little vinegar, red wine preferably. 

Soft Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks

There are so many bread recipes!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups bread flour
3 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese


I did not follow the directions. The lady who submitted this recipe to allrecipes said that she used her food processor. I just used the KitchenAid and followed regular bread dough making instructions. I imagined mom used the bread maker.

I didn't make these into breadsticks either. I made some homemade hot pockets and used this for the dough. They turned out awesome!! I filled it with the sausage pepper filling from the delicious sausage garlic loaf and added a little mozzarella cheese. Yum-o!! I have some that I am going to freeze and so Big Chubb and I can eat them for lunches. Little Chubb and B
aby Chubb don't like the filling because there are peppers, so they won't eat any.

Slow Cooker Taco Shredded Beef

I was waiting to make this recipe, hoping to have some to put it in the freezer for a quick meal.

4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
2 packages (1 oz each) Lawry's Taco Spices & Seasoning
1 medium onion
2 teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1. Trim and discard all fat from meat; place meat in slow cooker. Sprinkle both packages of taco seasonings over meat with onion.
2. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove beef to platter and shred with fork. Return meat to juices in slow cooker; stir seasoned salt.
3. Serve shredded meat in tacos, burritos, taquitos, flautas, on rolls or over cooked rice.


Well.

If anyone wants to try this out for real, please do.

I thought that maybe this would be a good use for the leg of deer Dad gave us last Thanksgiving. It had been taking up SO MUCH room in our freezer, and I wanted to get it out. I thought that maybe if I used the cookers from the kitchen at church that this would be a good thing to do. Plus, it would really load up the freezer with that extra meat.

I asked the Relief Society President if I could use the cookers from church. She said sure, so I went and picked it up one day while we were running errands. Then I dug the leg of deer out of the very bottom of the freezer. I decided it might be good to cook over night. I peeled the grocery bag of the frozen meat. I dumped it in the pan and saw all the deer hair frozen onto the meat. It was too late to pull it out (it was already sizzling on the bottom of the pan), so I figured we could just pull the hair off once it was cooked.

The smell of the onions and deer meat cooking in the roaster was enough to gag me all night long while it cooked. Even though I followed the slow cooking instruction, the pan still worked like a roaster. We had to keep adding liquid to the meat all night long, just to make sure that it wouldn't burn the house down.

The next morning after Big Chubb left to play basketball at the school at 6AM, I had to fish the meat out. It did fall right off the bone, but it looked really sick. I told Ben he would have to shred it. Well, ithas been in the fridge a whole week now. Ben looked at it the other day and said, "I think I will only eat this once it has cooked for a long time. Again."

Cranberry Scones

I figured we are close enough to cranberry season, so I made these with the loads of frozen cranberries my friend gave me when she moved. Mom got this recipe off a B&B's website, but it is no longer there.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 egg
2 3/4 cup flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries, fresh or frozen
rind of 1 orange
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 c. icing sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat buttermilk and egg in small bowl, set aside. In large bowl, measure flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles small peas. Mix in cranberries, sugar and orange rind. Add buttermilk mixture and stir until soft dough forms. Using your hands, form dough into two balls. Place on large cookie sheet and pat out to 1 inch thickness. Score circles into six wedges, bake for 20-3- minutes. While warm, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with icing sugar. Makes 12 wedges. Enjoy!


These were what you would expect in a scone. Little Chubb and Baby Chubb wouldn't eat there's when they were sitting at the table for breakfast, but after we had gone on a walk and painted some doors, they were more than happy to get back to the table and finish them off.

Cinnamon Stack Biscuits

I made these for General Conference weekend. It looks like the recipe is from a page torn out of a cookbook, maybe an early Betty Crocker?

Cinnamon Stack Biscuits

2 c all-purpose flour, stirred and measured

3 t baking powder

1/2 t cream of tartar

1/2 t salt

3 T sugar

1/2 c shortening

2/3 c milk

1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

1/4 c sugar

1 T cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, and 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add milk; stir until mixture forms ball. Turn onto lightly foured board;knead gently 4 or 5 times. Roll dough into 16x10-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter; sprinkle with mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Cut lengthwise into five 2-inch strips. Stack  the five strips; cut into 12 pieces. Place cut side down in 12 greased muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 12 biscuits.

They were quick and good. Don't expect them to be like real cinnamon rolls or you'll be disappointed.They are kind of like the fake store-bought cinnamon rolls, though, so Janet will probably like them.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I found this recipe in a Christmas cookie booklet from Taste of Home. None of the cookies in the booklet looked too exciting until I realized this was the chocolate sandwich cookie recipe that I know and love. I got the stuff to make them pretty quickly after that.

Ingredients

2 packages devil's food cake mix (regular size)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup canola oil
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
Red and/or green food coloring, optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat cake mixes, eggs and oil until blended. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets and flatten slightly.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until a slight indentation remains when lightly touched. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until blended. Beat in enough confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency. If desired, tint with food coloring.
Spread filling on bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Yield: about 4 dozen.

Yum! I meant to make the filling orange so they wood be Fall/Halloween-y, but I forgot I used all the red food coloring for Camille's birthday cake. So, it was just yellow instead of orange. The nutrition facts were included, but for your benefit I didn't include them here so you can fully enjoy the cookies. You're welcome.