Chicken Rolls

2 pkg crescent rolls                         1-8 ozpkg cream cheese, softened
(16 triangles of dough).                   1/4 cup chopped green onion
4 cups cooked diced chicken.          1/4 cup chopped mushrooms-optional
1/4 cup chopped celery.                   may add choppednutsinside
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix above ingredients together.  Separate triangles and stretch.  Put a large scoop of chicken filling in each triangle.  Fold and roll them shut.

1pkg stuffing or crumb mixture
1/2cup nuts
1/4 cup melted butter
Mix dry ingredients & nuts. Roll the rolls in melted butter and then dry mixture and place on cookie sheet.  Repeat.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Serve with rice and chicken gravy.

Cornbread

This is the cornbread that we had at Matt and Heather's

My kids loved it, so I had to have the recipe.

Thanks Heather!

1 cube butter (recipe calls for 1 C, but I've NEVER used that much)

1 C sugar

4 eggs

1 4-oz can green chilies, seeded and chopped (my kids don't like spicy- so I never put these in)

1 16-oz can cream-style corn

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1 c flour

1 c yellow corn meal

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

directions: cream butter and sugar.  add eggs, one at a time.  add chilies, corn, and cheese.  mix well. add dry ing and blend well.  pour into greased 9x13 pan.  place into an oven preheated to 350, but immediately reduce heat to 300.  bake 1 hour (although mine is normally ready after 45 min- so check around then).

Strawberry Jam

4 cups crushed berries

2 cups water

1 small pkg strawberry Kool-Aid

1 pkg MCP pectin

Bring to boil and add about 7 1/2 cups sugar.  Bring to rolling boil and cook 3 minutes or until it has thick drips off your wooden spoon. Add about tablespoon of butter to help cut down frost on top, carefully remove excess frost with a metal spoon.  Pour into clean glass canning jars, wipe top of jar clean, put on hot lids and rings. Turn upside down for about half hour then turn right side up and listen for the 'bings' which means it is sealed.

BLT Salad

Doesn't this look super yummy?

We had this salad over at some friends' house a few months ago. Holy cow! This salad is one of the best salads I have ever had. I had to get the recipe and I had to share it. It is so good and so simple. We have since made it for several other people, who all raved about it. It has bacon in it, but you don't need salad dressing. Seriously. The juices all just mingle together in an ever so pleasant flavor, creating its own natural "dressing."

Amounts are pretty much premised on the proportions you prefer. Just Guesstimate.
Lettuce (any kind works - we even had it on spinach and it was good!)
Feta cheese (Apetina brand - 1/2 container)
Pine nuts (toasted)
Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half or quarters)
Bacon cubes (cooked)

I hope you enjoy it!

Asparagus Soup with Parmesan Sprinkle

1T olive oil
1 Sm onion-chopped
1 clove garlic-minced
2 1/2 pounds asparagus-ends trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups chicken broth
4 tsp Parmesan cheese
fresh ground pepper

Heat oil over a medium heat in a medium sauce pan. Add onions, garlic,and asparagus and cook stirring occasionally, until onions soften, 5-7 minutes.  Do not brown.

Add broth, bring to simmer, and cook until asparagus is tender, about 10 min.

Remove from heat and carefully puree with a blender or hand blender.  Return to pan, gently reheat and season with pepper to taste. Serve each serving with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

We had this tonight and it was very easy to make and tastes wonderful (if you like asparagus).  It is from the South Beach cook book.

Pickled Mexican Carrots

Chiska gave me a jar of these for Christmas and they were so good.  I wasn't too sure about them when I saw them but they are delicious!! She found the recipe on a blog.

Pickled Mexican Carrots by- Ada Udall


5 pounds carrots, sliced 1/4” on a diagonal.
Put carrots in boiling water w/ 1 TBS salt for about 5 minutes till done but not soft. Test for the degree of crispness you want, then remove/ drain from hot water and put into a sink of ice water. You don’t want limp soggy pickles, but not too crisp either. Keep an eye on them and keep checking them and pull them off when they feel right to you.

In another pot put:
4 cups water
2 cups cider vinegar

2 TBS salt (I use pickling salt if I have it.)

Bring to a boil.

Open a small can of pickled jalapeno peppers. Use 1/4 cup of the liquid in the vinegar solution.

Slice 2 or 3 peppers into julienne strips.

Slice 1/2 white onion and

2 garlic cloves, peeled.

In a gallon jar, or several smaller ones that will equal a gallon, put down a layer of carrots, a few peppers, onion slices and garlic slices. Sprinkle a bit of cilantro and oregano on top and repeat starting with the carrots until all ingredients are used up. Pour hot vinegar solution over all and add 1 TBS olive oil on top and let stand for at least three days. You can repack into smaller jars or just eat them out of the big one. They will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. I have actually found a jar from last year in the root cellar and we opened it up and they were great! At room temp I don’t think that they would last as long as that.

Turkey

Jeremy (Ben's chef brother) instructed me on how to make a turkey last year, and it was so good! Of course, I forgot a lot of the instructions, and had to call him again this year. This year I am putting the instructions in a safe place: on our blog.

Rub down the turkey with salt, pepper and honey.

It is not recommended that you cook stuffing in the turkey. Because it is a raw cavity, for the stuffing to be safe to eat, it has to reach a certain temperature. In order for the stuffing to reach that temperature, the turkey has to get super hot, which will make the turkey dry. To give the turkey some flavor, "fill up that bird with love." In other words, put some herbs and garlic inside the cavity while it cooks.

Cook the turkey at 350 degrees uncovered until the turkey reaches the desired color.

Cover the turkey with tin foil and continue to bake.

Remove the turkey from the oven about 30 minutes before it is finished cooking (as a turkey will continue to cook for 30 minutes after you take it out of the oven).

Most people do not like turkey because most people over cook their turkeys. If you wait until the thing pops up (which is supposed to indicate the turkey is done), you have over cooked your turkey. Turkey should be moist, and then it will be yummy.

So, there you have it, and there I have it. Instructions for next year. Thanks, Jeremy!

Oh...and if your turkey happens to be de-boned (as I expect ours will), it will cook much faster.