More Chocolate

So, I used to make for Rick to take to dinners this wonderful chocolate dessert called Hershey Candy Bar Pie. Today I got a request for the recipe. I decided to post it here as well. It is really easy, but takes some planning to make it because everything has to be really cooled well before the final step is completed. Mom makes this dessert every holiday and every time we have a family dinner.

Here it is, this is one that is just passed along.......not from any web site.

Hershey Candy Bar Pie

Ingredient list
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans or pecan pieces
6 bar pkg Hershey candy bars
1 family size and 1 regular cool whip
1 lg and 1 small chocolate cook pudding
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
Disposable 9 x 13 deep aluminum pan if desired

Oven to 350*
9 x 13 deep pan
(Cookie sheet under pan)
Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter in pan in oven, remove
sprinkle about one cup flour over butter, even out in pan
sprinkle pecans over flour
bake until lightly browned
LET COOL COMPLETELY

While crust is baking/cooling
make Jello pudding per package directions and break up 3 and 1/2 of the hershey bars into pudding, let them melt in, LET COOL COMPLETELY

While Jello and crust are cooling make white stuff
8 oz softened cream cheese, whip with mixer
blend in all of cool whip and sweeten to taste with powdered sugar up to the whole box

After everything is completely cool (least bit of warmth will make it runny) take almost half the white stuff and spread it over the crust, top with all the pudding then spread the rest of the white stuff over the pudding, take a table knife or tooth picks and swirl the chocolate up through the white stuff. When it gets like you want it, shave the remainder of the Hershey bar and garnish. Chill and serve.

The cookie sheet under the aluminum pan will make it more sturdy and help keep the crust from burning. Remember, cool everything completely before putting it together. Plan ahead, this takes a little time.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is very rich. Rick loved it, it was one of his favorites.

I love lemon!

So last summer, August 2010 to be exact, I saw the above copy of Southern Living Magazine with the lemon pie on the cover and decided I had to try that recipe. I did, it was so easy and it was so very good. Just ask Sandy Miller, she got to sample it. They called it Zesty Lemon Pie.
Here is the link to the site. Just copy and paste it to your browser. It will take you to Southern Living Magazines recipe site. The recipe is straight from the site.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000002003422

Zesty Lemon Pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 (14-oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• Garnishes: lemon slices, fresh mint leaves

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together first 2 ingredients; add butter, stirring until blended. Press mixture on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).

2. Whisk together egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice. Pour into prepared crust.

3. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 4 hours.

4. Beat whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form; dollop over chilled pie. Garnish, if desired.

If you decide to make this, you will not be disappointed. It is very lemony. And the cook time is exact, and I thought it had to be a typo but it was not. Good luck!

Apple Crumble

So we have always liked many different apple recipes around here from candy apples to fried apples to apple pie. Here is a recipe that will leave folks asking for more and leave you with an empty dish. I use Granny Smith Apples and real butter.....

Apple Crumble

Ingredients

Filling:
6 to 7 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
dash of lemon juice

Crumble topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
nutmeg and allspice to taste
1 stick butter or margarine

Instructions

Peel, core and slice the apples. Add sugar and lemon juice and mix with apples. Place mixture in greased 7" X 11" baking dish.

Now for the crumble. It's simply a mixture of dry ingredients that you sprinkle over the top. Just combine oats, flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar.

Next add salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice to taste.

Take a stick of butter and chop it up with the dry mixture into bits about the size of a pea. Now just spread the crumbles over the apples and bake it at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

I have taken this dish to homecomings and family dinners. There are never any left overs. It was one of Rick's favorites. I found it on P. Allen Smith's website.

http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1648&recipe=309&name=Apple%20Crumble

Enjoy!

Recipe for a happy home

So tonight's post is a recipe for a happy home. I have been giving this much thought. I also used the good ole Google because I could not remember exactly how it went. And although everyone has ups and downs in their relationship, remember the following recipe. And one more thing, never, ever go to sleep angry at the one you love. One or both of you may need space after an argument or fight or whatever is going on but please never, ever go to sleep angry--make up before going to sleep!

I don't think there is a couple out there that had more arguments than Rick and I -- I could of course be wrong about that. (I would hate to be the couple that did though LOL!) And sometimes those were worse than others. Just know all in all, we were happy together. We were. And we did go to sleep mad at each other more than once. He always needed space, I needed to "fix it" right away. That was a bit difficult sometimes. But at the end of it all, if I could do it all over again with him I would. No tears at all with this, none. I promise. This is not supposed to be that way! :)

Happy Home

Ingredients:

4 parts Faith
4 cups of Love
1 barrel Laughter
3 cups Forgiveness
1 cup Friendship
2 cups Loyalty
2 spoons Tenderness
5 spoons Hope

Instructions:

Mix the Love and the Loyalty with Faith.
Add Tenderness and Forgiveness.
Sprinkle with Friendship and Hope.
Season abundantly with Laughter.
Bake with rays of the Son.
Serve with Generosity.

Remember the second to last line there. After Rick was saved in his garden rarely was there the argument that necessitated making up before going to sleep.

I love y'all.

To be continued................

It is a chocolate night......

Home made fudge

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Butter platter and set aside

2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234°F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water, forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)

3. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room temperature to 110°F (lukewarm). Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss. Quickly spread into prepared pan; cool completely. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. About 36 pieces or 1-3/4 pounds.

NOTE: For best results, do not double this recipe. This is one of our most requested recipes, but also one of our most difficult. The directions must be followed exactly. Beat too little and the fudge is too soft. Beat too long and it becomes hard and sugary.

I have such memories of cold winter nights and my mom in the kitchen making candy. She made it several times a winter. This recipe is straight off the Hershey's website. And they are right, you must follow the directions precisely or the candy will not make. It is awesome though, and much better tasting than the marshmallow fudge, at least to me. Another recipe for cold weather is hot chocolate.

Starbucks Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

2 2

Servings Size

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I like whole or 2%)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• whipped cream
• chocolate shavings (optional)

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 mins Total Time: 5 mins

1. Measure water, cocoa, and sugar in glass measuring cup or large mug. Stir well.
2. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes to make chocolate syrup.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla and microwave until warm.
4. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
5. Variation: Snickers hot chocolate - stir in 2 tsp caramel syrup and 2 tsp hazelnut syrup to the hot chocolate before topping with whipped cream. Caramel and Hazelnut syrups can usually be found in the coffee section of the grocery store.

This recipe is straight from food.com. Val and I made a big thermos of this and took to the Christmas parade this past year. It was so cold outside, and we were standing outside watching the parade of course, and had our chocolate. It tastes just as good as the "real thing" from Starbucks and you can make several servings for the price on one!

I hope you enjoy these chocolate treats I have shared with you tonight.

Easter Dinner

So the story today is about a pork tenderloin. For many years, we had a family dinner on Easter Sunday if I was not working. Whoever could come did along with many neighbors we count as family still to this day. So this particular year I was planning to serve pork tenderloin as the main meat. I bought a good size tenderloin and fixed it, put it in the oven and roasted it however long it took and when it was done, I took it out of the oven. I was about to slice it for serving when Rick came into the kitchen to see where we were with getting ready to eat, looked at the tenderloin and said, "you forgot to clean it--it still has hair on it" and was very serious. He thought I had bought a right off the pig tenderloin! I had to explain the spices I had put on the meat to roast it with. It was very funny. We teased him about that every time we cooked a tenderloin!

So to roast a tenderloin I:

Preheat oven to 350*
Wash the meat under running water
Place in roasting pan (I use Pampered Chef covered baker)
Rub thyme, oregano and pepper into meat. I use the actual spice and not the powder but both are acceptable.
Add about 1.5 inches of water
Cover and roast 28 to 30 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of at least 160*

When meat is done, I take it out of the roasting pan and let it "rest" on the platter about 5 minutes before slicing.

We serve this with dressing, taters, corn, green beans, fried sweet potatoes, corn bread and homemade white bread. And of course a wide variety of desserts! Also, don't forget the sweet tea!

I decided to start a new blog

We will see how this plays out. I like to write on blogs so I thought I would share from every day stuff like my favorite recipes and maybe some photos and maybe get and give some ideas on decorating and maybe just talk. We will see how it goes. Maybe send me a message and tell me what you think.

Today's post is a recipe of one of my favorite desserts. We may have these daily or weekly. I don't know yet. But here goes! I guess I should say a little about where these recipies come from! this dessert was something my Mom used to make a lot for homecomings (family and church) and she made it up herself! It is quick and easy and if you don't want to cook much or at all, you can use Jell-o pudding and a store bought graham cracker crust, just cut back on the pineapple, etc!

Quick and easy dessert. If you like pineapple you will love this!

Pineapple Delight

9 x 13 baking dish, oven to 375, 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 to 1.5 sticks of melted butter stir together and press into pan and bake 10 - 15 minutes until set. Let cool.

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup corn starch

3 cups milk

3 egg yolks lightly beaten (combine eggs with milk)

combine sugar and corn starch with a wire whisk or sifter, add to heavy sauce pan, stir in milk and egg. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly, remove from heat and add 1/2 stick butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Let cool.

After everything is cool, take 3 20 oz cans chunk pineapple (or tidbits) well drained and scatter over crust. Pour vanilla pudding over this and top with cool whip. (It takes a family size) Chill and enjoy! If you like cream cheese you can take 1 8oz softened package cream cheese and beat it, mix into cool whip and sweeten to taste with confectioner's sugar and top with it....but this makes it very rich! The cool whip alone makes it less rich.

I learned a long time ago that if you want to make candy or custard/pudding type pies that you need a very heavy saucepan. Rick got me one for Christmas about ten years ago. It is a caphalon copper kettle, very heavy and it makes great candy and custards without burning or scorching! He got it at TJ Maxx.