Baked Sweet Potatoes

Baked Mashed Potatoes
serves 8

8 oz of canned sweet potatoes, drained
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoon orange juice
4 cups marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl beat potatoes until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat milk in a small saucepan to boiling.
4. Add vanilla, sugar and butter.
5. Stir cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange juice into potatoes.
6. Stir milk mixture into potatoes until smooth.
7. Spread half the potatoes in bottom of 13X9X2 baking pan (use cooking spray if you want to).
8. Layer 2 cups marshmallow over potatoes.
9. Cover with remaining sweet potatoes.
10. Bake for 30 minutes.
11. Layer remaining marshmallows on top.
12. Bake for 20 minutes, until brown.

Here's the link where I got the original recipe (that I tweaked a bit):
Recipezaar

I of course made a huge batch and when I do that I kinda just eyeball the amounts for everything, but my sweet potatoes turned out well, so I must have done something right! Enjoy!

Scotcheroos

Grandma's Scotcheroos
servings: 24

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 package butterscotch chips

1. Place corn syrup and sugar into 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, mixing well. All rice krispies. Stir until well coated. Press mixture into 13X9X2 inch pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in 1 quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into bars.

This is a treat that my husband remembers fondly from visiting his Grandma, who always seemed to have a pan ready for everyone to share. I made these for him this Thanksgiving (since it the first one away from his family since we moved to Utah).

Gingerbread Biscotti

Gingerbread Biscotti
servings: 48 servings

6 tablespoons butter (softened)
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
3/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
raw sugar and cinnamon mixture

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles course crumbs. In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs and molasses together, then add to dry mix until it is just combined. No overmixing! (Dough should still be crumbly.)
3. Divide dough in half, and shape into logs. Rolls logs into raw sugar and cinnamon mixture. (Dough is still pretty crumbly at this point, but it will firm up when baked.) Place on cookie sheet and pat down to flatten to 1/2 inch.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
5. When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy

I dipped these in milk chocolate and they were pure deliciousness! This is one of my favorite holiday recipes. Also looser dough allows the biscotti to cook up crunchy without being dense or hard. Enjoy!

I got my original recipe here at Allrecipes.com

Triple Mint Ice Cream Dessert

Triple Mint Ice Cream Dessert
servings: 10

1 box brownie mix
1 quart mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed candy canes
1 1/2 chopped layered chocolate-mint candies

1. Bake brownie mix as directed on box, pouring mix into 8-inch springform pan. Remove from oven and chill for 1 hour.
2. In a large chilled bowl, soften ice cream by using a wooden spoon to stir and press ice cream against the side of bowl. Stir until soft but not melted. Stir in 3/4 cup of candy canes and 3/4 cup of chocolate mint candies. Quickly spoon softened ice cream into the springform pan. Cover & freeze 1 hour or more.
3. Sprinkle top with remaining candy canes and mint candies. Cover and freeze for several hours or overnight until firm.
4. To serve, remove dessert from freezer. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

This was the WOW dessert that I brought to Thanksgiving this year. A few extra pointers: this is really rich so cut in slices smaller than normal, also I would suggest cutting and put on pie plates all at the same time, then put these plates in freezer so they are ready when the crowd is.

I got this recipe from Better Homes & Garden's website HERE. I made a few changes but still tasted amazing! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well Turkey Day is almost over! Yesterday, I made so much stuff in preparation for today. Some of the things that I made were: pan of mashed sweet potatoes, chocolate dipped biscotti, triple mint ice cream dessert, scotcheroos and 3 dozen cookies (though these I have to admit came from those pre-made cookie doughs that my son sold for a school fundraiser). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures since they were goggled up pretty fast before I had a chance to take any pictures, but I can post the recipes (and sources where I got them).

Before I go, I also wanted to list some of the things that I am thankful for:
1) My family & friends
2) The Love of my Eternal Father
3) My children and husband's health (oh, and me too)!
4) That my hubby and I are both employed in a field that won't change no matter the economy (people will always get sick and need to see a doctor!).
5) That we have a home and food for our family.
6) My ability to love and care for my family.

Homemade French Bread

I made this last night for our weekly Sunday night dinner at my parents house. It was a big hit and sure smelled good! I got this recipe from a friend in college who said he got it from a French person who showed him how to make it.



FAVORITE FRENCH BREAD

2 1/4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
6 cups flour
1 handful of cornmeal
1 egg

Step 1: In a large bowl, combine water, sugar & yeast. Add salt, oil & flour - mix.

Step 2: Wait 10 minutes & mix again.

Step 3: Repeat step #2 five times. (I can only repeat 3 times before it gets too hard to stir, but my bread always turns out.)

Step 4: Turn onto flour board, knead 2 or 3 times. Divide into 2 parts.

Step 5: Arrange seam side down on baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover & let rise for 30 minutes.

Step 6: Cut 3 slashes on top of loaves. Wash with egg & 1 tablespoon water.

Step 7: Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Enjoy!

Halloween Costumes

Halloween this year was different. It was the first year that Christopher and Ethan really picked what they were going to be. Not so sure if Mommy likes this too much....the transformer costume was a lot of work since I had to make it without a pattern.

Optimus Prime (from Animated Transformers on Cartoon Network)

Stegasaurus the Dinosaur (not a Dragon, as he says)

My first Copics

I'm so excited! I got my very first Copic Markers today in the mail!! I joined a monthey Copic club (with no obligation to purchase every month!) from Paper Manic. Check it out.....

I can't wait to play, hope I get to soon!

Chipboard Picture

This is a present that I made for my brother's recent birthday. I was short on cash for a gift, so I decided to make one. Couldn't have bought a better gift! What could be more personal than a crafted gift that includes pictures of your two favorite nephews?

Everything came from a box of scrapbooking supplies that my 18-year old sister gave me after working for a scrapbook company for a summer job. I did cut 'nephews' with my Cricut (love that machine!).

Not the best pictures in the world, but you get the idea of what it looks like.

Reminds me that it's time to get new family pictures taken. I should really get on that....