Witch Hat Cookies

This has to be one of the easiest and cutest Halloween treats!!

Ingredients:

• 32 Hershey's® Kisses® brand milk chocolates, unwrapped
• 1 package (11 1/2 ounces) fudge-striped shortbread cookies 32 count
• 1 tube (4.25 ounces) orange or red decorating icing

Directions:

1. Attach 1 chocolate candy to chocolate bottom of each cookie, using decorating icing.
2. Pipe decorating icing around base of milk chocolate candy to look like a bow.

Click HERE for the original recipe and a photo of the cookies...Happy Halloween entertaining!

This sounds like a good one:)

Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake

Ingredients for the topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Ingredients for the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten 

Preparation

1. Make topping: In a bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and combine with fingertips until mixture is crumbly. Refrigerate while making the batter.
2. Make cake: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, applesauce, pumpkin, vanilla and both sugars until well mixed. Whisk in eggs. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until just combined; do not overmix. Pour batter into cake pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with reserved topping.
3. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack at least 20 minutes.

Click HERE for the original recipe.

Swiss Chicken from the kitchen of Susan Cave in Waldorf, MD

SWISS CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken cutlets
• 2 T butter
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 2 T Good Seasons Italian dressing (dry dressing mix)

Directions:

1. Brown chicken in butter, but do not cook it fully.
2. Put in baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Good Seasons mix

Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (you can use cream of celery or cream of chicken if you want)
• 6 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ cup chopped onions
• Mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine all sauce ingredients
2. Pour over chicken cutlets
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This sounds so good!  Thanks Susan and enjoy your 5000 Rewards Points:)

Maureen

I posted a picture of Strawberry Footballs on our Facebook page in honor of the Skins game on Sunday.  A lot of people liked the photo and thought it would be great to feature that as our Recipe of the Week.

Ingredients:

• 12 fresh strawberries
• 1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter
• White cookie icing gel
• Parchment paper

Directions: 

1. Heat chocolate chips and butter in a shallow bowl in the microwave until melted, about two minutes. Be sure to stir the mixture at the one minute mark, to ensure the chocolate doesn't overheat. Remove.
2. Grab each strawberry by the leaves and dip into the melted chocolate, holding it over the mug to drip off any excess. Place on a piece of parchment paper. Repeat until all strawberries have been covered. Let stand until chocolate hardens, about 20 minutes.
3. Grab your white icing gel and draw on lines to create a football. Chill for at least an hour so that chocolates harden. Best serve chilled.

HERE is the original link to this recipe.

This looks easy and quite yummy!  Enjoy...Maureen

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 small sweet yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Baked tortilla chip scoops

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients. Drizzle over salsa; toss to coat. Chill until serving. Serve with chips. Yield: 22 servings (1/4 cup each).

• Editor's Note: Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

HERE is the direct link.

I saw Giada De Laurentiis make this and plan on making it for a Labor Day party we are going to attend.  Maureen

Ingredients

• 1 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 12 ounces Swiss chard or mustard greens, stemmed
• 12 ounces baby spinach leaves
• 1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups small cherry or grape tomatoes
• 8 ounces ricotta salata cheese, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Grilled chicken, veggies and corn on the cob from the kitchen of Maureen McLain.

We love our new grill and have been experimenting a lot.  Here are some things we have found to be easy and very yummy!

Grilled Chicken:

I pound out the chicken breasts to make them even in thickness, so they will cook evenly.  This works for dark pieces too.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken pieces and coat both sides with either Ranch or Caesar dressing.  I bet this would work with Italian dressing too.  Let it marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Grill...that's it and so yummy!  No need to make your own marinade! 

Veggies:

We grew squash, zucchini and cherry tomatoes in our garden this year and came up with this dish.

Cut the squash and zucchini into 1/2 inch thick chunks.  We use our roast pan from our toaster oven to cook them on the grill.  Coat them with olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder.  We added a bit of Old Bay once and it tasted good.

Place the roast pan on the top shelf of the grill when you put the chicken on.  Stir once.  Add the cherry tomatoes to the roast pan about 8 minutes before the squash and zucchini are done.

Corn on the Cob:

This is a popular way to grill corn on the cob and my absolute favorite!

Remove the silk from the cobs, but leave the husks on.  Just peel them back to remove the silk.  I tie them with string to keep the husks in tact.  Soak them in water for about 30 minutes, so they won't catch fire.  Place them on the grill (with the string) for about 15 minutes turning once.

There you go!  Easy and quick dinner on the grill:)

Enjoy!

Maureen

Chicken Surprise from the kitchen of Maureen McLain.  This is an original recipe I put together a few months ago and it turned out great.  My husband said the kitchen smelled like BBQ sauce when he came home:)

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts or 6 pieces of dark meat
• 1 sliced onion 
• 1 can of mushroom soup
• splash of thick balsamic vinegar (that's the surprise)
• 1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 1 can of diced or stewed tomatoes (not drained)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Sear both sides of the chicken with a little bit of oil in a large skillet
2. Remove from pan and set aside
3. In the same skillet, saute the onions for about 4 minutes
4. Add the can of mushroom soup
5. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar
6. Let that cook down on low-medium heat for about 15 minutes
7. Stir in the diced or stewed tomatoes, can of tomato sauce and sliced mushrooms(mushrooms are optional)
8. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes
9. Serve over rice

This is similar to Chicken Cacacciatore with a Maureen McLain twist.  Enjoy!

Mexican Style Lasagna from the kitchen of Wauleah Ellison.

Ingredients:

• 2 1b. groung beef 
• 2 cups Taco Bell Home orginal Thick'N' Chunky Medium salsa 
• 1 Pkg (1-1/4 0Z) Taco Seasoning mix 
• 12 Flour tortilla (6 inches) or Larger 
• 1 or 2 cans refried beans 
• 1 Can of chopped tomatoes 
• 1 can of tomato paste 
• 2 to 4 cups of Kraft Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese 
• 1 Large container of Ricotta cheese 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 500F 
2. Brown meat in large skillet, drain. 
3. Stir in salsa, tomato paste, and seasoning mix
4. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally
5. Stir in chopped tomatoes and simmer until tomatoes are cooked.
6. Spread 1/2 cup of meat mixture, half refried beans and ricotta cheese on 2 tortillas. 
7. Repeat layers. 
8. Top with remaining meat mixture and cheese and cover 
9. Bake 40 minutes, remove and let stand 5 minutes before serving.