I grew up with Diana - she was our neighbor and good friend.
One thing that she made that I thought was so yummy was Chicken 'n Dumplings.
My mom had never made any such thing.

For years I have tried to make her recipe but failed.
Last night, I tried a recipe from pinterest and really liked it.

Now I have my own Chicken 'n Dumplings recipe!

http://www.polishthestars.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-chicken-dumplings.html

These cookies that Sarah makes are amazing. You have to try them - they don't taste pumpkin-ie at all.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing

Cream together:

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

Then add:

1 cup pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients then add to above wet mixture.

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips.

The dough we be very wet still. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending how large your cookies are. I cook all my cookies on parchment paper. Allow to cool then frost.

Icing:

3 T butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. milk

2 c. powdered sugar

Icing:

In saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium to med-high heat until bubbling and thick. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup milk. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

I want to try this!

http://thimbleanna.com/recipes/rasppie.html



Raspberry Lemon Pie

This totally worked. Love this new trick!


Do you have a KITCHENAID?

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2011/11/how-to-shred-chicken-in-less-then-a-minute.html#.TsaHT2iZy_k.facebook

My new favorite chicken noodle soup

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-chicken-noodle-soup/detail.aspx

It was easy and flavorful.

Want to make these - they look yummy!

Mini Apple Pies
http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2011/10/what-i-made-for-monday.html

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/maple-cream-cheese-frosting/detail.aspx




Alex gave these cinnamon rolls a 9 out of 10.
He said that Mrs. G and Sister Bale still has better rolls than me.

Bret asked me to make brownies for his young men yesterday at 7am. So I quickly made them. I wanted to make my yummy frosting recipe (http://thekitchenofk.blogspot.com/2011/04/httpallrecipes.html)
BUT I didn't have any chocolate chips left in the house.

So, I found a new recipe and I love this one too!

Creamy Brownie Frosting
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 Tablespoons Hershey's Cocoa
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. Makes about 1 cup frosting - perfect for 1 batch of brownies.

The boys loved this one.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,144174-249200,00.html

SNICKERS bar pie

I asked Alex what kind of dessert he wanted for his 17th birthday.
We had an entire costco box of snickers that was extra from Father's Day.

So he suggested that I make a snickers ice cream cake.

I found this recipe and tried it.
He said it was yummy!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,144174-249200,00.html

It took 8 bars of snickers - I actually saved some of the ice cream mixture later because there was too much for the pie

SNICKERS® BAR PIE

2 c. Oreo cookies, crushed 1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts, chopped 1/4 c. butter, melted 8 SNICKERS® bars (2 oz.) 2 qt. vanilla ice cream 1/4 c. caramel sauce 1/4 c. chocolate sauce Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cookie crumbs, peanuts and butter in 9 inch pie plate. Press into crust and bake 10 minutes. Cool. Chop candy bar into small pieces and fold into softened ice cream. Spoon into crust. Drizzle caramel and chocolate sauce over top. Freeze 4 hours.

I tried a new recipe tonight - Honey BBQ Chicken.
Jasmine and Al both love barbeque chicken, but they love Ron Dodd's barbeque chicken. Ron Dodd won't share his recipe. So I have never attempted to make barbeque chicken as I didn't think mine would live up to his recipe and I didn't want to be compared.
Jasmine was always the most adamant that Ron Dodd's recipe was secret and the best.
Jasmine left last week.

Tonight I made a pretty yummy honey bbq chicken dinner. I didn't get to try it because the boys ate all of it.

YEAH!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1639,141191-241197,00.html

With Bret out of town, we can expand our protein choices.
Yesterday we grilled some ribeyes for a yummy dinner. One of the ribeyes got a little crispy - Alex said it was because it was the first time that the grill had real meat on it. Bret only grills costco burgers, johnsonville brats and italian sausages and chicken.

Tonight, we had pork chops - another meat that Bret doesn't enjoy.
I really enjoyed this recipe and will try it again when Bret isn't around to complain!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Parmesan-Sage-Pork-Chops/Reviews.aspx?Page=2

This was super yummy.
The cheese was $5 for a small brick and Alex didn't even care for that part - so I think next time I will skip that and not even bake it.

Also, I will have to be more careful. When I was chopping my anaheim pepper, I touched my nose - holyheck! My nose has been on fire for the past hour! And my finger as well - I must have had an open cuticle. goodness gracious!

I substituted an anaheim pepper for the called pepper which was a cubanelle.

I also couldn't find crushed fire roasted tomatoes so I got diced.
I also didn't have beef stock so I used beef broth

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/three-alarm-italian-style-chili-mac-recipe/index.html

Trying to decide if Grandma Bonnie could also pull off making a King Cake for Jasmine. She loves herself some King Cake but I don't want to pay $60 to have one shipped.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/mardi-gras-king-cake/Detail.aspx?

When Lindsay and I dropped in on our sweet friend Elizabeth Miller from Milwaukee, she was making homemade caramels.
I'm not a caramel person - or at least I didn't think that I was.
These were delicious!

Grandmas Caramels
By Margaret Earl (Elizabeth Miller's grandma)

1 can condensed milk
1 cup brown or regular Karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 lb butter

Combine all ingredients in heavy pan and cook for 20 minutes from the moment you put it on the heat stirring constantly.
Pour into buttered pan or dish.
Cut and wrap in waxed paper.
If caramels are sticky, use corn starch on cutting board.