Spinach Salad

Here is my recipe for the Salad I made for Paige's Bridal shower that everybody is wanting. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/3 C. Sugar
1/3 C. Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. Poppy Seeds
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1 tsp. Salt
1 C. Oil

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with a wire whisk until thick and creamy. Don't put all of the dressing on the salad it might be too much. Refrigerate any remaining amount and use it later.

Candied Walnuts
Get a small frying pan, heat to medium heat. Put a couple Tbs of butter, a Tbs or more of brown sugar and about a Tbs of Karo syrup (I just poured some into the pan) Mix all these together and when it's melted then dump in a bag of walnuts. Coating them in this mixture. Then take off the heat and add to your salad. (Sorry I don't have exact amounts of ingredients because I just put into the pan without measuring.)

Salad

Put all ingredients into a large bowl

Spinach ( a bag of Spinach leaves works great)
Half a head of Iceberg lettuce, washed and cut into strips or tear into pieces
3 Gala Apples, cut and sliced into bit sizes
Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (6 oz.) pkg. Feta cheese
Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
Candied Walnuts
Add half a package of Crasins or more if you want

Serve right away or keep the apples and nuts out until right before serving. Put the dressing on right before serving or let guests put on their own dressing.

Poppy Seed Dressing

Poppy Seed Dressing

2/3 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Cider Vinegar
1 TB Poppy Seeds
2 tsp. Dry Mustard
2 tsp. Salt
2 C. Oil

Put all ingredients into a small mixing bowl, mix with a wire whisk until thick and creamy. This recipe makes a lot so I would half it if you don't want any left over.

Fresh Pear Cobbler

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2 1/2 cups sliced fresh pears
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 ounces butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg

Preparation:

Mix pears with 1 cup sugar and let stand. Put butter in 2-quart casserole and place in 325° oven until melted. Combine all dry ingredients, including the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly combine with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.
Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Fingers

1 C. Butter

1 C. Brown Sugar

1 C. Sugar

Cream together Then Add

2 Eggs

2/3 C. Peanut Butter

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 C. Flour

2 C. Oatmeal

Press into a jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 for 17 min... for crisper ones bake for 20 min

Let cool for 10 min then frost with Peanut Butter a thin layer (if you will put on in small amounts and let it sit for a minute it will melt and spread easier. When cooled frost with Chocolate frosting.

These are so good and make a fast treat!

Drop Biscuits

1 1/2 C Flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Soda
mix altogether
Then cut in 4 TBS Butter, (softened)

In a measuring cup mix together
3/4 C. Milk
1 tsp. Vinegar
Then add to your flour mixture

Drop onto a greased cookie sheet, makes about 4 biscuits

Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes
check with a toothpick to make sure they are done

Beef Enchiladas

Brown: 1 1/2 LB Ground Beef, 1 chopped onion, Season beef to your liking
Then add in 1 can chopped olives, 1/2 LB. Grated cheddar cheese ( save some for the top)
Sauce: 2 cans 8 oz. tomato sauce, 1 can 6 oz. tomato paste, 1 can tomato soup, 1 cup water, 1 TBS. Chili powder. Simmer


10-12 flour tortillas. Put some sauce in bottom of pan. Put 2 spoonfuls of sauce on tortilla then 2 spoonfuls of meat mix. Roll up tortilla and place in pan. Repeat with each tortilla. When the pan is full put some sauce on top the tortillas and then some grated cheese.

Cover and bake for 375 degrees for 20-35 minutes or until heated through. Serve with sour cream. (Guacamole and shredded lettuce if you want to be fancy.)

These are my favorite enchiladas so I hope you enjoy them!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling

Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or full)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-oz dark chocolate
1 cup water, boiling

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by sour cream and vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add half of flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla extract, followed by the addition of the rest of the flour mix. Stir well between each addition and mix until no streaks of flour remain.
Stir the cocoa powder and the dark chocolate into the boiling water (easiest in a large measuring cup). Pour chocolate water into the rest of the batter and stir until uniform.
Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. (It’s fine if you can’t fit both trays into the oven at the same time, just wait until one batch finishes before putting in the second pan)
Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.

Vanilla Cream Filling
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1/2 cup butter (or trans fat-free shortening)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 scraped vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes. Sir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil. When thickened (consistency will be that of a thin pudding or custard), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature.
When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter (or shortening) and sugar together in a medium bowl until lightl. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the scraped vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract) and beat at high speed with an electrick mixer for 7 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip, or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off, and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat, with an electric mixer, until frosting is creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add additional powdered sugar as needed to achieve a thick, but not stiff, frosting that is easy to spread. Add additional milk, if necessary, to thin the frosting if it gets too thick.

Assembly
(A photo how-to of the assembly method can be found here.) Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small pairing knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top. Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes.
Take the cream filling and squeeze a tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity, filling the hole up to the top with filling. Top off with a flat circle of cake to plug the hole and keep the filling in place.
Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a layer of chocolate buttercream frosting. Place a dollop of icing in the center of the cupcake (on top of the cut out circle of cake) and spread from the center to the sides of the cupcake.
If you have leftover filling, transfer it to a fresh ziploc bag and cut a very small opening in one corner. Pipe a swirly line down the center of each cupcake.
Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Makes 2-dozen.