Chex Mix

For Chex Mix, I used half a small box of wheat chex cereal, half a big box of rice chex cereal, 1 cup of mustard flavored pretzels, 1 cup of crushed bagel chips, and 1 cup of mixed nuts.  I put all the ingredients in a large microwavable casserole dish.  In a small microwavable bowl, I added one stick of butter, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of Lawry's salt.  I put the small bowl in the microwave for about a minute until the butter was melted, then I poured the melted butter mixture over the large casserole dish with the chex cereal mixture.  I put the large casserole dish with all ingredients in the microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Once it was done in the microwave, I spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet to cool, then put in an airtight container.

Irish Coffee from Buena Vista in San Francisco

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I saw this Irish Coffee being made, and it's amazing.  It consists of one shot of Whiskey, two sugar cubes, fill with coffee, and stir.  Then top with fresh whip cream.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

First I cut the tops off the bell peppers, I like to use red since they are sweeter than the green bell peppers.  Put the open bell peppers into boiling water so they are completely covered.  I leave them in the boiling water while I make the filling.  I usually use the 90 minute ready rice and there are lots of different kinds.  I saute one onion with the top part of the bell pepper that I cut off in some olive oil until done.  Then I add a pound of ground beef and cook until done.  Then I add a jar of tomato sauce and let cook until hot.  Then I add some diced Roma tomatoes and the cooked rice.  Then dry the bell peppers and fill with the mixture.  Put them in a cake pan with high edges so they don't fall over and place in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.  Top with Parmesan for the last minute in the oven.

Pulled Pork

I bought a 4 pound pork shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches.  I made a rub for the pork with thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  I put the pork shoulder in my crock pot on low and poured in it a cup of Dr Pepper.  I let this cook on low for 8 hours.  Once it was done, I pulled off the bone and the fat layer on top and put the meat in a bowl and it was very easy to shred with a fork.

Caramel Sauce

Easy recipe for caramel.  Buy a can of sweetened condensed milk, put it in a slow cooker (unopened), fill slow cooker with water until the can is covered, turn slow cooker on low, and let the can cook for 8 hours.  After the 8 hours, carefully remove the can (it's hot) and place in the fridge.  I let mine cool overnight, and in the morning it was caramel sauce.

Cranberry Sauce

Homemade Cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, much better than that canned stuff and so easy.  This recipe is 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1 cup of orange juice, 1 12 ounce bag of cranberries, and one apple diced.  Add all ingredients to a pot and let boil and reduce.  The cranberries will start to pop loudly and the mixture will resemble a thick sauce.  Once it cools it will thicken even more.  I left mine on the stove top for about 30 minutes and it was the perfect consistency.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

This was a popular Internet recipe that I wanted to try.  Made with 3/4 cups of butter, 3 cups of sugar, 3 eggs, 16 ounces of sour cream, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tsp baking soda, and 4 1/2 cups of flour.  I mixed all the ingredients in my mixer until blended and put them in 4 7x3 inch baking pans that I lined the bottom and sides with 4 equal divided parts of 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 6 bananas, and walnuts.  I poured the mixing bowl contents into the lined bowls and baked for about an hour at 300 degrees.

Sourdough Bread from Starter

This loaf of sourdough bread was made by a friend with a sourdough started from Germany that is 200 years old.  This is the best bread I have ever had.  I've tried many starters and never had them last more than a month.  She claims you can't kill this starter and she will bring me some over Christmas, we shall see if I can keep it alive and make the most amazing bread ever.

7 Layer Dip

So easy but so good.  One layer of bean dip, then guacamole, sour cream, salsa, shredded cheese, tomatoes, and olives.  I have also seen it done with ground beef and / or queso.

Potato Salad

This potato salad is awesome and not too difficult.  I washed 2 1/2 lbs of potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces.  I put them into water on the stove and cooked them until tender on medium heat.  While the potatoes were cooking, I put 4 eggs into a pot, covered them with water, and then put them on medium heat.  As soon as the eggs started to boil, I turned off the heat and let them sit for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, I poured out the water and added ice water, once they were cool, I peeled and chopped them.  While the potatoes and the eggs were cooking, I put half a pound of bacon on a baking sheet and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees until they were really crispy, then I crumbled the pieces.  While the potatoes, eggs, and bacon were cooking, I chopped some celery and green onions very fine, which I added to 1 cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of mustard.  When the potatoes, bacon, and eggs were done cooking, I let them cool in the fridge for an hour.  Then I mixed everything together and put the potato salad into the fridge.