Monthly Archives: August 2012

Caramel-Pecan Brownies

Brownies are the easiest cookie to make, but they are also the easiest to wreck.  It is very hard to judge doneness so many cooks including myself *ahem* will overcook them.  Most of the recipes will be done when they start to pull away from the sides of the pan.  This recipe has a gooey caramel center so it is harder to judge doneness.  Just watch carefully and be ready to pull these out.  When I read the recipe and saw that you cooked one layer for 25 minutes, added caramel and more brownie mix and cooked for an additional 30 minutes I said no way!  The recipe fooled me.  It is a fantastic moist and chocolatey brownie.  One of the best I have ever had.  Try these and you will never make brownies from a box again and you may even throw your old recipe away.  They won the taste test with about 42 of my best tasters!

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Filed under Cookies

Coffee Cake

I ask myself, do I really have a part-time job? When I get off at 12 it seems to me that I have worked all day.   I’ve taught 4 classes and have seen 125 students. It is  nonstop for me and time just flies by.    My hours are 8-12, but at 12 it is just like I have another job!  I am busy to the point that I wonder what happens to my free afternoon.  With more time I find myself with less time to just relax!  It seems that I don’t have time to enjoy my front porch with a good book or eat lunch on my deck.  I haven’t plugged in my sewing machine in 2 years!  In the three years that I have had this blog many hours have been spent writing, planning, shopping , cooking, eating, and learning to use a camera.  Thank goodness that I do have a busy life.  What would happen to me without all this stuff to do????  Now for the recipe for this wonderful Coffee Cake that my sister-in-law gave me years ago that has saved my life for many showers, brunches, and for something sweet at 10:00 o’clock at night!

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Filed under Breakfast, Cake, Desserts

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo

I love a good pasta dish.  Usually they are quick to make and you can add whatever you have on hand to make them your own dish.  That is exactly what I did with this dish that my Tennessee friend told me about.  Her family loved it so I knew that we would , too.  I was right.  It was a big hit.  I am not a lover of alfredo sauce.  It’s just too heavy for me.  I’m more the fresh tomato sauce person or pesto sauce.   I liked the dish the first night I served it, but  what I did with the leftovers the next night I loved!

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Filed under Main dish

Bean-and-Beef Enchilada Casserole and a Give Away!!!

School started Monday and this is what I cooked for dinner.  It is easy and filling.  I just love the recipes that I am finding in the Make & Take  July issue from Better Homes and Gardens.   By the way it was a good first day.   But, I have more news!  It is my blog’s birthday.  Yes, it has been three years since I started this experiment and I want to reward you the reader with two  cookbooks from one of the first friends that I made as I was over whelmed with the whole blog thing.  I did not know what I was doing.  Well, if the truth be known I still don’t!  Susan Russo from Food Blogga befriended me.  I love using her blog for my class as a resource.  She knows what she is talking about and is so well rounded. Check her blog out you’ll love it! Anyway, I am giving away two of  her cookbooks Recipes that Every Man Should Know and The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches  to a lucky reader.  Just  comment here on the blog.  The deadline is Sunday at midnight.  Good luck!  And you are going to love this recipe!  It is a keeper!

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Filed under Main dish