Michelle N's Mexican Rice

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2 cups long grain rice

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp cumin

2 garlic cloves, chopped

½ onion, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 Tbsp tomato puree

In a large frying pan, heat the oil at medium heat.

Add in the rice and stir gently until the grains nicely golden.

Add the garlic cloves, chopped onion and cumin into the mixture.

Cook and fry for about five minutes.

Stir the liquid into the mixture.  Add the tomato puree.

Bring to a boil, reduce to low head, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed.

Danielle's Spinach Quiche

Ham and Spinach Quiche

From Danielle Lesser

Crust:

1 ¼ C flour

½ tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

½ cup butter(cubed and chilled)

1/8 cup ice water

Mix dry ingredients together and cut in cold butter cubes until crumbly mixture.  Add ice water and blend together.  Chill dough in refrigerator or place immediately into glass pie dish.

filling:

1 ½ cups chopped cooked spinach

1 ½ cups sliced deli ham

6 eggs beaten

1 ½ cups half and half or ¾ cup whipping cream ¾ cup skim milk

4 tsp flour

¾ tsp salt

1 ½ -2 cups shredded gruyere cheese or similar

Make crust and prepare dough in pie plate and set aside.  Clean spinach and trim stems and place spinach in boiling water until just cooked.  Drain spinach and set aside.  Make sure you squeeze as much extra water out as possible.

Mix eggs and flour and salt together.  Add half and half.  Start with a layer of the cheese on the bottom of the crust and continuing alternating spinach and ham and cheese.  Pour egg mixture over the top and place in 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

* you may substitute other ingredients for the spinach and ham if desired or even add some sautéed onions.  Broccoli, onion, artichokes, bacon or asparagus are delicious in quiche.  Just make sure any vegetables are slightly cooked or blanched, but not mushy, prior to adding to the quiche otherwise they have too much water in them and make the quiche soggy and they may not cook all the way through.  Garnish with thinly sliced tomato and cilantro.

Linsey's Blueberry Muffins

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Blueberry Muffins from the "Essential Mormon Celebrations" cookbook

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 recipe Muffin Topping (see below) 
1 recipe Muffin Glaze (see below) 

In a large bowl, combine flout, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Stir until well blended.  Make a well in center of mixture.  Place egg, butter, and milk in center and stir just until blended.  Carefully stir in lemon zest and blueberries.  Fill 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle with Muffin Topping.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and drizzle with Muffin Glaze. 

Muffin Topping
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. lemon zest
2 T butter, melted

In a bowl, combine above ingredients and sprinkle over muffins 

Muffin Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice

In a bowl mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together.  Drizzle over muffins after baking.

Jonna's Raspberry Pretzel Jello

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

2 C Pretzels crushed

3 T Sugar

3/4 C Butter, melted

Combine and press into a 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 400 for 5 minutes.  Cool

completely.

8 oz Cream Cheese

1 small can crushed pineapple, very well drained

8 oz Cool Whip

Combine first two ingredients and then fold in the Cool Whip.  Spread on top of the cooled crust and refrigerate for at least an hour.  It must be cold before you can put the next layer on top.

2 small or 1 large box raspberry jello

1 large package frozen raspberries

Dissolve jello in 2 C. boiling water, add frozen raspberries.  Stir until syrupy and jello begins to thicken.  Sometimes I add a few frozen ice cubes to speed up the process.  Pour over cream cheese mixture and store in refrigerator.

Michael W's Apple Pie

1 Pie Crust, single crust, not baked

FILLING:

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
7 cups peeled/sliced Granny Smith apples
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

CRUMB TOPPING:

3/4 stick (6 Tbsp)  unsalted butter = 3/8 of a cup
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Roll out pie crust in pan and freeze for 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a bowl.   Set aside.
Combine the apples and lemon juice in a large bowl.
Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of the sugar mixture evenly over the chilled pie shell.
Arrange a single layer of apples on the shell, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of the sugar
mixture.  Arrange another layer until all apples are used.  Place the pie on the
center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.

Make crumb topping.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over
low heat.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Pour the melted butter over the flour mixture and mix well with a fork.

Remove pie from the oven and reduce temp to  375 degrees.
Dump crumb topping on pie and spread evenly over the top.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Jane's Green Beans

GREEN BEANS WITH ALMONDS AND THYME

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs of (fresh or frozen) green beans, trimmed
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

METHOD

1 Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until just crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the beans and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water, cooling them completely. (The ice water will shock the beans into a vibrant green color.) Drain the beans well. At this point you can make the beans a day ahead and store in refrigerator.

Alternatively you can steam the beans for 5 minutes and proceed directly to the skillet.

2 Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Whisk in half of the fresh thyme (1 Tbsp), the Dijon mustard and garlic salt into the butter. Add the beans to the skillet and toss until heated through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and the remaining 1 Tbsp of thyme.

Serves 8.

Emily's Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cheesecake

Marbled PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE 

(But I don’t marble it...I just mix it all together)

Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch cake

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies 

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 

1/3 cup butter, melted 

  

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 

3/4 cup white sugar, divided 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

3 eggs 

1 cup canned pumpkin 

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
3. Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.
4. Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Cheesecake topping...delicious family topping recipe that must be on EVERY cheesecake in my opinion :)

Sour cream topping

1 cup sour cream

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Take the cheesecake out and turn up the oven to 425 degrees.  Cool the cheesecake for 20 minutes.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Spoon gently over the cake.
3. Bake ONLY 5 minutes

Profiteroles

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons prepared coffee
• Good vanilla ice cream (recommended: Haagen-Dazs), for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the milk, butter, and salt over medium heat until scalded. When the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and beat it with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for 2 minutes. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pan. Dump the hot mixture into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated into the dough and the mixture is thick.
Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe in mounds 1 1/2 inches wide and 1-inch high onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should have about 18 puffs. With a wet finger, lightly press down the swirl at the top of each puff. (You can also use 2 spoons to scoop out the mixture and shape the puffs with damp fingers.) Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned, then turn off the oven and allow them to sit for another 10 minutes, until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Make a small slit in the side of each puff to allow the steam to escape. Set aside to cool.
For the chocolate sauce, place the cream and chocolate chips in a bowl set over simmering water and stir just until the chocolate melts. Add the honey and coffee and stir until smooth. Set aside.
For serving, cut each profiterole in half crosswise, fill with a small scoop of ice cream, replace the top, and drizzle with slightly warm chocolate sauce.

Jasmin's Waffles

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 eggs
• 7 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat the waffle iron. Sift the dry indredients into a medium sized bowl. Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in smaller bowl. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. (If you are using an electric mixer, you can beat the egg whites first, then beat the batter without having to wash the beaters. The reverse is not true. If you beat the batter first and you have to wash the beaters before beating the egg whites.) Add the egg yolks, oil and milk all at one time to the dry indredients. Beat until there are no lumps in the batter. Fold the egg whites into the other batter using a spatula or other flat utinsel. Put a full 1/2 cup of batter in your waffle iron to make a 9-inch round waffle. This recipe makes about eight 9 inch waffles.

If this recipe makes too many waffles for one setting, try freezing the waffles you do not eat. After the waffles have been cooked in the waffle iron, put them out on a cooling rack. When they are cool, place them in a plastic bag taking out as much air from the bag as possible. Then freeze the bag of waffles. The next time you want a quick waffle, microwave one from the freezer for about 45 to 60 seconds. They are almost as good as fresh waffles.