Grape Salad

Hat tip to Sandra Corum for posting this on FB for me to steal!

 GRAPE SALAD

 "This is a wonderful dessert salad that never failed to be a hit. Made the  day before the brown sugar makes the sauce taste like caramel. You can   use less brown sugar, if you wish."

8 servings

Ingredients:

4 pounds seedless green and red grapes
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

Wash and dry grapes. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Add grapes and mix until evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans, mix again and refrigerate until serving.

Eggplant bacon

Now this just looks too interesting NOT to post:

http://www.theppk.com/2011/10/eggplant-bacon/

Snickers Caramel Apple Salad

Is this EVIL, or what?

Ingredients

6 regular size Snickers Candy Bar
6 apples I used Red Delicious... Granny Smith would also be great
1 (5 oz.) package Vanilla Instant Pudding dry, do not prepare
1/2 cup milk
1 (12 oz.) tub cool whip
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Instructions

Whisk vanilla pudding packet, 1/2 cup milk and cool whip together until well combined.
Chop up apples and Snickers.
Stir chopped apples and Snickers into pudding mixture.
Place in a large bowl and drizzle with caramel ice cream topping.
Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

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Cheesy Bacon Bombs

Found this recipe, and just had to share it.  Canned biscuits, cheese and bacon, on a stick!  How cool is THAT?

And, really...after all that, the person who wrote the recipe used CANOLA oil?  As if it's gonna matter what oil you fry 'em in.  There is NO WAY these things can be considered healthy.  Absolutely slap a baby delicious, yes.  Healthy, no.

I suppose you could go the 'healthy' route and bake them, and that's probably worth trying. Still and all, it's biscuit dough, cheese and bacon, all in one--not the healthiest thing in the world, especially since eating one will quickly lead to eating six.

Bacon Bombs:

1 can (8ct.) Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Biscuits

Cubed Mozzarella Cheese (1-1″ cube per Bomb)

2 lbs. of Bacon (1 slice per Bomb) Sticks

Oil for frying (I used Canola)

Directions:

   Cube up the Cheese, and cut each Biscuit into fourths. Place one piece of Cheese inside a Biscuit quarter, and roll it up in there, nice and tight…  Wrap each rolled Bomb in a slice of Bacon, and secure it with a skewer or toothpick.

   In a med/large pot, heat up approx. 2″ of Oil (to 350 degrees) and fry them up in small batches. Maybe one or two at a time, the oil will expand so stay close… Drain them on some Paper Towel, but serve them up good and warm. YUM!!

Pecan Praline Cake

I found this the other day, and it's just pure, unmitigated evil.  So, naturally, I just HAD to share it!

Pecan Praline Cake

1 (15 oz) box Butter Pecan Cake Mix

1 (16 oz) tub Coconut Pecan Frosting

4 eggs

3/4 cup oil

1 cup water

1/2 cup chopped pecans

FOR THE SAUCE:

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl (or your stand mixer bowl), combine all the cake ingredients except for the chopped pecans. Also, add the tub of coconut pecan frosting. That goes into the cake batter too! Once it's all combined, stir in 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Pour batter into greased baking dish. Bake for about 40 minutes or until gollden brown.

And if you insert a toothpick into the middle it should come out clean.

This cake is perfectly good just like this. It is moist and yummy. But it's even better with this butter sauce.

In a small pot over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp. butter. Pour in can of sweetened condensed milk with the melted butter and stir. Continue to stir until heated thoroughly, then add 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Stir again then take off heat.

Then spoon this yummy sauce over individual slices of cake.

I pour the sauce over the individual slices instead of just pouring it over the whole cake because I love to be able to scoop up some of the sauce off my plate as I eat it and I don't want the sauce to soak in and just become part of the cake. 

But if you are feeding a crowd, it may be easier to pour the sauce over the entire cake before serving. 

*Note: You can also make this in a bundt pan. Bake for about 50 minutes.

Homemade Twinkie Recipe

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/11/16/have-no-fear-the-homemade-twinkie-recipe-is-here/

Here's the recipe from the above link:

The bankruptcy of Hostess is effecting Twinkie lovers everywhere, but not all hope is lost. I present to you, the homemade Twinkie recipe.

 Golden “Twinkie” Cake:

2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray molds/pan with non-stick spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Next, beat in the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition. Reduce the mixer speed and add flour mixture alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and mix until the batter just comes together. Over mixing with make your cake chewy. Makes 12 cakes.

Spray your Twinkie canoes and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until the cakes are just a light golden color and a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Cream Filling

¼ cup shortening (I prefer Crisco brand)
¼ cup margarine
1 cup sifted powdered or 10x sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat together the shortening and margarine until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in a little at a time and beat on high until peaks form. Add vanilla and beat for one minute. Place in prepared icing tubes for piping into cakes.

To fill the cakes, insert the icing tip – preferably a large star tip – into three points along the flat-side of the cake, about 1/8 of an inch deep. Squeeze lightly until you see the filling begin to ooze out.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

Homemade Cream Of Chicken Soup

Here's a homemade recipe that you can whip up to substitute for pre-made canned condensed cream

of chicken soup.  Best of all, you can adjust the spices to your own preferences; I like to add a dash

or two of celery salt and decrease the 'regular' salt.

Yield:

3 cups (about 2 cans)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon parsley

dash of paprika

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup flour

1. In medium-sized saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1/2 cup of the milk,

and the seasonings for a minute or two.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour.

Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.

Add 1/4 cup diced chicken if desired.

3. Use immediately, or store in a container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.