Texas Sheet Cake

This is a great frosted brownie.  Probably has the word Texas in it because it is so rich and it makes a huge pan of them.  Doesn't seem Texan to me, but it is chocolate, and that's all we need, partner! Has some unique directions, so read this one through before starting (yes, Mom...)

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of sugar
In a saucepan, combine 1 stick butter, 1/2 half cup shortening (Crisco), 1 cup coffee or water, 1/4 cup cocoa (this is the cooking kind, not the drinking kind).  Stir and heat until boiling.
Pour the boiling mixture over the flour and sugar.  Add 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla.  Mix well with an electric mixer.
Pour into a greased 17x11 jelly roll pan (cookie sheet) and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until brownies are done in the center.  Stick a knife in the center to check  - if the knife is dry when you take it out, Yee-haw (Texan dialect).
While brownies are baking, prepare the frosting by combining 1 stick butter, 2 Tbs. cocoa, 1/4 cup milk, in a saucepan.  Cook until boiling - stir often.  Mix in 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until frosting is smooth.  You can use an electric mixer because getting the lumps out is hard.  Pour warm frosting over warm brownies.  Cool.  Makes 48 bars.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

If you like hot and spicy wings, you'll like this.  You can adjust the amount of hot sauce to tasts.  I'm a wimp - just looking at the bottle is enough for  me.  This is a special appetizer, meaning it takes a bit of planning and costs more than a bag of Fritos, but is worth it.

4 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1/2 of a 12 oz bottle hot sauce  ( if you are a nut, you can use the whole bottle)
2 8oz pkg cream cheese
16 oz bottle Ranch dressing
8 oz pkg shredded cheddar cheese

Mix chicken and hot sauce and put in 13x9 pan.
In a saucepan, combine cream cheese and Ranch until smooth.  Pour over chicken.
Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 -don't let it brown. Serve warm with taco chips.

Oreo Freakout

My friend Jeanne from Columbus used to make this for potlucks.  Ahh - chocolate memories!  It is easy to make and so good.  It is an ice cream cake, so keep that in mind - you can't leave it sitting out for long.  But, it won't last long on the table. Soooooooo good!

one package Oreo cookies
one stick butter, melted
1/2 gallon ice cream (vanilla, mint chocolate chip, moose tracks.....whatever!)
one jar hot fudge ice cream topping
one small Cool Whip container

Crush the cookies and mix with butter. Reserve 4-5 Tablespoons. Spread in a 9x13 pan and pat down well.  Slice ice cream (or let it soften and spread it around) and place over the top of the Oreo crust.  Pour hot fudge sauce on top.  Spread Cool Whip on that and top with reserved Oreo crumbs. Cover with foil and freeze until hard - at least a few hours.  Keeps for a week in freezer (ha - it won't last that long)

Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables

This looks so gourmet-ish, but is very easy-ish.  Sure makes the house smell good, too.  If you use a whole roasting chicken, it can be very inexpensive as well.  If you want to make a Sunday dinner like Grandma used to make, this is it!
3-4 pound roasting chicken, rinsed with stuff in middle (whatever it is) taken out and thrown away
one lemon
rosemary -I use the dried kind from the spice aisle
salt and pepper
olive oil
chopped potatoes, zucchini, carrots - whatever you like

Put one table spoon rosemary in a bowl.  Grate the lemon peel into the bowl.  Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the bowl. Add one teaspoon each salt and pepper.  Rub chicken with a little olive oil.  Rub one tablespoonful of the spice mix onto the chicken.  Cut up the lemon and stuff it in the chicken.  Put chicken into a pan for the oven.  Put vegetables into the spice mix and toss.  Add to the roasting pan.  Cover with a lid or foil.  Bake at 350 for about an hour, remove cover and bake 20 minutes more (for well done chicken - bake a bit less if you like it juicy).

Crockpot Baked Potatoes

Who has time to make baked potatoes?  Not me, but I love 'em.  Put these in before you go to work (or on one of those days when you are not into cooking on a real stove).  I suppose you could top them with broccoli or something healthy, but give me a dollop (love that word!) of butter AND sour cream.

4 medium sized baking potatoes, washed and with a few holes poked in the skin

Put the potatoes in a crockpot and turn onto medium.  Cook all day. Don't use giant potatoes or they will not finish in time for dinner.  That's it!

Parchment Paper

Why didn't I discover this years ago?  You can buy a roll in the tin foil section of the grocery store.  Use it to line cookie sheets and you'll never have to scrub baked on sprinkles again!  If you didn't make the paper too messy, fold it up and save it to use again.  I also line 13x9 pans before making brownies - and after they are cool, pull the whole thing out and cut the brownies with a pizza cutter.  No pan to wash and you brownies don't look prechewed - yippee! Makes baking so much sweeter!

Super Easy Meatballs

This is so easy, it is embarrassing.  I suppose you could make your own meatballs, but there would be some nasty dishes to wash and I'm just not into it.  Plus, if you are making meatball appetizers, you are probably having people over and might need to spend more of your time cleaning the gunk off your floors (or maybe that's just me).

1 large bag frozen meatballs
1 bottle chili sauce (sold in the ketchup aisle)
1 large jar grape jelly (not jam - too seedy)

Mix together and put in a crockpot for a few hours or on low on your stove.

If there are any leftovers, warm up the next day and serve over rice for a fake Chinese dinner. 

Bears in the Snow

I made this up one day using whatever I could find in the pantry to take to a NFL playoff game party.  Kind of like the "Chopped" show on the Food Channel, where the chefs make meals with odd food items.  Since the Chicago Bears were playing in a blizzard, it worked!  You can substitute another cookie or cracker for the bears, but it won't be as cute.  I suppose you could pick the tigers out of animal crackers if the Bengals ever get in the playoffs, like that would ever happen.

One package plain Teddy Grahams
About 4-5 cups mini twist pretzels
About 3 - 4 cups Crispix
One small can mixed nuts
One bag white chocolate chips

Mix together.  It won't last long with the salty/sweet thing going on.

Cookie Frosting That Gets Hard

Nothing like having your sugar cookies all stuck together because the icing never firmed up.  Take a few spoonfuls at a time of canned frosting (not whipped) and put in the microwave for about 10 seconds, until it just starts to melt.  Stir and quickly frost cookies.  You can add a drop of food coloring if you want.  Set cookies aside for about an hour and they will be good to travel or pack and mail.  Only do a few spoonfuls at a time and apply thinly on the cookies.  Easy and foolproof - yippee.

Fresh Apple Cake

This is a delicious, heavy German cake that even tastes better the next day. Appropriate for a book club meeting for Sarah's Key, a heavy story that takes place in World War II.  You will never forget the cake or the story. I got the recipe from Belva, my school secretary when I taught in Grove City, Ohio - another unforgettable! 

4 to 5 medium apples, peeled and diced
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix first three ingredients.  Sift dry ingredients over the top and mix together.  Bake in greased and floured loaf pan or 8x8 pan.  Bake for one hour at 350 for a loaf pan and 40 minutes for 8x8.  Test with a toothpick to see if done.  Does not need frosting.  Also makes a great coffee cake.

Crab Pizza Appetizer

This is so easy and a crowd pleaser.  You can make the expensive version with real crab pieces from a fish market, or use the fake packaged crab from Krogers. That's what I do and it tastes fine.

Make this for a book club discussion on Olive Kitteridge, which takes place in Maine.  I think I will grow up to be Olive (opinionated and crotchety),  except living in Cincinnati.  I'll have to think of a different snack, since there are no lobsters on the Ohio River (but there are some wierd fish - and people -on it).

One packages softened cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
One small bottle seafood cocktail sauce
One package fake crab - or about 1 1/2 cups of the real thing - torn into small pieces
Crackers

Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on a serving plate.  Spread cocktail sauce on top - just enough to cover and make it look like a pizza.  Sprinkle crab pieces on top.  Cover with foil and refrigerate for a few hours.  Serve with crackers for dipping.

Pecan Praline Cake

So easy!!! This would be a great treat to munch on while discussing the book Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers.  It is about Hurricane Katrina and how good people were treated so horribly.  The fact that it is a true story makes it even more memorable.  This cake is so yummy it will make you talk with a Cajun accent!  Also good for a Fat Tuesday party or if the New Orleans Saints ever get in the Super Bowl again.

1 package butter pecan cake mix (yippee - so easy!)
1 container   coconut pecan frosting (double yippee)
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray Bundt pan (or 13x9 pan)
Mix cake mix, frosting (wierd, but effective), eggs, oil , water and half of pecans.  Sprinkle the rest of the pecans in the bottom of the pan (save for the top if using 13x9).  Pour in batter.  Bake for 50 minutes (about 35 for 13x9) until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.  Turn over after cooling for about 15 minutes.  So sweet it doesn't really need a glaze.

Layered Cheesecake Bowl

Some would call this a trifle, but that sounds like it is not worth a lot. And this is worth tons! Delicious and pretty, too. And, not too many calories. Yippee is all I can say.

Combine 3 cups sliced strawberries and 3 Tbsp sugar. Set aside.

Cut one angel food cake or pound cake into 1 inch cubes. Trim the crusts off so you just have the white cake. Eat the crusts while you are making the rest of the dessert.

Beat two 8 ounce packages fat free cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups skim milk (or 2%). Add one package 3.4 ounce vanilla instant pudding mix.

Blend in 1 1/2 cups fat free Cool Whip. Spoon half of the mixture into a large glass bown (another bowl is OK, but it won't look so pretty). Top with the cake, berries (save a few) and then the remaining cheese mixture. Top with more Cool Whip and the few berries as a decoration. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Easy to make, easy to mail. So much faster to make cookies in a bar rather than scooping with a spoon. And mixing with an electric mixer to boot! I'm all about fast and easy. (Don't take that the wrong way).

Heat oven to 350 and spray a 13x9 pan.

Mix one package butter recipe cake mix, one 3.4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding, one stick melted butter, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla at medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in one cup or so of chocolate chips. Bake 45 minutes. What could be easier!!

Summer Pasta Salad

Take this to a potluck if you want people to think you eat healty all the time. (Insert hysterical laughter here).

3 cups uncooked pasta (farfalle is cool - looks like butterflies)
2 cups uncooked spinach leaves, torn into bite sized pieces
1 cup feta cheese crumbles
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup chick peas (garbanzo beans) rinsed well because they really smell. You can leave them out if you want.
1/2 cup light or fat free vinagarette dressing
Add cooked and chopped chicken or pepperoni if you want
I also add halved black olives - yum

Cook and drain pasta. Place in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix lightly. Cover and refrigerate a few hours. Mix before serving.

Lemon Bar Cheesecake

Easy and super good. Would be great with a glass of iced tea and a discussion on The Help, an incredible book about life in the South in the 1960's as told from the maids' point of view. Then have another piece while you are cleaning up after your messy friends left. If they were very messy, have two.

1 package lemon cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
8 oz. package cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
2Tbs. fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350. You'll need an ungreased 13x9 pan.
Combine mix, oil and 1 egg two minutes on low speed. Reserve one cup of the mixture. Put the rest in the pan and pat down. Bake for 15 minutes. In the meantime, mix the cream cheese on low for 30 seconds. Add juice, sugar and 1 egg. Beat 2 minutes. Spread onto the crust, which may still be a bit gummy. Top with reserved cake mix. Bake 15 minutes and cool. Keep in the refrigerator.