Twice Baked Potatoes

Here are some Twice Baked Potatoes that I made for when Tim's guy friends came over last weekend; they were a BIG hit.  Also, I figured since I was making these already, I'd make extra to put into the freezer for later.

Pioneer Woman calls them Fluffy New Potatoes.

After freezing, to reheat, throw them into a 350 degree oven until they are hot.

The BEST Thin Crust Pizza (made at home!)

This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated, and it's the BEST thin crust pizza recipe that I've ever made!  Also, this is the best pizza sauce recipe for any type of pizza.

If you can't access the recipe and want it, let me know, I have a PDF I made for us.

If you like really good thin crust pizza, follow this recipe to the LETTER and it will be good; if you have a pizza stone and an oven that goes to 550 degrees, it will be even better!  This means that you must make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and you MUST boil the pepperoni and sausage toppings; this gets rid of the grease, and means your pizza won't be greasy.

This dough recipe makes 2 14" pizzas.  We make one that size, then take the other half of the dough and divide it into 4; then make 4 personal pizza sized, freeze them flat and wrap them up to use as frozen pizzas for the future.

One thing, if you want to freeze these pizzas raw to cook later, you must blind bake the pizza crust for about 4-5 minutes, then let them cool, before you put on the toppings.

Cooks Illustrated Thin Crust Pizza

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

I thought this was a recipe from Pioneer Woman but I couldn't find it on her website.  But I found this recipe, which may be what I used.  I know that these were pretty easy, and also really good!  The dough was really easy to make, but leave time for chilling it, otherwise these are a snap to make. 

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies


Ingredients: 
Granny Smith apples, chopped into 1/4" dice
store bought caramels, cut into tiny cubes
pie crust
sea salt

Peach Blueberry Crisp

This was so good that I made it twice!  First time, I made a double recipe and put into a 9 X 13 pan, second time I made the regular recipe and put into an 8 X 8 pan.

This has to be the best summer fruit dessert I've ever made or eaten!

Recipe from Cooks Illustrated:  Peach Blueberry Crisp

Simply peaches, blueberries, a little sugar, then the topping has pecans and brown suger (with some butter to hold it together).  Totally delicious!

Mary Poppins Cookies

People ask me why these are called Mary Poppins Cookies - I don't know, that's the name on the recipe card!  I know we got this recipe from someone in Osceola, IA, but don't know from whom.

 

Ingredients - yes, Gulf Wax is an ingredient!

peanut butter
rice crispies
powdered sugar
melted butter
vanilla
salt
chocolate chips
gulf wax

 

 

MMMMM, look at that yummy deliciousness inside; makes me think about making these again!

Chinese Dumplings (Potstickers)

Chinese dumplings

 

We made a bunch of these and froze them.

 

I combined two recipes for this; a home made dough recipe for the wrappers (we can't find the right wrappers at any of our grocery stores).  Plus a recipe from Test Kitchen for the filling.

 

Filling recipe:  Pork and Cabbage Dumplings

Dough recipe:  Hot Water Dough

 

 



 

Chiles Rellenos Casserole

I've not been blogging much at all, so I thought I'd get caught up with some of the pictures (and food) that we've done over the last couple of months.

This is a Chiles Rellenos Casserole , recipe is from Cooks Country.

More to come!