Snickers Salad

Almost every 4th of July our family gathers at our lake in Northern Missouri for our annual reunion. These reunions have been the basis for many a wonderful memory and a smorgasbord of delicious food. Last year it was my Niece Natalie that took the show with this, simple yet oh so wonderful salad. (i like calling it a salad, it makes me feel better about myself when, I am on my 3rd or 4th helping)

Ingredients:

2 boxes instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

4-5 apples

4-5 snickers (big bars)

12 oz cool whip

Cut up apples in small pieces

Cut up Snickers in bite sized pieces

Add milk to pudding & stir, add cool whip and fold in gently

Mix in apples and Snickers 

Enjoy!!

Deluxe Pecan Pie

For years I wasn't much of a Pecan Pie fan. But, I had family members that would request them from time to time.  I finally realized that for me, there wasn't near enough filling for my liking so, I began to experiment and this is the result of my effort.  At least for me it did the trick, it is now among my favorite pies.

Ingredients:

1 piecrust*
1 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
2 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Make the piecrust and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust until light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Whisk the corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl, then whisk into the corn syrup mixture.

Finely chop 1 cup pecans and spread evenly over the piecrust.

Take remaining 2 cup pecans and mix into the corn syrup mixture, then pour the filling into the crust.

Bake the pie, 40 to 50 minutes. (it will appear to be VERY loose, don't worry it will be perfect when it cools) Cool completely on a rack.

Piecrust recipe can be found- http://thymesweetenedhoney.blogspot.com/2013/07/hot-water-pie-crust.html

Bread and Butter Pickles

This year my garden was overrun with an abundance of cucumbers.  My thoughts turned to pickles and the only recipe in the family archives was a concoction of my fathers he called, 'Converted Dills'.  I simply refuse to use this Lime Kool-Aid based recipe so I went in search of a Bread and Butter pickle that my whole family could enjoy. 

I wanted something simple, quick, tasty, and crispy.  No soft, mushy pickles here, I made several attempts and in the end this was a combination of several recipes that gave me the desired results. 

6 cups (1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers*
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl.

2. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Regular pickles work well too, the seeds tend to be bigger but, the taste is still wonderful.

Broccoli Soup

This is one of my first ever copy cat recieps.  Here in the midwest we used to have a restaurant called Rax.  They served a Broccoli Soup on their salad bar that my son would beg for.  Being a young mother with 2 small kids the budget was tight so I set out to make this at home.  My son may have grown up but, even at the ripe old age of 26 there are times he still begs for Broccoli Soup.

2 Large Heads of Broccoli

2 Cans Chicken Broth

2 Cans of Water

1 pint heavy cream

4 tbls butter

4 tbls flour

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Cut up broccoli into medium sized pieces. 

Add 2 cans chicken broth and 2 cans of water to a large pot add ¾ of the broccoli and bring to a boil and let broccoli get mushy.  Whisk to break up broccoli until it is all incorporated.  Add remaining broccoli and boil until it is fork tender.

Add heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste.

In a sauce pan melt butter add flour cook until brown, add the soup a little at a time to the thickened flour until it begins to incorporate then add it to the pot.

Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese.