Traditional Marshmallow Squares

Ingredients:
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
40 large marshmallows
5 cups Crispy Rice Cereal
1/2 cup mini m&ms (optional—but i don’t know why you wouldn’t want them)

Directions:

1. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan. (Or Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with heavy foil, allowing the ends to extend 2-3 inches over the pan for handles. and grease the foil).
2. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat and quickly add cereal, stirring until all pieces are coated (i added the m&ms after i was sure the cereal was coated)
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan and press evenly with the back of a spoon. Cool and cut into squares.

*Notes:
What can i say, these are easy and fun. SO easy and fun that the making of this recipe was spontaneous.

End of the Month Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream together sugars and shortening. Add water, egg and vanilla.
3. Mix dry ingredients and then mix in oatmeal and chips. drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet [or parchment paper…which is wonderful because you don’t have to grease it] and bake for 10-12 minutes.

*Notes:
These are Jake’s favorite cookies…and i know why. They’re awfully delicious. [awful as in it’s simply awful how your pant size is going to grow because you won’t be able to stop eating them] 

1-2-3 Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bonbons For Kids

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 creamy peanut butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup crisp rice cereal
10 oz milk chocolate, melted, for coating

Directions:

1. Combine the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until the mixture begins to come together. Beat on high speed until it reaches a dough-like consistency, with no crumbs. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more confectioners’ sugar; if it’s too dry, add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. (It’s better to avoid adding the milk, as the rice cereal will begin to lose its crunch after several hours due to the added moisture.) Add the rice cereal and mix until combined.
2. Form the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls and line them up on a parchment paper. Using two forks, dip the balls one at a time into the melted chocolate, turn to coat, allowing the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Place the coated candies back onto the parchment paper. Try to wait until the chocolate has set before you eat them. To speed things up, you can put the bonbons in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, but no longer than that. The condensation can ruin the chocolate.
   *When making the milk chocolate for the coating, be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will be ruined. Chop the chocolate and microwave for 2 minutes., stopping to stir every 30 seconds. If it feels very warm, but you can see pieces of chocolate, just keep stirring. It may take a good few minutes.

*Notes:
These are super gooey and delicious! they totally make up for the complete failure of the almond crisps. One thing i would suggest is adding more cereal—at least 2 cups. it would make them more solid.

Almond Crisps

Ingredients:
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp finely ground blanched almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp
1 tbsp all-purpose

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a 10-inch skillet. Cover over low heat, stirring constantly until butter is melted and mix is blended.
2. Keep skilled warm over very low heat. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of mix 2 inches apart onto a greased baking pan. *Only cook 4 cookies at a time*
3. Bake in preheated oven (350) for 5 minutes or until golden. Use spatula to loosen and turn cookies over; roll each one around the handle of a wooden spoon. If cookies become too firm to roll, reheat in oven for a minute to soften. Cool rolled cookies on wire racks. Repeat until batter is used. grease baking sheet each time. Store in air-tight container.

*Notes:
If you think the cookie sheet looks bare it’s because i completely botched this recipe. they kept either being so over-cooked that they broke apart or so under-cooked they were just mush. i think one thing that might have contributed was that i blanched and ground the almonds today so they were still wet-ish. So i think you should blanch the almonds at least the night before (better even a few days before) to really let them dry before grinding them that way they aren’t mushy. anyway, i tried a couple of the broken pieces and they were ok but all i could really taste was frustration….hahaha

Grade for execution of recipe: F

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Before i do anything, i would just like to say that i am a baker at heart. Even when i make dinner, it’s something that gets baked. haha, anyway…

Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil (or butter)
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
3 cups diced, cooked chicken
2 (14.5 oz) cans green beans, dried and rinsed
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 (4 oz) jar pimentos
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (6 oz) box long-grain wild rice, cooked according to package directions
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil or butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients to bowl and mix together until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour into a greased 3-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

*Notes:
so—apparently—even if you live in Hawaii, the water chestnuts will be in the “Asian Food” aisle. (i wasn’t even aware we had one of those here…) I couldn’t find the rice they were talking about so i just used long-grain Jasmine rice (it’s one of my favorite rices so why not?) Make sure you’ve cooked the chicken and rice before you start everything else. Also, Jake and I were talking about it and we think that it might be good if we replaced the water chestnuts with a potato, added more cheese, left the pimentos out (i can’t tell what they taste like, i think they might just be there for color) and maybe try kidney beans or corn instead of green beans. it’s a brand new casserole. hehehe.

Honey Taffy

Ingredients:
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup honey
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp salt

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a large heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue stirring and cook until mix reaches soft crack stage (270 degrees F on candy thermometer)
2. Pour mixture onto a cool buttered surface (i just buttered and refrigerated my cake pan).
3. Allow mixture to cool slightly (enough so it can be handled comfortable).
4. Pull taffy into ropes. Break ropes into pieces about 2 inches long. Wrap each piece of candy in waxed paper and twist the ends. if desired, wrap colored tissue waxed paper.

Cookie Cutter Ginger Crisps

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks); softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup light corn syrup
4 1/2 cup sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugars together, using a mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in molasses and corn syrup until well combined. Add in the remained ingredients and stir until smooth dough forms.
3. Chill for 30 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to less than 1/8-inch thick.
4. Cut with floured cutters. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 8 minutes.

*Notes:
Even those these are crisps, Jake and I like softer cookies, so I rolled them into little balls and then squashed them. These are pretty good. They taste kind of like the clove cookies but the texture is smoother because of the molasses and the corn syrup. anyway, these are pretty good