Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Chicken Waldorf Salad

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cup Red Delicious apples, chopped
1/2 cups celery, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup Miracel Whip salad dressing

Mix all ingredients together.   Serve with your favorite crackers.

Leigh McDaniel
Neshoba Democrat
May 19, 2010

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
 1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup Golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a mixer, beat the butter, shortening & sugar until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Combine remaining ingredients and add them to the creamed butter mixture until everything is mixed well.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.   Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from sheets and place on a cooling rack.
Yield:  18 -24 cookies
Robert St. John
Clarion Ledger
5/26/10

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Chicken Waldorf Salad


2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cups Red Delicious apples, chopped
1/2 cups celery, sliced
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Savannah Strawberry Tall Cake

Savannah Strawberry Tall Cake

Ingredients:
1 box of white cake mix, baked in three 8” cake pans
3 quarts strawberries, stems removed and cut in half
1/3 cup sugar
Whipped Cream:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups heavy cream

Directions
Place cut strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Stir together and place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble cake.
Mix cake mix as directed and pour into three 8” prepared cake pans. Bake just until set and slightly golden(approximately 15-20 minutes).
When cake has cooled, place cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in slow stream. When almost fully combined, increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks.

To assemble cake: Place one cake layer in a large bowl or on a pedestal. Line the outer edges with a decorative row of strawberry halves. Fill the middle with some of the strawberry mixture. Top with a layer of the whipped cream mixture. Repeat one more layer. For the third and final layer place last cake on the other two layers. Arrange strawberry halves decoratively around the edge. Top with the remaining strawberry mixture. Serve with any left over whipped cream you may have. Have your guests just dig in!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

7 Layer Salad

1 head lettuce, shredded              1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen green peas
1 cup chopped bell pepper            1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped onion                     3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup chopped celery                    2 cups grated cheese
*1 can water chestnuts, chopped (optional)

Layer in the following order:  lettuce, bell pepper, onion, celery, chestnuts.   (I usually chopped all the this and mix well and then spread over lettuce).  Add frozen peas on top on this.   Mix mayo and sugar in bowl and spread over the top.    Then cover with grated cheese.    Sprinkle with bacon bits if desired.   

Bells Best (Yellow Book)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Best Pork Tenderloin

2 (6 1/2 ounce) pork tenderloins
Salt
Pepper
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

Sprinkle sat and pepper on both sides of tenderloins.   Combine the ingredients and pour over pork in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish.   Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.   Remove and bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes.    Let rest 10 -15 minutes.   Slice and serve with pan sauce.   Yield:  10-12 servings.

Laurie Walker, Jackson, MS
Mississippi Magazine
May/June 2010

Crispy Praline Cookies


1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients, blending well.   Drop cookie dough by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.   Bake for 13 -1 5 minutes.    Cool on baking sheets 1 minute, remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.  Yield:  2 dozen

Lisa Grantham
Florence, MS
Mississippi Magazine
May/June 2010

Mandarin-Oragne Cake

Cake:
1 (18 1/4 oz.) box  orange cake mix
1 (3 oz.) box orange gelatin
1 (10 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
For filling:  1/2 (13.2 oz.) jar chilled orange marmalade

Frosting:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
4 ozs. mandarin oranges, drained and pureed
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
6-7 cups, confectioners' sugar
For garnish:  Fresh orange peel curls and sugar flowers (made by dipping pesticide-free petals in 1 beaten egg white and 1 teaspoon water and sprinkling with sugar and drying on wire racks overnight.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray 3 round 8 inch or 2 9-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray with flour and set aside.

CAKE:  In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin.   Add 10 ozs. pureed mandarin oranges, eggs, oil, water and extract.   Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.   Pour equal amounts of batter into prepared cake pans and bake 20 minutes or until wooded toothpick comes out of center with few clinging crumbs attached.   Cool in pans for 10 minutes, turn out on cooling racks and cool an additional 20 minutes.   Place individual layers in freezer while prepared the frosting.

FROSTING:  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.   Add 4 ozs. pureed mandarin oranges and extract.   Add confections' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.   Beat until smooth, if frosting is too stiff, add 1 tablespoon milk at a time until it reaches a desirable spreading consistency.

TO ASSEMBLE:  Remove cake layers from freezer and place layers on serving plate with a generous amount of orange marmalade or frosting between cake layers.   Spread frosting on the sides and top of cake.  Yield:  12 -16 servings.

Cynthia B. Blackwell, Houlka, MS
Mississipi Magazine
May/June 2010

Cream Crown


2 (3 oz.) packages lady fingers
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fresh raspberries or fresh chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons red currant jelly
1 tablespoon water
For garnish:   Lemon peeling curls and fresh mint

Lightly grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.   Line the sides with half of the ladyfingers, rounded sides out.   With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until creamy, about 1 minutes.   Gradully add sugar and continue beating  for 1 minutes.  In another large mixing bowl, combine cream and vanilla and beat with electric mixer until soft peaks form; do not over beat.   Fold beaten cream into cream cheese mixture.   Spread half of cheese filling in bottom of pan.   Arrange remaining ladyfingers on top of filling.   Top with remaining filling.   Cover and refrigerate overnight.   Heat red currant jelly and water until dissolved; cool.   Before serving, arrange berries on top and drizzle with red currant jelly glaze and garnish with lemon curls and mint.  Yield:   12 servings.

For Pick-Up Fingers:
Pipe filling using a large star tip down the top of an individual finger and garnish with fresh raspberries, blue berries, strawberries, or blackberries, then add fresh mint and lemon peel curls.

Ruth Smith
Brandon, MS
Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 Recipe Contest
Mississippi Magazine

*I  took these to Hayley's Graduation Family Party at Margaret's on May 14, 2010.    They turned out pretty good and I think eveyone liked them.   I even got out my cake decorating kit and used the star tip and and pipped the icing on them.    This makes a lot of icing - I had enough left over that I made a sheet cake and put the leftover icing on it and then just topped with strawberries.