Goblin's Orange Popcorn

This month it was my turn to host book club.; I had chosen the book "Marley & Me" and thought it would be fun to watch the movie. Of course you have to have popcorn to watch a movie. I was browsing through my Taste of Home Halloween magazines and found this popcorn recipe and decided to try it. I colored my purple. It was so good that now I think any time I watch a movie, I should have a bowl of this stuff.
4 quarts popped popcorn

Goblin's Orange Popcorn
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. light corn syrup
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
4 drops red food coloring
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Place popcorn in a very large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat. Stir in  vanilla and the food coloring. Pour over popcorn; toss to coat. Transfer to two 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 250° for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight containers.

Baked Mac 'n Cheese

I LOVE Mac 'n Cheese. Always have and I probably always will.

Baked Mac 'n Cheese
2 cups dried elbow macaroni (4 cups cooked)
1/3 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1/3 cup grated Swiss Cheese
1/3 cup grated Jack Cheese
1/3 cup grated Colby Cheese
1/3 cup grated Muenster Cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
Nonstick spray

Topping:
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
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Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large pot, bring water to boil. Season water with salt and cook macaroni until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and place in a large bowl and while pasta is still hot add all the cheese. In a separate medium bowl, using a whisk, combine the sour cream, butter, eggs, salt, pepper, and milk and add to the macaroni mixture. Spray casserole dish with nonstick and pour macaroni mixture into the dish.

For the topping, in a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the paprika, butter, and the Parmesan. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the macaroni and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 30-45 minutes
Top with additional cheese, if desired

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Another recipe I got from a friend at work. Its so nice to work with amazing women who are also amazing cooks. This is one of the very RARE times I make something without exact measurements. 

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Spinach leaves

Strawberries, sliced

Three blend cheese

Toasted almonds

Poppy seed dressing

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Mix all ingredients together and serve. I don't like dressing, so I left it in the bottle to the side of the bowl and let people pour on their own. 

English Muffins

A few years ago a friends husband was watching the news and during their cooking session, they did English Muffins. I believe he talked her into making them that night. She raved about them and I made them soon after and took them to a family breakfast. They are a little bit of work, but they are so good that its worth it.

English Muffins
1-2/3 cups 1% milk
2-1/2 Tbs. butter
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 heaping Tbs. sugar
1/3 cup warm water
1 large egg
1 Tbs. cider vinegar
5 cups unbleached flour
Cornmeal
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Scald the milk with the butter and than allow to cool to about 100 degrees. in a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, water and sugar. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture. Add the egg and cider vinegar, along with half the flour and mix together. Add the salt and remaining flour and mix well. The mixture will be sticky. Cover and allow to raise for about 1 hour.

Dust work surface with cornmeal and roll dough out to about 3/4 inch thick. Sprinkle dough with cornmeal to keep it manageable. Cut into 3-1/2 inch rounds with a cookie cutter.

Place newly formed muffins onto a lightly sprayed baking sheet. Lightly cover with a ling free cloth. Allow muffins to double in size.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-low heat. Place the muffins on the griddle and cook for approximately 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. You may need to adjust skillet heat. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and allow to cool.

*Notes, in copying the recipe down a few times, I lost the amount of salt. I went with 1/2 tsp. Also, when I made these last night, I skipped the part of cutting them out and letting them raise. Instead I put them right on the skillet as I cut them out and they still doubled in size.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

These cookies are so easy to make and so delish. I love that when I'm in the mood for cookies, but don't want to take the time to bake them, I can just whip these up real quick.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
5 Tbsp. cocoa
3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nuts
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Melt butter. Add sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Then drop cookies out with a big spoon on wax paper.

Sloppy Joes

Why do Manwhich, when you can do homemade instead?

2 lbs. hamburger
3 to 3-1/2 cups ketchup
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. minced onions
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Brown hamburger and drain. Then mix in the remaining ingredients.

Red Velvet Cake Treats

One of the gals at work brought these treats today and according to her they are "OOO LA LA YUMMY"!  So I got the recipe so I can try to make them some day.

Red Velvet Cake Treats
Cook red velvet cake according to package directions. Cool completely. Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add a softened container of cream cheese frosting. Mix frosting & cake together with hands and put in freezer until firm. Form mixture into balls and place on wax paper. Put back into freezer. The longer it is in the freezer, the easier it will be to handle. Dip cake balls into melted chocolate and place on wax paper and place back in freezer until set.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I haven't made these since we made them in our cake class last summer, but they are so GOOD! 

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

12 tsp. Pink colored sugar

1 pkg white cake mix

water and oil (based on cake mix instructions)

3/4 cup frozen pink lemonade mix thawed (undiluted)

1 Tbsp. lemon peel finely chopped

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Preheat oven to 350°. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray; sprinkle 1 tsp. colored sugar into each cup. Add water to pink lemonade mix to total amount of water called for o cake mix package directions. Follow cake mix package directions to prepare cake, adding chopped lemon peel. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating. 

Yellow Squash Casserole

This is a recipe I got from a gal at work. We tried it once, but squash isn't my favorite thing. When JoLynn gave me the recipe, it was written on the back of an envelope. It has floated around my kitchen since then. Since March of 2008 according to the postage stamp on the envelope. So in trying to clean my kitchen up I'm posting the recipe here so if I ever want it, I can find the recipe, without looking for that old envelope.

Yellow Squash Casserole
7 cups squash sliced
1/2 cup onion
1 cup shredded carrots
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
Stove Top Stuffing, divided
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Cook squash and onion in microwave until tender. Mix i carrot, soup, sour cream.  Put Stove Top Stuffing in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add squash mixture. Put more Stove Top Stuffing on top. Bake at 350° until bubbly.

Strawberry Fondue

Strawberry Fondue
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed
1/4 cup half and half cream
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
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Combine all in food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 mins. or until slightly thickened. Transfer to fondue pot or mini slow cooker. Serve with angel food cake cubes and fresh fruit. 


*When I poured the sauce out of the blender, it fit in a small sauce pan, but then it boiled over so next time I will use a bigger pot.