BLT Dip

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pound bacon, cooked, drained, crumbled, and divided

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded) or to taste

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)

1 tablespoons mustard

2 cups chopped seeded tomatoes

1-1/2 cup shredded Iceberg lettuce

pepper an salt to taste

Toasted bread rounds, crackers, or pita chips.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚. Spray a 11⁄2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Set aside 3/4 cup crumbled bacon.

In a large bowl, combine remaining bacon, cream cheese, shredded cheeses, sour cream, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and mustard. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle chopped tomatoes, remaining 3/4 cup crumbled bacon and lettuce over hot dip. Serve immediately with toasted bread rounds, crackers, or pita chips..

Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge

Nicked this one from the recipe box Mom had in her kitchen forever.

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz. sweet cooking chocolate
8 oz. Marshmallow cream (mmmm Fluff)
2 c. chopped walnuts
4 1/2 c. sugar
pinch of salt
2 tblsp butter
1 can evaporated milk

- combine semisweet & sweet chocolate, marshmallow fluff, and walnuts in large bowl
- in saucepan, heat sugar, salt, butter & milk to boil; boil 6 minutes
- pour into bowl, mix rapidly until all chocolate is melted
- pour into shallow buttered pan; cool.

Store in tins.

I'm betting the 6 minutes is probably really important, given that we're making candy.

So Happy It's Thursday - Ep 2

It's now time again for another Thursday and another installment of college cooking.

Today is the versatility of a box of macaroni and cheese.

One box of mac and cheese, made to directions, is a great base for a lot of delicious add-ins to make a complete meal.

A can of tuna and some frozen peas will get you a nice mini tuna casserole type thing.

Add in some more cheese, and top with crushed saltines for a fancy take on baked mac and cheese.

After you've drained the noodles, toss in some hot dog chunks, or diced bologna to sizzle for added protein; it will make the cheese taste a little nuttier and richer.

Klondike Cookies

This is a classic recipe mom would make every winter. These are absolutely delicious.

This is direct from the actual recipe card:

1 c. Molasses
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. shortening
1/2 c. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda

Add flour to make a soft dough.
Sprinkle with white sugar.

...

Yep.

That's it.

I'm betting it would work well to slowly add flour and mix until you get that soft dough... and before you sprinkle with white sugar, it's probably a good idea to form the dough into balls and squish them down with a fork to get interesting ridges, then sprinkle with the white sugar. Then I'd probably bake at something like 350F until the edges are going goldeny-ish.

Mum? Can you remember?

LATKES!!!

Posting this from memory. It's all holistically done, the way real cooking should be. The only hard part about this recipe is not letting your eyes be bigger than the stomachs you're feeding. Then again, I have never found there to be too many potatoes.

Also a fitting time to post this, because it's my favourite thing to make on a Sunday.

Potatos (thin skinned ones work best, mom swore by slightly older red potatoes)
Medium to smaller yellow onions (my personal preference, if you want to go wild with red, vidalia or shallots, be my guest)
Flour
Eggs
Salt and Pepper

Big mixing bowl
Plate that fits just inside said mixing bowl

Canola oil
Deep saute pan


Using a metal grater, grate as many potatoes as you feel can feed your mob into a big BIG bowl. Using the same grater do one medium onion for every 3-6 potatoes (depending on how you feel about onion, and how big the potatoes are). Then put a plate, or other flattish dish thing on top of the pile of gratings and SQUISH it to get out a good portion of the moisture. Drain the excess potato and onion blood (juice). Sprinkle on some flour and mix, you need enough flour to get the potato bits to just start sticking to each other. Crack in one egg for every 3-6 potatoes (again depending on size of potato), best to do this one at a time, because the egg is a binder, and you're basically putting in as many eggs as will get the potato bits to really stick together. Season with some salt and pepper.

To cook: pour 2-3 inches of canola oil into a high walled saute pan thing; heat it up to the point where a little bit of potato dropped in sizzles nicely. Portion out little cakes of the potato goop, squish thin if you like lots of crunchy bits, leave thicker if you want more of the delicious insides. Fry until golden brown. There will be flipping, so mind the hot oil. Let drain on paper towels if you can stand the wait.

Serve with sour cream and/or applesauce as your mood takes you.

Rice Pudding

Got this recipe from Marian (paternal grandmother for those not in the know). Seriously Delicious.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In pyrex casserole dish thing place:
6 tbsp short grain rice
7 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar, scattered over the surface

Bake, uncovered, for 2.5 hours.

Hummus

2 cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 c. Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Cayenne
2 c. Chickpeas (reserve liquid)
Dash Tabasco
1/2 c. Tahini (optional)
1 tblsp Olive Oil (garnish)

1/4 tsp Paprika (garnish)
Minced Parsley (garnish)

Mash everything together. Add the liquid from the chickpeas to make a smooth paste. Garnish with garnishy things.

Dip things into it.