Cherry Candy

12 oz. milk chocolate chips

3/4 cups chunky peanut butter

12 oz. salted peanuts, chopped

1 16 oz. bag mini marshmallows

1 can cherry frosting

Line a 9X13 pan with foil and spray with non stick cooking spray. Put chocolate chips and peanut butter in microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on medium power for 2 minutes or till chocolate is melted.  Add chopped peanuts and stir till well mixed.  Spread half of chocolate mixture in foil lined pan.  Put the pan in the fridge to cool slightly.  

Put marshmallows in large, microwave safe bowl.  Heat in microwave at medium power for 60 seconds.  Add cherry frosting and stir till well mixed.  Spread marshmallow mixture on top of chocolate mixture in pan.  Cool in fridge for 10 minutes.  Spread remaining chocolate mixture on top of marshmallow mixture.  If the chocolate is too stiff, heat in microwave for a few seconds to make more spreadable.  Chill in fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Turn candy out on to a cutting board, peel off foil and flip right side up.  Cut into bars.  Makes 64 or so depending on how big you cut them.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

48 (approx.) maraschino cherries, drained

1 1/2 lbs. (approx.) milk chocolate (chocolate chips, almond bark, dipping chocolate)

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in baking powder and 1 cup flour till blended.  Add remaining flour and mix well, use hands if necessary.  

Take a small amount of dough and wrap around each cherry, covering completely.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or till very lightly browned on edge.  Let cookies cool completely.  

Melt chocolate and dip cookies, covering completely with chocolate.  Place on wax paper to harden.  Store in covered container in a cool place.

Orange Rolls

Orange Rolls

Sweet Roll Dough

1 pkg. Yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup lukewarm milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

1 tsp. Salt

1 egg

3 ½ to 4 cups flour

Topping

3 cups powdered sugar

6 Tbsp. Margarine or butter

2 Tbsp. Grated orange peel

4 Tbsp. Orange juice

Soften yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, sugar, margarine, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a dough easy to handle. Knead on a flour covered surface for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed. Place in greased bowl and let rise for till double. Punch down dough, roll to rectangle and spread with half the topping. Roll up tightly and slice into 24 pieces. Place on greased baking sheets and let rise till double (or close). Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Frost with remaining orange mixture while still warm.

This can easily be divided in half. Or you can make the regular amount of dough, half the topping and then have orange rolls and dinner rolls. For the gluten free version just replace the dough with a gluten free dough and shape as best you can :)

Halloween Dinner Recipe

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 small to medium pumpkin

1 small onion, chopped

1 pound ground beef

2 tbsp. Soy sauce

2 tbsp. Brown sugar

1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 can (10 ¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 ½ cups cooked rice

1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained

Cut off top of pumpkin and clean out seeds and pulp. Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. When browned, add chopped onion and cook for a few more minutes till onion is soft. Drain any grease from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into pumpkin. Replace pumpkin top and place pumpkin on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or till pumpkin is tender when poked with a fork (this usually takes longer than an hour but check after 1 hour). Place on a plate and enjoy. Serves 6.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

¾ cup margarine

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 ½ tsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. Soda

1/3 cup cocoa

½ cup milk

2 cups grated zucchini

Grease and flour two loaf pans or one bundt cake pan. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add alternately with milk and zucchini, ending with the dry ingredients. Pour into pan(s). Bake at 350 for one hour or till a toothpick comes out clean.   

Black Forest Cherry Cake

2 ¼ cups flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cups cocoa

1 ¼ tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Baking powder

1 ¼ cups water

¾ cups shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

Cherry pie filling (one can)

1 bar sweet cooking chocolate (I use a hershey's bar)

2 cups chilled whipping cream

¼ cups sugar

maraschino cherries

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 or three 8 inch round layer pans. Beat first set of ingredients (down through vanilla) at low speed scraping constantly for 30 seconds then on high scraping occasionally for 3 minutes. Pour into pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or till done. Cool 5 minutes in pan and then remove from pan and cool on rack.

Beat whipping cream and ¼ cup sugar till stiff peaks form. Assemble cake, topping each layer with cherry filling and then whip cream. Finish covering completed cake and then decorate with shaved chocolate and maraschino cherries.

Butterscotch oatmeal cookies

¾ cup margarine
 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
 ½ cup sugar
 2 eggs
 2 tsp. Vanilla
 ½ tsp. Baking soda 
2 ¼ cups flour 
1 ½ cups quick oatmeal
 1 ¼ cups butterscotch chips

 Cream margarine and sugars, add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and baking soda, mix thoroughly. Stir in oatmeal and chips. Drop by spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or till set but a bit soft. Cool on racks.

 If you want to make them fancy, melt white chocolate chips and drizzle over the cooled cookies.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk (13 oz.)
1/4 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup poppy seeds

Heat oven to 325. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, evaporated milk, milk and vegetable oil. Add baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add flour and stir till well combined. Add vanilla, almond and poppy seeds stirring just till combined. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until done.