Jane's Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread Recipe:

4 cups of sifted flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 pound of butter or margarine
2 cups of seedless raisins
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
1 egg
1teaspoon of baking soda

Mix & sift flour, sugar, salt & baking powder. Cut butter or margrine with pastry blender
or use two knives until it resembles course meal. Stir in raisins. Combine buttermilk, egg
and baking soda until moistened.

Bake in greased 1qt pudding pan or casserol in moderate oven 375 degrees 45 to 50 minutes
until golden brown.

Bread may have a crack in the middle which can be normal.

I probably don't use 2 cups of raisins, judge for yourself how much you want to use.

HAPPY BAKING

JANE

Stephanie's

White Bean Dip with Rosemary Olive Oil

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 cans (15 oz. each) white beans (Great Northern, cannellini, or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt (I skipped the salt for I figured the canned beans had enough salt already in them)
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, rinsed

Preparation

1. In a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat, stir half the olive oil and the 2 cloves garlic until fragrant, being careful not to brown garlic, about 1 minute. Pour the oil and garlic into a food processor. Wipe out the pan and set aside.

2. Add white beans, lemon juice, and salt to the food processor and whirl until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl.

3. Return the frying pan to medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the rosemary sprigs. Warm the rosemary in the olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally so the rosemary doesn't burn. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.

4. Set the rosemary aside and drizzle the olive oil over the bean dip. Mince one teaspoon of the rosemary leaves and sprinkle over the dip.
Party short-cut: Use the white bean dip as the foundation for an abundant tray of store-bought snacks, including hummus and baba ghanoush, olive tapenade, carrot sticks, and other vegetables. Serve with breadsticks, pita chips, and a thinly sliced baguette.

Do-ahead tips: Make dip up to 2 days ahead. Store dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring dip to room temperature before serving. Prepare the rosemary oil right before serving.

Judy's Chocolate Cashew Crumb Bars

Chocolate Cashew Crumb Bars

2 sticks butter, softened

2 C all purpose flour

½ C granulated sugar

¼ t salt

2 C (12 oz pkg) semi-sweet morsels, divided

1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 t vanilla

1 C chopped cashews, or nuts of your choice

Beat butter until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 C crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan; reserve remaining mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven 10 – 12 minutes.

Joy's Pumpkin Squares

Here is the recipe for the Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

2/3 (18 oz pkg) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1 10 oz. package of cinnamon chips ( I could not find so I used butterscotch chips)

3 (8 oz packages of cream cheese) softened, I used light

3/4 C sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla

1 C canned pumpkin

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350

Pat cookie dough into 9x13 inch baking dish to cover bottom and sprinkle evenly with chips. Bake in preheated oven until crust lightly browned 12-14 minutes

Meanwhile, beat together cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla til smooth with electric beater. Beat in pumpkin and when combined beat in the eggs until mixture is smooth. Pour into baking dish and return to oven. Bake until center of mixture is set (30-35 minutes)

Cool until room temp, then refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours. Cut into 18 squares to serve.

printed from Allrecipes.com.

Creamy Cucumber Avocado Soup

Creamy Cucumber Avocado Soup

Shared by Joy Dunn

Ingredients

1 t olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6-8 peeled, seeded and thinly sliced cucumbers, (I used a combination of English & regular)
1 quart of vegetable broth or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 packages of quacamole dip ( 24oz each) I got this at Sam's club
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 1 to 4 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook for 1 minute. Add sliced cucumber slices, broth, salt, pepper and cayenne; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook at a gentle simmer until the cucumbers are soft, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender. Add quacamole a package at a time and parsley; blend on low speed until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Pour into a serving bowl and stir in yogurt.. Refrigerate. Serve the soup chilled. Just before serving, garnish with chopped cucumber and more chopped parsley, and a dab of yogurt if desired.. add your own note

The quacamole dip really gives the soup its creaminess and flavor.

Mary Jo's Three Cheese Hot Artichoke Dip

THREE CHEESE HOT ARTICHOKE DIP

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 green onions, sliced thin

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened

1 cup shredded mozzarella

dash Hot Sauce

dash Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand held electric mixer until smooth. Then beat in the mayonnaise until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir together until combined. Transfer the dip to a pie plate or shallow gratin dish. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the dip is bubbling. Serve hot with crackers, tortilla chips, crostini or veggies.

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen

Ann S's "Hamburger Cookies"

Hamburger cookies

Vanilla wafers

Keebler grasshopper cookies (or girl scout cookies)

Red & yellow icing (I only did red)

Coconut tinted green

Sesame seeds

Put dots of red frosting on the flat side of bottom vanialla wafer.

Add grasshopper cookie.

Put yellow frosting on top wafer and dip in coconut

Frosting & coconut should ooze out the side and look like ketchup & mustard & lettuce.

Add a dot of frosting to attached top wafer to grasshopper cookie

Moisten top of cookie with egg white, or corn syrup, or even sprinkle a little water to add sesame seeds

Note: One receipe says to put the grasshopper cookie in a warm oven for a moment to soften the chocolate on the which will then stick to the vanilla wafer without so much frosting.