2 soups I want to try

We really like soup at our house. A blogger I follow just posted these two and I want to try them. They are: Baked Potato Soup and White Chicken Chili (for the crockpot!)
In case she decides to remove them from her site, I am copying them below: (Literally cut and paste...see her site for more!)

BAKED POTATO SOUP

• 3 lbs baked potatoes (=6 baker potatoes)
• 1 T. butter
• 1 1/2 c. onion
• 2 T. minced garlic
• 1 14 oz. can chicken broth
• 3 c. milk
• 1 T. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper

Melt butter in pan and saute onions & garlic about 10 minutes until soft, but not brown.
Add 2/3 of the potatoes--mashed.
Add broth, milk, salt & pepper
Bring to simmer, stirring occasionally
Cut up remaining potatoes into small cubes and add to soup--stirring gently.

Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and bacon.

I usually just use dried onions because I'm too lazy to cut up a real onion most of the time. Same with the garlic. I usually use the bottled stuff.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

• 2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
• 3-4 chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cans great northern beans
• 1 can white shoepeg corn
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Add chicken, broth, cumin, oregano, garlic, salt, and red pepper to slow cooker. Cover and let cook for about 6-8 hours on low or until chicken falls apart. Shred the chicken with two forks. Drain and rinse the beans and corn and add them to the slow cooker. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice to slow cooker. Put cover back on and let cook for 30 more minutes until heated through.

We topped it with cheese and tortilla chips. We also did tortillas the next night. It kind of resembles more of a tortilla soup vs. a chili. Whatever you want to call it though--it is divine.

Kelly's Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese - at room temp.
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
2 packages Chessman cookies (Pepperidge Farm)

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl mix together pudding mix and cold milk for 2 min. Fold in 1/4 of the whipped topping. Mix the pudding into the cream cheese mix until combined.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with the cookies. Arrange sliced bananas evenly over cookies. Spread with pudding mixture. Put another layer of cookies on top and then top with remaining whipped topping. Chill. For a good banana flavor it's best to make at least a few hours in advance so the flavor can blend!

Chocolate Chip/Peanut Butter Cookies (from K.J.)

This recipe is great. They are fast to make, no planning is needed (you can throw frozen butter in and melt it in the microwave!), and delicious.

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup melted butter or margarine
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 bag of chocolate chips (or a little less, but not a little more)

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl that is big enough to hold all the ingredients (no need for extra dishes)
Add sugars and stir by hand. I don't know why, but the recipe from Kasey says a mixer will make the cookies not come out right. I liked her cookies...I was not playing around with the recipe.
Add eggs through soda, stir well to blend in peanut butter.
Add flour, stir well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by spoonfuls (I love my cookie scoop from Pampered Chef) onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Hot Potato Salad

I was reading a post on the Make and Takes blog about this Hot Potato Salad on French Knots blog. I think I will try it for the MOM picnic coming up June 27th. Maybe even Bart would eat it.

Recipe copied straight from French Knots, so yes, I am plagiarizing...but why retype it? And since I am telling you where it came from and I left a comment telling her I did it, maybe it makes me not so bad, right?

Hot Potato Salad:

• 5-7 medium size potatoes ~ chopped and cooked
  
• 8-10 links of sausage or slices of bacon ~ cooked

Sauce:

• 4 green onions diced ~ green and white parts
• 3/4 cup real mayonnaise
  
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 package hidden valley ranch dry mix
  
• 2 tablespoons fat/grease from sausage or bacon

Dice and boil potatoes.
dice and chop green onions
combine green onions, ranch, mayonnaise, sour cream and fat
After mixing sauce add potatoes and sausage. Pour into a 9 by 13 pan and cook uncovered at 375 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes - until dish is cooked through. Serve Immediately. This dish is also great the day after -just reheat in the microwave.

I will let you all know how it goes at the MOM picnic.
tHIS STUFF WAS GREAT! i LOVE IT.

Cake and Frosting Recipes

Janell shared her cake site with me.
Here is her cake and frosting recipes.
Thanks!

Sugar Cookies with Quick Pour Icing

This is the recipe Kim W. used the year we made sugar cookie Christmas trees at her house.

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

3/4 c. butter or margarine
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 c. flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking powder and flour, one cup at a time, mixing well. The dough will be very stiff, so you might have to stir by hand or have faith in your fantastic Kitchen Aid mixer that you thank your mother for silently every time you use it. Wait, that's me. Divide the dough into two balls (so it is easier to work with). Do not chill dough.
Working with one dough ball, roll onto floured surface. Using a decent amount of flour is the key to having them not stick. The recipe says to roll the dough out to 1/4 of a inch, but I don't do that, I just roll it until it feels good. Use cookie cutters to cut out any shapes desired. The recipe does say if the stars are difficult to remove from the cutting surface (aka my cabinet), dip a spatula in flour and gently lift it. I've never done that, but hey, it's worth a shot.

Bake cookies on top rack of oven (I am too lazy and just use the middle rack that is already set) for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are light brown. I baked some yesterday for 8 minutes and they went into the trash. Remove cookies from cookie sheet immediately and place on a cooling rack (which I actually have and would like three more of) or your counter. You know, whatever works.

Let the cookies cool down and then make the icing.

Quick Pour Icing:

This icing dries to a smooth, shiny surface, unlike regular frostings. I half this recipe, but because I do not know what 1/4 plus 1/8 cups of water equals, I will give you the full recipe and let you half it on your own. THAT, my friends, is why we went to high school...so we can get crazy with recipes.

9 c. powdered sugar, sifted (I don't have a sifter so I ignore that part. Sifters are for snobs.)
3/4 c. water
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
liquid food color

Place sugar in saucepan. Pour water and corn syrup in and mix well. Place over low heat and stir until the icing is pretty liquidy. (Real word, I swear) Add the flavor and the coloring, stir. Do not allow temperature of icing to exceed 100 degrees. I don't know why. That is just what it says. I do not have a thermometer to take my icing's temperature, so I just cook it until it is clear (well, not clear, but you will see what I mean as you do it)

To cover the cookies you could either:
A) Place cookies on a cooling rack over something (like a cookie sheet), and pour the icing over the cookies, starting the middle and working your way out. Use a spatula to spread to sides.
B) Dip top of cookies in icing (resulting in minor burns on the finger tips) and then place on wire rack to set.

I do method B.

Good luck. These sugar cookies are so fast to create. Really. And they are SO GOOD. You can even leave them out, uncovered, for a few days and they are still great.

"Pink Stuff"

Hi Jessica, The PINK STUFF is a recipe I got when I lived in Missouri. One of the ladies I worked with made it for Christmas and I fell in love with the stuff. Her name was Ina, so I named it Ina's Pink Stuff. It takes:
1 can Cherry Pie filling (I buy the cheapest one) Chop the cherries
1 Can Condensed Milk
1 Large can crushed Pineapple (drain juice you don't use the juice.)
1 Small container Cool Whip
1 cup crushed or finely chopped pecans
Put cherry pie mix and condensed milk in a bowl. Stir together well. Added crushed pineapple and cool whip. Mix well. Add pecans and again....mix well. Put in refrigerator until ready to serve.
love, Aunt Jeanie