Baked Macaroni and cheese

Having two small children, we eat a lot of macaroni and cheese. I am not a big fan of the boxed macaroni and cheese myself, so I usually make it from scratch. I typically use my mother-in-law's recipe (using Velveeta), which is fairly simple and really takes no more time than making it out of a box. But since I find myself making this so often, usually about once a week, I started the search for a different way of making it that would be a little more enjoyable on the culinary scale. I came across this recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Alton Brown. It has much more flavor, since it calls for REAL cheese, and it has a crunchy topping that gives it a very appealing texture. On the down side, it takes much longer and is more difficult to prepare, but in my opinion it is worth it every once in a while. I forgot to take a picture of this one, but will include it the next time I make it!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

4. Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

5. Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

My husband is not a big fan of chocolate, but he loves white chocolate. So when my friends and I got together for our monthly bake-fest, where the theme was "brownies" we decided to do one that wasn't chocolate, but white chocolate instead. I found this recipe in my Taste of Home - Fall Baking magazine. Even though it would be great for fall, it was also perfect for Valentine's Day because of the colors. It is a dense, moist, and chewy brownie, with great white chocolate flavor, and a hint of tanginess from the cranberries. Yum!

White chocolate Cranberry Blondies

3/4 cup butter, cubed
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used white chocolate chips)

Frosting:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel, optional
6 ounces white baking chocolate melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:
1. In a microwave, melt butter; stir in brown sugar. Transfer to a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in cranberries and chopped chocolate (batter will be thick).
2. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack.
3. For the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and the orange peel if desired until blended. Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Wild Rice Stuffing (with mushrooms)

So I found this recipe actually under "stuffings", you know, like to go inside your turkey? Well, there was a picture that accompanied the recipe, and it looked so tasty by itself, that I just decided to try it out. I just made it as a side dish with dinner, and it worked out perfectly! I especially love the flavor from the green onions, and the crunch from the almonds!

Wild Rice Stuffing

1/4 cup wild rice
1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup brown rice
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1/8 to 1/4 tsp thyme (dried)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced celery
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts, toasted

Directions:

1. Rinse uncooked wild rice in a strainer under cold water about 1 minute. In a medium saucepan combine wild rice, the 1 3/4 cups water, uncooked brown rice, bouillon granules, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. (I actually used a pre-mixed wild rice mixture, and I had to cook it for about 45 minutes before it was tender.)
2. Add mushrooms and celery. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for about 5-10 minutes more, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender. Stir in green onions and almonds.
3. Serve and enjoy!

Scrumptiously Soft Sugar Cookies

This is my new favorite recipe for sugar cookies. They are so deliciously soft. I like to keep them fairly thick when I roll them out, and they turn out tasting like those huge sugar cookies that you see at every store with half inch of frosting on them, only these ones are homemade and much better! My husband likes the cookies by themselves, without the frosting, so I usually end up leaving a few un-frosted for him.

Soft sugar cookies

4 C All purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C sour cream

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and sour cream until well blended. Stir in the sifted ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill, for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 7-9 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.


Sugar Cookie Icing

2 C confectioners sugar
4 tsp milk
4 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Assorted food coloring

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup. (Make sure to get in the corn syrup, or your icing will get hard and crunchy. The corn syrup keeps the icing soft.)
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or drizzle frosting over cookies, or paint the frosting on with a brush.

Asian Chicken Salad Wraps

This was kind of an inspiration from some oriental chicken salad that I had one time at a pot luck. I asked my friend for her recipe, but she never got around to sending it, so I decided to make up my own! This isn't the same as hers, but very tasty. I like to scoop it into wraps and eat it that way, but it's just as good eating it by itself with a fork! The best part about it is it's a quick, easy, healthy meal. I use pre-cooked chicken, either from my freezer or a rotisserie chicken from the store.

Asian Chicken Salad Wraps

2 C pre-cooked chicken, cut into small pieces
2 C Romaine lettuce, cut or torn into small pieces
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C crunchy chow mein noodles, or toasted ramen noodles
4-6 tortillas for wrapping (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients, except for the wraps and the dressing, in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the dressing.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss together until evenly coated.
4. Scoop about 1 C of mixture into a wrap, and enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

This is one of my favorites, and it is super easy and quick! This recipe is from epicurious.com

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp (raw; 20 to 25 per lb)
4 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled and forced through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth instead, because I didn't have any wine)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 lb capellini (angel-hair pasta)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté shrimp, turning over once, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes, and transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add garlic to oil remaining in skillet along with red pepper flakes, wine, salt, and pepper and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add butter to skillet, stirring until melted, and stir in shrimp. Remove skillet from heat.

Cook pasta in boiling water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander. Toss pasta well with shrimp mixture and parsley in large bowl, adding some of reserved cooking water if necessary to keep moist.