Awesome Pepperoni Pizza

I received this recipe in the mail from Great American Recipes. I've had it out to make for probably about a month. I decided to try it last night. I must say I liked it alot. It wasn't my favorite crust recipe, but it was pretty darn good. The one thing I would change, tho, is to use a larger cookie sheet. I like my crust thinner. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

Awesome Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 pkg (1/4 oz) dry yeast

1 T, plus 2 tsp olive oil

1 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup pizza sauce

12 oz mozzarella, sliced

1 3/4 oz pepperoni slices (about 25)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12x9 inch baking sheet. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the center and add olive oil and water. Mix until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for 5 minutes.

2. Roll out dough and press into prepared baking sheet. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, then bake for 5-7 minutes.

3. Remove the crust from the oven and spread pizza sauce on top, leaving 1/4 inch border. Arrange the mozzarella on top and then the pepperoni. Sprinkle with oregano and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.

4. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife (I use scissors), slice the pizza into 6 square slices. Serve hot.

Easy Oreo Truffles

I found this recipe in an email from Kraft. I made them at Christmas time with my granddaughter, Samantha. She rolled each truffle into a ball, except for the first one. She did an awesome job! Of course, being five years old, they weren't exactly uniform in size. But who cares! They tasted FANTASTIC! Definitely one I want to make each holiday season.

The picture I took has the truffles, Magic Cookie Bars and the Never Fail Fudge. For a better picture go to the Kraft site here.

Easy Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 pkg (1 lb 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 1/4 cups), divided

2 pkgs (16 squares) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in fridge.

Yield: 48 (or less)

Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs

I was looking at different blogs last night and came across this recipe on Sunday Baker's site. Check Tanya's site out; she has some awesome recipes! I made these this morning (even though my son is away with a friend for the weekend) for breakfast. They were so yummy! Very easy and quick to put together. Mine look like little muffins. I had to double the sugar/cinnamon mix for the coating. These are a must try!

Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

1 large egg

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon (mix together with sugar)

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg, beating well. Slowly add in the flour and milk, alternately, starting and ending with the flour.

With a small melon scooper, fill greased mini muffin pans (3/4 full). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Remove from oven. While warm, dip each puff in the melted butter, then the cinnamon/sugar mix. Serve.

Yields: 24

Texas Jambalaya

My son has been wanting to make jambalaya for a while. He looked up recipes a few weeks ago and found this one on Allrecipes.com.

The last few days Jimmy has been helping me with dinner since I've been sick (middle ear infection, bronchitis and pink eye). Last night, we made the jambalaya. It was a fairly easy recipe to make with both of us working on it. We did not use the full amount of onion. We also substituted chicken for the ham. Next time, I think we will add more meat. The dish is spicy, but not overly so.

The picture is from the website, since I forgot to take a picture!

If you are interested in making, here is where you can find the delicious recipe.

Marinated Antipasto Platter

This is a recipe I made for Christmas Eve. This is a recipe from the December/January 2011 Simple & Delicious magazine. It put together really easy and tasted great. My son-in-law, Steve, could not stay out of the olives. My son kept munching on the salami!

Since most of us do not like mushrooms, I did not add, and just put in more of the olives.

Marinated Antipasto Platter

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 T orange juice

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 lb part-skim mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 c pimiento-stuffed olives

2/3 cup pitted Greek olives

2/3 cup pitted ripe olives

1 jar (4 1/2 oz) whole mushrooms, drained

1/2 lb thinly sliced hard salami (used genoa)

Directions:

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first six ingredients. Add the cheese, olives and mushrooms. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.

Drain marinade; reserving 2 T. Thread salami onto toothpicks. Arrange on a large platter; drizzle with reserved marinade. Arrange cheese mixture around salami.

Snowball Cake

I found this cake on the Kraft website. It looked yummy and perfect for the holiday season. I made this for our Christmas dinner. It was really delicious. Of course, mine did not look as nice as the picture on the website, but, hey, it's the taste that counts, right?

To make this yummy cake, visit the Kraft website.

Never Fail Fudge

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It's been forever since I blogged. My daughter and her family came for the holidays. We had so much fun. We even went camping in the abnormally cold weather Florida was having. Now, I'm trying to get over being sick. Ugh!

The next couple days I will be be blogging some good things I made but never posted. The first one is Never Fail Fudge from the jar of Marshmallow Fluff.

This was really good. I think I prefer my mom's fudge recipe, but this was close.

Never Fail Fudge

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 small can (5 oz) evaporated milk

1 jar (7 1/2 oz) Marshmallow Fluff

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 large (12 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in pot. Stir over low heat until blended.

2. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, being careful not to mistake air bubbles for boiling. Then, boil slowly, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes (use soft ball test).

3. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate and vanilla until chocolate is melted. Turn into a buttered 9x9 pan and cool.