Chocolate Brownies

These are more of a cake like brownie (almost a texas sheet cake style)

2 cups sugar

2 sticks soft or melted butter

7 Tbsp cocoa

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp vanilla

**can add nuts if you want to, or sprinkle on the top of the brownie

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine ingredients in order mixing well after each addition. Put in a 9x13 pan and bake for 25 minutes.

FROSTING

2 cups powdered sugar

½ stick (4oz) cream cheese

1 stick butter soft or melted

4 Tbsp cocoa

Add Evaporated milk to make desired consistency

Spread over brownies while still hot from the oven for the smooth look.

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

Recipe by Our Best Bites

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)


4 oz bacon or pancetta, (about 4 strips bacon)*


3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced


2 Tbs flour


2 C milk

3/4 tsp kosher salt


1/8 tsp black pepper


1 1/2 tsp dry basil


1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)


1 medium lemon


2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped


3/4 C grated mozzarella cheese, divided


3/4 C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat. Cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain. Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute. Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.

Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon. Then cut lemon in half and remove juice. Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce. Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture. Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Add sauce and gently stir to combine. Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

* For a vegetarian meal, omit bacon.

Serves 4-6

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup

5 potatoes diced with skins on

1 onion chopped

3/4 cup carrots shredded

2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli,if fresh cut in small bites

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can of chicken broth

16 oz. Velveeta cheese

1/2 cup half-n-half or milk

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground mustard

Cook chopped onion and carrots in can of chicken broth until tender. Cook potatoes in can of cream of chicken soup and 3 cans of water just until tender. Steam fresh broccoli just until barely tender.

Combine onions and carrots with potatoes and add broccoli. Add milk and Velveeta cheese. Add rest of seasonings. Done when cheese is melted.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

{image from Amy's Finer Things}

1/2 cup butter or margarine-softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

40 mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place in greased mini muffin pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. When done, place peanut butter cup into cookie and press down. Let cool in pan before removing. Yields about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Lemon Ice Box Pie...

1 can sweetened condensed milk

6 oz. frozen lemonade

6 oz. cool whip

1 graham cracker pie crust

Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust. Chill in fridge for a few hours before serving.

I like to make strawberry danish dessert with sliced strawberries to serve over the top.

Lemon Jello Cake

1 lemon cake mix
1 small box lemon jello
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind
1 small box instant white chocolate jello pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 small tub cool whip

Make the cake according to the box directions. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes. Dissolve the lemon jello in the hot water. Add the lemon juice and rind. Poke holes in the warm cake with a large fork and pour the jello over the top of the cake. Put in the fridge for several hours.
Mix the white chocolate pudding with the milk until it starts to thicken. Fold in the cool whip and frost the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Feta Dip

olive oil
1 block (8 oz) of feta cheese  (if you can buy the block, not the precrumbled -its sort of dry)
tomatoes (any kind)…I use about 3-4 Roma’s
1 bunch of green onions (I used 4 stalks)
1 baguette
Greek Seasoning (see pic below)
1 large platter


1. Wet the platter generously with olive oil. 2. Dice the green onions and tomatoes. 3. Throw them on the olive oil. 4. Crumble the feta cheese and throw that on the platter.  4. Sprinkle the Greek Seasoning on top.  (I use about 2-3 tsp.)  (I got at Albertsons) 4. Mix it gently all together…  5.  Until it looks like this.  5.  Slice the baguette.  A special word about the bread…it MAKES the dip.  I have found that the best bread is FRESH, bakery kind….the kind that comes in the long skinny paper bag.   You want it bite-sized and you want to cut it thin… 6.  …because this is how people will “dip”.  Or you can include a spoon if the people you hang around with are super polite and dainty.  I have never found that to be necessary.



 Pictures and recipe from: Clover Lane