Cookie Cake

My mom used to buy these giant cookie pans and make really big cookie cakes for people. I stick to the 9 inch but I think it's a fun idea. I have had a few failed attempts with making these, but I'm getting better with practice so I thought i'd share some tips.

1. Make up your favorite cookie dough.

2. Take a 9 inch (well, whatever size really) circular pan or pie dish and spray generously with cooking spray. Wax paper might work; i haven't tried it.

3. Press cookie dough in the bottom of the pan. I try to make it kind of a thin layer so that it cooks faster and more evenly.

4. Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. Check on it and give it more time if needed.

5. Let cool for at least 15 minutes. Loosen up the sides of the cookie with a knife, then invert onto a plate, then invert again onto desired serving dish. As you can see in my picture, I lost one side of my cookie while transferring, so be careful. Sometimes I make them in those aluminum foil pans so that I don't have to transfer it at all.

6. Once cool, decorate with frosting. Usually I just buy the frosting ready-made, but today I halved this recipe:

Cake Decorators Frosting
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt
4 c. powdered sugar
3 T milk

Mix with beaters and add food coloring as desired.

Bean Dip

1 - 8 oz cream cheese
1- 16 oz Velveeta
2- 16 oz refried beans
1-3 oz can green chilies
1- 12-16 oz jar of salsa
1 can beef

Dump in crockpot. Heat th0roughly. If you like bean dips, you'll love this!

Lemon Cake

Really easy and really tasty. I took this recipe from my mom.

1 box lemon cake mix
3/4 cup oil
1 small package lemon Jell-O
4 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp. lemon extract

Grease and flour bundt pan. Dissolve lemon Jell-O in hot water. Mix cake mix, lemon extract, eggs, oil, water and Jell-o. Bake 350 degress for 40-45 mins.

Glaze:
5 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 C powered sugar
Mix together until smooth. (add more lemon juice if too thick).

Poke holes in top of warm cake. Immediately pour over glaze.

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

This recipe is from, "The Essential Mormon Cookbook." I made them last night and they are really good!

5 pounds potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons garlic salt
pepper to taste

Combine mashed potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, milk, garlic salt and pepper. Mix well and place in a large, greased casserole dish. If making ahead, refrigerate. otherwise, cover and bake at 325 degrees F. for 45 minutes. (If refrigerated first, let stand 30 mins at room temperature and then bake as directed.) Makes 6-8 servings.

Waikiki Meatballs

from http://favfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com

this was yummy. i made rice-a-roni fried rice to go with it and it was a good combo. check out the website i got this from; it has some other good recipes i want to try.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

2/3 cup cracker crumbs

2/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 egg

2 tsp. ginger

mix together and roll into meatballs. brown and cook over medium heat in large skillet.

sauce:

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vinegar

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1 can pineapple tidbits

2/3 cup chopped green pepper

mix cornstarch and brown sugar. drain pineapple juice into mixture with the vinegar and soy sauce. add green pepper and pineapple to meatballs. once cooked through add the sauce mixture and cook until thickened. serve over rice.

additions: add red or orange peppers to give it more color. you can also double the sauce ingredients to get more sauce for the rice.

keeps well in a crockpot.

Kabobs

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pineapple
1 green pepper
1 red or orange pepper
1 onion
you can add zucchini, tomatoes, etc.

marinate chicken for a few hours in your choice of marinades (i usually use Kikkoman's teriyaki marinade, but you can do look up different ones like honey barbecue). cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. *bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. cut everything else up into bite sized pieces and arrange on skewers (i like the metal ones but if you use wooden ones make sure to soak them for 30 minutes ahead of time).

arrange skewers on barbecue and grill on low or medium for 5-8 minutes, turning occasionally. they also work okay on a George Foreman grill if you don't have a barbecue.

serve with rice.

*i like to cook my chicken ahead of time so that they don't have to be on the grill for as long, but you don't have to. it just seems like when i cook them on the grill everything else gets too crispy.

Lemon Cookies

Mmmmmm. More please. I love these cookies. I made them for an Olympics party over the weekend, and they were all gone so quickly.

1 box lemon cake mix
1 egg
8 oz container Cool Whip

Roll balls in powdered sugar and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 till golden brown, about 12 minutes-ish.

(I know the picture isn't the best. I make no claims at being a photgrapher. But trust me that they look excellent in person.)

Homemade Pizza Dough

Growing up my mom used to make homemade pizza a lot on Friday nights. The dough isn't that hard so every once in awhile I bust out the Friday night pizza. Last night we had friends over and had everyone make little personal pan pizzas. I bought 7 inch cake pans at the dollar store and had all the toppings out for people to choose what they wanted on their pizzas. I think everyone liked it. 

When you're doing the personal pizzas lower the temperature to 450 and cooked them for about 12-13 minutes. Test one or two to make sure they are cooked all the way through. This recipe only makes enough for about 2 or 3 people if you eat as much as we do so I usually double it. For 6 adults and a few kids i quadrupled it and that was perfect.

3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. yeast
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
flour

Pour sugar and yeast into warm water. Let set for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add oil and salt to mixture. With a mixer add flour 1/2 a cup at a time until mixture starts to get too thick to mix with a mixer. With a spatula or your hand add another cup or two of flour until it forms into a ball. Take dough out, ad a little oil to your bowl, Set dough back in bowl, cover with a dish cloth and let rise for at least two hours. (If you are in a hurry, put bowl in warm oven for 30 minutes or you can make the dough in the morning and let stay in the refrigerator until dinner).

Bake at 475 for 15 minutes.