Wanted!!

Do any of ya'll have a good *Baked Potato Soup* recipe. I've never made this, but it's sounding oh so good to me right now. I'd be much obliged...

chocolate chip cookie dough brownies

as delicious as they sound...

thank you betty!

1 pkg betty crocker original supreme brownie mix
1 pkg betty crocker chocolate chip cookie mix

prepare brownie mix as detailed on the box; pour into 9x13 pan. prepare cookie dough as detailed on the box. put dollops of cookie dough into the brownie mix; pushing down slightly on the dough. bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes - until a toothpick comes out almost clean. let cool before frosting. frost with your favorite chocolate frosting or ganache.

chocolate ganache
3/4 c cream
4-5 TB butter
12 oz chocolate chips (or semi-sweet baking chocolate)

heat cream and butter in pan until butter is melted and mixture is hot but not boiling. whisk cream mixture with chocolate chips in a separate bowl until well combined. let stand 20 seconds before spreading on brownies. let it set at least 1 hour before cutting.

i'm sure this whole operation could be done with homemade brownie batter & cookie dough. get aggressive if you will, cheat if you must.

Grandma Winder's Cheesy Potato Soup

I got this recipe off of Good Things Utah a few years back.

It looks like a lot of work, but it cooks fast and if you double it,

it will feed for a number of people one night

or many nights for a few people.

Ingredients

4 c. peeled and cubed potatoes (or cubed frozen potatoes)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 c. chopped celery

1 c. shredded carrots

2 c. uncooked small shell pasta

4 chicken boullion cubes

1 tbsp parley flakes

1/4 c. butter

2 tsp all-purpose seasoning

1 tsp salt

3 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 c. whipping cream

Directions:

Heat 8 cups of water to boiling.

Add everything except the pasta, cheese and cream.

Cook for 2 minutes, then add the pasta.

Turn heat down to medium and cook until tender (about 8-10 minutes).

Stir often.

When the pasta is done turn off heat.

Stir in the cheddar cheese.

When the cheese is melted, stir in cream.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Worthy Notes: I doubled the recipe and it made enough for three nights of dinner. The 2 extra dinner helpings, I double bagged (placing seams opposite of each other) and put in the freezer and just used another bag this week. To cool the remaining soup, I left mine in the fridge overnight before bagging. To defrost, put the frozen soup in the fridge overnight. You can place the bags in a sink full of hot water to help (be careful of breaking it up, it will smash the pasta and potatoes). I then poured it into a pot and reheated on the stove. Stir it often. Enjoy, night after night after night.

mary's "real" italian lasagna

yield: 2, 8x8 pans or 1, 9x13 pan

1 pkg Barilla lasagna noodles (regular or no-bake)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 recipe besciamella sauce (below)
2 zucchini or yellow squash (or combo) shredded
2 carrots peeled & shredded
6 mushrooms, shredded
1 pkg mozzarella cheese
1/2 C fresh (or packaged) parmesan cheese, reserve for top
basil for garnish

Besciamella [white] sauce
1/2 C butter
4-5 TB flour
1/2 C milk
1 pint (2 C) cream [can use all milk]
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350. Grate all veggies and cheese.

Prepare besciamella sauce: melt butter in pan and add flour to make thick past. Add milk 1/2 cup at a time until sauce reaches alfredo-like consistency. Let it boil for 1 minute (reduces the flour taste). Add salt & pepper to taste and take off stove.

In pan layer spaghetti sauce, noodles, white sauce, veggies, ham, spaghetti sauce, cheese, noodles, white sauce, veggies, etc. etc. Top layers should be noodles, red and white sauce, cheese parmesan, & basil.

Cover with lid or foil and cook for 25-30 minutes. Remove lid or foil and cook for an additional 10+ minutes until top is golden and cheese is melted.

* I used a packaged Italian cheese blend for each layer and it was great - probably 2 C total. I also used regular lasagna noodles and as long as they're surrounded in sauce they'll cook fine. I can vouch for using all milk in the white sauce, which is how I always make white sauce. You can also make the white sauce in the microwave which is less time consuming and won't burn. This is delicious!

better than sex cake (or trifle*)

aka: skor cake, better than making out on the couch cake

1 box devil's food cake mix, prepare according to package directions
1 jar caramel topping
1 jar hot fudge topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3-5 skor candy bars, crushed
cool whip

bake cake in 9 x 13 pan. when cake is still hot, use a straw to poke holes all over the cake then pour entire can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over cake. pour caramel & hot fudge evenly over cake. use approx. half the jar of each, or whatever looks tasty to you. when cake is cool, spread cool whip evenly over top of cake like frosting..again, as much as you want. sprinkle broken candy bars on top of cool whip.

* for trifle: pour milk over hot cake and allow to cool. cut cake into small squares to layer in trifle. in a trifle bowl layer cake, caramel, hot fudge, cool whip, candy bar in several layers depending on the size of your dish.

** sorry the picture sucks. should have thought of taking it before we devoured it!

Hot Cranberry Punch

This is a Wassail type beverage...most have given it a try.
Ingredients:
1 lb. canned Cranberry sauce (jellied or strained & 1 lb. = 1 can)
2 cup Water
2 cup Apple Juice
1 stick (1/4 tsp) Cinnamon (can be substituted with a smaller amount of Allspice)
4 whole cloves (1/4 tsp)
1 cup Orange Juice
1 orange slice to garnish

Directions:
Mash cranberry sauce in a saucepan. Gradually beat in water with beater. Add apple juice & spices. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add orange juice. Serve hot with orange slices.

Large group Conversion (approx. 18-20 1-cup servings)
3 cans Cranberry sauce
6 cups Water
6 cups Apple Juice (1 can of apple juice concentrate prepared)
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Whole cloves
3 cup Orange Juice

Crockpot version: Mash cranberries, add ingredients in order to the crockpot and heat on high until ready (I don't know the time it takes). Enjoy!!