Dulce De Leche Ice Cream Sundaes

Ingredients:
Chocolate sauce 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 10 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Streusel
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt

Blondies
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 pints dulce de leche ice cream

Directions:

For chocolate sauce:
Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate. Whisk until smooth.

For streusel:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Rub together with fingertips until small clumps form. Spread on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Cool streusel on sheet.

For blondies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in bowl to blend. Beat in egg, then vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt over; beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan. Bake until golden around edges and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.

Cut blondies into 1-inch squares. Arrange 5 squares in bottom of each dish. Rewarm sauce; spoon over. Top with ice cream, more sauce, then streusel.

Source: Bon Appetit

Marinated Pork Chops

With the pork chops from my families farm, I decided that I needed to play around and see what different ways that I might like them.

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 (1 inch thick) pork chops

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag or shallow glass container; add pork and turn to coat. Seal bag or cover container; refrigerate overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Grill, covered, over medium coals, turning occasionally, for 20-25 minutes or until juices run clear.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 box (16 oz) Ziti pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb pork sausage
Salt, black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes (all to taste)
12 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta if you prefer)
1/2 cup (4 oz) mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
8 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season water with salt, boil pasta till al dente; drain and set aside.- Meanwhile brown sausage and ground beef in skillet and season with desired amounts of salt, black pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. Drain excess grease away from meats and return back to skillet. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and let simmer until you are ready to assemble the dish.- Place enough sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan so the noodles won’t stick. Then assemble the rest of the dish- half of the cooked noodles, all of the cottage cheese, 4 slices of provolone cheese, 1/2 of the remaining sauce, remaining noodles, half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, remaining sauce, remaining cheese.- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let set 10 minutes to cool before serving.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately

Make Ahead Tip: Store in a plastic bag coated with cooking spray in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Nutrition Information:
- Per 12 ounces: 766 calories; 12 g fat (2 g sat, 8 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 142 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 16 g fiber; 1,882 mg sodium.
- Per 1 pound: 1,032 calories; 18 g fat (3 g sat, 12 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 189 g carbohydrate; 33 g protein; 21 g fiber; 2,509 mg sodium.

Source: Amber's Delectable Delights

Zesty Red Potatoes

I needed something to go with my bbq pork chops so off to allrecipes I went. I found this recipe. I had everything but the onion so I decided to make it without. We really liked these potatoes, but next time I will try to have the onion to add to it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium red potatoes, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange potatoes and onion in an ungreased 9-in. square baking dish. Combine butter, pepper flakes and salt; drizzle over potatoes and onion. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Banana Nut Bread

I am always looking for new banana bread recipes. When I saw this recipe on Katie's Blog, Good Things Catered, I just had to try it. I still have a couple more recipes to try, but this one was very good.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas (about 3 medium; the browner, the better!)
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c. walnuts (I really like Banana Nut Bread so I added some nuts that I had on hand)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In bowl of stand mixer, cream shortening and sugar.
-Beat in eggs one at a time; then bananas, sour cream, and lemon juice.
-Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
-Slowly add dry ingredients to mixture.
- Add nuts.
-Pour into greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pan.
-Bake for 60 minutes.

Photography

Lenny has started doing photography competitions with this online message board ever since we get the new camera for Christmas. Here are some pictures that he has taken. I think that they are awesome! Each week there are different themes.

Theme: Fences

Theme: Pollution

Theme: Pee-A-Boo

Theme: Mug Shot