Garlic Breath Dipping Oil

My kids would have licked the plate clean.

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (or less. I used less)

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup or as needed/desired olive oil

Combine all and dip warm bread, or just lick the plate clean.

Brownie Torte

Words darn near fail me here. Brownie, chocolate and butter, whipped cream. Sigh, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this folks.

Your favorite 9x13 brownie recipe OR a box (9x13 size) brownie mix- fudgy is suggested

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1/2 c. softened butter

2 cups whipped topping, or whipped sweetened whipping cream.

Prepare brownies per recipe or box, and bake in a greased and floured 9 inch round pan.

Pour in batter and bake 38-42 minutes or until they test done. Cool for 10 minutes, then perform a magicians act to get it centered on a plate and out of the pan.

Cool completely.

Mix together soft butter and warm melted chips until smooth. Go ahead and taste it. You know you want to.

Spread mixture over brownies to edges, and drip a little over the side to make it purty.

Chill until set. Just before serving mound the whipped topping in the center, but don't bring it quite to the edges. You want that chocolate to wink and flirt with the diners. Or maybe you don't so you can eat it yourself.

I have yet to do so, but I think a bit of mint flavoring, or orange zest, or raspberry jam would fancy this up even more. Let me know if you try any of those and how it turns out.

Serves 9-12.

Simple Fantastically Wonderful Lemonade

Sort of a cheater recipe, but so good, who cares!

1 c. lemon juice (I use our store brand of 100% lemon juice)

1 c. sugar

2 qts. water

Mix all of the above together and stir well. To take it up another notch to lemonade blissdom, add assorted sliced oranges,lemons, and limes. Drink it all.

Cheater Donuts

A truly happy Saturday Morning Breakfast, and actually, pretty easy!

~As many cans of refrigerator biscuits as you think you might like

~Oil for deep frying

~Cinnamon sugar

~Powdered sugar

Heat oil in a large skillet. I don't know how hot to tell you, when it seems like its been a while, drop in a donut, if the oil bubbles and the donut starts browning up right away, its good. If nothing seems to happen, fish out your donut, set it aside and wait a little longer. Our stove heats by numbers, and I usually have mine on 9, then turn it to about 7 once I begin frying.

Fry the donut for around 30-45 seconds flip, and do the same on the other. Watch they don't darken to quickly! Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels a few minutes. Roll while still warm in one of the sugars. Eat and be merry.

Cajun Chicken Sandwiches

I Forgot to put lettuce on this one. oops.

A bit of effort for these sandwiches, but well worth it.

Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts, (enough for everyone), banged- er- tenderized with a meat mallet, or, in my case, a frying pan. I then cut them in half. I used 3 breasts for 5 people.

Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning (I use Old bay, 'cuz that's what I have), and cook in pan over medium heat until juices run clear and they are cooked through.

Swiss cheese slices or cheese of your choice- when chicken is done, leave in the pan. Lay slices of cheese on the chicken, add a little water to the bottom of the pan and cover quickly. Perfectly melted cheese every time.

Sandwich buns, spread with mayo OR Parmesan creamy Italian dressing, which I never have, Parmesan Peppercorn ranch is good too. I never have that one either.

1-2 slices crisp bacon for each sandwich If my bacon is longer I use one and break it in half. If they are shorter pieces, I use 2.

Tomato slices if desired

lettuce

Layer in your choice of fashion.

Eat.

Venison Hash

We get a lot of venison ground. Steaks and roasts are delicious yes, but when it comes to it, you can feed a lot more people on a pound or two of ground venison than you can with unground.

I generally substitute venison for beef, or in this case, beef will be subbed for venison when I make this tonight (because beef was on sale cheep when we were out of venison, and I froze it in flat packs, so a flat of beef thaws a lot quicker than the lump of venison I forgot to thaw this morning)

This ones pretty good, but I suggest taming the peppers if you have kidlets.

1 lb. ground venison

3 Tbsp. oil or bacon fat (I will add that I have thrown some chopped bacon in here, well worth it)

3 large onions, chopped -Yeah that's a little crazy in my opinion, so I just add them until it looks right.

1 can of chopped tomatoes- roughly 2 cups. I use a 14.5 oz can.

2 jalapenos, chopped- Child friendly version: 1 4 oz. can chopped green chili's.

1 tsp. chili powder

2 medium potatoes *very* thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

A clove or two of minced garlic, if you feel like it

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Brown meat in oil or fat. Add onions and cook until they are soft.

Stir in tomatoes, peppers, chili powder, salt and pepper, and minced garlic, cook for about 5 minutes. Spread in a flat oven dish, and layer the sliced potatoes on top.

3. Cover and bake 45 min.

4. Remove cover, sprinkle with cheese and bake another 15 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serves around 6.

Whole Wheat Bread

My kitchen, is at present a shambles. I should be cleaning it up, but, as I have a sweet but sick wee boy to cuddle, the kitchen can wait a few more minutes. Since the sweet, sick, wee boy is nursing at present, I decided to seize the opportunity to update my poor neglected cyber kitchen, which implies that I am a fast typer, and will restock the cyber kitchen shelves with all kinds of goodies, as apposed to the slow typer that I am, who will probably not even have this long intro done before wee boy is finished. Where was I again? Oh yeah, bread.

This is my FAVORITE whole wheat recipe, soft, tasty, cuts nice, and holds up great for sandwiches. I got it off the back of the flour bag (don't ask me what brand, I don't remember), and have it taped up inside my cupboard door over my mixer so I won't lose it.

Make it, you will love it.

2 packages regular active dry yeast OR 2 Tbsp. bulk active dry yeast

1/4 c. warm water (105-115 F. I use hot tap water, never had a problem)

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. butter (I soften it first)

3 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. hot water ( 120-130-F. again, I use tap)

4 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 3/4- 3 3/4 c. all purpose white flour

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water; set asdie. In a lagre bowl (I use my Bosch), mix honey, butter, salt, and 2 1/2 cups hot water; cool 5 minutes.

2. To cooled honey mixture, beat in 3 cups of the wholewheat flour on low speed, scraping bowl frequently, until moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Beat in remaining 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and dissolved yeast. Add 2 1/4- 2 3/4 cups white flour until dough pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

3. Knead until dough is smooth and springy, adding flour as necessary. Place in a large greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (30-45 minutes)

4. Generously grease 2 (8x4 or 9x5) loaf pans. Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll out and form loaves. Place seam side down in pan, cover and let rise until doubled in size (30-45 minutes).

5. Heat oven to 375F. Uncover dough and bake 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350F and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. At this point, I rub soft butter on mine to help keep the crust soft.

makes 2 loaves approximately 16 slices each.