Sweet Potato Pudding

6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and mash.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, orange juice and vanilla until smooth. Pour into prepared dish.

Bake in preheated oven 40 minutes.

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I don't even like sweet potatoes, but even I liked this recipe!

Pumpkin Roll

This recipe seemed very intimidating to me, but once I got started it was pretty easy - and delicious! I opted to not add nuts, and I actually made this without the cloves and it turned out just fine.

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Warm Cranberry-Apple Salad

1 can whole cranberry sauce

1 can apple pie filling

1tsp cinnamon

Spray crock pot with nonstick spray. Mix all ingredients into the crock. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

This recipe was so easy, but oh, so good! It will probably be reappearing at our Christmas dinner.

Shrimp Kisses

I decided that I was tired of the same old menu of spaghetti, baked chicken, and take-out. I wanted to try my hand at something different. And I was in the mood for shrimp.

So I hopped into the computer chair, pulled out the keyboard tray, and set my little fingers to typing the magic letters: http://www.allrecipes.com/ .

They have this handy little feature there that allows you to search for recipes based on what ingredients you want to use - or even what you DON'T want to use (I suppose that would come in quite handy for those with food allergies).

Long story short (too late, I know), I came across this little gem and decided to try it tonight. Since it was deemed worthy of a repeat appearance on our menu, I think I'll share it here.

Shrimp Kisses

1 8oz package Monterey Jack cheese, cut into strips

40 large shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied

20 slices bacon, cut in half

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place a small slice of cheese into the butterflied opening of each shrimp.

Wrap half of a slice of bacon around each one to conceal the cheese, securing with toothpicks.

Place on a cookie sheet.

Bake 10-15 minutes until bacon is browned.

* The comments on the recipe mentioned the little problem of the cheese melting out onto the pan while baking. I lined my cookie sheet with aluminum foil to help with cleanup. It was also suggested that after wrapping the shrimp in bacon, you could then wrap the whole thing in puff pastry. I might try that next time.

* I'm also contemplating sprinkling brown sugar over the shrimp kisses before baking. I think that will add a nice touch.

Easy Cheesy Chicken

I skipped the sour cream and served this over egg noodles.

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (11 ounce) can condensed cream of Cheddar cheese soup
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Rinse chicken, and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place in slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup and cream of Cheddar cheese soup.

Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in sour cream just before serving.

Beef Stew

I found this recipe at orgjunkie.com and it was a definite hit in our house. I skipped the onions but sprinkled in some onion powder, and I skipped the celery completely. I also used dried bay leaves. This would be awesome with cornbread...now I need to learn how to make cornbread.

2 pounds beef chuck or stew meat, cut in 1″ cubes (or you can even buy stew meat already cut up)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp paprika
4 carrots sliced (I throw in a bunch of baby carrots already washed and peeled and ready to go)
2 cans of potatoes (this is the trick…canned potatoes don’t go soggy)
2 onions, chopped (I just throw in big chunks so I can scoop them out afterwards)
1 stalk celery, sliced (most of the time I can’t be bothered)

Please meat in cooker (no need to brown first). Mix flour, salt and pepper and pour over meat; stir to coat meat with flour. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high 4-6 hours. Stir stew thoroughly before serving.