Mexican Layered Dip

Mexican Layered Dip Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 3 hr 10 min Makes: 5 cups dip or 40 servings, 2 Tbsp. dip and 1 oz. chips each

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese , softened 1 Tbsp. TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix 1 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa 1 cup drained canned black beans , rinsed 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese 1 cup shredded lettuce 2 Tbsp. sliced pitted ripe olives 3 pkg. (13 oz. each) baked tortilla chips

BEAT Neufchatel cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add seasoning mix; beat until well blended. Spread onto bottom of serving plate or 9-inch pie plate. LAYER remaining ingredients over Neufchatel cheese mixture; cover. REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Frosty Orange Dream Squares

Frosty Orange Dream Squares Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 3 hr 20 min Makes: 24 servings, one square each

40 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups) 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter , melted 2 cups cold milk 2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping , thawed, divided 2 cups orange sherbet, softened

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mix wafer crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of prepared pan; set aside until ready to use. ADD milk to dry pudding mixes in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spoon evenly over crust. Refrigerate 10 min. Add remaining whipped topping to sherbet; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Spoon evenly over pudding layer; cover. FREEZE at least 3 hours or overnight. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

Spinach & Cheese Dip

Spinach & Cheese Dip Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 1 hr 10 min Makes: 3 cups or 24 servings, 2 Tbsp. each

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese , softened 1/2 cup KRAFT Mayo Real Mayonnaise 1/3 cup sliced green onion s 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach , thawed, well drained 1 cup KRAFT Natural Italian* Cheese Crumbles 1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper s

1. BEAT cream cheese, mayo and half of the onions in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add spinach; mix until just blended. 2. STIR in cheese crumbles and peppers; cover. 3. REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Sprinkle with remaining onions just before serving.

Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Recipe Rating: Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 1 hr 10 min Makes: 8 servings

• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 1 graham cracker crust
• 1/4 bag of milk chocolate chips
• 2 large bananas, sliced
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1 (8 oz) tub of thawed Whipped Topping

1. MELT chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. and the chocolate is completely melted. Spread or drizzle evenly onto bottom of crust (I even went up the sides); top with bananas. Set aside.
2. PREPARE dry pudding mix with 1 cup cold milk and mix in almost all of the whipped topping (reserving about 1/5 of the tub). Pour evenly over bananas. Top with the reamining whipped topping and spread it out evenly. Refrigerate at least 1-2 hours before serving or up to 24 hours. Sprinkle with extra graham cracker crumbs as a garnish. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.
   

Thanks to kraftfoods for this wonderful recipe!

Although I altered it for my taste. :)

Hole-In-One Cake

I found this recipe on www.kraftfoods.com and I HAD to share it! I thought it was such a CUTE idea for Father's Day!

Hole-in-One Cake

Recipe Rating: Prep Time: 45 minTotal Time: 3 hr 45 minMakes: 15 servings

• 1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow or white cake mix
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Brand Lime Flavor Gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted
• 2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
• 1 red and 1 green chewy fruit snack roll
• 4 pretzel sticks
• 1 JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallow, cut into quarters

PREPARE and bake cake mix in 13x9-inch baking pan as directed on package. Cool completely. Invert cake onto large platter; remove pan. Using small sharp knife, cut and scoop out a shallow free form "golf course" from center of cake. Reserve removed cake for another use.
STIR boiling water into dry gelatin in medium bowl until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate about 1 hour until slightly thickened (the consistency of unbeaten egg whites). Pour thickened gelatin into center of cake. Refrigerate 3 hours or until set.

STIR slightly cooled melted chocolate into whipped topping until well blended. Frost borders and side of cake with whipped topping mixture. Cut out small triangle from the red fruit roll. Attach to pretzel stick. Place in center to resemble flag. Using sharp small knife, cut green fruit roll into strips and attach to remaining pretzel sticks to form trees. Use some of the darker reserved crumbs to make sand traps. Roll marshmallow quarter into ball and place near flag for the golf ball. Store any leftover cake in refrigerator.

The Cooking Bible ~ "The Joy of Cooking"

The Joy of Cooking. . . Its not just a title, its everything about the kitchen and cooking that you need to know, with the exception of how to care for your cookware, which you can turn to me for! ;-) This cookbook of epic proportion has been around for 75 years now. . . wow!

This book contains 4,500 recipes and has sections about everything from herbs to poultry, beef to desserts, grilling to sauces and marinades, and even canning and pickling. Its 1,132 pages of EVERYTHING you thought you needed to learn or know and even stuff you DIDN'T know you needed to know! It even gives you illustrated lessons on table settings, cocktails, measurements, and substitutions. It even tells you the different grades of meat, what they're used for, the difference in cooking method for each grade.

There is one thing I found last night that I don't agree with ~ and that's their method for cheesecake. They say not to "over mix" because it adding all of that air into the batter makes it cook like a souffle and rise and fall and sometimes crack. It won't crack, if you cool it slowly like I told you to. . . For me and my recipe ~ I say - Beat the hell out of it! Make it rise and fall. It's what makes the cake itself light and fluffy and not too overbearing.

The advice I can give you about this difference of opinion is to try it both ways and see which you prefer. The worst that's going to happen is you're going to have a fabulous cheesecake. Caramel, chocolate, nuts, and cheesecake. . . Heck, it doesn't get any better than that!


Here is an exert from the book:

Food Tips

1. The ice with which a drink is shaken, stirred, or served is an important ingredient. If the water used to make ice has a strong taste before being frozen, this will be carried into the drink. For the clearest and best-tasting cubes, start with filtered water, if possible, or let the water sit for several minutes before freezing.
2. When making sandwiches to be eaten later (as for a lunchbox), keep them from becoming too soggy by packing additions like tomato, lettuce and pickle slices in separate plastic bags. Add the extras to the sandwiches just before eating.
3. To extract citrus juice easily, first roll the fruit firmly beneath your palm over a hard surface, exerting pressure. Cut the fruit in half crosswise. When juicing only one fruit, the most efficient tool is the citrus reamer. When juicing several fruits, use a citrus hand press or an electric juice extractor.
4. To shell hard-cooked eggs, crack the shell and roll the egg between the palms of the hands to free the thin tough skin from the egg and make shelling easier. If eggs are very fresh (less than 3 days old), they are more difficult to shell. Quickly cooling hard-boiled eggs and then thoroughly chilling them before peeling helps, as does holding eggs in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days before hard-boiling. Hold the egg under a stream of cool water as you peel to remove any bits of broken shell.
5. To test scallops for freshness, see that they have a sweetish odor. Those that are sold shucked may be soaked in a bath of water and preservatives such as tripolyphosphate; this process both extends their shelf life and artificially increases the weight of the scallop. You want to make every effort to buy unsoaked or "dry" scallops. They have a cleaner taste, and they brown better when sautéed because they contain less water. Be suspicious of any sea scallops that are pure white, a good indication that they have been soaked; the natural color of sea scallops ranges from white to off-white to pale shades of orange, pink, and tan.
6. To adapt standard recipes for the slow cooker: estimate 2 hours on low or 1 hour on high in a slow cooker for every 30 minutes of cooking time in the original recipe. Just as for a meat stew or roast, brown the meat and sauté the vegetables to maximize flavor before combining them in the insert. Vegetables, especially root vegetables, cook more slowly than meat and should be placed in the bottom of the insert so they can heat directly in the cooking liquid. To compensate for the steam that will collect, decrease the liquid called for in the oven or stovetop recipe by 1/2 cup. Add dairy-based ingredients such as milk, cream, or cheese during the last thirty minutes of cooking, as they will curdle if cooked too long.
7. To test mussels for freshness, try to slide the two halves of the shell across each other. If they budge, the shell is probably filled with mud, not mussel. Discard any mussels with broken shells or shells that will not close after putting into the freezer for a minute or two.
8. To minimize fish tastes and odors, use lemon, wine, vinegar, ginger, spring onions, or garlic in the marinating or cooking. To remove the odor of fish from utensils and dishcloths, use a solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 quart water. Pans may be washed in hot suds, rinsed and dried, and then rinsed with a little vinegar. Rinse again with water. To remove the odor of fish from the hands, rub them with lemon juice, vinegar or salt before washing.
9. To store a cut avocado, allow the seed to remain embedded, spread the edges with lemon juice or mayonnaise, cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
10. Fresh or frozen pineapple, kiwi, papaya, honeydew, figs and ginger -- and their juice -- cannot be added to a gelatin salad. They contain enzymes that will inhibit jelling. Canned pineapple has been cooked and may be used as is.
11. All cream soups, whether bound with egg or not, are ruined by boiling, so be sure to heat just to the boiling point, or cook them in the top of a double boiler [arrow] over -- not in -- boiling water. Reheat them this same way. Many cream soups are equally good served hot or cold; when serving cold, adjust the seasoning before serving.
12. Avoid turning pancakes more than once, and continue cooking only until the second side is lightly browned. Pancakes are best served at once, but if this is not possible, keep them on a baking sheet, separated by paper towels, in a 200ºF oven. Never stack one on the other without the protection of a towel -- the steam they produce will make the cakes flabby.
13. Always fill out a baking sheet, placing cookies of even size and thickness about 1 inch apart, unless otherwise indicated. On a partially filled sheet the heat is drawn to the area where the cookies lie, and the batch may burn on the bottom. If you haven't enough dough on your last baking to fill a whole baking sheet, reverse a pie pan or turn a small baking pan upside down.
14. The placement of the pans during baking is very important. Bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time, at least 2 inches from the oven walls and on the center oven rack. If using two smaller pans, see that they are spaced evenly from the walls and from each other. Heat should circulate all around the pans. Few ovens are so nearly perfect that they will brown a large sheet evenly. During the baking process, do rotate the sheet halfway through cooking for even baking. Oven thermostats are also variable, so watch closely, especially when baking molasses and brown-sugar cookies, which burn easily. When cookies are done, remove them from the baking sheet at once or they will continue to cook. Should they harden on the pan, return the baking sheet for a moment to the oven before trying to remove them.
15. Whenever foods show the slightest signs of spoilage, such as leaking packages, off-odors, mold, bubbling or unnaturally cloudy liquids, bulging or rusty cans, or liquid that spurts out when a can is opened, please accept the best advice we know: If in doubt, throw it out. Do not taste even the smallest bit. It is not worth the risk getting sick or worse.
16. Some foods simply do not hold up to freezing well, and the changes it causes in them make them undesirable for later use. Freezing, for example, will ruin gelatins, mayonnaise, and many meringues. Cooked pastas and rice, if frozen alone, will turn mushy and develop a warmed-over taste. Milk sauces may separate or even curdle, as will sour cream, custards, and cream fillings. Vegetables that are very high in water content will have a significant change in texture upon thawing, becoming quite limp and water-logged. This includes lettuce, celery, cabbage, cucumbers, endive, and radishes.
17. Any fruit dried outdoors must be brought inside at sundown at night to protect it from night dews. No food should be dried outdoors in air-polluted areas.
18. For best results, it is imperative that vegetables and fruit for pickling are in prime condition and are harvested no more than 24 hours in advance. If cucumbers have been held longer, they tend to become hollow during processing.
19. When washing fruits and vegetables, scrub particularly around the stems, blossom ends, and crevices -- these are hiding places for bacteria.
20. The flavor of almost all pickled produce is improved if it is stored 6 weeks before using.
21. The Sundae is a variation of the ice cream soda. Nineteenth Century frowners did not approve of drinking soda water on the Sabbath, but the treat was so popular, a dish of ice cream and syrup (or sauce) without the soda was created and named for the sacred day. Frowners continued to be offended by the name and eventually it was changed to sundae.

If you would like to purchase "The Joy of Cooking" you can find it at your local Walmart, or go here:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4909587

Pina Colada

3 oz of coconut rum (malibu)

1/2 cup of crushed pineapple

1/2 cup of coconut cream

2 cups of ice

Blend pineapple & coconut cream first... then add rum... and then add ice.

Top with whip cream and a cherry if desired. Garnish with fresh pineapple.

Lava Flow

2 oz Malibu® coconut rum
6 large strawberries
1 banana
1/4 cup crushed pineapple

1/4 cup coconut cream

1 cup of ice

Blend ice, banana, coconut cream, and pineapple juice in a blender and set aside. In the bottom of a hurricane glass, stir together rum and strawberries.

Pour banana/coconut/pineapple/ice mix slowly into the glass. The strawberry/rum mix should creep up the sides of the glass to make a wonderful looking (and tasting) summertime cocktail!

You can blend this all together. Its an awesome drink!

Serve in: Hurricane Glass