Jennifer’s Loaded Potato Soup

1 onion (diced)
1 stalk of celery (diced)
2 fresh cloves of garlic (grated)
3-4 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp bacon grease
6-8 potatoes (peeled and sliced to 1/4" rounds)
Water
2 slices of thick cut deli ham (diced)
1 cup of bacon crumbles
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1 can of milk (using empty soup can)
1 cup of sour cream
S & P to taste

Saute onion, celery, and garlic in butter and bacon grease on medium heat until translucent and tender. Add in the potatoes, bacon, and ham and add enough water to cover. Raise the heat to medium/high and boil until potatoes are fork tender but not mushy.

In a separate bowl, mix the undiluted cheddar cheese soup, can of milk (using the empty soup can), and 1 cup of sour cream and whisk until smooth. Once the potatoes are done, whisk in the cheese soup mixture into the pot of soup and simmer an additional 10-20 minutes.

Serve with Sister Schubert rolls or cornbread if desired.

Applebee’s Blondie with Maple butter sauce

Brownies

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup loosely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup white chocolate, chunk (or chips)

Maple butter sauce

1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons maple flavoring

Directions:

For Brownies: In mixer blend butter, and brown sugar. Then add baking powder, salt, vanilla, and then eggs. Mix in flour. fold in chips and nuts.
Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan and smooth brownie mixture in with a spatula. Bake 350°F for 22-25 minutes.

Top should be shiny and firm when you touch the center with a finger -- do not over bake or it will be dry (oven temps may vary so watch brownies closely).
Sauce: Combine first 3 ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and add flavoring.

Assembly: While they are still warm, cut brownies into 12 pieces, they may be a little crumbly--they are more cake like in texture. Place a brownie on a plate and top with 2 scoops of ice cream. Then drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with more nuts.

Jennifer's Vodka Hot Toddy

Jennifer's Vodka Hot Toddy:

1-2 lemon wedges

1 tbsp of sugar

1 shot of vodka

1 cup of hot water (from the tea kettle)

1 decaff tea bag

1 tbsp of honey

Place the lemon wedge in the bottom of the coffee mug and sprinkle on the sugar and pour in the vodka.  Muddle the lemon, sugar, and vodka together.  Pour in the water and put in the tea bag and let it steep.  Add in the honey to taste if desired.  

I hope this sooths your sore throat and will make you feel better. 

Juretta's Homemade Ice Cream

Homemade Ice Cream

(To be made in an electric ice maker (4 qt) using ice/ice cream salt)

I am sure the recipes could be changed to be compatible for a small in-home electric no ice required countertop ice cream maker - but I havent taken the time to do the conversions myself, because i dont have one of those nifty little gadgets yet.  But maybe one day soon!  ANYWAY-- moving on... to the ice cream recipes!!

VANILLA:

3 eggs

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 (8 oz) cool whip

1 tsp of vanilla

fill to line with milk

CHOCOLATE: 

3 eggs

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 (8 oz) cool whip

1 container of chocolate syrup

fill to line with milk

STRAWBERRY: 

3 eggs

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 (8 oz) cool whip

2 cups of chopped fresh or frozen strawberries (fresh are best)

fill to line with milk

red food coloring until a light pink shade (a couple of drops)

PEACH:

3 eggs

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 (8 oz) cool whip

2 cups of chopped fresh or frozen peaches (fresh are best)

fill to line with milk

yellow and red food coloring until a soft orange shade (a couple of drops each)

DREAM CICLE:

3 eggs

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

2 (8 oz) cool whip

fill to line with Slice orange drink 

This recipe makes soft-serve homemade ice cream.  You can put it in the freezer in an air tight container to harden to your family's preferred consistency.  You can really use the base recipe for any flavor of ice cream you really want.  These are just our family's favorites.  They are all to die for.  The fruit recipes are especially good in the summer when the fruit is in season.  

Thanks to my God Mother Juretta for the recipe!

Unfortunately, I dont think this recipe can be made into a sugar-free recipe.  I've never seen sweetened condensed milk that is sugar free.  But you could use sugar free cool whip and reduced fat sweetened condensed milk to feel more guilt-free if you like :)

You know, my family LOVES marble slab ice cream and how they mix together the cheesecake flavored ice cream with fresh strawberries and fresh graham crackers... I bet I could tweak this recipe to get it cheesecake flavored and then we could add in the strawberries and graham crackers at the end and this would be even MORE FABULOUS.. Gosh im starvin just thinkin about it!

Juretta's Oregano Chicken

Juretta's Oregano Chicken

Olive Oil spray 

2 cups of water

1 whole chicken

1 pack of sweet italian sausage

EVOO

Lawry's Garlic Salt 

Oregano

8-10 red potatoes (quartered)

1 large vidalia onion (cut into half moons)

1 stick of butter

This is my version of Juretta's Oregano Chicken: 

Spray your insert of your crockpot with olive oil and dump in two cups of cold water. Place in your whole chicken and rub it down with olive oil and sprinkle it with garlic salt, oregano, and salt & pepper.  Cut your red potatoes into large chunks (all relatively the same size). Take onions and potatoes and toss them in EVOO & garlic and oregano and salt and pepper.  I did mine in a gallon size bag to make sure they were all coated evenly.  Dump bag of vegetables on top of the chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs.  (I added in my italian sausage with the chicken on the bottom but when we went to eat, the sausage was over-done.  So i'd either add it later on top of the vegetables or precook it and lay it in at the very end - i know thats an extra step, but I would rather do that than to have over-cooked sausage in my dish)  

Juretta's original recipe was done in a cast-iron skillet in a fire pit.  Since we dont have one of those at my house, we just used the crock pot.  I also changed russet potatoes to red potatoes because they are more waxy and would hold up through the cooking process and not turn into mush since it'd be cooking for at least 8 hrs on low in crock pot. 

Original recipe: 

1 whole chicken

1 pack of sweet italian sausage

EVOO

Lawry's Garlic Salt 

Oregano

8-10 russet potatoes (quartered)

1 large vidalia onion (cut into half moons)

Cook in cast iron dutch oven in fire pit or in oven until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.