Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup mild (light) molasses
Sugar

Directions:
Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Mix in crystallized ginger. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, shortening and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Spoon sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer to racks and cool. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Recipe taken from Bon Apetite, March 2000

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a shallow baking pan (or two, depending on how big it is. You want to make certain the potatoes are all leveled out, and not piled on top of one another.)

Place potato and onion wedges in a big bowl. Mix all other seasonings and olive oil in a smaller bowl; drizzle over wedges, and toss to combine and coat completely. Transfer potatoes into the prepared pan. Bake/roast for approximately 40 minutes, turning a couple of times, until the potatoes are tender and golden.

Serves approximately 4-6.

6 tbl butter
1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 3/4 cups turkey stock or chicken stock

Directions:
Without using the heals of the bread, cut bread with crust into 1" cubes. This should yield approximately 10 cups, loosely packed. Place these cubes in a large pan and let sit overnight to dry. If you don't have that kind of time, toast the bread to golden in the toaster before cutting. After toasting and cutting into cubes, place in oven for approximately 30 min at 200 degrees F, until almost the consistency of croutons. (Not as hard though.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and parsley. (You can always add more vegetables to this mixture. This recipe was made for someone who doesn't much like veggies in his stuffing.) Saute vegetables until they are soft, approximately 10 minutes. (You can also prepare the veggies one day before hand and refrigerate until use.)

In a small bowl, mix together oil, thyme, sage, and garlic. Once the bread cubes are sufficiently prepared, place them in a big bowl, drizzle with the oil mixture, and toss. Toss in the veggie mixture.

Butter 11X7X2" glas baking dish. Place final mixture into the pan and spread throughout evenly. Gradually add hot broth throughout the entire dish, making certain to cover all areas. Cover dish with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing until heated throughout, 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is brown, 20-25 minutes longer, and serve.

Directions:
Line an 8X8" square pan with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate chips with condensed milk in the top of a double broiler or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth. (If microwaving, microwave for a minute, stir, and stir every 30 seconds afterwards until melted.) Remove from heat if on the burner, and stir in pecans, grated orange peel, and pure orange extract.

Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm, and cut into squares. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Filling:
2 tbl butter, melted
1and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup pecan halves, finely chopped

Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. For tart shells, beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until well blended. Add flour, and mix until a soft dough forms.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place within the ungreased cups of a mini muffin pan. (There should be 24 cups for this pan.) Dip a tart shaper into flour, and press into the dough with even pressure until the dough rises slightly above the rim of pan. Don't let the tart shell become too thin, or the filling will seep out and make it impossible to get the tart out of the pan once cooked.

For the filling, place the butter in a bowl and microwave on high for 30 econds or until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Finely chop pecans and add to the batter bowl and mix well.

Using a small spoon, fill each tart shell with a level scoop of filling. Do not overfill. Bake at 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Remove from the pan to the counter or a cooling rack and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Creates 24 tarts.

(This recipe modified from its original, which was provided by Pampered Chef.)

*** A couple of notes:
1. This recipe isn't as sweet as other desserts, so if you have a crowd of sugar-fiends, go with something else.
2. Make certain you are softening the butter and cheese for the tart shells, or the conglomeration with the flour will turn out far stickier and less manageable than it should be.

Directions:
1. Process flour and 7 tbl of butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add 1 egg yolk and 3-4 tbsp. cold water and pulse until mixture just comes together. Form pastry into 1" balls and place in a mini-tart/mini-muffin pan. (This pan should have 24 spaces in it.) Use a mini-tart shaper and press down in the middle of the ball, forming the tart shells to peek just over the edge of the tart space. Prick the bottom of the shells just barely with the tongs of a fork. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Bake tart shells for 15 minutes or until golden.

4. Whisk lemon rind, 1/3 cup lemon juice, the remaining 4 egg yolks, and 1/3 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl until well combined, then add the remaining 9 tbl butter. BRing a saucepan of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place bowl on top and stir lemon curd with a wooden spoon for 10-12 minutes or until the curd is thick. Remove the curd from heat, cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to cool.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

6. Place the remaining sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a stainless-steel saucepan, then cook, stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat ot medium and then using a clean, wet pastry brush, brush down the sides of the pan. Cook until the syrup reaches 250 degrees F or the firm balls tage on a sugar thermometer. (To test this stage, drop a spoonful into a glass of ice cold water: it should form a pliable ball that softens as it warms.) Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until firm peaks form. While whisking, slowly pour sugar syrup into whites and whisk until combined and cool.

7. Assembling the pies: spoon lemon curd into the tart crusts until shell is mostly full. Top with the meringue. Bake in the preheated oven at 400 F for 5 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.

Remove and cool. Note that the crust recipe should give you 22 tarts per batch, rather than 24.

Links:
Mini-Tart Shaper
Mini-Muffin or Mini-Tart Pan

Instructions:
In a large pot, add milk and butter on medium until butter is melted. Add cream cheese and velveta cheese and continue to melt, stirring occasionally.

You may either add the diced onions raw or very, very lightly sauté the onion in a separate pan and then add the onion without the juices. Add onion, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and jalapeno peppers. Stir in thoroughly.

Add the rest of the cheese and stir often. When melted, add in the roma tomatoes.

**** You may also add 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, thinly diced each, for a slightly different flavor.

**** If the sauce is too thin, you may add a little flour. Take some flour and some sauce and mix thoroughly in a separate bowl before adding it to the pot and then mixing it in completely.

**** If the sauce is too thick, add just a tiny bit of milk or let the sauce cool. As the sauce cool it congeals.

**** You may make this ahead of time, refrigerate it for a few days, and place it in a crock pot to keep it warmed during a party event, too.

Directions:
Take the cube of chicken broth and ½ cup of water, microwave for two minutes, and mix into a broth before adding it to your slow cooker. Turn your slow cooker on high and place on the lid while you prepare your vegetables to be added.

Add the can of tomatoes, carrots, and the potatoes to a large slow cooker. Add enough water to submerge the potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. Boil for 1 hour.

Take ½ of the can of white beans and in a separate bowl crush into a paste. Add the bean paste, onions and celery, and cook 1 hour.

Add the cabbage (or other greens), other ½ of beans, and the chicken and cook for another 1 – 2 hrs.

Cook until the desired consistency of the potatoes and carrots is reached. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to your desired taste. Serve.

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Chop the potatoes, carrots, celery and oinion to desired size. Sautee the carrots and potatoes first in 4 oz'ish of chicken broth. Add the onions half way through, and then add the celery near the end. Put the sauteed veggies (and broth) in a big bowl when they are finished and set aside.

Dice chicken and brown in the same pan as the veggies and sautee either in chicken brother or canola oil. While the chicken browns, mix the chicken broth and Cream of Chicken soup together thoroughly. Add the mixture to the bowl with the veggies, and when the chicken is done, add that too. Mix the entire mixture together, adding more chicken broth if you want a soupier mixture. Scoop everything into a 13"X9" baking dish, smooth out the surface with the back of a spoon, and set aside. (It doesn't have to be perfect.)

Mix together 2 cups of bisquick with water to make it a thickish (but not heavy) texture, which requires approximately 1 1/2 cups of water. Pour this mixture over the top of the baking dish's contents. Make certain there is enough room for the Bisquick to expand while baking, approximately two inches.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve.

This recipes serves approximately 6 people.

Directions:
Combine chiles, jalapenos, olives and cream cheese. It's easier to mix when the cream cheese is softened up a bit. Once that's mixed, spread a thin layer on the tortilla. Roll tortillas, cover and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow the cream cheese to harden before slicing. If you don't, the cream cheese will ooze out the sides.

Note that you can add anything you want. What doesn't go good with cream cheese? For example, you can cube very small pieces of ham, pepperoni, or salami to put in the rolls.

TOPPING
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon pulp
1/4 tsp finely shredded lemon zest
3 tbl lemon juice
2 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix together the crust ingredients and bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 22-25 minutes.

Mix together the topping ingredients while the crust is baking. Pour over the hot crust and bake an additional 25-30 minutes. Cool, cut, and cover with powdered sugar.

Directions:
Cook sausage in skillet over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown sausage and drain.

Separate crescent roll dough into 8 triangles. Place in an ungreased 12 inch pizza pan with points toward the center. Press together to form a crust. Bottom of crust should be sealed and outside edge should be slightly raised.
Place in the oven for a minute or two just to seal the edges together.

Spoon sausage over crust. Sprinkle with hash browns and top with cheddar cheese. Beat together eggs or eggbeaters, milk, salt and pepper; pour over crust. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated oven until eggs are set, about 25 to 30 minutes.

6-8 russet potatoes
1 med-lg yellow onion, diced
1-2 stalks of celery, to taste
1/2 package of bacon, fried, or to taste
1 pint half & half
1-2 cups of milk
Parsley, to taste
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Peel & cut into square little pieces 6 - 8 potatoes, and boil in salted water. Cut celery into small pieces and add to pot when potatoes are half done. Cook until just tender. Drain most, but not all, of the water off.

Cut bacon into small pieces. Fry the bacon in a separate pan, adding the onions when the bacon is almost done and cook until just tender. Add this to the potato pot.

Add half & half, milk, parsley, and salt and pepper to the pot. Heat on medium until hot. Don't let it boil. It should be creamy when done. (If it isn't thick enough for your taste, whisk a little flour and butter together in the bacon skillet and add to the pot).

If you want to turn it into CLAM CHOWDER, just add minced clams.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Combine garlic and oil in a small, ovenproof dish and cover tightly with foil. (If you don't have a dish, make several layers out of tinfoil, place the mixture within, and tightly bind together.) Bake until garlic is very tender, about 45-50 minutes. Cool slightly. Shell the garlic.

Transfer shelled garlic into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the butter and whip until relatively smooth. Transfer garlic butter to a small bowl. (You can make this one day in advance. Cover the mixture and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)

Heat oven to 500 degrees F, or set on Broil.

Quarter potatoes and place in a large pot of boiling salted water, cooking until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.

Transfer to a large pan. Add garlic butter and toss. Sprinkle potatoes with dill, salt, and pepper to taste. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese. Place in the oven and broil for approximately 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is browned on top.

Directions:
Stir together mint, yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve as topping to lamb chops. Makes 4 servings.

(This is not my original recipe. I nabbed this from Gourmet Magazine, April 2001.)