Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball

Don’t you just love all the recipes that come out around the holidays? This is one of those, clipped from a magazine an unknown number of years ago. I could wait and share it when the holiday parties start. But in the Deep South college football is the perfect time to eat and snack and cheer your team on to victory!

Hidden Valley Ranch Cheese Ball

½ cup prepared, double strength Hidden Valley Ranch Milk Recipe Original Ranch Salad Dressing
(1 package, ½ cup mayonnaise and ½ cup milk)
8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese, room temperature for 1 hour
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature for one hour
5 oz. sliced almonds, toasted

Mix the double strength salad dressing and cream cheese. Beat well with electric mixer. Add Cheddar cheese and blend. Cover and freeze for 30 minutes.

Shape cheese mixture into a ball. Roll cheese ball in toasted almonds.

Four-Cheese Lasagna

This is another one of those wonderful recipes from Kraft. If you haven't already signed up for their free e-newsletter, which is filled with wonderful recipes, you should!

photo by:

kraft

 Four-Cheese Lasagna

 

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN 2% Milkfat Low Fat Cottage Cheese

1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1 egg, beaten

1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

12 lasagna noodles, cooked

 

HEAT oven to 350°F.
BROWN meat with onions in large skillet. Meanwhile, mix Neufchatel, cottage cheese, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan and egg until well blended.
DRAIN meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and oregano; simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Spoon 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1 cup cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan; cover with foil.
BAKE 50 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 40 min. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.
Makes 12 servings.

Halloween Cookie Bites

How fun are cookies that look like candy corn!? This recipe is in the October 2012 issue of Coastal Living magazine. The magazine also includes some other wonderful recipes and some tips on carving pumpkins with a coastal theme. Be sure to check it out!

Halloween Cookie Bites

1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Yellow food coloring
Red food coloring

Beat butter and sugar together at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Combine flour, salt and lemon zest; gradually stir into butter mixture.

Divide dough into 3 equal pieces (about 1 ¼ cups each); tint 1 piece with yellow food coloring. Tint another piece orange using red and yellow food coloring. (Add 1 to 2 teaspoons flour to orange dough if food coloring makes it softer than other colors.)

Place white, untinted dough in bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, pressing down. Top with orange dough and then yellow, pressing down. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto work surface. Cut slices 3/8-inch thick from dough; cut each slice into 6 triangles. Place cookies on parchment paper -- or aluminum foil -- lined baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set but not browned. Cool on wire rack 1 minute; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 10 dozen.

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

Some desserts are meant to be savored. This is one. It's another fabulous recipe from the folks over at Pillsbury. Enjoy!

 

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

Crust

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Cream Cheese Layer

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

Brownie Layer

1 box (15.8 oz) Pillsbury® double chocolate brownie mix

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon water

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping

 

Reserved chocolate syrup packet from brownie mix

3 tablespoons hot fudge topping 

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.

 

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese layer ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth; set aside.

Reserve chocolate syrup packet from brownie mix for topping. In large bowl, place brownie mix, oil, water and eggs; beat 50 strokes with spoon.

 

Spread 1/2 cup brownie mixture in bottom of crust-lined pie plate. Spoon and carefully spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Top with small spoonfuls of remaining brownie mixture; spread evenly. Sprinkle with pecans. Cover crust edge with 2- to 3-inch-wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of bake time.

 

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until center is puffed and crust is golden brown (pie may have cracks on surface).

 

In small bowl, mix chocolate syrup from packet and hot fudge topping. Place mixture in small resealable bag. Cut small hole off corner of bag. Drizzle topping over pie. Cool completely, about 3 hours, before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

 

Broken-Glass Cake

This cake is designed to resemble the stained glass windows in a church. The recipe is an old newspaper clipping from I don’t know where. I hope you enjoy its beauty as well as its taste.

Broken-Glass Cake

1 (3-oz.) package orange gelatin
1 (3-oz.) package cherry gelatin
1 (3-oz.) package lime gelatin
3 cups boiling water
2 cups cold water
1 cup pineapple juice
¼ cup sugar
1 (3-oz.) package lemon gelatin
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
1 ½ cups butter or margarine, melted
2 cups whipping cream

Prepare orange, cherry and lime gelatins separately, using 1 cup boiling water and ½ cup cold water for each. Pour each flavor into 8-inch square pan and chill until firm.

Mix pineapple juice and sugar and heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Dissolve lemon gelatin in hot juice, then add remaining ½ cup cold water, chill until slightly thickened.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter and press into bottom of 9-inch spring form pan.

Cut firm orange, cherry and lime gelatins into ½-inch cubes.

Whip cream until stiff and blend with lemon gelatin. Fold in gelatin cubes. Pour into crumb-lined pan. Chill at least 5 hours.

Run knife or spatula between sides of dessert and pan and remove sides of pan before serving.

Makes 16 servings.

Baked Apple Dumplings

This is from a faded newspaper clipping with a wonderful recipe. A year or so ago, I searched everywhere for different types of apple recipes. I sure wish I’d found this one that was buried in a stack of old recipes.

I copied the recipe as it was printed. I don’t know which newspaper. It tells you to transfer the dough to a floured board. I use a flour cloth. Many, many years ago I invested in a flour cloth. One of the best things ever. It’s probably just a piece of canvas cloth, though it came in a specially-marked plastic bag. I’m not even sure where I got it. But I sure have used it over the years.

Baked Apple Dumplings

1 ½ cups water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
Ground cinnamon
4 small tart apples, about 1 lb. total, peeled, halved and cored
1 ½ cups chopped peeled tart apple
Whipping cream, optional

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine water, sugar and lemon juice in small saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Set syrup aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with metal blade. Add 2 ½ tablespoons butter and process (or cut with pastry blender) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ½ cup water. Mix until dough just begins to clump together. Transfer dough to floured board.

Compact dough with hands. Cut in half, then cut each half into quarters to make 8 equal-size pieces. Gently pat each piece into 3-inch round. (Flour hands for easier handling if dough is sticky.) Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Place each piece apple, rounded side down, on center of dough. Wrap dough around apple, gently easing dough to cover fruit completely. Repeat with remaining dough, cinnamon and apples.

Arrange apples, cut side down, in 2-quart round or square baking dish, spacing evenly. Fill spaces with chopped apples. Pour syrup over dumplings. Sprinkle with cinnamon and dot with 1 ½ tablespoons butter. Place dish on baking sheet (to catch any spills).

Bake at 350 degrees until lighty browned, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. Brush dumplings with remaining 1 tablespoon butter, melted. Cool on rack at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipping cream, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Note: If apples are large, use 2, cutting them into quarters. Dumplings can be made several hours ahead and kept at room temperature. Reheat in 350-degree oven until warmed through,

Egg Salad

I found this recipe typed on a yellowed piece of paper. The note says it comes from Weight Watchers, a company that is always a good source for calorie-conscious recipes. I have several of their cookbooks and also keep some microwave meals in the freezer for those time-crunch times.

Egg Salad

2 eggs, hard-cooked and chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon reduced-calorie mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons diced green or red bell pepper
Dash salt
Dash white pepper

In a bowl, combine eggs with mayonnaise and mustard. Add celery, diced pepper, salt and pepper.

Makes 1 serving, at 213 calories.