Recipes
Here are some of my favorite recipes…all are from friends and people who are very special to me. Every time I make one of these recipes I have a wonderful memory (or two) that comes to mind… You can print any of the recipes by clicking the title and going to the individual posts.
Bruschetta Dip
This recipe comes from my very sweet neighbor, Gina. She graciously helped me plan the last Christmas party we threw – even let me use the entire menu she had used when she had the reception for her son, Nick’s wedding! This is a crowd pleaser and is SO EASY! I made it the morning I was going to serve it and then heated it just before the guests came.
Bruschetta Dip:
2 Pkgs Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1 28 oz can Italian diced tomatoes (I used basil/oregano)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. dried basil & oregano (I put one of each)
2 TBS onion, minced
1 TBS Olive oil
1 cup parmesan cheese – divided
French Baguets thinly sliced
Combine: cream cheese, tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, onion, olive oil and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes. Stir. During the party you may want to “zap” it again a few times.
Fairy Drops
This recipe comes from Delores Kline. Her daughter, Rachael, was Abbey’s very best friend in preschool. These wonderful people still live in Ohio. Delores helped me through the very tough time of Joshy’s trial. She came and helped me clean my house one day when all I could do is just hold Joshy when he first came home from the hospital. God knew this is exactly what I would need to help me see that Josh was ALIVE and WELL and that I could actually put him in his crib and he would not die…very special lady!
FAIRY DROPS
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt (actually I don’t use any)
mix these together and set aside.
beat until smooth: 1 cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup cooking oil, 2 eggs, 2tsp almond extract.
Add the dry ingredients. Chill. I roll this very soft dough out in flour and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake @ 350 x 10-12 mins.
FROSTING
1/2 cup butter, beat till fluffy. 1/2 tsp almond, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2&1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar, 3Tbs. milk or cream. beat till smooth.
Vicki’s Favorite Oatmeal Cookies
VICKI’S FAVORITE OATMEAL COOKIES
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 3.4 oz pudding (vanilla or banana – instant)
1 TBS vanilla1 tsp. water, ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/4 cup flour
OPTIONAL: nuts, raisins, white chocolate chips or craisins
Preheat, oven to 375 degrees. Butter heavy cookie sheet. Mix everything, drop by tsp onto cookie sheet. Bake until tops are slightly cracked. (usually about 12 mins.)
Magical Mint Kisses
MAGICAL MINT KISS COOKIES
This is a new recipe for me this year (Christmas 2002). My wonderful daughter, second-born to the Fabulous Five, found it in a magazine. Since she is becoming a wonderful cook in her own right, she tried these cookies out. They are definitely for the CHOCOLATE-LOVER…which her next youngest brother, Josh fits the description to a T!
1 cup butter or margarine softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
48 Hershey’s Chocolate Mint Kisses, unwrapped
pwdered sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla, stir in flour and cocoa and blend completely. Mold scant tablespoon dough around each Chocolate Mint Kiss, covering completely. Shape into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, bake 8 – 10 minutes or until set. Cool completely. Roll in powdered sugar. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Neiman-Marcus Cookies 2 cups butter ; 2 cups granulated sugar; 2 cups of brown sugar; 4 eggs ; 2 tsp vanilla : 4 cups flour 5 cups blended oatmeal * 1tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp baking soda 24 oz. chocolate chips 1 8 0z . Hershey bar grated 3 cups chopped nuts * Blended oatmeal: Measure and blend in blender to a fine powder cream both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour and oatmeal , salt, baking powder and baking soda . Add chips, candy and nuts . Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6 minutes at 375 degrees.
Nippy-Cheese Dip Spread
NIPPY-CHEESE-DIP/SPREAD
This recipe comes from another wonderful lady…Carol Gilles. I met Carol while working at my very first hospital – Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, CT. Carol is another fine cook and a great role model. She seems to be able to juggle any amount of stress yet always have a smile. She is fabulous with her patients and could definitely vie with me for the title of bestmomintheuniverse!
2 loaves kraft Extra Sharp Cheese
2 1/2 oz Blue Cheese
1/2 stick butter
1 med. onion, chopped very fine
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp tabasco sauce
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
dash of garlic salt
Soften cheeses & mix all ingredients. Serve in a hollowed out loaf of rye bread. Use the pieces of bread from the inside of your loaf as the serving pieces. When pieces are all gone, tear off pieces of the “bowl” or use wheatables. This stuff is addictive so be careful!
Green Slush
GREEN SLUSH
This recipe comes from one of the best cooks I have ever met. Rhonda Statler started her own catering business in Mount Vernon Ohio. Every recipe I have gotten from her is DELICIOUS!
4 packets Lime Kool-Aid
1 12oz can orange juice made up with water
3 cups sugar
1 46 oz can pineapple juice or pineapple/grapefruit juice
Mix and add enough water to make 1 - 2 1/2 gallons. FREEZE the mixture. Set out 2 hours before using. Add giner ale to the frozen/half-thawed mixture…it turns into slush. Drop some marichino cherries in for a festive look. Makes 3 gallons.
Roll Your Own Manicotti
ROLL YOUR OWN MANICOTTI
This recipe comes from my long-time friend, Vicki Neel. She made this once at my house and she and her family sat outside on our picnic table and ate a wonderful dinner with us. Every time I serve this to my family, I remember my house on Prentice Williams Road in Stonington, CT and the long walks Vic and I would take…especially on that road. Wonderful lady, Vic…she will be a fabulous teacher (which she is studying to be now) and is already an awesome nurse!
1/2 lb. of lasagna noodles
1 lb ricotta, 1/4 lb grated mozerella cheese, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 TBS dried, 1 egg beaten. Mix all these together. Boil lasagna noodles in H2O and Tbs oil. Cook till soft. Drain and cut each in half to make two shorter pieces. Spoon out about a Tbs. of the cheese mixture and fold the lasagna noodle around the cheese. Pour 1/2 jar sauce in the bottom of a pan and place your rolled manicotti noodles with seam side down on sauce. You can cram them in pretty close. Pour the rest of the jar on top – making sure all noodles are COMPLETELY covered with sauce. Sprinkle with a little parmesan or mozerella cheese and bake at 375 for 15-30 mins until hot and bubbly. Serve with garlic bread. You can also add chopped spinach to the cheese or some grated zucchini…excellent.
Neiman-Marcus Cookies
NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES
2 cups butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups of brown sugar
4 eggs ; 2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour 5 cups blended oatmeal
* 1tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 8 0z . Hershey bar grated 3 cups chopped nuts
* Blended oatmeal:
Measure and blend in blender to a fine powder cream both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour and oatmeal , salt, baking powder and baking soda . Add chips, candy and nuts . Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6 minutes at 375 degrees.
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Vicki Feinn was raised in a Christian home and accepted Jesus as her savior at the age of five. At the age of eleven she gave herself to the Lord to be used in any way He wanted to use her. 
