* Cream Cheese Frosting *

I got this recipe out of the Pampered Chef Fall/Winter 2009 Season's Best Recipe Collection Booklet (also known as the PCFWSBRC...just kidding). In the booklet, they use this amazing frosting on Mini Carrot Cake Cups (which are also delicious) but I decided to use it on mini fruit pizza cookies for Heathe's birthday...and it was delightful. It is seriously so tasty...you should probably try it :)

* Cream Cheese Frosting *
6 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. thawed frozen whipped topping

Mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. (I added a little more powdered sugar to make it thicker for the cookies...turned out great!!) Spread or pipe onto cookies, cupcakes, etc. Or just eat it with a spoon :)

* Dessert Crepes *

mmm...crepes. When I think of crepes, I think of Christmas morning. My mom made crepes almost every Christmas morning and they were delish! She would make a sugary sour cream filling and top it with sweetened strawberries...doesn't that just sound like...happiness? It sure made me happy!

We got some blackberries in our BB (bountiful basket) this last week so I decided to make the same crepes my mom makes with a blackberry topping. It turned out really yummy (although I have to say that I like the strawberry topping better).

* Crepes *1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. sugar (dessert crepes only)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
4 eggs
3 Tbs. butter (melted and cooled slightly)

In blender, combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, and eggs and blend for 15 seconds. Scrape sides of blender and start blender again. Pour in melted butter and blend 20 more seconds. Cover and let rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

After letting batter rest, pour 1 T. oil in pan and place on medium heat. Heat for 2-3 minutes and wipe out the pan with paper towell. Pour 1/4-1/2 c. batter into pan and cook until slightly browned (1 minutes or so). Flip crepe over and cook another 30 seconds. For more in depth instuctions, see here.

* Sour Cream Filling *
8 oz sour cream
3 T. sugar (more or less to taste)

Mix sour cream and sugar together. Store in an air tight container. Spread on cooked crepe. Roll crepe up and top with fruit topping.

* Blackberry Topping *
2 1/2 pints blackberries
1/2 c. water
5 T. sugar (or less if you're not into super sweet stuff)
1 T. cornstarch mixed with a little cold water

Stir water and sugar in large saucepan. Add half of berries and bring to boil. Reduce heat, add cornstarch mixed with water. and simmer until syrup thickens, mashing berries with back of fork, about 12 minutes. Pour into medium bowl; gently stir in remaining berries. (I added the rest of my berries into the mixture during the last few minutes of simmering and smooshed them too) Cover and chill until cold, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

* No Bake PEANUT BUTTER Cookies *

On our last trip down to see my in-laws, my sister-in-law Amy was telling me about these yummy No-Bake Cookies they serve in the Rich High Cafeteria. I was assuming they were the No-Bake Fudge Oatmeal Cookies...but I was wrong! She whipped these babies out and they were amazing! Then I realized that I had seen this recipe over at Natalie's blog and I was SO EXCITED to make them at home! If you love peanut butter, you will LOVE these cookies!

* No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies *
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal

Spread a piece of wax paper or aluminum foil out on a flat surface. You'll need about 2 feet.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar, milk, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for exactly one minute, then remove from heat. Add vanilla and peanut butter; stir until smooth. Mix in oatmeal.

Immediately drop in rounded tablespoonfuls on wax paper or foil. Let cool completely and enjoy.

* Creamy Corn Chowder *

Remember the Amish White Bread I posted last week? Well, one of the loaves had "an accident" (involving my husband trying to vacuum/seal it in our food saver and scrunching it up into bread balls...it's okay honey! It still tasted good) and we ended up needing to use it as bread dippers (instead of say toast or sandwiches). I made this awesome Creamy Corn Chowder from Our Best Bites (love that site!!!) and it was perfect with our scrunchy bread :)

* Creamy Corn Chowder *

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water
2 1/2 c. milk (skim or 1% work just fine and lighten it up considerably)
2 regular-sized chicken bouillon cubes, 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube, or 2 tsp. chicken base
1/2 lb. bacon (optional...I didn't have real bacon so I used a 1/2 tsp. of liquid smoke)
1 small onion, minced
2 red potatoes, diced into small cubes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained or about 1 1/2 C frozen fresh corn
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of hot sauce (like Tabasco or Cholula...I used Franks Hot Sauce--like in the Winger's Sticky Fingers sauce)

Fry bacon until crisp. In the meantime, melt butter over low heat in a soup pot. When melted, add flour to make a roux and whisk until it comes together in a little ball.

Add water and whisk until completely combined and there are no lumps. Add milk and chicken base or bouillon and bring to a simmer.

Add potatoes, onions, and garlic, and simmer (but don’t boil!), stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through.

Add a few drops of hot sauce and then salt to taste. Start with about 1/4 tsp, give it a few minutes, and then add more if you need it.

YUMMY!!!!

* BBQ Chicken Pizza *

As I've mentioned before, I worked at Papa Murphy's Pizza for a long time. One of my favorite pizzas we made there was the BBQ Chicken Pizza. They use KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, shred the chicken and let it marinate in the BBQ sauce for a day or two, spread that on the crust, top it with mozzarella cheese, add crispy bacon, tomatoes, & onions, and then top it off with a mix of cheddar, provolone, and parmesan cheese---it is yummy! I always switch out the onions for pineapple...now that is my kind of pizza!

We have homemade pizza pretty often at our house. I usually try to recreate the PM BBQ Chicken using what I have on hand and we all love it!

* BBQ Chicken Pizza *
1 batch of your favorite pizza dough (I won't post my recipe on here cause it's really not that great...)
1/2 c. favorite BBQ sauce (we had Kraft on hand)
1 c. cheese (we had coldy jack on hand)
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (I only use one chicken breast because too many toppings on the pizza with make it kind of soggy/doughy)
2-3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
pineapple pieces, to taste (but don't do too many...soggy doughy pizza, remember?)
Onions, to taste (not pictured...but I did sprinkle some onion powder on top for taste)
Tomatoes, to taste (not pictured...we didn't have any on hand)

Roll out crust and place on pizza stone or pan. Bake at 425* (or whatever temperature your dough recipe states) for 10 minutes. Pull crust out of oven and top with BBQ sauce, chicken, 3/4 the cheese, the rest of the toppings, and the rest of the cheese on the top. Bake for another 7-10 minutes or until crust is browned. Enjoy! I like to dip mine in ranch dressing :)

* Amish White Bread *

We have a cooking group in our ward. Once a month, we get together and share recipes using a different ingredient and then bring the recipe for everyone to try. One month we did asparagus. The leader of the group, Delight, made a super yummy asparagus soup and served this bread with it. It was so good and she said it was so easy to make. She gave me the recipe (found here) and I finally made it today...and it turned out great! For those who are scared of making homemade bread (or maybe that's just me...) try this recipe!

* Amish White Bread *2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

* Easy Peasy Sugar Cookies *

I love sugar cookies--especially with yummy frosting! I found this easy peasy recipe on the Sisters Stuff blog. Try it...you'll love it!

* Easy Peasy Sugar Cookies *
1 pkg. white (vanilla) cake mix
1/3 C. vegetable Oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375*. Blend cake mix, eggs, and oil until moistened. Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased cookies sheet. Flatten with a glass or palm of hand. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool 1 minute before removing to cooling rack. While the cookies are still a little warm, spread on some frosting. Allow the frosting to set up before storing.

* Crockpot Italian Chicken *

I found this recipe out of my sister's ward cookbook. It is super super easy and yummy!! We eat it a lot on Sundays...perfect to throw in the crockpot a few hours before church gets out!

* Crockpot Italian Chicken *

5 boneless chicken breasts
1 c. water
1 dry Italian dressing envelope
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) cream cheese

Combine chicken, water, and dressing. Cook for 4 hours on low. Add the soup and cream cheese. Cook for 2 more hours. Serve over rice or noodles.

(Most of the time, I just dump everything into the crockpot at the same time and it turns out great. I actually like it better because the cream cheese melts a little more)

(You can also cook it in the oven at 375* for 45-60 minutes)

* S'more Bars *

Do you ever have one of those days where you NEED a treat? On Sunday, I NEEDED a treat. I found this recipe here and since we had all the stuff for smore's, I thought this would be a great treat.

* S’More Bars *1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 king-sized Hershey’s milk chocolate bars
1 large egg
1 jar marshmallow creme/fluff (I used a 1/2 bag of big marshmallows cut into little pieces because that's what I had...I wish I would've used the creme. It would have been much neater looking and easier to put together)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (7 full-sized graham cracker sheets, processed til fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and set aside.

Meanwhile,whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.

Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side.

Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.

Place blobs of it on the chocolate and then spread it around.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (this is where I wish I had used the creme instead of the marshmallows...it was hard to get the dough to lay on the marshmallows without the marshmallows sticking to the dough and it ended up a jumbled mess...but still yummy!)

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

* Skor Bar Dessert *

My mother-in-law makes a yummy Skor Bar Dessert. My hubby really likes it and talks about it frequently. When we blessed our first baby, I decided to make the famous dessert for our luncheon afterwards but I added some caramel with it and it turned out delicious...almost like Better Than You-Know-What Cake but in a messier, trifle-ish form.

* Skor Bar Dessert *
(once again...not the best picture. I need to get myself a trifle bowl or something...this bowl is kind of wavy so that picture looks weird. This is SO GOOD, though!)
1 box chocolate cake mix (& eggs, oil, water to make it)
1 5 oz package of instant chocolate pudding (& milk to make it)
1 8 oz tub whipped topping
1 bottle caramel ice cream topping
6 Skor bars, chopped into small pieces (I used the pre-chopped Heath bar bits int he baking aisle--I guess mine's not really a skor bar dessert, is it?)

Bake cake as directed on box in 9 x 13 pan. Allow cake to cool. Prepare instant pudding as directed on box. Allow pudding to set up in fridge. Cut cake into bite-sized pieces (I basically just took a spatula and chopped the cake into small pieces--it doesn't have to be pretty!) . Layer in trifle dish-- 1/2 of the cake, 1/2 pudding, 1/2 whipped topping, drizzle with caramel, 1/2 Skor (or Heath) bits. Repeat. Now devour...cause it is scrumptious!