All of Liza's recipes in one handy place!

All of Liza's recipes in one handy place!!

Sunday, December 31, 2006

7 Layer Casserole

Good as a side dish or main entree - not sure where I got it but it is great in a pinch!

3 cups cooked egg noodles
1 1/2 cups broccoli - cooked/chopped
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken diced (grilled/baked/broiled)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar
1/2 cup sauted mushrooms
1/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter - melted
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

In a buttered 1 1/2 quart casserole layer noodles, chicken, mushrooms and broccoli. In a seperate bowl combine soup, cheese and milk and spread over the casserole layers.

Suate crumbs in butter and set aside. Bake for 20 minutes, pull out and add crumbs to the top bake 15 minutes longer at same temperature until golden and bubbly.

Broccoli Casserole

This recipe is from Louise Clausen a childhood friend and wonderful person. She won the Girl Scout cook off with it (or was that the 4-H cookoff?) and our family has been enjoying it for years! It's great by itself and wonderful with beef chicken or pork.

broccoli - 20 oz frozen/chopped (you can use fresh too!)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1 large egg - beaten
1 cup mayonaise (Helmann's is best)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 melted butter

Preheat oven ot 400 degrees F. Cook and cool broccoli and place in bottom of a medium sized casserole dish - set aside.

In a bowl beat the egg well and add the mayo, soup, onion and cheese. Mix thouroughly.

Pour mixture over the broccoli and spread evenly. Combine the melted butter and bread crumbs and sprinkle over the entire dish.

Bake for 20 minutes and it is golden and bubbly.

This is a great make ahead side dish and you can double it if you are feeding a crowd. Thanks Louise!!!!!

Italian Christmas Cookies

These are always a holiday favorite. Great with coffee or milk, they have a great almond flavor and a nice crumbly texture. This recipe makes 6 dozen and unless you have a super turbo mixer you really shouldn't double it! Also be sure to use real natural almond extract for best flavor.

6 eggs 1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup melted butter 1 cup melted shortening (Crisco)
6 cups flour 6 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Beat the eggs until light. add the sugar and cooled melted butter and cooled melted shortening. Mix well and add the almond extract, baking powder and the flour. Mix thoroughly.

The dough will be stiff and roll small amounts into pencil size coils and shape in the form of an S.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baking in oven 10 to 12 minutes until slightly golden. Cool cookies on a rack.


ICING:

Mix 3/4 lb confectioners sugar with 2 Tablespoons of almond extract and add milk until you reach a spreading consistency. Drizzle over the cookies and sprinkle with deceorative sprinkles. (I use the red/green and white balls).

Store in airtight containers and they will be fresh for up to a month. The recipe makes 6 dozen!

Portuguese Soup

Okay, I'm not Portuguese - but I love someone who is partly Portuguese and as a result I learned to make this warming and hearty soup.

1 lb Chourico - These are two types of Portuguese sausages
1 lb Linguica - Slice both meats into half inch rounds
6 large potatoes peeled and diced into large cubes
1 large onion peeled and diced
2 12 oz cans of dark red kidney beans - drained
1 large bunch of kale, washed and chopped

You take a quart and a half (this is not an exact science I use my large soup pot and fill it 2/3's full)

Bring the water to a boil and put in the meats and onion, turn down the heat to simmer. When the water is reddish add the potatoes and simmer until starting to turn tender.

Add the chopped kale and drained kidney beans - simmer the whole pot until the kale is soft.

You can just leave this to simmer on the stove all day, you can also freeze it in smaller packages and it comes out well.

It is also been said to me you can add carrots when you add the potatoes. As for the water add more if necessary during the simmer process.

Enjoy!

Friday, December 8, 2006

Welcome!

Several years ago I sent out postcards asking my friends and family to sned the card back with a favorite recipe. Well my cards were returned and thensome!! For years now I've been struggling to make the time to type all the recipes up and then afford all the postage to get them all out.

Finally this year it struck me! A never ending blog with all the recipes and new recipes and well - just good old chatting around the "cyber" kitchen.

So to all who have been patient with me - thanks and to those who are just looking for a great cookie recipe - WELCOME!