Peanut butter cookies

1/2 cup shortening (or butter flavored shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls (using a cookie scoop works great) 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Pizza Puffs

PEPPERONI PIZZA PUFFS
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP pizza seasoning
3/4 cup milk
1 egg- slightly beaten
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 package mini pepperoni (or 1 cup cut up)
1/2 cup pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a mini muffin pan. Whisk flour, baking powder and pizza seasoning in bowl. Whisk in milk and egg. Stir in cheeses and pepperoni. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir and divide in mini muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with warmed pizza sauce.

Bacon wrapped Pork Tenderloin

BACON-WRAPPED PORK TENDERLOIN
1 (1 lb) pork tenderloin
1 tsp steak seasoning (I used Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning)
3 bacon slices, cut in half crosswise

Preheat oven to 425. Remove silver skin from pork tenderloin, leaving a thing layer of fat covering the pork. Sprinkle seasoning over pork (you can do this in the morning or a few hours before baking). Wrap pork with bacon slices, and secure with wooden picks (I used toothpicks I had soaked in water so they wouldn't burn). Place pork on a lightly greased wire rack in an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 155. Broil 5 inches from heat 3-5 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Remove from oven; cover pork with foil, and let stand 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 160.

Mac N' Cheese

My FAVORITE Mac N' Cheese
Recipe by: Emily

2 cups Elbow Macaroni
1 medium Onion, sliced thin and chopped
1 TBS Garlic Salt
1 can Chedder cheese soup
1 1/2 cans milk
1 cup Shredded Italian Cheese
1 cup Shredded Mild Chedder Cheese
3 Tbsp Butter
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 cups Bread Crumbs, I like to use coarse brioche crumbs best

1. Cook macaroni according to directions on the package to al dente. Drain pasta and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan, melt together add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until onions begin to brown. Lower heat to medium low and continue to cook onion stirring occasionally until softened about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Use the same skillet that you cooked the onion in to make the sauce, it will deglaze the pan. Higher heat to medium, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and melt. Add 1 1/2 cans milk and cheddar soup to the mixture and whisk while continuing to cook. Once the milk mixture begins to thicken and bubble add the shredded cheeses and continue to whisk until the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Taste cheese sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni mixture and mix well. Pour macaroni mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and top with 2 cups of brioche bread crumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until bread crumbs are browned and the macaroni is bubbly. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving, enjoy!

Horchata

1 3/4 C long grain white rice
2 cinnamon sticks
7 C water
3/4 C milk
1/2 C sugar
1 TBLS vanilla

Place rice, cinnamon sticks and about 2 cups of water in blender.
Blend until rice and cinnamon sticks are roughly ground. Add remaining water and blend some more.
Pour into a pitcher and let it soak in the refrigerator overnight.
Strain out rice and cinnamon sticks (you can save this for rice pudding).
Add milk, sugar and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
Serve over ice.
Enjoy!

Pepperoncini Pasta with Chicken

1 box bowtie pasta or other shape
boneless chicken breasts or tenders – 1 lb. (I used precooked Fajita Chicken)
seasoned salt, homemade or store-bought (didnt use)
olive oil for sautéing
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 green pepper, chopped (didnt use cause I didnt have any)
1 can regular diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini peppers
1 cup chicken broth (I used 2 bullion of chicken and tomato flav with 1 1/2 cups water)----Added so much flavor!
salt and pepper to taste (didnt use any)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Sprinkle the chicken with seasoned salt and grill outdoors. (Or just heat up cooked chicken)

In a skillet, heat the oil and sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the green pepper (I Omitted) and cook until tender-crisp. Stir in the other ingredients, except the cheese. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let simmer for a few minutes while the pasta and chicken finish cooking. Stir the sauce together with the finished pasta. Serve with the grilled chicken and top with cheese.

Makes about 8-10 servings.

Crumb Cake

Jersey Diner Coffee Cake

1 pkg Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix (or any other brand)
4 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend together until lumps disappear - do not over mix.
Bake in a greased 11x15 jellyroll pan for 20-25 minutes.

Crumb Topping:

4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (I use Floridian Gourmet [see photograph] - this guy knows his stuff! Check the website and see if you can still get your hands on some)
2 sticks of margarine
1 stick of butter

Melt butters and let cool slightly. Add vanilla.
Mix flour, cinnamon, sugars then add the liquid mixture.
Crumble with hands and place on warm cake. Bake again for 20 min at 350 degrees F.
Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Checker Board Cake

4 1/2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
8 large egg whites
3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract

White Frosting

1 cup vegetable shortening (not butter flavored)
4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons clear vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter three 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Place the checkerboard cake insert into one of the pans and set aside.

For the Cake:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter, and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and will aerated.
Separate the batter evenly into three separate bowls. To add paste food coloring, take a small amount (smaller than a pea, it doesn't take much!) and whisk it into the white batter. Repeat for the other two batches. I used pink, purple, and green
Starting with the pan that has the checkerboard insert, fill the center hole halfway with pink batter. Fill the center ring halfway with green and the outer ring halfway with purple. Carefully loosen the insert's "legs" from the side of the pan and lift the insert straight up into the air. Rinse and dry the insert and place it into the next pan.
In keeping with your pattern flow (pink, green, purple, etc) fill the center hole halfway with green, the second ring with purple, and the outer ring with pink. For the last pan, continuing the pattern, purple in the center, then pink, then green.Bake for 25-35 minutes, checking after 25, or until the cakes are springy to the touch- a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

To Make the Frosting:

Beat shortening and extracts until creamy, about 1-2 minutes on medium speed. Slowly add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, then 2 tablespoons of milk, 2 more cups of powdered sugar, then the remaining milk and any additional powdered sugar that may be needed.

Put 1/3 of the frosting into a separate bowl and tint it with a small amount of yellow paste food coloring. Frost in between the layers yellow and the sides and top of cake white. Decorate with green tinted coconut and jelly beans on top.

INGREDIENTS FOR ONE BATCH OF CAKE
(if you would like to make it in two separate batches)

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract