Ingredients
   
1/2 gallon(s) apple cider
1/3 cup(s) dark brown sugar
2 stick(s) cinnamon
5  whole allspice berries
1  (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) chunk fresh ginger, peeled
3  whole cloves
8 slice(s) orange

Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan, combine cider, sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, ginger, and cloves. Heat to a simmer and allow to cook 20 minutes. Strain into a punch bowl and garnish with orange slices. Serve warm.

Source:  Country Living

This is on my “must try” list.  My family are huge fans of Mac and Cheese, and we’re always searching for the perfect recipe.  This one, adapted from Paula Deen sounds great, nobody does this kind of dish better than Paula.

~ jan

Ingredients
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained (we’re a fan of shells, I would substitute Creamettes large shells for the elbow macaroni
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, or half Velveeta, half cheddar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

A butter/crumb topping on this would be excellent

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture. Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Top with additional cheese if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings

Source:  Paula Deen

This recipe got fantastic reviews.  I would adapt it a bit by adding roasted pecan pieces to the top, and omitting the rum in the glaze.  Orange juice would be a nice substitue.

~ jan

Ingredients:
1   pinch salt
1   9 ounce box raisins
2   Eggs, beaten
2   4.5-oz cans fruit cocktail (undrained)
1   14-oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated)
2 dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts
1 or 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Butter Rum Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioner’s sugar
Rum to taste

Directions
Cube donuts into a large bowl.  Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes.  Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour until center has jelled.  Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Butter Rum Sauce:

Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioner’s sugar.  Add Rum and heat until bubbly.  Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Adapted from a recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients:

2 lbs cut-up chicken or whole bone-in chicken breasts

Sauce mixture:

4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup hot sauce ( I use Louisiana Hot Sauce, Tabasco might be hotter)

Seasoning blend:

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Dredging mixture:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

I will add 1/2 cup of cornstarch to the dredge mix.  Cornstarch makes crust extra crispy.

Never cover chicken when it’s frying if you want that deep, crispy crust.

Directions:

Heat peanut oil in a large deep pot to 350°F (do not fill more than half full--you don't want a hot-oil spill-over accident!).

For sauce mixture: in a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs with the water.
Add hot sauce and whisk together well.

Source:  Food Network

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons red decorator sugar

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies

2 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Black string licorice, cut into 1-inch pieces

• Heat oven to 350°F. Cut 17x12-inch piece of plastic wrap; place on work surface. Sprinkle red sugar evenly over plastic wrap. Roll cookie dough in sugar to coat. Wrap in plastic wrap; freeze 30 minutes.
  
• Remove half of dough from wrapper; freeze remaining dough until needed. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. On ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart. Place 3 chocolate chips in center of each slice to resemble seeds. To form slice shape, make 2 indentations on 2 opposite sides with fingers. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
  
• Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until unsugared edges are light golden brown. Insert 1 licorice piece on top of each cookie to resemble stem. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Source:  Pillsbury

Doesn’t this look amazing?  Learn how to make it here>>>

When I was a little girl, mother picked up hickory nuts every fall, cracked them into a Ball fruit jar and saved them to make Hickory Nut Cake.

She made it at Thanksgiving and Christmas,and it was the best cake you ever tasted.

I never had her recipe, but was thrilled to find this one from Midwest Living.

This one’s for you, mom…

Ingredients

5    eggs
1  cup  butter
2  cups  all-purpose flour
1  tsp.  baking soda
1/4  tsp.  salt
2  cups  sugar
1  tsp.  vanilla
1  cup  buttermilk
1  cup  flaked coconut
1  cup  chopped hickory nuts or pecans, toasted
    Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Directions

1. Separate eggs. Allow egg yolks, egg whites and butter to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease bottoms of three 9x1-1/2-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with waxed paper; grease and lightly flour pans; set pans aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a very large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until well combined. Add the egg yolks and vanilla; beat on medium speed until combined. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Fold in coconut and nuts.

3. Thoroughly wash beaters. In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold about one-third of the egg whites into cake batter to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pans.

4. Bake in a 350 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Remove waxed paper and discard. Cool cake layers thoroughly on wire racks.

5. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with about 1/2 cup Cream Cheese Frosting. Top with second cake layer. Spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Place the remaining cake layer on top; spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Store cake in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Makes 16 servings.

Cream Cheese Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, beat one 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened, 1/4 cup softened butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in one 1-pound package powdered sugar (about 4 cups) and 1 to 3 tablespoons milk to reach spreading consistency. Makes 2-1/2 cups frosting.

Source:  Midwest Living

This is it, the chocolate chip cookie that I’ve been searching forever for.  They are so good, thick and chewy, not flat and thin like most chocolate chip cookies.

I’ve tried so many recipes, tried to fiddle with The Original Toll House Cookie recipe, too, by adding more flour, and could never get it right.  These are hands down, the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made.  I’ll never try another recipe, I’ve found perfection!

I made these because of 750 positive comments on the Food Network site, and I was thrilled with the results.  It’s the bread flour, I believe, that makes them puffy not flat.  If you never make anything from my site, and you’re a chocolate chip cookie lover, than make these.  You will not be disappointed, pinkie swear you won’t!

The only adaptation I made was not using parchment paper.  I baked them on a cushioned,  air cookie sheet, it worked perfectly.

I chilled them for a half an hour, then scooped them into big balls with an ice cream scoop, the rest I baked off the next day after being in the refrigerator all night. 

~ jan

Ingredients

    * 2 sticks unsalted butter
    * 2 1/4 cups bread flour
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1 teaspoon baking soda
    * 1/4 cup sugar
    * 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
    * 1 egg
    * 1 egg yolk
    * 2 tablespoons milk
    * 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    * 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:

    * Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
    * Parchment paper
    * Baking sheets
    * Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Source:  Food Network

Ina’s recipe has over 200 rave reviews.  It’s the traditional way of making fried chicken, browning in oil, but she then puts it in the oven on a baking rack to fry.  So much easier than standing over a stove, turning and frying chicken for 30-40 minutes.  I’ve soaked chicken in buttermilk for years, it gives it an awesome flavor.

This recipe is a must try in our house, I bet some of you will like it also.  ~ jan

I modified Ina’s recipe a bit, I would never fry two chickens at once…

1 chicken or four chicken breasts with the skin and bone.
Enough buttermilk to cover the chicken
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1-2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil or shortening

Put the chicken pieces in a large bowl, pour buttermilk to cover, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag.  Shake chicken pieces in the flour mixture. 

Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed skillet to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 350 degree’s on a thermometer.

Working in batches, place several pieces of the chicken in the skillet, being careful not to crowd it.  Brown on both sides for about 3-4 minutes each side until it’s golden brown.  Remove the chicken from the oil and place on a metal baking rack (a cookie cooling rack works great for this) set on a sheet pan. 

Check oil to make sure it’s at 350, fry the next batch of chicken.  When all is fried, bake 30-40 minutes until chicken is no longer pink inside.

My friend, Veronica, was telling me last week about vodka pie crust.  A friend of hers made it and said it was the best pie crust ever.  So I did a search for it, the recipe came right up on Serious Eats.  Here’s the link if you want to check it out.  Read the comments, others seem to love this as well…

Cook’s Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough>>>