Stuffed Mushrooms

 I share this recipe with you because there are a couple of my friends which have asked why I did not add this recipe to my cookbook?  I have plans to self publish another cookbook, and adding this recipe was in the plan.  So why not share a recipe that I know you will enjoy now!  My girlfriends and I have enjoyed these at many Bunko’s at my house.  So open that favorite bottle of wine and have some fun!

2 pound of white button mushrooms, stems removed.  I know many chefs will tell you not to wash your mushrooms.  I cannot always follow rules from culinary experts.  Regardless, I place my mushrooms in a colander and rinse them quickly and lay them out to dry on a clean kitchen towel.

2 cups of Progresso Bread crumbs

2 cups of crushed butter crackers
1 ½ cups of grated Asiago Chees
1/3 cup olive oil
1 stick of melted salted butter
3 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon of black pepper
4 teaspoon s dried sweet basil
2 teaspoons Tony Chachere’s
1 pound slice of Smithville Ham – chopped – you can purchase a 1 large piece of ham steak in your local grocery store, in the meat department
½ cup of chopped green salad onion

 Mix all the above ingredients, make sure the mixture is moist but not too moist.  The mixture should packed together and stay together.  Stuff the bread crumbs mixture as much as you can, packing inside each mushroom.  Make sure the mushroom has a rounded ball of stuffing on top.  Place mushroom on a sided cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 350 degree oven until the mushrooms are darkened and tender, approximately 30 minutes.

Make sure your get together offers wine of your favorite choice.  Sit back and enjoy and trust me, have some fun!

Sandy’s Cheesecake meets Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix

I had made multiple recipes of my Sandy’s Favorite Vanilla Cheesecake recipe from my cookbook.  Through the planning of the cheesecakes to be made I had an extra amount of the filling left over.  I do not like to waste anything when it comes to cooking and baking.  I did not have enough for a whole cheesecake and I thought to myself; wonder if I added this filling to a Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix?  What would transpire from the 2 mixtures?  What did I have to lose?  So this is what I did, and the outcome was awesome and I will do this again and again.  I had fun and I hope you have just as much fun! 

Mix in a mixer

2 - 8 ounces – cream cheese softened and room temperature
½ cup sugar
Mix until well blended and add
3 eggs room temperature, one at a time until well incorporated
¼ cup of sour cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 teaspoon of almond extract

After the above is well blended and incorporated, add a box of Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake Mix and mix until well blended.

Grease and flour a 9 X 13 rectangular pan and bake at a 350 degree preheated oven for 20 - 30 minutes.  Do not over bake but bake until done with a match stick test.  Best if toothpick does not come out completely clean, crumbly on the toothpick is okay.

 

Let cool, and ice with;
4 cups of powdered sugar
4 ounces of cream cheese
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
Mix until creamy, you may need to add additional heavy cream until you get the right consistency
Spread over cake and trust me, you will enjoy!  Let’s Have Some Fun!

 

Shrimp Pasta Salad

2 pounds of boiled cooked shrimp – cooled and refrigerated - 40 to 50 per pound

2 cups mayonnaise
2 cups sour cream
1 cup grated Asiago Cheese
1 cup of chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup of chopped green salad onions
Tobasco – to taste
Cayenne pepper – to taste
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespons Worcestershire Sauce
12 ounces of raw elbow or small shell macaroni – cooked, drained, and cooled

Mix all the above ingredients, making sure to salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Enjoy and have some fun!

Symphony Brownies

I ate a version of this recipe for the first time at my hair dressers’.  What a wonderful Saturday!  Had my hair cut and colored and visited with an amazing group of women at Gail’s in Pearland.  Gail passed around her version of Brownie’s with Hershey’s Symphony and I loved them.  So please, enjoy and have some fun!

½ cup of butter

1 cup sugar
¾ cup of flour
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted – do not substitute for chocolate cocoa
½ cup – 1 cup chopped pecans
2         teaspoons of vanilla

2 - 4.25 ounce Hershey’s Symphony Creamy Milk Chocolate Bar

Mix all ingredients highlighted in green in a bowl and do not substitute the unsweetened chocolate for chocolate cocoa.  If you do substitute the brownies will be dry, do not do this.  Thanks!

Grease a 8 X 8 square pan and pour ½ of the brownie mix in the pan.  Place the Symphony Hershey’s candy bar over the entire first layer.  Top with the remaining brownie mixture and  bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.  Do not over bake!  Enjoy!