Graham Crackers

I was sitting in a doctor's office being forced to read old magazines when I saw a recipe for homemade graham crackers. For some reason the idea of that appealed to me, plus the fact that graham crackers are supposed to help suppress unhealthy carnal urges. (really)

I suppose these aren't true graham crackers cause there's no actual graham flour in it, but I like them just the same. Someday I'm gonna make smores with 'em. It'll be great!

1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup cold butter, diced into cubes 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoon molasses 1/4 cup cold water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and mix until coarse. Add the honey, molasses, water, and vanilla. Mix together until dough starts to form a ball. Place dough on a piece of parchment paper that has been lightly floured. Roll dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Place the dough onto a large baking sheet by sliding it over using the parchment paper. Chill for about 45 minutes. Cut dough into 2 inch squares, and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Poke holes 2-3 times in each cracker. Bake at 350 degrees for about 14-15 minutes.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top while they are still warm.

No Bake Blueberry Pie

I got this recipe from a lady I worked with many years ago. I love the way the blueberries pop when I eat 'em. I'm a pretty hardcore chocolate person, but when it comes to pie, this is my favorite. Here's what you do: First you need a baked pie shell. If you're the kind of person who does yours from scratch, then go for it. I get mine in the frozen section of Wal Marks. Boil 1 cup water with 1 cup blueberries about a minute. Add 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tbsp. cornstarch (dissolve it first), and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Boil that another minute or so till it starts to thicken up. Take it off the heat and fold in 3 cups of blueberries, then pour into pie shell. Chill and eat. Of course it cries out for some sort of whipped topping. And just to let you know....yes I am a little embarassed that all my dishes have dolphins or lighthouses on them. That's what I was into 15 years ago, and it's hard to break Corelle.

Cheese Muffins

I had promised myself I wasn't going to mention the pioneer woman again, cause I didn't want my friend Lisa to think badly of me. But then I saw this recipe and it almost made me wet my knickers.

These were really easy and so yummy. I think they'd be awesome with chili or stew.

Thanks Pioneer Woman!

Comfort Food: Mac and Cheese with Ham

This is the girl. She approves of this macaroni and cheese.

This is the boy. He definitely prefers the blue box.

I can't say this was my most favorite thing ever but we've got a lot of ham to use up, and I found this recipe, so there ya go. Stay tuned for ham-k-bobs, ham chowder, fricasseed ham.....

I hear Martha's got a pretty good recipe, but I'm not up to selling a kidney to buy all the cheese it calls for. Maybe someday.

Crock Pot Chicken

Yeah, I know. It's a chicken. Whee!

But it's awfully yummy...and tremendously easy.

Anyway, I was really hungry one day and had a chicken but didn't know what to do with it.

I wasn't sure if you could throw a whole chicken in the crock pot but apparently you can.

I sliced some onions and put them on the bottom of the crock pot, and rubbed some spices on the chicken, then cooked it on high about 5 hours.

I especially like it with rice. And cheesecake.

Rotini with Spinach and Cheese

I really like this stuff....it's super easy. And I enjoy watching the children try to pick the spinach off the noodles that's glued on with melted cheese. It's the little things that make me happy.

The recipe is from Giada DeLasomething I can't spell. We usually have it with some italian sausages cause we gotta have our meat!

Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shredded Pork

Just to let you know up front, I love the Pioneer Woman. She's my hero.

I've made lots of her recipes and they're all great. And I don't really mind professing my love for people I don't even know. I'm okay with that.

This pork was great...I might try a different combination of ingredients next time.

Here's her recipe.

Baby Shower Diaper Cake

Okay, I have to be honest. We didn't eat this one. But it was lots of fun to make for my coworker's baby shower, and pretty easy.

I purchased a wooden dowel (about 12 inches) and wrapped a couple of baby blankets around that securing it with rubber bands. Then I started layering diapers around the bottom (size 1's) until I got the base as wide as I wanted. I used dental floss to tie them together. After that I repeated the process with the top layer and decorated it all willy nilly.

I was hoping people would start hiring me to make diaper cakes on a regular basis so I could quit my day job, but so far no luck.

Mixed Berry Pavlova

This was fairly yummy, considering there was not a speck of chocolate in it. It was devoured in 6 minutes flat by 4 adults and 2 children. Here's the link to the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mixed-berry-pavlova-recipe/index.html

The recipe called for some raspberry liquor, which, oddly enough, I didn't have on hand and opted to leave it out. I don't think we missed it.