Pistachio Pudding Bars

This is another of Becky Woodbury's dessert recipes. It is one of Danny's favorites, and he sometimes asks for it for his birthday dessert. As he wanted it while we will be out of town this year, I figured it was finally time to put it up on the blog where I can easily access it no matter where I am!

Ingredients:

1 package Pecan Sandies cookies (13 oz), crushed

1 stick melted butter

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz. cool whip

2 packages pistachio pudding mix

3 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine crushed cookies with the melted butter. Pat into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip, and spread over the cooled crust.

Mix together the pudding mix and milk and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Chill until set, about 2-3 hours.

May top with cool whip or whipped cream if desired.

 

Frozen Raspberry Delight

Last of Becky's icebox desserts I needed saving! These are all so good for summer.

Crust:
2 cups crushed chocolate wafer cookies
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:
1 cup chocolate fudge sauce, slightly softened
1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
1 pint raspberry sherbet, slightly softened
1 bag (12 oz) frozen raspberries

Topping:
1 container (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

In a medium bowl, mix crust ingredients. Reserve 1/4 cup for the topping and press remaining in 13x9 inch pan to make crust. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Carefully spread fudge sauce over crust. Cut slightly softened vanilla ice cream into slices and place over fudge. Drop spoonfulls of the softened sherbet randomly on top and gently swirl it into the ice cream. If the ice cream mixture gets too soft, set it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so.

Gently press the raspberries onto the top, then top with the whipped topping, spreading it to the edges of the pan.

Garnish with the reserved chocolate crumbs, then freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

Buster Pie, aka Snicker Pie

Another from Becky Woodbury!

Ingredients:
Crust:
8 oz package of oreos
1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
1 cup peanuts

Top layer:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Crush cookies, add butter. Press into 9x13 pan. Spread ice cream. Top with peanuts. Freeze one hour.

Combine all top layer ingredients in a saucepan. Boil 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool. Spread over ice cream. Freeze.

Lemon Icebox Dessert

Needed to save this recipe somewhere where I could find it! From Becky Woodbury

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 8 oz creem cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 8 oz containers Cool Whip
2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
1 cup lemon juice

Crust: preheat oven to 350. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar then press into bottom of 9 x 13 glass pan that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 12-13 minutes until just bubbly. Cool completely.

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 container of Cool Whip until smooth. Spread over cooled rust.

Beat together the sweetened condensed milk, egg yolk, lemon juice and other container of Cool Whip then spread over cream cheese layer.

Freeze at last 4 hours or preferably overnight. Thaw 10 minutes before serving.

d'Aquin Carrot Cake

Ingredients

2 C sugar
2 C flour
4 eggs
1 C oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 C freshly grated carrot
8 oz can crushed pineapple, with juice

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour pan.
2. Combine all ingredients together and beat until smooth.
3. Bake in a 9x13 pan for 40 minutes.
4. Cool cake completely.
5. Top with cream cheese frosting, recipe below.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz bar of cream cheese

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

16 oz box powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.

Beef Stew, with Pumpkin Stew instructions

As you know, every year for the last 4 years or so during Halloween season I have a tradition of making a pumpkin stew, or a beef stew that I bake inside of a pumpkin. Each year I have tried something a little different, attempting to find the perfect recipe I am fully happy with. This year I found the winner stew recipe, and Mom asked me to share it here! It is Emeril's Beef Stew from the Food Network, found here: 

Emeril's Beef Stew

I won't retype everything here as it has a long ingredient list, etc, and clicking above will take you right there. I forgot to add the peas and the parsley at the end and didn't add any cayenne to the spices you put on the meat, and it still was perhaps the best stew I can ever remember having.

To use it for our traditional Halloween pumpkin stew, buy a pumpkin around 10-12 pounds, making sure it will fit in your oven and stand up securely on its own. Make the stew up until the point where you have let it simmer for an hour, right before you add the final ingredients. While the stew is simmering, preheat the oven to 325, clean the outside of the pumpkin, cut open the top at an angle so that you will be able to put the lid back on, and clean out the seeds and strings well. Place the pumpkin on a large rimmed baking sheet, and lightly oil the outside of the pumpkin. Once the stew is done simmering and the vegetables are fully cooked, spoon the stew into the pumpkin, leaving about an inch of space at the top. Put the lid back on the pumpkin, and bake it for 2 hours on 325. When it is done, take it out and add the peas and parsley if you wish. As you serve, you can scrape the sides of the pumpkin to add bits of the pumpkin flesh to the stew in the bowls.

A few notes:

• You may want to wrap foil around the stem if your pumpkin still has one while it bakes.
• I used regular large pumpkins from the grocery store, but most of those jackolantern pumpkins are not really known for their flavor. It was still good, but this time I used a peanut pumpkin which aren't as smooth and pretty but are known for having a good flavor, and it turned out well! Perhaps the knobs/warts on the outside (which I was told are a buildup of excess sugar) just make it look extra spooky, as it is Halloween after all!
• I have tried not fully simmering the stew beforehand, thinking it would finish cooking within the pumpkin as it would in a dutch oven, but I am assuming the walls of the pumpkin were so thick and it took so long for that to cook through that the vegetables in the stew never fully finished cooking. So take my advice and cook the stew fully first, but still keep it inside the pumpkin where it will stay warm and its juices will soak into the pumpkin and help it as it cooks.
• I usually make the stew the day beforehand, then warm it up fully on the stove before putting it inside the pumpkin and baking it. It makes it much simpler and easier the day of!
  

Indian Green Curry Chicken

I got this recipe from a friend who is married to an Indian man.  My whole family really enjoys this recipe!

2 C cilantro
1/2 C mint
2 jalapenos
1 Tb fresh ginger
1/2 C water

Puree the above ingredients to create a chutney. Set the chutney aside.

1/4 C canola oil
1.5 Tb cumin seeds
1 Tb coriander seeds
3 Tb pressed fresh garlic
1.5 C diced red onion
1 Tb salt
2 C plain yogurt
3 lbs chicken thighs, bone in
3 C basmatti rice

Heat oil in a heavy, shallow pan for one minute. Add cumin and coriander seeds and allow to sizzle for about 30 seconds.  Add the fresh garlic and diced red onions and saute for about three minutes.  Add salt. 

Turn off the heat, and after 2-3 minutes, stir in 1 C of the yogurt.  Add chicken thighs, stir, reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for at least 25 minutes, stirring regularly.  If you cook this lower and slower the meat will be more tender.  Remove from heat and let the curry cool for about 20 minutes. 

Transfer chicken to a separate bowl, and remove the chicken from the bone, being careful not to shred the chicken.  Discard the bones and return the chicken pieces to the curry. 

Stir in the mint-cilantro chutney and the remaining C of yogurt.  About 15 minutes before serving, bring curry to a boil at a medium heat.  Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes or until well mixed.  Serve over rice.