ham & pineapple kabobs

I liked these the first time I tried them either my freshman or sophomore year of college while taking an appetizers class.  I marked "very good" in the cookbook that was required of us to purchase.  They are pretty tasty!!

ham & pineapple kabobs (cookbooke: Mable Hoffman's Appetizers)
40 (3/4-inch) cubes cooked ham (I used black forest from Costco)
1 (16 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained or fresh
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup currant jelly (I had to go to my fancy grocery store for it)
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

Arrange ham and pineapple alternately on twenty 6-inch bamboo skewers; set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine chili sauce and cornstarch.  Stir in jelly, mustard and orange peel.  Cook and stir over low heat until thickened.  Preheat broiler or grill.  Place oven rack 5 to 8 inches from heating element.  Place a wire rack in a broiler pan.  Arrange skewered ham and pineapple on rack; brush with jelly sauce.  Turning and brushing with sauce several times, broil about 3 minutes until hot.  Arrange broiled kabobs on a large platter; serve warm.  Makes 20 appetizer servings.  Serve with hot rice or cold macaroni salad!

snickers pie

My friend and her darling little girls were away for the entire summer.  I remembered that my friend enjoys Snickers Pie so I decided to make one and sneak it into her refrigerator for her return and make another one for my family.  There are so many recipes online that I am not sure this is the right recipe but it was sure good.  And rich.  And peanut buttery.  And chocolatey.  If you have a sweet tooth, this is the pie for you.

snickers pie (food.com)
makes 2 pies
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter or chunky peanut butter
3 regular sized Snickers candy bars (I used a whole bag of miniatures), chopped
16 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
2 (6 ounce) chocolate or graham cracker pie crusts

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and peanut butter until creamy.  Stir in chopped candy bars (I stirred in half of the bag of snack size candy bars).  Gently fold in the Cool Whip just until mixed.  Pour into crusts and refrigerate overnight.

What I have to say- I also drizzled caramel sauce over the pie, sprinkled the remaining Snickers bars on top then melted some chocolate chips and drizzled those over the top.

white cake with pineapple coconut icing

The icing on this cake is delicious.  It is a cooked icing just like a coconut pecan icing only this icing is buttery, sweet and tropical.  Hurry, before summer is over!

white cake with pineapple coconut icing (cooks.com)
Bake your favorite cake.  To make the icing you'll need these ingredients:
1 cup crushed pineapple, undrained
1 teaspoon flour
1 stick butter
1 cup nuts, if desired
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
14 ounces flaked sweetened coconut

Cook until thick: pineapple, butter, eggs, flour and sugar.  Add nuts and coconut.  Pour over hot cake.

skillet chicken burritos

These skillet chicken burritos were super yummy especially with chunky guacamole, pico de gallo and the sour cream sauce that you make with these burritos.  It was very filling but maybe that's because I just had to eat two of them.  It was just too hard to stop at one.

skillet chicken burritos (Taste of Home Healthy Cooking, August/September 2012)
2 cups chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11 ounce) can Mexicorn, drained 
1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
8 whole wheat tortillas, warmed (I used some whole wheat and some white)

sour cream sauce
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno slices (I used diced green chiles)
2 teaspoons chopped onion
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients.  In a large bowl combine the chicken, beans, corn, cheese, salt and 1/2 cup sauce mixture.  Spoon a half cup of chicken mixture on each tortilla.  Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up.  Spritz both sides with cooking spray.
In a large nonstick skillet or griddle coated with cooking spray, cook burritos in batches over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Serve with remaining sour cream mixture and salsa if desired (and guacamole!).

orange baked pears

We thought these pears were pretty yummy.  Citrus and cinnamon were a wonderful addition to these pears.  I imagine these would be a great side dish around the holidays with fresh pears.

orange baked pears (cookbook: Deseret Recipes, 1981)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 pears (Bosc or Anjou) or 12 canned pear halves
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on bottom of buttered 9x9 baking pan.  Leaving stem attached, remove core and peel from pears.  Set stem side up on top of sugar mixture.  Combine orange juice, lemon juice, lemon rind and butter then pour over pears.  For fresh pears, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  If using canned pears, do not cover with foil.
Remove pears to serving dish and spoon juices over pears.  6 servings.

orange cream ice cream

Grandma Anne got this recipe from her visiting teachers or home teachers and served it after our delicious lunch of grilled salmon while we were in town.  Nobody could guess the flavor right away but it tasted a bit tropical; we could taste the citrus for sure.  Now all I need to do is figure how to make this recipe in my Cuisinart.  If you figure it out before I do let me know!

orange cream ice cream (Grandma Anne)
for 4-quart freezer
6 oranges, juiced
2 lemons, juiced
(use a total of 10 to 12 ounces combined)
4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can evaporated milk
1 to 2 pints of whipping cream
whole milk

Mix orange and lemon juice with 4 cups of sugar and salt and set aside until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently for first hour then occasionally after that.  Add almond extract.  Add evaporated milk.  Add whipping cream.  Fill ice cream container to the top with whole milk if mixture is not enough.  Freeze in ice cream maker (I think if I were to use my Cuisinart then I would simply pour into my frozen container and press start and the ice cream would be ready in 25 minutes!).
If using a standard ice cream maker, "mellow" ice cream for 2-4 hours with 1 part salt 4 parts ice then while making ice cream, crush ice finely and mix 1 part salt 8 parts ice (whatever that means!).  Making ice cream sounds like a pain without a Cuisinart!!

beckham place creamed corn

We spent a glorious week at a family reunion in Southern California a few weeks ago.  While there we enjoyed some wonderful meals with family.  One afternoon Grandpa grilled salmon and Grandma made sides, one of which was this creamed corn.  My son calls it "cheesy corn" and loved it the first time he tried it.  He talks about the cheesy corn almost Grandma made and he has turned his nose up at the corn I have served since because I did not have the recipe until now.  Grandma says that her daughter got this recipe while working at a Scottish restaurant many years ago.

beckham place creamed corn (Grandma Anne got the recipe from Beckham Place)
2 packages (20 ounces) frozen kernel corn (it tasted like fresh corn to me!)
8 ounces whipping cream (Grandma likes to cook healthily so used half and half)
8 ounces homogenized milk
1 teaspoon salt
4-5 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons flour

Combine all ingredients except last two and bring to a boil.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Blend butter with flour, add to the corn, mix well and remove from heat.  Serves 8.
Variation: Put finished corn in a heat proof casserole.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and place under a broiler until evenly browned.