Glazed Ham with Dijon-Pineapple Sauce

Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 2 hr 20 min
Makes: 24 Servings

1 C. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C. maple-flavored or pancake syrup
1/4 C. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1 whole fully cooked boneless ham (5 lb.)
whole cloves
12 maraschino cherries, halved
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 can (20-oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Preheat oven to 350. Mix sugar, syrup & mustard until well blended; set aside. Score ham; insert cloves as desired. Arrange cherries, cut-side down, on cloves. Place ham on rack in shallow baking pan.

Bake 2 hrs or until ham reaches internal temp of 140, brushing occasionally with 1/2 C of the syrup mixture after 1-1/2 hrs.

Mix remaining syrup mixture with cornstarch & pineapple with its liquid in saucepan; cook on medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil & thickens, stirring constantly. Serve with the sliced ham.

(If ham begins to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil.)

Pazookie 

(Pizza-Cookie)

 This is a weekly dessert at the Heiner home. I don't mean to brag but my chocolate chip cookies do rock, and the pazookie is even better because rod iron pans rock!!! My chocolate chip cookie recipe is no secret, it is the Nestle Tollhouse recipe with one change. Instead of butter I use butter flavored Crisco. I have to giggle any time I say the word Nestle Tollhouse because it reminds me of the Friends episode when Monica can't duplicate Phoebe's Grandma's cookie recipe. Here is the Friends video clip. One trick I learned is to not over-beat the dough. Just beat it until it is combined, not creamy. Follow the directions exactly.

The recipe is on the back of any Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips bag...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I use butter crisco)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12 oz package) of Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Combine: flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter granulated sugar brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. 

Marilyn's Breadsticks

I have loved these breadsticks for years. I got this recipe from my sister Marilyn who is famous for them in our family. I make these breadsticks and serve with chili every Halloween. If you don't make the dough too stiff they will remind you of the Magleby rolls if you dip them in butter then parsesan cheese.


2 1/2 cups warm water
2 T Yeast
1 T Sugar

Dissolve yeast in water, let sit and then add the following:

2 T Butter
1 T Salt
3 Cups Flour

Beat until smooth and add enough flour (3-4 cups) flour to make stiff dough. Knead in machine 2-5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl then turn to grease the top. Cover and let rise 45 min to 1 hour. Punch down and divide in half-then divide into 20 pieces for small bread sticks or 10-12 pieces for large bread sticks.

Combine 1 beaten egg with 1 T milk. Brush on breadstick then sprinkle with sesame seeds or dip in butter and roll in parmesan cheese with garlic herb seasoning. Then let rise and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes until slightly brown. Remove and cool on wire rack.

Buttermilk Brownie Cake

(Satan's Cake)

John calls this Satan's cake because it constantly tempts us to eat more and whenever I make it we devour it in a day, thus making us feel 5 pounds heavier. If you want a simple, MOIST and delicous dessert, give this a try. The kids LOVE it! Thank you Grandma Sparks for the recipe!

Mix 2 cups sugar,
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt

Boil together on stove: 2 sticks margarine 1 cup water 4 Tbs cocoa

Pour in dry ingredients and add ¾ cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla
Add mixture from stove. Mix well. Pour into large cookie sheet well greased and floured. Bake @350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Frosting: Boil in pan on stove: 1 stick margarine, 2 Tbs cocoa, 6 Tbs buttermilk
Add: 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Cake can be frosted when warm or cooled. This is one of our family favorites. Nuts optional.

Saucy Meatballs

This recipe is from my Southern Living cookbook. What I thought was going to be a super lame dinner turned out very yummy! Now, I used my own pre-made frozen meatballs and it made it even easier, so if you want you can just skip the whole meatball-making thing altogether (who wants to shape cold raw beef into balls anyway?) and follow the recipe for the creamy sauce. Delicious comfort food.

1 lb groud beef

1/2 cup soft breadcrumbs

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup milk

2 T vegetable oil, plus a little leftover bacon grease (doesn't everyone save theirs? :)

3 T flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 8 oz carton sour cream

Hot cooked rice or noodles

Combine first 8 ingredients, mixing well; shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Brown in hot oil in a large skillet. Drain; reserve drippings in skillet. Add flour and 1/2 tsp pepper to drippings; mix well. Gradually add broth, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, cool. Add sour cream and meatballs; cook over meduim heat, stirring constantly, until heated. Serve over rice. Yeild: 4 servings.

Pumpkin upside down cake

1 large can pumpkin

1 can evaporated milk, 13 0z.

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c sugar

1 box yellow cake mix

2 cubes butter

1 c. nuts, optional

Mix pumpkin, evaporated milk, spice, eggs, and sugar together and put in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix on top of pumpkin.  Melt butter and pour over cake mix. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr.

This YUMMY recipe came from MaryAnn. This is the first time I have made it and I will be making it often! Its the Perfect fall recipe. I split my batter into two pie pans, so I could cut it into wedges, and it fit perfectly. I have to say it is more of a pie than a cake. YUM.

John D. in all his fabulous glory!

Spinach Salad

Salad:

1 bag baby spinach 

1 pound bacon crumbles

1/2 crasins

1/2 red onion sliced

1/2 sugared almonds

1 granny smith sliced

4-5 green onions sliced

1/3 c. parmesan cheese

Dressing:

I c. Olive Oil

1/2 c. red raspberry vinegar

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. dried mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbls. poppy-seeds

Blend in blender then pour over salad. 

I got this recipe from my friend Marlo. Anything that comes from her house is YUM! So I knew it would be a winner! I made a few minor changes : I used a spring mix lettuce (I couldn't find baby spinach). I sugared walnuts in the Microwave instead of sugared almonds. (I burt my almonds on the stove, and only had walnuts left. I wasn't sad though they were yummy!) Anyway it turned out pretty good! Give it a try, you won't be sad.

German Pancakes

You may all have this recipe but if you don't, it is one you must have. These pancakes are quick and easy and the kids love them.

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat with Electric Beater

Melt 1/2 cube butter in cake pan in oven then pour batter over butter and cook at 4125 for approximately 15-20 minutes. Great with syrup

For change you can put cut up apples in batter or any other variation.

Stuffed Green Peppers: a faithful standby

This is one of the first things I learned how to make, and I have gone back and made this recipe a hundred times at least. Mom loves it too, in fact when peppers are on sale she'll buy a whole bunch and also pull out some frozen hamburger mix from the freezer and beg me to make them. She has to agree that mine are tons better than the yucky ones she made us eat growing up (sorry, Mom). And to answer the question in your head, no it's not really the kids' favorite. They will all eat the filling though, but they leave the peppers and what tomatoes they can pick out. I don't care though, Matt and I love them and hopefully someday the kids will, or else maybe my daughters will find a recipe that is better than this one, although I can't imagine it.

Better Homes and Gardens' Stuffed Green Peppers

4 large green peppers

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup basmati rice

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dried basil or dried oregano

1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or mozzerella or whatever you have

In a skillet cook meat and onion till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat. Stir in tomatoes, uncooked rice, W. sauce, basil, water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes or till rice is tender---you may have to add water.

While this is simmering prepare the peppers. Halve peppers lengthwise, removing stem ends, seeds, and membranes. Immerse peppers into boiling water for 3 minutes. Sprinkle insides with salt. Invert on paper towels to drain well.

Stir 1/2 cup of the cheese into the meat mixture. Fill peppers with meat miture. Place in 9X13 pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or til heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes.

Makes about 8 servings.

Bean Salsa

I got this recipe from Marilyn Greenwood and I believe she got it from Tracy her daughter. A good recipe can really travel. This is a great salsa that can almost be a complete meal. You just add the ingredients below in whatever amounts you like.

Pinto beans

White beans

Kidney Beans

Black beans

Can Corn

Chopped Olives

Tomatoes

Avocados

Chopped Onion

Cilantro

Zesty Italian no Fat Dressing

You may also add minced garlic and lime juice

MaryAnn's homemade pita bread

We had to have pitas for our lamb burgers, and so I said, "Sure! I'll make those!" Well, my first attempt was a failure, but luckily these make up pretty fast and I had time to try again. The second time was a charm. The only problem is that now that I've made homemade, I don't know if I can do the store-bought ones ever again. MaryAnn's are softer and simply delicious! For the burgers, we just sliced them all the way through, but they would make terrific pocket sandwiches, which the kids love.

1 T yeast
1 T sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 ¼ cup warm water
3 ½ cups flour

Mix yeast and sugar. Add salt and warm water. Add flour one cup at a time beating well after each addition. Mix to make a soft dough. Divide dough into 8 balls. Roll out to ¼ inch think, about 6 inches in diameter. Sprinkle cornmeal on a cookie sheet to allow bread to puff freely and not stick to pans. Place 2 or 3 pitas toa pan and let rise for 20 minutes. Bake at 500 degrees for 5-6 minutes or until golden. Remove immediately from pans and cover with a towel.

Lamb burgers with Cucumber Sauce

OK, as you may know, Mattney is the king of the grill at our house. He has taken to watching a grilling show that comes on PBS on Saturday afternoons. This is highly convenient to me, because he decides that he absolutely has to have that for Sunday dinner, which takes a load off of my Sunday plans. Matt kills me with his seriousness about the whole matter. He looks up the recipe online, it has to be followed to a T, no variations allowed. So, while these burgers may sound totally disgusting when you're reading about it, I assure you that the meal was so delicious. I'm usually not a lamb fan at all, but these were so juicy and packed with flavor I wish we could eat them every week.We had some friends over for dinner and they raved about them too. We did grill some plain chicken breasts for the kids, not wanting to spend all the time and money on something they most likely wouldn't eat. However, Mason did have several bites of mine and told me next time, he wants his own, goat cheese and all. If you're a little nervous about using lamb, I can imagine they would be great using a good ground sirloin.

GOAT CHEESE-STUFFED LAMB BURGERS
WITH YOGURT CUCUMBER SAUCE
Source: Raichlen’s Indoor Grilling by Steven Raichlen (Workman,
2004)
Method: Direct grilling
Serves: 4

For the burgers:
1-1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, or 2 teaspoons dried mint
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Greek)
1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea) or more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound goat cheese

For serving:
4 pita breads
4 rinsed romaine lettuce leaves
4 paper-thin slices red onion (optional)
1 medium-size cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium-size ripe tomato, thinly sliced

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce (recipe follows)

Place the ground lamb, chopped onion, garlic, mint, parsley, oregano, salt,
and pepper in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Wet your
hands with cold water and divide the mixture into 4 equal portions.
Working quickly and with a light touch, pat each portion into a thick patty
with a 2-ounce round of goat cheese in the center. (Make sure cheese is
completely covered with meat.) Place the patties on a plate lined with
plastic wrap and refrigerate, covered, until ready to grill.
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

Grill the lamb burgers until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side (about
170 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer). Remove the burgers and
cover to keep warm.
Place the pita breads on the grill, and lowering the temperature and working
in batches, if necessary, grill until toasted, about 1 minute per side.
Cut a slit in each pita. Place a lettuce leaf inside, followed by a burger, an
onion slice, if using, some cucumber and tomato slices, and a generous
dollop of yogurt sauce. Serve at once.

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce (don't skip...this stuff is amazing!)
Makes about 1-1/2 cups
1 medium-size cucumber
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea), or more to taste
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, or 1 teaspoon dried mint
Freshly ground black pepper

Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with a
melon baller or spoon. Coarsely grate the cucumber.
Place the garlic and salt in a mixing bowl and mash to a paste with the back
of a spoon. Stir in the grated cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, and mint. Taste
for seasoning, adding more salt, if necessary, and pepper to taste. The sauce
should be highly seasoned.

Chicken with Herb-Basting Sauce.

The other day I stared blankly at a frozen package of chicken breasts and had no idea what to do with them. Being almost 9 months pregnant, I didn't feel like trying anything adventurous and I definitely wasn't going to the store. I also couldn't face opening yet another can of Cream of Anything Soup. So, I went to my trusty http://www.allrecipes.com/ for some ideas. I found one that didn't look too exciting, but I found the 226 positive reviews from other cooks heartening. Plus I had everything in my pantry. I cut the raw breasts into tenderloins (because time was of the essence, it was already 5:30pm) and crowded them together in a casserole dish, then I turned them over about halfway through cooking to make sure all pieces were coated with the herbs. I served it with some leftover potatoes and a green salad. It was delicious and I couldn't believe how juicy the chicken was. All of the kids loved it!

Here is the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Breasts-With-Herb-Basting-Sauce/Detail.aspx

ENJOY!

Mary Ann's 6-Grain Wheat Bread

Mix on low speed
7 cups hot water in mixer
10 & 1/2 Cups freash ground whole wheat flour
Put hot water in mixer first then gradually add flour. Mix on low speed

In another bowl put 3 cups six grain flakes & 3 cups water (Enough water to show)
Put in microwave fosr a couple of minutes until water is absorbed. Add to mixture in mixer.

Next add 1 cup oil and 1 cup hones to mixer along with 3 Tablespoons salt. Mix for a minute or so. Then add 4 Tablespoons of good yeast. I like SAF brand.

Continue mixing for four or five minutes to establish the gluten in the bread. (That’s what holds it together to give it a nice textures.)

Add more fresh ground flour a cup at a time until the mixture barely starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (Too much flour will make your bread more dry)

Mix on medium speed another ten minutes or so. Shape into loaves and place in greased pans. Let it rise until double.

Bake on 350 for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and hollow to the touch. Immediately removed from pans and let cool. (If you are using convection oven bake on 325 instead.)

Makes 6-7 loaves. Freeze loaves that you are not going to use within a day or so. Because it has no preservatives it will only last about three days, Refrigerate the portion you are not using.