Scottish Scones ~ by Kelsey

Jessie is Scottish.  I am not.  But I can still make scones.  I got this from my Pillsbury cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease cookie sheet.  Mix together the four, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Mix well.  With a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until crumbly.  Add milk all at once and stir just until moistened.  Gently knead dough (I do it in the bowl) 5-6 times.  Place on cookie sheet and press into a round about 1- inch thick.  Brush the top with 1 tablespoon melted butter.  Sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon and sugar.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Cook for 20-30 minutes.

Ranch Potatoes ~ by Kelsey

These are kinda like seasoned french fries, only I like to think that they are a little healthier since they are baked, not fried.

Ingredients:
About six red potatoes, cut into smallish pieces
Packet of Ranch dressing, the dry kind
About a tablespoon of olive oil

Cut up the potatoes and put them in a gallon-sized Ziplock bag.  Add the oil and the Ranch dressing packet.  Zip the bag and mix together with your hands.  Prepare a baking sheet (they can really stick, so I put down tin foil and then spray it liberally with cooking spray) and then spread the potatoes out in a single layer.  I am still experimenting with the cooking temperature.  It seems that about 350 degrees for about 40 minutes works, but it depends on how big the potato pieces are, so you just have to keep poking them with a fork until they feel soft.

Mom's Apple Pie ~ by Sarah

My mom makes the best apple pie.  Her crust is what makes it.  It's flaky and delicious!

Pie Crust Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter-flavored Crisco
1 T white vinegar
1/3 c. ice water
1 egg
3 c. flour

Pie Crust Directions:
Mix the above ingredients just until well combined.  Let rest 15 minutes before using.  This recipe makes three crusts--so, divide it into thirds before rolling out.

Apple Pie Ingredients:
6 c. thinly-sliced, peeled Granny Smith apples
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
2 T. flour
butter
1 egg, beaten

Apple Pie Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Peel and thinly slice apples.  I use my apple slicer and then thinly slice each section.

  Combine apples, cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice, and flour in large bowl.

Roll out 1/3 of the pie crust dough (using plenty of flour underneath) and put in a pie pan.  Pour in apples, then top with thin slices of butter. 

 Roll out another 1/3 of the pie crust dough.  Put dough on top of apples, trim edges, and crimp the top and bottom crusts together.  Slice a few holes in the top with a knife, then use a brush to thinly cover the entire top crust with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, then put strips of foil around the edges to prevent the crust from burning.

Bake for 45 minutes, then remove foil.  Sometimes the crust sticks to the foil a bit when you pull them off--I haven't figured out out to prevent that yet!  Bake another 10 minutes.  Remove and cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Delicious!  (Not very pretty, though, because you can see where the foil peeled off some of my crust!)  I would show a picture of the inside, but I'm taking it to North Powder with me and it won't be eaten until tomorrow!

Apple Smoothie Jello Salad ~ by Sarah

This is actually Angela's recipe.  (She is too scared of Blogger to post it herself.)  I've never made it, and never will because it contains bananas and they're disgusting, but she claims her kids (and my kids) love it.  It looks good and Angela's a fantastic cook, so I'm sure it's great if you like bananas!

Ingredients:

1 6-ounce package strawberry Jell-O
3/4 c. boiling water
2 c. applesauce
2 ripe bananas, mashed
whipped topping for serving

Directions:
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in applesauce and bananas. Spoon into 1-quart mold and chill until firm. Serve with whipped topping.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding ~ by Sarah

WARNING: This recipe (one Molly found and is famous for) will likely cause you to gain a pound just from reading it.  But it's a lovely, lovely pound and well worth it!  I've never actually made it (but I've eaten plenty of it!), so these pictures were taken by my friend, Angela, who got the recipe from me the other day.  So delicious!

Molly made it for Kelsey when she was home a few weeks ago, and, according to Grace, Kelsey ate the entire pan almost entirely by herself.  Kelsey does not deny this accusation.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
12 croissants
1/2 c. raisins (We always leave these out.)
3/4 c. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped small

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food processor, combine butter and sugar and process until well blended.  Add cinnamon and vanilla and pulse to combine.  While the processor is running, crack 5 eggs into the mixture.  Turn off the processor and scrape down the sides.  Add heavy cream and pulse to combine.  Lightly butter a 9x13-inch pan.  Break croissants into 1-inch pieces and layer in the pan.  (If the croissants you buy are large, they may not all fit.)

Scatter the raisins (if you are including them) and shaved bittersweet chocolate over the top, and gently mix to incorporate.  Pour the egg mixture over the croissants; soak for 8 to 10 minutes.  You will need to push croissant pieces down during this time to ensure even coverage by egg mixture.

Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for additional 10 minutes to brown the top.  The croissant bread pudding is done when the custard is set, but still soft.  Allow to cool.

Lemon Pork Marinade ~ by Sarah

I was looking for a quick pork marinade this morning that didn't require special ingredients I didn't already have in the house.  I found this on allrecipes.com and it was excellent.  It makes the pork very lemony, so if you don't like lemon, this won't be for you!  Definitely made the meat tender and juicy, though.

Ingredients:
1/4 c. lemon juice (I just happened to have half a fresh lemon, so I used fresh.)
2 T. vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic
1 t. salt
1/4 t. oregano
1/4 t. pepper

Directions:
Mix the above ingredients in a resealable plastic bag.  Add 4 boneless pork chops and seal.  Make sure pork is totally coated and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, turning over periodically.  Grill meat on the barbecue and enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies ~ by Kelsey

I don't remember where I got this recipe.  They are my favorite cookies, though!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar.  Beat in eggs, then vanilla.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir into the creamed mixture.  Mix in the oats and chocolate chips.  Bake for 12 minutes at 325 degrees.