Shepard's Pie

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds of potatoes peeled and chopped

Milk

Butter

1/2 pound ham

1 large onion (chopped and fried)

Optional Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender. Place potatoes in mixer and add butter, milk, salt, pepper to desired taste and texture (mashed potatoes). Blend until creamy. Mix in ham, onion, and optional cheese. Place in a 9X12 glass pan and bake for 30 minutes. Raise temperature to 425 degrees and bake for additional 15 minutes or until top is brown. Enjoy!

No-Knead Bread

Ingredients
3 cups of bread flour alternative: 1/2c whole wheat flour + 2 1/2c bread flour
1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast (a little extra doesn't hurt!)
1 teaspoon of table salt alternative: 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt
1-1/2 cups of lukewarm water



Directions
Day 1:  
Put ingredients into a large bowl, stir until mostly combined, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for 12-20 hours.

Day 2:
Dump out onto a floured surface, fold the dough edges under to get a reasonably smooth-surfaced ball.
Let ball rest in a tall bowl for 2 hours.

1 1/2 hours into the rest, put a cast iron dutch oven (e.g., Le Creuset) in the oven to preheat at 450°F.

At the end of the rest, put the dough in the now-hot dutch oven, cover with dutch oven lid and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

Elapsed time: 14-22 hours
Work time:  5 minutes

Stolen from:  http://steamykitchen.com/168-no-knead-bread-revisited.html
You can find it all over the Internet but this is a nice write-up.

Wally's Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients
Crust:

1 Package (18,25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1 large egg

Filling:

1 Package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

3 ¾ cups confection sugar; sifted

Directions

1.      Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Set aside an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking pan.

2.      For the crust, place the cake mix, melted butter, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batters come together in a ball. With your fingertips, pat the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan, smoothing it out with your fingers until the top is smooth. Set the pan aside.

3.      For the filling, place the cream cheese in the same mixing bowl that was used to make the crust, and with the same beaters (no need to clean either) blend with an electric mixer at low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add eggs, vanilla, and melted butter and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat on medium speed until the sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute more. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the filling into the crust and spread with a rubber spatula so that the filling covers the entire surface and reaches the sides of the pan. Place the pan in the oven.

4.      Bake the cake until it is well browned but the center still jiggles when you shake the pan, 45 to 47 minutes. Remove the pan from the over and place it on a wire rack to cool, 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

5.      Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Stained Sunglasses Cookies

Stained Sunglasses Cookies

Aunt Bonnie's Chex Mix

Ingredients

2 sticks butter

3 T Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups of cashews  

1 T Lawrys seasoned salt

8 cups of Chex cereal  (I use corn, rice and wheat)

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Melt butter in oven in roasting pan

Add Worcestershire sauce and seasoned salt and stir to mix

Add the Chex cereal and cashews and stir until they are all coated

Bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

1 Pork roast or 2 pork tenderloins
1 bottle Hunt's Hickory and Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce
Dry Rub (I use a Montreal seasoning but any dry BBQ rub is fine)

Pour 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce into the slow cooker. Rinse pork with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Cover pork in dry rub seasoning. Place pork into crock pot (pork should not touch the sides, only the bottom of the cooker). Pour remaining BBQ sauce over pork, making sure the entire piece is covered with sauce.

Cook pork on low for at least 8-10 hours. Remove pork and use fork to pull pork (pork should be very moist and easy to pull). Serve with baked beans (I use Bush's baked beans, any flavor). Also goes well with potato salad or with rolls for a pulled pork sandwich!