Banana Bread

I will be honest, I have no idea where this recipe came from, but it has been in my family forever. It is so simple and so delicious. In fact, I was told by a "banana bread connoisseur" (a.k.a. Mike B. from Chemical Engineering) that it was THE best all-around banana bread he has ever had.
I have to agree with Mike, but I guess I am a little biased. Anyway, do not take my word for it and try it for yourself!

Banana Bread
Recipe by: ??

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup chopped nuts
 

Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and beat. Add bananas, milk and lemon juice. Sift dry ingredients and add. Add nuts. Bake in well-greased 8x4x3 loaf pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

The Best Apple Pie

Now I know this sounds a little biased, but I have had many different versions of apple pie in my time and I can tell you this really IS the best apple pie recipe. If you do not believe me, just try it and see for yourself. I got the crust recipe from my mom and tweaked it a little bit. The filling recipe is originally from the Betty Crocker cookbook, but made a few changes there as well. You may need to decrease the crust recipe depending on what size your pie dish is. I used a 9.5" Pyrex pie plate with handles, so that is what I based my crust yield on. Anyway, here you go and I hope you enjoy!


The Best Apple Pie

Recipe by: Me (with a little help from mom and Betty Crocker)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Pie Crust Ingredients
3 1/4 c. + 2 T pastry flour (all-purpose will work if you cannot get pastry, it just adds a little umph)
1 1/4 c. + 2 T COLD shortening (make sure you keep it in the fridge right up until you need to use it)
1 t. salt
3/4 c. ICE water


Combine flour and salt in a medium sized metal bowl. Add half of the shortening to flour mixture and cut-in using a pastry blender/two knives until the crumbs are the size of baby peas. Add the second half of shortening and cut it in until the crumbs are the size of kidney beans. 

Once the crumbs are kidney sized, add 6 T. of the ice water and gently fold in with a rubber scraper or wooden spoon. Once everything is equally moistened, you can decide if any water needs to be added or not. If it seems really dry and won't pack together into a ball, add one T. of water at a time until it does. You do not want to add too much water because that will create gluten, which leads to a less flaky crust.

Once the dough has reach desired consistency, split the dough in half and pack into two balls. When I do it, I make one ball slightly larger than the other for the top crust. Try to handle the balls as little as possible because the heat from your hands will soften the shortening. When I roll out the dough, I like to do it in-between two large pieces of plastic wrap. That way I am not tempted to add too much flour (which will give you a tougher crust) and it is easier to handle/roll out. While I am rolling out the first ball, I like to keep the other ball in the fridge until I am ready for it.

When rolling out your first ball, you want to first flatten it a little with your palm and then rotate the rolling pin clockwise as you roll out to make the crust nice and round. To see if your crust is big enough, place your pie plate upside-down on top of your crust. If there is 2" of excess around your plate, then you should be good. To transfer the dough into the pie plate, peel off the top piece of plastic wrap and then pick up the bottom piece of plastic wrap. The dough should stick to the plastic wrap and you can flip it over and gently lay it into the plate. Before removing the plastic wrap, push the dough into the bottom of the plate. Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough down to 1" using kitchen shears. 

Once you have the filling ready,  pull the second ball out of the fridge and roll out the same way as the top crust. Lay the crust on top of the filling and trim the edges to about 2 in". Cut an X in the middle of the pie using a sharp knife and V's on the sides to allow steam to exit. To shape the crust, pinch the top and bottom together and then fold them under all the way around the pie. To make pretty edges, you can either take a teaspoon and push into the dough to make scallops, or pinch the crust using your thumb and forefinger. 

Filling Ingredients
2 Golden Delicious Apples
2 Granny Smith Apples

1 Honeycrisp Apple
1 Braeburn Apple
3/4 c. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. All-Purpose flour

1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

Prepare the apples by peeling, coring, and thinly slicing them. You can do this by hand or with a peeler/corer. Once they are all prepared, break them in half with your hands and put them in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Add to the apples and toss to coat (I like doing this with my hands because it is more fun and easier than using a spoon). Pour the filling into the bottom crust.

Baking the Crust

Brush the top of the crust with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar. To keep the edges of the crust from burning, fold a 12" piece of aluminum foil into quarters. Cut out the center section of the foil to create a 7 1/2" circle. Place the foil on the pie with the reflective side on the top.
Bake for 35 minutes and then remove the foil. Bake for 15-20 more minutes until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

This is another recipe from my aunt Linda. I have tried many different white chicken chili recipes and this one wins, hands down. It's all about the sour cream and whipping cream...mmm!

White Chicken Chili

 

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can (14 oz. chicken broth)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chilies (you can use one if you want)

2 cloves garlic

1 T. veg. oil

2 cans Great Northern white beans

1 t. salt

1 t. cumin

1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whip cream

 

Cube chicken & saute with onion and garlic in the oil. Add everything else except sour cream and cream. (add these just before serving). Heat through and serve.

 

*Note - I think it's even better the second day!

 

Enjoy!

Dreamy Crescent Dessert

I cannot take credit for this recipe because it was given to me by my sister's friend, Chipo, but I had to post it because everyone loves it so much. She called it Sopapilla, but I know that sopapilla is something totally different, so I am just calling it "Dreamy Crescent Dessert".

Dreamy Crescent Dessert
From: Chipo Chidziva

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (You can use 1.5 pkgs. if you have it and want it more cream cheesy)
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (I used their seamless sheet crescents)
1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 hr
1 Using a 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls and line the bottom of the pan.
2 Flatten.
3 Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and extract until light & fluffy.
4 Spread over the crescent rolls.
5 Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.
6 Pour one stick of melted butter or margarine over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
7 Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Haley's Cinnamon Rolls

This is another recipe that did not come from our family, but we loved it so much that we adopted it into our family. Haley was my YW President in Nibley and taught me how to make these. They are so soft and always a huge hit whenever I make them. The mashed potatoes are the key!

Recipe by: Haley Judd

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup mashed potatoes
2 cups milk scalded
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
3 beaten eggs
3 Tbsp. yeast
1 ½ cup water

Scald milk and add first 5 ingredients, cool.
Beat eggs and add to cooled mixture.
Put water and yeast in large bowl, let yeast soften. Add milk mixture and Mix in about 8 cups flour. Dough should be soft. Knead slightly, let rise 'til double size.
Roll out on floured surface. Spread with butter brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins/pecans.
Cut using floss.
Bake 15 minutes @ 375

Diamond Cookies

When I think of Grandma Reschke's diamond cookies, I instantly think of Christmas. My grandma would make these around Christmastime and it would be a special treat whenever she did. She never made them any other time, so it would be something I could look forward to every year. I first made these cookies when I was a freshman for a class presentation and I quickly realized that they are not as simple as they look. The main thing I learned with making these cookies is that you must roll out the dough in powdered sugar. Flour makes them tough and oil makes them spread and go bubbly. It may take a couple of tries, but they are so worth it when you get them down!

Recipe by: Tove Reschke

Diamond Cookies

1 c. butter or margarine
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. dark corn syrup
4 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. grated orange rind
slivered, blanched almonds for the tops

Melt butter, add sugar and corn syrup. Remove from heat, sift flour, cardamom, cloves, salt allspice, and cinnamon; add to sugar mixture. Stir in orange rind. Dough can be stored, wrapped air tight in saran wrap in fridge for up to three weeks. When ready to bake, roll portions of dough out to a thin rectangle. Cut the diamond shapes using a ruler and place a slice of almond in the middle. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 min. Cool on wire rack.

Lime Chicken

No one in my family can really claim the creation of this recipe, but we have adopted it as one of our own. My dad found this recipe in one of his South Beach Diet cookbooks and we fell in love with it at the first bite. I love this recipe because it is so simple and yet so delicious. My sister Mindi makes this chicken pretty frequently because her husband loves it. I like to have chips and salsa on the side, but Mindi and her family like to eat it with rice. No matter what you eat it with, this recipe is a keeper and good for those nights when you need to come up with a meal in a short amount of time. Enjoy!

Recipe by: South Beach Diet

Lime Chicken

Dressing:
1/3 C. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
1 T. chopped scallions
1 T. EVOO
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt

4 chicken breasts
2 med. avocados
1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp. picante sauce (I use fresh salsa)

Marinate chicken in 3 T. dressing for 10 min. in the fridge.
Add 2 T. dressing and picante sauce to avocados and mash.
Grill the chicken until the internal temp. is 165 degrees and drizzle leftover dressing on top of the chicken.
Serve the chicken with a dollop of the guacamole on top and enjoy!

Newport Fish Tacos

These tacos were introduced by my dad when he found this recipe in the newspaper. I was skeptical at first; fish tacos just didn't seem like an appealing idea. However, once I tried it, I instantly became a fan. These are so delicious and good even for those that are not fish lovers. The thing that really makes these tacos so yummy is the sauce, it is what ties it all together.

Recipe from: Boyd Reschke

1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 cup nonfat mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound fish fillets (I like tilapia, mahi-mahi or halibut)
4 white corn tortillas
1 c. shredded cabbage
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
4 lime wedges
1/4 c. onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c. chopped tomato

Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, cilantro, and 1/2 tsp. chili powder in a medium bowl. Brush lime juice and oil mixture over fish. Place fish on broiler pans and cook 3 to 4 inches away from heat for 5 minutes. Turn and broil 5 more minutes, until fish flakes easily with fork. Meanwhile, heat tortillas one at a time in a nonstick skillet preheated over medium-high heat. Cook for about 30 seconds on each side, or until hot and pliable. Keep warm. Break fish into large flakes, and spoon into tortillas. Top with cabbage, avocado slices and a scant tablespoon of sour cream sauce. Serve with lime wedges, onions and tomatoes.

Grandma's Rolls

The one thing I always looked forward to when Thanksgiving rolled around was not the turkey, not the pies, but my grandma Kendall's rolls. They were seriously from another world-they were so soft, fluffy, buttery, and tall. She would bake probably around 40 and by the time Thanksgiving dinner was over, they would always be gone. Many people in my family have tried to replicate my grandma's rolls, but they are hard to get just right. Even if you add all the right amounts in the right order and everything, it takes a special touch when you handle the dough to get it to turn out right. Since my grandma has passed away, I am determined to master her recipe so her rolls can live on.

Recipe by: Alice Kendall

1 c. milk scalded (or 1/4 c. powdered milk & 1 c. hot water)
1 yeast cake dissolved in 1 c. warm water in a large bowl
Mix together:
3 eggs beaten
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cooking oil
2 t. salt

Add milk and yeast, then add 6 c. flour. Cover & let it rise until doubled in size. Shape into rolls by putting on floured board. Let rise again and bake at 400 degrees for 10-20 min.

Fresh Salsa

Oh how I love this fresh salsa. Growing up, we used to bottle salsa and I never knew there was such a thing as fresh salsa until my dad came up with this recipe when I was about 12. I can remember all of us just hovering around the salsa and eating it until there was nothing left. This salsa is extremely addicting and I have to force myself to stop. Whenever I have leftover tomatoes or cilantro, I know that it is time to make some salsa.

10 Roma tomatoes
1/4 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 jalapeno peppers (seeded)
1 tsp salt
1 bunch cilantro (stems removed)
juice of 1/2-1 lime

throw all ingredients into a food processor except for cilantro. Once everything is at preferred consistency, throw in the cilantro and pulse 2-3 times.

Bryson's Brownies

Although Bryson did not come up with the recipe, we call them "Bryson's brownies" because he made them just about every Sunday. He got to the point where he had the recipe memorized and loved to make them. One thing that Bryson always makes sure to tell people is that you MUST use Hershey's cocoa because they won't be the same if you use something else. Even though I do not really like chocolate, I do have a weakness for these brownies because they are so good.

Recipe by: Bryson Reschke

1/3 c. Hershey's Cocoa
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. vanilla
4 eggs-1 at a time

Mix the cocoa, sugar, and butter until creamy. Mix together the flour and vanilla. Put eggs in 1 at a time last. Pour batter into a 9x13 baking pan and cook at 375 degrees for 25 min.

Breadsticks

This recipe actually came from a lady who lived in our ward in Taylorsville, but we have adopted it as our own because we love it so much. These breadsticks are the first thing that I really "mastered" because my dad would ask me to make them all the time. I first learned how to make them with my mom when I was probably around 7 or 8, but did not really make them all by myself until I was about 14. I have come across many breadstick recipes over the years, and I still stay loyal to this one because nothing comes close it. I remember my brother-in-law called them my "magic" breadsticks for some reason.

Recipe by: Marian Lindsey

1 T. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water (2 if using wheat flour)
1 T. honey
1 T. malt powder
1 t. salt
4-4 1/2 c. flour (If desired, use 2 c. white flour and 2 c. wheat)

Pour warm water into mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast and wait for it to sort of poof up and rise to the top. Sift together flour, salt, and malt powder. Add honey, then add flour mixture. Mix until it forms a ball. Roll out and cut into strips, then roll into sticks. Melt butter in baking pan, then roll sticks in the butter. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.