Lemon Blossoms

This one is a Paula Deen recipe. Nuff Said!!
Ingredients

* 18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
* 3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
* 4 large eggs
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
*

Glaze:

* 4 cups powdered sugar
* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 lemon, zested
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 3 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a lint free dish towel

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

Using a fork and your fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Potato Salad

Potato Salad recipes are like opinions. Everybody's got one! My late mother-in-law used to say, "I've never tasted a potato salad I didn't like!" Either she wasn't as picky as me, or she was extremely lucky! I have tried many potato salads, but have liked only a very few. There have been times when I was in a hurry and needed a potato salad to go with dinner and resorted to buying a tub at the grocery store. Sometimes I can gag it down. Most times, I can't get past the first bite without reaching for my Dr. Pepper (America's Champagne) as a chaser! There are a few rules when it comes to a good potato salad. The potatoes should be tender but not mushy. The salad should be creamy not soupy and definitely not dry. I don't believe in overdoing it with additions either. You can add whatever you prefer to yours. Mine is pretty basic, but tasty as well. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients & Directions

Wash, peel and cube in to bite size pieces 8 to 10 sm. to med. sized potatoes. In a large pot, barely cover potatoes with water and add 2 tsp. of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. When the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Drain into a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain off excess water and put into a lg. salad bowl. While the potatoes are boiling, in another med. to lg. size pot, boil 6 - 8 eggs. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Without emptying the hot water out of the pot, fill it with cold water and let sit until the eggs are cool enough to handle.
Shell and chop the eggs, add to salad bowl.
Add 10 or so sweet pickles that have been chopped. Sweet relish is NOT the same!
Add 1/4 cup chopped onion.
In a separate bowl mix, about 1 cup of mayonnaise, 2 tbs. mustard, 2-4 tbs. pickle juice and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix well and pour over the salad and stir to coat. If it looks a little dry, add more mayonnaise 1 tbs. at a time until you reach a desired consistency. Sprinkle the top of the salad with paprika, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pasta Pizza Salad

This is another one that I'll have to post a picture for later. This salad is a meal all by itself and is perfect for hot summer days. It's makes up a big salad bowl full, so invite your neighbors and enjoy a cool, delicious, filling dinner together!

Ingredients & Directions:

16 oz. rotini pasta boiled until tender, drained and rinsed will with cool water.
1 lb. cubed cheddar cheese
1 lb. cubed mozzarella cheese
1 cup diced celery
1 can black olives, drained
1 jar green olives, drained
1 package sliced pepperoni
1 cup parmesan cheese

Mix ingredients together in a large salad bowl and toss. Serve with your favorite salad dressings. Italian, Caesar, Italian, Creamy Parmesan...whatever suits your fancy. The nice thing about this recipe is that you decide on what you want to add. I don't care for tomatoes, so I don't add them. However, I have been known to throw in fresh sliced mushrooms or diced artichoke hearts! Yumm!

Macaroni & Cheese Salad

I'll have to post a picture of this one at another time. This is a recipe of my late Mother-in-law's. Her name was Gloria and she was not just my Mom-in-law. She was one of my dearest friends and I still miss her terribly. She had many talents, including cooking. I am so very thankful I had the opportunity to get to know her before she passed. I have many of her recipes, and this is by far one of my favorites. Even my sister-in-law, who doesn't care for macaroni salads loves this salad! Enjoy

Ingredients & Directions:

16oz. shell macaroni boiled till tender then rinsed cold (I like to use medium sized shells)
1 cup diced celery
1 lb. cubed cheddar cheese

dressing:

4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons mustard
2 cups sour cream
2 cups mayonnaise
1 lg. bottle sweet pickle relish
1 tsp. salt (optional)

In a large salad bowl, mix well and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When you first mix it together, the salad will be rather soupy. This is normal. The pasta absorbs much of the liquid. If you try to cut back on the amount of dressing, the salad will be extremely dry by the next day.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

I decided to combine two of my most favorite foods and hit pay-dirt! Who doesn't love homemade macaroni and cheese? OK, my oldest son doesn't care for it, but still......you can't deny that most people can't pass up a dish of mac & cheese. There's a reason it's known as "comfort food". Then there's buffalo chicken. There hasn't been a single time when I've gone out to eat and ordered buffalo wings or tenders when I didn't end up only wanting more. They're tasty, do doubt! But not the most filling of dishes. For me, the union of these two treats was nothing less than a taste of heaven here on earth!

Directions:
First, you'll want to prepare your chicken tenders to fry up later.
Combine 1/2 cup flour with 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp salt in a sm. bowl and mix well.
Cut 10 thawed chicken tender into 1 inch chunks and put in lg. bowl. Pour flour mixture over the chicken chunks and toss to coat. Place coated chicken in a single layer on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for about an hour. This will help the coating to stick to the chicken when frying.
Heat vegetable oil in skillet (just enough to cover the meat) to med-hi heat (375 degrees). Fry chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes, but don't overcook! Place chicken on paper towels to drain.

Mac & Cheese
Ingredients:
16 oz. lg. elbow macaroni
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
Pinch of black pepper
4 cups milk
4 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup pepper jack cheese (shredded)

Cook macaroni according to pkg. directions.
In a deep saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper then slowly add the milk stirring constantly.
Stir in the cheese until melted.
Drain macaroni and add to cheese sauce, gently stirring to coat.
Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan or dish.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Buffalo Sauce:
Combine 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot pepper sauce, dash of pepper and a dash of garlic powder in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted and everything is well blended. Add chicken to buffalo sauce and lightly toss to coat.
Pour buffalo chicken and sauce across the top of the mac & cheese and bake @ 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Enjoy!!

The Sweetest!!

My wonderful, beautiful, smart, talented daughter Aubree made this sign for me in wood shop class. What a lucky mom I am!

Grandma's Rice Pilaf

This is a recipe of my husband's beloved Grandma Kemp. I changed it, but just a little. No disrespect to Grandma, but her recipe calls for 1 lb. of butter. It's no secret that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE BUTTER!!!! But I found that a full pound in this recipe was a bit too much for this luvah of buttah! I cut it back from 1 lb. to 1/4 of a lb. The recipe calls for long grain rice, but I have been known to use brown rice (as shown in the picture) when I want it to have a bit more texture.This is supposedly a "side dish", but I'm a tellin YOU! This is delicious enough to be a meal all on it's own. Enjoy my friends!!

Ingredients:
1/4 lb as in 1/2 cup as in ONE stick of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. ground oregano
1 cup fresh, sliced mushrooms
2 cups long grain uncooked rice
2 cups water
3 cans beef consomme

Melt butter in a heavy container. I like to use my dutch oven. Add chopped onion and cook until onions are clear. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. While this is simmering, you can preheat your oven to 350 degrees. After it has simmered for the 20 minutes, cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.