Italian Tortellini Soup

Back in high school my sister and I babysat some kids from our ward for a weekend. The lady told us to eat whatever we wanted. So we came across this leftover soup in her refridgerator and we were so glad that we did. Luckily, after some snooping we found where the recipe was and copied it down for our mother to make us ASAP! It was an instant family favorite. A while back my mom thanked the woman for such a wonderful recipe. The woman agreed that the soup was delicious but was confused as to how my mom had gotten the recipe ;)
That was a long story to say that this is delicious!
(To my family this is the Pickle one)

Italian Tortellini Soup from Kara Sullivan:

4c. fresh or canned tomatoes
1 lb. italian sausage
1 can 14oz. italian tomato sauce (if you can't find it just add some oregano to regular tomato sauce)
7c. Beef broth
1c. chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1c. sliced carrot
1tsp. basil
1tsp. oregano
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2c. sliced zucchini
1c. sliced mushrooms
1 diced green pepper
1/4c. fresh parsely chopped
1/2c.sliced dill pickles (my mom adds more) (DO NOT leave these out. They really add to the flavor of the soup. I don't even like dill pickles but they are good in this. Add them thank me later.)
2c. Tortellini or Ravioli
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Combine first 9 ingredients and simmer 30 minutes
Then add bottom 6 ingredients to first
Cook until done- about an hour.

Serve with bread and you are good to go!

Christmas Bark

Hi all, this is Jill, Ashlee's sister. Here is a delish holiday treat. It's quick too. I can never stop eating it.

I first tried this bark while living in Santa Monica, my roommate grew up eating it. And now I'm growing old eating it. Enjoy!

Chocolate Bark

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 box graham crackers

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Line cookie sheet with buttered aluminum foil. (You don't have to do that but it really makes it easy to get the bark out at the end. Otherwise sometimes it sticks to the pan and is hard to break up).
3. Line cookie sheet with crackers in single layer. (you'll have to break some of them up, it doesn't have to be perfect because the sugar/butter will bind it all together)
4. In a saucepan combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over graham crackers and spread to cover crackers completely.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 5 to 6 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes. (I actually put it back in the oven for a few minutes to make sure the choc chips melt enough to be able to spread them easily).
8. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts.
9. Cool completely and break into pieces. (I put and keep it in the fridge and it's really easy to break up into pieces.)
10. Some people use saltine crackers. I've never tried it but I bet it's good with a little bit more of a salty kick.

Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup
This recipe is from my sister Tricia. She is a great cook and got this off of the allrecipes.com website and adapted it a little. I couldn't stop eating this soup. It can get kind of thick so just add more broth if you like. I didn't mind it thick. We had it with some yummy bread and the boys LOVED it!

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice or (rice-a-roni box will do too.)
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup diced carrots
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 (10.75 ounce) can chicken broth (or a little more depending on the consistency you like)
2 cups milk
2 cups diced chicken (leftover rotisserie chicken is awesome in this!)


Prepare rice according to package directions (if it has a seasoning package you can add that too.)
Melt the butter or margarine in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and carrots and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until almost tender.
Stir in the four and salt and pepper to taste. Add the broth and milk and stir until soup thickens.
Add the rice and the chicken and allow to heat through, about 10 minutes

Banana Cream Pie by Grandma Crandall

I hope Jeff's family doesn't mind me posting this but it is AMAZING. Once you have it you will never go back to your pudding mix Banana cream pie. This is the real deal. Enjoy!

2 c. milk
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
1 TBSP butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Bananas
Whipped Cream (for the topping-Cool Whip isn't going to cut it with this pie-you need the real thing!)
Pie Crust

***NOTE: Corn starch gets lumpy when it is added to HOT liquid. To avoid lumpiness, simply combine the cornstarch with the cold mix first(mom puts it in a jar and shakes vigorously) and then add the milk as instructed.***

Directions:

Boil milk slowly and stir in sugar, cornstarch, salt and egg yolks with a little milk. Should be cake mix consistency. Cook and boil until thickened.

Take pan off stove and add butter and vanilla. Cool.

In crust put the pie mixture, then spread the sliced bananas and then add the rest of the pie mixture.

Enjoy

Peanut Butter Cookies- from Register Guard

My mom and dad are avid readers of the newspaper. Lucky for us they are b/c they have scored some of the most delicious recipes from the paper and this recipe is no exception. I can honestly say that these are the best PB cookies I have had. Enjoy!

3 c. Flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter or margarine at room temperature
1 c. granulated sugar (+ extra for dusting)
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. Peanut Butter at room temperature
2 Eggs at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350*

Combine dry ingredients
Cream butter, sugar
Add Peanut Butter
Add vanilla.

Mix at Medium speed 3-5 min-till lighter and fluffy
Beat each egg separately

Add dry ingredients gradually
Shape cookies into size of Ping Pong balls
sprinkle sugar on top

Bake: 10 min. (Rotate the pan 1/2 way through)
Edge should be brown and crisp-middle should be soft.

Broccoli Salad-Give it a chance!

Broccoli Salad-This salad immediately makes me think of the 4th of July and BBQ's with friends and family. It seems a little strange but all the flavors come together and leave you with a very yummy summer salad. My boys even like it! The recipe I got from my mom and unfortunately she doesn't have measured amounts for everything. I will give approximations but you can certainly add or subtract to your liking.

Broccoli- 2 heads
Celery- about 2 stalks Diced
Green Pepper- Diced (I have also omitted this before and it turned out fine)
Onion- 1 medium diced
Golden Raisins-2 cups ( you could use regular or craisins but these are good)
Sunflower seeds salted- 1 cup
Mayonaise- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 TBSP
Vinegar- 2 tsp
Bacon (about 1/2 a pkg. cooked until crispy and good for crumbling.)
Liquid Smoke- 1 tsp. (special addition-you could leave out but it tastes SO good with it!)

Directions:
Mix Mayo, Sugar, Vinegar and Liquid smoke in a Large Bowl
Chop what needs to be chopped
Add Everything into the Large Bowl and mix thoroughly.
Chill in the fridge.
Best to eat on the day you make it.

Enjoy!

Pork Chops by Aunt Dixie

One of the great pleasures of going to BYU wasn't in Provo at all. It was living so close to my aunt Dixie in Heber. She would let us come and stay during the weekends and do our laundry and veg out and eat their food. It was home away from home. She is an amazing cook and these pork chops were one of the meals that she fed us. I fell in love and now I will share with you. I usually only do the brine part and the boiled apples part of the recipe b/c it is the part that we love most. The sauce is good and you can make it but like I said-The brine is best part and you don't need it. Plus it calls for some ingredients that aren't normally sitting in my kitchen. Thank you aunt Dixie my relationship with pork chops will never be the same!

• Aunt Dixie’s Cider Brined Pork Chops with Apples
Brine:
• 4c and 3/4c Apple Cider
• 2c cold water
• Salt 4Tbsp and 1/2 tsp.
• 2 bay leaves2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 6 pork chops
• 3Tbsp butter
• 3 1/4 c. chicken stalk
• 2 Tbsp. whole grain mustard (I used regular yellow mustard and it worked ok too)
• ½ c. crem freshe ( I used sour cream)
• ½ tsp pepper
• apples
BRINE
4c—(save the ¾ c)
Put 4c. cider (save ¾ c cider and set aside) 2c cold water, 4 Tbsp salt, bayleaves, garlic, chili flakes together in large dish or bowl. Soak the pork overnight in it or in morning before church. Turn them every couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Take out the chops and blot them dry
Melt 3 Tbsp. Butter
Add the pork chops cook 3-5 or until brown-flip them and repeat
Next put them (without sauce) in a 9x13 dish
Bake 15-20min

GRAVY/SAUCE
In the frying pan used to brown the pork put 3/4c cider. Scrape the edges of the dish to get the taste of the meat.
Add chicken stalk (chick. broth)
Boil until sauce is half its original amount or 8 min.
Add Whole grain mustard and creme freshe (sour cream)-mix thoroughly.

Boil the apple slices

Put pork chops on a plate. Everyone can serve themselves the gravy and they can also add their own apples. Jeff likes the pork chops without any sauce though.

10/10 yum!

Made for 6 pork chops-it would probably make more pork chops though.