Pretzel Bites

Start with your favorite bread/roll dough. If you don't have one, you can use (thawed) Rhodes rolls or use my all purpose roll recipe, I use this for cinnamon rolls, herb rolls or whatever:

Basic roll dough:

* 1 1/2 cups warm water

* 1 TBS of a good yeast, or one envelope of the other stuff.

* 2 TBS sugar
* 2 TBS oil
* 2 TBS dough enhancer (kind of optional)
* 1 teaspoon salt

* 4-ish cups flour

* TBS baking soda

Stir together yeast, warm water and sugar. Let rise until foamy, about 5-8 minutes. Add salt, oil and dough enhancer. Slowly add flour until dough is no longer sticky. Kneed for 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. turn into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.

Punch down dough and shape, let rise another 30-40 min and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Now, if making pretzel bites after you punch down the dough, roll it into 1inch balls. Boil water and add about 6 TBS of baking soda to the water...drop balls into boiling water for 45-60 seconds.

Then place on paper towels to drain. The balls will look spongy and shriveled, but will recover nicely in the oven. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Baste with butter then roll in cinnamon sugar or Grated Parmesan cheese & garlic salt.

Stuffed Mushrooms

12 large mushrooms

1 TBS oil

1 TBS garlic

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

crab meat (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Twist and remove steams from mushrooms and finely chop them.

Heat oil in a large skillet, add garlic and chopped stems. Cook until all moister is gone, careful not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool. When stems are cooled add the rest of the ingredients. Spoon into a Ziploc bag, cut off tip of the corner. "pipe" into the mushroom caps. Bake for 20 min.

Optional toppings: bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted butter, cayenne pepper.

--Recipe from Kari--

Yummy Chicken Salad

This is my favorite chicken salad recipe. It comes from my Aunt Sheri, who is a wonderful cook! The amounts of the ingredients are relative, so if you like more or less of something, then do it the way you like it :) It's great on rolls, croissants, cream puffs, etc.

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

5 green onions, chopped

1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

2/3 cup small grapes, sliced

1/2 apple, chopped

3 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I used a whole rotisserie chicken)

Mix well and enjoy!!

Pepper Poppers

These are a favorite at our house. They are the best on a grill, but if you can't grill outside, they work well in an oven, too. Ingredients:

2 Large bell peppers* (any color)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese

16 slices of thick-cut bacon

32 Toothpicks

Chop each bell pepper into 16 chunks. Cut cream cheese into 32 squares. Cut bacon slices in half. Press one cream cheese square into each chunk of bell pepper and wrap in bacon (it's better if it doesn't overlap too much). Punch a toothpick through the popper to hold the bacon in place. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a wire cooling rack on the baking sheet (so air can circulate and bacon fat can drip). Place poppers on the wire rack and broil** on high for about 14-16 minutes until bacon is crispy, turning halfway through.

* If you like spicy, try substituting jalapeno peppers for the bell peppers.

** If you don't like to use broil, you can bake them at 450 for about 30-45 minutes, until crispy. If you have a convection oven (one with a fan to blow air while they cook) they cook much better and faster. Many toaster ovens are convection. You can also grill them, which we LOVE, but DO NOT leave them unattended because the dripping bacon grease will boost the flame and burn the bacon.

Homemade battered French Fries

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (I used Johnny's)
1 & 1/3 cup water, or as needed (I think next time I will try replacing the water with beer.)
1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Directions
*Peel and cut your potatoes into fries and place into water and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer (up to 2 days).
*Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil is heating, sift the flour, garlic salt, onion salt and seasoned salt into a large bowl. Gradually stir in enough water so that the mixture can be drizzled from a spoon.
*Place fries into the oil shortly (until tender...not brown). Take the fries out and drain on paper bag or towel, allow to cool enough to handle.
*Dip potato slices into the batter one at a time, and place in the hot oil so they are not touching at first. The fries must be placed into the skillet one at a time, or they will clump together. Fry until golden brown and crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Salt immediately.

Fresh Salsa/ Pico de Gallo

This is a special treat in our family- we often do "Salsa Sundays"- get a bunch of chips and some great steak and eat your heart out!

6-8 roma or vine tomatoes, chopped (by hand!)
1 red or vidalia onion, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2-3 TBS minced garlic (to taste)
1-2 tsp chili powder (to taste)
dash of cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
salt & pepper to taste
juice from 1 lemon (you can use more if you like it extra juicy)
juice from 1 lime

Gently mix well and enjoy immediately!
Note: This salsa does NOT keep well- use within 2 days.

You can also "personalize" this salsa to what you like- add fresh corn kernels, chopped cucumber, fresh pineapple, Johnny's seasoning salt, etc. Sky's the limit!

Layered Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

1 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese
¼ cup basil pesto
½ cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
¼ cup (1oz.) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 cup (8oz.) sour cream
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
¼ cup pitted ripe olives, sliced (optional)
1 TBS. Finely chopped fresh basil
Additional chopped sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine half of the cream cheese and pesto; mix well. Spread in the bottom of a small baking dish. Blot excess oil from tomatoes using a paper towel. Dice tomatoes & grate Parmesan. In a clean bowl, combine remaining cream cheese, tomatoes, Parmesan, sour cream, garlic, and Italian seasoning; mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over pesto mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Meanwhile, slice olives and chop basil. Sprinkle olives and basil over hot dip, garnish with additional tomatoes if you wish. Serve with toasted French bread slices, crackers, or chips.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 pkg. Frozen spinach, chopped & drained
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese
1 cup (8oz.) sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 green onions, chopped
1-2 tsp chopped garlic (to taste)
Salt to taste.
Mix everything together very well. Spread into a small baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Serve with toasted French bread slices, crackers, or chips.