Paula Deen's Margarita recipe

This is one of the best margarita recipes I have found. It is very refreshing on a summers day!!

12 oz can frozen limeade concentrate

1 1/2 c. tequila

1/2 c. triple sec

ice

Put all ingredients in blender. Blend. Run slice of lime along the rim of the glass. Salt rim of glass. Pour mix into glass. Garnish with limes

Frozen Lemon-Berry Margaritas

After a day of baking how about a mixed drink?? Megan got this recipe from http://www.tasteofhome.com/ and I just HAD to try it!! The first time I made it I did not get the seeds out and I think that really needs to be done otherwise you are picking seeds out of your teeth all night!! It is an excellent, refreshing drink though - a must try!!!

6 lime wedges
3 tablespoons coarse sugar
2/3 cup lemonade concentrate
1 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries
2 cups ice cubes
1 package (16 ounces) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed slightly
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup tequila, optional

Directions: Using lime wedges, moisten the rims of six glasses. Set limes aside for garnish. Sprinkle coarse sugar on a plate; hold each glass upside down and dip rim into sugar. Set aside. Discard remaining sugar on plate. In a blender, combine the lemonade concentrate and raspberries; cover and process until smooth. Press mixture through a fine meshed sieve; discard seeds. Return raspberry mixture to blender; add ice, strawberries, blueberries, sugar and tequila if desired. Cover and process until smooth. Pour into prepared glasses. Garnish with reserved limes. Yield: 6 servings.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Want a RICH, creamy Peanut butter pie? This is it!! I made this up for my husband one day while I was fooling around in the kitchen. It came out tasting like a peanut butter cup!!!

1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate cookiecrust

1/4 cup Mini chips

Whip the cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and peanut butter. Fold whipped topping into the peanut butter mixture. Pour filling into the pie shell. Sprinkle pie with mini chips. Chill until firm.

Beer Bread

There is NOTHING like this bread with a nice spinach dip. The original recipe was from a friend of my mother's 30+ years ago. It had called for self rising flour. I as a rule do not buy that flour so I was not making it all that much. My mother had found a way around using the self rising flour and substituting some additional ingredients for it. I tastes just as good as the original recipe. I always use a regular beer instead of lite beer as it will alter the taste. I also make it in the mini loaf pans so that it is smaller and you are able to cut it a little easier. My suggestion is to make it and cut it when it is completely cool as it does slice better.

3 c. all purpose flour

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c. sugar

12 ounces (1 1/2 c.) beer. Do not use lite beer - it does not taste the same.

Mix all ingredients together and bake for about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Take out and brush with butter. It is EXCELLENT!!! I got 3 mini loaves out of it. The recipe will make 1 large loaf but you will need to cook it for an hour.

The Big Apple Pancake

My husband and I used to go to Bickfords years ago and he used to LOVE the big apple. While I was searching around the web, I found this recipe on http://kitchen.robbiehaf.com/ which has so many great recipes. When my husband tried it, he said it was a definite "keeper" in his book!! It did not puff up all that much but he liked the fact that there were more apples then dough. As cooking times do vary, and my oven is not as young as it used to be, this took a little bit longer to cook then the recipe calls for.

Here it is folks, ENJOY!!

Submitted By: Amy Jordan

Prep. Time: 0:30

Serves: 2
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

2 Tbls. margarine OR butter - melted

2 med. apples - peeled, cored, sliced

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-Combine flour, milk, and eggs.

-Pour melted margarine in 9" pie plate.

-Pour mixture into pan.

-Combine remaining ingredients and pour evenly into pie pan.

-Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Homemade Bagels

You think it's hard to make the best bagels in the world?? NOPE!! In fact, it's quite easy!! I had received a book from my mother years ago that was put out by Taste of Home and it is called "Country Breads". While I was looking through it, I noticed a recipe for homemade bagels. I guess I was feeling adventurous that night so I thought I would try it - oh wow were they good!! I started out making plain and then I added some add in's to it and they were AWESOME!!!

The basic recipe for the plain ones is as follows:

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 c. warm milk (110 - 115 degrees)

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

3 3/4 - 4 1/4 c. all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the butter, sugar, salt, and egg yolk; mix well. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into 12 balls. Push thumb through centers to form a 1" hole. Place on a floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes; flatten. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Drop bagels, one at a timme into the boiling water. When bagels float to the surface, remove witih a slotted spoon and place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

ADD IN POSSIBILITIES:

1 tsp cinnamon and 1 c. raisins - knead into the dough.

1/2 c. quick oats, 1 c. craisins (dried cranberries) and top the bagels after boiling with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon then bake them

Toffee Butter Crunch

This recipe was one that we thought we would try as neither of us have tried candy. Megan got the recipe off Cooksrecipes.com The one thing that we would definitly do again is use a disposible pan. That is the way to go with it as then you can throw away the pan afterwards. The candy is SUPER HOT though - Robin's hnd caught the wrath of that one LOL!!! Anyways, here it is!!

1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon light colored corn syrup
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted almonds

Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan; set pan aside. Butter the sides of a 2 quart heavy saucepan. In saucepan melt butter; add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture boils. clip a candy thermometer to the side of pan. Reduce heat to med. continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently until thermometer registers 290 degrees F, soft crack stage (about 15 min) adjust heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil. Watch carefully after 280 degrees F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan, spreading quickly.Let candy stand about 2 minutes or until set; sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened spread over candy. Sprinkle with nuts. Chill about 20 minutes or until firm. When firm, use foil to lift it out of pan break into pieces, store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks