Mexican Wedding Cakes

1 cup pecan halves or pieces
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, (divided)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tps salt

Place pecans in food processor until pecans are ground, but not pasty.

Beat butter and ½cup powdered sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup of flour, vanilla, and salt. Beat at low speed until well blended. Stir in remaining cup of flour and ground pecans with spoon.

Shape dough into a ball; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

Pre-heat oven to 350, shape tablespoons of dough into 1 inch balls, place 1 inch apart on UNGREASED cookie sheets.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets 2 minutes.

Place 1 cup of powdered sugar in a 9 X 13 inch glass dish. Transfer hot cookies to powdered sugar. Roll cookies in the powdered sugar coating well. Let cookies cool in sugar.

Sift remaining ½ cup powdered sugar over the cookies before serving.

Chicken Scampi

White sauce base:

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in nonstick skillet.

After it's melted, add 2 tablespoons flour and cook for 2 minutes on med heat.

Slowly add milk and stir constantly to get rid of lumps. when you have added enough milk, you should have like a white gravy consistency.

Set this aside.

You will have much more white sauce than you will actually need.

Scampi sauce:

2 sticks butter
2 tblspns crushed garlic (real garlic; not salt or the dried stuff
2 tblspns chicken stock
3/4 cup chablis (actually, I used riesling and it worked fine) or any white
wine that's not too sweet
1 cup water
1/4 cup white sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tblspns italian seasoning

chicken tenderloins (how much chicken you want)
black pepper to taste .



Heat butter over a slow heat. add the garlic, italian seasoning and crushed
red pepper.

Cook for about 2 minutes on low heat, add the wine, water, and chicken base.

Stir until combined add the white sauce mix and stir until
slightly thickened.

The rest of it...
1/2 package of angel hair, cooked according to package directions
thinly sliced bell peppers (red, green and yellow)
thinly sliced red onions
about 10 whole garlic cloves

Put the garlic cloves in a small nonstick skillet with some oil and braise
them for about 20 minutes on low heat. Just put the lid on the skillet and
let them cook...they should be golden and really soft when they are done.

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the peppers and onions for a few
minutes. also, saute chicken tenderloins (however many you feel like
cooking or eating!)Add the angel hair and pour the sauce over. saute until
everything is mixed together and sauce is reheated. add garlic cloves

Honey Dijon Fettuccine and Chicken

1 (9-oz.) package fettuccine
4 chicken breast halves
1 (14.5-oz.) can chicken broth
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup red bell pepper strips
1/2 cup red onion strips

Combine broth, mustard, honey and cornstarch in small bowl; mix until smooth. Transfer to medium skillet; add chicken breasts, bell peppers and onion. Heat to a gentle boil; reduce heat to low.

Cook, covered for 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened, vegetables are tender-crisp and chicken is heated through. Serve over hot fettuccine.

Spicy Wine Roast

3 pounds beef pot roast
1 small onion – chopped
1 package brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley -- for garnish, -- chopped

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.
Place in crockpot.
Combine the remaining ingredients, except parsley, and pour over meat.
Cover and cook on low 10 hrs.
Remove the meat and slice.
Thicken sauce with flour mixed in a small amount of water and serve over meat sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Turtle Cupcakes

Turtle Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 package (18.25 oz.) chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups water
1 cup mayonnaise

Directions
In large bowl, combine cake mix and cocoa.

Add eggs, water, and mayonnaise; beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl frequently.

Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating.

Praline Filling

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 egg yolks
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 cups finely chopped pecans

Directions
In medium saucepan, combine butter, egg yolks, brown sugar and salt.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in maple flavoring and pecans.

Transfer to medium bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming.

Refrigerate 2 hours or until chilled.

Stir before using; chill cupcakes.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Caramel Icing

20-25 caramels
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup chopped peanuts

Directions
In medium microwavable bowl, combine caramels and evaporated milk; heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until caramels are melted.

Stir in vanilla.

Dip cupcake tops into caramel mixture; sprinkle with peanuts.

Carmelized Beef Skewers

1 lb. beef sirloin steak, thinly sliced
1/4 cup A.1. Original Steak Sauce, divided
1/4 cup Barbecue Sauce
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard

Toss steak with half of the steak sauce; let stand 10 min. to marinate

Meanwhile, combine remaining steak sauce, the barbecue sauce and mustard; set aside.

Pre heat grill to medium-high heat. Thread steak onto eight long soaked wooden or metal skewers.

Grill skewers 6 min. or until steak is cooked through, turning after 3 min. and brushing generously with the barbecue sauce mixture.

Tamale Ranch Beef Casserole

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Beef Mixture

4 slices bacon
1 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes or about 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic crushed
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

In a medium saucepan, mix together cornmeal, 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until thickened.

Pour into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Chill.

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels then crumble.

Set aside.

Pour off skillet drippings; return 1 tablespoon of drippings to the pan.

Brown ground beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and the parsley in pan drippings; remove and set aside.

Drain off excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon. Sauté onion, celery and garlic in pan drippings until softened; add tomatoes, cheese and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Remove chilled cornmeal mixture from the refrigerator.

Turn pan upside down to remove cornmeal mixture in one piece. Cut into small squares, about 1 1/2 inches each.

Set aside 10 for topping, then place half of the remaining squares into the bottom of a greased casserole.

Top with half of the browned meat and half of the sauce and crumbled bacon.

Make another layer of cornmeal cubes, meat, another layer of sauce and bacon.

Arrange the 10 saved cornmeal cubes around the edge of baking dish.

Bake beef and cornmeal dish at 350° for 40 minutes.