chicken fricassee and dumplings

one of my twitter friends asked for a chicken and dumplings recipe this morning.  so I decided to share my mom's chicken and dumplings recipe.  I think I will make this for dinner tonight, it's great this time of year!

 

 

1 cut up chicken (sometimes I will get the package of just drumsticks and use that)
1/4 cup flour, plus more if needed
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3 tablespoons margarine
1 cup milk, plus more if needed

1. place chicken in a large ziploc bag and sprinkle with flour.  seal bag and shake to coat chicken with flour
2. heat oil over medium heat in a wide skillet.  add chicken and brown on all sides
3. once chicken in browned on all sides, remove chicken from pan
4. add onions to pan and brown
5. put chicken back in the pan with 1 cup water and reduce heat to low
6. simmer for 45 minutes
7. remove chicken from pan
8. add margarine and remaining flour to the pan to make a roux, once roux is lightly brown, stir in milk (adding more flour it is too runny or milk if is too dry)
9. put chicken back in the pan adding more milk if needed for the liquid to cover chicken.  follow the recipe below to make the dumplings and finish cooking the chicken.
   

dumplings

3 T shortening
1 ½ cups flour
2 t baking powder
¾ t salt
¾ cup milk

1. cut shortening into flour, baking powder, and salt
2. mix in milk
3. drop onto chicken and cook uncovered 10 minutes (gravy barely simmering)
4. cook covered 20 minutes

virtural cookie exchange

I just participated in a virtual cookie exchange at http://cottagemagpie.com/giveaways/virtual-cookie-exchange-2008/

I am I HUGE food nerd if I think that is really cool?

peanut butter and nutella cookie sandwiches *

I LOVE nutella and the past few years I have been trying to make a least one Christmas cookie recipe with nutella. this is the recipe that I tried this year and it is really good!

2-1/2 cups smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon frangelico (hazelnut liquor)
nutella (for filling cookie sandwiches)

1. preheat oven to 350 and line four cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, and baking soda on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. add the eggs and frangelico and mix on low speed until just blended, about 25 seconds.
3. shape level teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls. arrange the balls 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. (do not press down)
4. bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are puffed and crackled but still moist-looking, about 9 minutes.
5. transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool about 10 minutes. move the cookies to the rack and let cool completely. repeat with the remaining cookies.
6. turn half of the cooled cookies over so they are flat side up. spoon nutella (about 1-2 teaspoons) onto the center of each cookie. top with the remaining cookies, flat side down. press gently on each cookie to spread the filling almost to the edge. set on the rack until the filling is firm, 20 to 30 minutes. makes about 100 cookies or 4 dozen sandwiches.
   

the balls of dough may be frozen before baking for 1 month. thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.

chocolate fantasy fudge

when I first started doing my christmas cookies and candies, I went through my mom’s recipes to get the ones that I wanted to try.  I found her dad’s, (my grandfather) recipe for fudge and I tried it, but I couldn’t get it to set up.  I tried it a couple more times before I finally called my mom to tell her that I tried the recipe and couldn’t get it to work.  she then shared with me that she has trouble with that recipe and so she uses the one from the back of the marshmallow cream jar.  this is that recipe and it sets up perfectly every time!

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 small can (5 ounces) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup)
6 (1 ounce) squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
6 (1 ounce) squares sweet (or milk) baking chocolate, chopped
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow crème
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. line 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large heavy saucepan. bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. boil 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°f, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. remove from heat.
2. add chocolate and marshmallow crème; stir until completely melted. add walnuts and vanilla; mix well.
3. pour immediately into prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. let stand at room temperature 4 hours or until completely cooled; cut into 1-inch squares. store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

white chocolate party mix

this is a great snack and kids love to help mix it all together.

10 oz. mini-pretzels

5 cups cheerios

5 cups corn Chex cereal

2 cups salted peanuts

1 lb. M&Ms (I usually use peppermint M&Ms and they are great!)

24 oz. vanilla chips

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. combine 1st 5 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
2. heat vanilla chips and oil in microwave on med-high for 2 minutes, stirring once.
3. microwave on high for 10 seconds.
   
4. stir until smooth. pour over other ingredients in the large bowl and mix well.
5. pour onto on wax-paper in a single layer and let cool.
   
6. break apart and store in air-tight containers.