[ Stacy’s Super Salad ] From Stacy Thomas' Kitchen
This is a take on a normal tossed salad. You can put whatever you want in it, pretty much. For its base – you can use whatever kind of lettuce or greens you prefer. Stacy usually uses romaine hearts. Any dressing works well with this salad. What makes this salad so yummy – what makes it ‘super’ – is that there is more, what Stacy likes to call, ‘goody’ in it than lettuce or greens. The following is a list of what Stacy normally includes, layered amongst the greens (i.e.: small layer of greens, layer of all the goody, small layer of greens, layer of all the goody … topped with goody):
shredded parmesan cheese
slivered almonds
grated carrot
dried cranberries
red grapes
cherry tomatoes
cubed granny smith apples
[ Stacy’s Candy Chicken ] From Stacy Thomas' Kitchen
This is a wonderful marinade for chicken. Stacy often uses chicken tenderloin marinated in this in conjunction with her ‘Super Salad’. To 1 pound of chicken:
½ cup Italian dressing (drain and discard spices)
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 ½ teaspoons honey
Mix ingredients together. Pour over chicken, making sure all chicken is covered. Marinate at least 1 hour. Braise chicken in a non-stick pan or grill until lightly golden in color, but not dry.
Please note that Stacy no longer follows this recipe to the letter. She loosely follows the measurements suggested – usually using a tad more honey. She no longer even attempts to drain the spices out of the dressing, because it doesn’t work in the first place and doesn’t affect the marinade at all. She prefers to use chicken tenders (tenderloin) and let them sit in the marinade over night. She braises the tenders on the stove, allowing the honey to caramelize slightly, hence the name ‘Candy Chicken’.
[ BBQ Chicken Finger Sandwiches ] From Jessica Swatts' Kitchen
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
½ green or red bell pepper
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup BBQ sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
mustard, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients and serve on your favorite bread.
[Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies] From Stacy Thomas' Kitchen
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ Crisco stick or ½ cup Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
approx. 48 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla in bowl. Beat until well-blended. Add egg. Beat again until well-blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to shortening mixture. Form dough into 1-inch balls*. Place on ungreased baking sheets*. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and press a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie. Return to oven and bake for 3 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool before removing from sheet.
*Stacy lightly rolls her dough balls in sugar and bakes on Pampered Chef baking stones.
[ Oreo Truffles ] From Hila Burge's Kitchen
1 package Oreos, finely crushed
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1 ½ to 2 pounds semi-sweet chocolate (or white chocolate or almond bark)
Mix together the Oreos and cream cheese. Form into ½-inch to 1-inch balls (the smaller they are, the more they will make) and put them on a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. For ease of handling, freezing the Oreo balls for an hour or so is a good idea, because it helps them be firmer for dipping. However, this is not a required step. Melt chocolate. Dip Oreo balls thoroughly and set back on wax paper-covered cookie sheet. You can decorate with the opposite color of chocolate on the top by drizzling, if desired. Return to freezer to harden. Remove prior to serving to thaw slightly.
Hila notes: The finer you can get the Oreos, the better. She uses a food processor for this step. Also, the softer the cream cheese is, the better. When mixing the Oreos and cream cheese, it is easier to use a stand mixer if you have one, as opposed to a hand mixer. In the past, Hila has used white chocolate and added red food coloring; however, she has found that adding the food coloring causes the chocolate to be thick and gloopy. She suggests, instead, using cake decorating gel, icing, or something similar when a colored accent is desired.
[ Chocolate Toffee Bars ] From Kira Hutto's Kitchen
1 box graham crackers
6 pack of full-sized Hershey's chocolate bars
2 sticks butter
½ cup sugar
Break the graham crackers into squares and use to line a cookie sheet (make sure the cookie sheet has four sides). Bring the butter to a rolling boil, add sugar, and cook for 1 ½ minutes. Pour this mixture over the graham crackers and bake in 375 degree oven for 8 minutes. While this is baking, break the Hershey's bars on the lines so that each piece has 3 sections. After the crackers have been in the oven for 1 ½ minutes, remove them from oven. Immediately after pulling the pan out, place a 3-sectioned piece of chocolate on each square of graham cracker. Once you've placed all the chocolate, use the bottom of a metal spoon to spread out the chocolate – starting at one end of the pan and moving to the other. Once the chocolate is evenly spread, stick the whole pan into the freezer. Once frozen, break into small pieces.
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