Lady Fingers serves 48

“To make Chocolate Lady Fingers, substitute 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder for the all-purpose flour.”

4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup white sugar
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Line two 17 x 12 inch baking sheets with baking parchment. Fit large pastry bag with a plain 1/2 inch round tube.
2. Place egg whites in bowl and beat on high until soft peaks start to form. Slowly add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. In another bowl beat egg yolks and remaining sugar. Whip until thick and very pale in color.
3. Sift flour and baking powder together on a sheet of wax paper. Fold half the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in flour, and then add the remaining egg whites. Transfer mixture to pastry bag and pipe out onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes.

Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam
(Recipe from old newspaper clipping)

Ingredients:

2 cups mashed strawberries (about 1 quart)

4 cups sugar

1 box powdered fruit pectin

3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Stir strawberries (already mashed) and sugar together, mixing thoroughly. Set aside.

2. Stir powdered fruit pectin with water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute.

3. Stir mixtures together until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. Pour into clean dry containers, filling to within 1/2 inch of tops.

4. Cover at once with tight lids. Let stand at room temperature overnight. (We did it for about 12 hours.) Store in freezer until opened; then store in refrigerator.

Makes about four 8 oz containers.

Note: Measure sugar exactly and do not reduce amount or jam will not set properly.

No luau would be complete without it. But this special something isn’t the hula dancers, the fruity drinks or the fire jugglers. Instead, the most important ingredient for a proper Hawaiian feast a succulent, falling-apart tender, smoked dish called Kalua Pig.

The tradition of luaus and Kalua Pig goes back centuries. Originally, the dish was served to kings and other high-ranking men at celebrations; women, even queens, were not allowed to eat pork until 1819 when the system of kapus (or taboos) was abolished. “As I understand it, the tradition of Kalua Pig is 5,000 years old,” says Shirley Fong, author and chef featured on in-flight videos for Hawaiian Airlines. “It’s part and parcel of the luau, which traditionally were celebrations thrown for life’s special occasions.”

To make an authentic kalua pig, a whole pig is seasoned with salt, filled with heated lava stones, then wrapped in banana, ti or taro leaves and finally cooked in an underground oven for several hours. “In Hawaiian, ‘ka lua’ refers to cooking in a pit or an imu,” Fong explains.

Rather than digging a pit in your backyard, Fong suggests cooking the pork in a smoker, using pure lump charcoal from a barbecue supply store. The pork, she says, should be cooked in indirect heat, and if ti or taro leaves aren’t handy, damp grass trimmings can be used. But if a meat smoker isn’t handy, you can also make an oven roasted version of kalua pork using aluminum foil and liquid smoke.

Ingredients
4 pound pork roast
2 tablespoons sea or kosher salt
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cloves of crushed garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce.
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Rub salt, liquid smoke and seasonings over pork roast. Wrap securely in aluminum foil. Roast about 3 hours or until very tender.
2. Remove from heat, let stand for about 15 minutes. Shred, removing slabs of fat, and serve. Serves 8.
Nutritional Information
Per serving: 350 calories, 16g fat, 50g prot., 0g carbs., 0g fiber, 2180mg sodium

Ingredients:

2 cup granulated sugar
2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup cinnamon candy
1 cup water
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon red food coloring
6 of your favorite type of apple, roughly medium in size
wooden skewers (these are often found in the produce dept this time of year)
cookie sheet sprayed with no stick cooking spray or a long sheet of waxed paper

Instructions:

First thing you want to do is as you usually would remove the apple stems and wash them up. Grab a skewer and stab it right into the middle of the apple and repeat for each apple. Be careful not to poke out the other side of the apple though. In a small or medium sized saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon candies, and water. Stir and keep stirring until everything is dissolved. Then stir some more to make sure it’s all dissolved. Medium heat here, you don’t want it to boil at this point because that will just make a mess.

Once you’ve got it all dissolved add cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, and food coloring to the mix. Now we want that to boil to a 300 degree temperture on the candy thermometer. Dip your apples into your candy coating and be sure to coat them well. Place them skewer pointing up on the waxed paper or cookie sheet and allow them to harden. Make sure you let them cool completely to room temperture before eating! They will be hot for sometime and no one wants a burnt mouth on Halloween.

It just turns out that pears are just the right shape for making spooky ghost treats! These are an interesting alternative to the traditional candy apples.

Ingredients:

Wooden craft sticks, like for a popsicle
6 medium sized pears
10 – 12 squares of almond bark (2 ounce squares)
Handful of mini chocolate chips for ghostly eyes
Halloween cupcake papers

Instructions:

Line a cookie sheet or other flat serving tray with waxed paper, we aren’t actually putting in the oven so any moveable flat surface is good for this treat. Line up the cupcake papers across the sheet. Melt almond bark following the package directions. Poke craft sticks firmly into the pears. Dip each pear into the melted bark, you can use a spoon to help evenly coat the entire pear. Place each one in a cupcake paper, standing up as much as you can get it to. Place mini chocolate candies for face decoration. You can use any leftover almond bark to spoon ghost tails into the paper cups. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Cheddar Soup

3 Tbsp butter

1 small onion diced

1/2 c diced plamentos

2 Tbsp flour

4 C Chicken Stock

4 C Cream

2 C Sharp Cheddar cubed or shredded

pinch cayenne pepper

In your soup pot saute with your butter onion and plamentos on low heat. When carmelized add 2 Tbsp flour. Add your chicken stock and cream. cook on low for 15 minutes. Add the cheddar cheese and caynne pepper and simmer.

Dish up with french bread to dip in it.

Our Alfredo sauce is as follows – mixed with our favorite seasonal veggies & chicken!

1 Kraft cream cheese pack (8 oz)

1 cup of parmesean cheese, grated

1/2 stick butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tblsp garlic, minced

3 cups of milk or cream (your choice, we use 2%)

Heat on medium – add grilled/baked chicken and veggies after sauce has blended and thickened! Enjoy tossed with your favorite pasta – use spinach pasta, whole wheat or sundried tomato for more flavor.

Ingredients:
1 lg. bag frozen hashbrowns (approx 2 lbs)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 8-oz carton of sour cream
2 cups diced ham

Mix all ingredients together, reserving 1 cup of cheese to the side. Pour into greased 13×9 inch casserole dish; cover with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 90 minutes. Serves 12.

This dish is tasty, and it’s practical, too. Though I usually serve it at dinnertime, the ingredients lend themselves to brunch, too. It can be easily made in large batches, and it freezes well. And with grocery prices climbing up, it’s nice having a recipe that uses ham — generally a less-expensive meat than beef or chicken. Best of all, every member of my kids love it (even the picky ones), and since this recipe makes such a large batch, there are plenty of snacky leftovers for a couple of days.

Try this easy comfort food-your family will thank you!

Decadent two-layer sandwich is loaded with turkey, ham, Swiss cheese, bacon, and olives.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-ounce) carton sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons honey mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 3/4 pound thinly sliced ham
• 12 slices whole wheat bread
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 8 lettuce leaves
• 3/4 pound thinly sliced turkey
• 8 slices tomato
• 4 slices bacon
• 16 pitted ripe olives
• 16 pimiento-stuffed olives

Preparation:

Combine sour cream, horseradish, honey mustard, garlic salt, and white pepper; stir well.

Place 3 ounces of ham on each of 4 slices of bread. Top each with 1 teaspoon sauce, 1 slice Swiss cheese, a lettuce leaf, and another slice of bread. Place 3 ounces of turkey on each slice, and add 1 teaspoon sauce, lettuce leaf, 2 slices tomato, and 1 slice bacon. Top with remaining slices of bread.

Skewer a ripe olive and pimiento stuffed olive on each of 16 wooden picks. Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles, and secure each quarter with a pick.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-rising flour (see Notes)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 cup grated zucchini, excess water squeezed out
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9- x 5- x 3-inch loaf pan or large muffin tins.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugars, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir in banana. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture, mixing only until combined. (Small lumps will bake out.) Fold in zucchini and pecans.

Pour into prepared loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake about 45 minutes to 1 hour for the loaf and about 25 to 30 minutes for the muffins, until center tests done with a toothpick. Let rest in pan for 5 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool.

Best served warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 1 loaf or 12 muffins

Notes: Do use self-rising flour for this recipe. All-purpose flour will make it too dense and gummy.