Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken

Alright, you caught me. This isn't a photo from my camera. I ripped it from the Everyday Food website. But in my defense, this chicken is soooo good, it didn't last long enough for a photo shoot at my house. Give this a try, its flavorful and juicy. It just smacks of summer food. The all-purpose spice rub recipe follows the chicken recipe.

Serves 4

• 4 chicken drumsticks and 4 thighs (3 pounds total)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for grates
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup All-Purpose Spice Rub

Directions

1. Place chicken drumsticks and thighs in a shallow baking dish. Carefully slide fingers under skin to loosen it from the meat. Rub chicken all over with oil. Season with All-Purpose Spice Rub both under and over skin, patting in gently. Proceed to step 2 right away, or cover chicken and let rest for up to 24 hours. Cover and refrigerate if resting longer than 30 minutes.
2. Heat grill to medium-low. Oil grates; grill chicken, covered, turning frequently to prevent charring, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part (avoiding bone) registers 175 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes.

ALL PURPOSE SPICE RUB:

Ingredients

Makes 1 1/4 cups (enough to season 5 to 10 pounds of meat, poultry, or seafood)

• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients, using your hands to break up the sugar. Store in an airtight container, away from heat and light, up to 6 months.

Milk Chocolate Chip Plus Cookies

A while ago, the youth in our ward had a cookie baking contest and it was these cookies vs. the Nieman Marcus cookies. And these cookies were the winner. You are asking yourself, how can anything beat the Nieman Marcus cookie? These cookies, with their toffee goodness, are remarkable. (And I think someone mentioned the Nieman Marcus cookies had oatmeal and that turned a bunch of the teenagers off) Anyway, give these babies a whirl. They are addicting. Thanks to Katie Bowles for sharing her recipe!

2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 12oz pkg milk chocolate chips
½ bag Skor or Heath Toffee bits
¼ package flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350.
In a small bowl combine: flour, soda, salt and set aside
In a large bowl combine: butter, sugars and vanilla. Cream together several minutes and add eggs, continue to cream for several minutes.
Gradually add flour mixture and while mixing well to combine ingredients, do not over mix as this toughens the dough. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake each sheet of cookies for ONLY 9 MINUTES! Do not over bake. Let them sit on the sheet for another few minutes after they have come out of the oven, then remove them to a cooling rack.

Coconut Cream Pie

From my tried and true, red and white checked, Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. This was sensational, I'm not going to lie. I did some damage with a fork. We are whipped cream fans at our house, so no meringue on our pies. And to make it look pretty and taste more coconutty, I toasted some coconut for the top. This won't last long, enjoy!

1 baked pie crust (totally cheated and used a Western Family frozen deep dish pie shell)
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch or ½ all purpose flour (used cornstarch)
3 cups milk
1 tbsp butter
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut

1. Separate eggs. Keep whites if you are making a meringue.
2. Meanwhile, for filling, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks with a rotary beater or fork. Gradually stir about 1 cup of the hot filling into yolks. Pour egg yolk mixture into hot filling in pan. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla and coconut.
3. If using meringue, now is the time to make it and put it on the pie. Keep the filling warm while making the meringue.
4. Pour warm filling into baked pie crust. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Chill 3-6 hours before serving, cover for longer storage. Makes 8 servings.

*notes. This is a basic vanilla cream pie recipe. If you are making a banana cream pie, omit the coconut and spread sliced bananas evenly over the bottom of the crust before spooning in the filling and baking. To make a milk chocolate cream pie, stir in 3 oz semisweet chocolate, cut up, with the milk. To make a dark chocolate cream pie, stir in 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, cut up, with the milk and bump the sugar up to 1 cup. To make a sour cream-raisin pie, increase cornstarch to 1/3 cup, fold in 1 cup raisins and 1/2 dairy sour cream with the butter and vanilla.

Chocolate Pancakes with Grandma's Syrup

This recipe came from the World Wide Ward cookbook, from Ilona Lundgreen in Monroe, Utah. They were delicious, but . . . a few suggestions. One, they are rich. As in, Bill Gates rich. Ha! So my suggestion is to serve them at a buffet, with other things available to balance out the chocolately goodness. My other suggestion is to make them silver dollar size. They are too rich/dense to have by themselves for breakfast. I might as well have served brownies for breakfast! But they certainly are tasty and nice to have in your breakfast goodie arsenal, a definite keeper.

Chocolate Pancakes:

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp baking cocoa
1 1/4 cups warmed milk
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten

Mix and sift together dry ingredients. Add milk, butter and eggs and beat until smooth. Add extra milk if the batter is too thick. Cook as you do regular pancakes. Serve warm with Grandma's syrup.

Grandma's Syrup:

2 cups sugar
1 8oz can evaporated milk
1 tbsp butter

Boil sugar and milk, stirring constantly until all sugar is dissolved. Cook over high heat until the mixture starts to boil. Do not leave unattended, as it comes to a boil quickly. Remove from heat and add butter. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir and enjoy!

Cookie Dough Brownies

Another monster hit from Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe! I saw this and whipped them up this morning before a PTA meeting. They were devoured and one woman called them "evil" because they were so irresistible. The brownies will take that as a compliment. :) Enjoy the most awesome combo of brownie and cookie dough, these are divine.

Brownie Layer:
1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1 cup (2 cubes) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and remove from heat when chips are fully melted. In the same pot, blend in the sugar. Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time. Add flour and salt and beat until air bubbles form in the batter. Pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes.

Cool completely and then top with the cookie dough layer.

Cookie Dough Layer:
1/2 cup (1 cube) butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown Sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls over cooled brownies; carefully spread over top (this can be tricky but I found the best way is to slightly wet my hands and pat the dough down gently so it doesn't pull up the brownies). Cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.

*notes. no adjustments, perfect as is!!

Levain Bakery Copy Cat Chocolate Chip Cookies

* Credit should be given to the rightful recipe creator and that is the lovely Lisa Michelle at lisamichelle.wordpress.com. Her recipe blog is "Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives"

Have you ever had a chocolate chip cookie and thought to yourself, it should be bigger than this? Well, look no further than this brute of a cookie! Weighs a ton, worth every bite! Thanks to Sally, I looked at a lot of copy cat recipes and hers looked the best. If they last longer than a day at your house, re-heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds or so, just to soften the inside. MMMMmmm, delish. Can't wait to try the real thing sometime in NYC!

Ingredients

2 sticks ‘cold and cubed’ unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar - (not packed too hard. Just spoon it in the cup(s) and press down lightly when full, sweeping off any extra that runs over.)
2 eggs
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups All Purpose flour - Spoon and Sweep method. (feel the dough, it should be moist, kind of like cold cookie dough in a tube.. but not super sticky, so you can portion the cookies with your hands)
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4-1 teaspoon baking powder ( I don’t fill the tsp fully, hence the 3/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (I am a milk chocolate kinda gal)
1 cup walnuts (optional, I omitted these. Sally used macadamia nuts)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, cream together butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time.. and beat until well incorporated.
2. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chunks and nuts.
3. Transfer dough to clean work surface and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients. Divide into 12 equal portions, **about 4 oz each..
4. Place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 16-23 minutes depending on how gooey and raw’ish you like the middles (I bake mine at 375 for 18-20 minutes, as I prefer a less raw interior), until very lightly browned, taking care not to overbake. Let cool on rack and store what you don’t immediately eat, in an airtight container.

*notes. The 1st 3 italicized notes in the ingredient area are Sally's notes. Just want to give her the credit and not plagiarize! I followed her advice and baked mine at 375 for 18 minutes, and they turned out perfect. Have a gallon of milk ready!

Simple BBQ Ribs

This is an All Recipes.com winner. Its submitted by Lloyd Rushing and its received 5 stars from 391 people. These are easy, easy, easy and oh so delectable. Never be afraid to make ribs again! The tough part is choosing which BBQ to use!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 cup barbeque sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Place ribs in a large pot with enough water to cover. Season with garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Bring water to a boil, and cook ribs until tender.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3. Remove ribs from pot, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour barbeque sauce (I add 1 cup water or else the sauce is too thick and burns) over ribs. Cover dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the preheated oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until internal temperature of pork has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

*notes. I boil my ribs for 45 minutes to an hour. I bake them for about an hour and I have to admit, I never baste. Although I'm sure basting is welcome, I just don't have time and they are always juicy and succulent so I have never bothered. When you place the ribs in the 9x13 and pour the BBQ sauce over them, I try to pour the sauce equally over the ribs and not just in the bottom of the pan. They are so tender, you don't need a knife. Serves 4, recipe can easily be adjusted for more ribs.

Deviled Eggs

Summer, to me, is full of BBQ, lemonade, watermelon and deviled eggs. YUM-O! Here is my recipe and some tricks to help you do it, they're tasty.

How to Boil an Egg:
(from my tried and true cook book "Just a Matter of Thyme")

1. Place eggs in a pot. (I usually boil a dozen at a time) Cover in cold water.

2. Bring to a rapid boil. Immediately place lid on the pot.

3. Leave the pan on the burner but the turn the burner off. Let set for 15 minutes.

4. Drain off hot water. Cover cooked eggs again with cold water. Let set for 2 minutes.

5. Drain off cold water. Leaving the eggs in the pot, shake pot back and forth several times, so that the eggs bump up against each other and crack. The shell should slide off easily now. Rinse under cool water and store in an airtight container or plastic baggie until use. Use within 3 days.

* a note. This method is perfect. It always yields perfectly hard boiled eggs, no yucky green line around the yolk. Also, fresher eggs are a million times easier to peel.



Deviled Eggs:

Hard boiled eggs (however many you need, remember each hard boiled egg yields 2 deviled eggs)
6 tbsp miracle whip (I use lite, you could also use real mayo if you so desire)
1 tbsp pickle juice
salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of salt, probably 1/2 tsp)
paprika for garnish (not a fan, I always omit)

slice eggs in half, lengthwise.
scoop out the yolk (either with a small spoon or by gently squeezing the egg)
place all the yolks in a ziploc sandwich size baggie.
place miracle whip, pickle juice and salt and pepper in baggie as well.
squeeze out air, and seal baggie tightly.
mash the baggie until there are no lumps and mixture is creamy and very smooth.
cut the tiniest tip of the baggie and gently pipe yolk mixture into the empty egg whites.
can garnish at this point, serve immediately.

No mess and the piping makes the eggs look store bought deli pretty. :)

Buttermilk Banana Bread

Another big hit from My Kitchen Cafe's famous Aunt Marilyn! Once I read that it had buttermilk, I knew I had to try it. I love the buttermilk, it adds such a mellow flavor. This bread is light and slightly different from other banana bread recipes, which is why I think its my new favorite. It made one nice size loaf, but Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe says that it makes one loaf and she has extra for a few of her mini loaf pans. I guess it depends on your bread pan. However much you end up with, you will enjoy it all!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar (I substituted splenda blend and it tasted great!)
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (3 average size bananas)
4 tablespoons buttermilk
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda

Cream butter and sugar together.
Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to banana mixture.
Mix until combined.
Pour batter into greased and floured bread pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Julius

Its a staple at our house, served with popcorn on movie nights. My kids could drink this by the bucketful if I allowed them. And I have substituted splenda for sugar without any problems. You can get creative and add a banana or berries if you want, or just have it the plain old way too. Drink immediately for optimal results. :)

In a blender, add the following ingredients:

6oz frozen OJ concentrate, (half of a standard frozen OJ container, the other half saves nicely)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
10-12 ice cubes

blend until no ice chunks are left and the drink is frothy. enjoy! makes enough for 4 people.