Olive Garden Alfredo

OLIVE GARDEN ALFREDO
1 pint heavy cream or half and half
3-4 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. cream cheese
1/2-3/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder
Melt butter and cream cheese in saucepan. Add all other ingredients and simmer on med-low approx. 15 minutes. Add 8 oz. fettucini noodles or just dip yummy breadsticks in it!

Chicken ceasar pasta

CHICKEN CAESAR PASTA

{recipe &pic from} becky higgins

16 oz. box rotini

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 bottle Cardini’s original Caesar dressing

1 Tbsp. crushed garlic

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning

1/3 red onion, chopped

Cook pasta and drain. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and stir-fry in garlic & oil. Mix chicken in with the pasta. Add dressing, onion, and Mrs. Dash. Garnish with cherry tomatoes (optional: cut them in half).

CHICKEN & GRAPE PASTA SALAD

{recipe & pic from} BECKY HIGGINS

3 chicken breasts, cooked & cut into bite-sized pieces

16 oz. pasta shells, cooked

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 c. grapes, halved

1/2 c. slivered almonds, toasted

1 c. mayonnaise (maybe a touch more)

1 Tbsp. dill

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients and chill. This makes a big batch (it will fill a large bowl), so it's perfect to share at a BBQ.

Cookie Dough Jars/Chocolate Chip cookies

I love this idea from creativeholidaygiftideas.blogspot.com

Instead of taking over a plate of cookies... take a cute jar full of your favorite cookie dough. This way the recepient can bake at her leisure. Make sure to include baking directions. Cute jars can be found in the kitchen section at Wal-Mart for $2.86. Other fun ideas would be to do sugar cookie dough and attach a cookie cutter. Or fill a shaker jar with fun sprinkles and attach a recipe.

I'm totally doing this for Christmas neighbor gifts...I love it! This is the perfect cookie dough to use!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

2 cups butter, softened (yes, you read correctly that's 4 sticks)

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. almond extract

5 1/2 cups flour

2 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

small pkg French Vanilla instant pudding straight from the box

2 pkg chocolate chips (you could use m&m baking bits or the holiday colored choc. chips)

Basic cookie directions...Cream butter & sugars. Add eggs & extracts. Mix dry ingredients together. Slowly pour dry into wet. Stir in chips. Oven 350 for 10-12 minutes. I experimented and liked them at the 10 minute mark over the 11 or 12, slightly more doughy looking tastes better I'd say.

Wedding Plans/Ideas

I have (for now) picked my colors to be Brown and Orange, possibly Green for a little accent too.

I want my cake to look like this...but have Brown dots and Ribbon for the top layer and then Brown stripes for the bottom..Orange in the middle still, obviously.

A Bouquet like this...with Brown in it too.

Brown Bridesmaid dresses, they won't be tube top!...But will have an Orange tie, sash, ribbon, whatever you wanna call it- around the waist.

A light color Tux for the Groomsmen...Orange Ties, not the pink 'n green

Whew! This is going to be SO stressful! There is SO much more that I need to plan...The date isn't even for awhile and I'm already hyperventilating over nothing!

Yummy Parmesan Rolls

I found this recipe on the wire whisk recipe blog :) YUMMY!

Yummy Parmesan Rolls
18 rhodes white texas rolls
3/4 cube butter, melted
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons parsley flakes.

Stir together parmesan cheese & parsley in small bowl. Dip each frozen roll in butter, then cheese mixture. Place 2-3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Cover lightly with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise & bake according to package directions. After baking, brush tops with melted butter.

Banana Bars

Banana Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used 3 big ones probably more than one cup, but so tasty!)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Grease a jellyroll pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally mix in the mashed bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 min in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the bars to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 8 oz pkgs cream cheese softened

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. This recipe made plenty to cover the whole sheet cake pan.

Butterfly Cupcakes!!

Pizza Dough

Makes enough for one small, thin crust pizza. Double it if you like your pizza thick and bready.

images from Joy the Baker

What you need:

1 1/2 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil

What you do:

Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.

If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable.

Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl (a spritz of cooking spray perfectly does the trick) where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! — dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

Dump it back on the floured counter (yup, I leave mine messy), and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its top temperature. Roll out the pizza, toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like. (I always err on the side of skimpy with toppings so to not weight down the dough too much, or if I have multiple toppings, to keep them very thinly sliced.)

Bake it for about 10 minutes until it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist.

Fruit Center Pieces

Such a cute idea!!!

Peanut Butter Brownies!!

Here is the recipe from Bake or Break:

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray or grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar, butter, and water. Microwave on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir in 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips until melted. Stir in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and baking soda, stirring until blended. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then, stir in 1/2 cup each peanut butter chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into muffin cups.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out slightly wet. Place pan on wire rack. Centers of brownies will fall upon cooling. If not, tap centers with the back of a teaspoon to make a hole.

Place peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, then stir. While brownies are still hot, spoon about a tablespoon of peanut butter into the center of each brownie. Top with semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Cool completely in pan.

Orange and Maroon

My Spring Wedding!!

Pink & Orange

Orange, Green, and PInk

Light Pink and Green

Robins Egg Blue, Brown, & White

Pink, Green, & Orange

Pink & Green

Yellow, Blue, & White

Pink & White

Purple & Yellow

Orange and Teal

Robins Egg blue and Pink

Vinal Center Pieces

ll:)

Order This Cake

Order This Cake

Cute Cake

Sugar Cookie Recipe

And I think I might have to try it. I could be missing something?


Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

What you need:

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 2/3 Cup Flour

What you do:

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Cream together all of the ingredients except the flour.

(this is what her recipe says to do...but I am going to cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg, vanilla and sour cream. Them mix the baking soda and salt to the flour and add it that way. And not just because that is the way I was taught. There are benefits to the whole creaming butter thing. I will have to post about it sometime.) Now back to her recipe.

Add:
2 2/3 Cup Flour

(The dough will be sticky) Divide dough in half and roll it out to 1/4" thickness on a well floured surface and cut out your cookies.

Bake 8-10 minutes until LIGHTLY browned on bottom

Let cookies cool, frost and store in airtight container

Heart Shaped Paperclips

A piece-of-cake Valentine project: bend regular paper clips into little heart shapes.

You could use them to leave love notes around. Or mark pages you like in magazines. Or hold tiny treat bags of candy shut. Or send a subtle message to the boss you have a crush on. Endless possibilities, really.

Holiday Banners

For Valentine's Day:


For Birthdays:


Even St. Patrick's Day: