MS - Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients
1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh mozzarella

Marinara
Fresh Lasagna Noodles, cut into 4-by-13-inch strips and cooked, or store-bought dried noodles, cooked
5 ounces coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, (about 1 3/4 cups)
Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375. Combine ricotta, egg, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Season with pepper. Coarsely grate 1/2 of the mozzarella, and stir into ricotta mixture. Using your fingers, shred remaining mozzarella into 2-inch strips, and reserve.
2.Spread 1/2 cup marinara in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Place a layer of noodles over marinara. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over noodles, and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan. Place a layer of noodles over the cheese layer. Spread 1 cup marinara over noodles. Repeat layering (noodles, marinara, noodles, ricotta mixture, Parmesan) 2 more times. Spread remaining marinara over cheese layer, then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
3.Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cheese is golden brown and sauce is bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

CROCK POT BROCCOLI SOUFFLE

CROCK POT BROCCOLI SOUFFLE

Ingredients:

2 pkgs. frozen chopped broccoli (2 lbs.)
1 can cream of celery soup (undiluted)
1 cup real mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons grated onion
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Ritz crackers
1 stick melted margarine

Directions:

1. Cook broccoli; drain and cool. Mix soup, mayonnaise, onion, egg, and cheese and add to cooled broccoli.

2. Put in a lightly greased 3 1/2-quart crockpot.

3. Mix 1 stack Ritz or buttery crackers (crushed) with margarine or butter. Put on top.

4. Cook on high for 2 to 3 hours

Classic Christmas Cookies and Icing

1950's Cookie Recipe

Cookie Dough Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

Preparation:
Cream butter with sugar; add beaten egg yolks, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and stiffly beaten egg whites. Add enough more flour to make of consistency to roll. Cut off small pieces of the dough; roll on floured surface, sprinkle with granulated sugar, cut out with cookie cutter and bake on greased cookie sheets at 350° for about 10 minutes


Icing Ingredients:
2 teaspoons milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted food coloring colors

Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together the milk and confectioners sugar until smooth.
Beat in corn syrup and the vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If the icing is too thick, add additinal corn syrup to thin slightly.
Divide the icing into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to the preferred color intensity. Paint the icing onto the cookies or pipe with decorator icing tubes and tips.
Top with candy decorator balls, holiday sprinkles or any other festive design. Enjoy, these are as much fun to decorate as they are to eat!

Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding - PD

Ingredients
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
Directions
Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mexican Corn Salsa

3 tablespoons butter
2 cups whole corn kernels, cooked
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup chopped zucchini
2 green onions, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 cup salsa
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
1.In a heavy large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the corn, bell pepper, zucchini, green onions and jalapeno pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and refrigerate vegetables until chilled.

2.Add salsa and chopped cilantro to vegetable mixture. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Rosa Mexican Guacamole en Molcajete

1 tbsp white onion
cilantro
jalapeno
3 hass avocado
3 tbps diced tomato
2 tbs chopped cilantro
Tortilla chips

1. Grind 1 tbsp. finely chopped white onion, 1 firmly packed tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tsp. finely chopped jalapeño, and 1 tsp. salt together in a molcajete until all the ingredients are well ground. (Alternatively, use a fork to mash the ingredients to a paste in a wide bowl.)

2. Cut 3 medium-ripe hass avocados (about 8 ounces each) in half. Twist the halves to separate them and remove the pit with the tip of the knife. Place an avocado half, cut side up, in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through its flesh down to the skin, without cutting through the skin. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same fashion.

3. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete. Repeat with remaining avocado halves. Gently fold the avocado into the chile–onion paste, keeping the avocado pieces fairly intact.

4. Add 3 tbsp. diced tomato, 2 firmly packed tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, and 1 tbsp. finely chopped white onion.

5. Fold together all the ingredients. Taste and add salt, if necessary.

6. Serve immediately, directly from the molcajete (or bowl), with tortilla chips. Makes 4 servings.

Layered Spinach Salad

1/2 cup plus 2 tbl grated romano cheese
3 slices of crisp bacon...NOT
2 cups mushroom slices
1 cup red onion rings
10 oz. package of frozen peas, cooked and drained.
1/2 cup mayonanaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp sugar

In large bowl layer spinach, romano, mushrooms, onions and peas. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream and sugar, mix well. Spread over salad to seal. Sprinkle 2 tbl. romano over top. Cover, refrigerate overnight.

Serene's Cookies

12 whole graham crakers broken into rectangles (makes 48)

1 cup sliced almonds or pecans
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
12x17 jelly\bread pan

Preheat oven to 270, lay graham crackers down flat into pan, heat sugar and butter over medium heat, bring to boil. Let simmer for 1 1/2 minutes, set aside. Sprinkle chopped nuts over crackers, pour sugar\butter mixture over crackers and nuts to coat. Back for 20 minutes. Break into pieces once cool.

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups sifted flour
1 tb ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
(extra sugar)

The Do
Mix first 6 ingredients.
Beat shortening until creamy.
Add 1 cup sugar to shortening, continue to beat.
Beat eggs adn molasses, stir in flour gradually to molasses mixture until doughy.
Make into balls and roll in sugar.
Bake 12 minutes on ungreased sheet for 12 minutes at 350 degrees until tops are cracked and browning and rounded.

Eggplant Parmesean

Ingredients
2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large globe eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 pound whole fresh mozzarella, cut into large chunks

Directions
1.In a food processor, puree tomatoes; transfer to a medium saucepan and stir in olive oil. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, 30 minutes. Season tomato sauce with salt and pepper.

2.Meanwhile, in a colander, toss eggplant with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Press slices between a double layer of paper towels to dry. Dredge eggplant in flour (shaking off excess), then dip in eggs (allowing excess to drip off), and sprinkle lightly with breadcrumbs.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet; set aside. In a large skillet, pour enough vegetable oil to come halfway up side. Heat oil over medium-high until pinch of breadcrumbs dropped in skillet sizzles. In batches, fry eggplant until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to rack to drain.

4.Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Layer half the eggplant over sauce and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Top with 1 1/2 cups sauce, then remaining eggplant. Finish with remaining sauce, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and mozzarella. Bake until lightly browned and bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes.

5.To Freeze: Assemble dish but do not bake; wrap tightly with foil and freeze, up to 3 months. Thaw completely, then bake as directed.

MS - Eggplant Tomato Relish

Ingredients
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, torn into small pieces
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 globe eggplant (1 pound)
1/2 small red onion, diced small
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, stir together tomatoes, garlic cloves, cumin, and olive oil. Place eggplant on top of tomato mixture and roast until eggplant is very tender when pierced with a knife and tomato juices are thick, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool. Transfer eggplant to a cutting board and halve lengthwise. Scrape out flesh with a spoon (discarding as many seeds as possible); roughly chop flesh. Place in a large bowl. Peel and chop garlic and add to bowl. Stir in tomato mixture and red onion. Season with salt and pepper.

MS - Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients
2 medium eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, diced medium
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
Fresh oregano (optional)
Plain yogurt (optional)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together eggplant, onion, garlic, and 4 teaspoons of the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet, leaving a wide strip of empty space at one end. In bowl, toss chickpeas with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil. Transfer to empty space on sheet. Roast until eggplant is golden and cooked through and chickpeas are slightly crunchy, about 35 minutes.

2.Set chickpeas aside. Peel garlic and add to a medium pot, along with eggplant, onion, and broth. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high. With a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon, mash some eggplant until soup is thick and chunky. Stir in chickpeas and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, top with fresh oregano and plain yogurt, if desired.

MS - Zucchini Tomato Frittata

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
3 medium zucchini, (1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup shredded shredded white cheddar
3 medium (1 pound) vine ripe tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced crosswise

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add onion, zucchini, and thyme; cook, covered, stirring often, until tender but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover, and cook until all the liquid in the pan evaporates. Season with salt and pepper; remove skillet from heat.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and cheese, salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture over zucchini, gently lifting zucchini to allow eggs to coat bottom of pan. Arrange tomatoes in an overlapping pattern on top.

3.Return skillet to medium-low heat, and cook until sides are set yet still slightly runny on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Place in oven, and cook until the center is cooked through when tested with a wooden skewer, and the tomatoes are browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven; gently slide a heatproof spatula around the edges and underneath to loosen from skillet. Serve immediately.

MS - No Bake Lasagna

1/2 cup ricotta
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 lasagna noodles, broken in half crosswise
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
2 zucchini (about 1 pound total), halved if large and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon torn fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving

Directions
1.In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, and 2 teaspoons oil; season with salt and pepper. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain.

2.Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add garlic and tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until slightly broken down, about 3 minutes. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil and zucchini to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to another bowl and stir in basil.

3.Place some tomatoes on four plates; top with a noodle and small spoonfuls ricotta, zucchini, and more tomatoes. Repeat layering twice, then top with remaining noodles and tomatoes. Garnish with basil.

Richard Bednar : Artist and Portrait Painter

Richard Bednar : Artist and Portrait Painter

Rosa Mexicano Guacamole en Molcajete

Chile Paste Ingredients
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño, or more to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or as needed


Additional Ingredients

3 medium ripe but firm Hass avocados (about 8 ounces each)
3 tablespoons diced tomato
2 firmly packed tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
Salt if necessary
Tortilla chips and/or fresh corn tortillas

Make the chile paste: Grind the onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and salt together in a molcajete until all the ingredients are very finely ground. Alternatively, use a fork to mash all the ingredients to a paste in a wide hardwood bowl.
Cut each avocado in half, working the knife blade around the pit. Twist the halves to separate them and flick out the pit with the tip of the knife. Fold a kitchen towel in quarters and hold it in the palm of your “non-knife” hand. Rest an avocado half cut side up in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through the avocado flesh down to the skin, without cutting through it. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same way. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete. Repeat with the remaining avocado halves.

Grilled Stone Fruit Antipasto Plate

Ingredients
Dressing:
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce Fruit:
1 pound firm black plums, halved and pitted
1 pound firm peaches, halved and pitted
1/2 pound firm nectarines, halved and pitted
1/2 pound firm pluots, halved and pitted Cooking spray Mint sprigs (optional)

Preparation
Prepare grill.
To prepare dressing, combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
To prepare fruit, place fruit on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side. Remove from grill. Drizzle fruit with dressing. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.

MS - Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese and Arugula

Ingredients


Coarse salt and ground pepper

3/4 pound gemelli or other short pasta

1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 ounces)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 bunch arugula (8 ounces), torn

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Directions

1.In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta and rinse under cold water. In a large bowl, toss pasta with beans and goat cheese.



2.Make dressing: In a bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and mustard and season with salt and pepper. (To store, refrigerate pasta mixture and dressing separately, up to 1 day.) To serve, toss pasta mixture with dressing, arugula, and onion.