Candy Bar Pizza

Crust

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

26 caramels

2 tablespoons water

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons vegetable shortening

1/2 cup salted peanuts

Directions

For crust, combine oats, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a large bowl. Add melted butter, peanut butter, and vanilla; stir until well blended. Press mixture into bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pans 10 minutes.

For filling, microwave caramels and water in a medium microwave-safe bowl on high power (100%) 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Spread evenly over crusts. Microwave chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl on medium-high power (80%) 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Add peanut butter and shortening; stir until well blended. Stir in peanuts.

Spread filling over caramel layers. Chill 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Cut into wedges to serve.

16 servings each

Coconut Ebelskivers

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Put 2 of the egg yolks in another bowl. Reserve remaining 2 yolks. Add milk and vanilla. Whisk to blend. Add yolk mixture to the four mixture and using a wooden spoon, mix until well blended. Batter will be lumpy.

Beat the 4 egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the powdered sugar in 3 additions, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until the egg whites are glossy and stiff, about 5 minutes. Using rubber spatula, fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest together with 3/4 cup of the coconut until no white streaks remain.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the melted butter and place over medium-low heat. When the butter starts to bubble, working quickly, spoon a heaping 1/2 tsp of the remaining coconut into each well. Add 2 Tbsp batter to each well. Cook about 5-7 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned and crisp. Using 2 short wooden skewers turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the second side, about 3 minutes longer.

Makes 21, 4-7 servings.

Corn Pudding

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

1 cup sour cream

1-14 oz can corn, drained

1-14 oz can creamed corn

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp paprika

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 7 ingredients and pour into buttered 9" square baking dish. Sprinkle top with paprika; bake for one hour. Serve hot with maple syrup.

Autumn Potatoes

Serves 8.

2 sizes of leaf-shaped cookie cutters

1 stick butter

7 large Idaho potatoes

1 large yam/sweet potato

2 purple potatoes (the biggest you can find!)

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter; when it begins to sizzle remove from heat and skim off the foamy white formation on top. Set aside what's left (clarified butter). Put aside the biggest Idaho potato along with the yam and purple potatoes. Peel remaining 6 Idaho potatoes and thinly slice them (1/16"). Put them in a bowl of cold water. Put 1-2 Tbsp of the clarified butter in a large oven-proof skillet (around 11"). Dry each round with paper towels as you go and line the bottom of the pan with overlapping slices. Brush all with butter, sprinkle on salt and pepper and continue with a second layer. Fill pan to the very top and then press down with a spatula. Bake 50 minutes, press down again during baking. Turn heat up to 500 degrees and cook for 10 minutes more. Gently loosen edge with a knife, turn out on platter and decorate with potato leaves and serve. While potatoes bake make the potato leaves.

Potato Leaves

Peel remaining potatoes, thinly cut lengthwise to have widest slices possible- cut out leaf shapes with cookie cutter. Fry them will in a little oil and butter, salt and pepper, and sprinkle paprika on some. When brown edged and done, drain on paper towels. Layer on top of the Idaho potatoes.

Buttery Croutons

5-6 slices white sandwich bread (not sourdough)

3 Tbsp butter

salt

Stack up bread slices. Using a serrated knife, cut off crusts and discard. Cut the rest of the bread into 1/4" cubes. Melt butter and quickly add bread cubes to butter- stir so all bits get buttery. Toast over medium heat until golden brown, stirring often. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt.

Optional: red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, garlic powder, etc. You can also replace the butter with olive oil.

Stuffed New Potatoes

Tiny New Potatoes

Salt

Pepper

Onion Powder

Fontina Cheese (or whichever cheese you prefer)

Paprika

Chives or Green Onion

Preheat broiler to 500 degrees. Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Cool, cut each in half. With the small end of a melon baller carefully make a little hollow in each half. Put them on a baking sheet. Liberally salt and pepper them and add onion powder. Fill cavities with shredded cheese, sprinkle with paprika and broil for 5 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh chives or minced green onion.

Salsa Chicken

1 chicken breast per person

salsa

salt and pepper to taste

small flour tortillas

lettuce, chopped

cheddar cheese, shredded

raspberry-chipotle sauce

sour cream

green onions, sliced

black olives, sliced

In a crock-pot, layer chicken with salsa. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. When cooked through, shred with two forks using a crisscross method. Create soft tacos with all ingredients. Serve with rice and beans.

*Note: I like it even without the raspberry-chipotle sauce on top of plain rice too.