Potato Soup

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon
6 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 6 cups)
2 cups chopped onions
2/3 cup chopped celery
2 lg. carrots, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/2 pint of whipping cream
snipped chives
4 cups milk

Directions:
In a large pan fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, drain, crumble and set aside. Stir potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, water, salt, sugar, salt, pepper into bacon drippings. Cook covered until veggies are tender (20-25 minutes). Combine flour and 2 cups milk until thoroughly blended in a pot. Add potato mixture along with remaining milk. Cover over medium heat, stirring occationally until mixture is thickened (10-15 min). Stir in cream and crumbled bacon, heat through. Garnish with chives.

Makes about 10 cups.

Notes
You can add velveeta cheese to this to make it cheezier. Add right before adding bacon.

Caramel-Almond Popcorn

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 18 cups.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup corn kernels
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
2 cups raw almonds
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Butter 2 rimmed baking sheets; set aside. Place corn kernels and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; cover. Once kernels begin to pop, shake pot frequently; when popping slows to about 3 seconds between pops, remove from heat; uncover. Transfer to a large bowl. Add almonds; toss.

2. Cook sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until it reaches 255 degrees.
Remove from heat. Stir in extracts, salt, and baking soda. Pour over popcorn mixture; toss to coat.

3. Divide between prepared sheets. Bake, stirring occasionally, 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Popcorn can be stored in airtight containers up to 1 week.

Black Cat Treat Pouch

If you're looking for a kids' party activity that can double as a container for take-home treats, look no further than this inexpensive and fun-to-make black cat pouch made from paper plates. Help kids staple two plates together with tops facing, then use a small plate or bowl to trace and cut out a circular area to form the ears. Have kids paint the outsides of the plates black; let dry. Give the kids a circle punch to cut out the shapes for the eyes. Help them make the pupils by feeding the circle punch back over a punched circle to create the shape. Add cutouts for the ears, whiskers, and nose.

Witch Foot Goody Tube

With striped tights and a pointed shoe, this witch foot goody tube is actually an empty toilet paper roll in disguise. Cut strips of orange and purple origami papers and glue them around the top two-thirds of an empty tube using a glue stick. Use double-stick tape to attach a 2-inch-tall piece of black card stock around the tube, cut a small slit at the center front, and fold down the corners. Layer and attach a set of black and silver squares for the buckle, then attach a 2x6-inch black triangle to the tube base and curl up the point by wrapping it around a pencil.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Rods

Ingredients

* 36 pretzel rods (1 package)
* 12 ounces semisweet chocolate bars
* 1- 1/2 cups assorted toppings: sprinkles, crushed cookies, toffee bits, or mini M&M's

Directions

1. Heat chopped semisweet chocolate bars in the microwave in 30-second increments until melted.

2. Ladle chocolate over 3/4 of each pretzel rod. Tap or scrape off excess chocolate, then roll pretzel in sprinkles, crushed cookies, toffee bits or mini M&Ms

3. Dry on a cooling rack until set.

Little Caesars Pizza Dough

http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/

1 1/4 cups (9.7 oz) warm water (appox. 120° F)
2 3/4 tsp. dry active yeast
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP Honey
1 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) bread flour or all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) whole wheat flour (optional, can use 100% bread flour or all purpose flour)

Mix water and yeast in mixing bowl and allow it to proof for 5 minutes. Mix in sugar, honey and oil. Then mix in 1 cup flour and the salt. Continue mixing in all the remaining flour until you get a nice, soft dough. Knead until dough is soft and smooth (approx. 10 minutes).

Finish kneading on a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Place in the refrigerator in a covered container coated with olive oil for overnight. For the perfect flavor, it is best to time making the dough 24 hours before baking the pizza's (for pizza Saturday at 5pm, make your dough Friday at 5pm). If you are short on time you can sacrifice some flavor and make this dough first thing in the morning and place it in the fridge until dinner that evening.

3 hours before baking: Remove from fridge and either divide dough in half for two 12” pizzas or leave whole for one somewhat thicker 16” pizza. Work each piece of dough into balls. Allow the dough to come back to room temperature (this process generally takes 3 hours).

45 minutes before baking: With your pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven, preheat your oven to 475° F to allow the stone to get hot enough (this process generally takes 40-50 minutes).

15 minutes before baking: Shape dough into desired pizza crust, sprinkle pizza peel, wooden cutting board or upside down cookie sheet with corn meal, flour or rice flour. Place pizza crust on top, then add toppings. Gently slide pizza onto the hot pizza stone and bake for 9-11 minutes.

*****
I’ve spent some time on the Pizzamaking forum where there are several dozen amazing chef’s who have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time perfecting pizza making at home. Some of their doughs take up to 7 days to make with a huge focus on temperature control and top quality ingredients. They are inspiring!

This recipe is from their site but is simple to use, forgiving and only takes a day to make without sacrificing on the flavor. It was designed to mimic the flavor of Little Caesars pizza using the same processing time as the restaurant along with the same cornerstone ingredients.

After trying this recipe, we no longer crave takeout pizza- this is SO much better (at least we think so)! Yeah!!!

I think the two secrets to great homemade pizza are finding the right dough and baking it on a hot stone (Fibrament sells a great stone with an outstanding reputation and a 10 year warranty against cracking). The benefit of baking it on a hot stone is it duplicates the professional brick ovens. The ceramic stone creates a light crispy crust by absorbing excess moisture and distributing the heat evenly and efficiently. The results are night and day compared to baking a pizza on a cookie sheet or cold stone. Give it a try, you’ll love it!

Thanks to Randy at the Pizzamaking forum for providing this excellent recipe!

Apple Cider

Ingredients:
4 cups cider
1/2 an orange, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste

Combine ingredients in medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil then reduce heat a little and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Strain before serving.

Reuben Dip

This is yummy! This is from Frank's Kraut.

1/2 cup Frank's Kraut, drained and chopped
1 (3 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
4 oz sliced corned beef, finely diced
2-3 Tbs milk

1. Combine and heat all ingredients, except milk, in a small saucepan over low heat until hot.

2. Thin with milk if necessary

Microwave Directions:
1. Combine and heat all ingredients, except milk, in a microwave-safe bowl until hot (approximately 4 minutes). Stir after 2 minutes.

2. Thin with milk, if necessary.

Servings: 1-1/2 cups
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes