Quiche Lorraine

Ingredients:

1 unbaked pie crust

6 slices bacon

1 onion, sliced

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups milk (or half and half)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line pastry shell with foil. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until crust is set and dry. Remove from oven and turn down temperature to 325 degrees.

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Drain and reserve 2 tablespoons of drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Cook onion in skillet with reserved drippings; cook until onion is tender and then drain.

In a large bowl, mix together milk, salt, and eggs. Stir in bacon and onion. In a separate bowl, toss cheese and flour together, then add to egg mixture. Be sure to mix well. Pour egg mixture into pie crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of quiche comes out clean. If necessary, cover edge of crust with foil while baking to prevent burning or over-browning. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 Tablespoons water

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon soda

2 1/2 packages Andes Mints

Preparation:

Melt the butter, brown sugar, and water over low heat. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes. Mix the flour, salt, and soda together. Beat the eggs and flour mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture.

Chill 45 minutes.

Roll into 1" diameter balls and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Immediately upon removing from the oven, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. When melted, spread over top of cookie.

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies.

Nicole's Alabama Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

• 4 whole Medium Yams or Sweet Potatoes
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Milk (Stef uses Evaporated Milk)
• 2 beaten Eggs (Stef uses 3 Eggs which makes it more like a souffle)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cube Butter, melted (Stef decreased to 1/4 cup)
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup chopped Pecans
• 1 cup Coconut
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1 cube Butter, softened (Stef decreased to 1/4 cup)

Preparation:

Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes.  When they are finished cooking, slice them open and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.

Add 1 cup of regular granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of milk, 2 beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cube of melted butter, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.  Mash potatoes with a potato masher until thoroughly mixed.

In a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup coconut, 1/2 cup flour, and 1 cube of softened butter.  With a pastry cutter or fork, mix together until thoroughly combined.

Spread the sweet potato mixture into a 9" x 13" baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

3 lbs pork loin

Put roast in crock pot with about an inch of water, with the following ingredients mixed in the water. Spoon the seasoned water over the pork roast.

1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dry ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Cook on low 8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Dump out the seasoned water.  Shred roast and return to crockpot.

Combine the following and stir into pork:

1 can Dr. Pepper

2 cups packed brown sugar (Or less for not as sweet)

1 bottle red taco sauce

Cook on low until ready to eat. The longer you can simmer it, the better it is.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans Pillsbury crescent rolls
2 8-oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter (no substitutes)

Spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish, pressing seams together. In a separate bowl, blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with hand mixer; spread out over top of dough. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture, pressing seams together again. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture generously over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate uneaten portions. Delish!

Hints: This dessert is very good but very rich! I often half it and make it in an 8 x 8 square dish instead. Also, if you can find the Pillsbury crescent "sheets" (I think they call them "recipe creations" or something), they are much easier to use and eliminate having to pinch all the seams together.

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1-12 oz. bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 c. Italian Salad Dressing
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

Place chicken in slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover, and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Shred chicken, and serve on sliced hoagie/deli-style rolls. (Hint: Toast insides of rolls on stove-top or fry pan to keep them from getting soggy!)

Delightful Deviled Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs
2 TBSP mayonnaise
1 tsp sugar
1/2-1 tsp sweet relish
1 tsp prepared mustard
salt & pepper to taste
paprika

Slice cooled eggs in half length-wise; remove yolks ans set whites aside. In a small bowl, mash yolks with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, sugar, relish, mustard, and salt and pepper. Mix well. Stuff or pipe into egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika. Refrigerate until serving.