Super Sugar Cookies!

I had a request for the sugar cookie recipe I use, so here it is. This recipe makes soft, delicious cookies. They taste like the kind you buy in the bakery dept. One tip, make sure you don't roll the dough out too thin, or they'll be more crispy. We like them thick and soft!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (or you can use butter flavor Crisco, which also works great. Just add 6 tblspns. water for every 1 cup Crisco, if you do the substitution.)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely before frosting.
Here's the frosting recipe I use. Just divide up the batch into small bowls and add food coloring, if you desire.
Ingredients:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring
Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. If frosting is too thick, add more milk to desired consistency.

Egg Nog Pie: For serious Egg Nog lovers only!

In light of the fact that next week is Thanksgiving, or in other words, the official start of culinary indulgences excused until January, I thought I would share my recipe for Egg Nog Pie. This dessert is really delicious and great to take to family gatherings. Any egg nog fan will definitely love this pie.

Ingredients:

1 (4.6 ounce) package of vanilla non-instant pudding mix

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups of heavy cream

1 baked deep dish pie shell

1 1/2 cups egg nog

Directions:

In saucepan, combine pudding mix, nutmeg and egg nog. Mix well. Over medium heat, stir constantly until thick and bubbly. Transfer into large bowl, refrigerate until well chilled. In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream to soft peaks. Remove cold pudding from fridge and beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into pie shell. Sprinkle top lightly with nutmeg. Refrigerate for about 4 hours. Enjoy!

Check this out!

Look at all the cute items and ideas on this fun blog:
www.purplepansyboutique.blogspot.com

Tonight, on the menu: BBQ Beef-burger Pizza.

Although I didn't intend for this blog to be all about my favorite recipes, somehow that's what it's been so far. I guess that goes to show what most of my time revolves around: making meals. Anyway, this is a pizza I came up with tonight when I found we didn't have any pepperoni on hand. I use my bread maker to make the dough for the crust, and it's because of my family's love of this crust that I make homemade pizza quite often. (If you don't have a bread maker with a dough cycle, you can use the same ingredients and do it by hand.)

Pizza Dough:
1-1/2 cups warm water
1-1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
3-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. active dry yeast, or rapid rise yeast for bread makers
Spray baking pans with non-stick cooking spray. (I use one 16" pizza pan and one 12" pizza pan for this amount of dough.) Remove dough from bread maker and split it up between your pans, then form into pizza crust. Let sit for at least 30 min to rise, or heat your oven to 225, then turn it off, place the crusts in the oven and let rise for about 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Meat topping:

Brown 1 pound lean ground beef in skillet. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, to taste. Add about 1/3 cup BBQ sauce to meat and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Sauce:

3/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, or oregano
Mix together ingredients and set aside.

Divide sauce between pizza crusts and spread with a spoon. Spread meat mixture evenly over pizzas. cover with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes, checking on them periodically.
Other suggested toppings:
Thinly sliced red onions, black olives, mushrooms

Family friendly meatballs.

I created this recipe about a year ago and make these meatballs all the time. Everyone in our family likes them. The same meat mixture can be used to make hamburger patties. Of course, much like many of the things I make, they contain pureed vegetables and are relatively low in fat, depending on which type of meat you use.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 cup carrot puree (chick pea, squash or pumpkin puree also work well)
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, smashed into small crumbs
1 tablespoon worshechire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Form into balls; I use a cookie dough scoop to keep the size uniform. Makes about 24 meatballs. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the meatballs over and bake for another 8 minutes. They should be nicely browned on the outside.
Serving Suggestions:
Depending on what kind of sauce you like to use, these meatballs are very versatile. They're good served with a standard marinara with spaghetti, or a sweet and sour sauce with rice. The picture shows them served with a pumpkin sauce I made with ingredients I had on hand, and it turned out nicely. Here are a couple of sauce recipes:
Pumpkin Sauce
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup red bean puree
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. red pepper powder
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Whisk together ingredients over med-low heat in saucepan until thickened.
Tangy Sweet and Sour sauce:
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
juice from one can of pineapple
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. worshechire sauce
Whisk together over med-low heat in saucepan.

Serving up the Brownies Fantastic!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup pureed spinach
1 cup pureed carrots
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13 baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray (for easy clean up).
Combine the veggie purees, melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Pour half of the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Spread the chocolate chips evenly to form a layer over the batter. Pour the rest of the batter over the chocolate chips.
Bake in preheated oven about 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving.
I'm not claiming these are the healthiest brownies, obviously with all the sugar, but they are perfect to use in a brownie sundae bowl, with vanilla ice cream, or just with a big glass of milk. And at least you can feel good knowing there's a good dose of vitamins tucked discreetly inside. They're a perfect fix for those serious chocolate cravings. These are fudgy, rich and I promise you won't even know the veggies are in there, which is awesome for the kids!

Please pass the smashed potatoes.

In my world, I smash, not mash, as my way of keeping things interesting. This being the first post for my new blog, I will give a brief explanation of why it may be worth reading. I write of what I know, mainly life with four fantastically crazy children, a husband and a dog, in rural Idaho. (Incidentally, is there any other kind of Idaho?) I like to create mayhem in the kitchen by tricking my kids into eating things they can't pronounce, I like to rearrange my furniture on an almost monthly basis, I look for wildlife while I drive to the grocery store, and dream of what I could create, if only...
I anticipate each post may combine my love of words and pictures to create a mini-story, recipe or anecdote, to amuse and inform anyone up for a relatable laugh, or a tip about everyday life from an amateur.
My first request from my readers is that as much input be given as can be conjured . No comment or thought is too mundane. Feedback is necessary for improvement in all areas of life!