Chicken Salad

Okay girls. Here is my way belated posting of that CHICKEN SALAD.

GOOD things come to those who wait :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. boneless, skinless CHICKEN breast
2 ribs of CELERY
1 small red ONION
1 cup GRAPES
1/2 cup PECANS
1/2 golden delicious APPLE
1 tsp. DILL WEED
1 oz. fresh parmesan CHEESE
1 clove GARLIC
1 cup Hellmann's light MAYO


DIRECTIONS:
Place chicken breast in a large pot of water. Add 1 tsp. of salt, pepper and season all. Boil for 30 minutes until cooked. Then drain and put in refrigerator to cool. I like to just run it under cold water to speed things up. Chop celery, pecans, onion and cooled chicken. Peel, core and chop apple. Add to a large bowl. I like to squeeze the juice from the celery, apple and especially the onion prior to adding them in the bowl to keep it from having too much liquid. Add grapes halved, dill weed, parmesan cheese, pressed garlic and mayo. Mix with a large spatula until blended.


SERVING OPTIONS:
For a MEAL, use chicken salad as stuffing for croissants.
For an APPETIZER, Place a bread bowl on a platter, line the bowl with green leafy lettuce and encircle with club crackers.

Adams peanut butter cup ripple cheesecake

This is a picture of the first layer you will add another layer of cheesecake and toppings again and bake! I would of taken a picture of the finished product... but it's gone! It is SO yummy!!!

Adams peanut butter cup ripple cheesecake

For the Crust:4 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies1/2 cup melted butter

For the Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate fudge topping, divided
6 peanut butter cups, cut into small wedges
6 butterfinger, chopped

Crush Oreos in a food processor. Add melted butter and mix well. Press onto bottom and up 1" sides of a 10" springform pan. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth. Add eggs and beat on low speed till combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour half of cream cheese batter over crust. Microwave half of the hot fudge topping till pourable, but not hot. Drizzle this over the cheesecake batter. Sprinkle with half of your peanut butter cups and butterfinger. Pour the rest of your cheesecake batter over the peanut butter cups and butterfinger. Then top with remaining peanut butter cups and butterfinger, pressing down on them a little.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen but do not remove sides. Cool 1 hour longer on wire rack. Microwave remaining fudge topping and drizzle over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with more peanut butter cups if desired.

This is sooo good! Add as much hot fudge, and peanut butter cups and butterfinger as you think looks good. I think I added more of each of these ingredients. Enjoy!

Rustic Plum Tart

For the crust:
1 cup flour,plus a little more for the work surface
1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
(I didn't have unsalted butter so I used regular butter and omitted the 1/2 teas. salt)

For the filling:
1 1/2 lbs of plums, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of water (egg wash)

Make the crust: In a food processor , pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Do not over mix.
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface; knead once or twice. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Flour a large (about 16 inches long) piece of parchment paper. Place dough on paper. Using your knuckles, press edges of dough so it doesn't crack during rolling. Lightly flour top of dough to prevent sticking; roll out to a 14-inch round. Transfer dough (still on parchment) to prepared baking sheet.
Make the filling and bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together plums, sugar, and flour. Mound plum mixture in center of prepared crust, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Fold border over fruit in a pleated pattern. Brush dough with egg wash. (I then sprinkled a little more sugar on the crust to make it extra yummy)
Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling (see note), about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a rack; let cool 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

FYI - I don't have a food processor so I just used a pastry blender. It worked perfectly!

Note:Filling often bubbles out through small openings in the edge of the crust during baking, so don't worry if a little juice ends up on the baking sheet; line it with foil for easy cleanup.

Orange Julius

1 can (6oz) frozen orange juice concentrate (or less)
1 c. milk
1 c. water
1/3 c. sugar (or less)
2-3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
about 9 ice cubes

In a blender, blend all ingredients except ice. Slowly add ice cubes one at a time until it reaches a "smoothie" consistency. Serve immediately.
(*If you are adding frozen fruit, add a little at a time BEFORE adding ice cubes. If using fresh fruit, add at the very beginning when you are blending everything else.)

Sugar Baked Beans

1/2 lb bacon diced
4 onions diced
1/4 c mustard
1/8 tsp garlic
1/2 c vinegar
1 c brown sugar
Simmer above ingredients for 20 mins then pour over beans mixture

Beans:
1 can kidney beans
1 can butter beans
1 can lima beans
drain above cans then add
1 can tomato sauce
2 medium cans pork and beans (undrained)

Bake 1 hour at 350 or crock pot on high for 4 hours