Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

It's Halloween time! And that means sugar cookies! I'm not sure when I started making sugar cookies for Halloween, but we've been decorating them for years and enjoying them along with the candy. I love this recipe because there is no chilling time for the dough. I hate waiting for dough to chill. Really? Can we be done with that? I want cookies now, not in two hours. So these are perfect for me. Plus, they are so soft in the middle! Perfect!

 

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

adapted from Karen Pelley

1 c. butter

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

4 1/2 - 5 c. flour

Recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. salt - I use salted butter and don't add more salt.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in sour cream. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and mix well. Add more flour if the dough seems too sticky to roll out. I roll the dough fairly thick before cutting with my cookie cutters. I like them better that way. I prefer soft cookies rather than crispy. If you roll the dough thinner, they will get more crispy. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown. Frost and decorate as desired. Clean up huge mess children made.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

It's fall and cold and windy and rainy. There is no better time for soup! This is one of my favorite soups. It was one of my kids's as well, but last night... well, it wasn't the favorite. Not sure what happened. I mean, bacon. Need I say more? And they are boys - what happened???

This recipe freezers really well, so I usually double it and freeze the leftovers for a night I don't have much time to cook and need something quickly. I would triple it, but my pot isn't that big.

 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 4 large baking potatoes

10 Tbsp. butter

2/3 c. flour

6 c. milk

1 1/2 - 2 c. cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 oz. bag real bacon bits

1 c. sour cream

Bake potatoes. I like to have them still pretty warm when I make the soup as they mash easier. You can use them cold, too, they just don't break up as well. 

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk s-l-o-w-l-y-. I add a little bit and stir until roue is smooth, add a little more, stir, repeat until all milk is added in. Turn up heat to medium high and cook until soup is thickened. While it is thickening, scoop insides of potatoes into bowl. Add a some soup and mash until potatoes are desired consistency. Scoop potatoes into pot and stir into roue. Add cheese, pepper, and bacon. Stir in sour cream when hot. Top with more cheese and enjoy!

Bacon Ranch Cream Cheese Dip

I find recipes everywhere. I find them on the internet, get them from friends, get them from family, I even go to work and scribble them down from co-workers, and go to the doctor's office and find a recipe in the magazine I peruse while I wait and write down that recipe I just have to try on a scrap in my purse . I have little pieces of paper floating around with random recipes scribbled on them. Little pieces of paper are easy to lose and I have lost multiple recipes that I really, really wish I still had. This recipe is one of those. I found it.... somewhere and wrote it down. I know I put it somewhere safe, but I can't find my piece of paper so I am really glad I had the fore thought to get it on my computer before I lost my piece of paper. That doesn't happen often.

This dip is a favorite. My husband loves to sing and is one of the best singers I have ever heard. So we do karaoke nights from time to time and I make this for our karaoke nights. It is SO GOOD! Everyone asks for it now when we have parties or get-togethers. Friends now ask me to bring it to parties. Delicious!

Bacon Ranch Cream Cheese Dip
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 packet ranch dip mix (find the salad dressings)
3 oz. bag real bacon bits
2 cups cheddar cheese
16 oz. sour cheese

 Mix cream cheese and ranch dip mix. Add bacon and cheese - this will get really thick. Add sour cream. Pour all into 9 inch round pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm. Eat with Wheat Thins, tortilla chips, etc.

Tina's Salsa

My sister is the one who got this recipe from her friend Tina and would make it for dinner when we lived with her. My kids LOVED it! She makes it with chicken, which I don't eat, so my version is chicken-less (Because she's a nice sister, she started leaving some out for me before adding the chicken). Add it if you want to, it's supposed to be there. I like to make this for dinner during the summer during tomato season when it is too hot to turn on the oven. We eat it with tortilla chips.

Tina's Salsa
1 pound tomatoes (I use Roma), diced
1 bunch radishes, sliced thin
1 bag grated carrots
2 bunches cilantro, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
2 c. cheese (I use the Mexican Blend from Costco)
1 can black beans
1 can corn, undrained

sauce:
1 tsp, chili powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 tsp. cumin
red pepper flakes, optional

Mix all chopped items in a large bowl. Mix sauce together and pour over salsa. Toss well to coat everything. Serve with tortilla chips.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip

Who doesn't love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? Maybe I shouldn't say that, because I am sure that somewhere out there is someone who doesn't like them. Actually, my sister-in-law doesn't like peanut butter so she may be one who doesn't like them. Anyway, I do like them. A lot. So does my family. At Halloween, they are the first things to disappear - and not just because I ate them all. When I found the recipe for this dip, I knew I had to make it. It was a HUGE hit!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips (or use a whole cup - how can you go wrong with more chocolate??)
8 oz. package mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups

Mix butter and cream cheese together, mixing until smooth. Add brown sugar, then add peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips and peanut butter cups. Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, etc. Store in refrigerator.

Wheat Bread

My sister attended some baking classes and found a fantastic bread recipe that I LOVE to use when I make bread.This is my favorite read recipe and I make it all the time. We love to make small loaves so each family member gets their own and eat it for dinner with a glass of milk. Delicious!

This recipe make four large loaves or three large loaves and six small ones. Enjoy!

1 c. sour dough starter
5 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. salt
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
3 c. white flour
14 c. whole wheat flour, divided
3 Tbsp. yeast (Saf is the best yeast)

I use a Bosch machine when I make bread. I love it! Add sour dough starter and water to bowl of Bosch. If you don't have sour dough starter you can use 1 c. water, for a total of 6 c. water. Sourdough gives the bread a little better texture, but it is also fine with only water. Add in oil, honey, and yeast. Add salt. Add white flour and 4 cups wheat flour. Turn on Bosch. Slowly add remaining wheat flour, about a cup at a time, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. You may need a little more than the 10 c. flour, you may need a little less. I poke the dough with a finger. If it is sticky, add a little more. If the flour won't all beat you you probably added too much and need a little more water. ADD SLOWLY. The bread dough will need to beat in the Bosch for about 6 minutes to be kneaded.

OK, I cheat when I make bread. I am not patient enough for letting the bread sit and rise twice. That is what you are supposed to do, so if you prefer to follow the "rules" and do it the "right" way, cover the bowl with a damp, warm towel and let the dough rise until double in size. Punch down and shape into loaves. Me, I shape it into loaves right here and put the bread pans in a warm oven (not hot - warm it on the lowest setting and turn it off when warmed) with a pan of hot water underneath to keep the oven moist. Shut the oven door for about 20-30 minutes, until loaves are about double in size. Take pan of water out, turn oven on to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

More tips: you can substitute some of the flour for other grains. Things I have done: blend some oats in the blender until powdered. I prefer to grind my own wheat and will add quinoa to the wheat and use that flour as well. I have also ground rice into my wheat flour.

I prefer to use whole white wheat over the red wheat. White is a little lighter.

You can add 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to the water to give the bread a little more vitamin C.