Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup

I am so nervous and intimidated to post my first recipe. :) This stuff is the REAL DEAL. I thought I was at Olive Garden for a second while I was eating it. Yummy.

1 lb Spicy Italian Sausage, crumbled

1/2 lb smoked bacon, chopped

1 qt. water

2 - 14.5 oz cans chicken broth

2 large russet potatoes, thin sliced

1 large garlic clove crushed

1 medium onion chopped

2 cups kale, chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Salt & pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan

In skillet over medium heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it. Drain and set aside. In skillet over med/high heat, brown bacon. Drain and set aside. Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic and onion in pot. simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add sausage and bacon, simmer for 10 minutes. Add kale and cream to pot, season with salt & pepper. Add Parmesan cheese. ENJOY!

Sausage Balls

"These are easy and tasty. A great make ahead item for a Christmas party appetizer or to serve guests. I made a batch this afternoon and baked some and placed the rest uncooked in the freezer for Christmas".

1 pound of bulk pork sausage (you can use any flavor or heat).
2 cups of Bisquick or a homemade substitute
3 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

*I added a bit of Worcestershire Sauce to my mixture, however, this is not in the original recipe

Mix all ingredients together using your hands. I would suggest combining the sausage and the Bisquick first and adding the cheese last. You may have to work at it to get everything incorporated, but it will come together.
Roll about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture in a ball. Repeat until done.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Freezer instructions: Roll into balls and flash freeze on wax paper on a cookie tray. When the sausage balls have hardened move to freezer bags. Thaw in your fridge and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Deep Dish Apple Cranberry Pie

This is fabulous to serve at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. It is slightly tangy and with only one crust is lower in fat than traditional pies.

2 cups apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
2 cups frozen cranberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 pie crust

Pour mixture into a pie crust and bake at 400 degrees in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and add the crumb topping (recipe below) to top of pie. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.

Crumb topping:
Mix together in another bowl
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
With pastry cutter, cut/add into flour mixture 4 tablespoons of cold butter

Allow pie to rest for 10-15 minutes prior to serving. Excellent with cool whip or ice cream.

Mama's Banana Bread

This is from the Cooking With Paula Deen magazine October 2007 issue. I made it today and it is SO good--very moist and perfect for a cool day! The chocolate chips make this bread taste very dessert-ish:) This recipe makes 2 loaves. I halved everything to make just one loaf, but make two and give one to a teacher or neighbor. **The trick to this recipe is to make sure your bananas are VERY ripe!!**

6 Medium very ripe bananas
2 T vanilla extract
2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C sour cream
4 large eggs
3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 C ground pecans (I left this out because my family does not like pecans)
2 C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)

*Preheat over to 350 and grease 2 loaf pans.
*In a small bowl, mash bananas together with vanilla.
*In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, sour cream, and eggs, stirring until combined.
*In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, stirring until just combined. Stir in banana mixture, grown pecans, and chocolate chips. Pour into pans and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

note: because I only made one loaf, I let it bake for 35-40 minutes.

Beef and Vegetable Soup

This recipe is from "America's Test Kitchen" and it is yummy!

1 pound sirloin tip steaks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 t vegetable oil

1 pound mushrooms, chopped

1 onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup red wine

4 cups beef broth

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

4 medium carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 medium ribs celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs. unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup water

2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Combine beef and soy sauce in medium bowl; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in large dutch oven (I used a large pot) just until smoking. Add

mushrooms and onion; cook, stirring frequently, until onion pieces are

brown and bits form on pan bottom, 8-12 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add beef to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and meat starts to brown, 6-8 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add red wine, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, and cook until syrupy, 1-2 ,minutes.

4. Add beef broth, chicken broth, carrots, celery, bay leaf, and browned mushrooms and onion; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables and meat are tender, 25-30 minutes. While soup is simmering, sprinkle gelatin over cold water (1/2 cup) and let stand.

5. When soup is finished, turn off heat. Remove bay leaf. Add gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Stir in parsley; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, serve.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a Paula Deen recipe. It is relatively easy to make and SO good. Forget Campbell's!

One 2-3 pound chicken (you can cut it up, but I left mine whole)

3 1/2 quarts water

1 onion, peeled

1 1/2 -2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 bay leaves

3 chicken bouillon cubes

salt and pepper to taste

*Add all ingredients to a pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35-45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin and cartilage. Set chicken aside. For the next step, you will need:

2 Cups sliced carrots

2 Cups sliced celery

2 1/2 Cups uncooked egg noodles

3 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/3 Cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

3/4 Cup heavy cream (optional)

1/3 Cup cooking sherry

Salt and pepper to taste

*Bring stock to a boil, add carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, parsley, cheese, cream and sherry. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning if needed.

*If you are watching calories, omit cheese and cream.

Easy Rum Cake

1 box (18 1/4 ounce) yellow cake mix
1 box (3 1/2 ounce) instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons Imitation Rum Extract
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat all ingredients, except pecans in a large bowl with mixer on low just to moisten. Then beat on medium 4 minutes. Grease and flour (I would recommend Wilson Release) 12 cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts in bottom of pan. Pour batter in pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pan for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir constantly, bring to a boil on medium heat and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of Extract.

Invert cake on serving plate. Pierce cake with fork. Spoon warm glaze over warm cake. Enjoy!