Best Butternut Squash

Best Butternut Squash 

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peel, cut, and cubed

1-2 c. orange juice
butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray a deep-dish skillet lightly with cooking oil and place on stove top over medium-high heat. Arrange squash cubes in the skillet in a single layer. Pour orange juice over squash until fully, submerged. Cover the skillet and cook for 4-6 minutes, then flip the squash, add more orange juice if needed, cover, and cook another 4-6 minutes or until tender. Serve with butter, salt, and pepper. Makes 4-6 servings

The Mac Attack (TMNT Mac and Cheese Pizza)

The Mac Attack (TMNT Mac and Cheese Pizza) Source: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cookbook Ingredients Cornmeal or flour for dusting EVOO for brushing and greasing (I didn't use this) 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 1-1/2 cups milk 2 tbsp unsalted butter 2 tbsp flour salt and pepper 1/4 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard 1 cup shredded white cheddar, divided (I used regular cheddar) 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, divided (I used mozzarella) 1 heaping tbsp minced fresh chives, plus more for garnish (I skipped this) 1/2 cup heavy cream OR half-and-half (I used non-fat half-and-half) 1 pound ball pizza dough (I used the recipe on the back of the pizza yeast) Instructions (These are adjusted to match the temperature and time on the pizza yeast recipe) Preheat over to 425 degrees F. Dush a pizza ban with cornmeal or flour. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the past to al dente, according to package directions. Drain well. Pour themilk into a small saucepan and warm it over medium-low heat just until it starts to steam. Don't let it boil over! In a separate, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, unilt if forms a smooth, bubbly paste. (Be careful not to let it brown.) Whisk in the hot milk for 3 to 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in paprika, mustard, and 3/4 cup of EACH cheese. Stir until the cheeses are completely melted, then add the chices, cream, and pasta. Mix gently until well combined, then taste and season with additional salt and pepper as desired. Stretch or roll dough into 12-inch disk and place on pan. Brush with olive oil (I skipped this). Spread the mac and cheese onto the crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border of dough all round. Use just enough mac and cheese to make a 1/4-inch thick layer. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. Remove the pizza from the oven. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with remaining chives. Slice and serve.

Easy Coconut Cream Pie

Easy Coconut Cream Pie

4 Hr(s) 15 Min(s) (incl. refrigerating)
15 Min(s) Prep
4 Hr(s) Cook

Source: https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/054372/easy-coconut-cream-pie
Ingredients
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
1 cup BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, divided
1 ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.) (Next time, try a Golden Oreo crust!)

Directions
1 Beat pudding mixes and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP and 3/4 cup coconut; pour into crust.
2 Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Meanwhile, toast remaining coconut.
3 Top pie with remaining COOL WHIP; sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Tips
How to Toast the Coconut
Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut onto bottom of shallow pan. Bake 7 to 10 min. or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.

Apple Dumplings

Apple Dumplings

Makes: 8 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes.

2 granny smith apples
2 cans crescent dough
3/4 c.(1 1/2 sticks) butter, plus more for pan
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
pinch kosher salt
8 oz. lemon -lime soda

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a large baking dish with butter. Peel and core apples then cut each apple into eighths.
2. Separate crescent dough into triangles, starting at the wider end, roll one apple slice up into a crescent triangle. Repeat with remaining apple slices and crescent . place into a prepared pan .
3.In a small saucepan over medium heat , melt butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt together. Pour mixture over apples.
4. Pour soda around the edge of the pan , trying to avoid pouring on top of dumplings. Bake dumplings until golden, 30 minutes.

Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole

Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
½ onion, chopped
1 pkg shredded hash brown potatoes (32 oz, thawed)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions
preheat oven to 359 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9x13 baking pan with a nonstick cooking spray.
Brown the ground beef and drain of any excess grease.
Then in a large mixing bowl, stir together the browned ground beef, chopped onions, milk, cream of mushroom soup, pepper and half of the cheese. Pour this mixture into the baking pan.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the hash browns are golden brown and tender.
Top the casserole with the remaining cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes until the cheese is melted.
Let the casserole rest at room temperature for 5 minutes and then the casserole is ready to serve and enjoy.

Shortbread Cookies

 Shortbread Cookies 

Source: http://www.thebrewerandthebaker.com/archives/9257

Ingredients
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
4 cups (20 oz) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

Instructions
To make the cookies, cream the butter and powdered sugar together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy. If you start with cold butter like I do, 3-4 minutes.
Reduce speed to low and add the extracts.
Add flour and baking powder, and mix on medium just until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated.
Turn dough out onto plastic wrap, shape into a disc, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.  
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out your dough (it's easier for me to divide it into 3 or 4 portions first) to ~1/3 inch thickness.
Cut shapes with a floured cookie cutter, reflouring between each cookie.
Lightly knead the scraps and re-roll until you run out of dough or get the number of cookies that you need. (Leftover dough can be refrigerated a week or frozen for several months.)
Transfer cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the freezer while the oven is preheating.
 Bake 10-12 minutes, until the cookies just begin to brown around the edges.
Let cool completely before decorating. Frost using this recipe.

Sugar Cookie Icing

Sugar Cookie Icing 

This is enough to frost about 2 dozen cookies. 

Source: https://www.thebrewerandthebaker.com/archives/14706 

Ingredients 

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp +1 tsp milk (plus more to adjust consistency)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp corn syrup (plus more to adjust consistency)
 ½ tsp almond extract 

Gel food colorings 

Instructions 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and extract until uniform. You may find this mixture to be far too thick even for outlining so add equal parts of milk and corn syrup until the consistency is right.

  Divide between bowls and color the frosting Transfer to a piping bag, candy bottle, or a small sandwich baggie fitted with a coupler and tip