Bean Dip

This is a recipe that my mom made all the time when I was growing up. She actually made up this recipe on her own after trying many different recipes. This is always a great appetizer for a party or even just a nice and easy dinner!

What you need:

2-3 14oz. cans Spicy Jalapeno Rosarita Refried Beans

2-3 Cans diced green chili peppers

1 8oz. package of cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 onion, diced

Cilantro, chopped

Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Mix all ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. I typically put almost all the cilantro in and probably a cup or more of cheese (it depends on what you like). Pour bean dip into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Cover the top of the bean dip with more cheese (as much as you would like). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with chips!

Banana Bread

This recipe was given to me by my great aunt Mary. She is an excellent cook! Everything that she makes is so delicious! I have never been disappointed with any of the recipes that I have made of hers in our families cookbook. This recipe is so delicious!

What you need:

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 large bananas

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar until it is mixed well. Add well beaten egg. Mash bananas well and then add to the mixture. In a seperate bowl sift dry ingredients together and then add to everything else. You can add chopped pecans or walnuts to this mix as well. Grease an 8 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan. Pour into pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then take bread out and let cool on a cooling rack.

Potato Soup

My mom makes the best potato soup! This however is not entirely hers. She uses a different base than I did for this soup, but my husband gave it an 8 out of 10 so I thought I would share it with you! My mom deserves a lot of the credit though because besides the base of the soup everything else is how she makes hers!

What you need:

2 cups milk

4 cups chicken broth

2-3 Bay Leaves

1/4 cup Flour

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 1/2 cups carrots

1 1/2 cups celery

3-4 Russet Potatoes

1 1/2 cups sausage

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Chives

In a pot boil milk and chicken broth. In a sauce pan stir butter and flour to make a roux. Once roux is made add it slowly, while stirring constantly to the chicken broth and milk. Add bay leaves. Shred (cuisinart food processor works great for shredding) or cube potatoes and add them. While that cooks on medium heat, cook sausage and then add to the soup. Chop carrots and celery and add. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cut chives and add. Let cook for about 15-20 minutes and serve with rolls or cheesy bread or anything you like!

Coconut Cream Cheese Cake

My good friend Jessi started her own cooking blog http://www.nummiesforyou.blogspot.com/ about a year ago! She has posted many wonderful recipes, but this cake is by far my favorite! I'm so happy she let me post it on my blog! The only difference between her cake and mine is the frosting. I loved the cream cheese frosting, but found it was a little too much. So I asked my father what might work as a different frosting and he told me about the white chocolate cream cheese frosting that he uses on his carrot cakes!

What you need:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
5 eggs
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup buttermilk2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups flaked coconut

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

2, 8 oz packages cream cheese
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 cups powdered sugar

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. package of Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

1 pint whipped cream

1 teaspoon Coconut extract

1/2 - 1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans, set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Mix in coconut flavoring. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing well with each addition. Add 1 cup coconut. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool completely once baked. (I put it in the freezer for an hour)

Cream Cheese Frosting
While it is baking, cream powdered sugar and butter, adding in the rest of the frosting ingredients after.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

While it's baking melt white chocolate chips in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds at a time, take them out and stir. Repeat until melted. Careful not to burn or cook the chocolate chips too long because they will harden. Next cut room temperature cream cheese into quarters or smaller. Thoroughly mix each cream cheese quarter into the melted white chocolate chips. Set aside. Mix whipping cream in a mixer until light and fluffy then add powdered sugar until the whipping cream is tastes as sweet as you want it. Gently fold a spoonful at a time of whip cream into the cream cheese mixture. Once the cream cheese mixture starts to look fluffier you can add bigger amounts of whip cream in, carefully folding in each amount until the whip cream is all combined with the cream cheese. The cream cheese mixture should be as fluffy as the whip cream was when you started. Gently fold in the coconut extract.

Tear off 4 thin strips of foil or waxed paper and place them around the edges of a cake stand or platter. Once the cakes are cooled completely, remove and place one on the foiled cake stand, making sure that the foil covers all parts of the stand. Frost the top of the cake on the stand and place the other cake on top. Frost the rest of the cake, all sides covered. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top and sides of the frosted cake, covering as much as you'd like. Remove the foil and reveal a beautifully clean cake stand with a gorgeous cake on it, with no frosting smudges on the stand!