SPAGHETTI SAUCE

 I love spaghetti!  I like spaghetti sauce that is thick and loaded with stewed tomatoes.  So that is how I make mine.  Once I tell you how I make my spaghetti sauce, I'm sure they'll be some of you who won't consider it homemade.  But it isn't a sauce from a can, so in a way, it is homemade.  I like 

McCormick®'s Thick & Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix, then I add mushrooms, olives, stewed tomatoes (lots of stewed tomatoes), tomato paste, water and sometimes beef.  It is a simple sauce to make, but it is a crowd pleaser.  I had a roommate from college that LOVED this spaghetti sauce, every time I cook it now, I think of her.  I have mentioned in earlier posts that I am a vegetarian, so the sauce I made today is without meat.  But I generally make it with meat when I plan on sharing it with others.  So, if you like thick, spicy spaghetti sauce, I think you'll really like this sauce!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg  McCormick®'s Thick & Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix
1 can (2.2 oz) black olives, sliced
1 can (6.5 oz) sliced mushrooms
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 cans (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 1/2 to 2 C. water


DIRECTIONS:

 Stir sauce mix, olives, mushrooms, tomato paste, stewed tomatoes and water together in medium saucepan until well blended.  Bring sauce to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes , stirring occasionally.  Serve over pasta, enjoy :)

~ You can add beef or sausage to the sauce mix, if you would like.  I'd use 1/2 lb of either, and brown it before you start the sauce.  Once the meat is cooked, drain the grease and add to sauce mix.

~ You can adjust the water to change the taste and thickness of the sauce.  If you would like a thinner sauce, use more water.  If the spices are too strong, add more water.  If you would like a thicker sauce, you can use more tomato paste.

~ This sauce tastes even better the next day, once it has had time to set and thicken up.

~ Sometimes, if I'm in the right mood, I'll double the sauce mix and freeze half the sauce.  That way, I'd always have some on hand whenever the urge struck for spaghetti. 

~ You can add additional veggies to the sauce mix.  Green peppers, diced onions, squash, you get the idea.

                                                       LEMON BARS




                                    






 I like sour, tart foods, especially when it comes to desserts. So it should come to no surprise that I like lemon bars. Unfortunately, the first time I tried making them a couple years ago, they turned out less than ideal. The lemon "custard" topping turned out rubbery, I'm pretty sure I cooked it too long. After that disappointment, I was leery to try them again, so I didn't. That is, not until this past week.

 At work we were talking about baking and cooking, and it came out that I enjoyed baking and cooking and found it relaxing. We then started talking about various recipes I've made and some of our favorite desserts. One of my coworkers mentioned that she loved lemon bars, I heartily agreed, one thing lead to another and next thing I know I was expected to make lemon bars. That sounds a little harsh, I think what actually happened is that given the conversation prior to our talk of lemon bars, and the fact that I admitted to loving lemon bars, they figured that I'd made them more frequently than was the case. I really did need to conquer my fear of baking lemon bars again, so I decided to give it another shot.

 Having decided to "exercise the ghost", so to speak, I needed to find a good recipe for lemon bars. For me, there are basically three places I will go to first before broadening my search for a recipe. Those being: Betty Crocker ® cookbook, allrecipies.com® and The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Fortunately for me I didn't have to search long, I started and finished my search at allrecipies.com®. I decided to try a recipe submitted by Patty Schenck, The Best Lemon Bars. How could I go wrong, it was given 4 1/2 stars out of a possible 5, a good sign to me! Before I make a recipe I've never tried before from allrecipies.com®, I always check out the reviews for any suggestions I might find helpful. A couple suggestions I kept seeing from person to person was that the crust could use a little salt and that the lemon "custard" could use more lemon juice. I found one review that I really liked and decided to follow their suggestions, turns out it was from MommyfromSeattle! I had used their suggestions before and had never regretted it, so I knew I would be okay. The recipe that follows will be the original recipe that Patty Schenck submitted, but I'll highlight the changes that MommyfromSeattle suggested, and that I followed.

(MommyfromSeattle suggested using an 8x11 inch pan instead of the called for 9x13 inch pan, that way the shortbread crust and the lemon topping would be thicker.)



INGREDIENTS:

1 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt4 eggs
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. flour (plus 1 tbsp)
2 lemons, juiced (I used 2/3 C. lemon juice)


DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 C. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 C. sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. (I used an 8x11 inch pan, for a thicker crust and lemon topping. I also sprayed the pan with a non-stick cooking spray.)

 
                                              

                                     




 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. (Because I went with a smaller pan, and the crust was thicker I cooked the crust an additional 5 minutes, for a total of 25 minutes.) In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 C. sugar and the 1/4 (plus 1 tbsp) flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.




                                       




 Pour over the baked crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. (Again, since I was using a smaller pan and the lemon "custard" was thicker, I cooked it for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.) The bars will firm up as they cool.

                                 

 I waited about 10 minutes after the lemon bars came out of the oven, and then I sprinkled about 1/4 C. powdered sugar on top. You can use more, or less, if you'd like. You can even skip the powdered sugar.





                                

~Throughout this post, I have mentioned a lemon "custard". I am referring to the lemon topping that is on top of the crust. To me, it resembles a custard, so that is why I have referred to it as such. So, to clear up any confusion, the lemon "custard" and the lemon topping are one and the same.

~Remember, this recipe was originally intended for a 9x13 inch pan. So it WILL work in a 9x13 inch pan. The only difference is that the crust and the "custard" will be thinner if you decide to use the larger pan. If you would like a thicker crust and "custard" use an 8x11 inch pan.

~To add a little more kick to custard, you can add the zest of 2 lemons (suggestion courtesy of MommyfromSeattle). I didn't, only because I didn't have any lemons on hand.

~For the lemon juice, I would rather use lemon juice from a store rather than juice my own lemons. It's just faster this way. But if you like juicing the lemons yourself, go ahead ;)

~Going with 2/3 C. lemon juice makes the lemon bars very tart! Just wanted to forewarn you. If you do not want yours to turn out that tart, you probably will want to use only 1/3 C. lemon juice and cut the additional 1 tbsp flour in the "custard" and cook for the original amount of time listed, 20 minutes.

~The original recipe also suggests: "For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion."

~If you are still unsure of how good these lemon bars are, just look at the following picture.




                                      

                                                   (Mmmmmm, delicious!!!)



 BETTY CROCKER®'S 

CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE BARS

 As promised, the long overdue next recipe installment.  Today's recipe comes from Betty Crocker and is for chocolate chip cheesecake bars.  This recipe combines two of my favorite desserts into one, chocolate chip cookies and cheesecake!  How can you go wrong?  The recipe is easy enough to make, it's the waiting for it to chill and set that's the hard part :) 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C. cold butter
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix
1 egg
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray.  In large bowl, cut butter into cookie mix using fork or pastry blender.  Stir in 1 egg until mixture is crumbly.  Gently spoon 3 cups crumb mixture into pan; press into bottom of pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

(uncooked cookie dough mixture)

(cooked cookie crust)



  In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, 2 eggs and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Pour over cookies crust. 

 Spoon remaining crumb mixture over cream cheese.

 Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Cool 30 minutes.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled.  For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows.  Store covered in refrigerator.

~The first couple of times I made this recipe I could still find the Betty Crocker® oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix.  But I haven't been able to find it since, so I just get the Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix and that works fine.  If you really want the oatmeal in it, you can add some to the cookie mix.

~I don't cut it into 9 rows by 4 rows.  I just leave it uncut and let people cut to their desired amount.  Whatever works for you.

~These pictures are from when I went to visit one of my brothers back in May.  I'm grateful to him for letting me use his kitchen.  So, thank you again!


 As for my Labor Day Weekend plans, I just got back last night from a trip over to see Mt. St. Helen's.  It's something that I've always wanted to do but had yet to get around to.  So this holiday weekend provided the perfect opportunity.  This past Saturday, my mom, a former coworker of hers, and I went.  It was unbelievable!  When we got there on Saturday night, we went over to Windy Ridge, on the eastern side of St. Helen's.

 


 What looks like white sticks are actually dead trees that were in the path of the blast zone.  The next day, we went over to the western side of the mountain.  We first went to Mount St. Helen's Visitor Center, spent a good amount of time there, walked through the museum and watched the video.  We then had something to eat at the food stand outside and then continued on to the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  It's the closest you can get to Mt. St. Helen's on the west side, and it gets you as close to just over 5 miles from the north flank of Mount St. Helen's!

(driving up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory)

 The view from the Johnston Ridge Observatory was stunning.  It's weird to be soo close to the mountain that caused so much damage back in May of 1980.

(view from the Johnston Ridge Observatory)



 My advice to you, if you are in any way able to make the trip to see Mt. St. Helen's, you should do it!  It was a remarkable trip and I'm already thinking of when I can go back!