Randy's Favorite Glaze for Ham

Glaze:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 heaping tablespoons honey
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Slices of fully-cooked ham ( I like to buy spiral ham)

Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat up to combine them well letting the honey dissolve.

Place ham slices in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan making sure you add some glaze in between layers. The pan has to be almost full of ham. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 F for 45-50 minutes.

Remove from the oven and baste the slices with the juices.

Michele's Chicken Noodle Soup

1 lb chicken breast
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

Cook on Low for 3 hours. Remove and shred. Do not discard the cream of chicken.

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery
7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
2 1/2 cups eggs noodles
Black pepper to taste

My additional ingredient:

1 tablespoon flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water to thick the soup a little bit at the end.


In a medium-size pot, add the low-sodium chicken broth, celery and carrots. Let boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and the cream where it cooked. Stir in the noodles and cook on medium-low, covered until tender. Finally, add the flour dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water and stir constantly until the soup thicken a little bit. Add some black pepper to taste and salt if needed. Stir in the parsley flakes.

Makes 4 servings

Pumpkin Bread

Dry ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips to mix in the batter

1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips for sprinkling on top of both loaves

Mix dry ingredients in a medium-size bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a big bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Butter and flour 2 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Divide the batter among the pans and sprinkle with the 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Bake in a preheated 350 F for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of each loaf comes out clean.

Place the baking pans in a wire rack and cool almost completely. Invert onto a platter trying not to touch the top of the loaves.

Makes 14 servings

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Recipe by Paula Abbot

1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix altogether and pour into jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Frosting:

6 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup softened butter
4 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Mix until creamy. Spread on top of cooled cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup Canola oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine the oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add the vanilla and pumpkin puree and mix.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Beat at low speed until thoroughly combined. Finally, add the chocolate chips and pecans.

Butter and flour a Bundt cake pan. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 60-70 minutes.  Insert a toothpick in the cake to see if it comes out clean.

Place cake pan on a wire rack. Let rest for 5 minutes. Invert onto wire rack and cool completely.

Serve slices of cake with scoops of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce if desired.  Butter pecan ice cream is a great choice, too.

Makes 12 slices

Chocolate Cream Cheese Stuffed Monkey Bread

Tasty. A wonderful Facebook page.

2 (16 oz) containers of biscuit dough (16 big biscuits total)
8-12 oz cream cheese
Chocolate chips (we use dark chocolate)


1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)

Cut biscuits in half and cube the cream cheese (32 pieces). Flatten each biscuit and place 1 cube of cream cheese and a few chocolate chips in the center of each. Fold the biscuit dough around the cream cheese and chocolate and form into a ball.

In 1 gallon plastic bag combine 1 cup white sugar and 2 teaspoon cinnamon. Add 6-8 dough balls to the bag; seal the bag and shake until well-coated. Repeat for the remainder of the  stuffed dough pieces. In a microwave-safe bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Microwave on High for 70 seconds-stopping halfway to stir. Remove from microwave and stir until it has a caramel consistency. Repeat with remaining walnuts, dough and glaze.

Bake in preheated oven 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn upside-down onto a plate to cool for 10 minutes before lifting off the pan (this way the warm glaze runs back through and fully coats all the bread). Lift off the Bundt pan, pull apart and enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Waffles

The Dinner Doctor Cookbook,  Anne Byrn.

Vegetable oil cooking spray for misting the waffle iron

1 3/4 cups biscuit mix such as Bisquick
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Preheat an electric waffle iron. Mist the top and bottom of the interior with vegetable oil cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 250 F (you will use it to keep the waffles warm until they are all ready to serve).

Place the biscuit mix, cocoa, milk, egg, oil and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine well. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix until they are just incorporated. Ladle about 1/3 of the batter onto the hot waffle iron, spreading it out so that it almost but not entirely covers the bottom. Close the lid and cook the waffle for 3-4 minutes or until the light comes on to indicate that the waffle is done. The waffle is fully cooked when it does not stick to the top or bottom of the iron. Using a fork, transfer the waffle to a heatproof plate and place it in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining waffle batter.

Makes 6 waffles (6 inches each)

Note: I added 2 tablespoons sugar to the batter before cooking and more cinnamon.