Game Time Food - Pepperoni Rolls

MMM! Nothing beats warm pepperoni rolls right out of the oven to munch on during a football game. We used to be able to find these in any bakery on Sunday afternoons in Pa. but not here. Thankfully they are easy to make at home using only 3 ingredients.


You need:

2 tubes of refrigerated French Bread
1 package of sliced pepperoni or turkey pepperoni
6 mozzarella cheese sticks, each cut in 1/2, making 12 sticks

Preheat oven according to package directions for the bread. Lightly grease a large baking sheeet and set aside.

Remove bread from tubes but do not unroll. Cut each loaf into six equal pieces. Roll or flatten each piece of dough into a small rectangle. Working from one of the long ends of each rectangle, lay 6 pieces of pepperoni on top of the dough. Slice one cheese stick in 1/2, then lay end to end on top of the pepperoni. Fold dough up and over the cheese and pepperoni, pressing the ends together tightly to seal.

Lay the pepperoni rolls, seam side down, onto the baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

If there's any left over, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and then pop them into the freezer. Reheat in the microwave.

MMM! Look at the warm, gooey cheese! These don't last long around here!

Bookmarked Recipes ~ Upside-Down Strawberry Shortcake

My Bookmarked Recipe for this week is Upside-Down Strawberry Shortcake from Taste of Home.


Although I found it in one of their magazines, it can be found online here.

This cake was super simple to make and really, really good. I whipped this up this morning while waiting on the maintenance guys who were coming to check out our furnace. The cake would be equally delicious, I'm sure, made with blackberries, raspberries, peaches...ect. I'm going to try it with blackberries the next time. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 package (16 ounces) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed
1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Fresh strawberries and whipped cream

Directions:
Sprinkle marshmallows evenly into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; set aside. In a small bowl, combine strawberries and gelatin powder; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Pour batter over the marshmallows. Spoon strawberry mixture evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Garnish with strawberries and whipped cream. Yield: 12-16 servings.

The changes that I made to the recipe:

I halved the recipe and baked the cake in a 9x9 pan.

I used unsweetened frozen strawberries + sugar-free Jello. This was plenty sweet enough this way.

I topped it with Cool Whip instead of fresh whipped cream.

The cake baked for 47 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cooking with Alicia & Annie ~ Johnny Cake Cornbread

In an attempt to find the perfect cornbread to go along with soups and chilis, I decided to give this Johnny Cake Cornbread from Alicia's recipes, a try.

This will also add another entry into the Cooking with Alicia & Annie November Blog Event!

I followed the directions exactly as they are written. The cornbread is quick to mix up and bakes up beautifully.

If you like dense cornbread, you'd probably like this one.

Although this one didn't turn out to be a family favorite, I would say that overall, it's good.

Cooking with Alicia & Annie ~ Christmas Apple Cake

We started our Christmas celebrating early this year. lol! It started with tonight's dessert - Christmas Apple Cake from Alicia's Recipes. This is another entry into the Cooking with Alicia and Annie Blogging Event.


I'm not sure where they came up with the name of this cake - maybe a family tradition of making to give as gifts for the holidays? Whatever the case may be, the cake sure is good!

I made one 9 x 9 cake and 12 lg. muffins from this mix. Both were very moist and delicious.





I made some changes to the original recipe:

I used 1/2 C. apple cider in place of the rum. I also soaked the raisins in 3/4 C. of very hot apple cider since the juice and raisins both go into the mix.

I used 2 C. of raisins in place of the 1 C. raisins + 2 C. of nuts. I did not increase the liquid above on the raisins when it came time to soak them.

I used 3 tsp. of apple pie spice instead of pumpkin pie spice.

I filled 12 lg. cupcake liners full of batter. With the remaining batter, I filled a 9 x 9 glass dish. The muffins baked for 18 minutes @ 350*. The cake baked for 48 minutes @ 350*.

These muffins would be great for breakfast. The cake would hold up great packed in lunches.

For a pretty dessert, drizzle with caramel apple topping that has been heated in the microwave.

Cooking with Alicia & Annie ~ Baked Macaroni & Cheese Casserole

I'm finally able to sit at my keyboard and type once again. It's been a rough week for us at my house with everyone fighting Bronchitis. Finally I'm hoping that we are nearing the end of being sick! YAY!

I baked 2 whole chickens today so that I would have chicken for tonight's dinner and then enough to make a couple of other dinners over the next few days.

I found a really easy side dish called Baked Macaroni & Cheese Casserole from Annie's website that I'm going to post as an entry into this month's Cooking with Alicia & Annie Blog Event.





Annie's Original Recipe with my changes and notes below it:

1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked according to pkg. directions
1 pkg. Kraft sharp cheese, grated
1 can cream of chicken OR cream of mushroom soup (Campbell's)
Bread crumbs
Milk

Instructions:

Mix soup with 1 can of milk in a bowl.

Butter or spray a large casserole dish.

Put alternating layers of the macaroni, cheese, and the soup into dish. Top with bread crumbs.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serves 6.

******

My changes and notes: I doubled the ingredients and followed the recipe "as is" using cream of mushroom soup. I didn't use the breadcrumbs on top because my family doesn't like casseroles topped that way. I only baked this dish for 45 minutes, and then I stuck it under the broiler for 3 minutes to brown it. I assumed that "one package" of cheddar cheese was one 8 oz block. When I make this again, I will add one more cup of chunked cheese to it. I will try it the next time with the cream of chicken soup.

Both of my kids loved this dish. They gave it rave reviews! My husband said that he liked it, too. I thought that the cream of mushroom soup was sort of overpowering in it and that it could've used more cheese. I'll be keeping this one on hand to make on those nights were you need a quick meal but don't have much on hand to throw something together. This dish contains the basic ingredients most of us have in our kitchens. You could even add some chopped chicken or tuna right to the dish and stir in a veggie...you would have a one dish meal. :)