I've been wanting to make this baked macaroni/cheese and ham ever since I saw it in Friend Vali's cookbook, Country Cooking by the Amish of Buchanan County, Iowa. Vali is a fellow volunteer at the thrift shop (HPC Thrift Shop). The cookbook was old, but she loaned it to me because she knows how much I love trying Amish recipes. When she asked for it back, I ended up having to copy some recipes down that I wanted to try, but just hadn't gotten around to them. When I cooked some dry Great Northern Beans last week, I had to buy a package of chopped ham to add to them. Fortunately I didn't need the whole package so I knew it was a perfect time to try this recipe.
It makes quite a bit for just two people, but my husband and I enjoyed it just as much warmed up for leftovers. (Just heat a helping in the microwave on reheat setting for pasta. Sprinkle a little water on top and cover with lid for microwaveable dish.) Another personal note: I didn't have any Swiss cheese, so I grated 6 oz of an extra sharp cheddar cheese.
Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.
DOUBLE CHEESE BAKE
1 cup elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup chopped ham
3 eggs, well beaten
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 cups milk, scalded
a little paprika
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 2 quart casserole dish.
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Add butter,
toss until butter coats the macaroni.
Add remaining ingredients except paprika; mix well. (I added all of the ingredients together except the milk....
then I added the milk.)
Turn into casserole dish.
Sprinkle with a little paprika.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
Warms up nicely in microwave using the reheat setting for pasta (if you have it on your microwave). If you do not have this setting just use a lower power level.
These Cinnamon Apple Pie Bars were a big hit at the thrift shop (HPC Thrift Shop) last Tuesday when I went for my usual Tuesday morning shift at the registers. Cake mixes like so many things sold in the stores come in smaller containers (but cost as much or maybe a little more) than they used to. There isn't much you can do about it when you are following an older recipe that uses a cake mix. I just use what I have, but it does sometimes make a difference in the consistency of the mixture. This particular recipe says mixture will be dry after you cut the butter in, but mine wasn't dry. It also took more than 3/4th of the mixture to cover the bottom of the pan. I was concerned I wouldn't have enough to crumble over the pie filling. I didn't have that much, but by trying to "crumble" the mixture in as small of pieces as I could, it covered the filling enough. I actually liked seeing as much of the pie filling as I could.
Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.
CINNAMON APPLE PIE BARS
1 spice cake mix with pudding in the mix
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks) cut into pieces
1 egg
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Combine cake mix, oats, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
Cut in butter until butter is evenly distributed and no large pieces remain.
(You can do this with the mixer on low if you like. Cut butter in slices the same as you would do if you were going to use a pastry cutter.)
Stir in egg until well blended.
With damp hands, press about 3/4th of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
(I felt like I used more than 3/4th of the mixture, but liked the way the finished bars looked.)
Cut the apple slices in the pie filling into chunks and
spread the filling evenly over top of the "crust".
Crumble remaining dough over the filling.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top and edges are lightly browned.
Cool completely in pan.
Like I said, I used more than 3/4th of the cake mix mixture to cover the bottom of the pan, but I liked seeing the apple chunks when it was done.
When it was evident that we would not be getting out on Saturday due to the weather, I was glad to see that the cookie jar was miserably empty. I didn't want to make a cake or pie or anything big, because I was afraid I just might sit and eat it all over the weekend. Well, maybe not all of it, but definitely more than I needed to eat.
I really like gingersnaps and when I saw this recipe for chocolate gingersnaps, I thought, "Perfect! Gingersnaps and chocolate. How could these not work?!" And "work" they do! OMG. Just a little bit crunchy and just a little bit soft. They are even more tasty with a little glass of milk.
Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.
CHOCOLATE GINGERSNAPS
1 package chocolate cake mix without pudding in the mix (I used a devil's food cake mix. I would have used a sugar free one if I had had it.)
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoons ground ginger
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray or use nonstick cookie sheets. (Clean each cookie sheet with a paper towel if using the nonstick ones after using.)
Place cake mix, oil, eggs, and ginger in a large mixing bowl and
beat until well blended.
Using a cookie scoop, measure out a level scoop of dough,
roll into a ball in hand, and then
roll in sugar in a small bowl to coat.
Place 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
Bake 12 minutes.
Cool cookies 1 to 2 minutes on cookie sheet before
removing them to finish cooling on wire rack.
Makes 3-1/2 dozen cookies.
I didn't get this post finished yesterday because I was reading Louise Penny's Glass Houses and just couldn't put it down. It is the 13th Chief Inspector Gamache novel she wrote and I have read. There is one more for me to read still, Kingdom of the Blind, but I hope she is currently writing the 15th one. I will miss the characters tremendously until. I am still on the waiting list for the last one so it looks like I won't be reading it as soon as I finish this one. If you like mysteries, I highly recommend you read Still Life, the first one in the series FIRST and then read them in order. She does have a continuing story running through them.
I did have to take a break from my reading last Thursday while I hosted the canasta group. I was supposed to have hosted back in December but with the construction/remodeling going on, I kept having to trade until now. (They are not quite finished but will be when the last few pieces of trim comes in.) I found the recipe Tuesday while looking through a cookbook at Hillcrest - Tuesdays are sometimes a little slow. It looked and sounded too good to pass up.
Well, it tasted just as yummy as the picture of it in the cookbook. I followed the recipe as it was written except I didn't add the coconut and pecans to the sugar mixture before pouring it on the partially baked crust. I lined the pan with foil and sprayed it with the nonstick cooking spray as the recipe said, but the bars stuck to the foil in a few places. That is the only reason I can come up with that it stuck (even though I think it should not have). Friend Janice thought maybe I didn't spray the foil heavy enough. Maybe that too. Anyway, the sugar mixture did have a little time to seep down into the warm partially baked crust before I could sprinkle the nuts and coconut on top, so that just might be why it stuck in places.
It certainly didn't take away from the taste of the bars my husband would say after enjoying at least four pieces of it. If that happens to you when you try it, just make sure you got all of the foil off before you serve it.
Click here for a printable copy of just the recipe.
PECAN COCONUT LAYER BARS
Crust
1 yellow cake mix
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
Topping
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan with aluminium foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Make crust by combining the cake mix, butter, and egg in large mixing bowl.
Beat until ingredients are well blended. (Batter will be stiff and crumbly.)
Scatter lumps in pan leaving about 1/4 of them in bowl.
Press batter into pan using
the remaining crumbs to fill in in bare spots.
Bake for 15 minutes in oven.
Meanwhile combine the corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a smaller bowl and
stir with whisk until
well blended. Stir in pecans and coconut.
Spread topping evenly over partially baked crust.
(I didn't add the pecans and coconut to the mixture. I poured the mixture over the crust and then sprinkle about half of the nuts on top, then all of the coconut, and
then finished with the rest of the nuts. This might be why the bars stuck to the foil in places. Some of the mixture seeped in the crust before I could sprinkle all of the nuts and coconut on top. Just a thought.)
Bake 25 more minutes.
Cool completely before cutting.
I did lift the bars out of the pan by the foil to cut them. I had to make sure I got all of the foil in the places where they stuck to the foil.
This was one of my hands I was dealt during the canasta game after I drew two to start the hand...I don't remember which two cards I drew.
I discarded the jack of clubs and Dorothy picked it up along with the joker and a five that were in the pile.
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Add butter, 
toss until butter coats the macaroni. 
Add remaining ingredients except paprika; mix well. (I added all of the ingredients together except the milk.... 
then I added the milk.)
Turn into casserole dish. 
Sprinkle with a little paprika.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
