My neighbor knows I like to cook. When I went to visit her the other day she had this recipe for me. She said that someone brought this cake to her and they could not stop eating it. I thanked her profusely for a tried and true recipe. I decided to make it Sunday night. I can not tell you how delicious this cake is. It is kind of dense - with a bread pudding consistency. I doubled the recipe for the caramel glaze. Serve it warm with real whipping cream.


Caramel-Glazed Apple Cake
*Easy Cooking the Costco Way

Cake
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
5 Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Jona Gold apples Peeled,
cored and cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel Glaze
4 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. To prepare the cake, beat both sugars and oil in a mixing bowl until very well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, mixing just until blended. Stir in apples, pecans and vanilla; pour into pan.

3. Bake for 50 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan while preparing the glaze.

4. To prepare the glaze, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in both sugars and salt; cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add cream and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Poke holes in the cake with a skewer or toothpick. Pour on the glaze. Serve warn or at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Makes 12 servings. Printable recipe.

I love Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup. I crave it. I dream about it. I went to Chili's with my friend a few nights ago salivating for a delicious bowl of their soup. The waiter came back and told us there was no more Chicken Enchilada soup. We were so bummed out we ordered and ate a large platter of cheese fries between the two of us but that is a story for another day. You can imagine my surprise when I was looking through a few of my favorite blogs and this one had a copycat recipe for...get this...CHILI'S CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP. I made it the same day. I loved it. It was everything I craved and more. It takes a little time but it is well worth the wait.

Clawson's Chicken Enchilada Soup

3 carrots chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
1 onion chopped
2 Tbs. oil
Saute veggies until clear. Add the following:

8 cups chicken broth
1 can Rotel tomatoes (a must! Regular tomatoes don't cut it)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
10 small corn tortillas, torn
Bring all ingredients to a boil and boil gently for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture in batches in blender or use a wand blender. Then add:

2 Tbs. corn starch stirred into 1 cup cold water.
Bring soup to a boil and add:

1 cup cream or half and half
1 lb Velveeta cheese cut in cubes (don't skimp on the brand. Other brands don't melt as well)

Don't boil the soup again once you add the cream and cheese. It will curdle. Then add your mix ins. I added 3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken
1 can black beans rinsed
1 can corn rinsed
Top with tortilla strips, fresh salsa or tomatoes, sour cream, avocado and chopped cilantro. Delicioso. Printable recipe

I first saw this recipe here. Intrigued, I copied the recipe and put it in my gi-normous recipe folder to make sometime...later. When I finally found the time to make these delicious morsels, my husband was at work so my kids and I each ate a few and we froze the rest. Then, a few weeks later I was out of town with my kids and my husband was left home to forage food for himself. He discovered these muffins in the freezer and ate them as a little snack. He LOVED them.

I put this in my "keeper" file. Try them soon. They are especially good with herbal tea or hot chocolate or milk......or a Diet Coke. I'm just sayin' they are GOOD.

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts
*Pioneer Woman

1 -3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

For the Topping
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. combine the sugar with the cinnamon i another bowl. Shake muffins out of pan while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool if you can. Printable recipe

Hello all. Today is December first and it has been snowing for at least 24 hours. The kids are snowed out of school and we are all in our cozy home deciding what to do. I think soup is a must today. But first I must make the corn bread to go with the soup. My friend made this corn bread a few years ago and I have made it a ton since then. I love it with chili and stew and any kind of soup. My favorite is with melted butter and honey. I hope you like it.

Corn Bread
*Jenny C.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
Beat well in separate bowl

2 cubes butter, softened
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
4 heaping Tbs. Cornmeal
Mix well. Add milk mixture. Stir by hand (batter will be lumpy -curdled looking)
Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Printable recipe