RECIPE BOX

Welcome to Grandma's Recipe Box. This is where you'll find some of the family favorites I've served up over the years plus some recent additions quickly on their way to becoming favorites. Dig in and enjoy!

RECIPE BOX SAMPLER

If you love hummus as much as I do, you’re really gonna love how simple (and inexpensive) it is to make it yourself. I prefer my hummus with red peppers, but this recipe certainly works just fine without them, if that’s how you prefer yours.

Cheesy Corn Casserole

I've been making this dish for Thanksgiving for more than 25 years now. According to my family, it's just not Thanksgiving dinner without Mom's corn casserole on the table. I make it only at Thanksgiving, but considering how quickly it gets gobbled up, I should make it for every other holiday, too ... and Sunday dinners ... and weeknight suppers. My family adores it. I bet yours will, too.

Caramel Apple Cake

When it comes to birthdays, sometimes you just gotta go full boar. Or fully decadent, I should say. As in, Paula Deen-style decadence with not a whit of worry about calories, sugar, fat, and so forth. This Caramel Apple Cake I made for my eldest daughter’s birthday goes beyond simply being Paula Deen style; it’s an authentic Paula Deen creation—which she calls Caramel Apple Spice Cake—culled from a recent issue of Cooking With Paula Deen magazine and slightly altered by me. So delicious, so decadent… as birthday cakes should be.

Berry Snack Cake

This Berry Snack Cake is a sweet way to close out summer. Or for serving during any season. The choice of berry is up to you—and what's in season. I've made it with strawberries and blueberries; blackberries are on tap for next time. It's good soon after cooling or cold from the fridge, with whipped cream, ice cream, or no cream at all. Bottom line: It's berry, berry delicious... and versatile.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Simple. Savory. Inexpensive. Impressive.

What more can I say about this deep-dish pizza made with crust from scratch? Not much, other than Yum! And Try it!

Chocolate Chip Dip

This recipe smacks of sweet serendipity. Many years ago I found a version of this recipe in, I think, a Kraft holiday cookbook. It was supposed to make a dessert-style cheese ball and I planned to make a few as gifts for friends and family. But when I used margarine instead of butter, it came out soft and gooey and dip-like, not ball-like. It was so yummy — and the girls loved eating the "mistake" — that I never tried making it the correct way, with butter. It's always been a hit any time I've served it, for adults or kids! This is great with graham crackers, graham stix or apple slices.

Homemade Bagels

Bagels are king in our house. Far more appreciated—and eaten—than doughnuts and gooey pastries. This is an adapted recipe, a melding of one from Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook and the one included with my bread maker. Yes, I used the bread maker for the kneading, so this recipe is geared toward placing the ingredients in that, but you could surely make them without one.

Colorado Caviar

Seems every chef west of the Mississippi has a bean-tomato-corn-avocado concoction in his or her repertoire. Most call it Cowboy Caviar. I call mine Colorado Caviar... and here's how it goes:

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I make muffins a couple of times a month. These are my chocoholic husband's favorite.

Savory Snack Crackers

I've seen several variations of this kind of cracker on Pinterest. For my version, I tweaked the ingredients a bit and used oyster crackers, making them a savory snack you can easily pop in your mouth — by the handfuls, if so inclined. (I'm pretty sure you'll be so inclined... or so my oldest and youngest daughters tell me.)

Confetti Popcorn

I originally saw this recipe on Pinterest, and it goes pretty much like this...

No-Crust Cheesecake

My daughters and I are huge fans of cheesecake...but not so much of the graham cracker crust usually associated with cheesecake. We like ours without the crust, which is why this is the perfect cheesecake for us. Maybe for you, too. Top it any way you like—such as with fresh or canned fruit or this toffee-topped version—or savor it sans any topping at all. It's delicious either way.

Toffee-Topped Cheesecake

I've made a Heath Bar Coffee Cake for decades, but it was only upon Brianna's request for her 30th birthday cake that I attempted this, a blending of her favorite cake (cheesecake) and one of her favorite candies (Heath bars). Once the candles were blown out and the cake sampled, we all agreed: This toffee-topped cheesecake is pretty darn delicious.

Mini Cheesecakes

Jim prefers all things chocolate, but every once in a while I just gotta make a departure into the kinds of desserts I love. This is one of them. My favorite topping is blueberry pie filling, but fresh fruits—blackberries, strawberries, and more—are delicious, too.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Simple. Spicy. Satisfying. What more can I say?

Cranberry-Pumpkin Bread

This has been a Thanksgiving staple in my family for years. I can remember toting it to South Dakota for the holiday festivities with Jim's family each time we celebrated there. I still have the magazine clipping of the original recipe (now faded and sporting food splotches), which apparently came from Wesson Oil as it's the only brand name noted in the ingredients. I've altered the original a tad, leaving out the chopped pecans, for one.

Apple Cobbler

I love, love, love apple cobbler hot from the oven and served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top. I may be partial, but I think this recipe—one I cobbled together myself—is the best I've ever had.

Busy-day Burritos

I don't recall where or how I came up with this recipe, but I do recall many compliments from the girls and guests on how delicious the meal is. And it's so unbelievably easy!

Faux Caramel Dip

Fall is for apples and this dip is for apples. Of course, you can eat this dip on anything -- it's especially yummy with graham cracker sticks -- but it's the absolute perfect complement to crisp and crunchy fall apples. Or apples any time of the year. Beware, though: It's also pretty darn good by itself, and that can be dangerous ... for your hips.

Sweet-n-Salty Pumpkin Seeds

For years and years and years ... and years ... I made roasted pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins the family carved for Halloween the same ol' basic way: rinse, spread on a cookies sheet, salt, bake at 350 degrees til crispy. Then I found this recipe in the recipe-focused newspaper insert, Relish. I'll never go back to plain pumpkin seeds again. The best part: picking through the bowl of seeds to find the ones with the biggest glops of crunchy, salty sweetness to pop into your mouth before someone else nabs them. Here's my slightly altered version:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Jim typically refuses to eat zucchini. But he's hard-pressed to find anything wrong with this bread, even exclaiming "I really like this" the first time he gave in to my pleading for him to try it. You'll really like it, too, as long as you like moist and chocolatey goodness in a quick—and easy—bread.

Blueberry Cobbler

Warm fruit dishes topped with vanilla ice cream are among my most favorite of things in the universe. This cobbler, a tweaked version of "Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler" from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, is one of my very favorite of all. If blueberries aren't your thing — or if there's a great deal on another fresh or frozen fruit — take heart in knowing that two cups of any fruit can be substituted for the blueberries.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

A perfect blend of chicken, sauce and cilantro. (I love cilantro!) I use the deliciously tangy Pomegrante Barbecue Sauce but any barbecue sauce will do.

Breakfast Pizza

This Breakfast Pizza has been a part of our Christmas breakfasts for years and years. It's easy to throw together and the red and green peppers add a festive color. It's also great any other day of the year.

Spritz Cookies

This is my traditional Christmas cookie recipe, but I'm sure it'd be just as delicious made any other time of year (just don't use the Christmas tree disc and Christmas colors or folks might think you're a wee bit weird).

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This isn't a recipe I've been making for years, but it's one I definitely plan on making for years to come. I found the recipe at My Baking Addiction (she adapted it from allrecipes.com) and immediately had to try it myself. The bread filled the house with a mouthwatering aroma as it baked and ended up tasting even better than it smelled. This recipe makes three loaves -- enough for sharing with friends, family, coworkers. I plan to bake up a few batches for the annual holiday cookie swap with my extended family!

Heath Bar Coffee Cake

I first made this coffee cake nearly 30 years ago, after wrangling the recipe out of one of my coworkers. It was back in the day when I worked in the mortgage industry ... before the real estate crash ... the crash of the '80s. (Now I feel old!) It's been a staple of workplace potlucks and family gatherings ever since.

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February 12, 2012

Barbecue Chicken Pasta Salad

February 12, 2012/ Lisa Carpenter

Perusing Pinterest on a cold winter day, I came across a BBQ Pasta Salad side dish. Inspired, I decided to make it my own—and make it a meal. The makeover resulted in a taste of summer on a winter evening that I'm sure will be just as tasty come the warm months.

2 chicken breasts, cooked, cubed and chilled

8 ounces penne (or similar) pasta, cooked, drained, and chilled

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 chopped fresh cilantro

4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup light mayonnaise

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

salt and pepper to taste

cilantro for garnish, if desired

Combine all well. Chill. Serve. Say YUM!

Serves 4.