Grandma T's crepes

• Grandmas Crepes (makes 8)
• 
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Combine eggs, milk, flour,sugar, and salt. Process until smooth.
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and butter till melted. Mix melted butter into batter. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

chocolate scotcharoos

Ingredients

• 1 cup Karo® Light Corn Syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated.
2. Pour into greased 13x9-inch pan and pat into place.
3. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal.
4. Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars.

chocolate chocolate chip muffins

makes 12-15

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In medium bowl, Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl stir in milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients to large bowl; beat well. Add chocolate chips and, stir well.
3. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle muffins with sugar.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

au gratin potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 onion, sliced into rings or diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Pizza sauce

makes sauce for 1 pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon chilie powder
• 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients well
2. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

chicken meat balls

Serves 4, or more as appetizers or sliders

3 slices Italian bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)
1/3 cup milk
3 ounces sliced pancetta, finely chopped (you can swap in Canadian Bacon if you can’t find pancetta)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large egg
1 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided*
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F with a racks the upper thirds. Soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about four minutes.

Cook pancetta, onion, and garlic in one tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. (Alternately, as in “I thought of this after the fact”, I’d bet you could render the pancetta for a couple minutes and cook the onions and garlic in that fat, rather than olive oil.) Cool slightly.

Squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. Lightly beat egg in a large bowl, then combine with chicken, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, pancetta mixture, bread, and parsley. Form 12 meatballs and arrange in another 4-sided sheet pan (I used a 9×13 roasting dish).

Stir together remaining tablespoons of tomato paste and oil and brush over meatballs (the paste/oil does not mix in any cohesive manner, but just smoosh it on and run with it) , then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes (though mine took a good 5 minutes longer).

* I accidentally added a heaping tablespoon of the tomato paste into the meatball mixture the first time I made it, and ended up liking it better than without it. I’d use the tomato paste on top too. It’s good both places.

zuppa toscana

Zuppa Toscana

Though a popular soup at Olive Garden, this isn't meant to be a "copycat" recipe. It might taste pretty close, but I can't even remember the last time I had this soup, let alone ate at OG. (Not my favorite place. Carino's stole my heart.) I ran across a couple of recipes lately and combined them according to my liking and this is what I ended up with.

This soup is rich, creamy and the flavors just pop, for lack of a better word. The type of sausage and chicken broth you use are important as the majority of the flavor in the soup come from those two. So get good quality broth and sausage that you like.

This soup also has kale in it. If you've never had kale, here's a (slightly wilted. . . the kale, not the photo) shot of this good-for-you green:

Never used kale? It's easy to prep, just take a hold of the stem like so:

rip off the leaves from the stem, then chop them up however you want. Easy. One of the things I like about kale is that it's a tough green. Tougher than spinach and won't turn slimy when you add it to soup -- even after 20 minutes of simmering. And don't be afraid to use a lot. Like just about all greens, the mountain you have sitting on your cutting board won't take up that much space once it's cooked.

Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup)
compiled from multiple sources

1 lb uncooked Italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
3 slices uncooked bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (see note)
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups fresh chopped kale, about 1/2 bunch
4 cups chicken broth (or 3 1/2 cups chicken broth + 1/2 c white wine)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add bacon to the pot and cook for about 4-5 minutes until it starts to render off its fat. Remove sausage from casings and crumble into pot. Cook until the sausage is well-browned and the bacon is crisp, about 5-6 more minutes. Remove sausage and bacon from the pot with a spider or slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Add onion to the pot and saute until tender, about 6-7 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute. Add 1/2 c of the chicken broth (or wine, if using) to the pan and stir, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining broth, potatoes, kale, water to the pot. Return the sausage and bacon to the pot as well. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Stir in heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crusty French bread if you like.

Serves 6.

Nat's Notes:
1. If you use spicy sausage, take that into consideration when you add the red pepper flakes, holding back if necessary.