Funny Article About Food

I had to share this link about foods with cult followings. Is it funny because it's true or true because it's funny? Enjoy!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/9-limited-edition-foods-with-cult-followings-2415859/

My Secret Potluck Recipes

My company had its annual Halloween Potluck and I’m pleased to report that 2 of my dishes were, dare I say it, a hit. I guess I was surprised because these recipes are so simple but isn’t that what makes good comfort food?

As I always do, I have to give credit and tell you these recipes were shared with me. It's all about sharing the joy and good food.
Let’s start with the best queso dip I’ve ever had. Ever. This one is what I call Mrs. S’s Outstanding Queso. What you’ll need:

1 lb yellow American sliced cheese (from the Deli)
1 or 1 ½ cans of Carnation® Evaporated milk
1 tablespoon salsa casera
1 bouillon-sized piece of Spam®
1 bag nacho style tortilla chips

Optional:
1 small can nacho style jalapeno (on the side)


Directions:
Add cheese, salsa casera and Spam® in a blender. About half-way through the cheese,  add ½ a can of evaporated milk.   Blend and continue adding milk until the dip reaches the consistency you like.

I used a Crock Pot® to keep the dip warm until it was time to eat. If you do that, be sure you have the heat on “warm” and stir at least once an hour to keep it from baking on the sides of your Crock Pot® dish.

That was the appetizer portion of our blog post. You know I’m a huge desert lover and this one is what I like to call White Trash Ambrosia. What you’ll need is:

1 large box of instant vanilla pudding
3 cups of milk
2 containers of Kraft© Cool Whip® (you can use generic brands, they work just as well)
~ 64 vanilla wafers

Optional:
1/2 of a banana

Directions:
Combine vanilla pudding and milk as directed on the pudding box. Gradually add your Cool Whip® (I put in half a container at a time and blend it thoroughly before adding more). If you have a KitchenAid® mixer, this is a great time to use it. I recommend whipping this mixture for as long as you can. At my house, it’s not unheard of for me to blend for up to a half hour. The more you whip, the fluffier it gets so have fun with it!

Grab an 8 X 8 pan and line the bottom with 16 vanilla wafers (4 X 4 is my favorite). Spoon your Cool-Whip-Pudding mix on top and spread evenly with a spatula. Repeat this for another 3 - 4 layers, depending on how tall your pan is. Cover and put in the ‘fridge at least overnight.

(If you’re feeling a banana mood, alternate your bananas and vanilla wafer layers for a little twist.)

At this writing, I haven’t tried a chocolate alternative but I’m sure that’s got to be good too!

So have at ‘em, ladies & gents. Use these at your next potluck and spread the joy. xo

Bomb-Ass Banana Bread

I'm not going to lie: I was pretty impressed when I took a bunch of over-ripe-to-the-point-of-being-garbage bananas and turned them into a delicious bread. (Thanks to the good folks at Radford for being my witnesses!) Best of all, this recipe is wheat-free!

I modified a recipe I found in the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook so shouts to them.

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 cup of quinoa flour
3/4 cup of Pamela's Baking mix
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup olive oil
(optional) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 8X4X2 loaf pan (use technique #2 in the post below: butter or Pam with confectioners sugar) & set it aside. In a big bowl, combine your dry ingredients excluding the walnuts. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and set aside.

2. In medium bowl, combine the egg, bananas, sugar, and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones all at once and stir ONLY until moistened. The batter is going to be lumpy and that's okay. Fold in the walnuts if you'd like 'em.

3. Put the batter in the pan and bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on the rack.

Two helpful hints to add:

1. Use super over-ripe bananas. You'll know they're ready when they're deep brown or black. They nearly fell apart when I mashed them but I took it one step further and whipped them up in the KitchenAid® stand-up mixer. If you're not rockin' the KitchenAid®, use a hand mixer.

2. At 50 minutes, the top of my bread was looking over done so I covered it with foil and kept it on for the rest of the cooking time and overnight. That trapped even more moisture in and seemed to make the bread that much more scrumptious.


Get some bananas and get a-bakin'! Enjoy!