Salmon Ball

My friend Candy made this for a holiday party (December 2022). This is the recipe she followed: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24633/salmon-ball/

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (16 ounce) can salmon, drained and flaked
1 bunch chopped parsley
 
Directions
 
In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix cream cheese, onion, horseradish, salt and lemon juice. Mix in the salmon, distributing it evenly throughout. Form mixture into a ball and roll in the parsley. Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Garlic Parmesan-Stuffed Mushrooms

I made this tasty appetizer for a holiday party, December 2022.

Adapted from https://tasty.co/recipe/garlic-parmesan-stuffed-mushrooms

Ingredients
 
15 mushrooms
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, to garnish
Some chopped fresh spinach
1.5 T minced onion
1-2 slices cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
 
Preheat oven to 350°.
 
Cut the stems off of each of the mushrooms and finely chop them.
Bake the mushrooms stem side down for about 15 -20 minutes on a baking pan to release some of the water from the mushrooms.
 
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over high heat. Cook the chopped stems with the garlic, salt, and pepper for about six to eight minutes, constantly stirring. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Remove from heat.
 
In a medium bowl, combine cooked stems, cream cheese, breadcrumbs, half of the parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper, spinach, minced onion and cheddar cheese; mixing until evenly combined. The mixture should be extremely thick.
 
Spoon a generous amount of the cream cheese mixture on top of each mushroom.
 
Place the parmesan cheese in a plate and pressed the stuffed mushrooms into the cheese for the topping.
 
Bake for 20 minutes.
 
Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley, and then serve!
    
My Notes:
 
The last four ingredients are my additions.

For the mushrooms, I bought the 24 oz. size container from Costco. This recipe makes a large batch of stuffing, so having the large mushrooms was perfect (19 total). I removed the entire stem of each mushroom. 
 
I used closer to 6 oz of cream cheese. Adjust as needed. This recipe makes a big batch of stuffing, so buy more mushrooms!
 

  

Carrot Cake

I first made this for a rotation dinner group back on 26 March 2020. It was the first time I made carrot cake and it was one of the best carrot cakes I've had.

I can't believe I never made it again until today, 31 December 2022. I will definitely keep this at the top of my list to make from now on. This time I took photos as I prepared it. 

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots (I used a potato peeler and then chopped the carrots. This is about 5 medium carrots)
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 8-oz.can crushed pineapple, drained

For the frosting:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & lightly flour a 9"x13" pan.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Stir in carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple.

Pour into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Add the frosting to the top after the cake has cooled.

To make the frosting:

Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth; add the sugar and beat until creamy.


My changes from the original recipe: 

I added 1/2 cup of dried cranberries to the mixture. I reduced the amount of cinnamon to 1 teaspoon, as my husband is not a fan of cinnamon.

For the frosting, I added about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, lemon zest, and 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla. Once I put the frosting on the cake, I added more lemon zest on top.

 Shredded and chopped 

Mixing the ingredients together

 

 Added dried cranberries

 Poured into the pan

 Out of the oven after 44 minutes

Combining the frosting ingredients:

Frosting the cake:

Freezing Leftovers: 

Yes, you can freeze carrot cake. When I have leftovers (still in the pan), I'll cut them into individual servings and place the pan into the freezer long enough for the frosting to firm up. Then I wrap each serving in saran wrap and then tin foil; place in  zip lock bags. 

To defrost, remove the foil and saran wrap when you take them out of the freezer. Then allow to defrost several hours on the counter or overnight. This way the frosting doesn't stick to the saran wrap. 

Yellow Caviar Dip

 I made this dip recently for a holiday party.  My original recipe (https://monicacooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/red-caviar-dip.html) calls for red caviar. I couldn't find any in the area grocery stores so I went with yellow caviar.  

Ingredients:

1 8-oz package of cream cheese, room temperature

5 T. Sour cream

2 T. Chives, fresh, chopped (set some aside for garnish)

2 oz. Yellow caviar, drained  (set about 1/2 t. aside for garnish)

French baguette, sliced

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese and sour cream. Fold in the chives.

GENTLY fold in the caviar until combined. 

Transfer to a serving bowl.  

Top with remaining caviar and a few chives for garnish.

Chill in the refrigerator (covered w/saran wrap) before serving.

Crab and Shrimp Dip

This is an excellent dip.  This make a huge batch, so save it for a large party.

3 8-oz packages cream cheese
2 cans crabmeat (not chunk); well drained (6 oz cans)
1 6-oz can broken shrimp, well drained
A few red pepper flakes or horseradish
Minced garlic, about 2 cloves
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients in a 2-quart casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degree for 25-35 minutes until warmed through.

Serve with french bread or crackers.

Serves 12-14


July 2013: I made this for a picnic and added a second can of the shrimp, plus some chopped onion, mustard powder, and worcestershire sauce.

Rosemary Cheese w/Fig Preserves

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (3 oz.) log goat cheese, softened
1. T chopped fresh rosemary
2. tsp honey
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper (or a dash of cayenne)
3/4 c. fig preserves

Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 1-1/2 c. mold lined with plastic wrap. Cover and chill 2 hours. Invert cheese mixture onto a serving dish; discard plastic wrap. Spoon fig preserves over cheese.

Serve w/ baguette or crackers.

Bluecheese Spread

2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 tspn lemon juice
1/2 tspn Worcestershire sauce
Dash ground red pepper
1/3rd cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all except for the nuts. Spread in a small oval baking dish and sprinkle with the nuts.

Bake 25-30 minutes until thoroughly heated. Serve with crackers.

Danish Pastry

This is a recipe from Margaret Hansen, Mar 05, which she made for one of our rotation meals.

2 (8 count) cans crescent rolls
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk, beaten

Unroll the crescent dough. Spread the dough from one can on the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking pan, pressing the perforations to seal.

Add the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with electric mixer. Spread over dough.

Lay the dough from the second can over the cheese mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

14-16 Servings

Cream Cheese Flan

This is a delicious and easy dessert to make.

Ingredients

3/4 C. sugar

1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
5 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
Orange Zest – Optional, but it adds a nice flavor

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat sugar in a small, heavy-duty saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and caramel colored. Quickly pour into bottom of a 2-quart (8"x8") casserole dish.

Place evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla and orange zest in a blender; cover. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared casserole dish.

Place casserole in a 13x9-inch baking dish; fill baking dish with warm water to 1-inch depth.

Bake 1 hour and 15-25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Remove flan from hot water. Cool at room temperature in casserole on wire rack.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Run a knife along the edge of the casserole to loosen the flan. Place a large flat dish on top and invert quickly.