Welcome 2009!!

Happy New Year to all the Cowgirls and Cowboys out there! We hope that you had a fantastic holiday season. Both Kim and I have been busy with our families and all of the holiday festivities and have not had one moment to post any great recipes. We know most of you out there understand. This time of year is pure craziness!

So this recipe was given to me by my good friend Michele. We were both talking one day after school got out about good baking ideas for the holidays and she told me about a recipe for Girl Scout Cookies. Of course I love Girl Scout Cookies and am so bummed every year when our freezer somehow strangely eats up the last box, especially those thin mints - I know all of you can relate to the freezer eating part. Anyway, she says that I can make those delicious cookies at home using super simple ingredients. I was intrigued, so I asked if she would mind sharing her recipe with all of us, and she did!!!!

You gotta try this one out. Tastes just like a thin mint and super easy to make. Please check out Michele and her husband Johnny's iron art blog at: http://www.wattiron.blogspot.com/. Johnny makes incredible pieces. I have one of their yard birds sitting out in my front yard as we speak.

Girl Scout Cookies

1 pkg. of (Borden Eagle Brand Candy Coating) or any other melting chocolate used for candy. I haven't tried my daughter's vegan chocolate chips for this, but I am sure they would work as a dairy free, vegan substitute.

2 tsp. peppermint extract - Note to self: Try to stock up on this stuff before the holiday rush. I had to go to three different stores on December 23rd in search of this.

2 pkg. Ritz crackers - Yep, I said Ritz! I love those round buttery crackers. We buy them by the palette at Costco.

Melt chocolate in microwave or pan. If done in pan, make sure to continually stir while cooking. Add peppermint extract and stir. Dip crackers into chocolate. You can use some small tongs or a skewer to do this. Cool them on wax paper.

Old Fashioned Apple Butter

Deb here. I love this time a year for so many different reasons and one of them is that I can get out my slow cooker. I know, small things make me happy. I have this great slow cooker cookbook that I purchased from Southern Living and I love it! Here is an easy recipe that takes quite a while to cook, but yields some yummy results and is perfect for Fall time get togethers.

Old-Fashioned Apple Butter

5 Gala apples or other baking apples (about two pounds), peeled and sliced

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a 4 1/2 quart electric slow cooker; stir well. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low-heat setting, and cook 8 to 9 hours (yep, a super long, long time - but trust me, it's worth it) until apples are very tender. Stir with a whisk to break up any large pieces. Store apple butter in refrigerator for up to one week. I like to serve these with any delicious bread or dinner rolls.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Hey Guys, It's Deb. Still mustering around with my yucky illness. Tomorrow we have a 9am soccer game rain or shine. The forecast says rain, but I am really hoping that Mr. Sunshine peaks his head out for at least an hour for the game. Although for the most part, I am completely ready to welcome in this Fall weather. Just wait till I get inside, will ya?

So here is a pretty easy dish to fix. I believe I found this one in one of my favorite magazines, REAL SIMPLE. They have some fantastic recipes. This dish can be made quickly and I keep most of these ingredients on hand. With holiday bashes right around the corner this dish will be sure to be the hit of the party!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

1-10 oz. box frozen cut or chopped spinach, thawed

1 -12 oz. jar artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped ( I use the ones that are in water, not oil)

1/2 cup of whipped cream cheese

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup grated Cheddar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Pita chips, tortilla chips or sliced French bread

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Squeeze spinach between two paper towels to make sure all the excess moisture is out. In medium bowl, combine spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream and Cheddar. Season with salt and pepper. Put into a small oven-safe baking dish. Bake until golden brown on top. About 15 minutes. Serve warm with the chips or bread.

Wendy's Stuffed Mushrooms

Kim here...This is my sister-in-law's infamous stuffed mushrooms. They seriously get devoured at any get together! Wendy is an excellent cook and owns her own catering company. She is very well known in Yuba County and does a wonderful spread. If you need something catered she is a great resource! Her catering company is Cooper Catering. Email us at cowgirlsandcupcakes@gmail.com and I will pass the information on to her! Thanks Wendy for sharing this recipe with us. We get very excited around here when we get recipes to share! Here is what she has to say about her mushrooms...

Wendy's Stuffed Mushrooms

I use regular mushrooms but if you want to be fancy you could use crimini mushrooms too. I would just recommend using medium to larger size mushrooms, its hard to stuff the tiny ones.


1 lb mushrooms
1 lb regular or reduced fat Jimmy Dean Sausage
16 oz cream cheese
1 bunch green onions
1 Lemon
1 clove garlic
A few Tbls olive oil

Do ahead: Take your mushrooms and wipe then with paper towel. Don't wash with water. Carefully pull out the stems and scrape out the center a little with a knife or fingertip depending on how the stubborn the mushroom is being. You want a nice little well in the middle of the mushrooms. Set aside.

Set out cream cheese to soften. Fry up your jimmy dean sausage on medium heat until well done and brown. Make sure that the meat is in small crumbly pieces. Add 1 or so cloves of crushed or minced garlic. Continue to cook until your garlic is golden for maximum flavor.

Using a mixer add cream cheese, sausage, minced green onion, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp lemon zest, a little finely ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix until mixture is well blended and creamy. Set aside.

Saute mushroom in a combination of a little olive oil and butter until the mushrooms are tender. Drain liquid and put mushrooms in an oven safe casserole pan. For this next step you can use a cake frosting tube; however I would be careful of using the same tube for frosting later.....sausage frosting just seems like it would taste wrong somehow. If you don't have a cake frosting tube like me, just use a zip lock. Fill zip lock with sausage mixture,zip tightly, and cut a small hole in the corner. Proceed to squirt enough mixture to fill the well in the mushrooms. It should overflow a little bit but not too much. You can do this a whole day ahead if you want or bake right away on 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until Mushroom filling is golden brown.

Enjoy! Wendy

Baked Artichoke Cheese Dip in a Sourdough Bread Bowl

Kim here...This is yumminess in a bowl! Always a hit at parties and so simple to make. I usually make it the night before to give me one less thing to do before the party. Works great and lets the flavors meld (is that a word?) together. I serve it with pita chips which are found at the grocery store in the natural food section.

Baked Artichoke Cheese Dip in a Sourdough Bread Bowl

1 sourdough round, top cut off (save!) and hollowed out
2/3 can (15 oz.) artichokes, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
1 cup mayonnaise (check for Deb's future post on homeade mayo for those of you allergic to this stuff.)
1 cup shredded jack cheese
1/4 small onion, chopped finely
1 cup grated Parmensan cheese

1. Mix all ingredents together and put into the hollowed out sourdough bread. Put lid back on.
2. If making the day ahead, cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator. Take out about 30 minutes prior to baking to give it a chance to get to room temperature.
3. Bake with lid on for 1 hour 20 minutes at 350 degrees.