Penne with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

This is another great recipe that I have gotten from my good friend Jodie. I love when she tells me about a new recipe she has made that was awesome.....this is one for sure....

Cook 1 lb penne pasta in boiling, salted water for approx. 12 minutes or until tender.

While the pasta is cooking you will need the following....

1 (270ml-9 oz) jar of sun-dreid tomatoes packed in olive oil, do not drain

2 garlic cloves

1 cup. packed fresh basil leaves (remove stem)

salt and pepper

Put the above ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Scrape the pesto into a bowl and stir in

1/2 cup FRESHLY grated parmesan cheese. Set aside.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add pasta to the pesto, tossing to coat, adding enough of the cooking water to moisten. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is an awesome recipe that I got from my friend J.J Choo. If you like chocolate and peanut butter you won't be able to eat just one.....the batch I made didn't even last 24 hours in our house......

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter ( you can use smooth or chunky)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 pkg chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add egg, vanilla and mix until fluffy. Blend the flour, b.soda,b.powder and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased pan. Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

Raspberry Trifle

If you ever hear that we are having trifle and you want to try it out, it's best to show up before we even dig in because it goes FAST. This is another recipe that my friend Jodie shared with me and one that we LOVE to make. I use raspberries alot but you could use any kind of berry.

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup white sugar

Whip these together and set aside.

2 pkgs cream cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup white sugar

Beat these together until smooth. Cream cheese will work better at room temperature.Fold in 2 cups of your prepared whip cream. Save the rest of whip cream for topping.

2 pound cakes, cut into 1/2" chunks

2- 10 oz pkgs frozen raspberries, thaw and drain, SAVE the juice ( I use 2- 600g bags)

Once everything is prepared this is how you layer in your trifle bowl. I LOVE my Pampered Chef one.......one of my favourite purchases from there that I use!!

1/4 cake

Drizzle juice over cake

1/4 cream cheese mixture

1/4 raspberries

I do this 4 times and when I am ready to serve I put the remaining whip cream on top. You can also sift cocoa and put between the cream and berry layer. I've never done this but I have heard it tastes wonderful!!!! Enjoy!!!

Homemade Donairs

This is a recipe from "What's cooking in South Ohio!" It's a great little cookbook that I got when we were married and I love trying recipes out of it.

Anyone who knows us, knows that we LOVE donairs........we have a great place up the street from our house that we buy them but we also like to make them at home. This is a recipe that I've used and we don't always follow the spice measurements exactly. You have to play around to get the taste you like as every donair place is a little different. Thanks to Claris Diggins for putting this in the recipe book.....

2 1/2 lbs hamburger

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients together and mix well. We put it right in the Kitchen Aid and mix it and it compresses the meat really well. Form into 2 ball. Bake at 300F for 2 hours on a broiler pan so the fat drains out of the meat. Slice and serve.

Jeff mixes the sauce by hand with no measuring so I'm including the one that was in the recipe because you can't enjoy donairs without the sauce.....

2/3 can condensed milk ( carnation)

2/3 cup brown or white sugar

1/4 cup vinegar

Combine and mix together. You have to be careful when mixing as if you over mix it won't thicken....

All ready to go......not cut thin like I wanted but that will

be the next thing to master.....LOL

Ready to roll......