Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. Chocolate instant pudding
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cold milk
6 squares semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, divided
1 cup dry-roasted peanuts, divided
1 cup creamy peanut butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13x9 inch dish with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix first 4 ingredients until blended.( Mixture will be thick.) Press half the cake mix mixture into prepared pan. Bake 10 min. Sprinkle half each of the chocolate and nuts over crust; top with peanut butter. Cover with layers of remaining cake mix mixture, chocolate and nuts. Press gently with spatula. Bake 15 min. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate 4 hours before cutting into bars.

Carbonara

This is one of Becky's recipes. She made this for us a couple of times this summer while she was here. It is delicious!!

Ham--Cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup oil
Garlic minced
Onion, chopped fine
Saute altogether.

1/2 Cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup milk
3 eggs
Salt and pepper well.
Stir together.

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained. Pour ham mixture and then egg mixture over spaghetti. Mix well. Hot spaghetti will cook the egg mixture. Serve immediately.

Quick Buttermilk Rolls

1/4 cup warm water
1 pkg. yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm buttermilk
1/4 tsp. soda
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. soft shortening
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
Dissolve yeast in water. Stir in buttermilk, soda, sugar, salt, and shortening and half of flour. Add rest of flour and mix with hand. Turn onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into crescents or any desired shape. Let rise until doubled. Bake in 400 degree for 15 to 20 minutes.

Mark's Favorite Lemon Meringue Pie

This is not a very secret recipe. Anybody can make this very easily.
I buy a My-T-Fine Lemon Pie filling. I can only find them at Price Cutter's. I make according to package directions. Put cooked filling into a pre-baked pie crust. Beat egg whites until they will stand in peaks, adding 1/4 cup of granulated sugar about half way through the beating process. Put meringue on top of hot pie filling. Bake at 400 degrees until nicely browned, probably about 15 to 20 minutes. Love you, Mark, and thanks for your sweet comments.

Mom's Chicken Dressing

4 cups corn bread
4 cups biscuits
4 cups white bread
Tear bread into bite-size pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup leaf sage (not ground sage)
1 large onion--chopped
6 cups boiling chicken broth
Bake approx. 1 hour at 300 degrees or 45 minutes at 325.
This is my mother's stuffing recipe that she made every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. To me it is the best in the world. It does make a lot. She always made her own home made cornbread and biscuits ahead of time and froze them to have for the dressing.

Creamy Cheese Capellini

Since my daughter, Becky, has talked me into posting some more recipes, I am using a nice Italian recipe in honor of her as she makes her home in Italy. She will be leaving to go back to Italy on August 18. Please pray for all of us as we all say good-bye. It has been a wonderful, hectic summer and we have enjoyed so much spending time with all of them.

1/2 lb. whole-wheat capellini (looks like angel hair)
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 plum tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (6oz.) bag baby spinach
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1. Cook pasta: Drain, reserving 1/4 cup liquid
2. Heat oil--add tomatoes and garlic. Cook about 2 min. Add the spinach in batches, stirring until wilted.
3. Add pasta, reserved cooking liquid, cheeses, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the cheeses are melted.

Whole Wheat (Graham) Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup enriched flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 cup milk
Mix together with fork. Then stir just until ingredients are blended. Fill reased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake until golden brown.

Remembered Recipes

Lately I have missed reading my mom's posts. I am sure I am partly to blame for her absence. For that I will not apologize. However while discussing what she was going to add next, she felt she had run out of things to post. That is not the case. I began asking about different things that she used to make us growing up, and she has agreed to start posting again. YAY! She explained to me that they weren't written down and were just in her memory. All the more reason to blog them. I am sure you are as excited as I am and I hope you will continue to encourage her to add to her blog thru comments and your experience with the recipes. We also thought that adding some pictures with her recipes might spice things up too.

Becky Liles
Guest writer