Delectible Marinara

It's Mom's anniversary so I made her spagetti, on her request. Everyone, including myself, was blown away by how good it was, especially since I was just winging it, following no recipie. The secret was all in the sauce.

Delectable Marinara

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon sweet basil
2 teaspoons parsley
32 oz tomato sauce
5 Italian sausages (I used mild, but you can use spicier sausages as well)
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
1 pinch Ancho chilli pepper
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Take out the Italian sausages and remove the casings. Cook until brown all the way through. DO NOT cook whole, mash them up so that the pieces are at most 1/4 of an inch in legenth. This is VERY important. Once cooked, set aside. Keep the grease from the sausages.

Take the onion and the garlic and mince very finely. Put in skillet with a splash of olive oil and the bay leaves. Cook until the onions are faintly yellow, not yet completly carmilized. Once they are cooked, pour the tomato sauce in the skillet. Add the parsley, basil, salt, pepper, Ancho, and the sausages and their grease. Turn heat down to a simmer, and let simmer, uncovered for fifteen minutes. Pour over pasta, or eat with mozzerella sticks. Enjoy!

Help for Flat Cookies

Everyone wants to know why their cookies always turn out flat. Many people have found answers on their own, such as adding more flour or even using different pans. I think that the simplest answer is instead of using baking soda, use baking powder. It helps things rise, such as cakes, as bakers want to have tall, fluffy cakes without using yeast. My Mom consistantly had this problem, and when I gave her the answer, she doubted it. Since her next batch of cookies were not flat, I have a feeling that this is the answer.

(And yes, those cookies are not raw.)

Delictible Raspberry Mousse

This recipe was originally from Usborne Activity's Fairy Cookbook. I made a few changes, and everyone loved it. It's a perfect touch to a party.

To make 8 mousses:
A 12 oz box of raspberries
8 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
2 cups whipping cream
10 meringues

1. Mash raspberries in a large bowl until they are thoroughly squashed, and add the powdered sugar. Stir.
2. Add the vanilla yogurt and stir.
3. Set bowl aside and turn the whipping cream into whipped cream, and add it into the raspberry mix.
4. Continue stirring until the mixture is pink. Crush the meringues and add them in. Stir.
5. Spoon the mousse into dishes. Enjoy!!

Two New Potato Recipies

These potatoes are absolutely scrumptious!!

Ingredients:
Small potatoes
Olive Oil

Instructions:
1. Cut potatoes in half
2. Pour olive oil over the halved potatoes
3. Bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes
4. Toss and out back in oven for another 15 minutes.
5. Enjoy!!

Variations:

Variation #1:
Add salt and pepper before baking.

Variation #2
Add chives before baking.

Lemon-Mint Tea

Yum!!! For all you tea lovers out there, you have hit the jackpot!!!! And if you're a coffee drinker, maybe it's time to try something new. Also, the ingredients might be hard to find, but the result is worth it!!

Ingredients and Stuff:
1 tablespoon lemon balm(it's a plant leaf)
1 tablespoon mint leaf
a kettle
a closed-top strainer(small enough to fit in a cup)
Water
sugar

Boil water in tea kettle. In the meantime, cut up the lemon balm and mint leafs and put them in the strainer. When the water is boiled, pour into cup and put the strainer in the cup. Let soak for about 2 minutes. Add sugar as desired. Enjoy!!

Mixed Friut Smoothie

We had just got a new blender, and we wanted to try it out right away!! So I whipped up these delicious smoothies.

Ingredients:
A handful of strawberries

A handful of blueberries

half a banana( I used under ripe ones)

2 handfuls of ice

A splash of milk

Mix in blender untill smooth. Enjoy!

Honey Fried Peanuts

After my sister got home from a track meet, she was craving honey rosted peanuts. Since I don't know how to roast peanuts, I made fried ones instead. Mmmmm.... they were good, and you can find the ingredients just lying around in the house!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup peanuts(unsalted)
honey
salt

Get out a frying pan. Cover the bottom of the frying pan with honey. Add peanuts. Cover with a drizziling of honey. Fry, constantly turning the peanuts untill the honey is boiling. (Yes honey boils. I was surprised too.) Add salt. Stir. Remove from pan and into a glass or ceramic bowl. Allow to cool. Enjoy!!