Ham Soup Recipes - 5 Delicious Ways To Use That Hambone

Do you have a ham bone in your freezer but you're not sure what to do with it? Here's a fun assortment of five recipes with crock pot and stovetop instructions. These range from the traditional split pea to the creative wild rice and ham chowder.

Lentil Soup

Recipes

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: see below

Ham Soup Recipes - 5 Delicious Ways To Use That Hambone

Pams-hams bone

½ pound dried lentils

6 cups water

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can V8 juice

¼ cup oil

1 t. basil (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils thoroughly. Combine all ingredients.

In crock pot, cook on low 8-10 hours, Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

On stove top: Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

Split Pea Soup or Navy Bean Soup

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: see below

Pams-hams bone

2 cups dried split peas or dried navy beans

6 cups water

2 chopped carrots

1 large onion, chopped

1 t. thyme (optional)

1 t. basil (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse peas thoroughly. Combine all ingredients

Recommended: In crock pot, cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup.

On stove top:

Soak beans overnight with ¼ t. baking soda if possible.

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil.

Then cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender.

Remove bone from soup.

Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

Mixed Bean Soup

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: see below

Pams-hams bone

1 pound dried mixed beans

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

4 cups of water

2 stalks celery - chopped

2 carrots – chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 t. basil (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans thoroughly. Combine all ingredients

Recommended: In crock pot, cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup.

On stove top: Soak beans overnight with ¼ t. baking soda if possible. Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

Broccoli cheese soup

Prep time: 20 minutes, Cook time: 30 minutes

Pams-hams bone

1 bunch broccoli, chopped (I use tops mainly)

1 – ½ cup milk

1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth

1 cup water

1 lb. Shredded cheddar cheese or Velveeta

5 T. butter

4 T. flour

salt and pepper to taste

Steam the broccoli in the microwave.
(1/2 inch of water in casserole dish, cook about 3 minutes or until you just start to smell it)
In large soup pot, melt butter and stir in flour. Slowly add remaining ingredients, stirring constantly. Add ham bone last. Cook on low 30 minutes or more. If it is thicker than your desired consistency, add more milk. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

Wild Rice and Ham Chowder

Pre Time: 30 minutes, Cook time: 45 minutes

A. 1 ½ cups water, ¾ cup wild rice

B. ¼ cup butter or margarine, ½ cup chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic, minced, ½ cup flour, 4 cups of water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes

C. 1 ½ cup peeled, cubed potatoes, ½ cup chopped carrots, ½ t. thyme, ½ t. nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

D. 1 (17 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained, 2 cups half n half (or milk), pams-hams bone
Cook A. Set aside. B. Combine butter, onion and garlic. Cook until onion is crisp-tender. Stir in the flour. Cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Add water and bouillon.
Add C. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-30 minutes. Add D and simmer 20 more minutes. Remove bone from soup. Cut up ham, return chopped ham to soup

For more of my recipes and cooking tips, go to [http://www.pams-hams.com]. An inviting place for sugar and honey glazed baked ham, dinners, gifts and clever conversation.

Ham Soup Recipes - 5 Delicious Ways To Use That Hambone

Pam is the owner of pams-hams.com and retired marketing director for Honeybaked in Michigan. As anyone with kids can understand, the move was made in order to have more flexibility with the family. Hobbies include cooking and entertaining and finding clever new ways to make a meal easier or better. Also fond of water sports, Samoyeds, cats and small red head children.

Ground Beef Hamburger Patty Recipe - Juicy Grilled Hamburger Patty

There's nothing worse than biting into a dry, unappetizing hamburger. You won't have that problem with this great grilled hamburger recipe. Hamburgers come hot off the grill with a delectable juicy texture that makes each bite really enjoyable.

2 pounds ground beef

Recipe

1 egg, beaten

Ground Beef Hamburger Patty Recipe - Juicy Grilled Hamburger Patty

3/4 cup bread crumbs, dry

3 tablespoons evaporated milk

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

Preheat the grill on high setting.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and the garlic; mix ingredients with your hands. Form into 8 individual patties.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill hamburger patties for 5 minutes on each side, until well done.

=> Ground Beef Hamburger Meat Recipe: Hamburger with Ketchup Gravy

If there's one thing that we know goes great together, it's hamburger and ketchup. Now here's a tasty twist on using ketchup on a hamburger patty. This ground beef hamburger recipe will become one of your favorites. The meat marinates in the gravy while it cooks and is oh, so delicious.

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning, or to taste

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, cut up into chunks

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup water, as needed

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, 1/2 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, onion powder, steak sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Form hamburger into thick patties or meatballs.

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet on medium high heat. Cook patties until browned on both sides. Remove patties from skillet and place onto a paper towel lined plate. Drain grease from the skillet.

In the same skillet, slowly stir together the 1/2 cup ketchup and 1/2 cup water. You can add more water if the mixture is too thick, or, more ketchup if the mixture is too thin. Add in the onion and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low.

Add hamburger patties to the skillet and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir gravy. If the gravy is too thin, continue to simmer with the lid off until it thickens to the desired consistency.

=> Best Hamburger Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Hamburger

This qualifies as a best hamburger recipe because it is packed with flavor. It features two kinds of cheeses, onion, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and bacon. Wow. This recipe is a winner no matter how you serve it up.

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, grated

1 small onion, chopped

1 egg

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 pound ground beef

6 slices bacon

6 hamburger buns, split

Directions

Preheat skillet or grill on high heat.

In a large bowl, combine the cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, onion, egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Crumble the ground beef into the bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Shape mixture into 6 patties. Wrap one slice of bacon around the edge of each one. Secure bacon to patties with toothpicks.

Place patties into skillet or onto the hot grill and cook for 5 minutes on each side,
or until well done. Remove the toothpicks before putting hamburgers onto buns.

=> Gourmet Hamburger Recipe: Spicy Blue Cheese Hamburger

If you're a little adventurous, then you'll just love this gourmet blue cheese burger with a spicy twist. The hot wing sauce is that extra special secret ingredient that will have people trying to guess what it is. Maybe you'll tell them - maybe you won't, either way, these burgers are fabulous.

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup onion, minced

1/2 cup hot wing sauce (normally used for chicken hot wings)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

4 hamburger buns, split

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, blue cheese and the onion. Add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and pepper. Mix together well using your hands.

Make 6 patties and then place them on a plate. Cover patties with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat grill on high heat.

Take patties out of refrigerator. Pour hot wing sauce over patties until the tops (only) are well covered with sauce. Let patties sit there for 10 minutes.

Cook hamburgers for 5 minutes per side, until well done.

Ground Beef Hamburger Patty Recipe - Juicy Grilled Hamburger Patty

Easy to make – fun to drink

[http://www.1st-milkshake-n-smoothie-recipes.com]

Traditional Cuban Dessert Recipes

If you enjoy South American sweet treats, you will love Cuban dessert recipes. A lot of them are similar to easy Mexican recipes for desserts, which you have perhaps already made at some point. Lots of tropical fruits grow in Cuba, including bananas, mango, soursop, pineapple, tamarinds, coconuts and guava, which means that fruity desserts are especially popular.

Well loved Cuban desserts include rice pudding and merenguitos, which are sweet meringue puffs. Torrejas are like French toast. They are sweet fried bread slices served with syrup and raisins. In Cuba, French toast is served for dessert rather than breakfast. Cubans also like to make cookies and pastries using the locally sourced fresh fruit. Fruit turnovers and parfait desserts are really popular there.

Dessert

Flan, which is also known as creme caramel, is very popular in nearly all Spanish speaking countries, including Cuba and Mexico. This delicious egg custard is flavored with vanilla and has a smooth, silky texture.

Traditional Cuban Dessert Recipes

An Easy Recipe for Boniatillo

This sweet potato pudding is popular during the holidays in Cuba. The pudding is flavored with cinnamon, cream, lime juice, vanilla and more and everybody will love the delicious flavor of this wonderful and traditional Cuban dessert. Chill it for a couple of hours or serve it hot. It tastes great either way! This recipe makes enough to serve four people.

What you will need:

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 lbs sweet potato
• 2 limes
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or grated cinnamon stick
• Water, as needed

How to make it:

Peel and chop the sweet potato and cover it with water in a pan. Add a teaspoon of salt and boil it for twenty minutes or until tender. Drain the potato and mash it using a fork, blender, or food processor.

Peel the limes and save the fruit for another use. Put the peel in a big pan with the brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and two cups of water. Cook the mixture over a moderate heat until it reaches 250 degrees F, stirring it all the time. You will need a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature.

Take out the peel and cinnamon and turn the heat down to low. Add the mashed sweet potato and keep stirring the mixture until it is smooth. Take it off the heat. Beat the cream, butter, egg yolks, and a pinch of salt until smooth, and then add this to the sweet potato mixture.

Cook it over a low heat for a couple of minutes, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. If the mixture is too runny, you can mix a quarter cup of cornstarch with a quarter cup of water and add this. Divide the sweet potato pudding between serving bowls and garnish each one with a little ground cinnamon.

Traditional Cuban Dessert Recipes

If you enjoy Cuban food, you will also enjoy making easy Mexican recipes. South American desserts, and Mexican food desserts especially, feature a wide range of delicious ingredients such as chocolate, fresh fruit and more, and they finish off a meal perfectly.

MexicanDessertRecipes.net The Sweet Side of Mexican Food

Recipe For Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino

If you've ever tasted a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino, you've probably craved it over and over again. Unfortunately, you know how expensive this frappuccino is: a grande-size frappuccino can cost as much as .50! No coffee should ever cost that much!

Luckily, we have managed to get our hands on the recipe for Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino-the one and the same-for you to make at zero cost. No longer will you make costly and inconvenient Starbucks runs. No longer will you have to wait through never-ending drive thrus to get your favorite drink.

Recipe

Once you have this recipe, you can make this frappuccino first thing in the morning while you are still in your pajamas, or as a special treat for dessert. You can also make frappuccinos for family and friends, to show them how much you love them.

Recipe For Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino

The great thing about making a Starbucks Frappuccino at home is that you can control the ingredients. If you find that the original recipe adds too much sugar or syrup for your tastes, you can scale back on them easily. No longer do you have to deal with baristas who can never get your order right!

You can also be more "green" by making frappuccinos from home. Think of how many Styrofoam Starbucks cups enter our landfills per year! Experts estimate that the number is quickly reaching the billions. You can change this by making your Caramel Frappuccinos at home. You have the power to teach other people to take control over their consumption habits and give our planet a break.

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup cold coffee

* 3 tablespoons sugar

* 1/2 cup milk

* 2 cups ice

* 3 tablespoons caramel sundae syrup

* whipped cream

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients into electric blender.

2. Blend drink until ice is crushed and drink is smooth.

3. Serve in coffee cups and top with whipped cream and caramel syrup (if desired).

4. Add straw for ease in drinking.

Recipe For Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino

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Choosing & Cooking Chinese Christmas Recipes

With the Chinese New Year being the most important event in the Chinese calendar, you'd imagine that Christmas got swept under the carpet. Not so, as celebrating Christmas becomes more popular throughout China.

Whilst you won't find the hype and shopping madness of Western countries, in major cities you'll see lights, trees and Christmas decorations on the streets and in stores. Christmas Day is not even a bank holiday in China, although it is in Hong Kong and Macao. Whether this is just part of the Chinese interest in Western culture, or a sales ploy by the big stores, who can say?

Recipes

With an increasing number of Christians, it can only be expected that more people will be celebrating the festive season in China each year. With little tradition and history, cooking for a Chinese Christmas dinner means you can cook any special occasion dish you choose.

Choosing & Cooking Chinese Christmas Recipes

However, there are a few suggestions we can make to get you started:-

• Peking Duck
• Cantonese Roast Duck
• Kung Pao Chicken
• Cookies
• Five Spice Peanuts
• Sesame Seed Balls
• Spring Rolls

Whilst many of the recipes above are traditionally eaten for the Chinese New Year, they will serve just as well for a Christmas dinner. As always with Chinese cooking, use the freshest ingredients, prepare them well ahead of time, so that all you have to do is cook!

An excellent resource is http://chinesefood.about.com/ which has lots of great recipe and food ideas for every holiday occasion including Chinese cookie recipes.

Choosing & Cooking Chinese Christmas Recipes

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Chinese recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/chinese-recipes.html]

This article was submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the Worldwide Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com] website.

Spanish Recipes and Cuisine

Spain is country with a mixed and complex heritage and Spanish cooking reflects this fact. While Spain is a Mediterranean country, and many Spanish dishes owe much to this, Spanish food also includes native foods imported into the country from Spain's former colonies in the New World such as beans, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Other Spanish dishes draw on the countries Jewish and Moorish heritage - it was worth remembering that much of Spain was ruled by the Moors for more than seven hundred years. Even the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Muslims) has left its traces in Spanish cuisine - pork is popular in Spanish food, and historically was a political statement of Christian identity because it was not eaten by Jews or Muslims.

The most important ingredient in Spanish cooking is olive oil, which is unsurprising when you consider the fact that Spain produces almost half of the world's olives. However, in the North of Spain, butter and lard are also used.

\"Spanish Desserts \"

Other characteristics of Spanish food, include the widespread use of garlic and onions, the serving of bread and wine with most meals, and the consumption of fruit or dairy products as desserts. One particularly well-known Spanish custom is the serving of small appetizers ("tapas") with drinks.

Spanish Recipes and Cuisine

Some popular Spanish dishes include:

- Gazpacho - A cold vegetable soup that is particularly popular in hotter areas such as Andalusia. Traditionally gazpacho was made stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar, but today, bell pepper and tomato are also often added. There is also a variant called &quit;gazpacho manchego&quit; which is served warm, and that includes meat (often rabbit) and mushrooms, and is more like a stew than a soup.

- Paella - A rice dish originally from Valencia. The main ingredients are rice, saffron and olive oil, and the dish is usually garnished with meat or seafood, and vegetables.

- Chorizo - A spicy sausage made from fatty pork seasoned with chili and paprika. There are two varieties: hot ("picante") and sweet ("dulce"). Most varieties can be eaten cold, although there are some regions of Spain which produce varieties that need further cooking. Chorizo is not only eaten on its own, but is also used as an ingredient in other dishes.

- Jamón serrano - Dry-cured ham.

- Fabada Asturiana - A bean stew that also contains black blood sausage ("morcilla"), chorizo and pork, and which is flavored with saffron and other seasonings.

- Olla Podrida - A rich stew with bacon, poultry or game, ham, meats and vegetables.

- Marmitako - A fish stew made with onions, pimentos, potatoes and tomatoes.

- Calamares - Fried squid.

- Pescaíto Frito - Marinated fish, battered and fried.

- Tortilla de patatas - An onion and potato omelette.

Spanish Recipes and Cuisine

Originally published at http://www.recipesmaniac.com/cook_spanish.php.php - visit this site for more information, photographs and Thai cook books.

Discover more about recipes and cooking at http://www.recipesmaniac.com/

Desserts in Puerto Rican Style

Desserts in Puerto Rico mostly comprise of a type of flan or egg custard. Just as usual in the Puerto Rican flag is a slice of guava jelly with white cheese (queso blanco). Chefs seize the abundant produce of fruits in Puerto Rico and make several desserts, which include banana flan, orange layer cake, guava mousse, and coconut flan. The tastiest dessert could be a freshly made fruit cocktail. Pumpkin grows abundantly in Puerto Rico so it is not just consumed as a side vegetable and used to spice up soup, but to create as well the luscious base of a popular cake in Puerto Rico. In the same way, sweet potato is both being consumed as a side vegetable and used to make a local sweet potato cake.

The most generally used ingredient in a Puerto Rican dessert is almost certainly coconut. A lot of scrumptious sweets are concocted with coconut milk or what they call leche de coco, such as coconut cake, coconut and rum flan, coconut rice and coconut ice cream. One more traditional product is boudin de pasas con coco or coco bread pudding.

Desserts

Jams and jellies are quite popular in Puerto Rico. Helping in a number of creations are both the sweet and sour guavas, including guava jelly, guava paste, guava pudding and guava shells in syrup. Papayas are also created as jams or desserts with cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar. A mango dessert is prepared with almost identical ingredients. Mangoes could be an additive for mamey preserve or could be eaten uncooked.

Desserts in Puerto Rican Style

Desserts in Puerto Rican Style

Pollux Parker is an adventurer who loves discovering secret island getaways in each country he visits. Pollux also likes to collect Puerto Rican flag and buy Puerto Rican flag.

Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes - The Perfect Party Dessert

Are you thinking of throwing an event, and can't seem to come up with any good ideas for desserts? Do you need the desserts to be small enough to place on napkins or smaller plates with out having to use utensils to slice into a large cake?

You should consider chocolate mini cheesecakes. These small bite size chocolate cheesecakes are easily transferred from the serving plate to the plate of the person eating them. They are also available individually wrapped in paper, like a cupcake, so as to minimize mess. Your guests will be free to mingle with each other, without being tied down to a table with a fork or spoon.

Desserts

Chocolate mini cheesecakes are available in a variety of order sizes, and bite sizes. You can order them in amounts of two or three pound shipments. These chocolate mini cheesecakes are available in one inch bite size portions, as well as three inch bite size portions.

Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes - The Perfect Party Dessert

Chocolate mini cheesecakes are available in rocky road, white chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate fudge, chocolate fudge-cappuccino, chocolate chip raspberry swirl, and chocolate topped New York style cheesecake flavors. You can even order these in a low carb chocolate swirl version. Your guests will be sure to find something that suits their tastes, maybe even one of each flavor.

Since these decadent delights come in bite size portions, you will not have to worry about the amount of waste you would have with larger sized cheesecakes. In fact, since each individual will have the option of choosing a flavor, you may find that you didn't purchase enough, once everyone finds out just how mouth-watering these individual morsels are.

When you serve these delicate, mini chocolate cheesecake bites to your guests, they will be talking about them for days to come, especially the chocolate lovers in the group. If you are a chocolate cheesecake lover, then you will love these chocolate mini cheesecakes for your next event. Chocolate mini cheesecakes are a decadent desert that you and all of your guests are sure to enjoy. You will be the talk among your circle of friends, everyone will be asking you where you got them, and will want to get them for themselves.

Be sure you have a large supply on hand for your next gathering of friends, once you serve these delightful treats, they will be sure to expect them at all of your events.

Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes - The Perfect Party Dessert

Chocolate mini cheesecakes offer the delicious taste of chocolate with the texture of creamy cheesecake.

Desserts - Dessert Ideas For Parties

Technology is a wonderful thing and when it is translated into consumer products life gets just a little bit easier. So, you may be wondering why I start off talking about technology. Well, a few years ago I saw a chocolate fountain advertised. At the time I could not really afford it, but my darling husband, knowing what a dedicated cook I am, got me one for my birthday. Yeah! It became the hit of my dessert table when I started the dark chocolate flowing and put our a platter full of fruit and cake chunks for dipping. It was so popular that all the other buffet tables were forgotten. I actually had to turn it off to get people to eat the main meal.

Now, you can purchase a small chocolate fountain for around twenty dollars. A great investment and a crowd pleaser for any party. Set out a tray of fruit, cut into bite size pieces, one inch cubes of pound cake and angel food cake, and don't forget the marshmallows. You can include cookies, pretzels, and even ruffle cut potato chips if you like. There is definitely something about the salt and chocolate combination that is quite satisfying. Try apple slices spread with peanut butter too. Yum.

Desserts

Cakes and pies are always a hit at parties. Try these adaptations that guests can eat with their fingers.

Desserts - Dessert Ideas For Parties

Make pie into 'Tartlets'. Using your favorite pie crust, roll out and cut into 3 inch circles or squares. Place about a tablespoon of pie filling into the center. Brush edges with egg wash, a mixture of beaten egg and a little milk. Place a second cutout on top and seal the edges using the tines of a fork. If you have some fancy engraved cutlery, try using the handle to imprint the design as you seal the crust. Cut a small slit in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake at about 450 degrees until lightly browned, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Turn your favorite cake batter into mini cupcakes. Cupcakes are all the rage lately. Mini cupcakes are no more difficult to make than the normal size ones. You just end up with more of them from the same volume of batter. Bake your favorite cake batter in mini muffin cups. You can usually get these from your market. If you don't have a mini muffin pan, don't worry. I have used a cookie sheet with sides, normally called a jelly roll pan. Just fill the pan with the empty cups, lined up so they are supporting each other. Fill and bake. For a surprise drop a candy kiss or a small piece of fruit into the center of the batter before baking. To Frost, did the mini cupcake, top down, into a bowl of frosting. As you lift it out make a little twisting motion, like you were turning a door knob, and as you turn the little cupcake right side up you should get a little swirl that looks like the swirl on a soft serve ice cream cone. Sprinkle with colored sugar, top with a cherry or any other garnish you like. A tray of these will bring smiles to anyone.

Mini Cheesecake

Ok, who doesn't like cheesecake, please leave the room. Well, just kidding, but these little cakes are so good you may need to double the recipe.

Pick up a box of no-bake cheesecake mix from your grocery. Follow the directions to mix the filling. You can put the crust crumbs aside and use them for something else, like a cream pie, later.
Into a cup cake paper cup place one vanilla wafer cookie. Put about a teaspoon of the custard filling onto the wafer. Place one chocolate kiss candy on top of that then finish filling the cup. Chill until set.

Options: You can replace the chocolate candy with fruit or even nuts, or just make it plain. For a party you could drizzle a little melted chocolate or caramel sauce over the top. Use your imagination. My son likes strawberry, so I use frozen strawberry right out to the freezer and drizzle the top with a little strawberry ice-cream sauce.

These are just a few ideas to help make your next party a dessert lover's dream. Enjoy.

Desserts - Dessert Ideas For Parties

For over 20 years I have worked and played online. I have been a website designer, entrepreneur, genealogist and homemaker. I have done catering and sewed wedding dresses. There is so much I have learned over the years that it is just pouring out lately. As a certified teacher it is my desire to share all this that I have learned so I started [http://www.LifeWithBarbara.com] as a way to share what I know.

I started online back in the late 1980s and had my first website online by 1990. When I remarried in 2001 I converted my other sites into one, http://www.cagleonline.com. This is still my main portal to everything I do online and it is updated more often than the other dozen sites. There are also links to all my sites here.

If you need help with the everyday things that drive our lives or FREE stuff to build your business, Please check out what I have to offer. Your support is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Desserts

No meal is complete without desserts. A dessert is a type of food that gives the finishing touch to at the end of the meal to make it perfect. The origin of the term is really interesting. The term "desserts" has been derived from Old French term "desservir" which means cleaning the table. Normally the desserts are sweet food. Some desserts like types of cheese have different flavors. The trend to have desserts at the end of the meal is comparatively new in the western culture. If we look back in time, we can see there was always a custom to have nuts and fruits at the end of the meal. It gradually turned into desserts. But sweet dish was comparatively new addition in the list. Common types of deserts are custards, fruits, pudding, biscuits, cookies, cakes, pastries, ice creams, gelatin desserts, pies, sherbets, soufflés, meringues, petits fours and trifles and many more.

Before the development of the sugar industry in the 19th century, sweet used to be out of reach for the middle class. It was a rare holiday delicacy. A sweet dish in the meal was a note of aristocracy at that time. After the sugar industry was mechanized, sugar became cheaper. And, as a result, it gradually took a permanent place in the full course meal. In some cuisine, dessert is not used as a separate part at the end of the meal. In those cuisines, sweet dishes are eaten during the meal. In some cultures the dessert is not at all a part of the meal. They are especially reserved for some special occasions. Desserts are often eaten as separate meal sometime after the meal. But obviously it is done when the setting has a casual tone. In American concept, any sweet dish that follows a meal can be a dessert. Be it milkshake or other drinks, there are many restaurants that are specialized in the domain of desserts.

Desserts

Desserts

Desserts

Dave Fooder runs a premiere exchange recipes network online. Visit his site http://www.cookscentral.com for Fast Free & Easy Cooking Collections and enjoy exchanging recipes.

Vanilla and Rum Sauces Make Holiday Desserts Special

My mother's parents were English and many of the meals she fixed for us reflected this heritage. Christmas dinner was always roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Dessert was always plum pudding with warm sauce. There are many recipes for plum pudding and all are labor intensive. Mom made plum pudding from scratch a few times, but it was so much work she finally bought Crosse and Blackwell pudding imported from England.

The plum pudding was served with warm vanilla or rum sauce. I did not like the rich pudding, so I only ate a spoonful. But I could have eaten an entire bowl of sauce. Mom also served apple pie with warm vanilla sauce. The combination of warm sauce and fresh pie from the oven was heavenly. With a couple of changes the vanilla sauce recipe becomes rum sauce or rum-raisin sauce.

Desserts

I have lightened the recipe by using Splenda Blend for Baking instead of sugar and elminating the half cup of butter in the original recipe. However, I have added a tablespoon of butter for flavor. Warm vanilla and rum sauce turn simple cakes -- vanilla, apple, and spice -- into special desserts. Top frozen waffles with vanilla ice cream and sauce and you have one of the best desserts on the planet. Garnish with a twist of orange peel and fresh mint to make your holiday desserts more festive.

Vanilla and Rum Sauces Make Holiday Desserts Special

WARM VANILLA SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Splenda Blend for Baking

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon light salt

2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon butter (no substitutions)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

dash of freshly grated nutmeg

METHOD

Combine the Splenda Blend for Baking, cornstarch, and salt in a small saucepan. Whisk in hot water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract and nutmeg. Makes 8 servings.

WARM RUM SAUCE

Omit the vanilla and nutmeg. Make the sauce and remove from heat. Add 2 teaspoons of rum extract.

WARM RUM-RAISIN SAUCE

Omit the vanilla and nutmeg. Add 1/4 cup raisins to the sauce and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add 2 teaspoons of rum extract.

Copyright 2006 by Harriet Hodgson

Vanilla and Rum Sauces Make Holiday Desserts Special

http://www.harriethodgson.com

http://www.healthwriter.blogspot.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Before she became a health writer Hodgson was a food writer for the former "Rochester Magazine" in her home town of Rochester, MN. Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from http://www.amazon.com. A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. Another revies is posted on the American Hospice Foundation Website under the "School Corner" heading.

Famous Russian Desserts

If you like to learn about famous international desserts and make your own, it might interest you to know a bit about famous Russian desserts. In Russia, desserts are usually served at breakfast or eaten after an entree at dinner.

Pancakes, or blinis, are very popular. You might have tried these with smoked salmon or caviar but in Russia these little buckwheat pancakes are often served with honey, jelly or sour cream. Oladi are like blinis but thicker and more filling. Tvorog is Russian cottage cheese and this is served with berry jam or honey.

Desserts

Pastries are very popular in Russia, especially apple pastries. Syrniki are made with fried cottage cheese and served with jelly, sweet dressings or honey. Russian teacakes are little cookie which are rolled in powdered sugar.

Famous Russian Desserts

How to Adapt Russian Dessert Recipes

You might like to make your own Russian desserts to surprise your family but perhaps you want to tweak the recipes a little. If you enjoy making jello recipes, what about combining it with Russian recipes?

For example, Russians love to eat fruit pastries and you can make your own pastries using jello to hold the fruit topping in place and to add flavor. Try making a strawberry pastry with fresh strawberries in a layer of strawberry jello.

You can also pour jello over Russian cakes to add flavor and texture. Another way to adapt classic Russian recipes is to change what they are served with. Honey is a popular accompaniment to Russian desserts but you can try maple syrup or your favorite ice cream syrup.

Recipe for Authentic Russian Fruit Cake

This delicious recipe is perfect for fruit cake fans. There are various types of fruit cake. Perhaps you enjoy fruit cakes with plenty of nuts and a touch of whiskey or fruit cakes with lots of cherries. This Russian fruit cake contains various fruits and nuts and sherry for flavor. This is an easy fruit cake recipe but you do need to let the fruit stand in the sherry overnight so start this cake recipe a day before you want to bake it.

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sherry
• 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped candied fruits
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

How to make it:

Stir the fruits into 1/2 cup of the sherry and let them stand overnight. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Cream together the butter, spices and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then add the sourdough starter and stir the mixture. Add the almonds and fruit mixture. Sift the salt, baking soda and flour into the sourdough mixture and combine well.

Cover a cake pan with wax paper, and then grease it well with oil. Transfer the cake batter into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until done. Let the cake cool on a wire rack, and then remove the wax paper. Sprinkle the rest of the sherry over the cake.

Famous Russian Desserts

Russian dessert recipes are full of flavor and fun to make. You can adapt classic Russian recipes with modern ingredients like jello. Sometimes you might want to make international desserts for the family and other times make something easy like a chocolate mousse instead, for variety.

We Don't Make the Products We Just Make Great Desserts with Them!