• Nonstick Cooking Spray
• 32 soft caramel candies, unwrapped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Coat a 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. For easy removal and cleanup, line pan with an 8-by-16-inch sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides to act as handles.
2. In a small saucepan, combine caramels and cream.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until caramels are melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
4. In a large bowl stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and melted butter until well blended.
5. Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of the lined pan.
6. Bake until just set and starting to color around edges, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
8. Sprinkle crust with chocolate chips and pecans (if using).
9. Drizzle caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.
10. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
11. Bake until pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes more.
12. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in pan before cutting into desired size bars/squares

The worst thing about this recipe was unwrapping all those dang caramels! But way worth it

These are Delicious! I would keep the carmel sauce away from the edges so that it’s easier to take off the foil.

Makes One Large Cookie

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margerine softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.

combine flour baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl, beat in egg.
Gradually beat in flour mixture, stir in chocolate chips.
Spread into a greased 8 in or 9 inch heart shaped pan.
Bake in preheated 375 deg oven for 18 to 20 min or until light golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes, remove to wire rack to cool.

Ingredients
Serves: Serves 4
For the soup
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion (1/4-inch dice)
1/2 cup diced leek (1/4-inch dice)
1/4 cup diced celery (1/4-inch dice)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups Chicken Stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
Dash Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup diced new or fingerling potatoes (1/4-inch dice)
1/2 cup heavy cream ( I used 2% milk)

For the warm clam salad (change to scallops or shrimps)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon slivered garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound Manila or other small clams in shells, scrubbed
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 cup packed coarsely chopped arugula or watercress
Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, leek, celery, garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and russet potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking or scorching. Add the oregano.
puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Taste for seasoning and add the Tabasco. (The soup can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated for several days or frozen.)
Pour the soup into a large saucepan with the diced new potatoes, and slowly bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, heat through, then stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Taste for seasoning. Keep warm.

At this point, make the warm clam salad: Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic and sauti briefly until light brown. Add the wine, clams, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, uncovered, shaking the pan occasionally to redistribute and turn the clams, until open and cooked, about 3 minutes. If you use clams other than Manilas, you will need to cover the pan while they cook.
Remove the opened clams to a plate with a slotted spoon. Give any clam that has not opened a firm crack with a pair of tongs or metal spoon, turn it in the liquid, and cook for another minute to see if it will open. Discard any that do not open. Return the pan to high heat and bring the liquids to a boil to reduce the cooking juices slightly. Add the parsley and arugula and stir just to wilt. Taste for seasoning, return the clams to the pan, and toss well to reheat.
Add about 1/4 cup to the middle of the bowl of soup.
enjoy!

Saute the onion, carrot and celery in a large pot in the olive oil with a big pinch of kosher or sea salt and a few grindings of pepper. Let the vegetables cook for about 8 minutes, on low heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Increase heat and add the wine. Cook for 5 minutes, making sure the wine is simmering. Add all of the mushrooms.

Add the rest of the ingredients, including the reserved porcini mushroom liquid. Simmer, uncovered, for about an hour to an hour and a half, until the sauce has reduced down and a lot of the liquid has cooked off – cook until you like the thickness of the sauce. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning.

This recipe will be more than enough to coat a pound of pasta. If you don’t use all the sauce, it’s great the next day or you can freeze it!

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and chilies. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese and pulse to combine.

2. Add 3 tablespoons of the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the mixture comes together in a ball. Pulse in an additional tablespoon of water if needed to get the dough to hold together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F
4. Roll the dough out to a 1/8-inch thickness directly onto a baking sheet. (If the dough seems sticky, sprinkle the surface ever so lightly with flour.) Try to be as accurate as you can about the thickness of the dough, as the crackers won’t puff up nicely if the dough is too thin, nor will they be crispy enough if the dough is too thick. Using a cookie or biscuit cutter, a sharp knife, or a fluted pasta cutter, trim the dough into ½-inch diamonds (or any shape you prefer).

Line
baking sheets with parchment paper. line 1 or 2 baking sheets you have and bake the crackers in batches, allowing the sheets to cool between uses. Place the dough on the parchment-lined sheets, giving them just enough room so that they are not touching. Bake until the crackers are deep golden brown and crunchy, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your crackers. Watch the crackers carefully as they go from almost done to a little too done quite quickly. Transfer the crackers to wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (The crackers can stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week, although they are best the first couple of days.)

servings at least 20, lol, next time I will 1/2 the recipe.

Ingredients
1 pound dried gigante beans, dried lima beans, or dried Great Northern beans
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups chopped onions (about 2 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano), tomatoes chopped, juice reserved
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup ouzo (Greek anise-flavored liqueur)(I LEFT THIS OUT)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup chopped fresh dill
Preparation
Place beans in large bowl. Pour enough water over to cover beans by 3 inches; let soak overnight. Drain beans; set aside.
Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and garlic and sauté until onions are golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Add beans, 8 cups chicken broth, tomatoes with juice, vinegar, ouzo, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, adding more broth by cupfuls to keep beans submerged and stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 hours, depending on freshness of beans. If necessary, uncover and cook beans until tomato mixture thickens and liquid is slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes. Season beans to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. DO AHEAD Beans can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm beans before continuing, adding more chicken broth by 1/2 cupfuls if beans are dry.
• Stir chopped fresh dill into beans

2 ripe avocados
3 tomatoes
3 green onions
1/2 red chili peppers
1/2 green chili peppers ( jalapeno)
3 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
1. Dice tomatoes along with the chili peppers and the onions. I did this all in the food processor.
2. Mix the tomatoes, onions, chiles, the parsley with the vinegar, the oil the salt and the pepper,
3. Peel the avocados, puree the most ripe one, cut the other one into dice.
4. Add to the other ingredients and place the avocado pit in the sauce, so it does not go black.
5. Before you serve remove the pit

Here we are on the last few days of 2011 and I’m looking back on what a great year it was. It was my first full year with Jackson and 6 months with Brie, what a year it was! we went on many wonderful walks ,gave out lots of treats, tons of playtime, and most important love. I hope that 2012 will be a great year for all my friends, both human and canine, and that you have much love in the new year. Happy New Year.

I love sweet potatoes and they are very healthy, they are a great alternative to rawhide chews, which you may not know are not very good for dogs.

Not only do they present a choking hazard, they don’t digest very easily and could become lodged in the intestines creating a dangerous health hazard. In addition, many rawhides are processed with chemicals which aren’t good for dogs either.

So what do you do?
make some…. yummy homemade sweet potato chews!
Wash a sweet potato
1,Cut down the middle lengthwise.
2,Then cut long lengthwise slices about 1/3 to 1/4 of an inch wide and place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet (use a stainless steel, for healthier cooking).
3,Put in the oven at 250 degrees for about 3 hours.

This leaves them kind of chewy, but you could also bake them a little longer (about 20-30 minutes) to get them crunchy. Keep them refrigerated for up to three weeks. You can freeze them for up to 4 months.