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I had this amazing fudge last Christmas at a get-together. It was so good I came home and Googled the recipe and went right out and bought the ingredients. I gave a little of it away before it was devoured by my family. Taste of Home "made over" this recipe that tastes like an orange Creamsicle ice cream bar. DREAMSICLE FUDGE Prep: 30 min. + chillin g 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar   2/3 cup evaporated milk   1/2 cup butter, cubed   1 package (10 to 12 ounces) white baking chips   1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme   3 teaspoons orange extract   12 drops yellow food coloring   9 drops red food coloring Line a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with foil and coat with cooking spray; se t a side. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat; s tir in chips and marshmall...

For a delicious change of pace at dinnertime in the spring, I tried this Barbecued Salmon from Taste of Home's Country Woman magazine. The salty, meaty salmon is dressed with a barbecue sauce flavored by lime, garlic and chili. If you have most of the ingredients in your pantry (rice wine vinegar, chili sauce), this can be an economical dish -- especially if you buy frozen salmon fillets. BARBECUED SALMON 2/3 cup barbecue sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons garlic chili sauce (or add a minced garlic clove to regular chili sauce) 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon soy sauce 4 salmon fillets 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (can omit) In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside 1/4 cup for serving. To grill: Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack. Grill salmon, covered, over hot heat -- or broil 3-4 in. from the heat, as I di...

I enjoy Indian food when I get to the nearest city that has an Indian restaurant, Morgantown, WV, and Mother India. Because I can't afford to eat out or drive much, I am always looking for ways to make what I crave at home. I found a passable way to make one of my two favorite Indian dishes, Chicken Tikka Masala . And I blogged about it last summer so click the link in the last sentence to find the recipe. About the same time I was intrigued by this recipe for "Bread Machine Naan." Now, my understanding of naan is a chewy flat bread that's stretched thin and baked in a Tandoor clay oven. This recipe is so delicious I don't care what it calls itself! My family loves it any time we get a craving for fried dough ... you know, like vendors serve at carnivals. Sometimes it's called Elephant Ears. Or Johnny Cakes. Or fry bread. Eat these plain or with butter and powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar, or spread with your favorite jam. I recently enjoyed them d...

Six inches of heavy, wet snow is forecast for my corner of West Virginia starting tomorrow morning. Maybe you're heading to the grocery store to stock up and you're wondering what warming comfort food you could make for dinner. When it snowed and stuck around last week, I made this divine and easy Crock-Pot meal: Creamed Chicken Over Biscuits. My business partner at Mountain Mamas Retreats , Shelley Miller, shared the recipe (aka Italian Crock-Pot Chicken) after a scrapbooking crop we held at our retreat house. There, we served it with an equally easy Brussels sprouts dish brought by a guest. The flavors of the main course and the side set each other off perfectly. We had more creamed chicken than we had biscuits so we served it over rice the second time. For dessert at the same meal I served vanilla ice cream with hot fudge cake (also made in a Crock-Pot). That recipe is from Taste of Home. You wouldn't think Italian salad dressing mix would be a key ingredient in this bu...

When I was in my middle-school home economics class, we got recipe boxes. I was so excited to fill mine like my mom's and grandma's. When I started seriously cooking as an adult, it was obvious a box wasn't going to cut it. For a while, I printed recipes from the computer or tore out magazine pages and slipped the papers into page protectors and stored them in binders on a bookshelf in my kitchen. That worked to keep the recipes clean while cooking and all in one place. But I got busy (lazy) and started just stuffing recipes in there out of order or just keeping whole magazines. It wasn't very organized and more than once I bought the ingredients to make something and couldn't find the recipe! Frustrating! When I got really busy, I would stash the magazines I got from gift subscriptions in tote bags, boxes and shelves until I had a chance to read them. There might be something in there that I needed! Well, three people and two dogs live in this little house and thes...

Bear with me ... there's a recipe in here. Thanksgiving is in one week. Since the beginning of the month, some of my friends on Facebook have been posting each day something for which they are thankful. I've thought about doing it but it seemed a little forced or hollow for me. I have always felt this way when I've been asked to tell what I'm thankful for at someone's dinnertable (this is not a tradition at my house) so I usually say 4-wheel drive (I am!) and coffee. But this week I have had experiences that illuminated things I am thankful for that I take for granted. I am grateful my husband does not raise his hand or his voice in anger toward me. I learned of a family in my community that has to carry buckets of water to bathe and another family that has neither bathroom or kitchen sinks or a kitchen table. My trailer is a castle compared to where others live and I need to stop being ashamed of my circumstances. While I am watching the checkbook balance and worki...

Having Italian heritage I'm proud that I can make sauce and gnocchi from scratch, but I learned it on my own from cookbooks, not from family. Gnocchi is an Italian potato dumpling. If you have made noodles, this is very similar. My daughter prefers these sprinkled with just grated parmesan cheese and she could eat almost a whole box of the storebought kind by herself. It's handy that I know this recipe. Mixing the dough is not hard but the slightly time-consuming part is forming the gnocchi into rounded shapes and marking them with the tines of a fork by pressing them against the fork with their cut ends out. I work ahead by cooking extra potatoes and mashing them without butter or milk or seasoning when I make mashed potatoes for one dinner. Then I have them for the next day when I start to make gnocchi. To cook them, you drop them in boiling water. They are done when they float to the top. POTATO GNOCCHI 4 cups mashed potatoes (without added milk and butter) 2 cups al...

This chili is as nutritious as it is delicious. We had it on a cold day and it hit the spot -- very filling. I had leftover roast pork so I cubed it and stirred it in instead of the turkey. The pork, black beans and cumin gave it a Cuban feel. And I served it on cubes of cooked Yukon Gold potatoes from Davis Bros. Farm in Masontown, WV. I didn't have to use the potatoes but I wanted to. The 8-year-old ate it with no complaints. I liked it because it's made in a Crock-Pot for those busy days. BLACK BEAN 'N' PUMPKIN CHILI 1 medium onion, chopped 1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups chicken broth 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained 2 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey 1 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt In a large skillet, saute the onion ...

Here are two ways to get pumpkin pie flavor without making a pie. The "hot" recipe isn't really a dip -- it's Crustless Pumpkin Pie. I broke a cardinal rule by making this recipe for the first time when I was serving it to a group. It was just "OK" not fabulous and it took longer to cook than the recipe said so I had guests waiting for dessert. The leavening in the Bisquick made it cake-y and puffed. I would omit it next time -- I don't see where it's really needed; you're essentially baking pumpkin pie filling in a crock-pot. And it did not make the house smell like baking pumpkin pie all day while it cooked. We barely smelled it. But, because I promised my friend Jeannie I would post it on the blog for her, here it is. May your experience with this recipe be better than mine. 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup Bisquick-type mix 2 eggs 2 Tablespoons butter, melted 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon 1...

We ate these so quickly, I didn't take a photo. I lifted this one from Taste of Home, where I found the recipe in the October/November issue. The recipe was part of a feature suggesting quick breakfast burritos, fruity granola bars and sweet potato muffins for grab-and-go pre-dawn nourishment on Black Friday. They made a perfect Monday brinner (breakfast for dinner). Sammie's Breakfast Burritos for Two 4 eggs 1/4 cup salsa 1/8 teaspoon chili powder 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin 1/8 teaspoon pepper 3 breakfast turkey sausage links, casings removed 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese 4 fat-free flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, salsa, chili powder, cumin and pepper; set aside. Crumble sausage into a large skillet; cook over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Push sausage to the sides of pan. Pour egg mixture into center of pan. Cook and stir until set. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Remove from the heat; ...

We had this for lunch Saturday, actually. Everyone -- even the 7-year-old and her 11-year-old cousin -- liked it. I picked up the ingredients for it partly in celebration that Walmart in Oakland, Md., has Boboli now and that my daughter discovered she liked feta and black olives. I didn't have lemon-pepper seasoning and I saw no need to buy it for one recipe so I used Cavender's Greek Seasoning. We still had some chicken, onion, spinach, sauce and cheese left over so on Sunday I made mini versions using tortillas. They needed to bake for only 5 minutes. Easy Greek Pizza 1 prebaked 12-inch pizza crust 1/2 cup pizza sauce 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning, divided 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach 1 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese Place crust on an ungreased baking sheet; spread wi...

We had an out-of-the-ordinary main dish tonight. I made chicken wings in the crockpot because it was an overscheduled day. So much so that they might've been left in a little too long -- they were falling off the bone. Not a quality I want in a meaty, saucy rib I grip and gnosh. While I might remember this for football games and the Christmas Eve party, I might more likely try the recipe again with ribs and serve the sauce over rice. I think it would go just fine. Some of you might like to try it with chicken thighs. SWEET 'N' TANGY CHICKEN WINGS From Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious March/April 2008 3 pounds chicken wingettes (about 30) salt dash pepper 1 1/2 cups ketchup 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon minced garlic (not the jarred kind, folks -- icky) 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke, optional Sesame seeds, optional Sprinkle chicken wings with salt and pepper. Broil 4-6 inches f...

Two years ago I roasted a pie pumpkin for the first time. This year I made one of the recipes again. It is aptly called "Dinner in a pumpkin" because you bake all the elements of the meal inside the gourd. The filling is similar to that of stuffed peppers. You can serve right from the pumpkin and it makes a lovely presentation as the shell turns a lovely dark burnt sienna color. When picking your pumpkin, steer clear of the big kind you carve jack-o'-lanterns from. You want smaller pie pumpkins from the produce section. If your pumpkin won't hold all the filling, bake it separately in a covered casserole dish. You can halve the ingredients listed here for 1 small pumpkin or bake it in two. Save the pumpkin seeds to roast and snack on ... a recipe for that follows and includes variations. DINNER IN A PUMPKIN 1 medium sugar (or pie) pumpkin 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 1/2 t...