Kelly's Corn Pudding

INGREDIENTS
1 - 16 oz. can cream corn
1 - 16 oz. can whole kernel corn
1 stick of butter melted
1 - 8 oz. container of sour cream
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg

DIRECTIONS
For Oven:
1 - Combine all above ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Stir until blended
2 - Pour into a greased 9x13 dish
3 - Bake 350 for 35040 min. or until golden brown

For Crock Pot:
1- Toss all ingredients into crock pot and stir well
2 - Cook on high for 3-4 hours

Rachel's Spinach Artichoke Dip

INGREDIENTS
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/3 c low-fat yogurt or sour cream
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese (parmesano reggiano is tastiest)
Juice from 1/2 small or 1/4 large lemon (2-3 Tbsp)
Salt
Black pepper
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
8 oz frozen spinach, cooked and pressed between paper towels or in cheesecloth to remove excess moisture
Milk

DIRECTIONS
1 - Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2 - In a food processor, blend cream cheese, garlic clove, garlic powder, mayo, yogurt/sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice until smooth.
3 - Add salt and pepper to taste (start with about 1 tsp each)
4 - Add artichoke hearts and cooked spinach and pulse food processor gently several times
to incorporate. Mixture will be thick.
5 - Stir in enough milk so that mixture is the consistency of soupy applesauce (remember this will thicken as it is baked and the cheese melts)
6 - Bake in 375-degree oven for 45 minutes or just until top edges begin to brown and mixture is bubbly.
7 - Enjoy with tortilla chips, crackers, or baguette slices.

THOUGHTS
Rachel made this and froze it ahead of time for the nutty reunion. When this stuff came out of the oven, we all burned our mouths gobbling it up and it was gone before it even cooled. Yum.

Rachel's Pumpkin Bread

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I use extra light--not extra virgin--olive oil)
3 large eggs
1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
1/2 cup applesauce
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (fresh-grated is best)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh-grated is best)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup raisins
OR 1 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1 - Preheat oven to 350°F.
2 - Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
3 - Beat sugars and oil in large bowl to blend.
4 - Mix in eggs, pumpkin, and applesauce.
5 - Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl.
6 - Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.
7 - Mix in raisins and walnuts OR chocolate chips.
8 - Divide batter equally between prepared pans.
9 - Bake just until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
10 - Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves.
11 - Turn loaves out onto racks and cool until just warm to touch, then wrap in aluminum foil or eat.

THOUGHTS
Rachel made us pumpkin bread for the last nutty reunion and this stuff was amazing. I still haven't had a chance to try it on my own to see if mine will even come close to her's, but I'm planning on doing so this weekend. Rachel adds that the bread freezes well in foil inside a ziploc bag.

Clayton's Pecan Pie

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup corn syrup
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

DIRECTIONS
1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2 - Beat eggs and stir in sugar and flour
3 - Add corn syrup, butter, and vanilla
4 - Fold in pecans
5 - Pour into crust and bake for 60 minutes or until knife comes out clean

THOUGHTS
This is a great basic pecan pie recipe. Next time we want to experiment with some bourbon!!