Katrina's Alfredo Sauce

From my sister Katrina, I present the best alfredo sauce in all the land:

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons cream cheese, cut into cubes

3/4 cup fresh, shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat milk, cream, and butter until hot and steaming, but do not boil.

Add cream cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, and garlic powder. Whisk until melted and smooth.

Serve with your choice of pasta. We like to serve the sauce and pasta separate, so we can pour some over our vegetables too! It's excellent with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Image from Valentina's Corner

Pico de Gallo

6 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 large onion (white, yellow, or red), chopped

1 large or 2 small jalapeno peppers, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1 tsp salt

Combine in a medium bowl. If preparing in advance, reserve the salt until ready to serve. (The salt will draw liquid out of the tomatoes and make it watery - which is fine! Just serve with a slotted spoon.) Makes a big batch.

Image from cookieandkate.com 

Gravy

4 Tbs. real butter, amen
4 Tbs. flour
3 cups liquid (use pan drippings from cooking meat, plus enough broth to equal 3 cups)*
salt and pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

*Separate fat from the drippings using a fat separator. Taste pan drippings before using. If they're too salty, use less drippings and more broth. Use chicken broth when cooking chicken or turkey, and use beef broth for beef.

Melt butter over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add flour and whisk constantly until mixture is a golden caramel color and smells fragrant (3-5 minutes). Slowly whisk in liquids until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened and bubbly.

Taste, then add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste, and Worcestershire sauce.

Recipe from Our Best Bites (includes helpful instructions, photos, and troubleshooting tips)

Teriyaki Marinade for Beef or Chicken

3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs oil
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 Tbs water
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 lb. or so cut-up beef or chicken

Combine above ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Cook as desired. Great for barbecuing, kabobs, or fondue meat.

Honey Butters

Basic Honey Butter:
1/2 c. soft butter
1/2 c. honey

Blend with a mixer, or simply by hand.


Variations:
Any-Berry Honey Butter:
1/2 c. soft butter
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. raspberry, strawberry, huckleberry, etc. jam

Cinammon Vanilla Honey Butter:
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup honey
3/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Recipes slightly adapted from www.preparedpantry.com

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbs corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes, or to 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla. Makes 1 pint.

Mom's Veggie Dip

This is my mom's "famous" veggie dip! It is a real classic. 

1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. sour cream or plain greek yogurt
2 Tbs. parsley
1 Tbs. dill weed
1 Tbs. minced onion
1 tsp. Bon Appétit seasoning salt OR celery salt

Combine and chill for 4-6 hrs. Serve with veggies.