1 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup creay peanut butter
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg

In a large bowl, mix together the fouf, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, sugar, and oil until smooth. Beat in the egg, then the milk. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until blended.

Next, lightly coat a griddle or skillet with oil and heat it over medium-high heat. Drop the batter onto the griddle by 1/4 cup measures. Cook until tiny bubbles appear on the surfaces of the cakes, then flip them and cook a few minutes more.

Serve with maple syrup and sliced bananas or spread with grape jelly and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Makes 12 4″ pancakes. Freeze extras between layers of wax paper. Reheat in a microwave for about 35 seconds.

Rachael Ray Magazine’s 30 Minute Meals

Spicy Sausage, Chicken and Bean Pot
Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3/4 pound bulk hot italian sausage
3/4 pound andouille sausage, cut on an angle into 1-inch lengths
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, about 8, cut into thirds
Salt and pepper
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 to 4 ribs celery from the heart, thinly sliced
2 carrots, shredded
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
Two 15.5-ounce cans cannelloni beans
One 15.5-ounce can chicken broth
5 to 6 sprigs sage, leaves cut into thin strips and stems discarded
1/2 baguette
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Flat-leaf parsley, chopped (a generous handful)
3 to 4 sprigs thyme, leaves chopped and stems discarded

In a dutch oven, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Crumble in the Italian sausage and brown lightly, about 3 minutes. Add the andouille and cook until crisp at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper, add to the pot and cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Add the onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until nearly dry, about 5 minutes. Return the sausages to the pot, add the cannellini beans, chicken broth and sage and cook until heated through.

Preheat the broiler. Using a food processor, coarsely chop the baguette. Toss with the melted butter, parsley and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Scatter the bread over the sausage and chicken and broil until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve from the pot, discarding the bay leaf.

There are also collections of recipes for everything from breakfast through dessert, with special sections for kids’ recipes and even snacks for pets.

Some easy recipes for a Super Bowl party.

The chicken can be served hot or at room temperature.

Oven-Fried Chicken

24 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

In a gallon-sized plastic bag, combine flour, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and poultry seasoning. Line 2 13×9-inch pans with heavy duty foil. Place 1/4 cup butter in each pan. Place pans in oven to melt butter.

Rinse chicken in cold water then, coat it with seasoned flour mixture, shaking about 3 legs at a time in the bag. Place chicken in prepared pans in the melted butter. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Turn over and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until tender and nicely browned.

Makes 24.

Either serve a choice of a couple of sides or double this next recipe.

Macaroni Salad

2 cups cooked macaroni
2 eggs, hard-cooked, chopped
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsps. sugar
2 tsps. vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp. prepared mustard
pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients; stir well. Cover and chill for several hours before serving.

Serves 4.

Individual cheesecakes are good for a party or a bake sale.

Mini Cheesecakes

32 mini baking cups
25 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 (8 oz. each) packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place baking cups in mini muffin pans or use paper-lined foil baking cups and place on a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, combine chocolate cookie crumbs and butter, blending well. Press one rounded tablespoon of the crumb mixture into the bottom of each baking cup (1 1/2 teaspoons for the mini baking cups).

Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Divide the mixture among the baking cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (16 to 18 minutes for the mini cheesecakes). Cool.

Place remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. (I just use a glass measuring cup.) Microwave on medium until melted and mixture can be stirred smooth, about one to two minutes. Drizzle over cooled cheesecakes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes 18 (32 minis)

Slow cooking makes the oatmeal very creamy.

This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

1 cup steel cut oats (Irish style or pin oats)
4 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dried fruit (optional)

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker. Set on low and cook 8 - 9 hours or overnight.

Serve with fresh fruit, butter, cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, milk, cream, honey and/or syrup.

Clean up will be easier if you use a liner for the slowcooker or spray it with non-stick spray before putting in the ingredients. Store any leftover oatmeal in a plastic container and reheat in the microwave with a little milk.

Heinz offers Ketchup and Mustard bottles with your own personalized message labels. The cost of one bottle is about twice what you would pay at the grocery, and that’s not counting shipping costs. It is a little pricey but having a bottle with your favorite team’s name on it for a tailgating party would be fun. (And you could always refill it.)

Hershey’s helps with gift giving:

A video with suggestions of ways to package your cookie gifts
Printable gift tags and gift coupons
Crafts with Hershey Kisses

Land O’Lakes also has gift labels, holiday coloring sheets (to keep the kids busy while you’re waiting for the cookies to bake!), and plenty of cookie recipes.

Chocolate Crackles

Peanut Blossoms

Spritz

Tiny Holiday Tarts

The rest of the list of cookies that we made is in this post, plus Chocolate Bar Cookies. I ended up throwing out the Eggnog Cookies because they were too sweet. (Even my kids thought so.)

A search engine for recipe videos.

We made these over the weekend so we’re still waiting for them to dry completely. Once that is done, we’ll string ribbons through the holes and hang them or attach them to gifts.

Cinnamon Clay Ornaments

1 1/2 cups ground Cinnamon
1 cup Applesauce
1/3 cup white School glue (like Elmer’s)
Ribbon
Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl.

Remove from the bowl and knead the mixture until it turns into a firm clay.

Let sit for about 30 minutes.

Clay is best used at room temperature. You may need to dust your rolling pin, hands, or working surface with cinnamon, or use wax paper as a working surface.

Roll out clay with a rolling pin to approximately 1/8 of an inch thick.

Use cutters to cut out desired shapes.

If you are going to hang your shape, use a straw to cut out a hole near the top of the shape.

Place shapes on a non stick cooling rack or wax paper. You will need to keep an eye on them and turn them over occasionally so that they dry evenly and dry flat.

Dry shapes for approximately 5 days.

When dry you may put a ribbon through the hole for hanging on the tree or adding to a package.

You may add puffy paint to decorate your shapes, if you wish.

We halved the recipe and had enough cinnamon clay to make 16 ornaments. The number of ornaments you can make will depend on the size of the cookie cutters you use.