Let's make this a SUPER BOWL recipe thread, eh? I served this couple times with blue chips I buy from World Market. CrockPot Cream Cheese Sausage and Rotel Dip - 8 oz cream cheese - 1 can tomatoes and green chies (aka Rotel), drained - 1 lb breakfast sausage, browned and drained Brown the sausage on the stove, and drain on paper towels. Unwrap the cream cheese, and put it into your crockpot. Chop up the sausage and add on top. Drain the Rotel and add it. Cover and cook on low for about 90 minutes, or on high for 45 minutes. Stir well and eat with tortilla chips.

Let's keep this thread going. We enjoy Lidia's Family Table/ Italian-American shows. She featured an easy recipe using chicken breasts, capers, red wine vinegar. She said it could be made using pork chops. This appealed to hubby so he made it for dinner one nite this week, using boneless pork chops. It's a delicious sauce. Skillet Chicken Breasts Aglio e Olio source: Lidia's Italy 6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless, about 2 pounds (we used boneless pork chops) 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed 1/2 cup flour, for dredging the chicken 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 8 garlic cloves, sliced 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup vegetable broth 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, freshly chopped 1 tablespoon bread crumbs Trim the chicken breast halves of all bits fat, skin or connective tissue with a paring knife. Do not cut off the tenders-the small loose flap of muscle on the underside of each half-but flatten them firmly against the larger piece, to form a neat oval. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, using about 1/2 teaspoon in all. Spread the flour on a piece wax paper and press and toss each breast to coat lightly on all surfaces; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the butter in the pan over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, lay the breasts in the pan, with space between them. Let them cook in place, without moving them, until they're sizzling. After 2 minutes or so, lift the first breast you put in the pan and check the underside. You want it to be lightly tinged with brown (not merely pale, but not brown all over either). Cook longer if needed, and then turn all the breasts over when they've just begun to color. Quickly scatter all the garlic slices into the spaces between the chicken, turn the heat up slightly, shake the pan and stir the slices around in the hot fat so they separate. After a minute or a bit more, when the garlic has begun to sizzle, sprinkle the red pepper flakes in a hot spot; toast for a minute; then spill the capers in several hot spots around the pan. Give the skillet a few good shakes to distribute the seasonings and run the hot juices all around the breasts. Raise the heat another notch: when everything's sizzling hard, pour the red wine vinegar into the open spaces and shake the pan to spread it. Let the vinegar sizzle and reduce for a 1/2 minute or so, then pour in the broth. Cook at full blast now, quickly bringing the liquid to a boil. As it cooks, drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of oil all around the pan and sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, shaking the skillet frequently, then sprinkle the bread crumbs into the sauce (not on the chicken) and stir and shake to mix it in. Within a minute or two, the crumbs will thicken the sauce visibly; cook, shaking the skillet, until it has the consistency you like. Turn off the heat, scatter the parsley over everything-and shake the skillet again. Serve immediately.

I also have a Jambalaya recipe that I concocted several years ago at a family gathering. I think there were 20 some people there, so the recipe as I've recorded it is rather large. (with nearly 7 lbs of meat!) I prefer it done this way, with the rice prepared separately, rather than cooking the rice with the rest of the dish, since if there are leftovers the rice absorbs all of the liquid, making the rice gluey and the rest of the dish dry. Also since several members of the group didn't want it too spicy, the amount of red pepper, cayenne pepper and tobasco were much less than I would otherwise have used, but adding tobasco after it is served works very well. JAMBALAYA 2 lb Chicken Breast (3/4" cubes) 1 lb Honey Ham (1/2" dice) 1 lb Hot-Italian Sausage (de-skinned and broken into pieces) 2/3 lb Andouille-style smoked sausage 2 lb uncooked shrimp (cleaned, de-shelled, and de-tailed, cut into thirds) 2 large sweet yellow onions chopped into 3/4" square pieces 2 red bell peppers (remove stems, seeds and membranes and cut into 1" by 1" pieces) 2 yellow bell peppers 4 cups of rice 2 large cans diced tomatoes 1 15 oz can tomato paste Olive oil 10 cloves garlic 2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp black pepper blend (ground) 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 4 shakes Tobasco sauce 1 tsp thyme 1 tbsp chopped parsley In one large pan, cook onion in olive oil, add thyme and 3 cloves of garlic (chopped) until onion starts to turn translucent, then add bell peppers and cook another 10 minutes or so. In a different large pan, cook chicken and hot Italian sausage until both are lightly browned and mostly cooked. Empty both pans into large pot. Stir in tomatoes (including water from tomato cans) and the tomato paste. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat to a simmer and stir well. In the chicken pan, cook Andouille and ham over medium heat for 10 minutes, then add to large pot. Crush remaining garlic and other spices except parsley into large pot to suit taste. Cook rice separately while continuing to simmer large pot. When rice is done, remove large pot from heat and add shrimp stirring until it is cooked. Serve over rice, adding tobasco to taste, top with a pinch of parsley.

I have been searching for easy recipes for things to bake for our annual Garden Club plant and bake sale which is coming up soon. I came upon this wonderful looking and sounding treat! I hate that I have to make all these decadent things but can not eat a bite! Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Pretzel Crust Ingredients 3/4 cup crushed pretzel 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted 1 cup hot fudge sauce, plus extra for drizzling 3/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup peanut butter chips 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 1 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream 3 egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter 1 tsp vanilla Instructions 1. Make the crust by stirring together the crushed pretzel, flour, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in the melted butter and stir until combined. Press the crust mixture into a 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool . 2. Pour 1 cup hot fudge sauce into the baked, cooled pie shell. Spread out to cover the bottom and smooth. Set aside. 3. Combine sugar, cornstarch, milk, cream, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly ,until mixture begins to bubble. This will take several minutes. Once it bubbles continue stirring for 2 minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken. 4. Mix a little of the hot mixture into the egg yolks (do this part quickly), beating quickly to avoid cooking the yolks with the hot liquid. Stir the warm yolk mixture back into the remainder of the peanut butter mixture and cook for an additional 90 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla and continue stirring until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. 5. Pour peanut butter custard into the pie shell over the fudge sauce. Allow mixture to cool for 30 minutes before putting it in the refrigerator to finish cooling. Let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. 6. Extra fudge sauce can be drizzled over the top for decorating. Add some more crushed pretzel and a little shaved chocolate if desired. Just wait until the peanut butter custard cools before adding the drizzles and toppings otherwise you'll end up with puddles of chocolate. Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Pretzel Crust www.thestayathomechef.com