Finnish Baked Pancake

from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book
(So not really going with the theme here, except it is an international food???)

* Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. milk
6 eggs
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 c. butter for the baking pans

In a bowl whisk together all the ingredients except for the butter - whisk until no lumps remain. Let stand 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450. Put butter into 1 large (14-16 inch) slope-sided pan or into 4 9-inch pie pans and preheat in the oven until butter is melted. Brush entire pan with the butter. Pour in the pancake batter. Bake for 15-20 min. until edges are puffed high and golden.

e-notes: We made the batter up the night before. We used 3 pie pans and 2 loaf pans because that is what we had. In my pie pan I just sprayed it with Pam and it was totally great without all that extra buttery fat. These remind me of thick crepes and are oh-so-very-delicious. We topped ours with just fresh-squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Cafe Rio

Alright sticking with theme......I thought some of you might want to try these out. They are in fact "copy cat" recipes of Cafe Rio, a Utah favorite. I've tried the dressing, but alas, not the pork. Either way I hope you enjoy and I hope this isn't already on there.....it might be or have been, my bad.......PS we make tons of dressing and keep on hand to dip anything and everything in, my boys are big dippers!!!!

Creamy House Dressing
1 1/3 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 bunch of cilantro
1 package ranch dressing mix
4 tbsp. salsa verde (green salsa)
2 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce
juice of one lime

Mix together in the blender... and that's it!

CAFE RIO PORK

1 cup Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar
pork sirloin roast (about 3-4 lbs.)

Mix salsa and brown sugar together and pour over a pork roast.

Cook on low in crock pot 6-8 hours................ENJOY!!!

Lemon Drop Cookies

1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 cups flour
1 pkg. lemon drops, crushed (1 oz box of lemon heads)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbs, or use Minute Maid frozen lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Mix first 6 ingredients. Then add next 4 ingredients.
2. Stir in the lemon heads.
3. Roll into balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
4. Let cookies cool 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet then brush with glaze.

Makes 6 dozen.

Crockpot Lasagna

I got this recipe from a friend way long ago and never tried it out until a few weeks ago. My family really liked it and so I made it again for the missionaries. I've tweaked it a liitle and so here is my version:

9 lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground turkey
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
24 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 t. basil
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 c. cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
1/2 c. ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
mozarella cheese

Cook the ground turkey and the garlic until done. Add this to the cans of tomatoes (the ounces are slightly off - they might be a few ounces off or something. I can't remember what they are and my trash is already out. Sorry. It really doesn't matter though, of course). Stir in the basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

In another bowl mix together your cottage cheese and ricotta.

In the crockpot put 2 cups of the tomato/meat mixture. Next break up 3 lasagna noodles (1-2 inch sized pieces) and layer them on top. Next place 1/3 of the cottage/ricotta cheese mix in dollops over the noodles. Layer 2 more times with the tomato/noodles/cheese. Top the last layer with the last remaining 2 cups of tomato mixture.

Cook on high for 3 1/2-4 hours or on low for 6. (I have only done it on low since I make this up before church and start it cooking at 10:30. I don't want it done until 4:30ish and so I do it on low. I'm sure high would work well, too.)

You can top it with mozarella cheese. The original recipe calls for 2 cups. I probably shredded about 3/4 - 1 c. and let people top their own servings.

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

8 oz. uncooked rigatoni
1 TBL Olive oil
1 Cup finely chopped onion
1 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach THAWED
3 Cups cubed chicken breast
1 14 oz. can of Italian style tomato (use juice in can)
1 8 oz. chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella


Spread oil on bottom of 11x7 baking dish. Bake onions at 375 for 15 minutes. Drain and press spinach. Cook rigatoni and chicken. Dice chicken and mix all ingredients together. Spoon into baking dish. Top w/ cheese. Bake 375 covered for 30 minutes and then 15 minutes uncovered. ENJOY!!!!