Orange Brownies

I can officially say these are award winning brownies. kind of... So, my Aunt Janet puts together this big event every year called "The Games Party". It began at her house more than 20 years ago with family and close friends competing in multiple board games. It has since progressed into a huge ordeal that usually includes almost 200 participants. She now rents a hall to hold everyone. There is always a theme and each team of 8 is assigned to bring 4 pot luck dishes that relate to the theme of the year. This year's theme was Florida and my team was assigned to make desserts. Is key lime pie the first thing that came to mind? I'm pretty sure that's the first thing that came to everyone's mind, so I tried to think of a more original Floridian dessert. I figured anything orange or citrus would work, and low and behold I came across a very interesting Paula Dean recipe for orange brownies. I added a graham cracker crust, but other than that I stuck to the original recipe. The topping was a bit messy and goopy and in my opinion they didn't look so hot, but I had to bring something. I was running late as usual so there wasn't any time for other options. Our team didn't do so great in the games portion of the night, but we still had a lot of fun. I was shocked when I started getting complements on my brownies. Someone even asked me for the recipe and I found out someone else (who shall remain nameless), took an extra one home so his wife could try it. My brownies won third place overall out of 100 dishes! I was super excited about that. I think the "Girls Gone Wild" dessert beat me, but how could I compete with jello shots??

I looove my mixer! Thanks Mom! 

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure orange extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

Glaze:

nocoupons

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

• For the crust: In a medium bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Press  mixture firmly into bottom and sides of 13 by 9 inch pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

• In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and orange zest and beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce top of entire cake with a fork.

nocoupons

• Glaze:

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Pour glaze over cake. Cool cake and cut into squares. 

Source: adapted from Foodnetwork.com

Lasagna

A few weeks ago Dave had the great idea to have a family style Italian dinner with me, him and the neighbors. I made lasagna, Erin made some kind of amazingly delicious Orzo salad dish (which I still need to get the recipe for) and Erica did a wonderful job of cutting up cucumbers and opening the veggie dip. The recipe I used was called "World's Greatest Lasagna".  I'm not sure it was the world's best, but it was pretty good. The best lasagna recipe I've tried so far. I made some modifications to the original recipe for next time though. I thought it could use more ricotta so I doubled it from 16 oz to 32 oz. So, if you prefer a slightly healthier version, stick with the 16oz of ricotta and one egg mixture. Definitely worth trying and like most everything I make, it's even better reheated. I think Dave and his room mate lived on the leftovers for a week. Next Sunday dinner is Mexican. My favorite. Can't wait!

Thanks to Dave for taking the pictures!

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 32 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with eggs, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. 

Adapted from: Allrecipes.com