Easy Spinach Quiche

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 1 (16 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (8 oz) package shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 lb sausage, cooked, crumbled, and drained
• 1 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• dash of garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• dash of pepper
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll pie crust and place in deep-dish pie pan. Scatter a handful of cheese in bottom of pie crust, followed by spinach and sausage. Beat eggs and milk together with salt, garlic salt, and pepper. Pour over spinach and sausage. Top with remaining cheese. Bake quiche for 50-60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and cheese is lightly browned.

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Yummy.....

This is a favorite at home. I love helping my mom make it, it makes the whole house smell great.

Potato Soup

Supplies

6 bacon strips, diced

3 cups cubed, peeled potaoes

1 can (14.5oz) chicken broth

1 small carrot, grated

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

8 oz process cheese (Velveeta), cubed

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp; drain and dice. Add potatoes, broth, carrot, onion, parsley, celery seed, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Combine flour and milk until smooth; add to soup. Bring to a boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add cheese; stir until cheese is melted. Enjoy.

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Spaghetti salad with an asian touch

This is a favorite in our family, looks strange, but always the first salad bowl to be empty during a barbecue...

500 g cooked spaghetties
250 g leek or green onions
250 g ham
6 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons asian spice mix

Cut leek/green onions and ham into very small pieces.
Mix lemon juice, soy sauce and asian spice mix to a salad dressing.
Add spaghetti, leek and ham to the dressing and mix everything. Works best when the spaghetties are still warm, they soak up the dressing better then.
Put into fridge for at least one hour, tastes even better when it can sit over night.

I hope you enjoy as much as we do

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Cottage Pie

This, and its relation Shepherd's Pie, are traditional favourites in England, and a regular dish on the Wigworthy table. The only difference is which meat is used. Shepherd's Pie is made with minced lamb, whereas Cottage Pie is made with minced beef.

1lb minced beef

1lb diced carrots

One large onion, chopped

4oz green peas

4oz green beans, sliced

Enough gravy granules to make 1 pint thick gravy

(or 1 pint of stock and a sauce thickening, e.g. cornflour)

2lb mashed potatoes (I mash them with salt, pepper, milk, and cream)

1. In a large pan boil (yes!) the meat in water or stock until cooked through.

2. Add all vegetables and simmer until just tender.

3. Add gravy granules, or sauce thickening mixed with a little water.

Stir to make a thick gravy.

4. Transfer to a casserole dish and cover with the mashed potatoes.

Fluff the topping with a fork.

5. Cook in a hot oven for approximately half an hour until the potato topping has browned.

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Mrs. Wigworthy's Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

This is how I make it. The quantities are approximate - I always do 'roughly a pound' etc... To convert to metric weights note that one pound is approximately half a kilo (so half a pound is approx. 250 grammes etc...)

Makes 3 - 4 lbs

2 1/2 lb trimmed and chopped rhubarb
A few tablespoons of orange juice

2 1/2 lb sugar (preserving sugar with added pectin will aid the set)

Juice of 2 lemons

2 teaspoons ground ginger

4 oz finely chopped preserved or crystallized ginger

1. Cover the base of a jam pan with the orange juice, add the rhubarb and gradually bring to the boil over a gentle heat.

2. When the rhubarb has stewed until it is all soft gradually add the sugar, stirring well to aid dissolving.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring frequently. Keep the mixture boiling hard until it reaches setting point (I use the cold saucer test).

4. Transfer to warm sterilised jars and cover immediately.

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Magic Middles

Makes 26 small cookies or 12 large cookies

Bake 7-9 minutes for small; 9-12 for large

Preheat oven to 375°

Line with parchment or lightly grease 2 baking sheets

Dough

1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 c granular sugar (plus more for dipping)

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c butter, unsalted (or omit salt from recipe)

1/4 c smooth peanut butter

1 t vanilla extract

1 large egg

Magic Middle

3/4 c smooth peanut butter

3/4 c confectioners’ sugar

To make dough:

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl, beat together the sugars, butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, beat to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.

To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. With floured hands, rill the filling into 26 on inch balls (or 12 larger balls).

To shape the cookies:

Break off about 1 Tablespoon of the dough, make an indentation in the center with your finger, and press one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation. Bring the dough up and over the filling, pressing it closed; roll the cookie in the palm of your hand to smooth it out. repeat with remaining dough and centers.

Dip the top of each cookie in granulated sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass and use it to slightly flatten each cookie.

Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes (or longer for larger cookies), until they are set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

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Yule Logs

Here is the recipe that I posted on my blog. It makes a great snack when watching Quidditch Matches or Muggle Football! (Go Pats!)

Yule Logs

2 - 8 oz. tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 - 2 tbs. poppy seeds
Unroll each tube of crescent dough into a rectangle, pressing to seal perforations. Combine cream cheese, sausage and salt; spread evenly over each rectangle of dough. Starting with the long side, roll each rectangle jelly roll style, then pinch seams together.Slice each log into one inch pieces. Place slices on a greased baking sheet, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

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Two Recipes

Hello all! I'd like to share with you two recipes. One is a new recipe to me and I modified it right out of the gate. The other is an old family recipe that has been passed down for... um... lessee here... 6 generations at least.

To start with, the Hogwarts recipe:

Treacle Tart (yep!)

the recipe I modified can be found HERE.

Ingredients: (This tastes kind of like candied lemon.)

1 refrigerated pie crust (1/2 box)
9 TBSP golden cane syrup (I got mine at Cost Plus World Market)
*note: if you don't have cane syrup, you probably could use a light-in-flavor molasses.
9 TBSP plain breadcrumbs
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Use pie crust to line a 9" pie pan. Cut off all the crust above the top of the pan. I ran a knife along the top, parallel to the counter to do this. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the syrup in a small saucepan on medium low heat. When the syrup becomes a little more fluid, add the breadcrumbs, lemon rind, 1 TBSP of the lemon juice, and the ginger. Cook for about 5 minutes, just until it's almost bubbly and well mixed. (The cooking step can be ignored, but I found it blended the flavors better) Pour into the pie pan. It won't be very deep.

Use a knife to loosen the edges of the pie crust from the pie pan. Fold the crust over gently, without pushing the crust into the filling or pinching it together. Mine ends up looking like waves of crust. If you want, you can roll out the leftover crust and cut it into strips to make a lattice top. Mine looked kinda stupid.

Bake 25-30 minutes or so. The important thing is the pastry being cooked - the filling will simply follow suit. Let cool a bit and nosh the deliciousness.

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And now, for my family recipe. Not one person I've fed this to has ever not liked this.

Paprikasch (sometimes called Hungarian Goulash, but not in THIS family!!!)

4 TBSP bacon grease (you should ALWAYS save your bacon grease!)
Onion the size of an egg, chopped fine

- saute the above until golden

Add:

1 heaping tsp paprika (yeah right... we usually add 2 TBSP or so, laughing all the way)

1 pound cubed veal, young chicken, or beef (we usually do beef, but that's cause we're a beef packing plant family)

1 tsp salt or more to taste (we actually tend to just do a quick sprinkle)

1 quart water

Simmer VERY slowly for 1.5 hours. 45 minutes before serving, add 1 med potato, diced. Five minutes before serving, you may also add the following:

Spoon Dumplings (often called the best part of Paprikasch)

1 c flour
1 egg
enough water to make the dough the consistency of baking powder biscuits.

Drop by scant teaspoon into the paprikasch. COVER and LEAVE IT ALONE for 5 minutes or until the biscuits are floating. (I hope you have a glass lid!)

Enjoy. Oh so very yummy, and now I think I'll have to cook it this week sometime.

As my great grandmother Weinschrott used to say (and I have no clue what it REALLY means)

Ich wunsch, Ich wunsch
Ich wissen nicht vas
Greifen zei sak
Ein gabe fur alles

Cheers!

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Pumpkin Pasties

I have fond memories of my gram making pumpkin pasties and I found this recipe which is fairly similar. I hope it brings great enjoyment to all!

Pumpkin Pasties

• 1 29 oz. can of pumpkin
• 1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup minced non-crystalized, candied ginger
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 boxes pre-packaged rolled pie crust (in the refrigerated section of your grocery)

Directions

Using a wire sieve, drain the canned pumpkin over a bowl for about thirty minutes. This will remove approximately 1 cup for liquid from the pumpkin and make the filling more dense. While this is draining, mince the ginger into fine pieces.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin, condensed milk, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir until thoroughly mixed and set aside.

Unroll the pie crust on a nonstick surface and use a rolling pin to thin it out to almost a 12" diameter. Using your 3 1/2" round cutter, cut circles from the pie crust and lay them out on a baking sheet with 1" of space in between the circles. Combine the crust scraps together from the first cutting, re-roll to a similar thickness, and re-cut to create the tops of the pasties. Set aside.

Fill a piping bag with the pumpkin filling, and squeeze the filling onto the crust circle, leaving a 1/2" border at the edge for crimping. Moisten this edge with water, lay the reserved circle on top of the filling, and crimp the edges together with a fork. Repeat until the pan is complete.

Use a knife and make small slices into the top crust to allow steam to escape while baking. You can use any decorative design that you wish and have the patience to create.

Bake the pasties for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Repeat this process until you have used all yours crust and filling. This recipe makes about 30 pasties.

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Muggle CPBCC Cookies

Hello! I am delighted to be able to share with you a favorite treat of my Muggle boyfriend. He loves it when I make these delicious cookies and I'm sure you will love them too. As I am in Ravenclaw and am studying Muggle Pastry Arts, my original recipe was all in ounces, grams and weights, but I've converted it to standard home baking measurements. Enjoy!!

Muggle Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter soft
1/2 cup smooth pb
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (buy the good vanilla - you won't regret it!)
1/4 cup melted dark choc chips
1/2 cup dark choc chips

Preheat Oven to 350 F. Combine flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Beat together butter, pb, sugars and melted choc until all gooey and delicious lookin'. Add egg and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in chips. Chill dough for 30 minutes. Using small ice cream or cookie scooper, scoop out nice round balls and bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch. Let cool all the way before eating (or at leat try). I think salted crushed peanuts would be an excellent addition as well, but I'm a salty/sweet kinda girl....

Let me know what you think. The recipe is a work in progress, but I think I've nailed it. Any suggestions will be tested and appreciated!!

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Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

When time is of the essence this soup can be made from pantry staples in no time flat. It is slightly spicy and very satisfying - a real favorite among the customers at Beanswallow's.

4 cups vegetable stock (chicken stock or water and 4 Knorr Vegetable bullion cubes)

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 Tablespoon olive oil

1 32 oz. can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling, but usually found in the same place)

1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 teaspoons curry powder (I like Penzey's Sweet Madras)

2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

1 32 oz. can tomatoes, diced or pureed

In a soup pot (6 qt. or larger), saute onions in olive oil until tender and lightly colored. Have stock or water and bullion at the ready. Add curry, cumin and cayenne to the onions and saute to toast spiced. This will only take a minute, then add stock or bullion water all at once. Add all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat until hot.

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Mum's Trifle

My mum taught me how to make this a long time ago, its the easiest trifle recipe you'll ever see!

English Trifle

Prepare 4-serving package vanilla pudding and pie filling with milk as directed and set aside.

Cut an 8-inch sponge cake into 1-1/2 inch cubes. Place cake cubes in pretty 1 to 1- 1/2 quart glass bowl.

Stir together 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/4th cup of sherry wine: sprinkle over cake cubes. Combine 1/3rd cup red raspberry preserves and 2 tablespoons wine; spoon over cake.

Top with 1/2 cup of soft macaroon crumbs. Spoon on prepared pudding, covering cake completely.

Chill at least 2 hours minimum or preferred overnight.

To serve; Whip 1 cup of heavy cream; spread over pudding. Garnish with toasted almonds and stemmed maraschino cherries. Makes 8 servings.

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Superbowl Stuffed Chicken

I was shown how to make the perfect meal for watching the Superbowl. Here it is:

Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts
Blue Cheese
Finely Chopped Celery Stalk/Leaves
Wild Buffalo Wing Sauce
Bread Crumbs

Instructions: Pound chicken breasts flat. Place blue cheese and celery in the middle of the flattened chicken. Wrap chicken around filling. Cover chicken in Wild Buffalo Sauce. Roll in bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for approximately 45 minutes!!! Enjoy!!!

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Welcome!

Good Morning everyone!

I have noticed many of us at Hogwarts have been posting our favorite recipes on our blogs and I personally thought it was a great idea. In fact, just this past weekend I included on my blog, a family recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding that I thought many of you would enjoy. Then my brilliant interim Head Girl Penelope Pinkstone, brought to my attention that she thought it would be a great idea to have a HSKS4 Recipe Book. I agree, but a recipe book can get quite pricey to print and instead thought it would be a great idea to add a linked recipe blog to our HSKS4 main blog. I have invited you all to post your recipes and hope that you will enjoy this page and get some great ideas and maybe some new favorites. As the wise Julia Child said "Bon Appetit".

Sticky Toffee Pudding

INGREDIENTS
unsalted butter for baking dish
1 cup and 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teasoon baking powder
3/4 cup pitted dates chopped
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cup boiling water
5 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350° F.
Butter an 8x6" baking dish.

Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper or into a bowl; set aside.

Chop the dates fine; toss with 1 tablespoon flour in a small bowl.

Beat 4 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup sugar in large bowl until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg along with a little of the flour mixture; beat for 1 minute. Beat in remaining flour mixture.

Add dates, baking soda and vanilla to the 1-1/4 cups boiling water, stirring to combine; add to batter, beating until well blended.

Pour batter into a prepared baking dish; bake until set and well browned on top, 35- 40 minutes.

Remove from oven to wire rack.Heat broiler.

Heat remaining 3 tablespoons butter, the brown sugar and the 2 tablespoons heavy cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat to simmering; simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; pour topping over pudding.

Place pudding in broiler, about 4 inches from source of heat; broil until top bubbly, about 1 minute.

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