Chicken Penne Pasta by April Mattson

This is great for a large gathering- the bigger the group, just add more!

Ingredients:
four chicken breasts
1 box penne pasta
pine nuts
fresh basil
shredded parmesan
craisins
garlic
white cooking wine
olive oil

Directions:
Soak the chicken breasts in olive oil with pepper and rosemary; grill
Blend or chop basil
In a sauce pan, melt 2 tbs. butter and 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup white wine
Stir garlic on medium heat; add pine nuts and basil
(add oil and wine as needed)
cut up chicken into bite-sized pieces
Throw all together with cooked pasta and add craisins, fresh pepper, and generous cheese
Enjoy!

Too Much Chocolate Cake (from allrecipes.com)

I have made many cakes in my life (as you all know) but this one is my very favorite)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1-2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (mini chips work & taste best)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Ignore that last line, this cake is best topped with a raspberry sauce. I've found that topping it with fresh raspberries tastes great, but if it's not consumed that day the moisture from the cake will make the raspberries mold rather quickly.
It's best to cook some fresh or frozen raspberries over a stove until bubbly, whisk in some sugar and cornstarch to sweeten/thicken it if you want. It will thicken as it cools. Don't poor it over the cake until it is cool or it will seep into the cake.

If you'd rather do a glaze, or both (recommended) here is a top recipe:

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
2. Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Raspberry Lemonade Pie

(from KraftFoods.com)

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Gelatin

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened

6 oz. (1/2 of 12-oz. can) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1 cup fresh raspberries

2 Graham Pie Crusts (6 oz. each)

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl. Stir 2 min. until completely dissolved; set aside. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in concentrate, then gelatin until blended.

STIR in COOL WHIP and berries. Pour into crusts.

REFRIGERATE 1 pie 4 hours or until firm. Freeze remaining pie up to 1 week before thawing to serve.

Banana Bread

This recipe is adapted from "Deceptively Delicious". You may add 1 T of ground flax seed, or instead of whole-wheat flour I like to use a 7 or 11 grain cereal mix from Bob's Red Mill.

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce, or oil
2 eggs
2 cups banana puree
l tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

1. preheat oven to 350, coat two mini pans, or one 9x5 loaf pan
2. mix flour through cinnamon together in a bowl
3. in another bowl mix sugar wiht applesauce, and then add eggs, banana, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Pour into loaf pans and bake until toothpick comes out clean, 55-60 minutes, or 25-30 minutes for mini loaves.