June 30, 2008: Fancy Fruit Dip

Ingredients:
~ 2 ounces of softened cream cheese
~ 1/3 cup of marshmallow cream topping
~ 1 ½ teaspoon of orange juice
~ ¼ tsp. of grated orange peel
~ fruit of choice (preferable Strawberries or Bananas)

Makes:
3/4 cups

Preparation:
In a small mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft. Add marshmallow cream and continue beating until smooth. *Please know that it must be marshmallow cream like Jet-Puff! Regular marshmallow WILL NOT WORK! Even if melted.* Every so often stop the mixer to scrape the sides so that it is mixed well. Grate orange peel and measure the amount needed. (Small grate is preferred.)Add the juice and stir. Store in refrigerate until needed or take fruit of choice and dip.

My Review:
This fruit dip is great at parties. I recommend strawberries and bananas for dipping! I learned this recipe in eighth grade when I took cooking. This was the first thing I learned to make, so it's perfect for beginners!

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August 1, 2008: Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
~1 ½ Pounds of ground beef
~2 Tablespoons of flour
~1 Cube of instant beef bouillon
~½ Cup chopped onion
~3 Tablespoons butter
~1 Beaten egg
~1 Cup light cream
~1 ½ Cups soft bread crumbs
~¼ Cup finely snipped parsley
~1 ¼ Teaspoon of salt
~ Dash of nutmeg
~ Dash of pepper
~ Dash of ginger

Preparation:
Cook the onion in a pan with butter until tender. In a mixing bowl add egg, bread crumbs, cream and the cooked onion together. (Note: The bread crumbs are necessary. They are what help the meatball hold its shape!) Add in spices and meat chunks. Mix well and shape into little meatballs in desired size. Brown the meatballs in the pan of butter until cook all the way through! Remove meatballs temporarily. Now on medium to low heat with the meat drippings and butter add in the bouillon cube and water. (Milk can be used in place of water for a creamier texture.) Now stir well. Add in flour and stir some more until the mix becomes gravy for the meatballs. Return the meatballs to the gravy mix and cook for 10-15 more minutes or until done.

Makes:
Depends on the size of the meatballs.

My Review:
I love Swedish meatballs! They’re very different from the Italian counterpart simply because they don’t use tomato at all. In a sense Swedish meatballs are more of a sophisticated meatball while having the ‘comfort food’ taste. Because it’s also a gentler taste than Italian meatballs I feel that simple vegetables dishes like green beans and mashed potatoes are in order to compliment this dish. Also like regular meatballs this goes great over rice. This is one of my favorite foods because it reminds me of my family.

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If you choose to cook any of these recipe I wish you a very happy breakfast/lunch/snacktime/dinner and I hope you like it! Happy cooking!

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