Chicken Cordon Bleu Mummy

We actually changed it to a turkey salami mummy. That sounded better to us than chicken and ham. Unfortunately, I don't know of a snooty French name for that. I will supply the recipe tomorrow. I am too tired tonight.

Update: It is halfway typed up on the dead computer's hard drive. When my computer is back up, I will finish it. If you need this recipe sooner, type in the title on Google, and you'll find a youtube video with this other woman making it.

Peanutty Chocolate Candy Cookies

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix with pudding
2 eggs
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
1 12-oz bag peanut butter M & M’s

Mix butter, eggs, and cake mix. Stir in peanuts and M & M’s. Drop 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for 7-9 minutes.

Changes I made:
*I happened to find miniature Reese’s pieces on sale, so I figured they would taste very much like peanut butter M & M’s.
*I could not find chocolate fudge cake mix with pudding. I got a dark chocolate fudge cake mix and I used a sugar-free chocolate pudding mix with it (I happened to have sugar-free at home already.). I had to add a little less than ¼ cup of water since I added extra pudding. They turned out fine. Don’t undercook. They will fall apart.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Spider Cake

1 strawberry cake mix, with required oil, water, and eggs
1 ½ bars Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate (milk and dark also work)
7 Tbsp heavy cream
½ bag powdered sugar
½ stick butter, slightly softenend
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp almond extract
¾ tsp butter extract
1-4 Tbsp whole milk (you can use any kind of milk, really)
red food coloring
2 googly eyes (not edible)

Prepare cake mix as directed. Bake in 2 9-inch round cake pans. While baking, prepare filling: beat butter in electric mixer. Slowly add powdered sugar. Add 1 Tbsp milk and check consistency. Add more milk as needed so it will be spreadable, but will remain stiff enough on cake that it won’t ooze out the middle. Add extracts and mix well. Taste and add more extract, milk, or powdered sugar until it tastes good to you. I might have used more of all three. Tint pink.

Then prepare chocolate: Break up chocolate and put into bowl. Put whipping cream in small saucepan and heat until it just begins to boil. Then pour hot whipping cream over chocolate. Let stand five minutes, then stir until smooth. Let cool.

When cake is done, let cool for a few minutes, then remove or loosen from pans so it doesn’t stick. When completely cool, put one layer on a plate and cover liberally with filling. Save some filling for decoration.

Cover with second half of cake. Take chocolate and pour or spoon over cake until covered. Use spreader to make sure the chocolate covers top and sides completely. When chocolate is dry, put remaining pink frosting into baggie and cut hole in corner. Pipe spider web and spider onto top of cake. Press googly eyes onto spider.

Meatball Calzones

Instead of cutting each into 4 large pieces, we sliced them to make them easier to eat.

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 pounds ground beef
3 loaves (1 pound each) frozen bread dough, thawed
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Additional Italian seasoning
1 jar (14 ounces) spaghetti sauce, warmed

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls.
Place meatballs on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 10-15 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain on paper towels. Reduce heat to 350°.
On a floured surface, roll each portion of dough into an 18-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Spoon a third of the meatballs and mozzarella cheese down the center of each rectangle. Fold dough over filling; press edges firmly to seal.
Place seam side down on greased baking sheets. Brush tops with egg white; sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Let stand for 15-30 minutes. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with spaghetti sauce. Yield: 3 calzones (4 servings each).

Southwestern Strudel

1/2 pkg. (17.3 oz.) Pepperidge Farm® Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1 can (11 oz.) Mexican-style corn, drained
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 pkg. (5 oz.) baby greens salad blend
Sour cream (optional)

THAW pastry sheet at room temperature 40 min. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix egg and water.
MIX chicken, cheese, corn, bread crumbs and picante sauce.
UNFOLD pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Roll into 16" x 12" rectangle. With short side facing you, place chicken mixture on bottom half of pastry to within 1" of edges. Starting at short side, roll up like a jellyroll. Place seam-side down on baking sheet. Tuck ends under to seal. Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle with parsley. Cut 2" slits 2" apart on top.
BAKE 30 min. or until golden. Slice and serve warm on a bed of baby greens with sour cream, if desired.