Gail's Recipe Station

Gail's Favorite Refrigerator Pickles (TNT) Ingredients 3/4 cup white sugar  1 tablespoons salt 1/2 cup white vinegar  3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar  1 to 2 tablespoons Roland Balsamic Glaze (optional) 3 cups peeled and sliced cucumbers  1/2 cup sliced onion 1/4 cup thinly sliced sweet peppers strips (optional) 1 garlic clove, peeled  Directions Stir sugar, salt, and all 3 vinegars together in a glass container with a lid until sugar is mostly dissolved.  Place cucumbers, onion, pepper strips and garlic clove in the vinegar solution; stir to coat.  Cover container and refrigerate for at least 2 days, stirring occasionally. Gail's Notes:  I love this! So quick and easy and very tasty! If you like fresh sweet pickles, this is definitely worth your while! And adding Roland Balsamic Glaze gives the pickles just the right "kick" to bring it up to pure perfection!   Update: If you love zucchin...

Gail’s Favorite Zucchini Quiche (TNT)   Ingredients 1 sheet of pie dough 3 tablespoons butter   4 cups of thinly sliced zucchini 1/2 cup precooked, sliced mushrooms 1/4 cup chopped onion 1/4 bacon bits 2 tablespoons dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon salt (See note below) 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (See note below) 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese 1/4 cup fresh-grated Parmesan cheese   Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Press pie dough into an 8 inch pie pan, covering sides and bottom. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the zucchini and onion, stirring occasionally until tender.  Stir in bacon bits, mushrooms, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Remove skillet from heat and stir in eggs and cheese.   Spoon into crust.   Bake until set, ~35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Gail...

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Bars (TNT) Time needed 10 min preparation + 30 min cooking Serving Size / Yield 16 bars Ingredients: 1 C. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder Dash salt ½ tsp. cinnamon ½ stick butter, melted ½ C. brown sugar ½ C. sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 C. apple, peeled and chopped Cinnamon sugar for topping Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until smooth. Mix in egg and vanilla. Gradually add in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in apples and transfer batter into a greased baking dish. Top with cinnamon sugar and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden. Gail's Notes:  This is so simple and easy yet incredible! Definitely reminds me of one of my favorite apple recipes (Apple Crisp), but to be honest, as much as I love Apple Crisp, I think this tastes even better!  And I t...

Gail's Favorite Coconut Macaroons (TNT) "A great recipe that makes light and fluffy coconut macaroons."  Prep 15 m Cook 20 m Ready In 35 m Ingredients 2 egg whites 1/2 teaspoon almond (or vanilla) extract 1 (7 ounce) package shredded coconut 1/3 cup white sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt  Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two baking sheets. Whisk egg whites in a bowl until frothy; stir in almond extract. Combine coconut, sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Lightly stir egg white mixture into coconut mixture to form a batter. Scoop batter by the tablespoon and drop onto prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies in the preheated oven until edges start to brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Gail's Notes :  This is by far the best coconut macaroon recipe I've ever tried! I kicked it up a notch by melting some dar...

Brown Sugar Shortbread Recipe (TNT) These rich buttery cookies have just three ingredients! They're a snap to make for a last-minute gift or when guests will be arriving on short notice. For best results, gradually stir the flour into the dough.  (Taste of Home) TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 25 min./batch YIELD: 21 servings Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour Directions In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until...

Cheese Straws/Crackers from Penzeys (TNT) If you’re feeling creative, use your favorite small cookie cutters to turn these crackers into fun shapes. These are a family holiday tradition in Kieran’s family. Ingredients 3/4 Cup flour 1/4 tsp. REGULAR MUSTARD POWDER 1/4 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. CAYENNE PEPPER or PENZEYS PEPPER 4 TB. butter, cold, cut in small chunks 1/2 Cup fine shredded cheddar cheese 1 egg yolk 1 TB. cold water 1/4 tsp. salt, PAPRIKA or CAYENNE PEPPER to sprinkle on top, optional Directions Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, MUSTARD POWDER, salt and PEPPER. Add the butter and mix with forks or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the cheese and toss/mix well. Add the egg yolk and water and mix with a large fork until a soft dough forms. You can make them to this point, then pat into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a bit if you don’t want to do it all at once. Also makes rolling easie...

Gail's Favorite Chinese Fried Noodles (TNT)   Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes        Ready In: 40 Minutes Servings: 6 "A quick and easy stir-fry using ramen noodles and any variety of your favorite vegetables and meat, with a little hint of sesame and soy." INGREDIENTS: 2 (3 ounce) packages Oriental flavored ramen noodles 3 eggs, beaten vegetable oil 4 green onions, thinly sliced          1 small carrot, peeled and grated 1/2 cup green peas 1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced 2 tablespoons sesame oil soy sauce DIRECTIONS: Boil ramen noodles for 3 minutes, or until softened, without flavor packets. Reserve flavor packets. Drain noodles, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet. Scramble eggs in a bowl. Cook and stir in hot oil until firm. Set aside. In a separate skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil over medium heat. Cook and stir gree...