Crockpot Corn Chowder Recipe

5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
16 oz frozen corn
1 tablespoon butter
2 14-oz cans chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Eckrich smoked sausage sliced thin and cut in half

Throw everything in the crockpot and cook on low for about 8 hours.

Notes:

• Medium spicy. If you want more, up the cayenne but be careful.
  
• Sausage comes two to a pack. If you want more meat, use both. If you want less calories, use turkey sausage.
  
• The salt in the sausage and broth is plenty for my taste. You may want more.

Sunny's Christmas Party

Last night Sunny and I went to the Christmas party for her agility class that she left last March.

We had fun trying to get the dogs to all stay still at the same time for a picture.

Yes, these are advanced obedience dogs. Very smart dogs. They are so smart they knew it was party time and not time to do a boring sit and stay.

That's Sunny center front, glaring at me. Two seconds later she was up and gone.


We ate, played doggy games, the dogs ate dog food cake (recipe at end of post) and exchanged gifts.

Sunny is not a sociable dog and noisy events freak her out, but she enjoyed the party in her own Sunny way. I think I had way more fun than she did.

Pappy is a sociable dog and he loves noisy events. It will be a completely different experience when I do it all again with Pappy on Thursday. I will have fun, but he will have way more fun than I do.


Dog Food Cake

2 c. flour
2 (6 oz.) cans Hi Protein dog food
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
4 tsp. baking powder
Milk - enough for batter consistency (I used a half cup)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes in 9 x 13 inch pan. Recipe can be "halved" for smaller cake.

Frost with whipped cream cheese.

Those Things That Marguerite Makes

At doggy school parties they call these "Those Things That Marguerite Makes". I assume, since they get sought out and eaten, that is a compliment.

Please don't tell them how easy these are to make.

Need a quick, rich sweet bar to round out your holiday cookie plate? Here it is.

Butter Pecan Turtle Cookies

2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter - needs to be soft, at room temperature
1 cup pecan halves

• Mix well.
  
• Pat firmly into an ungreased 13 X 9 pan.
  
• Spread pecan halves evenly on top.

2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

• Heat with constant stirring until boiling.
  
• Boil for 1 minute.
  

  Note: I do the heating and boiling in the microwave.
  1 minute - whip with whisk - 1 minute - whip with whisk.
  You can tell when it starts to boil and thicken.
  Then, give it 45 more seconds, whip with whisk, and it's done.
  In my microwave the total procedure takes 4 minutes.

  
  
• Pour over crust and pecans.
  
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

1 cup milk chocolate chips (not semi-sweet)

• Sprinkle chips over top immediately after removing from oven.
  
• Chips will partially melt, but still look like chips. That bothered me at first, but it's OK.
  
• Cool slightly and cut. They're much easier to cut when they're still a bit warm.
  
• Enjoy.

Upjohn Pumpkin Torte

Looking for a wonderful holiday dessert?

Back in the 80s when I started working for The Upjohn Company, the cafeteria had a chef who made wonderful things from scratch. The Upjohn Pumpkin Torte is one of those wonderful things. It's a rich, heavenly dessert. Takes a little effort to make but it's not difficult and well worth the effort.

I'm posting this well advance of the holidays so you'll have a good excuse to make it twice. After all, you do have to make it once to try it out before the big dinner. Right?

This recipe was created to be sinful. Don't try to change it into something healthy. For the intended results you need real butter, real sugar, real cream cheese (not lowfat), real eggs, and whole milk.

This is the original recipe with my changes, suggestions and notes in parens.

Mix the following 3 ingredients together. Press into a 9 x 13 pan.

• 1 pkg graham crackers - about 10 (I use 1-1/4 cup packaged crumbs.)
  
• 1/3 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup melted butter (Use the real stuff.)

Mix the following 3 ingredients together and pour on crust. (I use electric mixer to get it smooth.) Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

• 2 eggs
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 8 oz. cream cheese (pre-softened to room temperature)

Cook the following ingredients to a boil. (I microwave it two minutes at a time, whisking after each two minutes. It's hard to tell when "boil" happens in the microwave. Mixture will be noticeably thicker.)

• 2 cups pumpkin (I use 15 oz can pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie mix.)
  
• 3 egg yolks
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• dash salt

Stir the following into the pumpkin mixture while it is still hot. Let pumpkin mixture cool.

• 1 envelope plain gelatin
  
• 1/4 cup cold water

Beat egg whites and sugar until stiff. Fold gently into pumpkin mixture.

• 3 egg whites
  
• 1/4 cup sugar

Spread pumpkin mixture onto cheese layer.
Top with whipped cream.
Chill.

(I use real whipping cream whipped with a couple of tablespoons sugar and a teaspoon vanilla.)

No nutritional information. If you have to know, you shouldn't be eating this.