Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My 30 Favorite Recipes

Last week I mentioned the Devil's Food Cake was a 9.5 on a scale from 1-10, with 10 being the best. Donna asked me to send her a private email letting her know which recipes rated high on my list. Rather than just sending her an email, I thought I'd share with you my all-time favorite recipes.

Out of the 150 recipes I've posted, these make my top 30 list (in no particular order)! Hopefully you'll make one or all of them. Let me know if you do!

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1. Fruit Tart- My little brother's most requested dessert. A cookie crust topped with cream cheese and fruit. So simple.

2. Cinnamon Toast- Mr. H's favorite and most repeated breakfast treat. Yum!

3. Cranberry Freeze- Cranberry sauce, pineapple, pecans, in a cream cheese fluff then frozen. Delicious! A must have throughout the year.

4. Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding- Cream cheese, cool-whip, pudding, bananas, and shortbread cookies. My grandpa's all-time fave!

5. Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake (and Cupcakes)- Dark chocolate cake with loads of fresh zucchini to keep it moist. One of my signature cakes and always asked for.

6. Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes- Simply luscious chocolate cupcakes dipped in ganache. A special treat and so elegant.

7. Texas Sheetcake- Chocolate sheetcake, with a cinnamony, nutty, chocolatey frosting. A favorite of my hubs. He asks for it weekly (not kidding).

8. Asparagus Gruyere Tart- A wonderful way to eat asparagus--with cheese and puff pastry!

9. Guittard Chocolate Chip Cookies- A basic chocolate chip cookie, but crispy, buttery and made with a superior chocolate. Beats Hershey's and Nestle by yards.

10. Oatmeal Raisin Sandwich Cookies- I sort of made this up and they were absolutely fabulous. Loved them! Oatmeal raisin cookies sandwiched around a fluffy mascarpone filling.

11. Strawberry Jello Salad- Not so pretty but so good. Strawberry jello, whole strawberries, pineapple, bananas and sour cream. It doesn't get better.

12. Chex Mummy Mix- Chocolate, peanut butter, and cereal. The only way I eat chocolate and PB together. So addicting too!

13. Tomato, Salami & Mozzarella Pasta Salad- The title says it all. This recipe serves a ton but is so good. great for potlucks.

14. Chicken & Dumplings- A family recipe full of heart. One of the most cherished recipes in my arsenal. A thick chicken stew with fluffy basil dumplings. The epitome of comfort.

15. Pumpkin Roll- This is a Thanksgiving must have, pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese...drool.

16. Coca-Cola Cake- Very similar to a Texas Sheetcake but moister and made with my favorite soda and marshmallows. A hint of cinnamon makes the frosting.

17. Cranberry, Pistachio and White Chocolate Biscotti- The base of this cookie is so tasty, you can't mess it up. Add any kind of fruit or chocolate to make them your own. Wonderful for gift giving as well.

18. Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies- The Barefoot Contessa really shines through on this one. Chocolate cookie with white chocolate chunks. One of my all time favorite cookies- no lie.

19. Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie- Sticky and gooey pecan pie kicked up with the addition of chocolate chips. I ate half the pie myself, that's how good it was.

20. Apple Chunk Tuna Salad- Another family recipe from my MIL. Chunky, slightly sweet, healthy and simple. A little unusual but a main stay in this household.

21. Fried Breakfast Potatoes- The names says it all. Fried, crispy potatoes. How could you go wrong?

22. Bailey's Cappuccino Chip Cake- I was sad when this cake was gone. I mourned it's loss. Creamy, punchy, cappuccino-y, yummy! Honestly.

23. Hummingbird Cake- Fruity, sweet, summery and moist cake topped with cream cheese frosting and walnuts. Delish!

24. Rainbow Cupcakes- Despite these being beautiful and fun to look at, they're a very flavorful vanilla cupcake with vanilla bean cream cheese buttercream. Nothing "vanilla" about these cupcakes.

25. Strawberry Cake- My sister's favorite and the most beautiful thing that comes out of my kitchen every year. An extremely moist cake with a lightly sweetened creamy frosting. As good as it looks.

26. Strawberries Romanoff- Made in a matter of minutes, maybe seconds. But decadent and addicting. Strawberries drenched in a brown sugar, sour cream, brandy sauce...(sigh).

27. Grilled Ham & Cheese w/ a Fried Egg- A product of my cravings. Anything topped with a fried egg is good in my book.

28. Devil's Food Cake- I originally rated this as a 9.5, but the next day when the flavors had a chance to develop, this turned into a 10! Chocolate, cinnamon, brown sugar, heavenly.

29. Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits- Of all the biscuits I've ever made, these had a perfect texture, they held together, were moist, fluffy and buttery. Everything a perfect biscuit should be.

30. Rosemary Flatbread- The flatbread recipe, minus the toppings was delicious. I liked the combination of the blue cheese, grapes and honey, but I thought the flatbread was perfect and could be dressed up in so many different ways.

What are some of your favorites?

16 comments:

  1. Monica- Thank you Thank you for this list!! I am so going to try quite a few. I Love you for posting this.

    One of my favorites on my blog is Toasted Pecan Baby Cakes. Also the Czech pastries. One more would be the grilled flank steak with basil butter:)

    I am off to decide which few to try.

    XXXXOOOO thank you again.

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  2. Also, my carrot cake sandwich cookies is another fav of mine on my blog... I just knew that baileys cake would be in your list.

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  3. ALL of those recipes sound great! I don't know where to start. Great post and thanks for listing them. What a great idea!

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  4. Monica I want to live and eat at your house. They ALL look amazing and a few of them I know first hand are DE-LISH!

    I finally found a shot bottle of brandy to make the romanoff! That's on the dessert menu this week.

    I need some of those capp chips to try that cake. Your photo on the sidebar keeps taunting me.

    Btw, I can't believe you left off the graham cracker toffee! Oh, and the little s'mores sticks were pretty good.

    Um, I'll shut up now!
    ~ingrid

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  5. Yum! So many tasty treats. I have to agree with your brother, that tart sounds really amazing, it's beautiful too!

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  6. I am so impressed!! And jealous that I can't take a decent picture.
    Your list makes me want to try them all!!

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  7. I'm positively drooling reading your list! I'm definately coming back to the list at a later date to find the recipes to make - wonderful!
    5 Recipes off the top of my head that I adore (that are on my blog)
    Spanikopita
    Thai Stir Fry
    Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
    Puffed Pancake
    Guacamole

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  8. Wow.... every single one looks beyond amazing but I really want to try that fruit tart! It looks so delicious!

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  9. That's quite drool-inducing list. I especially love the look of the ganache cupcakes. I've never tried ganache, maybe I should give it a whirl :)

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  10. Thanks for the list! I also love the asparagus tart :)

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  11. What a great day to have stumbled upon your blog! It's now in my favorites as I'm going to make just about everything on your list! I just don't know where to start! Can't wait to see more!

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  12. What a list! I don't know where to start...

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  13. What a fabulous top 30, Monica. All of these recipes had my mouth watering. Your blog is full of so many wonderful goodies!!

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  14. omg omg omg... all these looks yummy... definitely gonna try them all.... thanks for sharing...

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  15. What an amazing post. I will have to try some of these. Terrific photos, you are an incredible food blogger.

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Thank you for your supportive comments. I appreciate each and every one of them!