21/2 cups sugar

½ cup water

½ cup light corn syrup

¼ tsp. salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Garnish: toasted pecan halves

1. Cook first 4 ingredients in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves and a candy thermometer registers 248° (about 15 minutes). Remove syrup mixture from heat.

2. Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Pour half of hot syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating constantly at high speed, about 5 minutes.

3. Cook remaining half of syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer registers 272° (about 4 to 5 minutes). Slowly pour hot syrup and vanilla extract over egg white mixture, beating constantly at high speed until mixture holds its shape (about 6 to 8 minutes). Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans.

4. Drop mixture quickly by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased wax paper. Garnish, if desired. Cool.

Ingredients

Water: 1 quarts

Vinegar: 1-2 Tbsp

Eggs: 4

Equipment

Small cup

Plastic wrap

Cooking spray

Method: 

1. Using 2 quart pot (typical small pot) bring 1 quart of water and vinegar to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat to medium so the water is just barely simmering.

3. Line a small cup with a square of plastic wrap. 6×6″ will be more than enough. Press the plastic wrap into the indent of the bowl creating a little plastic wrap bowl. Spray with cooking spray then crack the egg into the plastic wrap.

4. Fold all of the corners together above the egg and twist it closed, tie together too to make a nice little egg sack.

5. Now carefully drop the egg packets into the water.

6. Cook for 4 minutes for a runny yolk, 4 1/2 for starting to set, and 5 minutes for fully cooked yolk.

7. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon.

8. Take the eggs out of the plastic and enjoy them!

Ingredients

6 cups Chex cereal

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1½ cups peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1½ cups butterscotch chips

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Butter a large bowl and measure out 6 cups of Chex cereal. Set aside. Butter a 9×13 dish and set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir together the corn syrup and sugar over medium heat. Once boiling, immediately remove from heat and stir in 1½ cups of peanut butter. Pour over the cereal and stir together until cereal is completely coated. Pour cereal mixture into the 9×13 dish and press with your hands to even out. It’s easier than using a spatula or wooden spoon.

Using a microwave safe dish or a double boiler, melt together chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, ½ cup of creamy peanut butter and vanilla. If microwaving, heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between to prevent the chocolate from burning.

Once smooth, spread over the cereal with a spatula.

Allow to cool completely at room temperature or place in the fridge.

Cut into squares and enjoy.

2 eggs 

2/3 cup milk 

25 Ritz crackers, crushed 

1/2 cup chopped onion 

4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

1 1/2 lbs ground beef 

1/2 cup ketchup 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 teaspoon mustard

1.Preheat oven to 350. 

2 Beat eggs. Add milk and crackers. Stir in onion and cheese. Add ground beef. Mix well. Shape into a loaf.I made mine in a 8x8 pan

3 Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until cooked thru. 

4 Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard to make topping. Spoon half of the topping over the meatloaf after 30 mins of baking. Return loaf to oven for 10 more mins of baking. Spoon the rest of the topping over meatloaf, return to oven and bake for 5-10 mins more.

* I really liked the sauce on this meatloaf it was like a sweet bbq. My husband was not a fan so it all just depends on personal taste. I think that the only thing that I would do different it chop up my onions smaller. They didnt cook all the way thru and were still crunchy

Coca-cola is the biggest brand in the history of brands and products and surveys have suggested that it is the most popular world after ‘hello’—now imagine that! If it is the second most popular word in the world then almost everyone in the world must have coca-cola on them almost at all times—this is a scary reality because it is a proven fact now that Coca-cola is absolutely bad for your body. The chemical cocktail that you drink for refreshment is practically killing your metabolism since its acidity level matches the acidity levels of the battery acid. 

This stomach lining killing poison is associated with diseases like, cardiac arrest, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc. and is especially bad for young children as it interferes with the balanced diet, rather than complementing it.

It is said that people who consume this fizzy poison inculcate dependence on caffeine and deficiency of important minerals like calcium, magnesium, and vitamin A. Don’t take us wrong, we still believe that Coca-cola is a very useful drink—although not for the body but there are many other fantastic uses for it that after knowing them you might start purchasing it all the more than before!

1- Bog Groomer: Cleaning the toilet is the most tedious of the tasks and let’s be honest, no one really wants to do it—no one but your friendly fizzy partner Coca-cola. All you have to do is pour the drink in the commode and wait for an hour before you scrub with a brush and flush—now you have got yourself a sparkling toilet!

2-Stubborn Stains—Thing of the Past!: If you don’t want to buy really expensive stain removers, take some of that Coca-cola and pour it in the wash along with the detergent. The stains will be removed and your clothes will be deodorized! All thanks to the carbonic and phosphoric acid inside the carbonated drink.

3-Window Cleaner: By now we know that Coca-cola has magic cleaning powers—one more thing that it can clean efficiently is window. Because of the presence of the citric acid in the drink, it makes a wonderful window cleaner and works the same way as citrus fruit based window cleaners work.

4-Bug Slayer: All kinds of bugs are big Coca-cola fans like us—they simply love the sweet fizzy wonder but without knowing that it can destroy them and they will be pushing up daises if they try to consume it. You can spray the drink on ant hills and cockroaches in your cupboards and get rid of them!

5- Color Fader: You can use the drink on your hair if you dyed your hair many shades darker than you wanted. Coca-cola is known for its quality of fading the color on hair; so the next time your hair gets dyed in a disastrous way, do not panic or run off to your expensive stylist but in fact open the refrigerator and grab that Coca-cola can and let it do the work!

6- Gum Remover: If a gum has been stuck to your hair and you think that the only way to get rid of it is to get an unwanted haircut then you do not have to worry anymore! Just pour some coke on the gum and let it sit for a few minutes, you will see that it becomes easier for you to pick that gum off your hair.

7- Pain Neutralizer: If you have been bitten by a bug, strung by a bee or a jellyfish then you do not have to panic in pain, just pour some of the dark fizzy drink on the affected area and your pain will be neutralized in seconds, thanks to the chemicals in Coca-cola.

8- Dish Washer: If your pots are all blackened, pour some of the wonder fizz into them and let it sit for a few minutes. The chemicals in the drink will fight the grime and loosen it, then you can easily scrub it out and your pots will again be clean and shiny!

9- Rust Fighter: If you want to get rid of the gross rust then dip that object into a mug full of fresh coke or if the object is too big then soak a cloth in coke and try to rub the rust out. The phosphoric acid in the drink will cause the corrosion process and the rust will loosen and can be easily taken off from the affected object.

10- Pesticide in the Fields: In India, some farmers use coca-cola instead of pesticides for pest termination, because it’s cheaper and the result is totally rewarding. It is said that the high sugar content of the drinks can make them efficient in fighting pests, which is of course denied by the company since they say that there is nothing in the drink that can be used as a pesticide. But the technique is an in-vogue trend in the Indian farming scenario

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened 

3 cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 + 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 cups strong coffee

3/4 cup buttermilk 

1. Grease bottoms of 3 (9-inch) round cake pans; line with parchment paper; set pans aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one a time, until well combined.  Whisk in 1/2 cup coffee until well combined.

3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt.

4.  Add the flour mixture and remaining coffee with buttermilk to the sugar-butter mixture, alternating between flour and coffee/buttermilk, mixing between the addition of each.  Begin and end with flour. (Batter will be thin.) Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. (Cake layers will appear thin.)

5. Cut off the top of bottom and middle layer to create a level cake.  Spread about 1/2 cup Chocolate Ganache between each cake layer; spread remaining Chocolate Ganache on sides of cake. (Do not frost top of cake.) Chill cake 30 minutes. Pour warm Praline Frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges. (Cover and let stand up to 24 hours, if desired.)

6. Pierce about 25 holes in top of cake using a wooden or metal skewer. Pour warm Bourbon Glaze over cake.

Chocolate Ganache:

2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate morsels 

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

1.  Over medium-low heat, using a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate chips in to the whipping cream.  Remove from heat and let thicken for 8-10 minutes.  Spread between the layers of the cake and around the outside.  Do not frost the top of the cake with the ganache.

Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons butter 

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Bake pecans on a baking sheet at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once.

2. Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring often, 1 minute.  Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add toasted pecans; stir gently 3 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly.

Bourbon Glaze:

4 tablespoons butter 

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup bourbon

1. Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.  Remove skillet from heat, and stir in bourbon.  Carefully ignite the fumes just above liquid mixture with a long match or long multipurpose lighter.  Let stand until flames disappear.

Ingredients:

2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350* degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes.

Kitchen Notes:

I have made this danish using low fat cream cheese and splenda (sugar substitute) and it was delicious! Also, the amount of filling the original recipe calls for makes a VERY heavily filled danish. I have halved the filling using 1 package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 whole egg, and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and it was still very good. If you use the half filling method, bake for closer to 30-35 minutes.