Easter Recipes

These are some of the recipes that I served during our Easter dinner.

Strawberry Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cornstarch
1 package straberry flavored gelatin, 4 serving size
2 cups water
4 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 9-inch pie shells, baked and cooled

Cook sugar, cornstarch, gelatin and water until thick; cool. Place berries in the pie shells. Pour gelatin over fruit. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Serve with whipped cream or whipped topping.

****Warning: Do not overfill these pie crusts. You could wind up with super-sticky gel all over your kitchen. Trust me, I know.
****Warning: Do not get distracted and let the gelatin mixture boil over. It will burn and smoke, stink and cause your smoke alarm to go off. If it does boil over, clean it up before it cools without burning all of the flesh off or your fingers or it will ruin your smooth top range. Trust me, I know.

Stuffed Mushrooms

24 ounces White Button Mushrooms
Stems from 24 ounces of White Button Mushrooms, finely diced
1/2 pound Hot Pork Sausage
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown and crumble sausage. Set it aside to cool. In same pan, saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes or until tender and slightly brown. Pour in liquid to deglaze pan, scraping delicious bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook until liquid has evaporated. Add in chopped mushroom stems and cook for a couple of minutes. (I actually just add the mushroom stems to the onions and garlic and cook at the same time.) Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese and egg. Stir in Parmesan. Add cooled sausage mixture and cooled vegetables. Stir together and refrigerate until firm.

Fill the cavity of each mushroom. Don't mound filling up too much as mushrooms will shrink when baked.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

****These mushrooms are fantastic and can be made ahead of time. Just fill then refrigerate until needed. Bake right before serving.

Sweet and Smokey Bacon-Wrapped Sausages

2 packages L'il Smokies cocktail sausages
1 lb. package bacon, brown sugar or maple cured is good for this recipe
Brown Sugar, at least a pound
Toothpicks.

Cut bacon in to half, then half again so that each strip is now cut into quarters. Wrap each sausage in bacon, securing with a toothpick. Arrange wrapped sausages in baking dish or slow cooker. Cover with brown sugar, using enough brown sugar that sausages are thoroughly covered. If it's necessary to layer sausages, cover first layer with sugar then add additional layer of sausages. Bake or cook in slow cooker until bacon is completely cooked, in this instance, the crispier the better. These suckers are super hot, the brown sugar and bacon fat make a delicious sauce but they will burn you unless you let them cool just a little. Serve warm although they are delicious at any temperature.