Favorite Dishes to Make for Company?

I made this awesome berry trifle for a group of girlfriends and it was a huge hit! You're family will love it! Here is the recipe. Just one note, I replaced the whipped topping with homeade whipped cream. Just take whipping cream, a little vanilla and sugar (as much or as little as you like to taste) and whip!

1 (18.25 ounce ) White Cake Mix
1 -1/4 cups water
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil*
4 egg whites
1 (12 ounce) jar Strawberry Preserves
8 coconut macaroons, crumbled, divided (2 cups)
3 cups mixed fresh berries ( I used strawberries, blueberries, rasberries and blackberries)
1 (6 serving size) box instant vanilla pudding, prepared according to package directions (3 cups prepared)
8 oz frozen whipped topping
1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted, if desired
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Spray two 8-inch round baking pans with Crisco No Stick Cooking Spray.
In the bowl of an electric mixer combine cake mix, water, oil, and egg whites; beat on low speed for 1 minute; beat on medium speed 2 minutes more, scraping bowl occasionally, (or beat 2 minutes by hand, using a wire whisk).
Pour into prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Run knife around side of pan before removing. Cool completely on wire rack.
Cut cooled cakes horizontally in half. Spread each lower half with half of the preserves; replace top.
Cut one of filled cakes into bite-sized pieces and place randomly into bottom of 14-cup trifle or glass bowl.
Reserve 2 tablespoons of macaroons; sprinkle with half of the macaroons.
Spread half of the pudding over macaroons. Top with half of the berries and whipped cream.
Repeat layers: remaining cake, macaroons, pudding, whipped cream, and garnish with berries and 2 tablespoons of remaining macaroons. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

OK, Here is a recipe for Shrimp Creole that is SOOO good and SOOO easy! It is a very impressive dish, but everyone thinks it takes so much time!

This is an easy dish to double, so you can make as much as you want!

1 lb peeled & deveined raw shrimp (I buy the frozen bag and thaw it out and drain in a colander)
1 can mild rotel
1/2 can tomato paste
1 can golden mushroom soup OR cream of mushroom soup undiluted
1 white onion
1 green pepper
1/2 bunch of celery

Chop of onion, pepper, celery into 1 inch or so chunks and saute in pan with about 2 Tbs butter until cooked through but not soggy.

Add rotel, tomato paste, and soup (no water) and mix into the pan and heat up for a few minutes.

Add raw DRAINED shrimp and mix through.

Cook until shrimp turn pink.

Serve over white rice! I also get some creole seasoning so that people can spice it up more if they would like! This is a dish that tastes just as good leftover, so you can make it ahead of time, throw it in a pot to heat up and you are ready to go! Freezes well too...

Serve it along with a salad and you are good to go!

One thing that my mom always has on hand when company come in town is a coffee cake and some fruit...that is an easy breakfast and can be prepared ahead of time. I live in McKinney and Market Street has the BEST fruit trays EVER! You order a small fruit tray from catering ($25) and it is huge and is with all of the inseason fresh fruit.

French Coffee Cake
Cream together:
2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sofened margarine.

Add to that:
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 cups of sour cream
2 cups flour
2 t vanilla

TOPPING:
In a seperate small bowl, mix together 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 t cinnamon, and 4 t sugar.

Spray bundt pan with Pam. Pour 1/3 of nut topping into pan and then 1/2 of the batter, then another 1/3 topping. Add remaining batter and the rest of the topping.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to one hour. SOOO GOOD!!!

Have fun!

My family is really big on mexican food. This enchilada recipe is so easy and so yummy!!

8 enchilada/burrito size tortillas
2 1/2 C shredded/chopped chicken breast (i usually use 3 medium chicken breasts)
1 box cream cheese
1/2 jar of salsa
6 oz chopped spinach
bag of mexican style shredded cheese
can of enchilada sauce (if you get the green chili kind, it makes it spicier. When i made a double recipe, i combined red and green)

Heat oven to 350º lightly greese 9X13 pan.
Cook chicken breast until just pink in center (dont over cook)
Heat cream cheese until very soft. Add spinach and salsa. Mix
Chopped or shred chicken and add to cream cheese mixture.
Add 2 tablespoons of mixture to tortilla and roll. Place in pan. One pan usually holds 4-5 tortillas. SPrinkle cheese on top
Place in oven for 20 min or so. Until cheese is melted and tortillas ends are crispy.
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An easy egg pie or fritatta (sp?) are yummy. Just add scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, onions, spinach, (omlet fixings) to a round baking dish. Put in oven for 45 min at 350º or until egg is cooked through.

I made up Quiche Lorraine and it was so easy for a breakfast
9 inch pastry Pie crust
12 slices of bacon( crispy fried and crunpled)about 1/2 pound
1 c Shedded natural Swiss Cheese( 4 oz)
1/3 C minced onion
4 eggs
2C whipping cream of light cream(20%)
3/4 t salt
1/4 t sugar
1/8 t sugar
1/8 t cayenne red pepper
Heat oven to 425 Prepare pastry. Sprinkle bacon, cheese,and onion in pastry lined pie pan.
Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingred. Pour cream mixutre into pie pan. Bake 15 min.
Reduce oven temp to 300 and bake 30 min longeror until knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean.
Let stand 10 min before cutting. Serve in wedges.

I then would serve a bunch of fruit mixed and toast, coffee or orange juice or both.

I loved doing this because you can make up the pies ahead and they are different. You can use ground sausage browned too.
Have a great time. G. W

There is a dish that I have been wanting to try but honestly haven't had a chance yet but it looks and sounds delicious. It is from a recipe book for digestive health so you might want to substitute the 2 c. of lactose free milk for regular milk.
Baked French Toast With Berries
1- 8 oz. loaf of french bread cut into 3/4 inch slices
4 slightly beaten eggs
2 c.of lactose free milk
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tblsp.vanilla
2/3 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. butter
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 c. sliced strawberries
Frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed (optinal)
1. Lightly grease a 3 qt. rectangular baking dish. Araange bread slices in dish
2. In a large bowl stir together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla
Slowly pour over bread. Press lightly with the back of a large spoon to moisten bread. Cover and chill in fridge for 8 to 24 hours
3. Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until pieces are the size of small peas. Cover, chill in fridge for up to 24 hours. Before baking, sprinkle bluberries over bread and sprinkle flour mixture over berries. Bake uncovered at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted off center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes, top with strawberries and whipped topping.

Hi N.! I have a lot of really good pampered chef recipes that I can send to you if you would like. I can even come and do a demo for you to show you how to make them. Please let me know and I'd be happy to send them to you.
T. Countryman
____@____.com
www.pamperedchef.biz/tcountryman

http://mamasource.com/request/9931117256509489153

Mine is at the very bottom, but they all look great.