Shrimp Butter

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• One half cup butter, softened

Whip these together until smooth and creamy

Add:

• One clove of fresh garlic, finely chopped
• Two tablespoons finely minced onion
• One and a half tablespoons lemon juice

Stir again.

Fold in one can of crab meat (drained) and one can of tiny cooked shrimp (drained).

Refrigerate 2 hours or longer. Let stand to soften before serving.

Delicious served on crackers as an appetizer. For low carb eaters, put a dollop on top of a grilled steak or hamburger, or melt over cooked green beans.

Norwegian Coffee Cake

LAYER ONE

• One half cup margarine
• One cup flour
• 3 Tablespoons water

Mix above like pie crust – press in bottom of cookie sheet.

This will be very thick. If mixture sticks to hands, wash your hands with very warm water prior to pressing it into pan. Mixture sticks less with warm hands

LAYER TWO

Heat to boiling: One half cup margarine and one cup water

Add one cup flour and stir well. Add three eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Spread over first layer with spatula and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. It will puff up very unevenly as it bakes (this is expected). It will also collapse as it cools. This is also expected.

LAYER THREE

Frost after cooled with thin butter frosting

Ingredients for frosting:

• One half cup butter
• Powdered sugar
• Milk (scant amount)
• One half teaspoon vanilla

Mix to desired consistency (May add almond or lemon extract if desired)

Bacon Garlic Chicken

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic minced (I use a big one!)
• 8 slices bacon
• 8 small sprigs fresh thyme or one-fourth teaspoon powdered thyme
• 1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Lay two pieces of bacon to form an X and place a chicken breast on them. Wrap the bacon around the chicken. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. (Use a pan that can be placed in the oven). Place the chicken breasts in the pan and cook until the chicken and bacon are browned. Turn and brown the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan. Drain off the oil. In the pan pour the cream, bouillon, thyme and garlic. Bring to a boil, add the chicken and place the pan in the oven. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until the cream has thickened. Remove and let rest a few minutes before serving.

You really need to use a fresh garlic clove, not powdered or pre-chopped in a jar – it makes such a difference in the flavor! And if I weren’t on Atkins I would serve this dish with a big serving of mashed potatoes. As it is, I serve it with broccoli and a salad, and I have to content myself with dipping the chicken in the delicious, cream sauce.

Frozen Citrus Pie

• 6 ounces frozen concentrate (lemonade, orange juice or orange pineapple)
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 8 ounces Cool Whip

In large mixing bowl, use mixer to beat the concentrate for 30 seconds.

Working quickly so it doesn’t melt too much, beat in softened ice cream until mixed. Fold in Cool Whip.

Spoon mixture into a ready-made graham cracker pie crust. Freeze.

Chocolate Mousse Angel Pie

Meringue Shell:

• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• One-fourth teaspoon cream of tartar
• Dash salt
• Three-fourths cup sugar
• One-half teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

• One cup (6 ounce package) semisweet chocolate chips
• One-fourth cup water
• One-fourth teaspoon almond extract
• One and one-half cups whipping cream, whipped
• Sliced almonds, toasted

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Generously butter nine inch pie pan. In small bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar and salt. Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla, beat well.

With metal spatula, spread meringue in bottom and up sides of buttered pan, building up sides as high as possible. Bake at 275 degrees for one hour. Turn oven off and let stand in oven with door ajar for one hour. Remove meringue shell from oven.

In small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and water. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Cool 30 minutes.

Fold chocolate mixture into two cups of the whipped cream. Spread filling in cooled meringue shell. Store in refrigerator. When ready to serve, garnish with remaining whipped cream and toasted sliced almonds.

To toast almonds, spread on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Pie serves 8