By: Vickie Davis

Happy Fall you all! Love, love, love this weather! I like the leaves turning colors and falling, the smells in the air and the crisp weather in the mornings. Fall and Winter are my favorite times of year!
I finally got my house decorated inside and outside. As I sit and type this article, the smell of chili cooking is wafting through the house. And I also baked a peach cake that will taste good after eating the chili.
My garden is all finished for the year except for the turnips we planted. And I hope that they are good and crisp when I am ready to eat! I love them raw the best or fried like potatoes.
This month’s recipes are a hodge podge of recipes. The first recipe is called “Are You Kidding” Cake. I made a peach cake and even added some glaze to it. It was good eating after our chili. And there are only three ingredients in the recipe
The Pull-Apart Salad Bread is very easy to make and is very tasty! And you use biscuits as the base. This recipe was featured on Mr. Food on WTAP at noon and it was delicious.
The No Boil /Chicken Bacon Ranch Pastas Dump is really good and very easy to make. No cooking the pasta just put in your pan and continue layering.
The Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad is totally different than what I have previously eaten. Most chicken salads use pineapple, cranberries and grapes but this recipe uses mandarin oranges. This recipe is delicious and a must try!
The last recipe is for Circus Peanut Jello Salad. When I was growing up, we loved the orange flavored Circus Peanut candies. I always enjoyed the yellow, white, and pink colored ones also!
This is a great dessert to make for Halloween or for the holidays coming up. And everyone will enjoy them!
My little ditty I leave you with this month is: “Life is like a piano. White keys are happy moments, and the black ones are sad moments. Both keys are played together to give us the sweet music called LIFE!!! See ya’ll next month!
“Are You Kidding Cake”
3 large eggs
1 box cake mix, any flavor
1 can pie filling, any flavor
Put the three ingredients into a bowl, mix them well and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees in a 13×9 pan sprayed with Pam.
It’s got a pudding-cake kind consistency, lighter than a pound cake. It’s spotted on the inside with little pieces of whatever fruit filling you are using. The edges are crispy, like you would get on brownies.
I added a powdered glaze, or I think a brown sugar glaze would be delicious!
I used white cake mix with peach filling. Add a little cinnamon to glaze!
Other options are :
Pineapple cake mix and blueberry filling.
Chocolate cake mix and cherry filling.
Yellow cake mix and cherry filling.
Yellow cake mix and blueberry filling.
Butter pecan cake mix and apple filling.
Yellow cake mix and apple filling.
Yellow cake mix and blackberry filling
Strawberry cake mix and blueberry filling.
Pull-Apart Salad Bread
2 – 16.3 ounce cans refrigerated flaky layer biscuits
1 stick butter, melted
1 – 1 ounce packet dry ranch dressing mix
½ cup chopped sundried tomatoes
½ cup sliced black olives
½ cup sliced scallions
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 cups mixed baby greens
½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
½ cup Ranch dressing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 10-inch bundt pan with cooking spray. Cut each biscuit into six pieces and place in a large bowl.
Pour butter over biscuits, sprinkle with ranch dressing mix, and gently toss until evenly coated.
Add sundried tomatoes, olives, scallions and cheese to biscuits and toss until well combined.
Place mixture evenly in bundt pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked in center.
Let cool 10 minutes and then invert onto a platter. Place greens around and in center of bread. Top with tomatoes and onion. Drizzle with ranch dressing and serve.
No Boil Chicken
Bacon Ranch Pasta Dump
1 – 16 ounce jar of Alfredo sauce
Or you can make homemade Alfredo sauce:
½ cup unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Pasta:
16 ounces rigatoni pasta – penne works well too
2 cups shredded chicken
1 ounce packet Ranch seasoning
6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
If making homemade Alfredo sauce in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the heavy cream, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add the parmesan cheese and stir to combine and melt the cheese.
Pasta:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. To a 13×9 baking dish, add the pasta, chicken, bacon and ranch seasoning. Top with the Alfredo sauce and the chicken broth and give it a stir. Top the baking dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Add the mozzarella cheese and stir well.
Cover with foil and let sit for a couple of minutes to let the cheese completely melt. Serve topped with fresh chopped parsley.
NOTES: Can use a rotisserie chicken already prepared to make this recipe super easy. This recipe is delicious with homemade or jarred Alfredo sauce. And, yes, you DO NOT cook pasta before putting together! It will cook while in oven.
Mandarin Orange
Chicken Salad
4 cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 – 15 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup slivered almonds
½ cup green onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and salt and pepper and mix until smooth and creamy.
Add the chicken, celery, mandarin oranges, almonds and green onions and gently stir to coat, taking care to not break up oranges.
Cover and chill for 4-6 hours. Serve and enjoy!
There are many ways to enjoy this chicken salad – eat it as is straight out of the bowl, toss a scoop on some chopped lettuce to get some extra greens in, spread it onto a light and flaky croissant…No matter how you go about it, it’s a seriously tasty version of chicken salad!
Circus Peanut Jell-O Salad
44 circus peanut candies, divided
1 cup boiling water
2 packages – 3 ounces each orange gelatin
2 cans – 8 ounces each crushed pineapple, undrained
1 carton – 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
Set aside 12 circus peanut candies for garnish.
With the remaining 32 candies, cut them into small pieces and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add ¼ cup boiling water and cover and microwave on high for 45 seconds; stir and then microwave 1 minute longer. Stir until smooth.
In a large bowl, dissolve orange gelatin in remaining ¾ cup boiling water. Stir in candy mixture and pineapple. Refrigerate until partially set.
Fold whipped topping into gelatin mixture. Then pour into a 13×9 baking dish lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Refrigerate until mixture is firm.
Cut into squares and top each square with a reserved circus peanut. Enjoy as it brings back memories of eating circus peanuts!