Autumn is in the Air

Autumn is in the air. How do I know? Well just check what I've been cooking lately. Yummy!

Just a note, the first time I make the recipe as close to the original as I can, then possibly tweak it more the next time.

I figured for the spaghetti, the next time I would use Rotel diced tomatoes and skip that salad dressing. I like spicy spaghetti.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/so-easy-spaghetti-bolognese-107305.aspx

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/easy-shepherds-pie-108691.aspx

For Deviled Eggs you have to eyeball it as Rachael Ray says on the amount of mayo and mustard. I just used this recipe only for the amount of Ranch dressing powder mix to use. I took them to Patti and Steve's NASCAR watching party yesterday. That ranch dressing powder mix really spiced them up in an oniony/garlicy way.
http://www.deviledegg.org/deviled-egg-recipes/ranch-deviled-eggs-1

For the Pretzel Kisses - the dark chocolate kisses were fabulous and I used the mini curvy pretzels. Those square ones are a little hard to find. I found some "butter snap" ones, but those just did not sound good. So I am still on the hunt. I put chopped peanuts or almonds on top instead of M&Ms. I think a sweetened cranraisin would be good on top, too.
http://kidscooking.about.com/od/cookies/r/pretzel_kisses_recipe.htm

Plus Friday I bought a thin pizza crust in the Walmart bakery area. Saturday night I kind of followed the recipe on the back. I mixed tomato paste and pesto sauce. I only had tomato paste because it was leftover from the spaghetti recipe, otherwise, I would have used just the pesto sauce. I smeared that mix on the crust. Next I grated 1/2 cup of Farmer's cheese, it's a good low-fat white cheese. Spread that across the top. Sliced black olives were the topper. Baked it and it turned out quite tasty. Just wish that pizza crust was whole grain.

Patti made this Sunday. She excluded the wieners, onions, and romaine lettuce. It sure was good with those homemade grilled burgers!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/chicago-dog-salad-recipe/index.html