Potluck Success...

Yesterday we had our "fall holiday" (seriously? Must we be so politically correct ALL the time?) potluck at work for lunch.

First off - thank you to all my participating co-workers...it was FAB!

Second, i'm sharing the two recipes that I used...because once people realized that my crockpot was NOT full of lil' smokies...it was a constant chorus of "hey - who made the carrots?" - carrots...who knew?

Marmalade-glazed Carrots 

- shared by Barb Rudyk on All Recipes 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds baby carrots
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 3 tablespoons cold water, divided
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

• In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the carrots, marmalade, 1 tablespoon water, brown sugar, butter and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until carrots are tender.
• Combine cornstarch and remaining water until smooth; stir into carrot mixture. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened. Serve with a slotted spoon.

and because I really can't go anywhere without making dessert...

Cranberry Ice Cream Pie 

- shared with Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious Magazine by Geordyth Sullivan

Ingredients

• Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
• 3/4 cup cold 2% milk
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 can (14 ounces) jellied cranberry sauce, cut into slices
• 2 cups whipped topping
• Red food coloring, optional

Directions

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5-7 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in ice cream. Arrange half of the cranberry slices in the crust. Spread with half of the ice cream mixture; repeat layers.
• Cover and freeze for at least 2 hours or until firm. In a small bowl, tint whipped topping with red food coloring if desired. Just before serving, spread over pie. Yield: 8 servings.

This one I altered just a bit - I don't like pie crust. I just put it in a store bought graham cracker crust. I used skim milk because that's what we buy here at the Paisley Cottage and I wasn't going to run out and buy milk just to make this. I also used Sugar Free pudding and Breyer's Vanilla Bean ice cream (because it's my favorite vanilla). I didn't put whipped topping on it, however I did bring a can of Redi Whip.

 This one is a keeper. Not too sweet and you can prep it about 10 minutes (aside from letting the ice cream soften up a little).  I will also increase the milk just a touch next time as my pudding stayed lumpy - needed a bit more liquid added to it, but I don't normally change recipes the first time I make them so I stuck with the list amount figuring if anything it would be a little runny since skim milk is more watery. Nope...it tasted fine, I just didn't like the yellowish pudding lumps in the ice cream - for appearance sake. Like I said - it was GONE in a flash...