Sharing a few of the birthday girl's food favorites

Our daughter, Lexie, celebrated her 18th birthday this week. As a senior in high school, she keeps very busy with after-school activities and spending time with friends. She has a very strong love for music and theater, with quite a bit of art thrown in the mix. We are so proud of the beautiful, mature and responsible young lady she has become.

In addition to all of her other interests, she loves food! Lexie is adventurous in trying cuisine from around the world, but sometimes she just needs some good home-cooked comfort food. I casually asked her quickly, off the top of her head, to tell me what came to mind as foods she really likes, and these are what she came up with.

Ranch Chicken

• 1 cup cornflake crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup bottled ranch salad dressing
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed and patted dry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a sheet tray or line with parchment paper. Combine crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a shallow container, such as a pie plate. Stir together until well combined.

Cut thawed and dry chicken breasts into large chunks or strips to make fingers. Pour bottled ranch dressing into a bowl. Toss chicken into the dressing then into the dry crumb mixture. Place chicken on baking sheet. Discard any unused dressing. You may choose to sprinkle any remaining crumb mixture over the tops of the trayed-up chicken before baking. Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until done, depending on the size of the pieces. You may serve with additional fresh-from-the-bottle ranch dressing for dipping.

Note: I usually add a generous sprinkling of dry ranch salad dressing mix into the dry ingredients for that little added boost of garlic ranch flavor.

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Grits

• 3/4 cup instant grits
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus wedges for serving
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, covered. Uncover and slowly whisk in the grits, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan and 1 tablespoon butter. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic and cayenne, if using, and cook, tossing, until the shrimp are pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons water, the lemon juice and parsley; stir to coat the shrimp with the sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Divide the grits among shallow bowls and top with the shrimp and sauce. Serve with lemon wedges. Yield: 4 servings.

Toll House Pound Cake

Lexie's Aunt Ann gave us this recipe many years ago, and we really like it. It is not overly sweet, as it has no icing or frosting and it freezes wonderfully. It is nice to have one on hand in the freezer for last-minute company or a carry-in dessert to a friend or relative.

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 (12 ounce) bag mini chocolate chips

Grease or spray and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat well. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream. Gradually blend in flour mixture and chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 90 minutes until just done. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes for inverting.

To freeze, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze until needed.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

This is a favorite Christmas-morning tradition. Lexie does not care much for the bread-on-the-bottom breakfast casseroles, so this has become her go-to breakfast casserole favorite.

• 1 pound shredded hash brown potatoes
• 1 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
• 1 box fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Fry bacon until crisp and remove from skillet. Drain off all but 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings. Add chopped onion and saute until just softened. Remove from skillet. To this same hot skillet, add the fresh sliced mushrooms and saute until browned.

Place hash browns in bottom of a sprayed 9x13-inch baking dish. Layer half of the cheeses, all of the crumbled bacon, mushrooms and onion. Beat eggs and milk together. Pour over the casserole. Top with remaining half of the cheeses. Store the casserole, covered, in refrigerator overnight. The next morning, bake, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour, shielding cheese on top if it is getting too brown.

Garbage Bag Snack Mix

Our dear friends Ray and Joan Haring gave this recipe to us many years ago. Lexie likes salty snacks and this is one she really loves to have around. It makes a large batch, so when I make it, there is always enough for bags to go to friends at school and after school snacks.

• 2 bags Bugles
• 1 can mixed nuts, or nuts of choice
• 2 boxes Cheez-Its snack crackers
• 1 bag pretzel sticks
• 1 bag oyster crackers
• 1 box wheat thin crackers
• Put in a very large container or clean unscented garbage bag. Gently shake or stir to mix up. Sprinkle over mix:
• 1 or 2 packets Hidden Valley dry Ranch dressing mix, to taste
• 2 teaspoons dill weed
• Garlic salt, to taste
• Pour over all:
• 1 bottle Orville Redenbacher's butter flavored popcorn oil

Shake well or stir gently to combine. Sprinkle with salt if needed. Store tightly covered.

You can easily change this up by adding what you like. Be creative and experiment. Try Gold Fish instead of Cheez-Its, or Triscuits in place of Wheat Thins, but it takes about the same amount of crackers and snacks listed to soak up the oil. We like lots of the Ranch dressing mix and sometimes add about *½ of a second package.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.