The Nesting Project

Sausage, Mushroom Potato Soup

2011-10-24T21:54:00.001-04:00

I'm not going to lie - it's been a while.

Sometimes I'm the victim of my own positive thinking. When I found out I was pregnant I subliminally decided that I wouldn't have morning sickness. I would eat healthy and every few hours so my blood sugar wouldn't dip. I would drink my 60 oz. of water that was recommended and I would continue to my workout regimen.

Then week 7 came along and I was suddenly sicker than I ever remember in my worst flu moment. Nothing I did helped. Working out was a distant memory and I could tell my husband started to get an exasperated look in his eyes when I couldn't cook (how much longer do we have to live like this?!) Eating healthy was a sad joke as my body rejected anything green and tortured me if I even tried.

It wasn't until I saw week 13 that I started to see the light of day and my husband felt like the darkness had disappeared. Working out has become normal again but a slight change has actually happened for the better - I now work out at lunch because I get too tired by the end of the day which means I have more time to cook when I get home. Which is good until the baby comes and when that happens, who knows?

Today I got home late so I was looking for an easier option and I remembered my mother-in-law mentioned something when I offered to send her home with leftover mashed potatoes from my husbands birthday dinner - "Just make potato soup with it." I've never made potato soup at all which is odd since I'm such a fan of my mashed potatoes and soup. So I fried up some chopped onions, chopped shitake mushrooms and Italian sausage. I then added the leftover mashed potatoes (4 cups worth) and thinned it out with chicken stock. It ended up making a creamy yet hearty soup perfect for fall and it took only about 20 minutes.

Sausage, Potato and Mushroom Soup

2 Italian Sausage links

1 pint Shitake mushrooms

1/2 medium onion chopped

4-5 cups leftover mashed potatoes

32 oz chicken stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese

In a Dutch oven or small stockpot, remove the casings of the sausage and fry up with the chopped onion and chopped Shitake mushrooms. Add the mashed potatoes and incorporate together in the pot until the potatoes get warm and start to melt a little. Then add the stock and bring to a boil. If you had heavy cream in your original mashed potato recipe you'll see it start to make the soup creamy. Reduce to medium and let reduce a little. Add the cheese and serve with some crusty bread. (feel free to omit the sausage and mushrooms if you want)

Fig Stuffed French Toast

2011-08-17T21:42:00.001-04:00

These days just being able to get the strength to get food in my mouth feels like a great feat. Then there are days when I feel like my old self and I jump out of bed on a Saturday morning and feel like I need to take advantage of any small bit of energy I feel.

Recently I went to Mississippi on business and had the chance to see my family. My cousin correctly pointed out how alike I was to them. I love cooking, baking, preserving and canning things along with new newer love of knitting and embroidery. Some of these things I remember learning during my summers and Thanksgiving visits to see them as a child. My aunt, the pie baker of the family, was on her way to see me and called to ask if I wanted some of her fig preserves...

Uh YES, Yes I do...

So when I got home with these beloved jars I made sure that I would put them to good use. I had some delicious dense multi-grain bread that I thought would be the perfect ingredient for stuffed French Toast. So I took a couple of pieces of the bread and spread some cream cheese in the middle and topped it with the delicious fig preserves. I dipped the "sandwich" into an egg batter and fried it up. A great weekend breakfast to use up some badly needed energy.

Wordless Wednesday: or why it's been a month since I've posted

2011-08-10T10:12:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Chicken Salad with Dried Cherries and Blue Cheese Crumbles

2011-07-21T21:52:00.000-04:00

My husband was in a Woody Allen type of mood the other day.

He went into a long winded rant on how he wasn't getting enough servings of vegetables and fruit in his diet. Who knows where that came from since I can intimately describe the look of disgust every time I put anything green on his plate (i.e. spinach, broccoli, etc...) So I took the "hint" and decided to plan for some salads for dinners.

First I went through the dried fruit and nut aisle at Whole Foods and pulled pecans, roasted pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. Then I got blue cheese crumbles, provolone and aged gouda for some different cheese options.

So the salad idea in my head was a salad with dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, blue cheese and chicken. I guess it would have been much healthier if I had grilled the chicken but my grill died a while ago. So I pounded it out to about 1/2 inch and then breaded in with some Italian Bread Crumbs and fried it in some olive oil. The great part was that we shared one chicken breast so it wasn't that horrible.

I topped it off by making a red wine and mustard vinaigrette in a mason jar and just shaking it up to finish it off. I really did forget how fun it was to make different salads. And now my husband can concentrate on making better lunch choices.

2 bags mixed salad

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1 chicken breast - pounded out to about 1/2 inch

1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1 egg

2 tsp olive oil

Take the chicken breast and dredge it in the beaten egg and then into the bread crumbs. Repeat. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken breast and cook about 4 minutes on each side until cooked through. Meanwhile divide the salad, pumpkin seeds, blue cheese crumbles, and cherries. Slice the chicken and add it on top.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp sugar

salt and peper to taste

Add all ingredients into a mason jar. Place the cover on top and tighten. Shake it up until emulsified and add to your salad.

Ricotta Pesto filled Omelets

2011-07-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like a comforting breakfast after being away on business.

Right now having a cup of coffee in my own house sounds like domestic bliss. So as I sit longer in my pajamas than is probably acceptable I do muster up enough energy to make an easy omelet with a delicious filling. There is something about pesto that just screams summer to me - even though I feel it's passing me by.

Making an omelet is necessary in your repertoire. You can take the same technique and add different fillings each time to make a completely different breakfast.

Did I say it was also fairy easy? Good thing since I fully plan to get back to my position on the couch. Have a great weekend!

Omelets with Ricotta Pesto Filling

4 eggs
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and ground white pepper, to taste
1/4 cup whole milk Ricotta
3 tbsp pesto

Crack the eggs into a glass mixing bowl and beat them until they turn a pale yellow color. (you're trying to beat as much air as possible into the eggs).

Heat a heavy-bottomed nonstick sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil.

Season the eggs to taste with salt and white pepper.

In a separate bowl mix together the pesto and ricotta cheese and season with a little salt to taste.

When the oil in the pan is hot enough to make a drop of water hiss, pour in the eggs. Let the eggs cook for up to a minute or until the bottom starts to set.

With a spatula, gently push one edge of the egg into the center of the pan, while tilting the pan to allow the still liquid egg to flow in underneath. Repeat with the other edges, until there's no liquid left.

Your eggs should now resemble a pancake, which should easily slide around the surface of the pan. If it sticks at all, loosen it with your spatula.

Now gently flip the egg pancake over, using your spatula to ease it over if necessary. Cook for another few seconds, or until there is no uncooked egg left.

Add the ricotta pesto filling across the center of the egg in straight line.

Lift half of the omelet and fold it across and over, so that the edges line up. Cook for another minute or so.

Stone Fruit Pie

2011-07-13T13:09:00.000-04:00

There is so much amazing fruit in the summer it's hard to choose.

Last year I discovered my new love of plums which I avoided in my childhood and since my days in the south I have developed an intense love of peach pie. So while I perused the fruit section of whole foods I came across a great selection of peaches, nectarines and plums.

Too difficult to choose.

So I resolved myself to come up with a pie recipe that used all three and came up with Stone Fruit Pie.

This comforting dessert that has a delicious fruit filling could only be made better by a thick buttery crust - so of course I used my go to pie crust recipe - Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee recipe.

The only problem I now have is what to do with the rest of the fruit I purchased... Decisions, Decisions....

Stone Fruit Pie

5 Plums Sliced

5 Peaches Sliced

5 Nectarines sliced

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 large egg beaten

1 recipe Pate Brisee

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Follow the directions to the Pate Brisee recipe and chill thoroughly. Roll 1/2 of pie dough out into 10 inch Pie Plate. In a separate bowl combine the fruit, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch and mix until combined and cornstarch is incorporated. Pour into the pie shell. Roll out the other half of the pie crust and put it on top. (I used a cookie cutter to decoratively cut out a hole in the center) Beat the egg and use a pastry brush to apply to the top of the pie. Put in oven for 40 minutes. Increase to 400 degrees and let bake for about 10 to 15 minutes more. (filling should be bubbling)

Take out and let cool to room temperature.

July 4th Breakfast Sundae

2011-07-04T14:03:00.002-04:00

It's so nice to have a holiday that allows me the luxury of spending time in the kitchen. I have lists of ideas that have been waiting to be tried and tested. There was but one that was perfect for the holiday. So in between my re-watching of John Adams on Independence Day I wandered into my kitchen to dust the cobwebs off my love of cooking.

There is something incredibly decadent about a sundae for breakfast but it doesn't have to be. I've many times had yogurt and fruit as an appetizer for breakfast. So why not have frozen yogurt? The best part is you can find vanilla Greek yogurt in the grocery that's ready to add to your ice cream maker - as is. Then all you have to do is follow the directions to freeze on your ice cream maker.

After that it comes to decorating your sundae with the fruit of our choice. Mine included raspberries and blueberries perfect for the holiday. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday honoring this wonderful nation. At least it got off to a great start.

Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles

2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 pint blueberries
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt
2 cups buttermilk
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in buttermilk, then 6 tablespoons melted butter and add the blueberries. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Brush waffle iron grids lightly on both sides with some of remaining melted butter. Pour 1/2 cup (or more) waffle batter (depending on size of waffle iron grid) over each grid. Close waffle iron and cook until waffles are crisp and golden on both sides. Transfer waffles to rack set over baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat cooking with remaining batter, brushing waffle iron with melted butter between batches as needed.

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

2011-06-13T07:31:00.000-04:00

Very few times does my domestic life cross over to my career life. But lately I've tried to erase that line in the sand in order to welcome a new employee to our department. Starting a new job is stressful especially when you're moving from a new city. So I wanted to make our new coworker feel welcome. I had not really ever brought baked goods to work except for one other time in the five years I had worked there. So I decided to make some cupcakes inspired from his former state and my hometown state of Florida.

There are a lot of differences between Florida and Tennessee. One of them is the weather. Most people who live here think the summers are humid. Coming from South Florida both he and I would disagree on this fact. In the summer in South Florida you almost have to take a shower after you check the mail.

That, my friend, is humid.

So in honor of Florida I decided to make an orange creamsicle flavored cupcake. I used my favorite recipe from Nigella the delicious and easy Fairycake recipe from her "How to be a Domestic Goddess" cookbook. Then I added orange flavoring to the icing and the cupcake batter. Top it off with a candied orange slice and we are good to go.

Consider yourself welcomed.

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
7 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-rising flour
2 teaspoon orange flavoring
(May use 1/2 teaspoon almond extract instead of the suggested 1 tsp.vanilla extract.)

2-3 Tablespoons milk

Directions :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (I bake them at 375* F)Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking paper cups. Put all the ingredients except for the milk into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel to make for a soft consistency. (I use the full 3 Tablespoons)It doesn't seem like enough batter, but it will all work out, scrape every bit from the bowl and try to fill each cup equally.Bake for 15-20 or until they are golden on top. (These are perfectly baked in 14 to 15 minutes @ 375* in my oven) It's best to start checking them at 12 minutes.

Orange Cream Cheese Icing

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter softened

8 oz softened Cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp orange flavoring

Combine the room temperature butter and cream cheese together in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Slowly add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time and add the orange flavoring at the end. For the easiest results put the icing in piping bag with the tip of your choice and pipe onto cupcakes.

Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles

2011-06-12T13:05:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the security of my comfortable couch.

It's been quite a busy and hectic week and I'm glad that I survived it. As I recoup and start to feel normal again, I wanted you to know that I did get up enough energy to make an equally comforting breakfast for my husband to celebrate the beginning of his new job. Another take on my egg-less buttermilk waffle recipe. This time I decided to add some cinnamon and a pint of blueberries. The hot syrup blueberries ooze out when you take your first bite of these. Perfect to eat in your pajamas in the midst of relaxing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles

2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 pint blueberries
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt
2 cups buttermilk
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

Parmigiano Rosemary Omelet

2011-06-04T10:11:00.002-04:00

There is no doubt that this year my career girl side has taken over my domestic girl side. But domestic girl has escaped for the time being so we've decided to do another blog post which is something we truly love to do. Even when I'm super busy with work, I always make sure to make a big home cooked breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays.

It doesn't have to be complicated though.

On this particular day I decided to use some particularly nice Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and fresh rosemary from my garden. Then I used it as a filling for an omelet with some thick-cut bacon on the side. A delicious relaxed breakfast so my career girl side can come out to play.

Chocolate Cherry Waffles

2011-05-22T14:05:00.000-04:00

When you're a working girl you find that your culinary achievements get reduced to weekend breakfasts with a blur of quick and easy meals in between. Unfortunately even when you're a working girl with a domestic blog you still find that this will happen. The most important thing is to make those weekend breakfasts matter which is what I try to do. So I went to a place where people don't like to go (healthy people don't like to go) and that's having chocolate for breakfast.

Waffle irons are a great appliance that, even with my limited cabinet space, I decide to keep. You don't have to flip them and they let you know when they are done. The key to having chocolate waffles for breakfast is keeping the flavor profile as bittersweet - I don't use a lot of sugar and the addition of buttermilk gives it a tang that makes it all come together. My healthy addition was dried cherries. It all came together along with thick-cut bacon to make a great breakfast.

I adapted this from my previous no egg waffle recipe that I got from my Epicurious App. You mind as well have two recipes without eggs if you're going to have one.

Chocolate Cherry Waffles

1 1/2 cups of self-rising flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tbsp sugar

1 cup dried cherries

2 cups of buttermilk

9 tbsp melted butter

Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in buttermilk, cherries then 6 tablespoons melted butter. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Brush waffle iron grids lightly on both sides with some of remaining melted butter. Pour 1/2 cup (or more) waffle batter (depending on size of waffle iron grid) over each grid. Close waffle iron and cook until waffles are crisp and golden on both sides. Transfer waffles to rack set over baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat cooking with remaining batter, brushing waffle iron with melted butter between batches as needed.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-18T23:08:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Buttermilk Waffles With No Eggs

2011-05-07T14:32:00.000-04:00

Weekends during the Spring and Summer take on new meaning for me. My garden is in full swing and there are lot's of chores to do. There is fertilizing the roses, flowers and vegetables and there is always endless weeding waiting for me. This is my chore list IF we've had adequate rain or watering can always be added as well. So even though I love making breakfast on the weekends, it needs to be a little streamlined so I can get out and start on my chores.

I found this great recipe on my trusty Epicurious IPhone App. I chose it because invariably at one time you will be out of an ingredient for breakfast and you need a list of recipes that can compensate for that. This buttermilk waffle recipe has no eggs in it. The one thing that annoys me in certain waffle recipes is that you have to separate the eggs.

No way...

Now you don't even need the eggs and that is what makes this a great simple recipe. I of course substituted the flour and leavening agents with self-rising flour which makes it even easier.

2 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt
2 cups buttermilk
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in buttermilk, then 6 tablespoons melted butter. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Brush waffle iron grids lightly on both sides with some of remaining melted butter. Pour 1/2 cup (or more) waffle batter (depending on size of waffle iron grid) over each grid. Close waffle iron and cook until waffles are crisp and golden on both sides. Transfer waffles to rack set over baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat cooking with remaining batter, brushing waffle iron with melted butter between batches as needed.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2011-05-04T16:55:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty much an equal opportunity pancake lover and pancakes that can double as hash browns for breakfast are pretty much a double win for me. So there is nothing that pleases me more then to come into the kitchen on a Saturday morning, pick up a large sweet potato, my mandoline and then get to work. I've never really always gotten them perfect until I started experimenting with adding self-rising flour. The flour helps the process along and gives them a light quality along with the sweetness of the potato and the crunchy exterior.

Sweet potato pancakes are a great addition to eggs and bacon without having to add a cinnamon roll or doughnut to the plate. That's what I call another win.

Sweet Potato Pancakes for 2

1 large Sweet Potato Grated on a Mandoline or using a Cuisinart attachment

1 egg

1/4 cup self rising flour

1 tsp salt

Grate the potato into a bowl. Then add the egg and mix completely. Sprinkle the flour and mix. On medium high heat add 1 tbsp of olive oil and add a 1/4 cup scoop of the potato mixture. Fry for about 2-3 minutes and then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Raspberry Chocolate Pancakes

2011-04-24T15:35:00.000-04:00

This year Easter is also a homecoming for me. I've been on the road almost every week this past month. While my in-laws were nice enough to cover the preparation of Easter Dinner, I wanted to make a special breakfast for my husband who has been subsisting on his parents food and fried egg sandwiches. That probably felt a little foreign to him since I've gotten more advanced at cooking and baking.

I'm sure no one who reads this blog is surprised that I chose breakfast as my first meal. It's a meal that I excel at and have had a lot of practice at since my days working at a Bed and Breakfast Inn.

The reason for this idea came simply from my husband's many requests for chocolate chip pancakes. I'm not a fan of it - I always love adding fruit in pancakes. As I tried to plan out this meal, I realized that there is not rule that prevents you from adding both. So I decided to use the frozen raspberries and semi-sweet chocolate chips I had in my pantry.

This was a great start to getting back to the things I love: family, cooking and this blog.

Base Pancake Recipe

2 cups self rising flour

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 16 oz bag of frozen raspberries

Combine the flour and sugar. Then add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth. Take a medium frying pan and add 1 tbsp of oil. When the pan is heated and at the proper temperature add a cup of pancake batter. Sprinkle chocolate chips and raspberries on the top of the batter and push down so the batter puffs up and covers them. Flip and cook on the other side. Once the pancakes are all made take the rest of the raspberries and add 1/4 cup sugar. Place in a small frying pan on medium high heat and cook until slighlty reduced and syrupy. Pour on top of the pancakes and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T23:54:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Scrambled Eggs with Ricotta Cheese

2011-04-11T22:09:00.000-04:00

The most important thing to remember about cooking after you come home from traveling is to keep it simple.

Sometimes it's easier to keep it simple when you don't have ANYTHING in your refrigerator. You stand in front of the refrigerator and pray that there is a special ingredient hiding behind a jug of milk that you can use to dress up your simple ingredients (eggs and thick-cut bacon). Recently I struck it rich when I found a brand new pint of ricotta cheese in the refrigerator.

Score...

So after I scrambled 6 eggs I added a couple of tablespoons of ricotta cheese and gently folded it into the eggs. They were so creamy and delicious. The best part about them was the fact that I made them in my own kitchen. I am home - until my next trip.

Bacon Egg & Cheese on a Kaiser Roll

2011-04-08T14:04:00.000-04:00

I've been a huge fan of the Kaiser roll lately.

It all started with a new burger place in town. All of their gourmet burgers are on freshly baked Kaiser rolls. For me it seemed like the roll wouldn't be able to stand up to a burger patty with all the fixings. Not only did it stand up to it, but it soaked up all the burger juices too.

Delicious...

So, a week ago as I was making preparations to leave on a business trip, I made my husband a going away breakfast. Still remembering the ability to soak up the flavors, I decided to try it as a component to a breakfast sandwich. I'm a huge fan of runny eggs and paired with a Kaiser roll it soaked it up completely. Then I paired it with shaved aged gouda and thick-cut bacon. If you don't already use Kaiser rolls, I highly recommend adding them to your repertoire.

My husband asked for an extra sandwich to be made so he could eat it after I was gone. I doubt he missed me.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T12:23:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Bay Colony Dr,Naples,United States

Pound Cake Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

2011-03-24T09:56:00.001-04:00

There have been plenty of great reasons in my life to make cupcakes lately. There have been birthdays and new additions to my department at work. And since I'm trying to curb my calories a little they are also portion control.

While baking isn't new to me, decorating cakes and cupcakes still aren't my forte. So cupcakes make an easy intro into the cake decorating world. Lately I have to be amazed at the cake decorating section at Walmart. They've started to carry different sugar flowers that you can easily place on top of cupcakes or cakes and look like you know what you're doing. I don't but this is a great way to start.

So for my good friends birthday I decided to make a batch of cupcakes for her. I used a Martha Stewart pound cake recipe and just take a large cookie scoop and placed into cupcake pan with pretty cupcake liners. For the icing I used my own concoction of a mixture of cream cheese and butter to make a nice icing that is creamy and not to sugary. Cupcakes are the best intro into cake making.

Always start small.

Chocolate Icing

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup unsweeted cocoa
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp of milk

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a mixer and cream together until smooth. Add the cocoa and then 1 cup of the sugar. Add a couple of tbsp of milk and then continue to add the sugar and more of the milk. Finish with the vanilla. Make sure the mixture is incorporated completely and smooth. Put in a piping bag with a large tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Classic Pound cake

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture; beat until just combined.
Spoon batter into prepared pan, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until cake is golden and cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 10 to 15 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T21:52:00.001-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Homemade Grits, Cheese, and Onion Souffle's

2011-03-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

I was recently called out by a friend who said I haven't posted that much this week.

Busted.

In fact, sometimes I think I would have a great blog if I didn't work. But then I wouldn't have enough things to write about. So for now I'm trying to find a balance between work and home. Sound familiar? I thought so. So after a long work week, on Saturday mornings when I'm not prepared (lately I've rarely been prepared) on what I'm going to make for breakfast, I like to lie in bed a few extra minutes and peruse my Epicurious App for new breakfast ideas or recipes. I'll take one or the other.

This one was a recipe I bookmarked a long time ago and forgot about but the large bag of grits in my pantry reminded me it was time to try it out. The greatest part of this recipe? You have a full breakfast in a bowl. Just add the bacon (that your cooking in the oven because it's easier) on the side. You have the light fluffy egg and the texture of the grits and the melted cheese that make for a great all in one breakfast.

Now about those chores....

Grits, Cheese & Onion Souffles (Bon Appetit 2008)

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped leek
1 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup quick-cooking grits
4 large eggs, separated
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup (packed) grated hot pepper Monterey Jack cheese (about 4 ounces), divided

Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter four 1 1/4-cup soufflé dishes. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and leek; sauté 3 minutes. Mix in 1 1/4 cups whole milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then grits; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until thick, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk remaining 1/4 cup milk and yolks in small bowl to blend.

Remove grits from heat. Stir in yolk mixture, then green onions and 3/4 cup cheese. Beat whites in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold into grits in 3 additions. Divide mixture among prepared dishes (mixture will come all the way to top of dishes). Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake soufflés until puffed and brown on top, about 18 minutes. Serve immediately.

Whole Grain Buttermilk Pancakes

2011-03-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

The coming of spring has made me face a harsh reality - I've enjoyed eating and hibernating a little too much. So I've decided to dedicate a little of my blogging time to the gym.

Don't hate me.

So I've been on the hunt for some healthier recipes to get me back in fighting condition. When I first saw this recipe under the "healthy breakfast recipes" section of my Epicurious app I decided to give it a try. The best thing about these pancakes are the texture. It contains wheat flour, cornmeal , oats and buttermilk contributes to the fluffiness of the pancake.

You know what the second best thing is? Searching for recipes in bed before you get up on Saturday.

Whole Grain-Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (about) butter, melted
2 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
Pure maple syrup

Mix first 7 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter and molasses in large bowl to blend. Add dry ingredients; mix just until blended. Heat griddle or heavy large skillet over medium heat. Brush with butter. Working in batches, drop scant 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake. Cook until brown, about 3 minutes per side, brushing griddle with more butter as needed. Serve with syrup.

Cinnamon Nutella Gelato with Biscuits & Caramel Corn

2011-03-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Before all the choices of easy bake cinnamon rolls lined shelves, I remember when my parents used to take pre-made buttermilk biscuit dough, dip it in melted butter and then dredge through a cinnamon and sugar mixture and bake them. They were my favorite and we always got them on special holidays for breakfast like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The reason I came upon this dessert is I was craving these little cinnamon biscuits from my childhood and I was also trying to find a creative idea for a dessert on Oscar awards night. I broke out my Ciao Bella gelato cookbook and made some vanilla gelato and added 2 tsp of cinnamon. After that I made my favorite recipe for caramel corn. It's fast and easy.

Then I went to work.

Once the gelato was in the ice cream maker and almost finished freezing I decided to drizzle 5 tbsp of Nutella into it. Let's just say that everyone was quiet when they ate their dessert. The flakiness of the biscuits with the cinnamon Nutella gelato and the sweet and saltiness of the popcorn just made for a fun dessert with a small nod to my childhood.

Caramel Corn

8 cups popped popcorn

(I combine 1/3 cup kernels plus 1 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan - pop on med high heat until the kernels start popping quickly - gradually reduce heat slowly until kernels stop)

3/4 packed brown sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter

3 tbsp corn syrup

1/4 baking soda

Place popped popcorn in a greased large bowl. In saucepan melt butter and add corn syrup and brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat to boiling. About 4 minutes (thermometer will will register 255 degrees) Hard Ball stage. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in baking soda. It will bubble up and look light and fluffy. Pour over the popcorn and mix with a spatula.

Chicken Biscuit with Bacon, Egg & Cheese

2011-03-08T09:58:00.000-05:00

When I serve my husband biscuits for breakfast on the side with eggs and bacon he usually takes it upon himself to split it open and put all the ingredients on the plate between the two sides of the biscuit.

So last Saturday I decided to do it for him.

I've definitely been exploring my Southern side lately with different recipes from Bon Appetit Ya'll a new cookbook I'm in love with. I have to admit, I feel my biscuit making skills are getting better. So I decided that I would go it alone and make a fried chicken biscuit and add bacon, egg and cheese to it. I made rather large biscuits from my biscuit recipe to allow for the chicken (I think I made 5 large biscuits instead of 12-15 smaller biscuits) I added Havarti cheese then the bacon and a runny fried egg on top. Make sure you don't use a chicken breast but thinly sliced chicken breast or chicken breast that's been pounded out a little. Just dip the chicken in Italian Bread crumbs. Beat a couple of eggs in a separate bowl. Dip the chicken in the egg and then into the breadcrumbs again. Fry on medium high so that it cooks through and get's crispy on both sides.

This time my husband had to deconstruct it a little to finish it this monster of a biscuit and I'm pretty sure no one had much of an appetite until dinner.

Worth it.

White Lily Biscuit Recipe

2 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup very cold unsalted butter
2/3 cups cold buttermilk

Heat oven to 500°F.
Sift flour and measure into large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbs are the size of peas. Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves sides of bowl.
Knead gently 2 to 3 times on lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut using floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. ( *I used the largest biscuit cutter in my set)
Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart for crisp sides or almost touching for soft sides.
Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Sunny Side Burgers

2011-03-03T22:11:00.001-05:00

There hasn't been a lot of posting going on this week but I'm never too busy to not talk about burgers.

Recently a new burger joint opened on the south side of Chattanooga and a group of us decided to go and hang out after work one night. There were multiple different types of burger concoctions that were one better than the other. So in an effort to make a decision I chose the Sunny Side Burger.

Decadent doesn't even begin to describe it.

There is just something about a medium rare burger with a runny egg yolk and a slice of smoked gouda melted on top. It makes life a better place. So as I try to get over my addiction to this burger, I know in the meantime I must put this out to the void....

If you love burgers as much as I do then you better put an egg on it...

Baked Eggs with Potatoes and Bacon

2011-02-28T17:10:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for packaging.

If it's bright and shiny, colorful or has a cute handle more than likely I will purchase it at least once. Sometimes I also love to do this with my breakfasts. Sometimes you just want bacon, eggs and hash browns no matter how many time you've already had then. So instead I cook sliced fingerling potatoes along with chopped jalapeno bacon (it's all in the rub supposedly and it's at Whole Foods). I layer that in the bottom of a ramekin and then crack an egg on top (two if the ramekin is big enough)

Surprisingly enough I loved how the bacon and potatoes sort of melted together while they baked. When you take them out of the oven the egg yolk sort of oozes over them and its just heavenly. Seems so much more fancy then normal eggs, bacon and potatoes. I bet it's the packaging.

Baked Eggs with Potatoes and Bacon (yields 4 ramekins)

2 cups sliced fingerling potatoes

4 slices bacon (I used a new Jalapeno Bacon from Whole Foods)

8 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, add the chopped bacon and fingerling potatoes and cook until the fingerling potatoes almost cooked through. (leave them slightly underdone because they will continue to cook in the oven. Split the potato mixture in 4 large ramekins (8 smaller ramekins with only one egg in each) Crack two eggs per larger ramekin or one if using smaller ones. Put ramekins on a sheet pan and bake for 10-15 minutes until the egg whites set but the yolk is still slightly runny.

Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs

2011-02-24T22:06:00.001-05:00

Cooking ribs is my father-in-law's specialty.

Therefore I've always enjoyed his amazing ribs when we went to visit them or when my husband brought some home from their house. I was pretty comfortable with this situation. Then I got a new southern inspired cookbook (Bon Appetit Ya'll) and I decided to take the plunge and try it myself. If you've lived in the south for any amount of time you've either made Coca Cola Glazed Ham or Coca Cola Cake so why not ribs?

It's also one of my husband's favorite foods so I guess I should also know how to make them.

The interesting part is that you cook the ribs in the oven not on the grill. Towards the end of its time in the oven you turn on the broiler and cook them. Such an easy way to cook ribs and the delicious Coca Cola glaze was perfect. Now I don't have to go to my in-laws every time I want great ribs.

Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs (From the cookbook Bon Appetit Ya'll)

1 cup Coca-Cola Classic

1/4 apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 Scotch bonnet chiles, chopped

2 racks baby back ribs (3 pounds total)

Course salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the glaze, in a small saucepan, bring the Coca-Cola, vinegar and brown sugar, and chiles to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until syrupy, about 10 minutes. Decrease the heat to low and keep the sauce warm while the ribs cook.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with salt and pepper. Place the ribs on a broiler pan and bake for 30 minutes, glazing the ribs occasionally with the Coca-Cola mixture. Turn the ribs over and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes, glazing occasionally, or until the ribs are tender and the meat is starting to pull away from the bone.

When the ribs are cooked through, set the oven to broil. Liberally spoon half of the remaining glaze over the ribs and broil until glazed a deep mahogany brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn over; repeat with the remaining glaze, and additional 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately with lots of napkins.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

French Onion Soup Bowls

2011-02-22T10:45:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how a little thing like a soup bowl can bring back a flood of memories.

When I was a kid and we stayed home sick with a cold my mother always gave us soup. Nothing new about that right? But the best part about ingesting large quanities of soup was the bowls she gave us. It wasn't until years later that I realized that these special soup bowls were french onion soup bowls like the one about that I found on Cooking.com recently. Only hers had a little lid on it to keep it warm and rested on a a little wicker plate underneath.

There was always something special about getting my soup in this special contraption that made me feel better.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-02-21T22:55:00.000-05:00

The one fact about working in an office comprised mainly of men is that they will not remember your birthday.

It's nothing personal because they won't remember each others birthdays either. From day one I was always the birthday date keeper. The person before me that tracked the birthdays was a female as well.

Do you get my drift?

I normally arrange all the cakes and I keep track of the birthdays. I went as far as to even celebrate the vice president's birthday a month early (darn that smudge over the date).

The one catch is that I can only track the birth dates that are provided to me. Unfortunately, the one birthday they forgot to give me was one of the other female's that I have the pleasure to work with. Sherri and I put up with a lot, working with that much testosterone. So these cupcakes are a birthday make-up for her.

In my last post I said I would be posting recipes this week from my favorite new cookbook "Bon Appetit Ya'll". It's filled with Southern inspired classic recipes with a culinary twist. So I decided to make "Aunt Louise's Red Velvet Cake" and just make them into cupcakes to celebrate at the office. Since I'm new to the cake decorating arena, I decided to pick up some super cute sugar Wilton flowers from the cake decorating section at Walmart. A cute and easier way to bring cupcakes for a belated birthday. This southern style recipe yields a moist cake/cupcake that isn't too sweet.

I'm definitely a fan.

Aunt Louise's Red Velvet Cake (Bon Appetit Ya'll)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 1ounce bottle red food coloring

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounce cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

16 ounces powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 to 3 tsp whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Either butter and flour 3 9 inch round cake pans an line the bottoms with waxed or parchment paper and butter and flour the paper or line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. (will yield 24 cupcakes)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a measure cup, combine the buttter, milk, vanilla extract, and vinegar. Set aside.

To prepare the batter, in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the oil and the sugar on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the food coloring. Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until just combined.

To bake the layers (for the cake) divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake until firm and a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out clean, 25 - 30 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes until a toothpick comes out clean). Meanwhile to prepare the frosting in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with the paddle, cream the cream cheese and butter on the medium speed until smooth. Sift over the confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. If too stiff, add the milk, 1 tsp at a time, to achieve the correct consistency.

To assemble cake, place one layer on a cardboard cake round. Spread with frosting. Repeat with the remaining 2 layers, placing the final layer bottom side up. Finish with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle over the pecans. Serve the cake immediately or store it in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Mayonnaise Biscuits

2011-02-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you come across a cookbook in which you want to make every single recipe. I found "Bon Appetit Ya'll recently for inspiration on a project at work. I bought it on a Monday. It sat on my desk for a couple of days and then I started flipping through it. By Saturday I started making recipes from it.

This biscuit recipe caught my eye especially. There are many things about it that appeal to me. The first is that you don't have to cut cold butter into it and work it in. The fat in this recipe is the mayonnaise. The second is the use for self rising flour which cut's out a few ingredients and makes a simplified drop biscuit recipe. It was light and flaky and made me feel like a true southern baker.

In the next few posts you'll see a few of these recipes that are a perfect cross between southern and classic french recipes. A highbrow take on down home recipes.

Mayonnaise Biscuits (From Bon Appetit Ya'll Cookbook)

1 tbsp canola oil for the tin

2 cups self-rising flour

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 12 cup muffin tin with oil. Combine the flour, mayonnaise, milk, and sugar in a bowl. Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, spoon dough into each muffin cup, filling about half full. Alternatively, drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, then invert the biscuits onto the rack to cool until warm. Serve warm.

My First Marmalade Experience

2011-02-16T16:13:00.001-05:00

My mother was a great "Domestic Engineer" when I was growing up. She was at great cooking, baking, decorating, housekeeping and all of the other tiring aspects of choosing to stay at home. But when I told my mother that I was starting to join the canning revolution - she snorted in disbelief. Or at least that's is what I imagined what she did when she saw that post and questioned me on it in an email.

Why would a working girl have time to make jam?

This is a good point. I guess eventually you are going to make a choice of what you want to make from scratch with the limited time that is available on the weekends. Sometimes I'll make a loaf of bread (Thank you Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Cookbook), Sometimes I'll make a roast and sometimes I'll experiment with jams and marmalade. Last year I started make quick skillet type jams with the fruit I had leftover from the farmer's market. They were so delicious. This year I knew I wanted a pantry full of homemade jams, jellies, curds and marmalade. I also want to find a way to can my tomato sauce so I could have hostess gifts and little thoughtful gifts for those who needed meals or just needed cheering up.

Then my husband got me this for Christmas (yes mother it's ANOTHER cookbook - ok so I've gone a little overboard)

The Blue Chair Cookbook is an amazing cookbook that feels like it's around 10 lbs of recipes for jams, jellies and marmalade recipes - BY SEASON...

So I pushed away my urge to use some of my frozen strawberries in order to skip to the spring recipes and decided that I would make the Pink Grapefruit Marmalade as my first step. I also wanted to give it away for Valentine's presents to my friends. Get it? Pink... (crickets, crickets....)

Let me just cut to the chase. It turned out wonderful and I loved the process of waiting until the marmalade jelled. Now I know what it looks like when it almost reaches that point. But the best part of the process what the idea that they author had about sterilizing jars in the oven. Love this idea because the whole reason I had never canned yet was the whole mess of boiling the jars. In the process she outlines in the book you do the following:

Put clean jars and tops in a 250 degree oven on a jelly roll pan for 30 minutes. Remove them and add the jelly, jam or marmalade. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth (I used a clean paper towel). Put the lids on and put the jars back in the oven for another 15 minutes. When you remove them from the oven and as they start to cool all the tops will pop and seal. If it doesn't then put it in the refrigerator and use within a week. Seems pretty easy to me.

The moral of this tale is if you have any interest in some wonderful jam, jelly or marmalade recipes you can't go wrong by getting this book. It's inspirational and oh so helpful.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T07:50:00.001-05:00

Doggie Treats for Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:51:00.001-05:00

It's very easy to forget that your pets need a little love on Valentine's Day.

A while ago my sister, knowing my domestic tendencies, gave me a doggie treat cookbook as a joke. The gist of it was if I went as far to make doggie treats then I was a die hard.

I fought the urge to make the dog treats. I mean everyone has limits right? When you work a full time job and try to bake and cook and keep your house straight there are only so many things you can fit into a 48 hour on the weekends.

Then I caved...

I was in the kitchen waiting on my Pink Grapefruit Marmalade to reach it's setting point and I saw the cookbook. I thought dog treats for Valentine's day would be the perfect little gift for my dogs and my friends and their dogs.

The recipe makes about two jelly roll baking sheets of dog treats. Quantities will vary on the cookie cutters or feel free to roll the dough into a log and cut into circles. The recipe is an Italian themed recipe with tomato paste, cheese and Italian seasoning...The dogs loved them and their friends did too.

Mambo Italiano Dog Treats

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour

1 1/2 cups Brown Rice flour

6 oz tomato paste

1/2 cup grated mozzarella (I use get the finely grated kind in the cheese aisle)

1/2 cup parmesean cheese

1 large egg

3/4 cup water

Mix the ingredients together in a large both and knead with your hands to make sure it incorporates together into a dough. Roll out will a little of the flour (to prevent from sticking) and use dog themed (or any theme) cookie cutters to cut out shapes. If you don't have cookie cutters just roll into a log and cut circles out. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Let cook on a wire rack.

Easy Donuts for Breakfast

2011-02-12T13:16:00.000-05:00

In the weeks leading up to Valentine's weekend I've posted and planned different ideas for Valentine's breakfast. From heart shaped biscuits and bacon, egg and cheese heart shaped sandwiches to chocolate cardamom pancakes - I've kicked my ideas into overdrive.

Then I went and made something really easy instead.

One of the best email's I've gotten lately was an issue of Serious Eats in which they offered a super easy way to make donuts. In fact the main ingredients is Pillsbury biscuits.

Why didn't I think of that???

So I got up this morning with the idea in mind to make these super easy donuts. I got out the Valentine's sprinkles, powdered sugar and made chocolate ganache and by the time my husband was out of the shower, they were all done. I cannot tell you how easy these were. I highly recommend this recipe.

We paired it with some Cafe DuMonde coffee and a side of bacon and eggs. It was a great start to this sweet weekend. Get the recipe here and have a great Valentines.

Romantic Valentine's Dinner Or Breakfast

2011-02-10T15:21:00.002-05:00

Today I read that over 70 million people will go to a restaurant for Valentine's Day.

I'm not going to be one of those people. You may think me a cynic for it or an old married woman but I'm just tired and being on the go so much I really crave the comfort of my home. In fact the notion of being tired is actually what brought me to the idea of having a romantic dinner at home but in actuality it's breakfast. I love having breakfast for dinner. I love the idea of chocolate pancakes and scones along with thick-cut bacon and scrambled eggs. I also love the idea of getting dressed in my PJ's to go along with the kitchy theme and have a fun time of it. But hey, if you don't like the idea of doing it for dinner, it becomes a great Valentine's Brunch idea.

You decide

Orange Creamsicle

2 oz vanilla vodka
8 oz orange juice

Mix ingredients in a cocktail shaker and serve...

Chocolate Scones
2 cups self rising flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick (1/4 lb) unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients together and and incorporate butter with a biscuit cutter or your hands into the dry ingredients so it resembles coarse sand. Add buttermilk until mixture comes together into a moist dough. On a cocoa floured surface (I learned this the hard way) roll out the biscuits and cut little heart shapes. Put them on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve with strawberry jam.

Chocolate Cardamom Pancakes with Orange Glaze

2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

5 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cardamom

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Orange Glaze

1 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and cardamom in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and milk and whisk. Take a large cookie scoop (or just a ladle if you don't care about how uniform they are) and pour batter in a preheated pan/skillet on medium to medium high heat. Garnish pancakes with fresh mandarin orange slices and orange glaze.

For the orange glaze combine the sugar and the orange juice in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Reduce down until the sugar is dissolved and the consistency is syrup-like. Let cool slightly before pouring over the pancakes.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T12:34:00.002-05:00

Hot Dogs with Cheddar and Sauteed Apples

2011-02-09T09:38:00.001-05:00

I've been exploring the realm of the gourmet hot dog recipe.

It all started with my New Year's resolution to start cooking my way through any cooking magazine I have in my possession. So as I was cleaning the house and throwing away magazines, I remembered to tear out all the recipes that looked interesting to me. I've been cooking my through them lately.

Gourmet hot dogs have been important in my life. They are the "fun family dinner night" in which we have something to look forward to - Junk food. It's not just any junk food but a high brow type so we can feel better about ourselves.

Either way it's a coping mechanism for getting through the week - And it works...

Hot Dogs with Cheddar and Sauteed Apples (Food and Wine September 2010)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large Granny Smith apples—peeled, halved, cored and cut into scant 1/2-inch wedges
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
6 hot dogs
6 hot dog buns, split
3 ounces thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese (I used Pepperjack and enjoyed the spiciness to go with the sweet)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the apples and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until barely softened and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the cinnamon and keep warm.
Heat a grill pan. Grill the hot dogs over high heat until lightly charred all over, about 5 minutes. On a baking sheet, set the dogs in the rolls and top with the cheddar cheese. Bake for about 3 minutes, just until the cheese is melted. Top with the apples and serve at once.

Denver French Toast

2011-02-08T10:09:00.000-05:00

I'm always up for a good breakfast recipe. So when I scouted out my Epicurious App on my IPhone a couple of days ago and found a section called "Winter Breakfasts". So I went through the recipes and found a unlikely combination between a Denver Omelette and French toast. I can't believe I had never seen this recipe or even thought to make it. Although, the recipe was posted in 1998 a good deal before my nesting adventures. I haven't had a savory french toast that wasn't in bread pudding form so it was worth a try.

The melted swiss cheese with the green, red and yellow peppers and onions were delicious. It was actually nice to have a savory french toast. For some reason it felt more substantial. Either way it's another great breakfast recipe that I had to share.

Denver French Toast (Bon Appetit 1998)

Ingredients

3 large eggs
2 tablespoons water
4 3/4-inch-thick slices sourdough bread (each about 4x3 inches)
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 large red, green or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup matchstick-size strips Black Forest ham (about 4 ounces)
4 large thin slices Swiss cheese, folded to match bread size

Directions:

Whisk eggs and 2 tablespoons water in pie dish to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Add bread; let stand 1 minute. Turn bread over; let stand until egg mixture is absorbed, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ham; sauté until vegetables and ham are golden, about 3 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to bowl; cover with foil to keep warm.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add bread and cook until brown and crusty on bottom, about 5 minutes. Using spatula, turn bread over. Top each bread slice with 1 cheese slice. Cook until bread is crusty on bottom and cheese melts, covering skillet briefly if necessary to melt cheese, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer toast to plates. Top with vegetable mixture and serve.

Made for You Monday: Easy Knitted Blanket

2011-02-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

After an extremely cold December, I promised myself that I would definitely knit my first blanket. I've always been discouraged from knitting blankets. Even my knitting instructor made it sound extremely tedious. When your cold it doesn't matter how tedious something is, as long as it will promise warmth and give my cold fingers something to do when I'm on the couch watching a movie.

So I set about a plan to make my blanket. I had size 20 knitting needles but I didn't have circular needles which is the way most blankets are knitted. Instead of getting large circular needles I decided to attack this project in two stages. I would knit two separate panels of 20 stitches across and 4 skeins long of yarn each and then I figure out how to attach them.

I originally was going to stitch the two panels together and then I found some lovely leftover ribbon from a pottery barn gift that someone had given me that matched the lovely Ivory color of the blanket. I cut the ribbon into 2-3 inch strips and tied them about every few inches to create one large blanket.

I loved the outcome. I have a very warm blanket that will help me fight the cold and wish for Spring.

Supplies

Houston Cream - Lion Bran Extra Bulky Yarn (8 skeins)

Size 20 knitting needles

Ribbon (Any width you like roughly 12-24 inches)

Directions: Cast on 20 stitches across and knit through 4 skeins of yarn using the garter stitch. Repeat with second panel. Attach both panels with ribbon cut to 2 to 3 inches each (depending on how big you want your bows and how many to secure the panels together)

Superbowl Party for Two

2011-02-06T19:05:00.001-05:00

Bacon and Cashew Caramel Corn

You might think that I would be hosting a Superbowl Party.

I'm always down for a reason to have friends over whether it's for the premiere of Mad Men or the start of spring. This year my husband and I decided to make it a party of two so I got creative with the menu and tried to keep it fun. The great part for me was not having to come up with a lot of single serving appetizers.

I did want to get creative though.

The Bacon and Cashew Caramel Corn was the best snack food. Then again anything with bacon, cashews and caramel would be something I would be in love with. If I ever recreated it for guests I would form them into mini popcorn balls because they were amazing.

Nutella Rice Krispies

The Chicken and Andouille Etoufee was a delicious recipe from Food & Wine that is full of flavor and easy to make. You might even think it's a goodbye to the reigning champs, New Orleans Saints. The Nutella Rice Krispies are in honor of World Nutella Day yesterday. So as we settle down to watch the big game we hope it's a hard fought win for whoever comes out on top.

Chicken and Andouille Etouffee

So here goes:

Superbowl Party for Two Menu:

Snack Course: Bacon and Cashew Caramel Corn

Dinner: Chicken and Andouille Etoufee

Dessert: Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

Bacon and Cashew Caramel Corn

Chicken and Andouille Etouffee
(Food and Wine September 2010)

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
2 celery ribs, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 andouille sausage (about 3 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
Steamed rice and hot sauce, for serving

Directions

In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Whisk in the flour and cook over moderately high heat, whisking constantly, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Season the vegetables with salt and black pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the sausage and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the broth and simmer until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the chicken and simmer until cooked through, 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper and serve over rice, with hot sauce.

Bacon and Cashew Caramel Corn (Bon Appetit September 2010)
Ingredients

1/2 cup popcorn kernels
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ounces bacon, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted raw cashews (one 2.5-ounce package)
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions
Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat popcorn and oil in covered heavy large pot over medium-high heat until kernels begin to pop. Using oven mitts, hold lid on pot and shake pot until popping stops. Pour popcorn into very large bowl. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until almost crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain; cool. Add bacon and cashews to bowl with popcorn. Sprinkle with coarse salt and cayenne; toss to coat.

Place caramel corn in oven and bake until caramel is shiny and coats popcorn, tossing mixture occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on sheet on rack, tossing occasionally to break up large clumps. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight in refrigerator.

Line rimmed baking sheet with foil; coat with nonstick spray. Coat 2 wooden spoons or heat-resistant spatulas with nonstick spray; set aside. Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high; boil without stirring until syrup turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 13 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add cream (mixture will bubble up). Stir until blended. Immediately drizzle caramel over popcorn mixture; toss with sprayed spoons until evenly coated. Transfer to sheet.

Bring cream to boil over medium heat. Remove from heat.

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

3 tablespoons   butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40)   regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups   miniature marshmallows
6 cups   Rice Krispies®

1/3 cup nutella

Directions: In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add Nutella and RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Chocolate Fridays: My Favorite Nutella Recipes

2011-02-04T13:50:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is World Nutella Day.

This is definitely my type of food holiday. From my previous posts you can see I'm a fan of Nutella. In fact last year I did a number of Nutella posts to pay homage to one of my favorite types of chocolate. So I thought I would show a quick round up of my favorite Nutella recipes before tomorrow and in case my husband is reading - yes "Chocolate Fridays" are back...

Happy Friday!

1. Nutella Gelato
2. Banana Nutella Gelato
3. Pistachio & Cherry Banana Split with Nutella Sauce

4. Nutella Banana Sandwich
5. (Below) Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

Favorite Carrot Cake Recipes

2011-02-02T11:24:00.000-05:00

It's hard baking in the winter months.

There aren't a lot of fruit choices and only the hope of them to come. You empty the freezer of the fruit you saved and now what? The great part about carrot cake is that carrots are in season and while they aren't a fruit they can be baked into a variety of different forms of carrot cake. You can go the traditional route, you can add maple or you can even do the tropical vibe.

There are so many choices that I'm not going to even give you a recipe. I'm going to give you a variety of my favorites. I'm sure you could take a personality test based on your choice of carrot cake recipe but you are going to have to decide what that says about you.

What's your favorite Carrot Cake Recipe?

Give A Rose Bush for Valentine's Day

2011-02-01T21:44:00.001-05:00

This all started when I decided that I would much rather get a floral wreath then a dozen roses for Valentine's Day. I was admiring the beautiful Lavender heart wreaths and Rose wreaths in the Williams Sonoma catalog. Then some of you weighed in on the whole obligatory red roses for Valentine's Day vs. something different like floral wreaths. Other ideas like potted roses were offered and I have to say I completely agree with these ideas. I'm sort of a closet rose bush collector.

For our first anniversary my husband bought me four bare root David Austen roses. They were doing great until someone mowed over one of them. I was devastated and a meltdown of epic proportion ensued. Then I waited and waited to see if it would live. There were all the reassuring comments about how it would come back in the spring....And last spring it did. Seeing those roses bloom in the spring and summer are a present that continues to give me presents.

With a little help from my readers and the February issue of Southern Living, I made my way to http://www.davidaustenroses.com. Here are four of my favorite potted roses that they offer for Valentine's Day. It's not just one gift, it's many gifts you'll have forever.

Heart Biscuits

2011-02-01T17:14:00.000-05:00

I love the month of February. We've finally come out from hibernation and the low that always seems to follow the holidays. We have Valentine's Day to look forward to and by the end of the month my trusty Farmer's Almanac says that I can plant bare root trees and roses. Hopefully our Groundhog General Lee will give us the good news tomorrow that Spring is about to hit our doorstep.

Until then I'm a little obsessed with hearts. I used to think that you had to come up with some grand plan for a romantic breakfast for Valentine's Day/Weekend. You can but you can also make some simple modifications like a cookie cutter to shape heart biscuits or a heart shaped pancakes mold. Heck you could even cut out little hearts from your sausage patties. So many cute ideas that warm my heart and get me excited for the future.

And if you decide to make little heart shaped biscuit sandwiches try this easy version from White Lily:

2 cups sifted self-rising flour
1tsp salt
1/4 cup very cold unsalted butter
2/3 cups cold buttermilk

Heat oven to 500°F.
Sift flour and measure into large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbs are the size of peas. Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves sides of bowl.
Knead gently 2 to 3 times on lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut using floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.
Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart for crisp sides or almost touching for soft sides.
Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.

*Mix 1/4 cup cream of tartar and 2 tbsp baking soda and save in a glass jar for up to three months.

Floral Valentine Wreaths vs Floral Arrangements

2011-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been seeing a lot more floral wreaths as an option for Valentine's gifts instead of the obligatory dozen red roses for Valentine's Day. This idea was reinforced to me when Williams Sonoma sent out their Valentine's email today suggesting some of their wreaths as gifts for the holiday.

I couldn't be happier for this new trend.

There is something so much more appealing to seeing flowers in a different form other than a vase and who wouldn't want to come home and see this on their door. Which would you rather have: A flower arrangement in a vase or a dried/fresh flower wreath instead?

Creamed Spinach with Sunny-Side-Up Eggs

2011-01-30T14:45:00.000-05:00

The breakfast after a chocolate cardamom pancake breakfast should probably be a little more healthy to balance it out.

Not too healthy but healthier.

So armed with my latest Bon Appetit, I looked for a new breakfast recipe that would hit that criteria. I found a recipe for Sunny-Side-Up Eggs on top of Mustard-Creamed Spinach. That will work. It was a great way balance a weekend of great breakfasts and pump myself up for a long and busy week. I'll probably be longing for these breakfasts by Tuesday morning but then there is always next weekend.

Sunny-Side-Up Eggs On Mustard-Creamed Spinach

3 tsp Dijon mustard

1 9 oz package fresh spinach leaves

3 tbsp half and half

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp olive oil

2 large eggs

Add enough water to a deep large nonstick skillet to cover bottom. Add spinach; toss over high heat to wilt, about 2 minutes. Scrape into sieve set over bowl; press out liquid. Wipe out skillet; reserve.

Transfer spinach to medium saucepan. Add 3 tsp mustard, half and half, and chopped thyme. Stir over medium heat until thick, about 3 minutes. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in reserved skillet over medium-high heat. Crack eggs into skillet, spacing apart. Fry until whites are cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Divide spinach between 2 plates, spreading out as base for eggs. Top with eggs, crumbs, and thyme sprigs.

Chocolate Cardamom Pancakes with Orange Glaze

2011-01-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

Cooking with different spices is a great way to grow as a cook/baker. Cardamom is one of the newest spices in my cabinet that I've started playing with. I first discovered it when I was making an Ethiopian recipe which called for a spice rub called Berbere. Since I had cardamom I decided to continue to experiment with it.

And then there is Valentine's Day.

Since Valentine's is on the horizon I wanted to create a new recipe for a romantic breakfast as a follow-up to last year's chocolate pancakes with caramel banana topping. I stayed with the chocolate because there is no better excuse to have chocolate for breakfast than Valentine's Weekend. As I contemplated a new recipe, I thought of the spiciness of the cardamom and how it would go so well with the cocoa powder and an orange glaze to top.

I was right. You will love this combination for a special breakfast on Valentine's Day. These chocolate pancakes aren't too sweet which is good, because the glaze will provide a brightness and add the sweetness you need.

Chocolate Cardamom Pancakes with Orange Glaze

2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

5 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cardamom

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Orange Glaze

1 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

Homemade Mozzarella Sticks

2011-01-28T22:57:00.001-05:00

When I first married I remember watching the Food Network all the time. I watched everything from Barefoot Contessa to Everyday Italian. I was still learning recipes and what you could actually make on your own. It had to be one of the first Superbowl's as a married couple that I tried to make all the football faves as a special present to my husband.

The menu consisted of wings, little meatball parmesan hoagies. Then I saw on "Everyday Italian" a way to make your own mozzarella sticks. I was definitely on board to make something I thought you could only buy in the frozen food section. It was a great recipe for a young cook. Since the Big Game is upon us I was looking through some old print outs and found my attempt at this which went extremely well. Something everyone should try as a fun snack to watch a great football game.

Mozzarella Sticks (Giada De Laurentis)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Italian-style dried breadcrumbs
1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon salt
2 (16-ounce) blocks pasteurized mozzarella cut into 4 by 1/2-inch sticks
4 large eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups Marinara Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Stir the bread crumbs, 1 cup of Parmesan and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl to blend. Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the bread crumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and bread crumb mixture to coat a second time. Cover and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried cheese to plates. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve with Marinara Sauce.

Mocha Rice Pudding

2011-01-27T22:02:00.001-05:00

You can't plan a good idea.

Since I work pretty hard during the week, I try to plan out my domestic escapades during the weekend. No matter how hard I try, sometimes my plan just doesn't go the way I want it to. Sometimes I just want to curl up on the couch with a large vat of coffee and try to feel normal again.

Then there are other times when I'm a creative machine. I only have my fellow bloggers to thank for for my creativity. It's a great collaboration. This is how I came to come up with this recipe. My husband had just passed me an afternoon cup of coffee as I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Made.

I was looking at her easy rice pudding recipe. I've made so many different rice pudding recipes but this one was super easy and I thought - "I've never made a mocha flavored rice pudding yet!" So I ran into the kitchen and started coming up with a recipe. It was the perfect combination of coffee, vanilla bean and rice pudding. It's one of my favorite new dessert recipes.

Mocha Rice Pudding (Based on a recipe from Dana Made It)
3/4 cup long-grain white rice

5 cups milk (I used whole milk but you can use any type)

1 cup fresh brewed coffee
2 tbsp Ovaltine (or cocoa mix)

1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg (ground or fresh grated)

Bring the rice, vanilla bean, coffee and milk to a boil, stirring constantly about 10-15 minutes. Reduce to a very low simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook until the rice is soft and the pudding becomes thick (30-35 minutes). Take the vanilla bean out and scrape the seeds into the rice pudding. Remove from heat and add sugar, ovaltine, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Let the rice pudding cool and put in small dishes.

My Cooking Essential - Kitchen Island

2011-01-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

When my husband and I were given the opportunity to purchase a renovated cottage as our first home we jumped at the chance. I loved the character and the details the house had that other newer housed just never had.

I didn't love the functionality of the kitchen.

For a long time I made due with the lack of counter space and cabinets. I bought a distressed looking pantry cabinet and tried to be extremely organized enough to work on counter space the size of a large cutting board. After a while I just gave up and started looking for kitchen islands. Finding the perfect kitchen island is akin to finding meaning in a Vin Diesel movie.

It's not easy...

So for a few years I searched and searched for one. I never thought to look at Ikea. We didn't have one in our city and it never occurred to me until I found it on their website. It was called Stenstorp and when I saw it in person it was though light was shining down on it and I had finally found the one...

For those of us with small kitchens we have to make due with what we have but ever since I got that kitchen island, I feel like I finally have a space I can call my own.

Mini Bundt Cakes for Valentine's Day

2011-01-25T23:22:00.000-05:00

Even with all the options for decorating and decorating cupcakes, sometimes I really get tired of them. So I just use my go to cupcake recipe from Nigella and then pull out my mini bundt pans and pour them into those molds instead.

Then the fun begins.

I've stocked up on Valentine's glitters and sprinkles so I decided to pipe a dab of cream cheese icing on top and make those little cakes as sparkly as possible. I know we have a few weeks until Valentine's but I'm having so much fun working my way up to it.

Nigella's Fairy cakes Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
7 Tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-rising cake flour *
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
(May use 1/2 teaspoon almond extract instead of the suggested 1 tsp.vanilla extract.)

2-3 Tablespoons milk

Directions :
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking paper cups.

Put all the ingredients except for the milk into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel to make for a soft consistency. (I use the full 3 Tablespoons)

It doesn't seem like enough batter, but it will all work out, scrape every bit from the bowl and try to fill each cup equally.

Bake for 15-20 or until they are golden on top. (These are perfectly baked in 14 to 15 minutes @ 375* in my oven) It's best to start checking them at 12 minutes.

Icing for Fairycakes

8 oz cream cheese softened

8 oz unsalted butter softened

7-8 cups confectioners sugar

3-4 tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla

Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie

2011-01-24T20:56:00.001-05:00

I'm in a winter funk and I'm pretty sure that the only thing that will pull me out of it is comfort food.

There are important questions before us. These questions include: Is there anything more comforting that pie? For an actual meal is there anything more comforting than a pot pie? Yes, there is something more comforting. It's called a double crusted pot pie.

I was hibernating this past Saturday when I got the newest issue of Southern Living. I poured through it when I saw a beautiful looking recipe for Double-Crust Chicken Pot Pie. So I made it for Saturday night dinner. Thankfully I keep a stash of puff pastry in my freezer and leeks in the veggie drawer of my refrigerator. The end result was a delicious fluffy crust and a creamy savory filling.

Make this delicious recipe before winter is over. You won't regret it.

Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie (Southern Living February 2010)

1/2 cup butter

2 medium leeks, sliced

1/2 cup flour
3 cups cooked chicken

1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth

1 1/2 cups frozen cubed hashbrown with onions and peppers

1 cup matchstick carrots

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 (17.3 oz) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, and saute 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour, cook stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients. Roll each pastry sheet into a 12x10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Fit 1 sheet into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate; spoon chicken mixture into pastry. Place remaining pastry sheet over filling in opposite direction of bottom sheet; fold edges under, and press with tines of a fork, sealing to bottom crust. Whisk together egg and 1 tbsp water, and brush over top of pie. Bake at 375 degrees on lower over rack 55 to 50 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.

Hashbrowns With Curry Powder

2011-01-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

There has to be a million breakfast recipes out there.

With all of those possibilities sometimes the only thing I'm certain of on the weekends is I'm going to have coffee. Most of the time I feel I have to make a whole new recipe. Other times you add a single spice and make something entirely new.

I've said in earlier posts that I'm a little obsessed with curry spice lately. I used it in a wonderful Eric Ripert recipe and I added it to scrambled eggs and chickpeas recently. I didn't think to add it to my potatoes. Thank goodness it came to me as I was scouring my spice cabinet this morning. I added 1/2 tsp to my chopped fingerling potatoes as they were in the frying pan. It was an easy way to have a new breakfast.

I'm thankful for my for spice cabinet.

Curried Hashbrowns

10 fingerling potatoes sliced

Olive oil (for frying pan)

1/2 tsp curry powder

Heat your frying pan to medium high with olive oil (around 2 tbsp). Add the fingerling potatoes. Season with salt and add the curry powder. Fry until the potatoes are crisp on the outside and cooked through. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Miniature Chocolate Cakes For Valentine's Day

2011-01-19T23:25:00.000-05:00

There are so many great chocolate cake recipes out there today.

For some reason I keep coming back to the Hershey recipe on the cocoa container. You might get better quality cocoa but you won't get a more moist and delicious cake. I've used it in birthday cakes, anniversary cakes and cakes for no reason at all.

The reason for this cake is pretty obvious. There are so many great takes on desserts that you can do for Valentine's Day. There are cupcakes, cakes, tarts, cream puffs and so on. I'm here to tell you that if you make a really good chocolate cake, you won't go wrong. It's easy and delicious and you can put your Valentine's spin on it by baking it in a heart shaped pan or by cutting out heart shapes with cookie cutters.

So what I did was bake a two later cake. I then made the chocolate frosting and frosted the cake. (don't assemble the layers) Let it chill in the refrigerator. Then I made this chocolate ganache recipe and poured it over the two layers. Put the cake in the refrigerator and let the ganache set. Then I cut the heart shapes out of the cake layers and added sprinkles.

For Valentine's Day it's a perfect way to serve individual desserts.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

"Perfectly Chocolate"Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Short Ribs With Dried Apricots

2011-01-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

In keeping with my New Year's resolutions I've made sure to cook through another magazine.

This time a great recipe from Country Living caught my eye: it was for Short Ribs. Short ribs are one of my all time favorite things to make. Could it be easier to sear the ribs and then leave them to braise on the stove for a few hours while you attend to your normal weekend chores?

I didn't think so.

This recipe adds a new twist on short ribs with dried apricots. After the ribs were done cooking the apricots and the kitchen smelled wonderful the apricots seemed to melt into the sauce. It was delicious and perfect for a winter weekend meal. Another great perk is leftovers. Just take the leftover short ribs and put them in a corn tortilla with tomatillo sauce and pepper jack cheese and you have a great lunch.

Red Wine-And-Apricot Braised Short Ribs (Country Living January 2010)

3 1/2 pounds short ribs

4 garlic cloves

3 cups dry red wine (Syrah)

3 tbsp coarse-grain Dijon mustard

2 cups (11 ounces) dried apricots

Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches brown ribs in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add garlic to pot and cook over medium heat until browned, about 2 minutes. Add wine and mustard and stir, scraping up browned bits from bottom of the pan. Add apricots and reserved ribs and increase heat to high, bringing liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, co, cover pot and simmer until ribs are so tender that meat falls of the bone, about 3 hours. Skim excess fat from braising sauce. (Alternatively, after step 1, add browned ribs and all other ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low, following manufacturer's instructions, until ribs are so tender that meat falls off the bone, about 8 hours. Serve meat and apricots in a shallow bowl with braising sauce.

DIY Gardening: Seedling Growing Cart

2011-01-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

There is nothing that makes me angrier than seeing items cost a large quantity of money that if you put a little thought to it, would be easy to make. Recently, I saw a growing cart on a garden supply website. Basically it was a wire shelving until with growing lamps attached to each shelf.

It cost $500.

I do find a growing cart extremely useful when starting seedlings in early February (for those in the Southeast - according to the Farmer's Almanac). I had multiple flats of seedlings that I started way to late last year that could have benefited from a structure with multiple levels and growing lamps. I was resolved to create my own.

What you'll need;
Wire shelving unit (3 shelves) ($35)

(3) growing lamps ($8 each)

(6) S-Hooks

Power strip

The first thing you'll have to do is put the shelving unit together. The great part with the wire shelf that I got at Walmart was that you could adjust it to any height you wanted. I made the top two shelves compatible with flats of seedlings and the last more compatible for taller seedlings/plants to provide a progressive experience once my seedlings and even bulbs got taller but weren't transplanted yet.

Once the shelf is put together it's time to attach the growing lamp to the top of each shelf. Each growing lamp has a holes on the back to allow you to attach it to a number of different items. I found a small S-hook works perfectly. I bought two hanging plant kits to obtain different sizes of S-hooks. The smaller 1-inch ones fit perfectly. Insert one end of the hook in the top and rotate it 1/4 turn. Repeat on the other side and then hang on the wire rack above the shelf. Repeat for all three lamps.

Then take the cords and with a twist tie run the cords toward the back pole and down to the bottom. Plug them into the power strip.

Total for my Growing Cart $75. Growing your own plants from seeds? Priceless....

Spiced Coconut Pancakes

2011-01-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

It's always a good idea to save recipes that have no eggs, butter or milk.

It's not that I necessary agree with a vegan diet, but eventually you are going to be out of one of those ingredients. Then you'll have the hard decision to go to the grocery or eat a pop-tart. When I saw this recipe in the most recent addition of Bon Appetit I flagged it for a weekend breakfast option. Was I out of any of the dairy options that I love so much? No I wasn't out of those ingredients. The recipe was worth a try to make sure I could keep it in my arsenal.

This healthier recipe had a lot of elements I appreciated. I loved the flavor from the coconut milk and the texture from the coconut flakes (the recipe calls for unsweetened but I used sweetened). The only thing I would bring up is that if you are expecting a sweet pancake this isn't the one to look to. Hopefully when you see the 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour you'll start to understand. However, a nice dose of maple syrup on top will put that right.

Spiced Coconut Pancakes (Bon Appetit January 2011)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp baking soda

(1) 13 1/2 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Whisk first 6 ingredients and 3/4 tsp salt in large bowl. Whisk coconut milk, 1 1/4 cups warm, water, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and vanilla, in medium bowl. Whisk coconut milk mixture into dry mixture until batter is pourable.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat; brush with vegetable oil. Working in batches, add batter by 1/4 cupfuls. Working quickly and using back of spoon, spread each pancake to about 4-inch round. Cook until until small bubbles appear on surface and bottoms of pancakes are golden, reducing heat if browning too quickly, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet. Keep warm in oven.

Place 2 to 2 pancakes on each plate. Top with maple syrup, sliced bananas or tropical fruit (as shown in Bon Appetit)

Hot Dogs With Poblanos, Pepper Jack And Tomatillo

2011-01-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

There is a type of sweet poetic justice finding a gourmet hot dog recipe in the January issue of

Bon Appetit.

I'm so used to seeing health conscious meals in the beginning of the year. While most are glued to the healthy fish & chicken recipes, I'm eyeing the recipe on how to make a hot dog - already a delicious treat - even more delicious. This is awesome. The melted Pepper jack cheese with caramelized onions and poblanos were out of this world.

If you want to take a break from the healthy meals this January, this is the recipe I would start with.

Hot Dogs with Poblanos, Pepper Jack and Tomatillo

2 tbsp olive oil

3 Poblano Chilis cut into 1/2 inch wide strips

1 large onion sliced

6 uncured hot dogs or flavored sausages

1 cup purchased salsa verde (tomatillo salsa)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 hot dog buns

2 ounces hot pepper Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced

Crumbled Cotija cheese or feta cheese

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add poblanos and onion; sprinkle with salt. Saute until chiles soften 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. Add hot dogs to same pan. Add 1 cup water; cover. Boil until heated through, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Combine salsa verde and cilantro in small bowl.

Place 1 hot dog in each bun; place on baking sheet. Cover each with slices of cheese. Broil until cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Top with chile-onion mixture; then Cotija cheese and salsa.

Kale for Breakfast - Two Ways

2011-01-11T13:10:00.002-05:00

Fennel biscuit with a fried egg, thick-cut bacon and kale

January always marks the month that I buy a lot of leafy greens and other superfoods.

I put them in my pantry and refrigerator and try to figure out what to do with the ingredients in order to make them staples in my diet and not victims of the trash can. This time I decided to buy a rather large head of kale and try it out. Last weekend while I was planning my weekend breakfast menus I looked in my refrigerator to see a rather imposing head of kale and I figured it was time to get started.

One of the things I made was a breakfast biscuit with thick-cut bacon and a fried egg. The kale took the place of lettuce to make it a sort of breakfast "club" sandwich. In order to add a little flavor I decided to add a couple of teaspoons of fennel powder to the biscuits which would also go well with the thick-cut bacon.


Kale and Fingerling Potato Frittata

The next breakfast is one of my favorites - the frittata. I tend to use the frittata as a way to use up any fresh ingredients I have left in my refrigerator from the week prior. You can come up with such creative combinations of flavors by doing this and have a great breakfast. When I sauteed the kale it was different than spinach which seems to reduce almost instantly and reduce to a fraction of its former size. The kale wilted slightly but had a lot more texture and was delicious in the frittata. I combined it with fingerling potatoes and some crumbled goat cheese.

These two recipes proved that kale is a great addition to your produce list and an even better idea for breakfast.

Fennel Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 - 3/4 cup buttermilk or milk

2 tsp fennel powder

Cube the butter and cut into the 2 cups of self-rising flour with the fennel powder added. With your hands massage the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse sand. (You can test this by gathering a handful of the flour in your hand and it will hold together into a ball) Add the milk or buttermilk until it comes together into a dough (just add the 1/2 cup first and add more if you need it). Flour a surface on your counter and roll out to about 1 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter round and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

Kale and Potato Frittata

8 eggs

1 cup chopped kale

8 fingerling potatoes (sliced)

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/2 chopped onion

3 cloves chopped garlic

salt and pepper to taste

In a 10 inch frying pan saute the chopped onion and garlic until softened on medium high heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until they are cooked through then add the chopped kale and fry until slightly wilted and softened. In a mixing bowl beat the eggs and add salt and pepper to taste (I tend to use 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper)

Add the eggs and sprinkle the goat cheese on top. Cook the frittata on the stove top until the eggs start to set on the sides, put it under your oven broiler on low until the frittata cooks through (in the middle especially). Let it cool slightly and then turn the frittata out on a large cutting board. It should come out of the frying pan as one piece and then you can slice it like a pie.

Curried Eggs with Chickpeas

2011-01-10T11:58:00.001-05:00

Can someone say SNOW DAY?!

In Chattanooga there aren't many times when you can say those two words unless you are a teacher. However, at the last minute I got an email and before I knew it I was planning a special breakfast for my husband and I.

I've had a recent love affair with curry after making this delicious Eric Ripert recipe. So I added a teaspoon of curry and some chickpeas and top with feta. Add some thick-cut bacon and a couple slices of fresh bread and you will be ready to go out and make your first big snowman.

6 eggs

2 tbsp olive onion

1/2 chopped onion

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1 12 ounce can of chickpeas

2 tbsp feta cheese

1 tsp curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet heat the olive oil on medium high. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent. Add the chickpeas and cook until heated through. In a mixing bowl, whisk 6 eggs with 1 tbsp of water. Add the curry powder. Add into the skillet and scramble the mixture. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

Scenes from Christmas 2010

2011-01-07T13:41:00.002-05:00

There is nothing sadder than taking down a Christmas tree.

Now that we're about to close the first week of the New Year and as I take the Christmas decorations down I thought I would revisit my favorite scenes from Christmas 2010. I would have done this earlier but the flu kept me from a lot of my plans during the holidays.

Either way we were able to get the first white Christmas in Chattanooga, TN in about 26 years. So we were blessed to have some amazing highlights and photos to share. Thankfully we have this year to look forward to and more memories to make.

My husband Toby and our two dogs roughing it in the snow.

Our dog Hero with her Christmas present

My Snow Villages (a gift from my dear friend Becky Conner) were one of the hightlights of my Christmas. I loved every moment they were up.

Happy New Years!!!

Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

2011-01-06T14:22:00.001-05:00

I'm in love with nutella. I will put it on everything and continue to try to find more ways to incorporate it into recipes. So as I was creating new types of oatmeal I saw the recipe on the back of the oatmeal container for....you guessed it - Oatmeal cokies. So enter a few changes here and there (substituted self-rising flour for the flour and leavening agents) and tweaked the ratios and I came up with a delicious cookie with a nutella flavoring.

One thing I've noticed is that if you put too much nutella into a recipe - it becomes incredibly rich and overpowering. So this time I only put 1/2 cup of nutella into the recipe and the result is a slight flavoring that compliments the cookie and doesn't over power it.

If we are going to be eating more oatmeal for National Oatmeal Month we mind as well have it in cookie form as well.

1 3/4 cup of self-rising flour

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened

2 eggs

3 cups quick cook oats

1/2 cup nutella

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/4 brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups chopped walnuts

Combine the butter and sugars together in a mixer with the paddle attachment and mix until fluffy (a couple of minutes). Add the nutella and then the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Then put the flour in 1/2 cup a time until mixed through. Add the quick cook oats and take off the mixer. Fold in the walnuts with a spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes.

Oatmeal Recipes for National Oatmeal Month

2011-01-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

I've definitely made some New Year's resolutions this year. One of them is to listen to my husband's rants about eating a good breakfast during the week and actually do it. This isn't an easy task. The only thing I truly want in the morning is a bowl of coffee. Then when I feel human again, I can think about food.

Since the New Year (appoximately 3 days and counting) I've held on to eating breakfast in the morning. I've been eating that granola I made last week and it's been great. The unfortunate thing is I get bored really easy. So when I was perusing facebook recently it was perfect timing when I saw Bon Appetit remind everyone that it's National Oatmeal month. Which is another perfect idea for breakfast that takes relatively little time to assemble in the morning. Especially if you use quick cook oats. Somehow plain oatmeal isn't sexy enough so here are a few ideas you can use that you probably have in your pantry on an every day basis.

Mix in your favorite jam - It will provide a little sweetness to the oatmeal and your favorite fruit
Try different spices - Cardamom, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Allspice can add a little zip to your oatmeal
Dried Fruit and nuts - I love throwing in whatever I have on hand and I feel I don't get as hungry as fast when I add nuts to my morning cereal or oatmeal
Fruit Juice - ok this is a new one for me. Instead of water or milk I added Orange Juice and it came out great. The oatmeal equivalent of a creamsicle.
Fresh Fruit - This way you can make your oatmeal seasonal

This are just a few of my tips. Hopefully they give you the ability to create your own oatmeal masterpiece. Here are a few of my own.

Orange Creamsicle Oatmeal

1/2 cup quick cook oats

1 cup orange juice

1 tbsp milk or cream

Combine and cook in a microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Until it thickens. Top with a little sprinkling of sugar and milk or cream for the full creamsicle effect.

Cardamom Walnut Oatmeal

1/2 cup quick cook oats

1 cup milk

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tbsp brown sugar

Combine and cook the first two ingredients in the microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes until it thickens. Top with walnuts, cardamom and sugar.

Blueberry Croissant French Toast

2011-01-03T13:17:00.001-05:00

For my first post of the New Year, I thought it would be perfect to talk about my New Year's Day breakfast. Eating breakfast more regularly is also one of my New Year's resolutions. During the weekend, eating breakfast seems as natural as breathing. The weekdays are more about getting as much sleep as possible and dashing out the door with a large cup of coffee.

This New Year's Eve we had a few friends over to say goodbye to the challenges of 2010. For New Year's day breakfast I always try to be prepared. The last thing I want to do is make breakfast after a long night. The first thing I want to do is pop something in the oven while I nurse my first cup of coffee. With New Year's, it's always a possibility that someone may stay over. So I got the idea, when I was planning for the food for New Year's Eve, to also make a new French Toast Casserole.

Then I saw the mini croissants in the bakery and got a revelation.

The were day old mini crossaints (they were on sale). I purchased them and knowing I had some leftover blueberry jam I went about making a new breakfast recipe. All you have to do is slice the croissants in half and slather them with jam. Put the sandwich in a 13x9 glass baking dish and repeat for about 20-25 mini croissants. If you have normal sized croissants you can do the same thing just use half as many. In the morning all you have to do is pop the casserole and a cookie sheet with thick-cut bacon and you're all set. I love weekend breakfasts. Now I just have to start to love it on the weekdays.

Blueberry Croissant French Toast Casserole

15-20 day old mini croissants

Approx 8 oz of your favorite jam

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups of half and half

2 tbsp brown sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Slice your croissants in half and slather the jam in between to make a sandwich (don't be stingy!) Stack the croissants side by side in a greased 13x9 glass pan. (if you use a metal pan baking time may fluctuate) Squeeze the croissants together so that there is single layer of croissants with no holes in between. In a separate mixing bowl combine the eggs and half & half. Whisk together and pour over the croissants. Push the croissants down to make sure the mixture is distributed evenly. Put plastic wrap over it and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. On day of baking take it out and let it come to room temperature. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top and place in a 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.

Easy Breakfast Casseroles that are Perfect for the New Year

2010-12-31T16:54:00.000-05:00

I'm a huge fan of big weekend breakfasts that you can make the night before and pop in the oven along with your bacon. There seems to be no better holiday for this than on New Year's when you've been up all night partaking in more than a few glasses of champagne. The last thing you want to do is make a huge breakfast with a headache. However, you'll need a good breakfast to reverse the effects of too much celebrating.

Since it's the end of the year, I thought I would revist my favorite make ahead breakfasts that are also perfect to make for New Year's Day.

Pork Fried Rice - A Great New Year's Eve Snack

2010-12-30T13:52:00.001-05:00

There are many benefits to thinking ahead for New Year's Eve. For instance - when you get home after a great New Year's party it's always a good idea to have a snack to ease the effects of all the glasses of champagne. Even when I've had parties at my home and people have stayed until the wee hours I've always found myself making a snack for my guests before they go home.

Recently after making a turkey and ham for Thanksgiving, I found myself with lots of ham leftovers. One night I decided to use the ham to make pork fried rice for dinner. It was a hit with my husband and really easy to make. This alone makes it the perfect after New Year's party snack so you'll wake up feeling ready to take on the New Year.

Pork Fried Rice (with ham)

Adapted from Cooks.com

1/2 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup celery, diagonally sliced
2 cups ham, diced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons oil
3 cups cooked rice, cold
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, slightly beaten
pinch of hot pepper flakes or cayenne, to taste
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

Sauté onions, celery, and ham in oil until vegetables are tender crisp.Add rice. Combine pepper, salt, egg and soy sauce.
Stir into rice mixture. Cook, stirring 2 to 3 minutes or until heated.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies with Walnuts

2010-12-29T13:47:00.000-05:00

While most people are ready to detox after the holidays from all the sweets and delicious food they've (over) consumed, I've only just now gotten started. Our Christmas was sans sweets due to the fact that I was sick with the flu. So I thought it was only fair, in these waning moments of 2010 to make a treat for my husband in appreciation for his caretaking skills.

While I know he LOVES chocolate cookies, I also knew I wanted to do something a little different. Luckily I still had leftover dried cherries and walnuts from the lack of holiday baking I did. I did have strength to stock up on the supplies evidently.

I love the combination of chocolate with cherries and nuts. It almost feels like its a healthy cookie if you overlooked the two cups of sugar and half a pound of butter.

I won't tell anyone if you don't.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies with Walnuts

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks or 8 ounces) of unsalted butter

2 large eggs

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups dried cherries

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy (a couple of minutes) Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the cocoa (1/3 cup at a time) mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and resume. Add the flour (1/2 cup at a time) let incorporate and then add another 1/2 cup until the flour is completely mixed in. Stop the mixer and take out the mixing bowl. Add the dried cherries and fold in with a spatula until incorporated. Repeat with the walnuts. Use a 1 inch cookie scoop and place on cookies sheets. Bake on (parchment lined or silpat lined) cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. They will seem slightly underdone but as my mentor (a chef) once said - "You can never under-bake a cookie"

Blueberry Ginger Jam

2010-12-28T13:44:00.001-05:00

Making jam is really a cathartic experience for me.

Making jam is the ultimately domestic cooking experience along with baking bread. Lucky that the two go perfectly together. Lately I've made my jams instead of buying them at the store. While I haven't gotten to a large enough quantity for canning and storing them in my pantry, I'm heading in my direction. Recently my best friend started canning large quantities of soups and other goodies. When it was time to put together Christmas goody bags, she said it was like shopping in your own pantry: easy and stress free.

I'm a fan of stress free.

I've continued to gain strength from my recent bout with the flu and yesterday I decided as I was making dinner, that I was cook some new jam. There were frozen blueberries and fresh ginger and a new jam was born. This recipe is a skillet recipe. Just add all the ingredients in a skillet and put in a jar. No need to seal it off as it makes enough for one jar which is perfect for the Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches we'll have in the next month along with a few smears on toast for breakfast.

A comforting way to regroup after the holidays. Now it's time for me to make plans for canning this beautiful jam. I can wait to see my pantry full of jam.

Blueberry Ginger Jam

2 bags of 16 oz frozen blueberries

2 cups sugar

6 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp grated ginger

Combine the blueberries and sugar together and add the juice and ginger. Bring to a boil on medium high and let reduce down for about 20 minutes. Test to see if the jam is ready. Let cool and then put in a jar with a lid and put in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Homemade Granola Recipe

2010-12-27T15:52:00.002-05:00

It started with the flu and then just went down hill from there. All I remember is feeling extremely rundown. It was a Monday, a little less than two weeks before Christmas. We were leaving on Friday to go to my sister's house. By Thursday I was struggling to do the normal things a person does (like walking) and on Friday morning I found out from the doctor that I had the flu.

Christmas plans denied...

So it's almost two weeks later and I'm finally writing a blog post. I'm still a little tired and facing the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow. I decided that it was time to get back to my blog and to get back into the kitchen. Now I just needed to have a subject to write about. I don't have grand recipes and menus to blog about from Christmas unfortunately. So I decided to face a New Year's resolution to eat breakfast regularly (my husband will be happy to hear this). I raided my cupboard and found some dried fruits and nuts leftover from my holiday baking combined it with some quick cook oats, honey, maple syrup and a few other ingredients and turned it into homemade granola. It's the first step to a New Year and getting back into the groove of blogging.

I think it's going to be ok...

Homemade Granola

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

4 cups quick cup oats

1 tsp lemon flavoring (or vanilla)

8 oz dried figs

6 oz dried apricots

1 cup dried cherries

Combine the the vegetable oil, lemon flavoring, maple syrup and honey together. Chop the dried fruit together and combine with nuts and the oats. Pour the wet ingredients into the dried ingredients and work into the oats with your hands until the mixture is moist through. Put onto two cookie sheets and into a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the granola is toasted golden brown.

Lemon Flavored French Toast

2010-12-14T15:16:00.001-05:00

This may look like your average French toast but it's not.

Almost every winter when it's so bitter cold you can't stand it anymore, I start to crave citrus. I crave it in my bones like my body is trying to take me back to my days in Florida where the temperature never got below 50 degrees. Even when it did my parents forced us to wear ski jackets.

You might have seen that I've been on a French toast kick lately. I cannot defend this action except to say that French toast is easy and time is something of a precious commodity these days. Recently, I needed to buy lemon flavoring (you'll find it next to the vanilla in your baking aisle) in order to make the Panettone recipe in my "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" cookbook. I loved how the flavoring permeated the bread and thought it would be a great addition to French toast as well.When using lemon flavoring just use it in place of your vanilla (1 tsp) and then combine it with the zest of a lemon and add them both into the egg batter mixture.

It was a welcome change from my normal French toast recipe. Now if I could only transport myself back to Florida.

Made For You Monday: Easy Wine Bags

2010-12-13T14:08:00.000-05:00

Some people are so talented with their hands.

These people are a wealth of creativity and have no problem coming up with enough inspiration and ideas to make all their Christmas gifts. I admire such people. I love the idea of handmade gifts. I love the idea of the personal touch it gives the recipient and knowing that there isn't anything else like the gift you've just given.

I don't like the time it takes to make a handmade gift for every person I know.

When you're a working girl you rarely have time to make dinner let alone gifts unless you start in September or October. But then you need the time to think of that in September and October and make your plan. No doubt it's a vicious circle. I've found out myself through following tons of talented craft blogs that there is a middle ground. So recently when I was invited to a Hannukkah party and I knew I wanted to bring a bottle of wine to the hostess and a friend of mine that would also be there, I decided to make the wine bag to give it a personal touch.

I used some leftover burlap (I keep a stash at all times) and some felt to make a rose and the leaves to decorate it. The wine bag was pretty simple. I cut it out in one piece and sewed the sides together which left me an automatic handle.

Supplies

1 piece of burlap that is approximately 30" long and 10" wide.

Sewing Machine and thread (I used brown thread)

Hot Glue gun

Glue Sticks

Scissors

Red felt

Green felt

Fold the burlap over so the fold is at the top of the wine bottle. Cut out a larger form of the wine bottle tapering down slightly at the neck and leaving two inches on all sides. It should come out in one piece. Then pin the sides together with a 1/4" seam allowance and sew the sides and bottom together. Make sure not to sew too far up past where the neck of the bottle begins because you will need enough room to get the bottle in the bag.

Now to make the rose. This part is not hard either. Cut out a 8" diameter circle of red felt. Start and the edge and begin to cut a spiral all the way to the inside of the circle. There is a great tutorial here which is where I got the idea to make the roses.

Then cut out two leaves per rose. Just hot glue the rose and the leaves to the front of the wine bag and you're done. It felt great to put a handmade touch on something that was a gift. It didn't take too much time and they loved it - after I explained to them that I didn't get it at World Market.

Macaroni and Cheese with Crispy Shallots

2010-12-09T13:26:00.001-05:00

I got home from the gym last night and the pantry was bare. My finger was about to call the nearest pizza place when I got my spirit back and decided there had to be something I could make for dinner.

Pasta was the first piece of treasure I found. I always have pasta. The next was one piece of Chorizo. No shredded cheese but I did find some sharp cheddar sliced cheese that we use for sandwiches. Then I found a true treasure. A container of crispy shallots that I had purchased for a spruced up version of green bean casserole that never happened.

We have the players now it's time to throw it together. When I make homemade macaroni and cheese I rarely look up the recipe any more. It's all about making a roux by melting a half of stick of butter (4 tbsp) and combining it with 1/4 cup flour to make a paste in a sauce pan. Then let the paste cook out the flour taste and pour in cold whole milk. I say cold because to avoid lumps you always have to combine hot ingredients into cold or cold ingredients into hot. Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and season with salt and pepper. Then add 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. In a separate skillet I took the diced chorizo sausage and cooked it and added it to the Mac N Cheese. Then I spread the crispy shallots on top. A delicious Hail Mary.

Now I'm off to make a grocery list or we might quite possibly starve tonight...

Panettone French Toast

2010-12-07T13:02:00.001-05:00

In my office it's a safe bet that starting on December 1st you'll start seeing gift baskets and food presents start to arrive and continue until the week before Christmas. Panettone is one of those holiday food presents that reminds you the holiday is fast approaching. They line the shelves of specialty stores and my local organic grocery like little tin soldiers ready do to their duty as a hostess gift or present.

Whether you receive Panettone as a gift or make it yourself as I did recently, it's always a good idea to use it in a couple of different ways. It's a lot of bread. So after I baked a couple of loaves I decided to make some French toast out of what was leftover. I've said it time and time again: French toast is the easiest breakfast to make without having to feel like you phoned it in. Since you can use all types of breads, the possibilities are endless. You can even use it as a dessert as well. Your guests will hail you as brilliant.

The Panettone added a delicious flavor to the French toast which made it sweet and savory. The dried fruit and lemon flavoring was delicious and topping it with powdered sugar puts the finishing touch.

If you are going to have tons of food around the house from gifts you mine as well use it to your advantage and use your time more wisely - like relaxing with a cup of coffee.

Panettone French Toast for Two

4-6 slices of Panettone

3 eggs

1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half

1 tsp vanilla

Powdered sugar

Beat the eggs with the cream in a mixing bowl. Dredge the sliced of Panettone through the egg mixture on both sides. Put in a preheated frying pan on medium heat and cook until golden brown on each side. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Saveur Cookies We Love: Mexican Butter Cookies With Sprinkles

2010-12-05T19:39:00.001-05:00

You can't win at every recipe. This is good because it gives me a chance to show you that no one is perfect. We all have missteps in the kitchen. It happens, you learn from it and you move through.

Last year I was lucky enough to participate in a cookie round-up of Bon-Appetit's recipes. This year our group decided to choose Saveur's holiday cookies from around the world. Unfortunately I'm already a little late in posting this. Besides being late I chose the Mexican Butter recipe which looked like a low maintenance cookie that is a great holiday cookie for those of us working gals who don't have a lot of time.

But the cookies spread and the hole in the center disappeared when they baked. I would leave the cookies to chill a couple of hours before you bake them if I were to do it again. No matter how the cookies looked the tasted delicious. A chewy butter cookie that I thoroughly enjoyed

Mexican Butter Cookies with Sprinkles (From Saveur December 2010)

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 egg yolks

1 egg white (lightly beaten)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a mixer, beat together sugar, butter, and vanilla until fluffly. Add yolks one at a time; beat. Add dry ingredients; mix. Roll dough into a 12" long cylinder. Cut cylinder into 3 pieces; roll each into a 12 1" long pieces. Roll each into a ball; transfer to a lined baking sheet. Flatten each into a small disk; using your finger, poke a hole in center of each disk. Chill for 1 hour. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Brush each ring with egg white; dip into sprinkles to coat. Return to baking sheets; bake for 15 minutes. Let cool.

If you want to look at some other "Cookies we Love"

Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes

Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen

Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook

Judy of No Fear Entertaining

Kelly of Sass & Veracity

Michelle of Big Black Dog

RJ of Flamingo Musings

Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench

Pumpkin Scones

2010-12-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

On the weekend after a tough week all I want to do is nurse a cup of coffee and feed myself fluffy baked goods to drown my stress.

As I was entering this new blog post, I started typing in the word pumpkin and a ton of suggestions popped up. My previous titles included Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Waffles, Pumpkin pancakes, and so on. It's no surprise that I love pumpkin. Pumpkin scones were the next variation for a lazy Saturday brunch for my husband and I. So I made these scones along with scrambled eggs and grated Gruyere cheese, thick-cut bacon and a huge cup of coffee.

Baked goods make all your troubles go away.

Pumpkin Scones

3 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 cup butter)

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together in a bowl. Cut the butter into tiny cubes and then work the butter into the flour with your hands until it resembles sand. Make a well and pour the buttermilk into the center. Mix until incorporated (don't knead) and just wet. Turn out the dough on a floured board and gather together into a circle. Cut into wedges and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

New Holiday Specialty Appliances To Make Baking Easier

2010-12-02T22:46:00.000-05:00

Breville Pie Maker

Can someone say Easybake Oven?

That's all I can think about when I see the recent trends in specialty appliances that are coming out for this holiday season. It started with the Pie Maker Gift set on the Williams Sonoma website. It seemed like a mirage until I saw it again in the catalog. A waffle iron type contraption that you can make 4 individual pies and it will crimp the top crust onto the little pie.

Woah...

Babycakes Cupcake Maker

Then I was perusing the sale papers for Black Friday and saw the Babycakes Cupcake Maker at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It makes 5-8 cupcakes in 8 minutes... Clearly I was out of the loop so I decided to do some internet searches on what other new appliances were around. Then I ran across this electric cookie press from Cuisinart. No more struggling with pressing cooking dough through little discs on your own. There's a new cookie press in town and its got its own mojo.

Electric Cookie Press from Cuisinart

It seems like we've regressed to our childhood with tabletop specialty appliances that are geared towards making your baking needs easier. The funny part is that I never had an easybake oven and stood in awe of my friends who had them. Now that I'm older I can make good on this need was never fulfilled.

Oh wait no I can't...

Let me explain: while I love my older cottage home, I don't have a lot of kitchen storage. Since I have these space issues I have to be careful which appliances I choose to take the little space I have. For most bakers who are established you won't find you need these tools but I can't help thinking that these are the perfect gifts for those loved ones who are just beginning. So give the gift of an adult easybake oven - you have plenty to choose from.

Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies

2010-12-01T14:03:00.000-05:00

The holiday baking season has officially begun.

It's December 1st which means it's the first day of our Advent calendar gifts. Since I recently crafted my own baking inspired Advent calendar, I decided to put it to good use and bake something for my husband's first gift. It's no secret in our house that my husband is a huge dark chocolate fan. In fact he takes the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate bars I keep for baking as his own dessert stash.

While I was searching for little gifts to buy, I found a bag of dark chocolate M&Ms that I picked up for one of his gifts. Then I thought they would be put to better use in a chocolate cookie to really give him his dose of dark chocolate.

So I went to my chocolate cookie standby and used Barefoot Contessa's White Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe and adapted it for my own personal uses. As usual I substituted self-rising flour for all the leavening agents. Then I added chopped pecans and the dark chocolate M&Ms.

The result was a serious chocolate cookie and a great start to the Advent calendar tradition..

Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies
(Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's White Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe)

2 cups self rising flour
2 large eggs
1/2 pound unsalted butter
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark chocolate M&Ms
1 cup chopped pecans

Set the oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs. Add the cocoa until fully incorporate and then add the 2 cups of flour. Stop mixer and by hand fold in the M&Ms and pecans. Use a large cookie scoop (my preference) and on a parchment lined cookie sheet scoop out the cookies (you will get roughly 28) Wet your hands and lightly push the tops down so its level (it helps it spread evenly) Bake for about 12-15 minutes.

Panettone for the Holidays

2010-11-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

It's the holiday season and nothing speaks to my Italian heritage like Panettone. This delicious fruit studded bread is originally from Milan and was traditionally prepared for Christmas and New Years. While Milan is the birthplace of this bread, it's now more popular in central and southern Italy.

History lesson over.

From my previous posts you may have read that I'm a big fan of "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day." This book has irrevocably changed my relationship with baking bread by making it attainable, whether it's french baguettes or sourdough bread.

So as I baked my way through this book I discovered the Panettone recipe and my ancestors called out to me. So as I shopped for Thanksgiving I picked up a variety of dried fruits and lemon flavoring and decided to give it a try. It wasn't until the dough was rising that I realized you needed special Panettone molds (metal or paper) with high sides to give it its high sides.

Sigh...

While I did make a mental note to get these molds for next time, I decided to make the best out of a difficult situation. As I searched frantically through my baking supplies I realized that I did have a souffle mold with "higher" sides that I decided to use to salvage the whole process. The remaining dough I put in a normal bread loaf pan. Either way the end result was delicious with the lemon flavoring through the brioche type bread and the dried fruits that added the right amount of sweetness.

It's a great idea for gifts for friends, hostess gifts for the holidays, family or just to eat with a cup of coffee in the morning.

For the Panettone Recipe from the book click here. Or just buy the book - you won't regret it.

A Baker Inspired Advent Calendar

2010-11-29T08:33:00.002-05:00


Use mini brioche tins to create a baker inspired Advent calendar.

Advent calendars played a major role in my childhood. My mother would get a special chocolate Advent calendar and my sister and I would flip on who would get the even days or odd days. I would always want the even days because the 24th got the biggest chocolate...My sister who was younger than me didn't figure that out until a few years later.

Since I've started blogging I've seen the most creative takes on Advent calendars. On craft blogs especially I've seen so many wonderful takes on the Advent calendar from bobbins to spools of thread there are about a million ways to interpret the Advent calendar.

For about a couple of years I've been meaning to make the Advent calendar from The Purl Bee. It's a beautiful felt Advent calendar. As soon as I found it, I went out and bought all of the supplies.

I still haven't started it...

I realized that this was a larger undertaking for a career girl who is cooking, baking, blogging and entertaining for the holidays. Then I realized, I haven't seen too many foodie takes on an Advent calendar so I set-off to develop my own easy to make calendar for the kitchen. It didn't take long until I found these adorable mini brioche tins at Bed, Bath and Beyond and I was instantly inspired.

Then I set-out to get the rest of my supplies. Hobby Lobby and Target were my next stops. Target was the surprise that had in their scrapbooking section, a packet of Advent calendar rub-on transfers that had all the numbers necessary for my calendar. (Get two packages in case you mess up like I did)

Supplies:

25 mini brioche tins

1 package 50 magnets

2 packets of Advent Calendar rub-ons

1 packet of Glittered Cardstock paper

1 can spray adhesive

Scrapbook circle punch (1 1/2 in) - scalloped edge

Directions:

Rub on the numbers from 1 - 25 on the cardstock and use your 1 1/2 inch scrapbook hole punch to cut them all out.
Use the spray adhesive to glue the numbers inside the brioche mini tins
Glue the Magnets to the back of the tins
Arrange the numbers of your Advent calendar on your refrigerator
Place notes of directions where the treats or presents are located under each number

Foodbuzz 24x24: A Family Tree Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T12:58:00.003-05:00

From lower left clockwise: Madison, Lynn, Carl, Katie, Toby, Phillip, Melissa and Helena

Thanksgiving is my Superbowl Sunday.

It's the day I come to play and I come to win. (cue the song "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito from the Karate Kid soundtrack) It's also my holiday to entertain as I usually go away to see my family at Christmas. There are no second chances on Thanksgiving. Only mishaps you can laugh at later.

Thanksgiving seems to be one of the only holidays where the plan is to solely spend time with your family. Well, spend time with family and eat. You're not expecting presents or wondering what you're going to get - you're expectations quite simply are to break bread with your loved ones.

When you plan an event at your house it's always a good idea to write down the original objective. Not really to remember the event, but to see where you end up after the first idea. This always happens to me. I'll plan a gathering at my house that is completely different than the first intent.

Our plans centered around spending time with family that we haven't seen in a long time. On my husband's side there are three brothers: Carl (my father-in law), Jerry and Terry. These three brothers have been through a lot together and we wanted to plan a Thanksgiving to get the brothers all back together again. However, a death in the family and other obstacles prevented Jerry and Terry from attending. The upside was that Jerry's son Phillip and family were still able to attend.

Helena, Katie and Madison wait patiently for Carl to carve the turkey

The Pendergrass Gathering was still on...

So Phillip, Melissa and their three girls (Helena, Katie and Madison) and two dogs arrived Thursday morning. There was knitting, chasing dogs, Barbies and Battleship playing. The girls were a blast. We loved spending time with Phillip and Melissa - having another young couple to talk to and catch up with. My husbands parents, Carl and Lynn, also arrived and got to take part in the fun.

However, Thanksgiving is also about the food so let me take a quick break and tell you about this journey. It is my experience that when you work (this includes in and out of the home) it usually gets hectic around the time you are trying to make plans for Thanksgiving. So instead of being able to focus on turkeys, stuffing and table arrangements in your spare time, you also have to focus on work. This was my plight. The corporation I work for always helps sponsor a local walk to benefit the Chattanooga Homeless coalition. Normally that wouldn't be a problem.

The walk is Thanksgiving morning.

So instead of waking up early to put the bird in the oven, I wake up extremely early (4 a.m.) to go to the event and then arrive back home at 8:30 a.m. to start with Thanksgiving. This is a recipe for disaster, right? Not really. The week before I prep everything. I make the pie crusts a week early and then I make the pies the day or two before. I even chopped the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and put them in ziploc bags ready for when I assemble the dressing the night before. The dressing, sweet potato casserole and everything else on the menu are assembled and put in their pans the night before. On Thanksgiving all I had to do was place pans in and out of the oven and the only two dishes that are made the day of are mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

The finished product - our Thanksgiving spread.

Let's meet our cast of characters - The Menu.

Roast Turkey with Herb Butter

Italian Sausage Sourdough Dressing

Sweet Potato Casserole with Mascarpone & Romano Cheese

Bourbon Gravy

Pomegranate Glazed Ham

Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

Classic Smashed Potatoes

Roasted Green Beans

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Pecan Pie

Toby my husband presenting the buttered bird.

The Turkey Preparation is something I found in Gourmet magazine right before my first Thanksgiving. It was an article with Alton Brown on how to cook a turkey without it getting dry. No stuffing, no basting and starting off with a high heat to seal in the juices and then dropping the temp down to finish it off. It has always provided the juiciest bird every year. In fact, I've passed it along to friends and my sister and everyone loves it. So basically I rinse and dry the turkey. Then I chop some herbs (rosemary, sage, and parsely), grate some lemon zest and put into about 2 sticks of softened butter. Then I cover the bird. with the butter.

Then put roughly chopped orange slices and onions in the cavity (don't pack) and put in a 500 degree oven for 35 minutes. When finished drop it down to 325 degrees for a couple of hours. An aluminum foil helmet can be made and placed on top to prevent burning of the breast.

The finished bird.

Ham glazed in Honey and Pomegranate juice.

Most of the time I don't have a ham along with turkey. Since there were more people I decided to add it in. The only issue: How do you cook everything when the turkey is still in the oven and you don't want everything to get cold waiting for the ham? I improvised and warmed the ham in the microwave... Before you throw stones at me, the ham only needed to be warmed in the oven. So I put a Pomegranate and Honey Glaze on it, placed it in a glass Pyrex dish and cooked it on one of my microwave presets. It worked and everything got to the table at the same time.

Let's talk table setting.

In a previous post I discussed how I decided to make a Toile-burlap table runner for Thanksgiving. This was the basis for my decorations. I decided against flowers for the table and wanted to keep it natural (why yes, a metallic pumpkin is indeed natural and quite fun now that you mention it) What I did add was a find in my local organic grocery store - Lady Apples. These cute miniature apples were the perfect decoration to just toss around the table for a harvest feel and went perfect with the burlap.

The best part was that everyone decided to start eating them and before you know it they were gone. The girls thought they were just about the cutest thing ever.

Miniature trees to hang thoughts on what you're thankful for

All good things must end with pie.

Apple, Pumpkin and Pecan Pie

All good Thanksgiving meals end with pie. I love everything about pie. I love making pie and I really love eating it. There are so many different ways to change up the Thanksgiving pies but in the end I decided on keeping it traditional.

I made my favorite - apple, pumpkin and pecan pie. One time my friend Becky, who is a Research and Development manager at a large food company told me that the best recipes were the ones developed on the back of the packaging. So for the pumpkin and pecan pie - that is exactly what I used. However, my pie crust recipe that I will use for the rest of my life will be Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee recipe. If you use it you won't be sorry.

Apple Pie with a leaf crust. Just use a leaf cookie cutter and cut out the shapes and lay in a pattern on top.

My apple pie is another story. Apple pie is something that needs to be fine tuned. I found in my pie making past that I either didn't bake the pie hot enough to get the juices bubbling or the pie would be too juicy and runny. For me the one of the most important things in apple pie is the thickening agent. I use cornstarch. I mix it in with the brown sugar and spices and combine with the apple slices. When it bakes it thickens the juices and the pie is just perfect.

Another thing I always do is use different cookie cutters to create a fun top crust. It's creative and easy and makes a beautiful final result.

We commemorated this Thanksgiving with a fun Family Tree collage of pictures that we took.

In so many households, families have scattered to the winds. It's important to have holidays that celebrate getting back together and reconnecting and getting closer with our loved ones. In the best case scenario we don't wait for these holidays to happen - we make them happen on our own. We are so blessed to have had this opportunity to have a great time with family.

Recipes:

Sweet Potato Casserole

6 large sweet potatoes

6 oz of Mascarpone cheese

1 cup grated Romano cheese

4 oz of unsalted butter

1 tbsp Italian seasoning (rosemary, basil, parsley)

Roast the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for a couple of hours (until soft and cooked through) Remove the skins and put the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add the cheeses, seasonings, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and place in a greased glass baking dish (13x9) Sprinkle 1 tbsp of romano cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (heated throough and bubbling on the sides)

Apple Pie

1 bag of Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and sliced

1 recipe pate brisee

1/2 tsp Allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 egg

In a 9 inch pie dish place the crust. In a bowl combine the apples, spices, cornstarch and brown sugar. Toss with your hands until its all incorporated and apples start to get syrupy. Place in the pie dish. Take the second half of the pie dough and roll out. Take a favorite cookie cutter and cut out shapes for the top of the pie crust. Fan out the cut-outs to create a great design. Beat the egg with 1 tbsp water and brush on top of the pie. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake a 375 degrees for 50 minutes. You should be able to see the fruit bubbling up through the crust and the top a nice golden brown.

Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

2 pints fresh cranberries

6 oz Pom (or other pomegranate juice)

1 cup sugar

In a skillet on medium high put the juice and fresh cranberries in until they start to boil and the cranberries split apart. Add the sugar and stir. Cook until the mixture reduces down and get's thick like preserves. Put in a bowl. You're done!

Pomegranate Honey Glazed Ham

1 Spiral Pre Cooked Ham

1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup Pom juice

Mix the juice and honey together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and cook until the mixture reduced down and gets thick. Cover the ham with the glaze and place in a pyrex 13x9 dish. Cook in the oven according to instructions or place in the microwave on a meat preset time.

Bourbon Gravy recipe (I made it sans giblets)

16 Bean Soup

2010-11-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

The first party I remember giving as an adult was in the winter of 2001 when I was living in Atlanta. My friend Stacy and I had gotten together and decided to give a winter Smores party for our friends. Everyone would go ice skating and then come back to soup and hot cocoa and treats. We also gave away little Smores ornaments as favors. It was a great plan.

But then I got sick.

Instead of ice skating, I decided to stay back and get everything ready for the party. The main dish was a huge soup pot full of 16 bean soup. We've all seen this bag of assorted dried beans in the grocery aisle and probably passed it many times. I'm here to tell you that this bag of beans is worth making for your next soup. In fact when I made the soup everyone thought it was chili - little did they know it had no meat in it. When you make this soup make sure you throw away the soup flavoring packet that's included (yuck). We can do much better than that.

16 Bean Soup

1 16 oz package of 16 bean soup mix (throw away the flavor packet)

2 tbsp of chili powder

1 tbsp of cumin

1 onion chopped

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

3 pieces of bacon chopped

2 quarts Chicken broth

Pour the beans in a pot and fill with water until it covers the beans by an inch. Let them soak overnight. Strain and rinse the beans. In a dutch oven or soup pot put 1 tbsp olive oil in the bottom and cook the bacon over medium high heat until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and add chopped onion and garlic. Saute until translucent and then add the beans back in with the chicken broth and spices. Bring to a boil and the add the tomato paste. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 hours on medium heat until the beans soften and the soup thickens.

Thanksgiving Toile Table Runner

2010-11-22T15:30:00.000-05:00

There is no better "Made for You Mondays" project than coming up with a table runner for Thanksgiving.

When you have a square dining room table, table runners become a more important necessity for linens. I've convinced myself that eventually square dining room tables will be popular and I'm on the cutting edge. You can rarely find square dining room linens.

Along with the conundrum of square tablecloths, during this fall season I've discovered a love for incorporating burlap into my table runners. I did it for a nesting themed bridal shower I hosted at my house and decided to try it again for Thanksgiving. So off I went to Hobby Lobby to find another fabric that might offset the unfinished look of the burlap. I found it in a beautiful toile design that not only matched but also kept a neutral pallete that might let me use this table runner on a regular basis...

Score...

What you'll need:

Burlap fabric that is 24" w 108" L (my table is 54")

Corresponding fabric - 18" w x 82" L

Spool of chocolate brown or ivory thread

I didn't hem the burlap as I wanted it to look rustic. So I ironed a 1/2 " seam on the toile and laid it over the burlap (you should have around three inches from the finished edge of the toile and the end of the burlap) With your sewing machine sewing the toile to the burlap.

For now my Holiday linen problems are solved...until Christmas...