You can cook much faster...

when someone else removes the giblets, washes and dries, and even stuffs the turkey (with a little help from an enthusiastic six-year-old daughter) while you prepare the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.

when someone else chops the berries and greases the pans for your three loaves of cranberry bread.

when someone else melts the butter and gets and puts away the ingredients for your pecan pie.

Thanks, honey!

(I'm just wishing I'd realized how tired I was before I put that cranberry bread in the oven at 11:45 p.m.!)

The Dinner Party!

Last Friday night I tried the dinner party/recipe swap idea I'd gotten from BooMama with a few ladies from church; there were five of us in attendance. My nine-year-old daughter did a lovely job setting the table. She had been waiting all week for the opportunity. When she finished, she must have lit every candle in the house. Then my husband loaded up the kids for a night at CiCi's and a trip through Wal-Mart. What more could a kid want? Thank you, honey, for giving me some big-girl time!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures earlier, when my aunt was here, too.

Having a small crowd was great for conversational purposes! Highlights included jury duty stories and pronunciation oddities (not unusual, considering Melissa and Lynne both have backgrounds in speech therapy). Did you know that people from Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas will all pronounce Ponce de Leon differently? And that this is actually relevant since it is the name of a major street in downtown Atlanta? And that people from Arkansas will think that native Georgians (this includes news anchors and traffic reporters) sound really stupid odd when they pronounce it? But that people from Arkansas who feel superior to people from Georgia when pronouncing "Ponce de Leon" may themselves feel somewhat foolish when they hear someone from Texas pronounce it? Or that people from Texas have a really strange very unique pronunciation for the words Colorado and Nevada (or maybe that's just Lynne)? Or that Tina's husband pronounces "loin" (as in pork loin) "low-in"? And that I just have to hear him say it with my own two ears?

Or that Tina is highly photogenic?

And did I mention the food? Or the fact that I never start sentences with conjunctions but seem to be making a huge exception for this post? The food was OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD, topped off by my fudge truffle cheesecake and Melissa's mystery brownies, whose ingredients were not divulged until after they'd been tasted. (Curious, aren't you?)

Although it took me out of my usual comfort zone entertaining-wise (I'm much more casual - in over twenty-one years of marriage I had NEVER used my good china), this is an idea which I highly recommend. You can read the synopsis on BooMama's blog. The only thing we did differently is that the recipes are being emailed to me so that I can compile them into one document and send them to everyone, including ladies who were unable to attend but want to share in the recipe exchange. It will be nice to have them all in one place and be able to print extra copies as needed.

Thanks, sweet sisters, for the food and the fellowship!

Works-for-Me Wednesday: Crescent-Wrapped Gouda with Red Pepper Jelly

For the Christmas edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, I thought I would share a simple yet elegant appetizer for all of those holiday get-togethers.

Crescent-Wrapped Gouda with Red Pepper Jelly

1 (7-oz.) round of Gouda cheese
1 (8-oz.) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 egg, beaten
fancy crackers
red pepper jelly

Heat oven to 350˚. Cut cheese round in half to form 2 circles; remove wax.

Separate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal. Press each into a 6x6-inch rectangle. Place 2 rectangles, 3 inches apart, on ungreased cookie sheet. Place 1 cheese circle on center of each rectangle (from experience, I would take a knife and "break-up" the cheese; it will heat through better). If desired, use canape cutter or paring knife to cut 2 to 3 small decorative shapes from the corners of each remaining rectangle; set shapes aside. Place 1 remaining rectangle on top of each cheese round. Press dough around cheese to seal; curl bottom edges over top edges, gently stretching dough to form a ring of dough around cheese, sealing completely. Place decorative shapes on top of each pastry. Brush with beaten egg.

Bake at 350˚ for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Place on a decorative plate or platter, surrounded by fancy crackers and topped with red pepper jelly. 8 servings.

Technically, you could omit the red pepper jelly. To me, however, it is the highlight. Once we were invited to a Christmas party where I brought this appetizer. I didn't have any red pepper jelly and asked my husband to please pick some up on his way there from work. He ended up being very late because he had so much trouble finding a store that stocked it. He finally found it at Publix. Our hostess later gave me 3 jars as a Christmas gift. I will be making this on Friday night; if I remember, I'll take a picture and update the post with it.

For more Christmas Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Speaking of cooking...

My cousin Lynn has an interesting post entitled "Chili Apologetics" (you're curious, aren't you?). You'll even get a recipe if you read the comments. It makes me hungry, and maybe a wee bit frightened... She's talking about some serious chili! Stop by and say "hey!" (and copy that recipe if you're really brave).

Pizza: it's what's for supper

When you take your supper out of the oven then snap a picture of it, you know there's a post about it in your future. That's what happened last week when we had homemade pizza. I seem to have a cooking blog this week. I've considered starting one - and even have a folder of photos put together for making a header - but I think it will wait until later. Melissa and I were talking yesterday and she encouraged me to post my pizza ideas.

Step 1: The Crust

For years I made a homemade crust from fresh-ground wheat flour. It was very healthy, but unfortunately involved a lot of prep and rising time. I found this quick and easy crust recipe at Full Bellies, Happy Kids; although not nearly so healthy as my former recipe, it is a real time-saver and enables me to make pizza much quicker (which means more often).

Quick Pizza Dough

1 pkg. Quick Rise dry yeast (I use 2 tsp. instant yeast)
1 c. lukewarm water
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. honey
2 1/2 c. flour

Mix yeast in water, then add other ingredients. Mix well by hand. Cover with dishtowel and let sit in bowl for 5-10 minutes. Flatten on greased pan. Add your own toppings. Bake at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Step 2: The Sauce

Years ago, when first experiementing with homemade pizza, I bought ready-made pizza sauce. Unfortunately, we were never satisfied with the taste. I almost gave up on making pizza altogether until I found this sauce recipe in my cooking bible, The New Basics Cookbook:

Basic Tomato Sauce for Pizza

1 can (28 oz.) Italian-style tomato purée
1 large clove garlic, minced (fresh, not jarred!)
1 tsp. dried oregano or marjoram
4 fresh basil leaves or 1 tsp. dried
1 bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a 3-qt. saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.
3 cups (enough for two 12-inch pizzas)
Note: This sauce may be made ahead and frozen.

With sauce, a little preparation goes a long way. It takes very little extra effort to multiply this recipe, just buy a bigger can of tomatoes and add more of the ingredients. I usually quadruple and freeze it, then thaw what I need the next time I make pizza.

Step 3: The Cheese

The simplest thing for me is keep pre-grated Kraft Pizza Cheese in the freezer. If you use straight-up Mozzarella, you may want to wait and add it to your pizza during the last five minutes of cooking, since it is a very soft cheese and over-browns easily. I also use Parmigiano Reggiano, located in the deli/specialty cheese section of the grocery store. It has a very distinct taste and smell, not to be confused with the much milder pre-grated Parmesan cheese. This is a very hard cheese, which seems to store almost indefinitely. I only use a small chunk of it at a time, which I grate with my Pampered Chef deluxe cheese grater (it makes me feel like a server at The Olive Garden). I store the rest in a ziploc bag in the fridge.

Step 4: The Toppings

Obviously, this is very much a matter of personal taste and ingredients on-hand. I use lots of fresh garlic. The pizza below is from last week, and was topped with a fresh, sliced tomato from our garden (oh, I dread it when they run out!). We even like a "white pizza" with lots of cheese, herbs, and garlic (maybe a little drizzled olive oil), and no tomato sauce.

Hopefully I've given you a little "food for thought," pizza-wise!

Dinner for the Uninspired

Ever have one of those days when suppertime rolls around and you are completely and totally uninspired? What's worse is those days when you are not only uninspired, you simply do not want to cook. You know, those days when it's all you can do not to just call in pizza or have your honey pick up carry-out on his way home from work.

I'm having one of those days, and I'm going to share with you one of my quick fix meals for the uninspired chef. It's cooking on my stove as we speak (so to speak). This is one where you basically open a bunch of cans that are already in your pantry and dump them together in a large skillet. Opening all of those cans even stirred enough culinary creativity that I threw a pan of cornbread in the oven, too!

Chili Pasta Skillet

1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
15-oz. can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
8-oz. can tomato sauce (I usually have the regular 15 oz. cans, which is okay)
1/2 cup dried elbow macaroni
4-oz. can diced green chile peppers, drained
2 to 3 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

1. In a large skillet cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.
2. Stir in beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, uncooked macaroni, chile peppers, chili powder, and garlic salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender, stirring often. Remove skillet from heat; sprinkle mixture with cheese. Cover and let stand about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

recipe courtesy of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

 

Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style!

Overwhelmed with Joy is sponsoring Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style for sharing holiday recipes. I am going to toss three into the mix: Holiday Wassail, Sour Cream Apple Pie (including my grandmother’s fabulous, mix-in-the-pie-plate crust recipe), and Bacon/Hot Dog Wraps.

Holiday Wassail

In my early married days when I couldn't cook anything I discovered this recipe in one of my first cookbooks. I took it to every seasonal gathering we attended, finally purchasing a bigger crock-pot so I wouldn't spill it on the way. Here's your excuse to learn and perform The Wassail Song!

Holiday Wassail

1 gallon apple cider (buy the fresh kind in a "milk jug" in the produce section)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 6-oz. can frozen lemonade
1 6-oz. can frozen orange juice
12 whole cloves
6 whole allspice
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 4-inch cinnamon stick
2 bottles of port (optional - I've never tried it)

In a large kettle, combine cider, sugar, lemonade, and orange juice. Tie cloves and allspice into a small piece of cloth (I use cheesecloth) and add to cider. Add nutmeg and cinnamon stick; simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add wine; heat to steaming. Do not boil. Remove spice bag, discard, and serve hot. Makes 30 to 35 servings.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

I got this recipe several years ago from the Atlanta Journal/Constitution. It is not going to win any pie beauty contests; however, I promise it will make your taste buds happy.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Apple Filling:
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 9-inch deep-dish unbaked pie shell

Topping:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the filling, in a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, sour cream, flour, vanilla, and salt. Stir in apples to coat them well with filling mixture. Pour into crust, mounding apples in center. Bake 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make topping. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and remove pie. Sprinkle topping evenly over pie and bake 20 minutes.
Note: For more color and flavor, add 1/2 cup cranberries to apples before stirring them into the filling mixture.
Do-ahead tips: Bake a day in advance and serve chilled, at room temperature, or warmed in a low oven.

Here is my Grandmother Piles's pie crust recipe. The fabulous thing is that you stir the ingredients together right in the pie plate - no rolling or transferring!

Grandmother's Easy Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir ingredients together in pie plate, then shape by hand for crust.

Bacon/Hot Dog Wraps

These are absolutely amazing appetizers, and very easy. I know what you're thinking - hot dogs? Buy fancy ones like Hebrew National if you like, but it makes no difference. The cinnamon, sugar, and bacon drippings combine to make a divine "syrup." Men love these things. If very many people will be in attendance, you may want to double the recipe to avoid fighting. No joke.

Bacon/Hot Dog Wraps

1 pkg. of hot dogs (each cut into 5 pieces)
17 slices of bacon (each cut into 3 pieces)
1 c. dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
50 tooth picks

Preheat oven to 325. Wrap each hot dog piece with a piece of bacon and secure with a tooth pick. Place wrapped hot dogs in a single layer on a cookie sheet (see note below). Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon together in a bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture over the wrapped hot dogs. Bake for about an hour or until nice and brown (also make sure bacon looks done!).
Note: I cook these on the Pampered Chef stoneware large bar pan. I definitely recommend using something with a little edge to it, or the bacon grease will drip into your oven.

Head over to Overwhelmed with Joy for other great holiday cooking ideas!

Glazed Cinnamon Apples & My Kitchen of the Future

I haven't posted a recipe in a while, but I just couldn't resist sharing what's now cooking in my Crock Pot. I got this recipe in an insert from a box of Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. On a hunch I checked their website and found the recipe online, so I don't even have to type it!

Slow Cooker Glazed Cinnamon Apples

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in eight wedges
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Vanilla ice cream (optional)
Sugar, oatmeal or ginger snap cookies (optional)

PLACE apples in slow cooker; drizzle with lemon juice.
MIX granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Sprinkle mixture over apples; stirgently to coat apples. Drizzle with butter. Place lid on slow cooker.
COOK on LOW for 3 hours OR on HIGH for 2 hours until apples are done.
CAREFULLY remove lid to allow steam to escape. Spoon warm apple topping over ice cream; serve with cookies, if desired.
Number of Servings: 8-9

Let me tell you, this is some delicious stuff. We are having pork chops tonight, so I thought it would be good over them. I also think I'm going to run get some ice cream. It is amazing served hot over ice cream!

Now on to my second topic:

My Kitchen of the Future

Remember on the Jetsons how intelligently designed their home was? I know it was a cartoon, but it painted a picture of a future filled with technological advances that would assist in home management. This is my dream kitchen: I want all of my food items, including seasonings and spices, to be inventoried, and a "kitchen computer" of some sort which can generate all possible recipes from the ingredients on hand. At times I'm uninspired and can't think of what to cook, and at others I'll realize that the ingredients to a great dish, like the one posted above, are sitting in my kitchen just waiting for me pull them together into some dreamy concoction. What will your dream kitchen contain?

Layered Ice Cream Dessert

Layered Ice Cream Dessert

This is a dessert that I had last week at singing school. When I first saw it, I thought, "Boy! Someone has really gone all out on this!" Appearances can be deceiving, for I learned that it is incredibly easy. I took this to church for dessert Sunday, and it was devoured! I'm including my tips for making it as cost-effective as possible.

First, take a 9"x 13" and place a layer of ice cream sandwiches in the bottom (I used 9 sandwiches for each layer, 18 total). Layer Cool Whip over the sandwiches, and then drizzle chocolate sauce and/or caramel sauce - typical ice cream sundae toppings. Make another exact layer on top of it. Freeze until ready to serve. Voila - an impressive, simple, and yummy dessert!

This recipe was so easy that I doubled it and stored one in the freezer for later. I bought a large box of 36 ice cream sandwiches at BJ's for $6.19, which makes 2 complete desserts. A 2-pack of 16 oz. Cool Whip was $3.99; this is enough for 4 desserts - 2 per 16 oz. tub. I tend to pinch every penny, so I made my own chocolate sauce, which was divine, if I do say so myself! I got the recipe from my Hershey's Chocolate Lovers Cookbook.

Chocolate Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup (Karo)
1/4 cup evaporated skim milk (I used whole milk, which worked)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In small saucepan over low hear, melt butter. Remove from heat; stir in sugar, cocoa, and corn syrup. Stir in evaporated milk.Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture begins to boil and is smooth.Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool slightly.
3/4 cup sauce, about 12 servings

Enjoy!

Creamy Salsa Chicken

We are out-of-town at singing school this week, so we'll call this "What's Cooking Monday Night"! This recipe sounds a little odd, but is really awesome over rice:

Creamy Salsa Chicken

Directions:
1. Brown 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/4 lb.) in 1 cup Miracle Whip Dressing in large skillet on medium-high heat.
2. Stir in 1 cup chunky salsa.
3. Top with 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese. Serve over hot cooked rice, if desired.
Makes 4 servings.

Easy Pie Crust

As promised, here is my Grandmother Piles's pie crust recipe. The fabulous thing is that you stir the ingredients together right in the pie plate - no rolling or transferring!

PIE CRUST

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir ingredients together in pie plate, then shape by hand for crust.

Chicken Enchiladas

This is an amazing chicken enchilada recipe that I got from a lady in our old homeschool group. She made it for us when Felicity was born, and I had to have the recipe. Trust me, this is great stuff!

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 pound (apx.) cooked chicken (cubed or ground)
2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese
2 – 8 oz cans enchilada sauce or make as below
1 small onion diced (optional - saute, or it is really strong!)
8 oz package pregrated Mexican style cheese
1 small can sliced olives (optional)
1 small can sliced jalapenos (optional)
¼ cup cooking oil (approximately)
15 corn tortillas (approximately)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray (9x11) baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix chicken, cream cheese and ½ can or ½ cup enchilada sauce and optional onion and jalapenos in skillet on medium heat. Stir occasionally while heating tortillas. Heat cooking oil on stove. Dip corn tortillas in warm oil until they begin to bubble about 30 seconds each. Remove tortilla with tongs and place on layered paper towels to drain excess oil while you heat the next tortilla. Completely cover bottom and sides of pan with tortillas. Cover with ½ the chicken mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 grated cheese and drizzle with sauce. Layer tortillas over top. Layer remaining chicken mix, 1/3 cheese, sauce and tortillas. Pour remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle top lightly with cheese. Decorate top with olives and jalapenos. Heat about 20 minutes in preheated oven.

**Can be covered and frozen for later!

**You can make a sauce from tomato sauce and seasoning packet of “Enchilada Sauce” and add some spices to taste. Keep the sauce on the back burner on low to use while preparing the enchiladas.

**If you don’t have to feed a lot of people, you can put all the chicken mix on the bottom and make only one layer instead of two.

Easy, Big Breakfasts

I wanted to pass along a couple of great breakfast ideas I got from Large Family Logistics. Large Family Logistics is a website, with blog, dedicated to great ideas for home management, especially but not exclusively for large families. I learned about them because they received the award for best family blog from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (TOS). The picture on the left is of the Dutch Puff. I had to take a picture because it was just so awesome looking! The outside edges are more bread-like, and the inside has more egg. It's great with syrup on top. Fran, Andrew liked it, too! At first I thought the eggs weren't cooked, but then I realized that it was swimming in butter. Anything swimming in butter works for me! In the picture you can also observe my clean kitchen countertop and stove, since I had time to clean while waiting for the butter to melt to cook the puff - another perk! :-) Today we tried Baked French Toast. Another hit! I even made it healthy with fresh-ground wheat French bread.

Both of these recipes are prepared at night, put in the fridge, and then cooked in the morning, which works great for me since I rarely cook anything more exciting than oatmeal for breakfast. If you don't have a large family, I would recommend dividing the recipe in half and cooking in a smaller dish, since these recipes easily feed a family our size.

I would love to see more great recipe ideas. Later I will post my Grandmother Piles's pie crust recipe, which is wonderful and so simple since you prepare it right in the pie plate - no rolling and transferring!