Happy Halloween!! Every year in October, my husband and I host a Scavenger Hunt for a group of our friends. It is so much fun and the evening is filled with good friends, good food and drink and great fun! This is the time of year when I love sipping on something warm and cozy! I found this recipe and it has become a standard at our party... I always double the recipe and have some leftover to heat up for the next week or so in the mornings... Don't forget to mix this up and take a cup with you while you are trick or treating with the kids tonight!
Mulled Cider
(recipe found in Taste of Home)
4 cups water
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
dash ground cloves
1 gallon apple cider or juice
1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1 individual tea bag
In a large kettle, combine the water, allspice, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients. return just to a boil. Discard cinnamon stick and tea bag. Stir and serve warm.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Bacon-Cheese Stuffed Shells
Okay, usually I am all about quick and easy, with 3 kids and a business run from home that is what I have time for! But, every once in a while I see a recipe that I just have to try, even if it is a little more time consuming then I like... This was it - I mean look at the name of it... cheese?? bacon?? Who could resist? Especially since, for some reason, I have been craving cheese with this pregnancy. So, once again, I busted out all my pots and pans, spent a little more money on groceries this week and tried out this recipe. So, if you are looking for cheap, quick and/or healthy - do not even bother checking out this recipe... But, if you are looking for mouthwatering and utterly delicious - please continue!
Bacon-Cheese Stuffed Shells
(recipe found in Taste of Home)
Serves: 12
24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup butter, divided
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded asiago cheese, divided
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup crumbled cooked bacon
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded romano cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. In a large bowl, beat ricotta and 4 ounces cream cheese until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup asiago cheese, parmesan cheese, bacon, 1 tablespoon parsley, garlic salt, nutmeg, pepper and mushroom mixture. Spoon into shells; place in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
In a large saucepan, melt remaining butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add the cream, broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in romano cheese and the remaining cream cheese, asiago, and parsley. Pour over shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly.
Bacon-Cheese Stuffed Shells
(recipe found in Taste of Home)
Serves: 12
24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup butter, divided
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups shredded asiago cheese, divided
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup crumbled cooked bacon
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded romano cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. In a large bowl, beat ricotta and 4 ounces cream cheese until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup asiago cheese, parmesan cheese, bacon, 1 tablespoon parsley, garlic salt, nutmeg, pepper and mushroom mixture. Spoon into shells; place in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
In a large saucepan, melt remaining butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add the cream, broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in romano cheese and the remaining cream cheese, asiago, and parsley. Pour over shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Sugar Cookies
As you know, obviously I love to bake! I love sweets and I love me a good sugar cookie. Making them though has alluded me for years! I think that every year I find a sugar cookie recipe that I want to try, I follow the directions to a T and they still don't turn out... They are too sticky, they are too dry, they won't roll out EVER for me!! So, last year after Christmas, I begged, begged, begged my sister's mother in law for her recipe! Her sugar cookies are the yummiest and whenever they are at my sister's house my radar goes on and I am over there snacking on them!! So, this past weekend, the kids and I busted out the recipe, mixed it up on Friday, baked them on Saturday and frosted them on Sunday! Yes, believe it or not, I made it through every single step!! WAHOO!!! Finally a sugar cookie recipe that is a success for me... I will definitely be making these again for Christmas!
Sugar Cookies
(recipe stolen from Becky Johnson)
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 tablespoons cream (WHAT?? As I was typing this up, I realized that I totally missed that ingredient when I made them... What a dork I am! :)
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups flour
Cream butter. Add sugar, eggs and cream. Sift together dry ingredients and add slowly to the sugar mixture. Dough will be stiff. Chill at least 1 hour. Bake at 375 8-10 minutes. Keep extra dough in refrigerator while rolling out cookies.
Sugar Cookies
(recipe stolen from Becky Johnson)
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 tablespoons cream (WHAT?? As I was typing this up, I realized that I totally missed that ingredient when I made them... What a dork I am! :)
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups flour
Cream butter. Add sugar, eggs and cream. Sift together dry ingredients and add slowly to the sugar mixture. Dough will be stiff. Chill at least 1 hour. Bake at 375 8-10 minutes. Keep extra dough in refrigerator while rolling out cookies.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Grands Meatball Pops
My friend Dawn clued me in to these delicious bites of goodness! So, if someone is going to suggest something to me, I better dang well try it! :) I ended up making a ton of them, so I called my sister and her clan over for supper and they inhaled every last one of them! They are usually a little skeptical of coming over for supper because I make "weird" things according to them, but this one she even asked for the recipe when we were done eating...
Grands Meatball Pops
(recipe found at pillsbury.com)
1 can (10.2 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (be careful what can you grab, this one is the size of 5 biscuits, I grabbed the one that included 8 biscuits!)
1/3 cup shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese
10 refrigerated or frozen cooked beef meatballs, thawed
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup finely crushed seasoned croutons
10 large appetizer picks or lollipop sticks, if desired
1 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce, heated
Heat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray. Separate dough into 5 biscuits. Split each biscuit to make 10 rounds. Press out each biscuit half to form 3 inch round. Sprinkle each biscuit round with cheese to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top each with meatball. Bring up sides of dough over meatball; pinch edges to seal. Brush rounded tops and sides of dough with butter; coat with croutons. (At this point I just rolled the balls in the butter and then rolled them in the croutons.) Place; seam side down, on cookie sheet.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Place appetizer pick in each biscuit wrapped meatball to form meatball pop. Serve with warm pasta sauce for dipping.
Grands Meatball Pops
(recipe found at pillsbury.com)
1 can (10.2 ounces) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (be careful what can you grab, this one is the size of 5 biscuits, I grabbed the one that included 8 biscuits!)
1/3 cup shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese
10 refrigerated or frozen cooked beef meatballs, thawed
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup finely crushed seasoned croutons
10 large appetizer picks or lollipop sticks, if desired
1 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce, heated
Heat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray. Separate dough into 5 biscuits. Split each biscuit to make 10 rounds. Press out each biscuit half to form 3 inch round. Sprinkle each biscuit round with cheese to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top each with meatball. Bring up sides of dough over meatball; pinch edges to seal. Brush rounded tops and sides of dough with butter; coat with croutons. (At this point I just rolled the balls in the butter and then rolled them in the croutons.) Place; seam side down, on cookie sheet.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Place appetizer pick in each biscuit wrapped meatball to form meatball pop. Serve with warm pasta sauce for dipping.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I love Halloween! It has to be one of my favorite holidays, right next to Christmas... I love decorating, carving pumpkins, dressing up the kids, trick or treating and everything else that goes with it!! We carved our pumpkins that other day and of course we had to save all the seeds!
I found this recipe a few years back and the page that it is on is so tattered that I can find it each year easily! I love the taste of these pumpin seeds and they remind me of how my mom used to make them! This year I quadrupled the recipe and Josh's response was - this is all that it made? Obviously they are a favorite in our house!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
(recipe found in Taste of Home)
2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Line a 15x10 inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; spread into prepared pan. Bake at 225 for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to 325. Bake 5 minutes longer or until seeds are dry and lightly browned. Serve warm, or cool before storing in an airtight container.
Every year I have to bake these for much longer then 1 1/2 hours, I think because I overload my baking sheet! :) This year I actually put only the 2 cups on each sheet and they baked up in exactly 1 1/2 hours, even with me forgetting to bump up the heat to 325! Enjoy! I know the daycare kids and I did!!
I found this recipe a few years back and the page that it is on is so tattered that I can find it each year easily! I love the taste of these pumpin seeds and they remind me of how my mom used to make them! This year I quadrupled the recipe and Josh's response was - this is all that it made? Obviously they are a favorite in our house!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
(recipe found in Taste of Home)
2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Line a 15x10 inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; spread into prepared pan. Bake at 225 for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to 325. Bake 5 minutes longer or until seeds are dry and lightly browned. Serve warm, or cool before storing in an airtight container.
Every year I have to bake these for much longer then 1 1/2 hours, I think because I overload my baking sheet! :) This year I actually put only the 2 cups on each sheet and they baked up in exactly 1 1/2 hours, even with me forgetting to bump up the heat to 325! Enjoy! I know the daycare kids and I did!!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Swedish Apple Pie
This pie was easy to throw together, not so easy to get out of the pan though so I am glad that I took a picture of the whole pie instead of a piece of it! :) The taste was pretty good, but I would definitely leave out the raisins next time... They just didn't taste good to me, but I am not a huge, have to have raisins fan!! So, if you are, try it with the raisins and see what you think! :)
Swedish Apple Pie
Filling:
2/3 cups raisins
3 medium apples (about 2 2/3 cups), peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Topping:
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)
Heat oven to 350. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover them with hot water and microwave them on high until they become plump, about 20-30 seconds. Drain the raisins, then combine them with the apple slices. Transfer the fruit to a 9 inch pie pan (it should be no more then 2/3 full). In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle the mixture over the fruit.
To make the topping, first melt the butter or margarine and set it aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and egg until they are evenly blended. Whisk in the butter or margarine, then spread the topping over the fruit and sprinkle on the nuts. Bake the pie until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve it warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if you like.
Swedish Apple Pie
Filling:
2/3 cups raisins
3 medium apples (about 2 2/3 cups), peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Topping:
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)
Heat oven to 350. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover them with hot water and microwave them on high until they become plump, about 20-30 seconds. Drain the raisins, then combine them with the apple slices. Transfer the fruit to a 9 inch pie pan (it should be no more then 2/3 full). In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle the mixture over the fruit.
To make the topping, first melt the butter or margarine and set it aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and egg until they are evenly blended. Whisk in the butter or margarine, then spread the topping over the fruit and sprinkle on the nuts. Bake the pie until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Serve it warm, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if you like.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza
Pizza - like I said before, it is a family favorite! We tried this new recipe the other night with my brother and his kids and everyone enjoyed it... not as much as the hot dogs that they were having with it, but the adults really like it! :) (Yes, hot dogs and pizza, it was a random meal night...)
Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza
(recipe found in Pillsbury cookbook)
serves: 8
1 can Pillsbury refrigerated thin pizza crust
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 packages (6 ounces each) refrigerated cooked Italian style chicken breast strips, chopped (I just used regular chicken breasts cooked and chopped)
4 slices crisply cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup onion
1 large plum tomato, seeded, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat oven to 400. Spray or grease 15x10 inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet. Unroll dough on cookie sheet, starting at center, press dough into 15x10 inch rectangle. Spread ranch dressing evenly over dough. Top with remaining ingredients. Bake 13-16 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
I made this without the tomato and onions, basically because I forgot to buy them when I went grocery shopping... whoops! It was still really tasty and Josh said that it was good as leftovers when he got back from hunting that night!
Chicken and Bacon Ranch Pizza
(recipe found in Pillsbury cookbook)
serves: 8
1 can Pillsbury refrigerated thin pizza crust
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 packages (6 ounces each) refrigerated cooked Italian style chicken breast strips, chopped (I just used regular chicken breasts cooked and chopped)
4 slices crisply cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup onion
1 large plum tomato, seeded, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat oven to 400. Spray or grease 15x10 inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet. Unroll dough on cookie sheet, starting at center, press dough into 15x10 inch rectangle. Spread ranch dressing evenly over dough. Top with remaining ingredients. Bake 13-16 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
I made this without the tomato and onions, basically because I forgot to buy them when I went grocery shopping... whoops! It was still really tasty and Josh said that it was good as leftovers when he got back from hunting that night!
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