Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash- peeled, seeded and diced

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Olive Oil

1 medium onion

3 Tbl butter

2 large garlic cloves

½ tsp dried sage

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp cinnamon

4 cups chicken stock

Zest of 1 orange

Cream cheese or sour cream

Coat the squash and potatoes with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a touch of cayenne. Roast in a 350° oven for about an hour or until soft and fork tender.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan. Sweat the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and herbs and spices. Cook together about a minute. Add the chicken stock, roasted veggies and orange zest. Puree using a stick blender.

Right when you’re about to serve, garnish with the sour cream or cream cheese. 

Better Than Sex Cake!

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces caramel ice cream topping
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Make slits across the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom.
In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the slits; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm.
Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks and swirls of caramel topping. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!

Father's Day Breakfast

For Father's Day I served a delicious berry breakfast: Berry Cheesecake Parfaits & Blueberry Swirl Coffee Cake. We also had blueberries & strawberries in cold cereal! It was very-berry-delicious!

Berry Cheesecake Parfaits
Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 (3.4 ounce) package JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
24 NILLA Wafers, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups mixed blueberries and sliced fresh strawberries

Directions:
Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well. Whisk in 1 cup COOL WHIP.
Layer half each of wafers, berries and pudding mixture in 8 parfait glasses. Repeat layers.
Top with remaining COOL WHIP.

**From allrecipes.com

Blueberry Swirl Coffee Cake
½ cup oleo (I used butter)
1/3 cup shortening
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
dash of salt
21-30oz. blueberry pie filling
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk

In large mixer bowl soften ½ cup oleo, 1/3 cup shortening. Add 1 ½ cups white sugar, 1 ½ tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp almond extract and 4 eggs. Blend on low speed scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 2 min. Stir in 3 cups all-purpose flour. Add dash of salt. Spread 2/3 of batter in a well-grease 15 ½ x10 ½ x 1 jelly roll pan. Spread 21-30oz. Of cherry pie filling over batter. Drop remaining batter by tbsp. onto pie filling. Bake 45 min. at 350 til golden brown. While warm drizzle with glaze made by mixing 1 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 tbsp milk til smooth and of desired consistency. Cut into 2 ½ squares to serve.

Spice Island Giveaway

So, this one time. I was making cinnamon rolls. A LOT of cinnamon rolls. And when it came time to add the cinnamon I added clove instead.

BUT that story just won me 10 Spice Island spices! Woot Woot!





Check it out- http://www.spiceislands.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/reader-giveaway-winners/

...

...

...

I'm awesome.

Grilled Chicken Chipotle Salad

I've started a 'get fit kick' and have tried eating more healthy lately. I came up with this recipe myself and my husband voted it as the best salad he's ever eaten!!

Grilled Chicken:
I used my George Foreman grill to cook up chunks of chicken (then I cut them into strips). As for the seasoning on the chicken I used: salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and chipotle pepper.

Salad:
romaine lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, yellow pepperoncini peppers, tomatoes, black beans, corn, avocado, onion, grated cheese, carrots, broccoli, olives, cilantro, chili-lime tortilla strips.

Dressing:
Fresh squeezed lime juice

With all the ingredients and flavors on the salad you really don't need a dressing. The lime, chipotle, and cilantro blend was absolutely delicious!

Strawberry Ice Cream Like Ben and Jerry's

By PCrocker on May 16, 2005

Photo by Columbus Foodie

·         Prep Time: 1 hr

·         Total Time: 1 hr

·         Servings: 6

About This Recipe

"Good enough to be served at Ben & Jerry's. Use fresh, good-quality ingredients. I love to make this during strawberry season. Plan to refrigerate berries in sugar for 1 hour before making ice cream."

Ingredients

·          1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped

·          1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

·          2 large eggs

·          1 cup sugar, divided

·          2 cups heavy whipping cream

·          1 cup milk

·          1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.    Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside in fridge for 1 hour.

2.    In large mixing bowl beat eggs until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3.    Gradually add 3/4 cups sugar, mixing well. Stir in milk and vanilla and mix well.

4.    Add strawberries with juice and mix well.

5.    Gently stir in whipping cream just until combined.

6.     Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.

Bean's notes- I pureed the strawberries with the cup of sugar and added lemon zest as well as the lemon juice. That was I was sure it was very strawberry throughout each bite, and there was also just a hint of lemon. It was amazing! I can't wait to go home and eat more of it! 

Baked Beans

Modified from Rockin' Baked Beans recipe by Anne Burrell

Ingredients

·         5 slices bacon, cut into medium size pieces

·         1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice

·         1 green pepper, stem, seeds and pith removed, cut into 1/4-inch dice

·         Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes

·         Kosher salt

·         4 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped

·         2 links Italian sausage, casing removed and crumbled

·         1 can tomato paste

·         1 teaspoon cumin

·         2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

·         2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

·         3 tablespoons brown sugar

·         2 (28-ounce) cans navy beans or 1 lb of dried beans, soaked and cooked

·         1 ½ cups water, plus 1 cup

Directions

Crisp bacon in an oven-safe pot. Remove bacon, but leave grease in pan. Add the onions, peppers and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt, to taste, and cook until the onions and peppers are soft and aromatic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Add the sausage and use a spoon to help break it apart. When the sausage is brown, add the tomato paste and cumin and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Dijon, apple cider vinegar, and molasses, then add in the beans and 1 1/2 cups of water. Taste and season with salt, if needed. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the beans until they are nice and thick and taste really good, about 15 to 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the remaining cup of water.

Bake until the beans are nice and thick, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with crisp bacon pieces and serve.

Four-Bean Salad

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup vinegar
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can green beans, drained
1 can yellow wax beans, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 red onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped

Combine sugar, salt, oil, vinegar and Italian Seasoning. Stir or shake until sugar is dissolved. (I boil the ingredients in a small pan on the stove until the sugar is dissolved.) Drain beans thoroughly and add onion and pepper. Pour dressing over beans and let marinate several hours it's better over night!
**E's hint---I also add black pepper to taste!

Avocado Gelato

Or maybe I should try this recipe instead! Tell me which one you think would be better in the poll to the right------------------------->

Avocado Gelato

yield: Makes about 1 quart

active time: 20 min

total time: 2 3/4 hr (includes freezing)

ingredients

· 2 cups whole milk

· 3/4 cup sugar

· 3 (4- by 1-inch) strips fresh orange zest

· 2 tablespoons cornstarch

· 2 firm-ripe California avocados (1 to 1 1/4 lb total)

· 1 (500-mg) vitamin C tablet, crushed to a powder

· Special equipment: an ice cream maker

Bring 1 3/4 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt to a simmer in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl until smooth, then whisk into simmering milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a metal bowl, then set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool completely, stirring frequently. Discard zest.

Quarter, pit, and peel avocados, then purée with vitamin C and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until smooth. Add milk mixture and blend well.

Freeze avocado mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until hardened, about 1 hour.

For mother’s day, Tom gave me an ice cream maker, which is something I’ve wanted for quite a while! He made me a ridiculously delicious maple bacon ice-cream which I absolutely loved!

For my maiden voyage of the ice cream maker, I think this is what I want to try!

Nutella Gelato

Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup

• 4 egg yolks

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup Nutella

• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish

Directions

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan, or a 10 inch Bundt cake pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and butterscotch pudding mix. Add the eggs, oil and water, mix until well blended. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Pour half of the batter into the pan, spread evenly. Sprinkle with half of the nut mixture. Cover with the rest of the batter, and sprinkle with the rest of the nut mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes.

Artichoke-Olive Chicken Bake

1 1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes with Italian-style herbs, undrained
1 can (6 oz) sliced black olives, drained
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2-quart round casserole with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large deep skillet over medium heat until hot. Add onion and pepper; cook and stir 1 minute. Add chicken, tomatoes, with juice, pasta, artichokes, olives and Italian seasoning; mix until combined.
Place half of chicken mixture in prepared dish; sprinkle with half of cheese. Top with remaining chicken mixture and cheese.
Bake, covered, 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

(*This recipe comes from my Best Loved Casseroles Book)

Orange Rolls

Rolls:

2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 c. warm water
2 c. hot water
1/3 c. powdered milk
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. butter
2 tsp salt
1 egg
5-6 cups bread flour

Orange Butter:

1/2 C butter, melted
zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup sugar

Dissolve yeast in ½ c. warm water. Blend powdered milk in 2 c. hot water. Add sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Beat together. Gradually add remaining flour, one cup at a time, until dough is formed. (Keep it a very soft dough). Knead for 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; cover and let rise until double. Punch down, divide into thirds. Roll out 1/3 of dough into a circle. Spread with soft orange butter and cut into 12 pie shaped pieces. Starting at wide end, roll up each piece into crescent. Place on greased baking sheet with point on bottom. Repeat with remainder of dough. Let rise until double. Bake at 375 about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. Allow to cool about 10-15 minutes; drizzle with the icing.

Icing:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice, squeezed from zested oranges above
2 to 4 Tbsp heavy cream, or 2 Tbsp half-and-half

**E's Note: You can also use this recipe for cinnamon rolls, and you can roll these out like cinnamon rolls instead of crescents!

2011 Mother's Day Brunch Version 2.0

Ham and Egg cuppers
24 slices of ham- I did double layers so big slices cut in half

18 - 24 eggs- depending on how you like your eggs

12 cherry tomatoes- cut in half

Dash of milk

Olive oil, spray or butter

chives

salt and pepper

Spray 24 muffin tins with non-stick spray or grease it with Olive Oil or butter. Line each muffin tins with a double layer of ham. Put one half of a cherry tomato into each cup. Top with eggs and then sprinkle with chives.

You can do the eggs two ways-

1. Scramble the eggs with a little bit of milk and salt and pepper and pour a little into each muffin cup.

2. Break one whole egg into each ham lined muffin tin. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper.

If I were to do them again: I would probable add cheese of some type and more seasoning. I've seen recipes for these that have pesto and little cubed pieces of mozzerella. Also would be delightful with parmesean cheese and Italian seasoning sprinkled on top!

Lemon Lemon Lemony Lemon Cake!

You should be friends with me, just to try my cooking.

Lemon chiffon cake

makes 2 11x17" sheets or 2 9x3" rounds

14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioner’s sugar
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil
3.25 oz eggs
0.5 oz baking powder
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 oz lemon juice

Oven 375F. Prep pan by buttering bottom and sides. Place parchment in pan and butter the parchment. Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently. Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from pan. Let cool on a rack. With a large serrated knife, cut the cake into two layers.

From Jen Yu at Use Real Butter: http://userealbutter.com/2008/04/15/lemon-petits-fours-recipe/

Lemon buttercream frosting

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Yield: 12 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 lemon, juice and zest of

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat till well combined. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minute or until creamy.

From Food.com: http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-buttercream-frosting-from-the-famous-sprinkles-cupcakes-222187

Lemon curd

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

From Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-curd-recipe/index.html

Assembly

Cut each of the cake rounds in half to make 4 thin cake rounds. Spread 1/3 of the lemon curd between each layer. When all 4 rounds are stacked, crumb coat the cake with a bit of the lemon buttercream. Thickly coat the cake with the frosting.

This cake is amazing, so you may need to make 2.

2011 Mother's Day Brunch

Frozen Lemon Mousse Cones

taken from The Food Network from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/frozen-lemon-mousse-cones-recipe/index.html

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

8 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

10 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter, diced
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
• Special equipment: paper water cooler cone cups

Directions

In a large heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan combine the lemon juice, sugar, yolks, eggs, and butter. Over high heat whisk the mixture constantly until thickened. Strain it into a bowl set over ice and chill it stirring to thicken slightly. Fold in the whipped cream and pour or pipe into paper cones to the top, and set in a rack to hold them. Freeze overnight. Peel off the paper cone and serve.

Beanie's Notes- I made 2 batches of this, one that was frozen, and one that was just well chilled. The frozen mousse was definitely better! It has a creamy ice cream texture, not an icy popsicle texture like I was worried about. Definitely try it frozen! It's AMAZING!!!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Carne Adovada from Use Real Butter

modified from Santa Fe Recipe (The Shed)

16 dried, red chile pods
3 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
5 pounds pork shoulder

Preheat oven to 325F. Remove stems from the chile pods. Place pods in a pan and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chiles are lightly roasted. Leave oven door open (I didn’t do this). Don’t breathe the fumes! I shook the seeds out of the pods and discarded them. Place pods in a medium bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Drain the water from the chile pods, but reserve about 2 cups for the purée. Place pods in a food processor or blender. Add the salt, garlic, and oregano. Cover the mixture with the chile water. Blend well for 2 minutes or until the skins disappear. Cut the pork into 2×4 inch strips. Place the pork in a ziploc bag and add the sauce. Thoroughly coat the pork. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 325F. Place pork and sauce in a baking dish. Cover and bake for 4 hours or until meat is tender. (I cooked mine in a crock pot all day on low.) Shred or chop meat.

The delightful condiments!

Spiceful, tender, and delicious!

Served with avocado, cilantro, lime and cheese