Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Filled with family and friends. Now its time to bring the New Year. I've been listening to many New Years Day food traditions, such as pork and kraut, lots of fish , etc. What's your tradition?

Christmas School Snack

I am Caitlyn's homeroom Mom, which means I am in charge of the Christmas party. We need to provide a game, craft, book , and a snack. Woohoo I got snack covered....right?..... Not so fast chefy chef, you have dietary restrictions, and you can not make ANYTHING from your own kitchen. WHAT!!!! On to Pinterest I go, in search for some guidance to help the anti-crafter.

My assembly line

I can't believe how good I'm getting with a glue gun.

 

1 down 31 to go

 

My Minions

 

All in all it took me about an hour and a half to complete this project, and I'm sure the kids will love it.

Pinterest

OK, so someone out there is listening to me, "Sick Hubby" got 17 page views, more then any other post. Alas, still no comments. I'm still very new to the whole blog world, and I have to be honest I'm not sure I get it. I mean 374 people have viewed my blog, according to the stats some are from The Philippines, Cambodia, China, and Germany. My question is WHO ARE YOU? OK I'm done now. he he
So along with starting a blog I was told to hop onto Pinterest to explore all the recipes and stuff they have to offer. I fought and fought tooth and nail not to give in and try it, but failed, and I'm so happy I did. Now I may be able to cook to my hearts delight, but when it comes to crafts, I'm a fish out of water. Simple things like school projects for the girls, doing their hair is as foreign to me a mise en place is to most. I have really enjoyed some of the crafts that I have done, I even made one of my husbands anniversary gifts. The other day I was looking at recipes and came across one for hard cooked eggs done in the oven "WHAT". WE go through a lot of hard boiled eggs in my house, so I had to try this one. The directions stated to place a half dozen eggs in a muffin pan, and place the pan in a preheated 325 degree oven cook for 25-30 minutes, and tada hard cooked eggs that are easier to peel.



This is how you have to do it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put eggs in muffin pan. Cook for 30 minutes. Let eggs cool completely. Enjoy easy to peal eggs with no green halo.
So it work almost just a little tweaking, but I will definitely do them this way again.
So if you are one of the 374 people to read this let me know who you are and what your interested in reading about, otherwise I may start rambling about crafts.

Sick Hubby

It looks like the flu is coming to our house. YUCK! Andrew has been away on business, and it looks like he may have the flu. So today the flu will be coming to me. YEA...not. I have done all of the preliminary disinfecting, wiped down all knobs and hard surfaces, but I have to say its like the calm before the storm. So what does every cook do when they know there house is going to be infected by the mnemonic plague..... Make Chicken Soup. One of my fondest childhood memory is my Mom making me homemade chicken soup when I was sick. She said you had to put everything in, the liver, gizzards, heart, the whole chicken otherwise it wouldn't work.  Maybe it is all in my head, but I swear it works.

Mom’s Chicken Soup

 

1 whole chicken
2 large onions, chopped
5 or 6 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
2 cups baby carrots, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
water
salt and pepper

 Cut up chicken and cover with water in large stockpot. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes skimming off waste periodically.

Add rest of ingredients, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Add chopped fresh parsley during remaining ten minutes

Hope everyone stays heathy.

Baked Brie

Having a nice wedge of brie is great for entertaining, but you can jazz it up in a flash, and really Wow your guests. If yor party is more of an open house you can eaven place the brie in a small crock pot.





Baked Brie with Walnuts and Raspberries

 

1 Sheet frozen puffed pastry, rolled out
1 Tb butter
¼ cup chopped walnuts,
1 8 oz wheel Brie
½ cup raspberry jam
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 375°

Defrost 1 sheet of puffed pastry for about 10 minutes at room temperature. Melt butter in saucepan and sauté nuts in butter until golden brown. Place nuts on top of Brie and spread jam over top of the nuts. Roll out puffed pastry using a rolling pin, and brush with egg on both sides. Place wheel of Brie in center of sheets and bring all four corners of puffed pastry together and twist into a bundle. Place bundle on a pizza stone or baking dish, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with fresh baguette.

Blue Cheese Dip

This is not just a dip. We use this concoction in baked potatoes, with vegetables, and with our favorite kettle chip. If you cube up a few tablespoons of butter and add it to the mix It make for a decadent addition to your grilled steak.

 

Blue Cheese Dip

 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sour cream
4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
2 T. fresh chives
ground pepper

 In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, approx. 2 minutes

Reduce speed to low and add sour cream. Beat until combined. Add Blue cheese and beat 30 to 45 seconds.
Fold chives and pepper in with a rubber spatula.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 week.

 Serve with kettle chips or crudités.

Quick Appetizers

I will be posting a appetizer everyday to help with your holiday party planning. These are great recipes to have on hand, and can be made ahead and stored.

Mediterranean Hummus

 

½ cup fresh flat leave Italian parsley
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp kosher salt
2 garlic cloves
2 (15 1/2oz) cans garbanzo beans, or chickpeas, drained
1/8 cup Tahini
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
2 to 4 Tbs water
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

 Insert chopping blade into your food processor. Pulse the parsley, lemon zest, salt, and garlic together , about 8 times. Scrape down bowl, add remaining ingredients, and process for about one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl, and continue processing until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Serve with pita chips, or vegetables.

Makes 2 cups