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Football Food Desired

Pumpernickel cocktail bread, two ways:

Little Pizzas
1 loaf pumpernickel bread
1 lb. velvetta cheese, cubed
Parmesan cheese
1 lb. sausage
1 tbsp. worchestershire sauce
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet, crumble & brown sausage until done.  Add worchestershire and velvetta, mixing together over low heat until cheese melts.  Lay bread in single layer on baking sheet and spread a little of the sausage mixture on each piece of bread, then top each with a spoon of sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.  Enjoy!

Spicy Cheese Spread

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 jar (7-1/2 oz) pickled jalapenos, drained & chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
Pumpernickel cocktail bread

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well until smooth.  Chill, covered, for 1 hour.  Serve with pumpernickel bread slices. 

ENJOY A DUCK FART

Duck Fart


By Amy Wisniewski 
http://www.chow.com/

An Alaskan original created more than 20 years ago at the Peanut Farm in Anchorage, this layered cocktail is said to be named for the sound you’ll make after drinking one.

Makes: 1 drink

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce Kahlúa
1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream
1/2 ounce Crown Royal Whisky

INSTRUCTIONS
Pour Kahlúa into a 3-ounce shot glass.

Using the convex side of a bar spoon, slowly pour Baileys over the Kahlúa, making sure not to disturb it, to create a layered effect.

Using the same technique, layer the Crown Royal over the Baileys.

A fabulous casserole for the holidays!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE


8 medium sweet potatoes, boiled & peeled
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecans, chopped

Boil sweet potatoes in a large pot with water until fork tender, not mushy.
Remove from water, cool, peel.
Place sweet potatoes in a mixer bowl.
Blend in the margarine, sugar, vanilla, eggs, cinnamon and salt.
Mix well.
Pour into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
Make topping: cut in: the brown sugar, butter, & flour, add the chopped pecans to combine. This will make the topping crumbly and delicious!
Spread the topping over the sweet potatoes and bake at 350 for 30 – 40 minutes.

ONE OF MY GREATEST KITCHEN SUCCESSES! (I think)

SPICY STUFFED MUSHROOMS



This is a delicious and spicy mixture for stuffing shrooms or spreading on bagel chips.


8 oz. Chive and Onion Cream Cheese
1 pound of Hot pork sausage (I used Publix brand)
8 green onions, cleaned & small chopped half way down the green part
1 cup of Sharp Shredded Cheddar
1-1/4 cup of Shredded Parmesan& Romano (I used Sargento®)
3 tps. of Chili Powder (or more to your liking)
1 tps. of Pepper
2 to 3 Packages Baby Portobello mushrooms de-stemmed


Place room temp cream cheese in large bowl. Clean and de-stem mushrooms and set aside. Brown/crumble sausage & drain. Mix in cooked sausage w/ cream cheese. Next, add onions, chili powder and pepper, stir well. Mix in Cheeses, stir well again. Start stuffing the mushrooms. Lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil for easier clean-up.


Bake on 375 for approx 30 minutes or until cheese melts and bubbles.


Adapted from a recipe I found on Real Women of Philadelphia

Have a great time in the kitchen & watch some Bama football!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

2 Bunches Broccoli, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 small or 2 big potatoes, peeled & diced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup flour
3 cups half and half, room temp
4 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp. garlic powder
sea salt
pepper

In a pan with a steamer basket, steam the broccoli with 2 cups water for about 5 minutes.  Reserve the water for use in the soup.

In a large soup pot, melt butter and saute the onions, carrots & celery for 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the flour and stir together.  Cook for another 2 minutes over medium heat. 

Slowly add the liquid from the steaming broccoli, stirring constantly.

Add broccoli, potatoes and remaining ingredients.  Stir well.  Cook over very low heat for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, stirring often to prevent scorching.

Enjoy with some garlic bread. 

READY FOR SOME BAMA FOOTBALL

I look forward to football season, for three reasons:  (1)  I love the Alabama Crimson Tide, (2) I love football food, and (3) fall is forthcoming.   My chicken wings are marinating and my potato skins are, well, they aren't doing anything right now, but they will be after they bake and cool off a bit. 

bbq chicken wings
1 large onion, sliced
2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
40 pieces chicken wings
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup soy sauce
Juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup ketchup

In a large pot, add onion, celery & wings.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil for 10 minutes.  While the wings are boiling, combine the remaining ingredients to make the sauce for marinating and set aside.  Remove the wings from the water and place them in a large container.  Pour sauce over wings making sure all wings are coated well with the sauce.  Marinate for 3 hours or overnight.  Once wings have marinated, coat a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. 

super potatoe skins
6 baking potatoes, baked
olive oil
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
grated cheddar cheese
sour cream
green onions, chopped
bacon bits

After the potatoes have baked and cooled, slice them lengthwise and scoop out centers, leaving enough for a sturdy shell.  Place shells skin side down on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle each potato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, remove skins from oven and top with cheese.  Place back in oven for about 5 minutes until cheese melts.  Top with sour cream, green onions, and bacon bits. 

Buttered Up Cornish Game Hens

I cooked these cornish game hens a couple days.  My family sure did enjoy this meal and so did I.  The butter just makes the chicken so moist and delicious.  This is one of my favorite meals.  So easy and so good! Please if you land here on my blog, you must try this recipe and serve with roasted fingerling potatoes.  All you do for the potatoes is slather them in olive oil, sea salt, pepper and fresh chopped herbs, like rosemary and thyme, and a few cloves of garlic.  Roast the potatoes while the hens are roasting. 

2 cornish game hens, washed & dried, backbone removed
1/2 stick unsalted butter at room temp.
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
juice of half a lemon
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use a pair of sharp kitchen shears to remove the backbone, discard or save for stock.  Lay the chicken flat on a foil lined roasting pan.  In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic, lemon juice and herbs mixing until well blended.  The next step is to get up close and personal with the little chics.  Take your finger and slide it between the skin and the meat, but do not remove the skin.  Take a spoonful of the herby butter and rub it underneath the skin.  After both chics have gotten a rub down, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with salt & pepper.   Bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until done.  Simply delicious!

French Dip

This is one very good sandwich!  When my grocery store has B1G1 London Broil, I buy them just for this recipe.  The beef turns out tender and juicy when cooked on low heat for 3 hours.  Dip the sandwich in AuJus.   Please give this sandwich a try.  You won't be sorry you did....unless you are a vegan. 

1 London Broil
Olive Oil
Butter
Sea Salt
Pepper
Worchestershire Sauce
Hoagie Rolls
Swiss Cheese
Mushrooms
Onions
Au Jus

Melt a tablespoon butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy skillet (I use my iron skillet).  Wash the london broil and pat dry.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  When the butter and oil get really hot, place the beef salt & pepper side down, it should start sizzling immediately, sprinkle other side with salt and pepper.  After about 3 minutes or so, turn the beef over to brown the other side.  Pour a good splash of worchestershire over beef and cover with aluminum foil.  Place in oven for 2 hours on 250 degrees.  After 2 hours, shred the beef into small pieces with two forks.  Recover with foil and cook for an additional hour. 

Sautee Mushrooms and onions in a seperate pan with butter, olive oil, sea salt and pepper, add a splash of worchestershire. Set aside.

Make Au Jus (I used an Au Jus pack and just added water, and cooked as pkg directed.)  The beef will also make some really good drippings/sauce that be used to dip the sandwich.

Split the hoagie rolls and lay open on a sheet pan covered with foil or parchment paper.  Lay a couple slices of swiss cheese on each roll and bake until the cheese melts.  Stack each french dip sandwich with beef, onions, and mushrooms (if desired).  Serve with individual bowls Au Jus for dipping.  Yum!

~Carol

Tilapia with Potato Crust

This recipe tastes and looks amazing.  Home cooking doesn't get any easier than this.  Serve this tasty fish dish with some roasted carrots and fresh baked buttery, rosemary rolls.  I would like to thank Giada De Laurentiis for this recipe as a courtsey, however, I did change a couple things. 

tilapia fillets
yukon gold potatoes, very, very thinly sliced in circles
fresh rosemary, chopped fine
olive oil
butter
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an iron skillet with cooking spray and set on stove top on medium high, next completely cover the bottom with sliced potatoes, trying not to burn your fingers, overlaping a little like shingles.  Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper and rosemary.  Let the potatoes sizzle a few minutes on the stove top, so they will be tender when the fish is done.  Place fish on a work surface and season with salt and pepper.  Place fish on top of potatoes and drizzle with olive oil and rosemary. 

Dot with a few pats of butter and bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the fish is done and the potatoes are tender.  Place the fish on serving plates, potato side up. 

~Carol

Cozy Dogs

This recipe for Cozy Dogs is from my Aunt Nell.  I miss her so much and have many great, fun memories of her.  She was loving, kind, generous, beautiful and a great cook. 
18 - 24 weiners
18 - 24 chop sticks (these work best)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. mustard
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/4 cups milk

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and chili powder into bowl. Stir in cornmeal. Mix mustard, eggs & milk. Stir wet ingredients in to dry ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Stick each weiner with a chop stick and dip into batter. Drop into hot vegetable oil and fry for 3 to 5 minutes each. Drain on paper towels.

Seashell Wind Chime

I registered to take a seashell wind chime making class at our local Library this morning. I had the best time making this seashell wind chime. Check it out above. It is so cute. I love it. Thanks OBLibrary!

Red Beans & Rice

RED BEANS & RICE
BY: Carol

1 PKG. HILLSHIRE FARMS SMOKED SAUSAGE W/ JALAPENOS, CUT INTO ROUNDS
1 SMALL SWEET ONION OR ½ LARGE, CHOPPED
1 RED BELL PEPPER, CHOPPED
3 GARLIC, MINCED
1 FRESH JALAPENO, SEEDED, CHOPPED
2 CANS LIGHT RED BEANS
1 CAN DICED TOMATOS
1 SMALL CAN TOMATO SAUCE
1 TBSP WORCESTERSHIRE
OLIVE OIL
SEA SALT
PEPPER
1 TBSP CAJUN SEASONING
2 BAY LEAVES
COOKED RICE
IN A LARGE SKILLET OR DUTCH OVEN, COOK SAUSAGE IN OLIVE OIL UNTIL BROWNED, REMOVE WITH SLOTTED SPOON & SET ASIDE. SAUTE ONION, PEPPER, & JALAPENO IN SAME PAN FOR A FEW MINUTES, SPRINKLE WITH SALT & PEPPER, THEN ADD GARLIC AND SAUTE FOR ANOTHER MINUTE. POUR IN THE TOMATOS AND TOMATO SAUCE, STIR. POUR IN SOME WORCESTERSHIRE (I DID NOT MEASURE, I LOVE WORCESTERSHIRE, SO I POURED IN PROBABLY 2 TABLESPOONS). ADD THE CAJUN SEASONING AND 2 BAY LEAVES. ADD ABOUT A CUP OF WATER, STIR, LOWER HEAT, SIMMER FOR A LONG TIME, AT LEAST 1 HOUR.
COOK RICE ACCORDING TO PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. GET A BIG LADLE AND DISH SOME RICE IN THE BOTTOM OF A BOWL, THEN LADLE A COUPLE BIG SCOOPS OF RED BEANS OVER THE RICE. SERVE WITH A BIG GARLIC BUTTERED BAGUETTE FOR MOPPING UP ALL THE GOOD JUICES WHEN YOU ARE EATING THIS DELICIOUS MEAL!

Gran's Brag Book

My Granmother was very, very awesome! The ultimate granmother! I miss her and think about her often. She passed in 1994 from cancer. This is one of her journal entries about me when I was a baby. Written in 1966, it's called Behind the Kitchen Door...

When I was just a wee, wee tot

and crawling on the floor

My Mommy got a pen for me

Now I'm behind the kitchen door.

They filled it up with many toys

for which I didn't care

They hoped I'd be content to stay

while Mommy fixed her hair

I have a ball, some rings and things

a doll I could adore

But gee! oh me, can't mommy see?

No fun behind the kitchen door.

I get so tired of standing here

while others have the fun

I look, I yearn, I even squirm

while sister is on the run.

Now this has been my tiny world

for months and months I know

I creep, I peep, til I go to sleep

or a fit or two I'll throw

Now one day soon I'll have a plan

right over the top I'll soar

I'm older, I'm stronger, I hope I can scan

my pen behind the kitchen door

I'll run and run till my heart's content

All the things I will explore

If I don't watch out, my one comment

I'll be right back behind the kitchen door.

Copyright All rights reserved

Written by:

Mary Alice Waugh

1966

As Rachael Ray would say "Yummo"

This is a great recipe from my friend, April. I like to cook it without the poppy seeds, because I don't want to get dieofatickulitus (sp?) from eating the poppy seeds.

APRIL’S POPPY SEED CHICKEN

Ingredients
4 – 6 Boneless Chicken Breasts cooked and diced.
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
8 oz. Sour Cream
Handful Poppy Seeds
Sea Salt & Pepper
1 – 2 rolls Ritz Crackers, crumbled
½ stick Melted Butter

Directions
1. Boil or bake chicken until done, let cool, and cut up into small pieces.
2. Mix cream of chicken, sour cream, poppy seeds, salt and pepper together.
3. Put chicken in bottom of buttered casserole dish and pour soup mixture over chicken.
4. Top with ritz crackers and pour melted butter on top.
5. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
6. Serve over rice with a big loaf of French bread and some kind of good veggie or salad…
Yummo!
adapted from my friend, April