Thanksgiving Menu.....

OK, this year we are not, going to do the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Maybe I'm getting lazy in my old age, but I just didn't want to work so hard this year, just want to send more time in the living room with the family and less time in the kitchen.  So here's the menu....keeping my fingers crossed for good weather, so we don't have to grill in the garage....LOL.

Cranberry Salsa with Tostada Chips

(recipe below)

Tossed Green Salad

Choice of dressings: Ranch, Thousand Island, Blue Cheese

Steak 

horseradish sauce/sauteed portabela mushrooms and onions

Baked Potato

(and I do mean baked not microwaved)

Butter, Sour Cream, Cheese, Chives, Bacon

Green Bean Casserole Au Gratin 

(recipe below)

Legendary Lion House Rolls

(Recipe)

For Dessert choice of:

My Apple Pie, Key Lime Pie, and French Silk Chocolate Pie

French Silk Chocolate Pie, My Apple Pie and Key Lime Pie

Recipes: Chocolate, Apple, Lime below

(I may make some chocolate cupcakes for the grandgirls they're not much on pie)

Cranberry Salsa

 1 bag Cranberries chopped

1/2 small onion chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

1/3-1/2 Serrano pepper optional

1/2 bunch cilantro chopped

1 C sugar          1/2 C Splenda works well too

Dash of salt

Juice of 1 lime

Process first 5 ingredients, stir in remaining ingredients.  Chill several hour or over night.  Serve with chips

Would taste great thinly spread on a turkey Panini .

I rediscovered how good a real baked potato tasted maybe a year ago.  I was trying to duplicate the baked potatoes at OutBack Steak House and came up with this, technique:

Wash/scrub your potatoes well

dry them off

Stab each in several places 

Drizzle with olive oil, and rub each to coat

sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt

Bake at 400 deg for about a hour (depending on their size) or until fork tender

And of course serve piping hot, and top with you favorite toppings.

And I'll just bet you won't believe where I found this recipe...Tasty Kitchen, of course.   It really sounds good.

Green Bean Casserole Au Gratin

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• ⅛ teaspoons Dry Mustard
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ¾ cups Milk
• ⅓ cups Shredded Colby Or Jack Cheese
• 2 cups Frozen Or Fresh Green Beans, Cooked And Drained
• ¼ cups Butter Flavored Croutons, Crushed
• 2 slices Bacon, Cooked Crisp, Crumbled
• ½ teaspoons Paprika

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Melt butter in pan; add flour, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring constantly until it has a creamy bubbly consistency. Pour in milk and cook, stirring constantly until you have a nice thick white sauce. Add cheese, blend well and remove from heat.

Put green beans in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the cheese mixture over the green beans and stir to coat the green beans well. Sprinkle the crushed croutons over the green beans. Spread the crumbled bacon over the top and sprinkle the paprika evenly over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes uncovered.

Now for the Key Lime Pie recipe, I found (don't remember where, but I'm pretty sure it was on the internet somewhere) and made recipe #1 for the first time a few weeks ago and it was so good, but I have another recipe I want to try, so I'm not sure right now which I am going to do.  I let you know...

Key Lime Pie  (2)

#1.   Ingredients  (5 stars, yes it was that good)

          For the crust:

• 1-¼ cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• ⅓ cups Butter

  For the filling: 

• 1 Tablespoon To 2 Tablespoons Of Grated Lime Zest (optional)
• 2 cans Sweetened, Condensed Milk, 14 Ounce Cans

• ½ cups Sour Cream

• ¾ cups Key Lime Juice

• Optional Garnishes: Whipped Cream And Lime Rounds

Preparation Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Then melt the butter in the microwave and mix it together with the crumbs.

3. Press the grainy crust mixture against the bottom and up the sides of a pie dish.

4. Grate the skin of a lime until you have 1 – 2 tablespoons of zest (depending on how “limey” you like it!). I didn't use any and didn't miss it at all.

5. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest.

6. Mix well and pour into the graham cracker crust.

7. Bake in preheated oven for about 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. Do not overcook or get even close to brown! If you don’t get these pinhole bubbles, that’s OK just make sure to still pull out the pie in under 10 minutes or it will burn!

8. Chill pie thoroughly before serving.

9. Garnish with whipped cream and lime rounds, or however desired!

#2.  Ingredients

     For the Crust:

• 1-¼ cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

• ⅓ cups Sweetened Coconut

• 2-½ Tablespoons Sugar

• 6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted

      For the filling:

• 1 can (14 Oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk

• 4 whole Large Egg Yolks, At Room Temperature
• ½ cups Fresh Key Lime Juice (or Bottled, If You Prefer)

             For the topping:

• 1 cup Heavy Cream

• 1 teaspoon Plain Gelatin

• 1 Tablespoon Cold Water

• 2 Tablespoons Confectioner's Sugar

• ½ teaspoons Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, coconut, sugar and butter with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Press mixture evenly into a 9-inch glass pie pan (not deep dish). Make sure the mixture covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes (mine took 8 minutes). Remove to a wire rack and cool.

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks with a whisk until combined. Add in lime juice and whisk again until thoroughly combined. Pour filling mixture into cooled crust. Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. Cool pie on a wire rack and then chill for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.

About an hour before serving the pie, put heavy cream in a large bowl. Place gelatin and water in a small dish in the microwave. Heat 5-10 seconds or just until gelatin is melted. Add this mixture to the heavy cream and whip just until combined. Refrigerate this mixture for about an hour.

When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream mixture with confectioner’s sugar and vanilla until stiff. Place into a pastry bag and pipe onto pie as desired.

Pictures and reviews to follow on Black Friday...Mari Ann and Shawn have to work Thanksgiving....

Wishing all of you

 a wonderful and prayerful 

Thanksgiving!

Last weekend was awesome...this weekend not much happening

Miss Kitty's on Lake Palestine

 I had a wonderful time last weekend with my brothers and their wives at our family reunion.  Dena (Jay's wife, he passed on several years back), Mike and Donna, Rachel and her new husband and 2 boys came by for a visit on Saturday, Billy Joe and Mari Ann their son Jimmy, Tommy and Kathleen,  Rusty and my daughter Mari Ann and her 2 girls, as well as Andy who may as well be a brother of mine and a new family friend Heather were all there.  I really missed the people that could not be there, my son and his family, Katie Sue, Amy and her family, Jason and his family along with other children, grandchildren of my brother's.  I do so hope and pray those that couldn't be here this year will make a special effort to be with us  at Huntsville State Lake, in the spring of 2013.  I'm hoping for March or April (perfect camping weather) we are going to, have to, work around my sea faring kin Tommy and Jimmy so they can be there.

You should have heard the roar as most of them arrived, 7 Harley Davidsons and a vintage cherry red Corvette as they rolled into the driveway... the sound of thunder comes to mind.  We shared alot of memories, fun, good food and love this weekend. Here are a few of the pictures that were taken.

Team 2 , Saturday night good eats.

Mari Ann, Shawn, Allison and Sara (behind the cup).

She wanted to ride soooo bad, but she's too little

Billy Joe, you better keep an eye on her!  She ready to ride...

Posing with their rides.

A little family game time...

This is going to be a nice quite weekend.  Nothing special on the agenda, just going to do what ever floats my boat so to speak.  I have already made a batch of cookies.  I found a recipe on Tasty Kitchen for Lemonade Cookies, that I wanted to try... I didn't have any lemon, but I did have 1 lime and 1 orange.  So I started cooking.  I made the cookie dough as directed except I did not put the juice or the peel in the dough until I had divided the dough in half, then I put the lime in 1 half of the dough and the orange in the other half,  Then I shaped the dough into logs on plastic wrap and but it in the refrig.  I was thinking I do this just for an hour or so to make the dough easier to slice and handle, but it turned into an over night cooling session.  This morning I got up and baked the cookies as directed and made the frosting.  As ususl I made a few changes in the recipe, the frosting calls for water and of course lemon juice, but since I don't have any lemon juice I made the frosting with milk,  and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Everything else I did the same, then I divided that in half (a little less than 1/2 C each) added some lime peel  and green food color to one and orange peel and I tried to make orange by using red and yellow food color (it's more peach colored than orange, but it looks OK). And they taste really good, hope the girls like them.

I'm planning on crockpoting a roast for Sunday Dinner, probably the A La Onion Soup recipe, with some mashed potatoes, some salad (got some lettuce that needs to be eaten and probably some rolls.  Wish ya'll could be here.

Wednesday. . . again. . .

Can't believe it 2, Wednesdays in a row and I'm cookin' supper.  Tonight Mari Ann and the girls were here and naturally the subject matter of our conversation turned to food and what we were going to eat/fed the girls.  Mari Ann suggested Chili dogs and spaghetti, neither sounded that good to me.  The Sara suggested pizza.  I started to consider that suggestion, as I mental strolled through my pantry and freezer looking to see if I had all the necessary ingredients, and by george I did.  So, here are a few pictures and the recipes.  The dough recipe makes enough crust for a LARGE single pizza (depending on how thin/thick you like your crust), tonight I divided the dough into 4 equal parts and everyone made their on pizza with the toppings they like best.  We used 9 inch round cake pans.
I have no idea where I got this recipe from, but it's been in my computer cookbook forever and I found it years before I had a computer cookbook. 

Pizza Dough

• 1 1/2 C warm water
• 1 t  yeast
• Stir together and let sit about 5 minutes until yeast bubbles up
• In a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix together
• 4 C flour



This feels funny...

• 1 T salt, (yes tablespoon)

And yeast mixture on low speed.  Slowly add 4 t olive oil until dough comes together about 5 minutes.  (Alternatively, stir together in a large bowl and knead with hands)  Cover bowl with plastic wrap let rise until double in bulk about 1 1/2 hours.  Punch dough down and shape into a ball, use immediately, or rub down with 1 T oil, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate up to 24 hrs.

I just put the sauce recipe together tonight, just tossing in what I thought would taste good.

Pizza Sauce

Is she watching... maybe I can slip on one more...

• 3 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 1 t dried minced onion
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1 t dried minced parsley
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes ( I use the petite diced)
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1/4 - 1 t Red pepper flakes (how spicy do you like it?)

Heat oil in a sauce pan, add garlic, onion, till lightly brown.  Stir in Italian seasoning, parsley, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and red pepper flakes.   Allow to simmer until sauce thickens about 10 minutes.  At this point you can use it  as is, if you like the sauce a little chunky or you can blend it to you hearts content for a smooth sauce.  Depending on how much sauce you like on your pizza this will make enough for 3 large pizzas.  I freeze the leftovers in about 2,  6 oz. cups for future use.

Aaaah, time to eat....

Sunday Cookin'

Good Sunday morning everyone! On the menu for today is a Crock Pot Stroganoff, (a combination of several recipes), noodles or mashed potatoes (I'm leaning toward the potatoes) some kind of veggie, not sure what yet and Black and White Cupcakes.

Pat's Crock Pot Stroganoff

1 lb Stew meat cubed/bite size pieces

2  t  ketchup or tomato paste
1 t  mustard -- dry or wet
1/2 C  beef broth (actually a 1/2 c total of broth/wine/water is probably plenty)
1/2  C  red wine or water or more broth
1 T cornstarch
1 cube beef bouillon
salt and Pepper
1  lb  mushrooms sliced

2  medium  onion -- sliced
1  C  sour cream

• Set crock pot on high, add meat, catsup, mustard and beef bouillon cube.  mix broth, wine/water and cornstarch together stir together and add to crock pot, mix well.  Cook on high about 2 hours. 
• Turn crackpot down to low, add sliced onions, cook for another hour,  Add sliced mushrooms Cook low, till time to eat.
• Turn off heat stir in sour cream serve immediately over noodles, mashed potatoes or rice.

I made the cupcakes cause I had 2 half boxes of cake mix, one white and one
chocolate. I used the Cream Cheese Frosting below that I got from the Tasty Kitchen web site. I did make a couple of small changes though, I added a dash of salt, creamed the cheese and the butter well added the vanilla whipped it a little more, then I added the powdered sugar a little at a time, first on low speed, then gradually increasing the speed as the sugar became blended. When it reach my desired consistency I removed about 1/2 (perhaps a little less than half cause my family is really into chocolate), set it aside. Then I added 3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder mixed it into the remaining frosting. Then I frosted the cooled cupcakes. 

Sara likes my cupcakes....

Sara told me that she sits at a table in the cafeteria with 3 little boys. She said they get so jealous when she opens her lunch kit and it has one of my cupcakes in it. She said they "just drool with jealousy they want a bite so bad", but in the second grade they don't allow them to share or trade their lunches. I don't think Sara wants to share anyway and I love helping her torment the little boys....

Allison and the long arm of the law...aka Daddy

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• dash Salt
• 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3-½ cups Sifted Powdered Sugar (or More Depending On Desired Consistency)

• See Variations Below For Chocolate OR Flavored Cream Cheese Frosting

Preparation Instructions

1. Cream together cream cheese, vanilla and butter until fluffy.
2. Sift or whisk powdered sugar to aerate it.
3. Stir powdered sugar into cream cheese mixture, 1 cup at a time, until well blended.
4. Makes enough to generously frost a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, 24 cupcakes, or an 8-inch layer cake.

Notes:
- This makes a medium consistency frosting.
- For a stiff decorator frosting: add more powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until desired consistency.
- For a thinner consistency to fill cupcakes or sandwich cookies, add about ½ cup less powdered sugar.
- For chocolate cream cheese frosting: sift ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder to the powdered sugar before adding it to the cream cheese mixture.
- For flavored cream cheese frosting: Substitute the flavored extract of your choice. Maple, lemon, or orange are wonderful.

Cooking on Wednesday? ! ? ! ?

My grandgirls . . . and I were wanting something on the Italian side tonight so I decides to make a version of the Three Cheese Stuffed Shells from the Tasty Kitchen site.  I have made this before and believe it or not followed the recipe pretty close to exact,  but this time I wanted to make only a half recipe and as it sometimes works out I didn't have everything I needed in my pantry tonight, so here's what I did:

My Stuffed Shells

• 1/2 a box of large shells
• 22 oz Ricotta cheese give or take
• 1/4 C Parmesan grated/shredded + some to sprinkle on top
• 1 C Mozzarella grated/shredded + some to sprinkle on top
• 1/2 - 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 a can spinach as much moisture squeezed out as you can without making it mushy.  I know fresh or frozen would probably work better.
• Parsley, Basil and garlic powder to taste
• 1 jar of your favorite Marinara Sauce

Cook shells as directed on package.  Mix everything together in a bowl except for the marinara sauce.  Spray  pan with a non-stick cooking spray, pour about a cup of the sauce into the pan, Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Then put you cheese mixture into a zip-lock bag, snip one bottom corner of the bag and proceed to fill the shells,  When all shells are filled top with remaining sauce, sprinkle more of the parmesan and mozzarella cheese  on top, then bake for about 30 min or until hot and bubbly.

Hope you are having a Blessed Easter...

Sorry about the chipped plate, my husband has chipped all but a couple,
 of these, he's so rough with with stuff

Here's what was on my menu for Easter Sunday.  It is a meal that I hope will show my thanksgiving for this day.  I put a lot of thought and work into it and I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of my labor and love.  There is Orange Glazed Pork Roast, Potatoes Romanoff, Green Beans, Legendary Lion House Rolls (the ones I froze last Sunday) and for desert Lemon Buttermilk Pie and a Chocolate Buttermilk Pie.  All of these recipes I found on the Tasty Kitchen web site except for the Lemon Buttermilk Pie which is a recipe I got from my mother, so many years ago.  I also made a couple of changes in the Potatoes Romanoff  and the Green Bean recipes from the links above, (I found out to late that I was short a couple of ingredients).  If you haven't checked out this site you really need to it's got all kinds of recipes which lead to inspiration in you own kitchen.


Potatoes Romanoff II

Ingredients

• 4 whole Large Russet Potatoes, Unpeeled

• 2 teaspoons salt (kosher or sea)
• ¾ cups Minced Shallots

• 1 - 8 oz, pkg. (2 cups) Triple Cheddar Cheese grated/shredded

• ¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Pepper

• 1 stick 1/2 C butter melted

• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1 Cup ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese

Preparation Instructions

Step 1:  1-2 days before serving:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Scrub and dry potatoes removing all dirt and sprouts if any, drizzle with oil I prefer Olive oil, and sprinkle with Kosher or sea salt. Place on baking sheet and bake at 45min. - 1 hour, till done.  Let cool to room temperature, then put potatoes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Step 2: day of serving or day before serving:  Dice the chilled potatoes, including skins into approx.. 1/4 inch cubes, place into a large bowl, sprinkle in the shallots, grated cheese, and pepper. Then pour in the melted butter and fold in sour cream and ricotta.

Transfer mixture to a greased 2 quart gratin dish, making sure that you don’t pack it in the dish! Allow it to fall into the dish, then spread it evenly in the dish without pressing it down.  Covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate till needed.

Step 3: day of serving:  Bake at 350 degrees F until the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top return to oven till melted.  Serves 8.


And since I can't not for the life of me leave a recipe alone here's how I did the green beans.


Maple Wrapped Green Beans II
Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen Whole Green Beans thawed
• Dashes Of Salt And Pepper
• 8 strips Bacon 
• 1 TablespoonButter
• 1-½ teaspoonBrown Sugar
• 1 TablespoonMaple Syrup

Preparation Instructions

Grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Sprinkle the bacon with the pepper.  Grab 6-10 beans and group them together.

Wrap the cluster with a piece of bacon in a spiral fashion covering as much of the beans as you can and place them, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the beans.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until melted. Using a brush, liberally apply the butter mixture over the green bean bundles until covered.

Bake for 45-60 minutes until the bacon is crispy and brown.


Oh darn, I forgot to put the glaze on the beans, but the girls still loved them, bet they would have liked them even better with the glaze...Oh well, maybe next time I won't forget.

a little too brown...but not burned

 Lemon Buttermilk Pie

  1        Stick  Oleo -- room temp.

  2        T  Lemon Juice

  2        C  Sugar

  1        t  Vanilla

  3        T  Flour

  5        Eggs -- added one at a time

  1        C  Buttermilk

  1        t.  Lemon Peel -- grated

• Mix ingredients in order given.  Beat well after each egg.  Stir in butter milk

• Pour into 9 inch unbaked pie shell.  Opt: sprinkle top of pie with grated lemon peel

• Bake at 425 for 10 min. lower heat to 325* Cook until firm, approx. 30-45 min.  Center should "jiggle" a little. DO NOT OVER BAKE.  Cover with foil, shiny side up, if the pie begins to get too brown.  I almost didn't cover mine in time.

The Lemon Buttermilk Pie is a recipe handed down to me by my mother, have no idea where she got it from.  This pie is a must for all holiday fares and one of my husband's favorites.

The Chocolate Buttermilk  is a brand new recipe and it will become a new must have at all family holidays and gatherings. Very rich and sweet, with a little bit of tart from the buttermilk.  Soooo good.  Especially with a dab of whipped cream on top, or maybe even some ice cream, oooh you could nuke it for a minute and then but some ice cream on it...ooooh that is soooo wrong.

And the frozen rolls were just as good as they were last weekend.  I pulled them out of the freezer, put them in a pan before I left for Church at about 6am this morning, giving them plenty of time to thaw and rise before noon.  I like the potatoes this weekend better than last, next time, unless I'm feeding Shawn or my son Chipper, I'm cutting that recipe by at least a third, maybe even half.