Christmas... the most wonderful time of the year! And I'm at it again, baking old favorites like gingerbread men, frosted lemon-sugar cookies; and I'm making some new favorites, like a recent recipe I found for Hermit bars that taste just like the fruit bars I loved eating as a kid that came from our family's favorite bakery, Smith's. Here they are:
These are so good with their chewy texture, just the right amount of spices and raisins.
I bake this lemon-sugar cookie every year, but this time I made them all in miniature size--what fun! They are just right to pop one in your mouth. Bite size! I frosted them with royal icing and added sprinkles. That's all.
Cookies all nestled in their cozy tin waiting to go to neighbors! Sugar cookies with nonpareils, orange-cranberry cookies, Hermits, and lastly, Krumkakes.
This is my old favorite Krumkake iron I used to make my Krumkakes, which are Scandinavian waffle cookies spiced with cardamom and served around the holidays.
They are a delicate, delicious cookie that can be eaten plain, or stuffed with whipped cream, fruit, or custard... or anything else you want. Ice cream would be good, too!
Gingerbread people are a "must" to make every year! They're so fun to make and smell up the house real good. All that cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and molasses. I just love these!
Thanksgiving Day has passed and now we're looking forward to Christmas. So many wonderful memories. So much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to. And I don't know why but I've been snuggling more under my cozy blanket, wanting to watch old movies, and craving lots of old-fashioned comfort food.
Like this hot roast beef sandwich smothered in good brown gravy with sides of homemade whipped mashed potatoes and baby green peas. Mmmmm... wanting this now. Reminds me of my Goggy.
And here was our Thanksgiving meal. It was so satisfying with a deliciously moist turkey, homemade bread stuffing with onions, mushrooms and celery, and lots of mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, maple-roasted brussels sprouts, and hot rosemary rolls fresh out of the oven! Comfort food.
Oh my! One of my all-time favorites! Fried chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and gravy! Nothing more.
And sometimes I just crave a good old-fashioned meat pie--well, that's what we call it. Ground beef cooked with onions, garlic, tomatoes and seasonings, layered with French cut green beans, fresh cooked sliced carrots, and topped with mashed potatoes with cheese on top! So good.
Well, I couldn't resist more fried chicken! Here I used just legs and thighs, shook them up good in well-seasoned flour and fried them in hot vegetable oil. I've been frying chicken a long time, and this is the best way to do it in my estimation, and David's and Collin's too!
And now on to, hmmm, baking cookies for Christmas! Maybe I will make some mini cakes and cupcakes, too.
Seems I'm either looking for new recipes to cook, dreaming about cooking, thinking about cooking ... or cooking! Lovin' it all.
Mexican food is my go-to food for comfort. Always. Here, I made a black bean, cilantro rice, and chorizo quesadilla with homemade Mexican rice, guacamole, and pico de gallo. So good.
Mexican rice made the Baja way by frying the rice first in a little oil, then adding chopped onion, garlic, tomato, one large jalapeno and chicken broth. Spicy good!
Oh this is such a good sandwich made with grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes, scallions, chopped artichoke hearts mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar. All put together on grilled ciabatta bread. Great idea for vegetarians.
These souffles were fun to make and easy, too. I used crescent rolls for the crust and the filling is made with spinach, artichoke, cream and eggs. Mmmmmm.... These are definitely yummy takeout food.
The difficulty for me with meatless cooking is coming up with meals that are not monotonousness, boring and tasteless, but delicious. Variety seems to always be a problem. I heard a chef on one of the cooking shows say, the other day, that he thought that if you can really cook a great vegetarian dish then that shows that you are a good cook because it is always easier to center a dish around meat. Well, maybe this is true--for me anyway. This is a challenge, an interesting one, but still a challenge. So here I go again! :)
Well, I had to post this since it's that time of year again! With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I need to find some variety this year for our Thanksgiving Day meal. Hmmm, maybe not so much. I will still cook a turkey (I'm such a traditionalist--it's just not Thanksgiving to me without a turkey!), but so many of the sides are actually vegetarian... and good.
I know this isn't ordinary "faire" for Thanksgiving, but garlic sauteed baby kale is so stinkin' good that I may just add this to our meal this year.
Another delicious, meatless goodie is fresh cranberry and orange compote. I just love this stuff and it's so easy to make.
Fresh pears are delicious this time of year. I just cannot resist a sweet, ripe, yellow, juicy pear.
I know... you're probably saying oh my look at all those marshmallows! Yes, but this is so gooey good with the colored sweet potatoes swimming in brown sugar and butter and topped off with those soft yummy mallows! Sorry, but this has been a favorite since childhood so I just cannot leave it off the menu. So many memories...
Well I have to admit that sometimes I don't find the look of vegetarian meals all that appealing and therefore I choose not to cook those. This one I recently cooked, though, not only looked stunning but left heavenly smells wafting through the house. Sniff sniff. Mmmmm...
These are Asian lettuce wraps. Funny how the protein looks like ground chicken or turkey, but is actually crumbled tofu. Ahhh, my love for tofu -- well, not really, but shucks it's so easy to cook with since it sautes well, lends itself to any Asian recipe (of course), and takes on just about any flavor you want it to just by either marinating it or seasoning it with your favorite ingredients.
Another Asian tofu specialty! This is a delicious Phad-Thai meal that I cooked up with tofu, bean sprouts, green onions, shredded carrots, a little napa cabbage, lots of garlic, and heaped onto a mound of sticky white rice. The sauce was to die for!
This is all for now. Hmmm, wonder what I'm going to cook for the kids tonight.
Well, I'm actually having fun with this new road I'm on trying my hand at cooking meatless meals. I've learned a lot and have had to rethink centering the meals around the protein--sometimes quite challenging. I've also picked up some incredibly delicious recipes!
This panini was fun to make. Homemade tomato pesto was first spread on the bottom of a ciabatta bun, then I layered roasted, sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top of the pesto--yum, sounding good already. Next, I added fresh basil leaves and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. I put the top ciabatta bun on and grilled it all in my panini press. This is really a good sandwich.
Roasted russet potatoes go well with the panini.
These look like hamburgers, but they're not! They are actually black bean burgers, something we had never had before, and they are delicious! Mash black beans, add grated onion, egg, bread crumbs, hot sauce, salt and pepper, and form into patties. Saute them in a skillet with a little butter and olive oil until they're nice and browned. Then I topped them with jack cheese, but you can use any kind you like, and placed the lid on the skillet so the cheese would melt. I mixed up mayo with sirracha and Tabasco sauces and spread some on each buttered and grilled bun. I placed the patty on the bottom bun, then added arugula on one and romaine lettuce on the other (the kids have different tastes). These were some of the best burgers ever! Not kidding. Next time I think I will mix in salsa with the mayo and maybe add some chopped Hatch green chiles either to the beans or the mayo--or both! Anyway, this recipe is a keeper! Thank you Pioneer Woman!
This is a quick and simple salad that can accompany any sandwich or pizza or... whatever you like! Butter and purple lettuce is mixed with heirloom baby (or cherry, whatever you call them) tomatoes, and big hunks of blue cheese. Drizzle on olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fresh tasting, crunchy, good!
Margherita Pizza made with fresh tomatoes, lots of fresh garlic, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil, and Parmesan. Oh I just love this crust--and if you've been following my blog, then you already know how I've been in search for the perfect pizza dough (and perfect pizza for that matter). Well, this comes close!
So my kids announced last week that they were going vegetarian and could I please make meals without meat. Okay... Wow, I thought, this is going to be challenging. David and I are meat lovers, and generally I center the meal around the protein. So, I eagerly jumped into the new challenge and have been diligently searching the internet as well as asking various people for some good recipes. So far I've come up with a few...
These ratatouille-stuffed zucchini boats were delicious and satisfying, even without the meat!
I also made a delicious lentil and pasta soup to go with the zucchini boats. This soup is loaded with vegetables swimming in a very good broth with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top.
This spinach and mushroom lasagna was so good with the meaty mushrooms, spinach and cheesy cream sauce all melding together perfectly! I don't think I've had a better lasagna, and the no-boil noodles made it a snap to make. I sauteed fresh crimini mushrooms with chopped onion in a little olive oil until the mushrooms took on that nice golden-brown color and smelled like heaven. I made a bechamel sauce with cream and added nutmeg, fresh chopped spinach and lots of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Then I added the mushroom mixture and simply layered the noodles and sauce topping it off with more cheese. My house smelled divine while it baked in the oven--couldn't wait to taste it! YUM!
This is my take on Panzanella (bread salad) which makes a really good vegetarian salad that is quite satisfying. Use a good loaf of French bread cubed and made into croutons by tossing with olive oil and Kosher salt and baked in the oven until nice and golden. Add seeded, sliced English cucumbers, tomatoes, colored peppers, sliced red onions and Kalamata olives. Toss with your favorite vinaigrette and chopped fresh basil. Oh, and don't forget the capers!
I really like this dish. It reminds me of family, crackling fires in the fireplace, laughter... you know, comfort. But I don't remember ever eating Beef Rouladen as a child, even though my heritage is mainly German.
Step One:
Round steak is a good choice, but I only had cube steak on hand (or minute steak depending on where you're from). Pound it so it's fairly thin and season with salt and pepper.
Step Two:
Brush a thin coat of German mustard across the meat, add a slice of bacon, some sliced onions and a couple of sliced dill pickles.
Step Three:
Roll the meat up carefully, secure with toothpicks, and gently roll in flour.
Step Four:
Brown the Rouladen in a little oil, making sure not to crowd the pan.
Step Five:
Once the meat is nice and brown, add beef broth, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until tender.
Step Six:
Time to eat!! Yummy. Here I served the Rouladen with mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, and sliced heirloom tomatoes.
Twenty-two years ago on August 26 my son Collin was born! He's always enjoyed a variety of foods, and has a very eclectic and discerning palette. So I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner. Here were his requests:
Escargot, a good stout Irish ale, a fruit and cheese platter: figs, pluots, champagne grapes, Jazz apples, pomegranate, Gouda, Muenster, and Irish cheddar with stout. And then of course Baklava for dessert! I also brought lots of delicious French bread to the table--what a feast it was!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLIN!
When I was a kid growing up in California, the best hamburger I ever ate came from Michener's, but they are long gone. Well, I also liked the hamburgers at Mexicali Restaurant (even though they are a Mexican food restaurant!), where I would eat them with mustard and pickle only. Juicy and good. I still like a good hamburger, but it's got to have cheese on it in my opinion. And I do still like my cheeseburger with mustard and pickle but sometimes I add more stuff to it.
Yes! This is the way I like it! A juicy all beef burger cooked on the griddle (that's right, the griddle) with a plain soft white bun barely toasted, melty American cheese, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, dill pickle slices, and of course "secret sauce." Mmmmm, good!
I grilled this burger outside over the coals which gives the meat a satisfying smokey taste. It's topped with grilled onions and mushrooms (YUM), cheddar cheese and "secret sauce"--all on just a plain, soft white bun.
This is the best and easiest recipe I've ever tried for sliders for a crowd! Mix the ground beef with minced onion, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and spread it into a 9 x 13 pan mashing it down so it's all even. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350. Lay any kind of cheese you want all over the top and put back into the oven until the cheese melts. Degrease the pan and cut into squares that fit your rolls (I like to use Kings Hawaiian rolls). Mine are topped with Thousand Island Dressing and of course dill pickles because that's the way I like them! Did I mention cheese? These are really good pop-in-your-mouth sliders. Betcha can't eat just one.
Last but not least. This hamburger is one of my son's (Collin) favorites. A grilled all beef burger with blue cheese and bacon on a ciabatta roll. The roll is a little crunchy on the outside but soft and tasty on the inside. Using the right kind of bun can make all the difference!
My favorite is still the one on top! :)
Oh, for the love of food! Certain things just seem to go together. I won't bore you with all the cliches that you already know, but you get the picture. Like this, for example:
With this!
These are some yummy spicy, fried chicken wings I whipped up, recently. So good.
I love a really good BLT on perfectly toasted whole wheat bread! Mine also has cheese on it because that's the way I like it. And this sandwich goes so well with this:
Simply, fresh, homemade vegetable soup!
Yep! Here's a picture of one of our winters here in Colorado... brrrrrrrrr! Glad it's still summer! But a day like this just cries out for this:
Oh I want some now! A big pot of steamy meatball soup with some greens in a velvety rich tomato-y broth!
This is a delicious pot of rich beef stew I made not long ago with mushrooms, peas and potatoes. And this goes so well with this:
Homemade biscuits of course!
And last but not least... these two fellas go with me! (What are they doing????)
That's all for now, folks! :)
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