Romaine Lettuce Wrap

As some of you know, on April 21, 2010 I’ll be a guest on WCNC’s show Charlotte Today.? I plan on making my Pina Colada Salad, found on page 129 of my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat and I’ll also plan to demonstrate how simple Romaine Lettuce Wraps can be.? These wraps are great as appetizers.? If you want a change from that traditional salad at lunch, these are perfect.? You can even make them into a main dish.? It’s all a matter of being creative. The above are: Split carrots with cheese drizzled with Kraft Tuscan House Italian dressing & marinade Deli Ham rolls with Braswell’s Creamy Vidalia Onion dressing Wild Alaska Crab Delight drizzled with Louisiana Cocktail Sauce The 2 smaller wraps are the crab delight cut into pieces showing how they can be used as an appetizer.? Romaine lettuce makes the perfect lettuce wrap.? Due to the spine running down the leaf you have support for your filling while eating.? The leaves have the perfect width for wrapping and/or slicing.? I’ll be making a variety of these wraps for Easter, serving them as appetizers.? I plan on making those pictured above as well as adding tuna, egg salad and a several meats with cheese. Give these wraps a try and I bet you too will be saying? “These are so good, so simple, so attractive and so healthy”.?

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Romaine Lettuce Wrap

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Cookies – Coconut-Orange Snowballs!

This wonderful event, in it’s second year, is the brain child of Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes , but this year is being organized and ran by Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench . How I got asked to be involved with this incredible group is beyond me but all the thanks goes to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and after last year I sure earned my way in the hard way! There are 10 of us that have decided to do The 12 Days of Cookies – A bon appétit cookie extravaganza. We will be choosing, baking, tasting, blogging and sharing with you a cookie a day for the first 12 days of December. These cookies are coming from bon appetit’s Holiday Cookie-a-Day Slideshow . These are my partners in crime. We will all be choosing different cookies and surprising each other. How fun is that???? Be sure to check out their selections for the day! Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen Courtney of Coco Cooks Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook Kelly of Sass & Veracity Michelle of Big Black Dogs RJ of Flamingo Musings Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench Tiffany of The Nesting Project So this is the 7th cookie I have made for the 12 days of cookies.? Unfortunately this is the 8th day of the project!? All I am going to say is better luck next year!? There is just no way I cold keep up the pace! For the 7th cookie I choose to make the Coconut-Orange Snowballs.? They looked so elegant on all the plates I had seen.? Fortunately the coconut flavor is real mild because I didn’t use the coconut extract in it just the toasted coconut as no one in the house is really a huge fan of coconut. Coconut-Orange Snowballs Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 2 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar (sifted, then measured) 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon coconut extract 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange peel 1/2 teaspoon salt Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake coconut on rimmed baking sheet until light golden, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and both extracts in bowl to blend well. Beat in flour, orange peel, and salt. Stir in coconut. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Soften dough slightly before shaping. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 level tablespoon dough for each cookie, roll dough between palms of hands into balls. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until golden on bottom but pale on top, about 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool 5 minutes. Place remaining 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar in bowl. Roll hot cookies in powdered sugar, covering completely. Cool cookies on rack. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again, coating generously. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.) Would I make these again? ? Don’t think so.? I found them a little dry.? That could have been my fault for skipping

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Day 7 of the 12 Days of Cookies – Coconut-Orange Snowballs!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving #5

Today’s tip is so simple and cheap. I have a turkey baster but it seems like every time I “suck” some of the drippings up into the tube it starts running out before I can hold it over my turkey. Here is a tip that won’t cost you the price of the baster. Use a wide spoon to baste your turkey. It works especially good in the beginning when there’s so little juice. This also works great with chickens, hams, roasts and anything else you need to baste. Was that not simple enough.? Everyone has a large wide spoon in the house.

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Getting Ready for Thanksgiving #5

Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies

I have been a bad blogger, a very bad blogger!? I have not posted since the end of July.? I really have no real excuse other then the fact that I have been pretty busy with a new job and then just being a little lazy and hanging out with the kids. But get ready.? I am back and raring to go.? I have my Mom here visiting me next week from Toronto so I am sure we will be cooking up a storm! I have to clean my house and work so I am going to leave you with my guilty pleasure from yesterday… I adapted these from the original Toll House Chocolate Chip recipe by adding some cocoa powder and dried cherries.? I still have 1/2 of the dough in my fridge (I have realized that 5 doz. cookies around are not such a good thing so I always save some in the fridge to make when the first couple of dozen are gone) and I think I am going to add some pecans to them. These were wonderful and chock full of chocolate and cherries.? Great for an afternoon snack and equally as good for a quick breakfast (shhh…don’t tell the kids!) Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies (adapted from the Nestle website) Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi sweet chocolate chunks and chips 1 cup dried cherries (rehydrated slightly in some hot water) Directions: PREHEAT oven to 375° F. COMBINE flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in cherries and morsels and cherries. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. * May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks. As Always… Happy Entertaining!!! Judy www.nofearentertaining.com

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Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Tomato Braised Beef with Brown Rice and Barley Recipe

When the weather turns chill and you’re looking for something to warm you from the inside out, a good braised dish is the perfect choice.  Today was that day.  We woke this morning with snow on the ground and a bitter chill in the air that really didn’t get a whole lot beter as the day went on, though it was hard to notice the cold weather with the aroma of this dish permeating the house all day. I decided to braise beef in tomatoes early on in the day.  I had originally thought of serving the dish with pasta or plain old white rice, but a quick trip to the pantry convinced me otherwise.  Sitting forlorn and lonely at the back of the shelf that holds both my rice and “enriched macaroni products” I found a small bag of brown rice and an even smaller bag of pearled barley. The combination sounded so perfect that I immediately shifted gears in that direction and I couldn’t be happier that I did. The result was a warm and completely satisfying meal that did not leave room for dessert, but did leave more than enough leftovers for beef and barley soup tomorrow and most likely some other concoction the day after.  There really isn’t much that makes me happier than a meal that does double or triple duty and this one fits the bill perfectly. This recipe is a keeper.  I hope that at least one of you gives

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Tomato Braised Beef with Brown Rice and Barley Recipe

Wednesday morning thoughts . . .

“A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the …

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Wednesday morning thoughts . . .

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

As I do every Sunday I was running around the house doing chores, when I stopped and thought

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Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

Fruit Glazed Corned Beef

I simply love a good corned beef dinner, I have been making this particular recipe for at least 20 years now. I cook this corned beef every St. Patrick’s day, the whole family just loves it. It takes a little work to prepare it but not so much that you can’t still do other things around the house. This is the best tasting corned beef I have ever had in my life, it is so moist, tender, juicy and flavorful. So many recipes are still moist and tender but also flavorless. 4-5 Lbs. – Corned Beef ( with pickling packet ) 2 – Bottles Beer ( your favorite brand ) 1 – Lemon ( large ) 1 – Orange ( large ) 1 – Large Onion ( quartered ) Water to Cover The Glaze: 1 C. – Brown Sugar 1 Tbs. – Dijon Mustard 1 C. – Apple Juice 1 C. – Orange Juice 4 Tbs. – Lemon Juice Place the meat into a large soup pot, add the beer and enough water to cover the meat. Add the onion and pickling packet to the pot , cut the fruit and squeeze the juice into the water then place the fruit halves into the water also. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 4 hours, when done take the lid off and let the meat cool off in the cooking liquid, about 1 hour. Take the meat out of the cooking liquid and place into a baking dish, top the meat with the brown sugar. In a bowl mix the remaining ingredients and pour around the meat. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour basting every 10-15 minutes. Click here to Print Recipe… Thanks for visiting my site! Please Come Back

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Fruit Glazed Corned Beef

Pineapple Carrot Raisin Spice Cake

That time has come…this is our last slow cooker/crock pot installment. Since our previous dessert seamed to be such a big hit I had to find yet another one to give a try. This recipe was so simple and yet extremely delish. The aroma that filled the house was incredible, there is nothing better than the scent of cake. Yes… I said cake, cake in the slow cooker. This to me was a very strange idea at first but I am so happy that I tried it, the moist and soft lecture just melts in your mouth and the flavors worked very well together. So last but certainly not least I give to you…….. 1 – 18.25 oz. – Spice Cake Mix 1 – 3.4 oz. – Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix 1 C. – Water 2 C. – Shredded Carrots ¾ C. – Oil 4 – Eggs 1 – 8oz. – Can Crushed Pineapple 1 C. – Sour Cream ½ C. – Raisins 1 Tub Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients with the exception of the frosting, spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and pour the mixture inside. Cover and cook on low for 3½ – 5 hours. Check with a toothpick about 3 ½ hours into the cook time to see how it’s coming along. After cake is done, let cool. When the cake has completely cooled frost with the cream cheese frosting and serve. Click here to Print Recipe… Thanks for visiting my site! Please Come Back for More…

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Pineapple Carrot Raisin Spice Cake

Fridge Pasta and Presto Pasta Night

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Night , hosted by Ben over at What’s Cooking . Ruth at Once Upon a Feast is the brains behind Presto Pasta – a great blogging event, and one that I should enter more often. Ok – tonight’s pasta dish is another “creation” of mine. I am really making an effort to not throw food away because I didn’t get a chance to use something for a certain recipe. You all know how it is; you buy something because you want to make that one recipe. But, life happens and you end up going out to dinner, eating something else, or just not eating at all – well, the last one would never happen in my house. Looking in my fridge, I saw a half a steak, spinach and feta chicken sausage, spinach, asparagus, and feta cheese. I pulled all that out, and decided to make a “Fridge Pasta.” It turned out really well. The crunchiness of the asparagus blended well with the other textures in the pasta. The sausage and steak gave the meal that finishing touh my husband always looks for – meat. He was worried at first when he saw all the veggies, but came around quickly to really like the dish. I also liked feta cheese with my pasta. It added another layer of flavor to the dish that stood out a little – not overpowering though. Fridge Pasta 2 tbsp Olive oil 1 bunch Asparagus 4 cloves Garlic Salt and pepper 4 tbsp butter 1 tbsp Italian seasoning 4 links Spinach and feta chicken sausage Leftover steak 1 ½ cups white wine 1 lb pasta your choice 4-5 oz Feta cheese Sauté asparagus in olive oil for 4 minutes. While asparagus is cooking cook pasta according to directions. Add

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Fridge Pasta and Presto Pasta Night

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