Turkied Out...

Trying to think up something different but still slightly traditional for Christmas Eve Dinner because quite frankly I'm so sick of Turkey. We were watching a smoked pork shoulder with BBQ sauce, which just sounded really good for a change of pace at the Holidays. I'm gonna experiment with Indian Pudding for desert, which sounds really really good (note to self: Stop watching Food TV, it's not helping my expanding waist line). I'm also going to experiment with Pumpkin/chocolate fudge and a peanut butter/chocolate fudge recipe that is currently running around in my head. Next weekend should be a good baking weekend.

In the mean time, I feel like I've pretty much read all that I can read now. I'm looking for Push (the book version of the movie Precious), but I'm in no rush to read something really really deep and depressing.

What's really bad is that I've yet to watch New Moon. I'm a bad Twerd. I'm tempted to just wait until DVD.

I'm also still in love with my new TV. Thank you Black Friday! Bye bye ugly old TV that didn't even have the back hooked in correctly because I lost a few screws.

My Contribution For Thanksgiving....Stuffed Mushrooms

So, I was watching Food TV's Barefoot Contessa, and Ina Garten has this really great recipe for Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms. I had to tweak the recipe a bit (okay a lot) because the stores in my area do not have some of the things she puts in the stuffing, but they still came out tasting really (and by really I mean REALLY) good.

I'm a novice when cooking with wine. I can marinate with it like a pro when I grill, but with regular foods (unless it's like a marinara sauce) I'm kind of clueless.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of Marsala Wine. I didn't know Marsala Wine comes in sweet and dry, so I kind of felt silly debating in the liquor store for 30 minutes about it. I decided on Dry since mushrooms are earthy. I couldn't see a sweet wine with them

Clean them off with a damp towel (don't wash them under water, it will cause them to get too mushy as you cook them. Remove the stems, but don't throw them out. You will use them later.

Put the mushrooms in a container or bag. Take 3 tablespoons of Marsala wine and 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil. (Okay, I have to confess, I thought I had olive oil in my pantry and didn't, so I used Vegetable Oil. Bad Misty). Pour the oil and wine in with the mushrooms and get them all coated. Then let them sit while you do the other stuff.

The original recipe calls for green onions, but since I didn't feel like going to the store I just chopped up a white onion into really small pieces. I then took the mushroom stems and chopped them up really fine too.

Next you start browning up Sage Sausage. You can use something more spicy, but not everyone likes spice, and Sage Sausage just speaks the holidays to me. As it browns, make sure you don't leave any really big chunks of sausage, because that makes it hard to stuff into the mushrooms.

Pour the onions and the mushroom stems in with the sausage and combine. Add salt, pepper and garlic. Then add about a cup of Panko Bread Crumbs (you will find them in the Oriental Foods Section of your grocery store). If you feel like you need to add more bread crumbs, go ahead.

Finally add a package of cream cheese to the mixture till it all combines. Ina's recipe actually calls for Mascarpone Cheese, but I live in the boondocks of Oklahoma. There is no Marscapone Cheese at the Superwalmart or any of the other little markets. (I would kill for a Trader Joes in Lawton. Seriously, who do I have to bribe to get one?)

Now it's time to stuff your Shrooms! Once they are stuffed, you can take grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle it over the tops with a little more salt and pepper. I actually even put some of the Parm in the sausage mixture before I started stuffing the mushrooms.

Once you've done all that, you put them in the oven for about 50 minutes at 350. I know if I actually got my hands on all the "right" ingredients it would have tasted even better, but honestly I don't think anyone really cared. We wolfed em' down in an hour.

The picture above is what they look like about 15 minutes before they are done. By the time they were ready to be taken out, all the juice in the bottom of the pan gets sucked up into the mushroom or evaporates in the oven.

If you make this recipe, make a lot. It goes fast.

So Easy, Even My Mom Can Do It....

Well, apparently not. She asked me to make quesadillas for dinner tonight because she said she didn't know how to make them. Now, I'm not sure if she 'really' didn't know, or 'really' just did not want to cook dinner.lol. Anyway, here is my recipe. If you can make a grill cheese sandwich. you can make a chicken quesadilla.

Heat and then add oil to a saute pan. (I guess 2 or 3 table spoons. I just like to coat the bottom of the pan).

Take some chicken (the easy thing to do is buy a bag of chicken from the store, pre-cut and cooked. All you have to do is open the bag and reheat in the pan) once the pan is heated up and saute in the oil, along with one onion cut up (I don't dice it, I just cut the onion in half and then make small slices of both sides).

As the onion and chicken cooks in the pan, add whatever you want to the mix. I like to saute mushrooms and bell peppers with it. Then I'll add fresh crushed garlic, Salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, taco seasoning, maybe some basil flakes. If the mix seems dry, I add a spoon full of butter and maybe some hot sauce if I really want some heat. I'd love to give you exact measurements, but the truth is I'm an eye baller cook. I never make the same thing the same way twice.

Once everything is cooked up just right (you don't want to over cook the onions and bell pepper), I dump the mixture on a plate and kind of glaze the pan over with some butter. I take one large flour tortilla and lay it flat. On half the tortilla I lay out some shredded cheese (mixed cheddar is fine). On top of the cheese I spoon over my chicken mixture and then add more cheese. I let the cheese kind of start to melt then fold over the other half of the tortilla like a sandwich. Once one side is browned I turn over the quesadilla to brown the other side.

I personally like my tortilla to be crispy. Soft Quesadillas tend to get soggy quickly.

Once both sides are kind of golden brown I place it on a plate then cut it up into 3 or 4 pieces.

In a bowl I mix together onion, avocado, and cut tomatoes with some salt and pepper. Spoon that over the top of the tortillas. You can dollop sour cream over each slice and then shake some hot sauce or salsa over that.

That's it. Yummy, cheesy, chickeny goodness.

Pumpkin Cookies

This is a great, simple cookie to make for the Holidays. The only word of advice I have is make sure your measurements are exact and you don't over beat the eggs. The fist batch I did tasted okay, but they were a little bit rubbery because I beat the eggs too long. The second batch (below) came out perfect. Moist and chewy, but they also kind of fall a part. They are not a super sweet cookie, but you could get away with putting a little more of the spices in if you really wanted to.

It's completely optional to put a cream cheese frosting on top, but I think the frosting makes the cookie sweeter (and we all know how sweet I am). Soften a pack of cream cheese, put about half a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl with the cheese, mix it up. I also add a dash of vanilla for a little extra flavor.

OH! Almost forgot. Do not drop a big big dollop of cookie dough onto the pan. Less is more for this cookie. It does not flatten out, it actually keeps its form and puffs out a little.

I like to double this recipe, so you don't waste pumpkin. They taste great with cream cheese frosting on top!

3/4 C shortening

3/4 C packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 C canned pumpkin

2 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 C raisins

1/2 C chopped nuts

Cream together shortening and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. Mix until well blended. stir in pumpkin. Add flour slowly until well blended. Add raisins and nuts, if desired. Drop by spoonful on to un-greased cookie sheet. bake at 375 for 12 - 15 minutes. makes 6 dozen cookies.

It's Not A Pretty Desert, But It Is Soooooooooo Good!

Start with a box of Nilla Wafers, 32 oz Heavy Cream, and a bag full of red or purple (depending on how sweet they are) seedless grapes.

Wash and make sure all the little branch bits are off the grapes. Cuz really, who wants crunchy grapes? Blach.

You can do this part the hard way or the easy way, but essentially you need to grind up all the Nilla Wafers pretty finely.

Whip up the heavy cream, but DON'T over whip (unless you like that kinda thing, ah-hem)

Gently combine the grapes, wafer crumbs and heavy cream. You are now Done.

If you are tired after doing all that you are a wussie.

You could take some extra crumbs and sprinkle over the top or just leave it as is. It's not a very pretty desert, but it's very yummy. No sugar needed, just the wafers, grapes and cream. Plenty of sugar in the grapes and wafers.

Cool over night. It will thicken up even more.

Enjoy!

I cook, therefore I make Salsa....

Pucker Up and Pie

I made my first Lemon Meringue Pie today! Woot! I actually did semi decent on the crust, but next time I'm going to make sure I have all the ingredients out and ready to rock. You have to do too many things at once. Okay, well, two things at once. Stir and pour. My brain only works in one gear, so and something else on and I tend to screw up when I'm working a recipe. In this case, I thought I read that the custard needed 2/3 cup of lemon juice, and it really only needed 1/3. Nice. What's kind of funny is I was thinking "man, this is a lot of lemons to squeeze!" the whole time. So, when I realized that the custard was now too liquidy I tried to add a little more of the thickening agent and forgot that it tends to clump if you don't mix it in right. It took a few minutes to get the bigger nuggets out. I'd like to say the white spots are glare from the lighting, but that would be a lie.lol.

So, I'm calling this my Pucker Up and Pie, since there are A LOT of lemons in this pie. It could end up being a happy accident. I think the end result looks pretty good for a first time pie!

With Age Comes Clarity...just not for me

Today was a lazy day. The kind of day where I slept in, did maybe just a couple loads of laundry, and grilled dinner for the family. The kind of day where I didn't even bother to look what kind of shoes I had on until I looked down and noticed I wasn't wearing matching flip flops.

I did, however, have really good luck on the grill. If only my talents on the grill could find me a man! Le sigh. (on a side note, by man I mean one that will grill for me and not bitch about it the whole time....oh, and it would be nice if he had all of his fingers too. Those kinds seem to be in short supply around here).

Shoe Diary, Part 2

Some have mistakenly thought I have a foot fetish. Um, Not! I do not want to have sex with my feet OR shoes. Hello! I like my shoes too much to violate them like that! ewe. Anyway, I digress. Today's entry into the shoe diary are my black vintage looking heels. When I bought them, I thought they were butt ugly, but I've since learned to try some things on now rather than pass over out of shoe snobbery. These ones look better on than off. Sometimes they cut into my toe a little, but that's only when I don't wear them after a while. Hey! I painted my toes for this pic! Too funny.

What's in your purse????

My love for purses is about as equal as my love for shoes. I've lost count of how many purses I actually have (though maybe not as many as people might think). I only know that when I see a purse, and it calls my name, I must buy. Normally I only buy if they are on sale, but I admit that the boot purse above cost me more than what I would usually pay. I like the green one just because it has fru-fru and beads. It's my girly girl purse. Bought them both at the Affair of the Heart in OKC (Note to self, do not go with two old ladies who smoke next year. They will only piss you off and want to leave early because they are tired)

When I say call my name, I'm really REALLY serious y'all. I hear bells and fireworks, and my eyes light up, and I get super happy all of the sudden. Whenever I feel a little down, I pull out one of my purses and suddenly I'm not quite so sad anymore. Superficial? Hell yes. I think every woman is allowed to have a something that makes them happy just because. I have no guilt over my small obsession.