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Peeps and Bunny Wreath!

I love this pink and green check deco mesh for spring and Easter!  I also found some cute Peeps to use at the Dollar Tree.  This wreath turned  out great and didn't cost a fortune to make.




Easter Peeps Flower Arrangement!

I am loving all of the ways I am seeing Peeps used for Easter this year!  Peeps have always been my son's favorite at Easter (he's 23 and he still loves Peeps).  I understand that most kids don't really eat the Peeps in their Easter baskets...so why do you keep buying them?  Because they are so cute and they fill the thing up I guess.  The funny thing is, my son ate the Peeps and left the big ole chocolate Easter bunny.  I ate that...lol, or his friends did when they all came over.  His friends never touched his Peeps though.  This is an idea for a floral arrangement using Peeps that I originally saw on Pinterest.  Next week, I am going to make a cake for Easter decorated with Peeps and Easter M&M's.  

I used branches from my dogwood tree for the flowers and jellybeans and two rows of Peeps for the vase.  Put a glass in the center of the bigger vase for your branches to go down in water. 

Deco Mesh Easter Cross

I have been making wreaths with deco mesh since before Christmas.  I love to work with this material and the wreaths hold up so well even in the harsh winter weather. I found this work wreath form for an Easter cross online and I had to make one.  I think it turned out pretty well. 


Strawberry Spinach Salad with Praline Pecans!


I love spinach salads.  I had the idea for this salad several years ago, before so many served spinach salads with fruit and nuts.  I am not sure why I thought of it, maybe I saw something similar in the food magazines I constantly read, but I don't remember ever seeing this anyplace when I first started making it.

Now it seems everyone has some sort of spinach salad with fruit, especially in the spring.  It's just perfect for Easter dinner and I also serve it for Thanksgiving and Christmas sometimes.  I add the dried cranberries to it for those holidays and it's wonderful.

Here is what you need for this: 

1 bag baby spinach
1 bunch green onions
1 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups sliced strawberries
5-6 slices bacon
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. half and half
1 1/2 cups pecans
1/4 cup honey mustard dressing
1/4 cup poppy seed dressing
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)  I add them for holidays!!! 








Make the pralines first by melting 1/2 stick butter in a skillet with 1 cups brown sugar.  When melted add 1 tsp. vanilla and about a 1 Tbs half and half...2 if it seems too thick.



Cook this until it bubbles and stir constantly because it will stick.  It is also very hot so be careful.



Add pecans and stir to coat. Once coated spread on waxed paper or nonstick Reynold's Wrap.  These will need to sit and dry for about an hour. Once dry, break apart for your salad into smaller bites.


Next layer spinach, green onions sliced, Parmesan cheese, and sliced strawberries in a pretty salad bowl.

Cook the bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels, add bacon and then praline pecans to salad. Wait to dress the salad at the table or right before serving.  Use 1/4/ cup honey mustard and 1/4 cup poppy seed dressing.  The two flavors really complement each other and are perfect with the salad ingredients.  No need to even mix them.  Just add separately and then toss the salad.
This salad will make spinach lovers out of people who say they do not eat spinach! 

Gettin' Ready for Easter!

I love Easter.  Next to Christmas it's probably my second favorite holiday.  I love all things associated with Easter.  It's springtime, it's pastels and fun things like Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny.  It's a season for rebirth and renewal and  of course, most importantly for celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 

I decorate for Easter almost as much as I do for Christmas...well maybe not quite, but I do have a lot of Easter and spring decor.  I also have found several Easter crafts that are really nice to make.   For the next few posts, I am going to feature recipes that would make up the perfect Easter dinner and some of the decoration and craft ideas.   I am going to start with a springtime salad and a picture of my Easter Tree.  Yes, I said Easter Tree.  I keep this pencil tree up all year long and change it for each holiday or season.  I like to add things to it each year.  All of the kids that come over to our house love it, my husband on the other hand, thinks I am crazy...lol.  What's new, right?




Spring Has Sprung...

....As a matter of fact I think it sprang right on over to summer here in southern Kentucky.  It has been in the mid to upper 80's all week long and doesn't even get that cool at night.  I am not in any way complaining though.  This is my time of year...allergies and all.  This weather makes me want to do two things...get something cookin' on the grill and dig in the dirt.   So, I cleaned out my flower pots and planted some pansies.   It seems way too early to plant much else, but people are out buying plants and seeds and really getting things going.   I am going to start some seeds in some cups for some flowers and herbs so that I can transplant them once they come up.  It's so much cheaper than buying the bedding plants.  I am also thinking about a raised garden spot.  I just have to convince my husband to build it for me. That idea is still in the formative process...so many of my ideas never get past that...lol.  Actually, my father has the green thumb in the family and he grows a nice garden each year so we all have plenty of homegrown produce.  I did plant a couple of tomato plants  last year that did quite well and I always grow my own herbs.  There is just something to be said for being able to walk out the back door and grab a tomato or cut fresh herbs at the last minute.

Every year around this time, I think about all of the various winters we still have to go through.  If you don't have any idea what I am talking about, it's something my mother always says and I think it might be a Kentucky thing.  It would be warm and beautiful like now and then it would turn so cold and nasty overnight, and my mother would say "it's dogwood winter" or it's "linen britches winter" or it's "blackberry winter".   The problem is, I never know which winter it is.  I know what it means, I just don't get when they all occur.  I think dogwood winter is around the time the dogwoods bloom...around Easter.  Blackberry winter is when the blackberries bloom. Linen Britches winter is the last cold spell right before it really turns hot at the end of May or that is what wiki says.  Oh, I forgot one, "red bud winter"  which I would assume is when the red buds are blooming.   All older people raised in Kentucky seem to know these winters.  I worked in a long term care facility for a few years and the residents added to my education on Kentucky folklore and such.  It was fascinating for me to hear their stories and experiences of how they grew up.  We miss so much by not taking time to really hear what our older friends and family have to say.   Take time to visit your older family members and ask them questions about their lives.  It will make their day and it will make yours much richer also.

Now, to my grilling.  I like to grill as much of a meal on the grill as I can when I cook out.  In the summer, when the heat is so unbearable in the house, it keeps from heating up the oven.  Also, the cleanup is so simple.   This week they had flat iron steaks on sale at Kroger.  Beef has gotten so expensive, it has to be on sale or I don't buy it.  The key to flat iron steak is the marinade and cutting it thin across the grain.  We have a Japanese  restaurant in our city that has the best steaks, so I use most of the ingredients they use in this recipe for the marinade.  I call it Japanese Flat Iron Steak...I know, creative right?    I also made my grilled potatoes to go with it. 


Japanese Flat Iron Steak



Here is what you will need:

Flat Iron Steak about 2 lbs., 1/4 stick butter, 1 lemon, Nature's Seasonings, honey, chopped garlic, garlic salt, soy sauce, Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce.




Mix all of the marinade ingredients except the butter, pour over the steak in a zip lock bag, add the lemon halves, reserving 1/4 of the marinade.  Place it in a dish and marinade in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.  The longer you marinade the more tender the meat.  When you are ready to grill remove from marinade and pour the remaining over the meat.  Grill over a medium heat to your degree of doneness.  When you remove from the grill, cover with foil for at least 10 minutes, then slice across the grain in thin slices.  If you slice this right off the grill, you will lose all of your juices. It has to sit.
Add the 1/4 stick of butter to the remaining marinade and heat for 1 minute in the microwave.  Cover with plastic wrap as this will pop and splatter.  Stir it up and pour it over the sliced meat.  This really adds flavor and makes the meat so juicy.


Japanese Flat Iron Steak!

Ingredients:

2lb. Flat Iron Steak
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground ginger or 1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbs. garlic
1/2 tsp Season All Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
dash of Tabasco Sauce
1/4 stick butter
1 lemon juiced





Grilled Ranch Potatoes

While your steak is in the final marinading stages, you can prepare your potatoes for grilling. I like to use the foil pans for grilling on the grill so I can throw them away.  I use a round cake pan for these potatoes.  You can get these at the Dollar Tree 3 for a $1.00.



Peel and dice about 4-5 potatoes (more if your family is larger).  Place in foil pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Stir together 1/2 pkg ranch dressing mix with 1/2 cup vegetable oil and pour over potatoes, toss. Sprinkle with Nature's Seasoning and Parmesan cheese.  Cover with foil and place on grill with steak over a very low burner.  Cook while your steak cooks.  These only take about 20 minutes.   Cook 3- 4 strips of bacon until crisp.  When potatoes are off of the grill, uncover carefully and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped bacon. 


Ta-Dah!  And I only messed up one pot and a cookie sheet!


Ingredients:

4-5 potatoes
1/2 pkg. ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-4 slices of bacon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
Nature's Seasoning to taste or salt and pepper




Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls!

The yeast roll dough in the post before this one is very versatile and can be used for various other tasty recipes.  One of my favorites is homemade cinnamon rolls.  After making these, you will never want to open another can of cinnamon rolls again. 


Click here for the recipe for the Yeast Rolls!!! 

This is one of my father's favorite things that I make. He has always loved a cinnamon roll, a honey bun or a danish of any kind and he says these are some of the best!  He is the connoisseur of sweet rolls so to speak...lol.

 If you are serving these for breakfast, it's best to make them the night before and let them rise through the night, ready for baking when you get up.


Take 1/2 of the yeast roll recipe in the post before this one and roll it out into a circle. You can substitute a thawed loaf of frozen yeast bread like Rich's.  If you use the yeast roll recipe, you can freeze the other half of the dough in an airtight bag for up to a month or you can make dinner rolls for dinner and make the cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning.   

Roll the dough somewhat thinner than you do for the yeast rolls.  Melt 1 stick of butter in a 9"x13 pan, pour almost all of it on the rolled out dough, leaving enough to coat the bottom of the pan.  Spread the melted butter over the dough all the way to the edges. 

 Mix 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.  Sprinkle this mixture over the entire dough circle covering it all.  Chop 1 cup pecans or walnuts and sprinkle these over all.  Now you start rolling it into a tight roll.  The dough will roll better if you get it cold in the fridge before rolling it out to begin with, but it isn't a must. 



With a sharp, serrated knife slice the dough into about 3/4 inch slices and place in the buttered pan.



These will need to rise again.  They should rise for about an hour or you can let them sit overnight and they will be fine.  Make sure your pan is deep enough to accommodate them as they will get big overnight.  Place them in a 375 degree preheated oven and let them bake for 15-17 minutes or until lightly browned.  Mix 1lb confectioners sugar, 2 Tbs half and half, and 1 tsp vanilla.  This should be sort of thick.  Drizzle this over the hot rolls. 




Ingredients

1/2 recipe for yeast rolls or 1 loaf frozen roll dough thawed (Rich's)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter
1lb confectioner's sugar
1tsp vanilla
2 Tbs half and half


Here is the link for the Homemade Yeast Roll Recipe!



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day.  I am not really sure why, because people in southern Kentucky do not really celebrate the day all that much.  At least not like New York or Savannah, GA who I hear has the second biggest celebration in the country.   Do they really dye the river green?  Anyway, I think I love St. Patrick's Day because I know spring is only  a few days away and the weather is usually starting to get nice right about now.  Maybe it's my Irish roots that make me like it.  I always decorate for St. Patrick's Day also.  I have been making deco mesh wreaths since Christmas and I decided to do one for the St. Patrick's Day holiday.  I am going to do a tutorial  on how to make these next week when I start making the Easter wreaths, so if you want to know how to make them, keep checking back.  Here is the finished creation:








Next we are making Irish Beef Stew and Cornbread Hoe Cakes!

Easy Peasy Lasagna!

I make lasagna several different ways.  My oldest recipe that I have made for years is the good old fashioned way, with homemade sauce, boiling the noodles...the whole nine yards.  I do that one when I have all day to piddle with it because I like to start the sauce early in the day and let it sit on the stove and cook on very low heat for several hours.  I will make that one and put the recipe on here in the future.

The lasagna recipe I use the most is this really easy, shortcut method. It doesn't require hours of preparation, but it tastes like you worked all day on it.  It turns out amazingly good to be so simple.
Once you make it this way, you won't go back to the old way more than likely.



Here is what you will need:

1 lb ground beef or 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb sausage
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 egg
32 oz. carton Ricotta cheese
3-4 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cups Parmesan cheese
6 slices provolone cheese
1 Tbs chopped garlic
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 Tbs basil
1 tsp  Good Nature's Seasoning
1 cup water
12 no boil lasagna noodles


1 lb ground beef or 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb sausage, 1 jar or can of your favorite pasta sauce, 32 oz ricotta cheese, 1 egg, chopped garlic, chopped onion, no boil lasagna noodles, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, sliced provolone cheese, basil, sugar, and Nature's Seasoning.



Brown ground beef, chopped onion and garlic in skillet breaking it up.  Once browned drain the grease off of it.


Add pasta sauce, 1 tsp of Nature's Seasoning or just salt and pepper, 1/2 Tbs. basil and
1 Tbs sugar.  If the sugar seems odd you can leave it out but it gives any tomato based food a better flavor.  I think it's the one ingredient that makes my sauce taste better.  Add a cup of water and stir all of this together.  This might seem a little watery but you will need that liquid for the noodles since you don't boil them.  Cover and let simmer while you mix the cheese filling.


Break the egg in a bowl big enough to hold all of the cheese and beat it up.



Add the ricotta and mix it well with the egg.



Add 3 cups mozzarella cheese and 1 cup Parmesan cheese.  Mix all together.


Now start to layer in the lasagna pan you sprayed with cooking spray.  Ladle about two cups sauce on bottom.


Next four lasagna noodles overlapping slightly (do not precook these).


Put a layer of sauce over the noodles and then put good size dollops of the cheese mixture over the sauce.


Continue layering with noodles, sauce and cheese three times.  On the last cheese layer, before you put the noodles on top, place 6 provolone slices, then the noodles and a last layer of sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a cup of mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil.  I like to use the no stick Reynolds wrap for this, but if you don't have that just spray a sheet of regular foil with the cooking spray.  It keeps it from sticking to the cheese layer.  Place it in the oven, set at 350 degrees  for 50 minutes.  Take the foil off and place it back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the top is nice and slightly browned.



Remove from oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  It will cut and serve much better if it sits for this time.









Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms


I have been making these mushrooms for over 20 years and I guess I have easily made hundreds of them in that time.  The original recipe came out of a cookbook about Louisiana Creole and Cajun cooking, but I have adapted it quite a bit since then.  It is actually one of the recipes I make that I do pretty much the same way every time I make it though.  One word of advice, this is not a dish you want to make when you are in a hurry because it is a little bit time consuming...not bad really though.

I make these for every special occasion...holiday dinners, work occasions, parties, showers, and family get-togethers.   People always ask when I show up at any sort of occasion with a covered dish if it's the mushrooms.  They make people happy, so they are worth the effort!

Here is what you will need:


White rice (instant works fine), medium size white mushrooms, shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, Tabasco sauce, roll breakfast sausage, and chopped garlic.


1/2 lb. sausage
20-24 medium white mushrooms
1/2 medium onion
1Tbs chopped garlic
1 cup instant rice
1 cup water
1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
Tabasco sauce to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese



First, clean your mushrooms however you prefer to do this.  I know cooking shows and such advise not to wash mushrooms...to wipe them off, but I see dirt on mushrooms and I am not eating dirt and since I don't believe  'brushing' them really cleans them, I do rinse mine off and immediately dry them on paper towels.  Now, you will need to hull them out.  I use the small end of a melon baller for this.  Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and place them in the dish touching.  As you can see, I had one or two too many, but they tend to shrink a little when they cook and all fit fine.


Now you will chop the stems from the mushrooms, 1/2 of a medium size yellow or white onion and add them to a pan with 1/2 of the roll of sausage and 1 Tbs of minced garlic.  Brown all of this well, breaking up the sausage along with the pieces of mushroom and onion.  Sprinkle 1 tsp of the Tony Chachere's seasoning, 1/4 tsp. of black pepper.  Add 1 cup instant white rice and 1 cup water.  Bring to a simmer, turn heat to low and cover for about 10 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed.




Add 1 cup mayonnaise, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and about 3-5 dashes of Tabasco sauce, depending on how spicy you like your food.  Mix all of this together until it is well incorporated.



Use a spoon to fill the mushrooms up with the sausage/rice mixture.  You might have more filling than you need, but I can usually go back and really mound it up and pack it firmly into the mushrooms. Sprinkle the top with a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese or whatever cheese your family likes best.  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown. 










White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding and other Best Dishes First

I have wanted to start a food blog for over a year now, but I just never could decide to really sit down and do it.  The reason the idea even came to me was because people were always asking me for recipes that me, my mother or others in my family made.  I come from a big family of wonderful southern cooks.  However, I  am terrible about putting things on paper when it comes to recipes, because I rarely really use one for the foods that people always ask about.  They are just old family favorites that might have started with a recipe years ago and with tweaks have become what they are now.  Of course, for something new, mildly exotic, or complicated I will use a recipe the first time.

I decided that starting out, I would feature some of my boy's favorites, by that I mean my son, his friends, several nephews and my husband and father. I decided to start with these, because they are hardy, fairly easy and feed big eaters on a budget and all of the girls love them too.

 So, I told my son to send me a list of their top 5 or 6 dishes to get us started.  He got back to me fairly quickly and wanted to know when I would start cooking...lol.  He seems excited about this blog and hopes it requires lots of extra food for him.



White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding 


Here is what you are gonna need:


Bananas, white chocolate instant pudding mix, whipped cream, cream cheese, shortbread cookies (I used girl scout cookies), sweetened condensed milk, milk and a bar of white chocolate...which I forgot to put in the picture...sorry I am new to this.



Start by making your caramel.  Take two cans of sweetened condensed milk, remove the outside labels and place in a pan deep enough to cover them with water.  Bring the water to a low boil and boil for 3 hours.  Make sure the water stays over the cans the entire time.  You will need to add water frequently.  DO NOT let the pan boil dry.  If you do the cans could explode and that won't be good.  You can also place the cans in a foil lined crockpot, cover with water, place lid on and cook on low for about 6 hours or overnight.  With both procedures, use tongs to place hot cans in a cool water bath to cool them.  When cool you can open them to the most delicious thing you will ever taste.



Mix milk and pudding mix in one bowl until it starts to set up slightly, then mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk and the block of softened cream cheese.  Once blended well beat the two together until thoroughly combined.  Next fold in 1/2 of the whipped cream.  Save the rest for the top.




Now you can start layering.  Begin with cookies, next pudding mix, then slice a couple of bananas over that and the 1 can of the milk.  Start another layer of cookies, pudding mix bananas, and caramel.  Last layer do the last two bananas, and layer of cookies. 



Finish it off with the whipped topping you reserved and white chocolate curls or shavings from the bar of white chocolate.  



Ta-dah!  



Ingredients

5 -6 bananas
3 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 box Trefoils Girl Scout cookies or any good shortbread cookie
2 cups milk
5 oz. box instant white chocolate pudding mix
1 8oz. block cream cheese (you can use lite, but I wouldn't use fat free)
1 12 oz container whipped cream
1 bar of good white chocolate for your shavings or curls






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