2019 Christmas thoughts

So it is the last Sunday of this decade.  2020 will be here in the blink of an eye.   I've spent a lot of time this week reviewing my year and my life and I am excited for a brand new decade.

Our holiday was very nice.  I catered lunch for one of the groups of doctors that I work for.  I'm not saying it is true for all but for the group I work for... the way to their heart is through their stomach.  We had a really nice time together, sharing a meal and time with each other.  It was very festive and well worth the seven hours I spent in the kitchen.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the big guy and I spent at home together.  What a treat to just be able to relax and enjoy a few days with no hustle or bustle. The day after Christmas one of our dear friends came for dinner and we enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, yeast rolls and a wonderful salad.  Along with a number of cocktails.

One of my gifts was the new cookbook Fix It With Food by Michael Symon.  I have flipped through a little and already see a number of things I want to make.  I'm feeling the need to lighten up our diets.  When we lived in SW Florida we ate more of a Mediterranean Diet with primarily sea food, fruits and vegetables.  Moving back to the Midwest we had a very difficult time finding good sea food.  Well earlier this year I found Sea 2 Table and their products are amazingly fresh and it feels so good knowing exactly where they come from.  So this year I will be taking you along on our journey to an even healthier way of eating. (No affiliation with the cook book or Sea 2 Table)

I hope everyone was able to have a few moments of peace throughout the holidays.  I know it can be a very difficult time for some.

I started this blog to share my love of all things food. I have a lot of plans and goals for 2020 and I plan on sharing it all here so there will be more posts and more on my day to day journey through life.

Wishing everyone a fabulous New Year!

I'm going to share the Banana Pudding recipe I made for Christmas Day.  It's not exactly healthy but it does have a lot less sugar than most recipes.

Vanilla Pudding:
1/3 Cup sugar
3 Tbs. corn starch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 1/3 Cup whole milk
2 Egg yolks
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add the first 5 ingredients and cook over medium heat whisking frequently.  It takes about 8-10 minutes to completely thicken.
Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.

Let cool for just a few minutes and then add to a pie crust or a pie pan lined with vanilla wafers.  Let sit about two minutes and add in 3-4 medium sliced bananas.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.  At least 4 hours.

With a mixer whip whole whipping cream and a tablespoon of vanilla until thick.  This takes about 8 minutes.

Things That Make Me Smile

Right before it started snowing, our yard was filled with birds filling up on bird seed.  They fly around so quickly it was hard to capture what I saw but I did get these two pictures.

Christmas Baking

I can't believe Christmas is ten days away.  I don't know why but this year seemed to fly by even quicker than most.  

The house is decorated for Christmas.  It is cold and snowing.  A perfect day to start my Christmas cookies.

I try to make cookies that freeze well so I can pull out a variety when I need them between now and the New Year.

This year I am keeping it pretty simple.  I am taking two trays to work for the Doctors and I want a tray to put out on Christmas Day so I won't need as many as I usually bake.

So far, I've made Peanut Butter Blossoms and Magic Cookie Bars.

Next, I will make Wedding Cookies and Sugar Cookies.

The house smells wonderful.

Any holiday baking at your house?

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Friday night we had all of the usual leftovers from Thanksgiving and I wanted to try something a little different.  Eggroll wrappers and wonton wrappers have SO many uses.  I've made a large variety of appetizers with them over the years so I thought why not try a thanksgiving leftover eggroll?


Now I was a little skeptical at first but I have to say they were really good.


I took eggroll wrappers and spread on mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing and turkey.  I pan fried the eggrolls and we used my cranberry sauce as a dipping sauce. Yummy!


We had a couple of turkey sandwiches over the weekend and then Saturday night I used up the rest of the turkey in a big pot of Brunswick Stew.


My first encounter with Brunswick Stew was way back when I was 19 and waitressing at a BBQ place in SW Florida.  Apparently a lot of BBQ places make this to use up the leftover smoked turkey, chicken and even sausage.  There is a lot of controversy as to where exactly and who exactly originally created the stew.


I love the taste of it.  This is the recipe that I use. It is from The Farmers Almanac.  It is a versatile stew so add whatever veggies you like or have on hand.  I usually add corn and lima beans.

Smoked Turkey Brunswick Stew

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 cups smoked turkey breast, shredded
2 (28 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
2 ½ cups diced Yukon gold potatoes
2 cups mixed vegetables, frozen (corn, baby Lima or butter beans, green peas, green beans, and carrots)
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup barbecue sauce (Recipe here) 
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
 Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the shredded smoked turkey meat and remaining ingredients to the stock pot and stir to combine. Bring the stew to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours or until potatoes and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.


*Roasted turkey works just as well as smoked.

Thanksgiving 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

I started preparation on Tuesday and followed my list each day.  It made things so easy doing a little each day instead of a marathon on the day of. The big guy, aka my husband, doesn't cook much but loves food and makes a pretty good sous chef.  It was fun spending time in the kitchen together.

Everything turned out delicious.  We ate around 1 pm and now I have the rest of the holiday weekend to spend as I wish.

Tomorrow we will have turkey sandwiches and Saturday I will make Brunswick Stew which is one of my favorites. I think I have enough turkey to make a few turkey pot pies as well.

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving however you decided to celebrate.

                                                      Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pies

                                                                         
                                                                            Turkey

                                    The big guys plate.  I don't know how he can eat so much.

Icewine from Canada.  It has a really nice flavor.

Thanksgiving Day preperations

We are going very traditional this year for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberries
Cornbread Dressing
Stand up Deviled Eggs
Bacon Brussel Sprouts
Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Potato Pie

I finished my last minute shopping today and I've worked out my timeline.

Tuesday:

Make pie dough for the two pies, wrap and store in the fridge.
Bake the sweet potato for the pie. Wrap and store at room temperature.
Cut up carrots, onions and celery.  Store in the fridge.

Wednesday:

Make and bake sweet potato pie.
Make and bake pumpkin pie.
Make a pan of cornbread for the dressing.
Make the cranberry sauce.  Store in the fridge.
Clean the turkey and store in the fridge.

Thursday:

Boil eggs and make stand up deviled eggs.
Put together cornbread dressing. Cooking in the crock pot to save oven space.
Put turkey in the oven.
Set out yeast roll dough to rise.
Bacon Brussel Sprouts.
Mashed Potatoes.

It is going to be a very busy week.  Looking at this list, I'm really questioning why I didn't plan to take off work Wednesday.
I am going to wish every one a very Happy Thanksgiving now.  I will post pictures on Friday and share my recipe for Brunswick Stew that uses up left over turkey and warms you up on these cold days.

Things That Make Me Smile

My husband loves grits and eggs so this morning I fried the egg in a heart shaped cookie cutter.  It came out pretty well and put a smile on his face.

Happy Saturday!

Stuffed Shells

It was a super crazy, stressful week at work.  On top of that we broke all kinds of record low temperatures and had a snow storm that dropped a few inches of snow.

I decided I needed comfort food.  Stuffed shells are my winter weather go to when my weary soul needs soothing.  Along with a salad and some warm delicous bread, this dinner will warm you up.

For the meat sauce...

In a sauce pan heat olive oil (1-2 tablespoons)

Add 1 diced onion and saute for about 3 minutes

Add 2-3 garlic cloves diced 

Add1 pound ground beef

When the ground beef is fully cooked add 3 cups of your favorite sauce.  I've used my own homemade and I've used my favorite jarred sauce. Both were great.

Season with basil, pepper, salt, oregano to taste

Let simmer on low for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Shell filling...

2 cups of ricotta cheese

1 cup of mozarrella cheese

2-3 garlice cloves pressed

1 egg

Season with basil, pepper, salt, oregano to taste

Combine ingredients and chill for about 30 minutes.

Pre heat oven to 350. Cook shells just until aldente and let cool.

Cover the bottom of the pan ( I used 13x9 glass pan) with some of the meat sauce.

Fill cooled shells with shell filling and add to the pan.

Spoon remaining meat sauce on top of the filled shells.

Top with mozzarrella cheese.

Sprinkle with a little oregano and pepper.

Bake for around 30 minutes covered and then another 10 uncovered or until the cheese is bubbly.

These freeze and reheat wonderfully!

The Holdiay Season Is Here!

Here in the Midwest the weather has been breaking all kinds of records in October.  The first week of October we had record highs in the high 90's, we've had record rainfall throughout the month and now for Halloween we  hit a record low of  25 degrees.  I think the cold kept the trick or treaters away. I know when I was a kid (many moons ago) no amount of rain, snow or cold would keep us from trick or treating. My husband and I always dress up (somewhat) and enjoy handing out treats to the little goblins.  We ended up with about 35 kiddos showing up.






For as long as I can remember I have made a big pot of beef chili and an appetizer or two for dinner on Halloween.   Last night was no different.  We had chili and stuffed jalapeno peppers.  It was delicious and helped warm us up a little.  Last night was the first time we had to turn on the furnace.  It's funny we had a fireplace when we lived in Florida but we do not have one here.  I don't know what we were thinking buying a house without a fireplace in the Midwest.


I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.




It's now November and I can't believe it.  Why does time seem to go by so much more quickly the older you get?  I'm going to start working on my many lists for the holiday season.  Thanksgiving dinner, marathon cookie making, Christmas dinner, New Years Eve and New Years Day.  I will be doing so much cooking and baking for the next two months and I am so excited.




What are some of your holiday traditions?  'Tis the season.

Things That Make Me Smile

My Halloween Kitchen Witch

Pizza Night

After a long work week I try to keep Friday night dinner fun and relatively quick and easy.  Burgers, various sandwiches and pizza are usually

 on the menu.  Last night was pizza.  The fun thing about pizza is the endless possibilities.

This pizza was half pepperoni, half spicy chicken sausage, green peppers and red onions.  But the creative possibilities are endless.

Dough:

1 package yeast

1 tbs sugar

2/3 cup warm water

Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes

2 cups of flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

yeast mixture

I mix in my Ninja with the dough hook for about 1 minute

Remove dough and kneed for about 1 more minute

Place dough in a covered, greased bowl and let double in size. Approximately 1 hour.

Pizza Sauce:

8 ounces tomato sauce

1-2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 minced onion

tsp or two of dried oregano

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Sautee garlic and onions, add sauce and oregano and let simmer.  Right before you are ready to use the sauce, stir in the parmesan cheese.

In the oven preheated to 475 degrees I pre cook the dough for about 7-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, add sauce and toppings and mozzarella cheese.  Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is bubbly delicious. 

Things That Make Me Smile

                                                                   Happy Saturday!