Category: Food and dining

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Christmas Cookies

Shopping for Christmas cookies is always lots of fun for me. My cart is filled with endless pounds of butter, sugar, and flour, not to mention the sprinkles and candies that we use to decorate the cookies. This year we plan to make sugar cookies, date nut pinwheels, snicker doodles, peanut butter with chocolate chunks, spritz, Lindsor tarts, whoopie pies, snow balls, and a few other that I can’t remember. We decided to go nuts this year if you can’t tell. I think we’re making about ten different types of cookies.

We’re hosting a cookie exchange and giving away a lot of cookies as gifts this year so that’s one of the major reasons we are baking all of the cookies. Our cookie exchange is this weekend so I’ll be baking up a storm every day after work this week and probably right up until we have the party on Sunday afternoon. I’ll use Saturday to finish up anything I don’t get done during the week. I’m excited to see all of the yummy cookies that everyone else brings.

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Halloween Parties for Grown Ups

This Friday night is when all the adults get to have their Halloween parties. The clubs and condo party rooms will be full of people in costumes, eating spooky snacks and having lots of fun. Downtown will be especially interesting this weekend, with just about everyone local going out in costume and only the out of towners still in street clothes.

Halloween is actually Saturday night, I am glad that I can go out and have some fun with my friends this Friday and then stay home to pass out candy to the kids on Saturday night.

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Adventures with Food

This week I decided to get out of my rut and give in to my wild side at the grocery store. I took my regular list to Kroger yesterday but made a point of going down all the aisles – every single one, and to buy some new things to try in the kitchen.

I started with the deli and bought some hummus and pita bread. I have never had store bought hummus but have eaten it at restaurants. So at least I know what good hummus is supposed to taste like and I’ll see if this brand is any good.

I looked at the meat counter and the prices for beef are crazy high. Instead of buying a strip steak like I usually do, I decided to try some lamp chops. They were on sale for about half price, and I decided that if I didn’t like them then the dogs would get a nice treat and I would not be out much money, thanks to the sale price. Turns out that on the grill they tasted just as good as the strip steaks I’ve been buying.

In the dairy aisle, I bought a quart container of buttermilk. I have no idea what to do with it, but I know that every once in a while I come across a recipe that calls for buttermilk and I never have any on hand so I skip over that recipe and find something else. Well, now I have it on hand and I will be looking for any recipes that call for using buttermilk as one of the ingredients. It will be fun trying something new.

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Pumpkin Patch Hunting

Today I went to the local Pumpkin Patch and hunting the most perfectly round big pumpkin I could find. I had a large one last year that was taller than it was round and it carved really nice. But I wanted something different this year.

The pumpkin patch had the pumpkins grouped by size. The really big ones were $40! Wow! I couldn’t believe that people are willing to spend $40 on a pumpkin that they don’t even eat – they just carve it and set it outside to decorate their porch.

The one I decided to buy was beautiful and I only paid $25. I think I could have found one cheaper, but this is a charity sale for the church youth group. I figured that since Halloween is supposed to be a holiday for the kids anyway, that supporting a youth group with my money was the right thing to do.

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Happy Labor Day weekend

Well it looks like it’s going to be a great Labor Day weekend The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny, and we have been invited to my brother’s house to hang around his pool and enjoy some grilled burgers and chicken. We plan to bring a nice grape salad to chip in with the food.

I hope that each and every one of you has a safe and happy Labor Day. Unfortunately it’s also the sign of Autumn beginning but that’s okay. All things must change!!

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Summer Squash Recipe

I found a great summer squash recipe that has become a favorite here too.  It’s a New England Summer Squash casserole type dish.  I thought you might like to give it a try.

  • 2 pounds (about 6 cups) of Yellow Squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped Sweet Vidalia Onion
  • 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 1 cup shredded Carrots
  • 1 8 oz Herb Seasoned Stove Top Stuffing mix
  • 1 cup melted butter

Boil Squash and onion for 5 minutes and drain. Combine chicken soup and sour cream. Stir in shredded carrots. Fold in squash and onions. Combine stuffing mix and melted butter. Use a 12 x 7 casserole dish. Put half of stuffing on the bottom of the pan, then the squash mixture and top with remaining stuffing.  Bake at 350 degree for 25 – 30 minutes or until heated through.  Serves 6 unless they really like it and then it only serves about 4.

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Happy Independence Day!!!

Family watching fireworks (free clip art)
Family watching fireworks (free clip art)

I love the 4th of July!!  We really go all out to decorate, well we do that for every holiday but there’s just something about Independence Day that I love!!  We always have a huge community picnic type party with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixin’s and of course potato salad, baked beans and we can’t forget the banana pudding and homemade ice cream.

Then there’s the fireworks display.  I love all of the laughter, ooohhh’s and aaahhh’s from the children when the fireworks start.  It’s just a wonderful time for all!!!   I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful 4th of July and remember what the celebration is all about, our independence!!!

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Easy Easter Egg Tarts

I was on a mission to find something simple and easy to make for dessert for the neighborhood picnic this year. Well I found a a delicious looking fruit tart recipe. It has a sugar cookie crust and is topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. Because I’ve been short on time I’m using a store bought refrigerated cookie dough that I just have to slice and bake and a tray of fresh fruit. The cream cheese frosting has just a little vanilla and  powdered sugar mixed in with whipped cream cheese. This is just the type of thing I was looking for. Simple, fast, easy, and will still have the crowd oohing and ahhing.

To make it festive I thought I’d bake it in the shape of a giant Easter egg. Then, I thought it would be fun if I made them in individual sizes. I’m going to bake  a few dozen egg shaped cookies and then bring the frosting and fruit with me. Of course I’ll decorate a few to give people an idea of what to do.

I bet the kids will LOVE to decorate their own tarts. It’s a great way to get them to eat fresh fruit and have fun doing it. I’m excited for them just thinking about it.

I can’t wait to dive into these yummy Easter Egg tarts!

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Comfort Food for this Cold Weather

Winter is being a little more harsh this year than in recent years. It’s not just in this area, we are actually missing some of the snow and extreme cold (knock on wood!). Even so, the cold that we are having makes me crave comfort. The kind of food that cooks for a long time and makes the whole house smell yummy. The kind of food that tastes so good that you barely chew it – you shovel in your mouth so fast that you practically inhale it.

Some of my favorite comfort foods are chili, beef stew, and the #1 favorite, chicken and dumplings. All three of these are made from scratch and often turn out slightly different each time, depending upon what I have on hand and how hard I shake the spice jar.

I also love macaroni and cheese, but that always turns out different and I have several different recipes. I have a speedy version, my cheap version, recipes clipped from magazines over the years, and my full blown childhood memory of my mom’s version. Sometimes I use elbow macaroni, other times I uses ziti or rotini or other specialty pastas. And the kind of cheese can be anything from from shredded four state cheddar to Velveeta.

What are some of the special foods that you like to cook during the cold weather months?

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Discovering the Fun of Baking

baking (free clip art)
baking (free clip art)
This week I have felt very creative and brave, so I’ve been downloading recipes and learning how to bake from scratch!Thanks to my mom, I already knew the basics of baking. I know the difference between flours, the difference between baking soda and baking powder, and how to measure ingredients properly. But until now, all of my baking has been done using packaged mixes and following the directions on the box.

Now I have a small collection of recipes to use for baking cakes, breads and cookies. I will be moving up to pies next week. I have been thrilled with the excellent results of my baked from scratch cakes so far. I can’t wait to try some of the different icings and frosting types on the different cakes. This is fun – but fattening. I will be doing longer walks and some aerobics with my Wii to help keep off the extra pounds.