Homemade Irish Goodies...

St. Patrick's Day food prep is well underway at my house.  The Corned Beef is bubbling away on my stove, the veggies are awaiting their turn and the desserts and breads are all finished. Now it's time to get the rest of the house in order before dinnertime. So, here's what's been cooking in my kitchen today... 

Homemade treats for our St. Paddy's Day Feast ~~  Trifle made with a cream sherry cake base; Baileys Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bar; and my recipe for Vicki's Irish Soda Bread

I posted my recipe for ~ Vicki's Irish Soda Bread ~ back in 2012.  Take a peek at the recipe... 

May the Luck of the Irish be with You!!

Happy St. Paddy's Day ~ 2015

Party Munchies ~ Perfect for New Year's Eve

For my last post of 2013, I've decided to go back and search the blog for some of my favorite appetizers from years past, some tasty goodies that would be right at home at a New Year's Eve party spread.  I just love a get-together with good munchies, especially when some of them are lower in fat, but still full of flavor.  Don't you?  ~~  Happy New Year 2014!!  ~~

1960's Cocktail Party Food ~ Look what's hot in the 60's world of Mad Men!  I made these for my Mad Men Cocktail Party post from back in 2012.  Check out all the hip recipes over on the AMC Mad Men site.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers ~ by baking the poppers & using low fat ingredients, these little gems can be enjoyed anytime!

Fabulous Fat-Free Green Chili Dip ~ gotta love a full flavored  & fat free dip!

Low Fat Cheesy Chili Bean Dip ~ pumpkin puree helps to give this tasty dip an extra boost of veggies, as well as standing in for some of the cheese.

 

Baked Jalapeno Poppers ~ filled with low or fat free cream cheese, wrapped in thin sliced ham, then baked.  They're perfect diet friendly party nibbles.  :)

Carrot Hummus ~ a lower calorie, veggie packed spin on the classic hummus.

Low Carb Bell Pepper 'Mock' Potato Skins & Pizza Bites ~ This is one of my most popular posts, sharing all the goodies I've made from one of the Hungry Girl cookbooks. 

Wishing Everyone a Happy 2014!

Christmas 2013

Christmas is just about over, the dishes are done and our friends have now gone home.  The food was good, the conversation stimulating, there were lots of tasty sweet treats to share...and we enjoyed it all.  :)  Merry Christmas!

Taking a second peek at some fun & tasty Christmas-y recipes...

I like the flavors of these recipes so much, I thought I'd share them one more time on the blog.  Just in case you missed them the first time around...  :)

Festive Christmas Eggs ~ using both red & green bell peppers rings makes for a 'Christmas colored' low cal & low carb way to eat my breakfast...

Our friend's old family recipe for ~ Cinnamon Red Hots Applesauce ~ makes an appearance on our Christmas table, every year.  It's sooo good!

Homemade Snowman Pizza ~ makes for a fun lunch or dinner!

Spiced Eggnog High Protein Smoothie ~ a nice way to start my day & full of the eggnog flavor that I love...

Gingerbread Cookie Smoothie ~ another smoothie that I like, full of the flavors of Christmas...

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner with all the Trimmings ~ 2013.   I decided to keep it simple this year, really simple.  How simple?  Well, over the years, I've become a big fan of the 'pre-cooked' holiday boxed 'complete dinners', the kind that all the supermarkets offer.  So, that is what we had...I have been seduced by the convenience of it all.  :)

I know that many people turn up their noses at the thought of serving 'that kind' of meal for their family holiday dinner, but for us, it just makes sense.  For a big family gathering, with lots of help in the kitchen, I'd be up for doing it from scratch...but, we don't have a family like that.  Here, it's just the three of us, and sometimes we have a few friends who join us.  To be honest, I just don't want to spend all day in the kitchen cooking for just a few of us and then all night washing up.  That's not my idea of a holiday.  So now, I just doctor up the box and we're good to go.

The hardest part of making this meal is deciding what time we want to eat and then making a timetable of when the side dishes need to go into the oven so everything comes out at the right time.  I must admit, I do like to doctor up the side dishes a bit ~ just to give them a little 'homey' touch.

Tonight, to go along with the meal, I made a homemade Waldorf Salad with Cranberries & Cinnamon and a quick side of canned candied yams with brown sugar & marshmallows.  I made sure to present all the side dishes nicely, and I got compliments all around.  No muss, No fuss!

    

We ended the night with a delicious selection of desserts and a game of Trouble.  A nice end to a nice day.  Hope you all had a wonderful & Happy Thanksgiving!

Stuffed Acorn Squash ~ Meatless Monday

I recently had an acorn squash in the kitchen for so long, that the outside of it turned from dark green-black to orange.  Oops!  Since it was such a festive, harvest-fall orange, I decided to give it the Thanksgiving treatment.  (take your inspirations from where ever you find them)  Thanksgiving = Stuffing in my book, so that's what I did.

I loosely followed ~ this recipe.  I used a box stuffing mix (using veggie broth), threw in a cup of thawed, mixed frozen veggies, a few raisins, added a few spoonfuls of cooked lentils, and topped it with a little cheese just before it was due to come out of the oven.  I really enjoyed this meal and think it would be perfect for any vegetarian at a holiday meal... or for your Meatless Monday.

    

Celebrating New Year's Day ~ Pennsylvania Dutch Style ~ Guest Cook Post

Our friend, Barbara, invited us over to her home to celebrate New Year's Day.  She made her traditional New Year's family meal, full of Pennsylvania Dutch flavors.  We had a fantastic time, enjoying ~ great conversation; beautiful winter views on the lake; a home full of holiday spirit; great food and wine; and delightful desserts.

Barbara, thanks again for inviting us to share in your family's tradition!  What a wonderful way to start the New Year.   x/o

 

I didn't get Barbara's actual recipe for the dessert she made, but, I did find recipes for Apple Crisp with Pecans and for Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream that sound pretty close to the flavors of the desserts we enjoyed.

As you can see from all the photos, Barbara is a marvelous cook and hostess.  Everything she prepared was wonderful.  My son was all over the baked brie and Barbara also made him some homemade root beer that he went nuts for.  Now he wants me to buy one of those do-it-yourself soda machines, too.  :)  Between me and my foodie friends, I think we're teaching my young son to be a budding gourmand... and that's a good thing!   Here's wishing everyone a fantastic 2013!

 

Cinnamon Red Hots Applesauce ~ a vintage family recipe from the 30's

Our dear family friend, Dick, makes a wonderful vintage gelatin 'apple sauce salad'.  I've always called it by my own name for it ~ Cinnamon Red Hots Applesauce.  It's a recipe that he got from his Aunt Maud and dates back to the 1930's.  Way back when, Cherry Jello and Cinnamon Red Hots were new taste sensations that were all the rage, as were Jello/gelatin 'salads'.  So, it's not surprising that she combined them into this unusual combo.  We enjoy it so much, that I always ask Dick to bring a bowlful of it to our holiday dinners.  When he was a child, Dick says he remembers it being served on a bed of lettuce, as the 'salad course' of a special dinner.  I just serve it right along with everything else.  To me it's more of a fun and tasty spin on traditional applesauce, rather than a 'salad'.  Different times, different definitions of what a 'salad' is. 

Yesterday, I posted a picture on the blog's Facebook page showing what we had for our Christmas dinner and mentioned the Cinnamon Red Hots Applesauce.  (it was on last years Christmas dinner plate, too)  Thanks to Crystal (a reader of the blog) for asking for the recipe and giving me the inspiration for today's blog post.   Here you go, Crystal, hope you like it!

Cinnamon Red Hots Applesauce

makes 4~6 servings 

(Roy likes it with 1/4 cup CRH & I like it a little spicier, so sometimes I use 1/3 cup CRH)

Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling hot water
• 1/4 cup Cinnamon Red Hots candies (add more for an even spicier, cinnamon-y taste)
• 1 small box Cherry Jello (or your favorite red flavor)
• 1 pint unsweetened applesauce (16 oz)

Directions 

Add 1/4 cup Cinnamon Red Hots to one cup of boiling hot water, stir to dissolve.  ((gently heat up the water/CRH in a saucepan if the Cinnamon Red Hots don't dissolve completely with just stirring))

Add one package Cherry Jello to the hot water/Cinnamon Red Hots liquid, stir 2 minutes or until Jello is completely dissolved.   Add the pint of applesauce to the Jello mixture, stir well.  Refrigerate for a few hours until it firms up.   ((It will be thicker than regular applesauce, but not as firm as Jello))  Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Almond Muffins ~ Breakfast, Brunch or Tea Time Treat

Meyer Lemon Almond Muffins

(Updated 4/29/13 ~ Sorry to say, but the original recipe I linked in this post to is now MIA.  In Feb 2012, I found the recipe on FoodBuzz and it is no longer there.  I wasn't savvy enough at the time to know I should always go to the blog source for a recipe link, and that I should not rely on a recipe sharing site (like FoodBuzz) for my link.  So, I am now unable to locate that recipe. :(  

I've honestly searched the web for over an hour, looking for that Meyer Lemon & Almond Muffin recipe ~ but no luck.  I've modified my blog text and *supplied new links to recipes that are similar (as much as I can remember way back then) Now, none of them uses almond flour/almond meal in their recipes, but you can replace about 1/3 of the flour called for with almond flour/meal if you'd like.  Since I can't find the original recipe I used, I guess I'll just have to come up with one of my own! :)  Sorry for the confusion)

Growing up in California means you are surrounded by citrus trees. They are everywhere ~ in backyards, orchards & nurseries. We had a HUGE lemon tree in our backyard.  We used to give away bags & bags & bags of lemons every year.  The scent of really ripe lemons always takes me back to my childhood.  So, when they had Meyer Lemons on sale at the store a few weeks ago, I bought a couple of bags. Winter skies need some sunny, yellow lemons to help them be less dreary.

I surfed the net & found an unusual recipe that uses the entire lemon as part of the batter. First time I have seen that.  You remove the seeds & then add the lemon, peel & all, to the food processor & away you go.   *As I mentioned above, the original recipe I found used almond flour for part of the flour, but unfortunalely, that recipe link is no longer available.  But, here are some other Meyer Lemon Muffin recipes that sound really good...

Low Fat Meyer Lemon Muffins ~ from the blog My Kitchen Adventures

Meyer Lemon Muffins ~ from the blog Gas-tron-o-my

Meyer Lemon Muffins ~ from the LA Times Food Section

It turned out really good & makes an exceptionally pretty muffin, especially with a bit of sliced lemon on top & sprinkled with powdered sugar.   I think I will play around with the recipe a bit & see if I can get it even more lemony.  These would be perfect with breakfast, brunch, tea time or for an after school snack.  These Meyer Lemon Almond Muffins make even a gray, Winter day feel like a sunny day in Springtime.  :)

Perfect for Tea Time

Cooling...

Checking to see if it's done...

Mixing it up...

Healthy Spiced Apple Cake ~ from Gordon Ramsay's cookbook ~ Healthy Appetite

Spiced Apple Cake ~ This is wonderful, tasty, moist, healthy cake from Gordon Ramsay's cookbook - Healthy Appetite. The apples rings are pretty on the top, but I probably won't bother next time. They would be a nice touch if you are taking it to a potluck, though. This batter would make great muffins! ~ Check out the recipe!

Since J was studying different holiday traditions last month at school, I have been on the lookout for more celebrations that might be fun to learn about.  I read about a very old tradition that is celebrated mid-January in England.  This unusual celebration, known as 'Old Twelvey Night'  (January 17th) or ~ Wassailing, has been going on since medieval times.  Spiced Apple Cake fits right in with celebrating the apple.  It showcases apples to perfection. 


The Orchard-Visiting Wassail is an ancient custom of visiting apple orchards, pouring cider around the base of the oldest/largest tree, putting cider soaked bread in the branches, singing to the trees & making lots of noise to scare away any evil spirits.  All of this has been done for centuries to ensure a bountiful harvest for the coming year.

There is also a festive drink called Wassail.   It is used in the Wassailing ceremony & is also a popular hot drink.  I think any celebration that helps to break up the monotony of cold, dark winters sounds like fun to me!  Check around your area, maybe you will be lucky enough to have an orchard close by that is hosting a Wassailing celebration this January.  ~ Waes Hail! ~

Martini Madness

Chocolate Martini ~ My absolute favorite bar in Denver, The Cruise Room, makes the best Chocolate Martini . This drink is so good, it's like liquid love. If you're ever visiting Denver, go check it out! ~ http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink302.html

~ http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-cruise-room-denver

~ http://www.theoxfordhotel.com/the-cruise-room.html

New Year's Eve is almost upon us, time for ringing in the New Year.  Why not try something a bit different than Bubbly this year?   I am a big fan of Vodka & what better way to drink it than in a Martini. For a traditional Martini, make mine ~ Dirty with 3 Olives ~ & as cliche as this sounds ~ Shaken, not stirred.


But, for something a bit more in the party spirit of this spirit, why not add a bit of color and flavor, to take a Martini to the next level.  Here are some of my favorite Martini's, that are anything but traditional.

Kickin' Key Lime Pie Martini ~ Great low cal recipe from the Hungry Girl site. No guilt here & it tastes YUMMY!
www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1033

Mounds Bar Martini ~ Gotta love a drink that tastes like one of your favorite candy bars! I don't know how Hungry Girl comes up with these low-cal alcoholic recipes, but, I am sure glad she does! www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1033

Orange Creamsicle Martini ~ 50/50 bars were always my favorite as a kid. This is the low-cal adult version. :)
http://www.food.com/recipe/orange-creamsicle-martini-low-calorie-312866

What is not to love about these fun & tasty Martini's?  They could just become the new way to ring in the New Year!