Peeking In

*Dusts off furniture and takes a seat* Hey! Pretty sure no one other than me has been here in years. Finally figured my login information out and as per the usual I'm checking in before The Greatest Food Holiday In All the Land.But hey, I miss blogging about my food! I haven't decided if I should start a whole new blog or just change the title and url of this one lol. But for now I'm just checking in and keeping this active so it doesn't end up being deleted for inactivity. I've got a lot of info here that I regularly refer back to, especially around the holidays. 

So, a little catch up on the off chance any former readers stumble across my little corner of Blogger... All the kids have grown up and graduated high school. One of them even has a couple kids of his own. Being a Nana is the best. 😊 Still love my high heels, but wearing them less and less and definitely not too the grocery store anymore lol. Still a wannabe chef and still a happy wife.. celebrated 20 years back in September with a fun trip to Galveston Island. These days I'm cooking healthier and mostly plant based for myself. The Husband went and had a heart attack on me about 5 years ago and I've got a bad liver, so we've parted ways with all the copious amounts of butter and sugar lol. Except holidays. no one messes with my holiday. lol 

Speaking of holiday.. I'm feeding 25+ people. There will be 3 meats, 10 side dishes, and 7 or 8 desserts. As per the usual, EPIC! Hopefully pics and blog posts are soon to come. Bye for now. ❤❤

Fryin' Turkeys, the do NOTS.

For future reference...  Do NOT use more than 3 gallons of oil. THREE gallons. NOT three and a half.  And, 18-19lb turkey, max.   Also might be a good idea.. kill the flame before lowering the bird into the oil.  We had a bit of spillage tonight.. okay a LOT of spillage that almost turned into a fire bomb.. But we managed to kill the gas, and get the pot off and get it all cleaned up before continuing on.  Also, do not believe websites that say anything over an hour of frying.  Check it at 45 mins. Period.

Thanksgiving 2014

It seems like I only make it back here for Thanksgiving every few years.  I'm always wishing I would post stuff here more often, but I never seem to make that happen.  But I always visit past Thanksgiving posts to double check my brine ingredients and what bread I used that I loved in the stuffing, etc.  So, here I am again this year.  It's 2014 this time. We thought about "Going Rogue" again and doing just the turkey breasts like I did in 2009... but then I realized.. 5 years ago I wasn't feeding four hungry teenage boys.  Yeah.  So, we're doing a whole turkey after all.  Haha  So far this year is shaping up to be a yummy year.  Last year I fed 32 people, it was both epic and an epic fail in many ways.  I swore we were going rogue and inviting NO ONE over. Not even The Brother and The Sister in law.  But.. I can't just not have Thanksgiving without Jamie, so they're the only ones coming over.  We're still cooking enough food for 30 people.  I guess that's just how we roll.

So far the plan is:

Appetizers:  Sweet and Sour Meatballs and the Asagio Ham Pinwheels (Thanksgiving 2011 post)

Dinner:

Fried Turkey that's been brined in the same brine as the 2011 post.  I am not roasting it.  Last year we had both.. because of the number of people.. David fried one of our turkeys and I roasted the other in the oven.  Mine wouldn't finish cooking and was raw at the leg joints. Mine caused me to sit in my room for 10 minutes crying.  His was delicious. No one cried over his bird.  Lesson learned?  Brine the turkey then just give it to the man to fry. One less thing for me to do.

Ham.. because honestly, I love ham over turkey. So does Justin and Christian.  So we got a small ham, and I'm going to throw it in the crockpot with some apple cider to heat it up.. and then I'm going to pour some maple syrup and brown sugar over it with some cloves and cinnamon and call it glazed and yummy. 

Stuffing is my dish, as usual.  This year I got a baguette that I'm going to dice up and leave to stale, then I am going to toss the cubes with some melted herb butter and toast them in the oven.  That will get mixed with cornbread and sauteed onions, celery and garlic as well as some chicken broth, eggs, and fresh poultry herbs and a little extra sage.  Bake it at 400 for an hour and it's wonderful. :)

Everyone's favorite green beans... My greenbeans have become a yearly request for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinner.  They are simple but yummy.  I dice up a package of bacon and brown it in a large sautee pan.  When it's browned I remove it from the pan and brown sliced onions in the drippings.  While those are cooking, I microwave steam the green beans for about 5 minutes to give them a little head start.  When the onions are done, I add in some chopped garlic and the green beans and give it all a stir and let the green beans sear a bit.  Then I deglaze the pan with some marsala wine, and add some chicken broth.  Basically after this I forget about it  and let it simmer on low for about 10 or 15 minutes.  It was a happy accident that happened when I got distracted during Christmas dinner one year.  When the liquid is reduced and the beans are cooked, I add in a heavy splash of cream and voila. Everybody's favorite green beans. :)

And my last side is the Butternut Squash and Sausage Risotto that I made in 2009 for the Rogue Thanksgiving.  I didn't really give detailed directions in that post to look at for future reference so I'll do that in this one..  I'll roast the diced butternut squash in the oven with olive oil, salt and garlic pepper (I may even do this ahead of time and then just keep it in the fridge. It can warm when it is added to the rice at the end).. Then for the risotto I'll use a few links of sweet italian turkey sausage, casings removed, browned with a finely diced onion.  The arborio rice and chopped garlic will be added once they are brown and the pan deglazed with marsala.. Ladles of hot chicken stock will be used to finish the rice and make it creamy.  When the rice is cooked through I'll add a chiffonade of fresh basil and sage and stir in the roasted butternut squash. Hoping it is as yummy as I remember it to be!

The Sister-in-law, Jamie, is going to make a Butternut Squash casserole that she found on Pinterest that I'm really excited to try. It sounds a whole lot like the butternut squash casserole that we all loved from the restaurant "Cannoli Joe's" that's now closed down.  She's also going to take care of the mashed potatoes and the candied sweet potatoes, because it's just not Thanksgiving without them.

I'm also going to make Ambrosia with canned mandarine oranges (3), crushed pinapple (1), a jar of marachino cherries, mini marshmallows, sour cream and cool whip.  I haven't decide if this counts as a side or a dessert or a salad.  LOL  And of course canned cranberries, both the jellied and the whole berry.. Why? Because we like them and aren't ashamed of it! haha

We're going to have rise and bake dinner rolls as well as the awesome biscuits from the freezer section that we've fallen in love with this year.  They are AMAZING.  HEB brand frozen buttermilk biscuits.  For real. Best biscuits ever.

And as for desserts.  Well you know we're going to go overboard there, too.  I think we're each doing 3.  Mine are:

Sugar Free Sweet Potato Pie.  Name pretty much says it all.. I found a recipe online that I'm going to try. It uses Splenda granular and whole fresh sweet potatoes.  We've got David's diabetes under control for the most part and this dinner is going to do him in as it is.. want to have a sugar free dessert for him.  I need to remember to buy some sugar free redi-whip or cool whip to go on it, too.

 Since Justin doesn't like pie of any kind, I always try to have a cake or cupcakes or something... This year he and I picked out a recipe for a Caramel Apple Dump Cake that we found on Pinterest.

And then of course we HAVE to have Pumpkin Trifle, because that is Andy's favorite thing..  We usually follow Paula Deen's Recipe using whatever quick bread I made for the holiday.. Usually pumpkin.  That's what I got this year.  I also got a mix for "Apple Cider Muffins" that looked pretty dang yummy.. I'm going to make both into loaves of bread and make the trifle out of whichever one they think will be the yummiest.  Then we can have the other loaf of bread for snacks during the day before dinner.  For the pudding part of the mixture..  most of Paula Deen's recipes call for Cook and Serve pudding.  I hate Cook and Serve pudding.  I think it's a pain. So, I like to make this with instant pudding, using just slightly less milk (like you would if you were following the directions for a pudding pie), and then stir the can of pumpkin pie filling into that.  Works just fine for me and is less dishes and work.  Then it's just cubed up quick bread, a layer of the pumpkin/pudding mixture, a layer of cool whip, and then repeated.  On the top, I like to sprinkle some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and then decorate it with a few whole cinnamon sticks to make it pretty.  Is always one of the biggest hits on the dessert table.

Jamie is going to make two pumpkin pies, a pecan pie, snickerdoodles, and pumpkin bread.

All this.  For 12 people. Hahaha  We should have invited others over.  I'm such a scrooge. 

Long time no post!

Hello out there!! I've been away a long long time!  So much going on all the time, and I just never seem to sit down and blog anymore.  And it's a problem because this is where I kept track of all the yummy things I was cooking.  When I don't keep track of yummy new ideas, I forget about them, and then go back to the same 10 dishes all the time.  This must stop! LOL  So yet again I'm gonna try to give this blog another go..  I'm pretty sure there aren't any readers other than the few recipes that ended up on Pinterest, but that is okay, because this has always been more about a place for me to keep track of my ideas.. if others show up along the way and like what I'm cooking and writing about, well the more the merrier! If there is someone out there in the blogosphere reading this, I hope you'll stop in and say "Hi" sometime, especially if you try and like any of the recipes I post. :)

I've got some good ideas planned for this week.. Tonight I'm going to make a Beef Stroganoff over noodles.  I'm using one of these new Kraft Recipe Makers box kit things that comes with a simmering sauce and a finishing sauce.. The kit is actually for a New England Pot Roast, but I don't really feel like pot roast this week, and stew meat was on sale.. and since the side of the box said another recipe idea for the kit was a beef stroganoff, I thought "what the heck, lets give this a try."  I'm excited to try it out.. I really like the sweet and sour chicken kit they make, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this one tastes like.

  Tomorrow night I'm thinking about a Drunken Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Gravy over rice.  I found the recipe on Pinterest and it looks pretty dang easy and good.  After cooking the pork tenderloins in red wine, you combine the red wine drippings with a packet of brown gravy mix to make a red wine gravy.  That just sounds yummy to me, so I'm giving it a go. Still trying to think of one more idea before I go to the grocery store and trying to get inspired on Pinterest, but all I'm really finding is stuff I'd like to make for Easter. haha 

That's all for now, hopefully I'll remember to report back this evening with pictures of my Beef Stroganoff! 

Ham and Swiss Sliders

I made these great little sliders for New Years Eve.. I got the idea off of Pinterest.com. Freaking LOVE that site. I tried the recipe the way I found it.. but I really didn't care for their version of the onion mixture.. which cooked the onions with mustard, from raw.. instead of caramelizing them first. It made them very bitter and spicy in my opinion. So I dumped them out and started over, doing my own thing. The sliders were such a big hit.. The husband asked me to make them again tonight. So that's what I did.. and this time I took pictures *and* made a kid friendly, no onion, version! :) Didn't get pics of the kid friendly, except for the final product, but it was really quite simple and not worth the photo.

Here's what you're gonna need:
1 small onion, minced
1 stick of softened butter, divided
heavy pinch of salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp Dijonnaise
1-2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 package Hawaiian sweet rolls(12 rolls)
8 slices of thin sliced ham, I like Virginia baked ham
4 slices swiss cheese (I use Kraft "big" slices.. it may take more of the smaller slices to completely cover the rolls and ham)

I started with some onion. Pretty much how all my good ideas start out.. slow cooking onion in butter. For this recipe I minced up a smallish one and cooked it over med-low heat in half a stick of butter with a heavy pinch of salt for about 10 minutes until it was nice and sweet.

Next you're gonna need these things: some ground mustard, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, and some of this hellmans dijonnaise along with 2 tablespoons of that butter you see there in the back.. Now if you don't have the dijonnaise and you don't feel like buying it.. you could just use dijon mustard. Or regular mustard. You could even be crazy and put honey mustard in it. Or you could do no mustard if mustard isn't your thing.. but I don't recommend that. Because mustard IS my thing. Anywhoo.. once your onions are nice and caramelized, your gonna add in these ingredients, and give it a good stir and let it cook for just a minute then take it off the heat.

Next you're gonna take your rolls and slice them in half horizontally, leaving them intact with one another. Like this.. so you have a top and bottom bun.
And then you're gonna put the bottom half of your rolls into a foil lined baking dish and spread about 3/4's of the onion mixture onto it..
Then you're gonna take the remaining two tablespoons of softened butter and spread it on top of the onions.

Now just layer the ham on like this

Top it with the cheese

Then top it with the tops of the buns. Now just spread the remaining 1/4th of the onion mixture and whatever melted butter is left in the pan all over the tops of the buns. You're making homemade onion buns!! I love onion buns, so this just tickles my fancy to no end.
Now just cover it with some foil and stick it in the oven at 325 for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese startes getting melty.. then pull the foil off the top and let them brown for an additional 3-5 minutes. Once they are done, just use a sharp knife to cut the sliders apart along the lines of the buns.


I didn't even serve them on a tray.. I just popped the baking pans on the table and let everyone go for it. LOL

As for the kid friendly version. I just omitted the onion mixture completely.. I took a stick of softened butter and mixed in a tablespoon or two of the dijonnaise stuff. and spread that on the bottoms of the buns, then melted what was left to brush across the tops. Worked great and the kids all loved it! Oh I should mention, I cook for a brood.. so that whole stick of butter was spread between two packs of rolls. One was the hawaiian bread and the other was a regular white dinner roll, for the pickiest eater in all the land.. who doesn't like hawaiian rolls. Turned out good. Because this time I had to get the "honey wheat" version of the hawaiian rolls instead of the regular hawaiian sweet bread.. And they got too dark on the bottoms. Didn't have that problem on New Years Even, or with the regular white dinner rolls I made tonight.. Just the honey wheat version.. even cooked a batch of each kind of bread in the same pan, so I know it wasn't the pan or the oven.. it was the wheat bread. So I honestly don't recommend it, even though it's healthier, unless you REALLY watch it or turn the oven down.

I confess this picture is of the ones from New Years Eve.. they were prettier. haha

Enjoy!

Happy New Year Ravioli!

So the husband finally got me a pasta maker for Christmas this year. I'm *beyond* myself with excitement. We finally broke it in for some New Years Day Ravioli.. We've decided it's to be our new tradition. :)

I'm sorry I have no photos of when I was mixing the dough together or kneading it in the KitchenAid with the dough hook. I didn't think to get the camera out until I was sauteing onions for the sauce. Whoops. I usually only do one photo of the finished product of a recipe, but this time I wanted to do it a little more like most of the food bloggers and get some photos of various steps.. I'm new at that, so I didn't get everything, but I got most of the steps. I hope whoever stumbles upon this enjoys. :)

Here's what you need for the pasta dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 tsp olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons water

Plus an egg wash when filling and sealing the raviolis:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1tsp water

To start making the pasta, I measured out 2 cups of AP flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl and created a large well in the center of the flour. I cracked two eggs into a small bowl and poured a couple teaspoons of olive oil into them, and gave them a whisk with a fork and the poured them into the well. (Gosh I wish I had photos of this part.. Next time, I promise!! I am planning to do some fettucini or linguini this week because I want to try out the cutters) Anywhooo.. Once I poured the eggs into the well, I whisked them in a circular motion, just barely bringing some of the flour into the eggs each time I stirred around the bowl with the fork. Once the mixture started coming together, I added a couple tablespoons of water and worked the dough into a ball. I kneaded it by hand a few times to make sure it was all together nicely.. then I tossed it into my KitchenAid with the dough hook and turned it onto 2 for about 5 minutes. After doing that I had a nice smooth pliable dough. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge while I set about making the sauce and the filling.. that's where I remember the camera and started taking pictures.

For the Sauce you need:
1/2 small onion, minced
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 large can tomato puree
large stem of basil leaves, intact
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
handfull of chopped fresh basil



For the sauce I minced up half a smallish onion and sauteed it in a tablespoon or so of olive oil with a pinch of salt.

Once the onions became translucent I added in the minced garlic and the tomato paste and gave it a stir.


Then I poured in a can of crushed tomatoes.. apparently I bought the Italian herbs kind, I didn't realize I had done that. LOL


And then a can of tomato puree.. I like this SO much better than tomato sauce.

Then I add in a big stem full of basil. I like to keep it whole and let it simmer with the sauce, then fish it out after the sauce is done.. and stir in some fresh basil. I think it gives the sauce a nice cooked in basil flavor as well as the brightness of the fresh chopped kind at the end.

Then I clap a lid on it and set the burned to the lowest heat and it's pretty much ready to go, aside from a pinch of sugar and some salt and pepper adjustments at the end, as well as the handful of fresh chopped basil. (which I don't think I got a pic of, sorry LOL)


And so while that simmered on the back of the stove, I got started on the mushroom filling.

Here's what you need for the mushroom filling:
1lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
the other half of the small onion, minced
1 stick of butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
small handfull of basil leaves, minced
1 Tbs half and half
1-2 cups shredded Asagio cheese
salt and pepper to taste

I started by slicing up a pound of cremini mushrooms. My absolute favorite mushroom int he whole universe. Love em.
And I sauteed them in a whole stick of butter and the other half of my onion, minced up.. but with no salt yet.


While those cooked (which took about 8 to 10 minutes on super high heat), I minced up some garlic and basil. Which I added in once the mushrooms were nice and brown.
Then I deglazed the pan with a splash of half and half and it looked like this.. mmmmmm yummy

I forgot to take pics of what I did next.. But I poured the mushrooms into the food processor and pulsed it 5 or 6 times until I had a nice mince on the mushrooms, but not total mush. I poured them into a bowl and let them cool down while The Husband and I rolled out the dough with my new pasta roller. Once the we were ready to start filling, I mixed the minced mushroom and onion mixture with the shredded asagio cheese and adjusted the seasonings.

So.. As for rolling the dough. We had such a good time doing this. I REALLY love my new present. It's so freakin awesome.

So we start by cutting off about 1/4th of the dough and passing it through the machine on the largest setting a couple times.. folding it in half and repeating on the largest setting two or three times.

Until it starts streching out and getting longer.. then start closing the rollers up, one setting at a time.. and passing the dough through once or twice on each setting.

Keep on going till it gets nice and long and thin enough to read the paper through it (heard that on tv yesterday so decided that's what I needed LOL)

This is definitely a two person job. The husband turned the hand crank and held the machine steady on the table while I fed the dough in and out of the machine. We made a good team :)

Then I started filling each sheet, with a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture every few inches. Then brushed all around each little mound with egg wash (just 1 egg beaten lightly with a teaspoon of water)
Then I folded the dough over in half on itself and pressed very closely to each little mound of mushrooms, making sure to squeeze out all of the air and sealing the pasta together around the filling

Then I used the fluted side of my smallest biscuit cutter to cut each ravioli out
and tossed them on a baking sheet that had been dusted with flour
I popped them into the freezer for 10 or 15 minutes while I got some salted water boiling and finished off my sauce by fishing out the stem of basil and adding the handful of chopped basil and some salt and pepper.. then I tossed the raviolis into the water and boiled them for about 4 or 5 minutes, until the pasta was al dente

I fished them out with my big spider thing and put them in my pasta bowl.. which happens to be decorated with raviolis. :)

Then I served it up in some matching bowls with my yummy sauce and a slice of buttered french bread..

And my second baby smiled at me like this when he finished his bowl
He happens to be a connoisseur of tomato sauce. And this is the smile he gets when I do NOT open a jar of Prego, and when I make it all from scratch for him, with fresh basil. I think he approved tonight. Even if he wouldn't try the mushroom ravioli and opted for the storebought cheese ones we got because we knew we had picky kids that wouldn't touch a mushroom to save their life. haha Oh well, more for me and dad. :)

Hope you guys enjoyed my photos.. big thanks to my son Andy, and The Husband for taking most of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I know I've been a bad blogger.. but I'm just gonna breeze in here with a quick thanksgiving post.. This year it was epic. Totally freakin EPIC. 2 appitizers, a 21 lb turkey, 8 side dishes, and 5 desserts. And 12 people to eat and enjoy it with me. Having my dad and his wife with us for the first time in many years was really great and I had to put out a big fantastic spread for him. I think he hurt himself eating so much. haha

First, I brined my turkey.. I did a combo of Alton Brown's brine, with Pioneer womans brine.. and threw in a few Me things as well.. Was good. Had Water and a couple cups of apple cider, a cup and a half of salt, a cup of brown sugar, a half a cup of white sugar, candied ginger, whole allspice, peppercorns and cloves; fresh poultry herbs: parsley rosemary sage and thyme.. the peel of 2 oranges and one lemon, a cinnamon stick... and.. Umm I think that's all. Aside from the ice LOL Basically everything including the kitchen sink. Brined it for about 24 hours then rinsed it off and let it sit on the roasting rack, lightly covered with foil in the fridge for about 10 hours, to dry the skin out a bit..

In the morning I took it out and let it come up to room temp a bit.. then stuffed garlic herb butter (poultry hers, grated garlic, salt and butter.. made a ton of it and put it in lots of stuff LOL) under the skin all over the bird, and inside the cavity.. then shoved some quartered apples, onions, and oranges a split head of garlic, and a bundle of fresh herbsa bundle of fresh herbs into the cavity and in the roasting pan around the bird. I poured melted herb butter all over the turkey and rubbed it around and splashed some apple cider into the bottom of the roasting pan and put it in the oven at 500 for about 15 minutes, then reduced the oven to 325 and let it roast for about 4 hours.. had a PERFECTLY cooked turkey. God it was amazing. I think next year I might give a covering the bird with a buttered cheesecloth a try. I saw Michael Symon do that on TV the other day and it sounds like a smart idea.

My dressing was pretty much the same as the one I made in my "Rogue Thanksgiving" a few years ago..which I am SO doing again next year.. already forewarned everyone. This one wore me out.. especially after the party we had 2 and a half weeks ago that I'll hopefully blog about another time... Because the food for that party was beyond epic. Let me put it this way.. there was a slider station AND a pasta station. Among numerous other things.

Anyway.. back to turkey day. I'm easily distracted.

I made the husbands favorite green beans.. With the addition of some half & half to the marsala wine.. WAY yummy. For real. My dad and my brother were most impressed. Must be a very manly green bean. LOL

I made my grandmothers corn casserole.. which is basically everybody elses grandma's corn casserole.. Cream corn, whole kernal corn (I chose frozen varieties of both and was extremely pleased with the results).. crushed up saltines (gonna use ritz crackers next time), some half and half (though grandma and mom use evaporated milk.. I just like and had half&half)... mixed up with crushed crackers and butter all over the top. Good stuff. Reminded me of my mom. I miss my mom. I hope she visits soon.

I made my new favorite version of mashed potatoes.. cream cheese and butter!!! YUM. So much better than sour cream and cheddar. There was supposed to be half&half (you're seeing a trend here, huh? I also used a whole quart of heavy cream in various parts of this meal too :P) but the husband was finishing up the mashed potatoes while I carved turkey and he put a spoonfull into my mouth and I didn't really look at them and realize there was no cream in them.. and they tasted good, so I said "they're good, put em in the bowl".. then looked at the half&half as I was setting the rest of the food out and said "whoops, oh well, all that butter and cream cheese, they be fine!" lol prolly gonna need a little cream on the reheat, but otherwise they were good. LOL

I did my usual apple pie.. but made it super pretty with a full top crust and made little leaf cut outs of the pastry to decorate it with..it turned out good.. but I don't think I put enough flour or maybe didn't bake it quite long enough, because it was very liquidy today, after sitting in the fridge all night. Oh well... for a pie made at 1am during complete and utter exhaustion after a baking marathon AND a last minute 2 hour shopping spree... it was pretty dang good. And looked gorgeous.

And I made a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust.. OMG. I swear, pumpkin pie is dead to me. Pumpkin cheesecake has stolen my heart for ever and ever. Especially with a layer of spiced fresh sweetened whipped cream. Yeah. You drooled a little, didn't you?

And for my oldest baby, who turned 14 on this most Thankful of all days... I made some vanilla cupcakes with andes mint candies chips inside them.. and let him spread chocolate frosting and sprinkle with more andes chips over the top.

My sis in law made the candied sweet potatoes, the green bean casserole, brought the cranberry sauce and gravy.. and my dad's wife made cornbread salad.

It was a feast of epic proportions and very widely recevied.

Oh and those 2 appetizers for nibbles during the day.. Sweet and Sour meatballs.. chili sauce, grape jam, frozen meatballs... voila, every man and child thinks you are a genious. LOL And Asagio ham pinwheels.. puff pastry spread with a mixture of apricot jam and dijon mustard.. then layered with several slices of Virginia baked ham. On top of that, a sprinkling of grated asagio cheese and then a handfull of dried cherries, roughly chopped thrown on top.. roll it up longways, jelly roll style and slice it.. bake at 350 till the puff up and brown. YUMMY stuff. :D My sis in law made those as I talked her through the recipe while I was making the corn. LOL

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that still reads or has stumbled upon my little corner of the blog world!!! I hope your meal was spectacular and your tummy doesn't hurt too bad. :)