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. :)

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately. Partly because I've been distracted by reading, homeschooling Jason, etc... and partly because I haven't really made anything new lately. It seems I only post when I have a new recipe to write out.. I should really get back into posting more regularly..and I probably will. I made a butternut squash mac n cheese a few weeks ago that was really good.. I never did write about it.. infact I'd totally forgotten that I'd even made it until Sunday when we were cleaning out the fridge cuz I needed my red and white polka dot 9x13... and it had the mac n cheese still in it, turning into a science experiment. oops. LOL But I am still alive, just busy as usual. I'll get back to blogging and cooking new things to blog about soon.

Pepper Steak in the crockpot

I made this yesterday.. it was the first day of school and I knew I was gonna have a ton of paperwork to fill out when the kids got home.. so I wanted dinner already prepared and cooking. All I had to do when it was close to time to eat was make some rice and garlic bread to go with it. It was yummy, Jason even ate the peppers in it! :)

Here's the recipe:

2lbs thin cut milanese style top round steak, cut into thin strips
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (to season steak, as much or as little as you like)
Olive oil (enough for browning steak and cooking onions)
2 medium onions, sliced thick
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup tomato puree
2 cans stewed sliced tomatoes
1/4 cup hot water
1 beef bouillon cube (dissolved in the 1/4 cup water above)
3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced

Start by heating up a skillet (I prefer cast iron for stuff like this) while you slice and season your steak. Pour in a tad of oil, just enough for browning up the steak. Throw in the steak and let it sit there for a couple mins before messing with it, so it has a chance to get nice and brown. Then use some tongs and toss it around so it gets nicely browned on both sides. You may have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your cast iron.. you definitely don't want to overcrowd the pan. I had to do mine in about 3 batches, and I was using a 14inch cast iron skillet. Once the steak is browned, toss it into the crockpot. Then saute the onions in the skillet with a bit of oil.. when they are slightly translucent, add the minced garlic. Then throw all of this into the crockpot with the steak. Turn the crockpot on to low and add in everything else, except the bell peppers. If you add the peppers in right now, they will be complete mush by the time the steak is done.. and idk about you, but I can't stand mushy peppers. So I like to wait till the last hour of cooking to add those in. You're gonna cook this on low in your crockpot for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat is so tender its falling apart.

Serve this over some cooked rice.. and a little garlic bread on the side to sop up the wonderful sauce.

Enjoy!

Back to School Craziness

Yep... it's that time of year. It's pure insanity. It took 3 hours and $231 at walmart last night getting school supplies.. And that was just for 4 of the kids... Jason is homeschooling this year, and I still gotta get a full curriculum once I figure out what I am going to go with. And I still have to get everyone new shoes..and clothes.. and Andy still needs a backpack.. and Justin and the twins still needs hair cuts. Aiy yi yi...This time of year is almost worse than Christmas. Almost. LOL

I do have something good planned for dinner tonight.. Balsamic Braised Chicken Breasts, and I'm gonna throw a jar of parmesan alfredo sauce on some thin spaghetti to go along with it. I think it'll be yummy. :)

Shrimp Puttanesca

I made this a week or so ago and it was really easy and super yummy. It was The Husband's first foray into the world of capers.. and it went so well, I'm thinking I might need to make him chicken picatta sometime in the near future.

Now back to this recipe... it uses a jar of pasta sauce.. *gasp* ..I know! but that's what I love.. this is an easy busy weeknight meal.

You're gonna need:

1lb linguini, cooked in salted water per package directions
1lb peeled deveined shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
Splash of white wine (I used chardonnay cuz that's what I had in the fridge)
1 jar Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce (I used the Bertolli brand)
1/4 cup chopped black olives
2 Tbs capers
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar

Start by patting the shrimp dry with paper towels and season them well on both sides with salt and garlic pepper. Heat a stainless steel skillet over med-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil and chopped garlic and cook it for a minute or two, until it just starts to turn brown.. then crank the heat up to high and toss in the shrimp. Cook the shrimp until they are golden brown on both sides.. about 2-4 minutes.. Deglaze the pan with a splash of wine (if all you have is red.. use red!) when the wine cooks down by half, stir in the jar of sauce, the olives, capers, red pepper flake, sugar and some fresh cracked pepper... Cover and simmer for 5 minutes until sauce is heated through. Remove the lid and scoop out a cup or two of the sauce and set it aside.. Pour the pasta into the skillet with the sauce and cook for 1 minute, so the pasta can soak up some sauce.. Pour this into your serving dish and to with the reserved cup or two of sauce. Serve this with freshly shaved parm cheese.. oh and garlic bread, you GOTTA have garlic bread to soak up all that yummy sauce.

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo

I've been a bad blogger lately.. I'm sorry... I am going to try to post two recipes tonight.. this one and the easy spicey shrimp puttenesca pasta.

My gumbo is pretty easy.. but *extremely* yummy. And it starts off like any good gumbo does...

With a roux... I took 4oz of canola oil, and 4oz (by weight) of AP flour and mixed them together over med-low heat for about 20 minutes in my cast iron dutch oven, until the roux was a nice mahogany brown.

While the roux is cooking, I dice up my veggies.. 2 green bell peppers, 2 onions, 5 ribs of celery, and 4 cloves of garlic.. Once the roux is the above color, add in all the veggies except the garlic into the pot with the roux and turn the heat up to med high.. cook the veggies, stiring often until the onion is translucent (about 10 min). Then I add in about a cup and a half of tomato puree and some canned diced tomatos and a quart of chicken stock (you could use seafood stock, or even better, make your own shrimp stock.. but I was in a hurry that day and just used chicken stock, which was just fine) With the tomatoes and the stock, I added some salt, some garlic pepper, some creole seasoning, and 4 dried bay leaves. I brought this to a boil, then covered and reduced the heat to low to let it simmer for 35 minutes. Now is a good time to start some white rice. While the rice cooked and the soup simmered, I sliced up a pound of sausage ( I used keilbasa cuz it's what I like and it's what I had).. I sliced the sausage on a bias and seared it in a small non stick skillet. After the 35 minutes is up, kill the heat and add a pound of raw peeled, deveined, tail off shrimp to the gumbo, as well as the sausage and a tablespoon of gumbo file' powder. Stir all of this very well, cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Two things are gonna happen here.. The residual heat from simmering the gumbo for so long in a cast iron pot is going to cook the shrimp perfectly so they are tender and not rubbery. Second, the gumbo file' powder is going to thicken the soup nicely.

*a note, I personally do not like okra in my gumbo because I think it gets slimy.. I prefer to thicken it with just file' powder

Now when you're ready to serve this.. grab you a bowl.. make a little mound of rice (I used a smaller bowl to make the rice mound) and the ladle the gumbo around the rice, and pour the stock over the rice.. And it will look a little something like this:


It was yummy!! Make this soon! :)

This weeks menu

Tomorrow (today I guess since it's 3:30am lol), I'm thinking probaby bacon cheese burgers. With salad and tator tots. Because I'm craving tator tots. (don't ask lol)

And for later in the week... I'm planning on making gumbo, over rice.. with maybe a hunk of cornbread on the side. This *might* end up being dinner tomorrow(today).. We shall see..

Also gonna make that ravioli ratataouille thing.. but i don't think I can really call it ratatouille.. cuz I decided to substitute the eggplant with yellow squash. LOL After my mishap with the eggplant for the lasagna last week.. Well, I just want a no problems dinner so I am using some yellow squash instead. LOL

And we're gonna have some beer brats with baked beans, mac n cheese for the kids and potato salad for me and Dave. Yum.

Oh and McDonalds one night.. on our way home from Six Flags. It's tradition. $1 menu double cheeseburgers and fries. LOL

Should be a yummy week! :)