what do YOU see?

I am constantly bringing home something new for the kitchen. Whether it be something to cook with or something to dish it up in or something to just set there and look pretty. I am particularly fond of anything solid glass. In fact, I have two cabinets devoted to nothing but glass. I have pilsner glasses, juice glasses, tea glasses, shot glasses, martini glasses.... well, you get the idea. My most recent glass adoption was a 5 piece set of some very odd bowls. Bradley just does not understand my obsession. He always asks, "Now... what are you gonna do with that???". And my response is almost always the same, "I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it". That usually quiets him up long enough for me to prepare something delicious to eat out of it, and then he gives it the "okay" to stick around the Webb house.

But I think I know what his problem is. He can't see outside the box. You see, when he looks at those very odd bowls, he just see this -



But, when I look at those very same odd bowls..... I see this -



I have the "foodie" mind set :) Call it a gift!!!

Semi-Homemade Dessert
recipe by me

4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mascarpone cheese
Store bought cream puffs
Strawberries
Mini Chocolate Chips

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone and vanilla until well combined.
Fill the bottom of your dish with the mascarpone mixture and fit 3 cream puffs around it. Cut the stem off a strawberry and split it open, place one slice between each puff, flesh side facing inwards. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips

~~~~~

Now, obviously the mascarpone mixture makes way more than you need for 4 single serve desserts. So stay tuned and I'll show you what to do with the rest of it.

I love it when great things just come to me!

I've made lasagna once in my lifetime, and it was because I lost a bet. It was the UA UF game where Prothro got so badly injured and bama still freakin' won. I had bet on Florida and since Alabama won - I had to cook lasagna for the first time ever. I remember it fondly, like it was yesterday....... it was pretty good! I was still in my beginning stages of experimenting with cooking and from what I remember I pretty much just winged the whole recipe. I have also always been a type of person that wanted to prove people wrong. Not that anyone ever told me "You can't cook lasagna", but everyone raved about how hard and expensive it was to make and I thought "No it isn't" and made it!

But I haven't made it since. I don't know why! Stop asking! But Tuesday I was reading over some lasagna recipes and replaying the memory in my head of my first lasagna and it came to me. Lasagna casserole! Now, I know, I didn't make that up. But I feel confident that I made up this certain recipe, maybe just not the name :)


Lasagna Casserole
recipe by me!

1 pound ground round, or any hamburger - that's just my fave
2 links Italian sausage - your favorite flavor, I used hot
1 - 2 cloves of minced garlic, depending on how much you love garlic
can of diced tomatoes, I used garlic and onion
small can of tomato sauce, I used basil, garlic and oregano
can of tomato paste, I used basil, garlic and oregano
2 tablespoons of parsley
1 tablespoon of savory seasoning
2 cans of sliced mushrooms, drained
1/8 to 1/4 cup of red wine
container of crumbled feta, I used a mix of tomato basil and garlic herb
mozzarella slices
4 dry cups of small shell pasta
finely grated Parmesan
bread crumbs
Italian seasoning

Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble in into a hot pan. Add the hamburger and garlic. Cook completely. Either drain off the excess fat or soak it up with napkins like I do. Dump in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and mix it all together. Then add the spices, mushrooms and wine and mix that together. Let it simmer for 20 to 30 to however many minutes you might have. In the mean time, boil your baby shells. Then get ready to start layering!
Preheat your oven to 350*
I used a corning ware medium sized oval for this dish and almost ran out of room. So if you have a large one, I would use that. I don't so I had to make do and add it to my wish list.
The first layer is just a little bit of sauce. The second layer is about half the pasta. The third layer is the feta cheese. The fourth layer is a good layer of sauce. The fifth layer is mozzarella slices (as much as you want) and if you have any feta left over you want to sprinkle on that go for it. The sixth layer is a little more sauce. The seventh layer is the remaining pasta. The eighth layer is the remaining sauce.
Now for the topping. Dust the top with the Parmesan, you can use the kind in the shaker, I won't tell. Then dust that with bread crumbs. Then sprinkle Italian Seasoning on top of that.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

~~~~~

This may sound intimidating, but it is so NOT! Most of my time cooking was spent out in the yard socializing with the neighbors. Once you brown the meat and get the sauce going, you don't have to watch it. Once you layer it and put it in the oven, you don't have to watch it. It makes itself! Just don't tell my husband that, haha!

I used feta because I am not a fan of ricotta, blech! Can't stand it. But if you like ricotta more, than use that. I didn't put salt in the sauce because I knew the feta was going to be plenty salty. So if you use ricotta or cottage cheese, then you might want to add salt to the sauce.

This served 3 the first night we ate it, and I think we all got seconds. The second night we ate it, which was even better, it served 2 and we both had seconds and there was still enough for 2 more servings! BIG casserole! Perfect if family is coming over! Make it the night before through the layering process and refrigerate. When you are ready for dinner, add the topping and bake!

Gutted, Stuffed and Wrapped!

I love browsing recipes and one of my favorite recipes sites is ThePioneerWomanCooks.com. She is very "down to Earth" with her recipes, meaning that you don't have to search for the ingredients, most of them are in your pantry. And don't get me started on the simplicity of her recipes!

Much like her chocolate pie that I added to, I had to add to this recipe. Her basic recipe was: jalapenos, cream cheese, bacon. Very simple! But when most red blooded Americans eat something spicy, what do they dip it in? Ranch! (or bleu cheese, but for blogging purposes, please scream "RANCH" when answering my question)

So here is what I did -

Jalapeno Poppers
Pioneer Woman mixed with Country Woman

Jalapenos (you want the stubby round ones, not the long skinny ones)
Whipped Cream Cheese
Ranch Powder
Bacon strips, halved (you want two half slices of bacon per jalapeno)
wooden toothpicks

preheat oven to 375*

mix the ranch powder and cream cheese to your liking. split each jalapeno from tip to stem and scrape out the insides. stuff each half of the pepper with the cream cheese filling (don't be shy, more is more here because while baking, some of it will ooze out) and then wrap it with a half slice of bacon and spear it with a tooth pick.

arrange the poppers on a wire rack in a roasting pan, try not to let them touch so the bacon will cook evenly. depending on the thickness of the bacon, you may need to cook them for up to 45 minutes. start at 35 minutes and just watch them. My bacon varied in size, so 40 minutes was a good medium for me.

~~~~~

These were SO good and SO filling! If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, don't let that turn you away from making this recipe. The peppers lose their extreme heat and you are left with just a small kick.

Intimidation

Today, my department is having a luncheon. There is an old co-worker coming in to town and instead of us going out to lunch with her and being rushed to get back, we thought it would be a whole lot easier (and probably more delicious) to cook and bring it to work. We chose an Italian theme and I picked dessert. I had originally planned on making the chocolate desire pie, but layering it with cheesecake. But that didn't seem "Italian" enough. Then I remembered some excellent tiramisu I had on a recent trip and decided on that. So I was off to find the perfect recipe, when I discovered that these days, people are becoming more open minded to the recipes passed down though generations and were substituting fruit in place of coffee and Marsala.

Unfortunately, I did not read the recipe before deciding on it. The ingredient list was so simple and I think that is what caught my attention. When I got home and actually read the recipe, it was so intimidating that I almost didn't make it. But I am glad I did, because I found SEVERAL shortcuts and came up with the recipe I am about to share with you....

Strawberry Tiramisu aka Tiramisu alle Fragole

For the "Soaking Sauce" -
1 & 1/2 pounds fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

For the Filling -
4 large eggs, separated (I chose Safe Eggs, since there is no heat involved)
2 cups Mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup sugar

And don't forget the lady fingers! I used about 30.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Then transfer to either a blender or a food processor, whatever you have, and liquefy!!! Set it aside and let it cool.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. I used my Kitchen Aid and just a little cream of tartar to help the process move quickly. Transfer the finished product to a plate and set it in the refrigerator.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they are fluffy. I, again, used my Kitchen Aid. It is just so helpful! Then, add in the mascarpone and continue mixing until well blended. Get your egg whites, and fold those in.

Now you are ready to begin putting the masterpiece together. I used my rectangle lidded pyrex dish. Dunk the lady fingers one at a time in the strawberry sauce and form a single layer of them in the bottom of the dish. Once you completed the layer, you can add a little more sauce if you wish. Then take about half of the mascarpone mixture and spread it over the lady fingers. Next, more lady fingers dunked in strawberry sauce, and finish off with the remaining mascarpone. I topped mine with mini chocolate chips, but you could also slice up some strawberries or use fresh mint.

This dish would also be very pretty prepared in individual serving sizes. Make sure whatever you prepare it in is glass, so the pretty layers shine through!

Happy Leap Day!

In honor of the day, a few of us decided to bake something and bring it to work. Imagine that!

Last weekend Bradley went to a cookout for the "young men" of his family's church and I made a pie for him to take. It was a brand new recipe I was yearning to try out. When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "I didn't get to try it, by the time I was ready for dessert everyone else had devoured it."

Now that's what I like to hear!!! But it made me curious - was it so good that they really had devoured it? Or was it so bad that the first person to try it threw it away so no one else would have to endure the agony of ingesting it? The only way to find out, was to make another.

It is quite possibly the simplest dish I have ever made, the Kitchen Aid does the work for you! I followed the recipe from here exactly - except I used a graham cracker crust.

Then, because I'm never happy just leaving well enough alone, I added a topping. It's almost like a cheesecake topping. Which lead me into another recipe idea entirely.... that I might make and post when I feel the need to gain a couple of pounds by eating just one slice.

Topping:
1/2 tub of cool whip
splash of milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 bar cream cheese, cubed

put everything but the cream cheese into the Kitchen Aid and mix with the whisk attachment until smooth. then add the cream cheese, one cube at a time letting all the lumps disappear before you add the next cube.

Spread the topping on the pie, I left about a quarter inch between the topping and the crust so the chocolate would shine through, then I sprinkled a circle of mini chocolate chips in the middle of the pie.

I call it, "Chocolate Desire Pie" and the only thing I have to show you, is a horrible camera phone picture. But I'm sure I will have another opportunity to take better pictures

A very postworthy purchase

Ever since we bought a new home I feel like my blog has turned into more than just recipes. Not that that is a bad thing. I am just discovering so many things as I decorate the house that I feel the need to share with everyone.

Saturday we made our weekly trip to Lowe's and I picked up an orchid I'd had my eye on for a while. The glass brick window in our bathroom lets in SO much light during the day that I knew a house plant would flourish there and with all the steam from our showers, an orchid would be right at home.

Once I placed it just right on the bathtub I couldn't help but take pictures of it. The colors were so pretty against each other. I think I'm going to frame the 3 close ups and hang them together somewhere.

Brunch for 2... or 9

Sometimes there is a traveling vendor who sets up in the building across the street from where I work that I affectionately call "The Book Fair", because that is what it was called when I was in school. Although this vendor has books of a more adult nature for purchase. They have a very large selection of cookbooks that I always browse through but hardly ever purchase. But the last time they came, I spotted something I had to have, The Blue Willow Inn's Bible of Southern Cooking. I have used it several times but mostly I enjoy just reading it. It tells you so much about cooking and portion sizes and menus for special occasions. It even has "southern sayings" along with their definitions.


This weekend I was reading it, trying to find something for new for breakfast and came along a recipe for "Cheesey Drop Biscuits". The ingredients were simple, but of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I added two more just to complicate things. They can easily be left out, if you prefer a more simple, by the book, kind of life.

Cheesey Drop Biscuits
recipe from "Bible of Southern Cooking"

1 cup self rising flour
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of shredded cheese

I added 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon parsley.

The directions say to, mix all the ingredients together and drop by spoonfulls onto a greased baking sheet or a baking stone (I had 9 biscuits) and bake in a 350* oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mine did not turn very golden brown, but were done baking. I'm glad I did not wait for them to turn golden because the bottoms were perfect, any longer and they would of burned. With the addition of the garlic, they were almost like Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I've never made the copy cat recipe for those because it calls for bisquick and I hate the taste of bisquick, so it was nice to discover an alternative.