Carlin's beautiful tree
Ahhh yes, the food. So much food. Stuffed Mushrooms (in my o so tacky christmas dish!), dips, cheeses, and crackers.
Also a ham and rolls, and desserts. YUM!
The stuffed mushrooms were a hit. I must give cred to the awesome Pioneer woman! Recipe here: Stuffed Mushrooms
you can use this same recipe and tear up 2 cans of biscuits and have Chicken and Dumplings!
The sink is full of dishes, the table covered in all our wine/water glasses. just a mess.
Add the cream cheese to the dust. Word to the wise - don't just throw the brick in there - you will get pretty frustrated! cut it up and push it into the dust with a spatula. Run the processor until no white traces of cream cheese remain.
Place them in the freezer for about an hour. This will keep them from falling apart when you dip them.
Then he ate 3.
Combine first 6 ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Add rest, simmer 1 hour.
Meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
fresh basil, chopped
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup milk
salt and pepper
combine all in a bowl and mash together. If meatballs don’t want to stay in a ball, add a little more breadcrumbs to help hold together.
Add meatballs to sauce and simmer 30 minutes.
Feel free to add / omit as you see the need. You can use ground beed instead of turkey if you want. I just have gotten used to the turkey meatball and feel a little healthier!
I like to only use high end tomatoes when making spaghetti - since it is the heart of this dish. My favorite brand is Cento. And i used "Chef Chopped Tomatoes" for this round and loved the end result!
My first thought after placing it in the bag was... AM I SURE ABOUT THIS?
I basted it every 20 mins with butter until the meat thermometer told me it was cooked through - then basted it again. Shhhhhhh!
I almost forgot to take a photo at all! So this is the non-hacked up side.
Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean cassarole, rolls and croissants, and gravy. Something I learned this year - holy hell the gravy from a brined turkey is salty. I will have to use a gravy base next year.
After all that, we somehow had the energy to play games for like 4 hours...
That is hashbrowns on the bottom, canadian bacon in the middle, and then the poached egg with green onions on top.
Then later in the day I treated Lee and made his favorite holiday treat - chex mix!
Um...A LOT of chex mix! I don't put in the pretzels - but i put in plain goldfish this time and it's great! Those little suckers soak up all the spices and .... butter.
I also steamed some new potatoes on the side and made fresh french bread in the breadmaker. Wonderful meal with Don and Donald to witness it. Lee can't always be the only one witnessing my culinary masterpieces!
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1.5 pounds sirloin steak cut into 1 inch cubes, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 10 ounce package sliced mushrooms
1 16 ounce package frozen pearl onions
2 cups red wine (Chianti is a good one, but anything will really work) If not using, beef stock is ok. but just use the wine! it is so good with it!
1 can Campbell’s golden mushroom soup ( do NOT substitute with regular mushroom soup!)
Thin baby carrots
Flat leaf parsley
In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, cook steak until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer steak to a bowl, set aside.
Add the mushrooms and onions and carrots to the pan and cook until any liquid has evaporated. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the soup and ¼ cup water and bring to a boil. Add the steak and simmer, 2 minutes.
I made the soup on Sunday so that I would have it to eat later in the week.
I had cut up an apple for the dogs and added a few slices to my water. That was refreshing!
Not anything like homemade sauce, but I am full and now going to rest and nap while waiting on Lee's plane to come in so I can go get him. I am tired of the single life!
This is 5 large sweet onions.
And for anyone reading this that doesn't know what I meant by Tony's - I'm sorry. Maybe this will help:
This is a staple among many many households in Texas, right next to the salt and pepper. Best stuff ever!
I am starting to think I should go back to only one blog, but I don't want to give up either one.
Open the cheese and then place it back in the little wood container (without the plastic around it..) Cut a chunk out of the top of the wheel and discard that chunk (or eat it...)
Oh heck yeah.
We ate this with a bottle of Brazin Red Zin. Lee made noises I have never heard as he ate the potatoes. Devine.
I used a rotisserie chicken and added a little leeks in with the onion. I made the bacon and corn version. Get the book! You'll love it!
I won't be cooking this week because... I will be in MEXICO!
I am not so good at photographing food....
Then last night, I had dinner going in the crock pot. A long time ago, the crock pot was my favorite appliance. Nowadays... not so much. This thing will cook the bejesus out of everything. I even came home at lunch so that the food wouldn't be going from 7am to 7pm. Still, even 7 hours of cooking was enough to make the chicken dry. :(
Basically I cooked some bacon and the sauteed the onions and red pepper in some of the grease. Then I scrambled some eggs. Put it in a warm tortilla with cheese and salsa!
He had 2 bowls. I did too. While we watched Dexter on Showtime.
You can see her recipe here. I was bothered by the lack of tomato sauce so I dumped in some leftover Prego from what Ben had brought a few weeks ago, it thickened it up and it was great!
