Christmas Party '09

Last night was our 2nd Christmas party, co-hosted with the Putmans (Damon and Carlin). It was a fabulous time with great food and great friends.
Damon went full speed ahead and rented heaters! And what a great idea, we spent alot of time out here.
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

Lee's Favorite Chicken Noodle Soup

I get a request for this all the time from Lee. And it's always good. Always.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1 pkg No Yolks Egg Noodles (whichever size)
1 whole chicken, rinsed
1 stick of butter
2 chicken boullion cubes

GO!

Boil the chicken in a stock pot with water just enough to cover chicken. Remove chicken but for for goodness sakes don't dump all that broth down the sink! Skim the fat off the top. Bring the broth back to a boil and drop in the stick of butter and pretend you didn't.
Once the chicken is cool enough, pull all the meat you can off of it!
Drop in the boullion cubes and stir the broth around a bit. Add 4 cups of water.
Once this comes back to a boil, add the noodles.
Put the chicken back in at the end, and once it is all heated well, serve!

We put a little Lawry's or Tony's on it.you can use this same recipe and tear up 2 cans of biscuits and have Chicken and Dumplings!

Monday Night Dinner Tripled!

Donald wasn't able to come over on Monday night because of something supposedly more important. But I made meatloaf anyway, his favorite. Ha. And served it to 3 of our dear friends. Double HA!
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans.
When it was all over, I turned to look at my kitchen on the way out the door the next morning and thought to myself "where's the kitchen cleaning fairy when you need one?"

The sink is full of dishes, the table covered in all our wine/water glasses. just a mess.
I was worn out from cleaning this up, made sad eyes at Lee, and we went out for dinner.
Love him!

Oreo Truffles

A few years ago, an intern brought these to work and I almost fainted. They are good. Seriously yummy.
Last night, I made a batch to take to Jennifer's holiday party. Everyone asked me for the recipe and they are just so easy!

Ingredients:
1 package Oreos (original ones. not the weird ones they put out nowadays)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 package Almond Bark
4 oz dark chocolate

Directions:
In a large food processor, grind the oreos until they are dust!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.
Roll walnut sized balls and put on a cookie sheet.
Place them in the freezer for about an hour. This will keep them from falling apart when you dip them.
This part is tricky to me. If someone comes across an easy way, do tell!
Almond Bark - this stuff can be a little frustrating. Cook it too fast, it scalds and turns into hard goo. I found the best way is to follow the microwave instructions on the package, not the stove top part.
Take a small spoon and put the oreo mixture on the spoon and then submerge in the melted almond bark. You want to get a nice coating on here. Place back on the cold cookie sheet.
Once all the balls are dipped, melt the dark chocolate.
Artfully drizzle over the dipped oreo balls.
And that's it.
Seriously.
Donald took this one:Then he ate 3.

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

Tuesday night I made one of my favorite meals of all time - Spaghetti and Meatballs. Nothing puts me in a good mood like that meal. I could eat it every day.
After much trepidation, I decided to share the entire recipe, not just the meatballs. I am pretty guarded about my sauce recipe!

Sauce:

2 pounds canned diced tomatoes (about 2 large cans)
6 oz tomato paste
8 oz or so tomato sauce (i ended up using almost 2 cups since it thickened up too much)
6 oz water
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic (or more) minced
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon oregeno
1 small can mushrooms

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!

Cooking simple

When I don't have much time, or sometimes much money, I end up falling back on easy recipes that are always well liked. So if I am not posting much right now, it is because I am just throwing together some normal meals!

Sunday - Roasted Chicken and veggies
Monday - Turkey Tacos
Tuesday - Grilled chicken breasts with veggie orzo
Wednesday - Spaghetti and turkey meatballs
Thursday - no idea.... Lee is out so maybe just a bowl of soup or something.
Friday - we usually go out but I have all the fixins to make a pizza for the grill

This week, I will make sure I post a photo of the spaghetti with a recipe - that way I am putting a new recipe out there!

I am making Oreo truffles for a party on Saturday and that will be another good one to try and photograph and post.
The Holiday Party season is upon us! we have 3 in the next few weeks!