A week of Valentine Bliss

Our Valentines Day Cookies

For me, Valentines Day is a holiday that's up there with Christmas and my Birthday (Yes, I consider my Birthday a major holiday). It's such a special day because it allows us to stop for a moment to tell the people we are closest with how much we love, adore and appreciate them. Whether you have a romantic love or not, it's about telling your friends, your parents, your children, or a grandparent just how much you truly love them. It's also a day indulge in the finest chocolates, to sip champagne, to send a valentines day card to someone you adore or to make a romantic dinner at home. It's a day to dress in red, wear pink lipstick and spray on Fendi perfume. It's a day to spend quality time with loved ones. I am very blessed to have 4 incredible cupids in my life. Every Valentines Day I make it a very special day for them and I usually start a few days ahead of time. I have these cute red tin mailboxes that I put out for the boys and when they come home from school there is a little treat and note inside. I've done this for at least 5 years now and they love it. On Valentines Day we make it a very fancy affair in our house. We always dine in and make a gourmet feast and use our finest china and crystal. Dave and the boys always remember to buy me something special on Valentines Day. (So if you're reading this Dave, think Alex and Ani bracelet from Tony Walker, love you!)  My hope is that when the boys are older and have girlfriends they will make it a very special day for them too! So today Zachary and I had a date together. We stayed at home and baked batches and batches of homemade valentines cookies. We had so much fun and our cookies turned out delicious. I told him he sure knew how to make magic in the kitchen. After that he decided he wanted to start his own blog titled "Zachary making Magic in the Kitchen." Cute idea I thought! Salute to a week of Valentine Bliss!

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1/8 t baking soda
1 egg
2 tb milk
1 t vanilla
1 3/4 flour
Hershey Bliss chocolate hearts

Preheat oven to 350 degress. Beat shortening and peanut butter with a mixer, add sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined. Beat egg, milk and vanilla and then beat in flour. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and placed on a ungreased cookie sheet. bake for 10-12 minutes. take out of oven an immediately place chocolate hearts in each cookies center.

M n M Cookies:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t baking soda
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups of m n m's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat shortening and butter with a mixer. Add brown sugar, white sugar and baking soda and beat until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and beat. Mix in flour until well mixed. Add m n m's and stir. On a ungreased baking sheet, drop 1 inch rounds of dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Heart Sugar Cutout Cookies:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1 t milk
1 t vanilla
2 cups flour
icing (I used confectionary sugar with water)
sprinkles
heart cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt and beat until mixed. Add egg, milk and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough until 1/4 inch thick. Using heart cookie cutter cut dough and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Frost with your favorite icing and add sprinkles.

Zachary adding the chocolate hearts

Heart Sugar Cutout Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

M n M Cookies

Heart Cutout Cookies

Zachary's cookie creation

They don't call em' Sloppy Joes for nothing!

Sloppy Joes Manwich Style

It was a Manwich kinda meal today at the ski lodge! The boys, Dave and I devoured two sandwiches each and probably could've had three. There is something so addicting to a Sloppy Joe sandwich. Maybe it's the thick chunks of ground beef, maybe it's the zesty tangy sauce, maybe it's hint of onions and peppers or maybe its the second you take a bite it drips down your fingers and then on to your plate. Just writing this makes me crave another sloppy joe! The moment the boys knew I was making sloppy joes they couldn't wait to eat them. Typically when we are skiing and it's time for lunch we hear "one more run." Well not today, the boys raced down the last run so fast just to be the first one to be served their sandwich. So I didn't begin this post with "It's Manwich kinda meal" for nothing. I wish I could say I concocted my own original recipe for sloppy joes but I didn't. Shamefully, I cheated and used...I don't even want to say it...please don't cringe....ok here it goes...I used Hunts Thick and Chunky Manwich Sauce!!!! I know sinful, but Hunts is just sooo good! I know not the healthiest, not like homemade but when I think of sloppy joes I think Manwich sauce from a can. Maybe it's a food impression that stems from when my mom made it or when they served it in lunch at school...where ever my sloppy joe food impression came from it's ok because it's a great one. While we were eating lunch, a volunteer from Holiday Valley Resort services approached our table and saw we were having sloppy joes, she said "Wow that looks and smells so good. I haven't made those in so long. You've confirmed what I'm making my family for dinner tonight!" I responded by saying "Yes you should make it for your family and it's sooo easy to make!" I didn't dare tell her my sauce came from a can! Maybe one day I will make my own sauce but for now I'm stick'n with the canned stuff! When my boys were done eating their sloppy joes, I looked at the mess and said "they don't call em' sloppy joes for nothing!" Salute to sloppy joes and having no shame saying the sauce came from a can!

Sloppy Joes Manwich Style

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

freshly ground pepper

3 cans 15.5 oz Hunts Thick and Chunky Manwich sauce

hamburger buns

Ground beef in a saute pan over medium heat until browned. Strain beef from juices and fat and add to a crockpot. Generously pepper beef and stir. Add three cans of manwich sauce and stir. Cook on low heat for 2 hours. Serve on hamburger buns.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "Super saucy and super yummy." (He was dipping our pretzels and potato chips in the crockpot and scooping the sloppy joe mix them with them!)

Tyler: "I just love your sloppy joes mom. You should make these more often." (He used his potato chips to scoop the beef that fell on his plate.) 

Zachary: He was the most excited to eat his sloppy joes and wasn't to thrilled that I used his sandwich in my photos! 

Dave: He put the potato chips in his sloppy joe sandwich for extra crunch.

Andrea (me): They were great and not only kid sealed, kid approved but also adult sealed and adult approved!

Goes great with a beer

They call em' sloppy joes for a reason...they're sloppy!

In Honor of the 2014 Winter Olympics

Classic Beef Stroganoff

Today is the opening ceremony for the XXII Olympic Winter games which is being held in Sochi, Russia. My family is very excited about the Olympics this year. I think they are so excited because they are such avid skiers now, plus when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up they say a professional skier in the Olympics. They've gotten to be such good skiers it wouldn't surprise me if they did make it to the Olympics. It also helps that the resort they ski and train at, Holiday Valley, is where Olympian Travis Mayer grew up skiing. Travis proudly took the Silver for Freestyle Skiing in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and he also participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. So tonight, in honor of the 2014 Winter Olympics, I am making Russian cuisine. I wasn't sure what to expect when I looked up russian recipes but surprisingly Beef Stroganoff is a dish from that region. Maybe that was a well known fact to most but I honestly had no idea it was russian.  I also found out that Borscht Soup is part of the russian cuisine!!! Which don't forget I made borscht soup last week for our Polish themed Gourmet Club! When I looked on a map I see that Poland and Russia practically border each other....yep, you guessed it, I wasn't scoring any A's in high school geography class. I guess it also makes sense now that Dave said he was 99.9% Polish and .1% Russian!

For our Olympic themed dinner, I decided to make Beef Stroganoff. I love this dish because it's so simple but so rich in flavor. I served it over buttery egg noodles. What a classic combination. And to top it off, I made a Black Russian Cocktail over Ice Cream for dessert!  Oh my gosh this dessert cocktail was absolutely amazing! (I used my Aunt Sandy's homemade kahlua and it's the best! She makes kahlua and baileys for us every Christmas. It's such a treat!) The boys equally enjoyed their kid friendly version. Salute to the 2014 Winter Olympics!

Black Russian Cocktail over Ice Cream

Classic Beef Stroganoff (Click for printable recipe)

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. strip steack, sliced 1/2 inch pieces
4 tb butter
2 tb olive oil
salt n pepper
8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1 cup of finely chopped onion
1 tb flour
2 cups beef stock
1 cup sour cream
1 16 oz. package of egg noodles
1 tb thinly sliced chives

Boil egg noodles.  Meanwhile season the beef with salt n pepper and heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown beef in oil about 1 minutes per side...do not overcook. remove beef from skillet and add butter to skillet until melted. Add onion and mushrooms and cook until tender and until moisture is evaporated. Add flour to the mushroom mixture and stir until coated. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer and stir. Add the sour cream and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the beef and their juices to mushroom mixture and stir. Cook until the sauce is simmering, a few minutes. Season with salt n pepper. When egg noodles are cooked, then strained add 2 tb of butter and stir until coated. Also add salt n pepper to taste. Ladle Mushroom mixture over egg noodles and sprinkle with chives.


Black Russian Cocktail over Ice Cream

Serves 2:

2 oz vodka
2 oz kahlua (I used my Aunt Sandy's homemade)
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream

In a shaker with ice, mix vodka and kahlua. Place one scoop of ice cream in martini glass and pour mixed vodka and kahlua over top. Enjoy!

Food Impressions:

Nate: "I want more, and lots lots lots more."

Tyler: "Great dish to celebrate the Olympics. Good idea mom."

Zachary: "I love the steak sauce over the noodles."

Dave: "Beef Stroganoff is typically too creamy and lacks rich flavor but your recipe really has distinct peppy flavors and the scallions add a nice touch."

Andrea (me): Very easy dish to make, it really took no time at all. The flavors of the sauce were delicious and the steak was tender.

Tyler and Zachary made the Ellicottville 
local newspaper, The Villager, today!
Always exciting when they make it in the paper! Tyler is on left and Zachary is the third from the left! 

It's a Doorknock Dinner tonight!

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Sausage

Today was one of those days I just didn't feel like going to the grocery store. Maybe it's because of the snowy weather or maybe it's because I was just feeling plain old lazy! When I have days like this I make it a "Doorknock Dinner." What is a Doorknock Dinner you ask? Good question and when I tell you, I will be showing my age! Doorknock Dinner was a show that aired on the FoodNetwork in the late 90's. The host of the program was Gordon Elliot. He would knock on stranger's doors, sometimes even with a celebrity chef like Bobby Flay or Paula Deen and they would make a dinner based on what they had in their refrigerators or cupboards. It was such a goofy show but I loved it. I have been watching the FoodNetwork since it's inception and boy has it changed over the years. I got a kick out of watching Doorknock Dinners, but also remember and loved watching Sara Moulton's Weeknight Meals, Malto Mario and Emeril Live. Oldies but goodies! So back to the weather being bad me being lazy and not wanting to go to the grocery store. In our house having a doorknock dinner means cooking with whatever we have in the refrigerator. I pretend it's like a game or a challenge for myself to make a creative delicious meal out of what's left. So I have italian sausage, peppers, onions and bacon that I'd like to use. My first thought was to make italian sausage on rolls, then I thought sausage with pasta but none of those appealed to me. I have lots of potatoes so I thought how about sausage and potatoes. Now THAT sounds good! So tonight I made Oven Roasted Potatoes and Sausage. Gordon Elliot would have been proud of my culinary creativity! The night ended with a magic show by Nate and a dessert called "Sponge Cookie Whip" prepared by Zachary. Salute to doorknock dinners!

One Pot Deliciousness!

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Sausage: (Click to print recipe)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

10 mild or hot italian sausage links, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 lbs. of potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks (I used baby red)
1 green pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cooked slices of bacon, chopped
2 tb. garlic
1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock
salt n pepper
1 t. oregano
1 t. thyme
1/8 cup of sliced scallions
Sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a roasting pan add 2 tb olive oil, potatoes, sausage and add salt n pepper. Cover with lid or foil and cook for 30 minutes. Take potatoes and sausage out of oven and add tomatoes, garlic, thyme and oregano and stock, and stir. Put cover back on and cook in oven for another 30 minutes until tender. Take off lid, add cooked bacon and scallions, stir and cook for another 10 minutes until potatoes are brown and crisp. Add a dollop of sour cream, and serve.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "I like how you used scraps to make such an awesome dinner." (Thanks Nate, I guess I'll take that as a compliment.)

Tyler: "All of the foods are so good. Is this Dom's bacon in here?"

Zachary: "Tastes Italian."

Dave: "I like how the sausage and bacon infused in the potatoes. Very flavorful."

Andrea (me): I'm pretty impressed with this this meal. The bacon added a nice flavor in the dish and really stood out. The sour cream was a nice way to put a cool edge to this dish. I love Doorknock Dinners!

Nate the Magician!

Zachary's Doorknock Dessert!

Saving my precious basil from a slow death

Chopped basil in olive oil before freezing

I love fresh herbs! I love the way they look, I love the way the smell, I love the way they taste and I love cooking with them. During the summer months I always plant herbs in large decorative containers in my backyard. My staples are basil, oregano, parsley, dill, cilantro and chives. Chives are great because they are perennials and they just keep sprouting up year after year without having to do anything to them. My favorite herb by far has to be basil and that's Dave's favorite too. When I chop fresh basil the aromas just fill up the room. Many times I don't even use a knife, I just tear it up with my fingers so I have the scent on my fingers for hours. If you walk into my kitchen you will almost always find a basil plant by the sink window, even in the dead of winter. I cook with basil all the time so maintaining my basil plant is a high priority. I have to water it daily and snip the leaves regularly for healthy re-grow. Every once in a while my basil plant dies because I forget to water it, like I did last week, arg! None of the plants at Wegmans looked good so I had to buy the expensive package of herbs that go to waste in a few days if they aren't used. I had my heart set on making Caprese Salad over the weekend so I had no choice but to buy the package. So today I'm sadly looking at the bunch of basil knowing it will have a slow death if I don't use it. Then an idea popped in my head, why not freeze my basil? Then I can easily use it when I'm making tomato sauce or any other italian recipe. I know on Pinterest there are like a gazillion tips, tricks, and ways to effectively and creatively freeze your herbs but honestly I don't really care to get that fancy with my herb freez'n. I just want to save my precious sweet basil from dying. So I chopped all of the basil I had left over, placed 1/4 cup in individual baggies and added 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I sealed the baggies and made sure there was no air and placed them in my freezer. Wa-la! Done! It may sound silly but I'm pretty psyched now that I saved my basil, and it was so easy! The hardest part for me will be remembering that I have basil in my freezer! Salute to saving my basil!

Chopped basil in oil frozen

Superbowl XLVIII Game Day Food

Turkey Chili

Today is the NFL Superbowl XLVIII (I had to look that one up on-line: it's #48) and up until this weekend I seriously didn't even know which teams were playing! What can I say I'm not the best football fan. When I started dating Dave I actually used to pretend I was a huge football fan. Dave is really into football and had Buffalo Bills season tickets with his dad for over 20 years. I remember acting all interested in football just to impress him. I had no clue what was going on in the game, nor did I care. The only thing I cared about was winning Dave over with my so-called football spirit. I would dress in Bills colors, I know cheesy, I would join fantasy football leagues at work, and I even learned about some of the players. By far the best thing I did to show my football spirit was make killer game day appetizers and food! Looking back, I think Dave knew right away that I wasn't the football fan I claimed to be. I don't think he said anything because he didn't want the scrumptious food to stop on game days! Luckily my facade of love'n football only lasted the first fall we dated...I figured after dating 6 months I was safe to come clean. After that, every Sunday I would go to the mall while he either went to the game or watched it at home. While I may not go to the mall every Sunday anymore, I still make killer appetizers and meals on game day. Dave and the boys have grown accustomed to it. So for the Superbowl today I made two recipes on my top 10 go-to appetizers list: "Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip" and "Homemade Potato Chips with Blue Cheese and Scallions." I also made "Turkey Chili." You probably won't see my chicken wing dip or homemade potato chips recipe in Eating Well magazine so at least the Chili is healthy! Salud to making killer food on game day and not having to pretend to like football anymore! And salute to Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers...I just burned off my chicken wing dip calories by dancing to the half time show!

Homemade Potato Chips with Blue Cheese and Scallions,
this was inspired by Jo Jo Wine Bistro's recipe. Had it there once and have made it several times since.   

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

Turkey Chili Recipe: (Click to print recipe)

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground turkey
1 yellow onion diced
2 green peppers diced
2 32 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans of red kidney beans
1/4 chili powder
2 tb. cumin
2 tb garlic

Optional garnish:
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, scallions, avocado, chopped cilantro, nachos.

Brown ground turkey and garlic in a large pan over medium heat. With a slotted spoon, scoop ground turkey into crockpot. Add onion, green pepper.  Add drained kidney beans, diced tomatoes with juice and stir.  Add tomato sauce cumin and chili powder.  Mix well. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Place in bowls and add garnish.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip: (Click to print recipe)

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 cup Frank's Redhot Sauce
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
1/4 cup crumbly blue cheese
1 large can of chunk chicken in water.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl mix all of the ingredients. Place mixture in an oven proof dish and bake for 20-30 minutes or until it's bubbling. Serve with nachos, baguette bread, corn chips, or celery.

Homemade Potato Chips: (Click to print recipe)

Ingredients:

3 large russet potatoes
peanut oil - amount depends on pan you use
sea salt
3 tb. sliced scallions
3 tb. crumbly blue cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Depending on the size of pan pour peanut oil until it's about 1/2 inch in pan. Heat until it reaches about 375 degrees. Using a mandolin slicer (be careful, I sliced a finger before) cut potatoes 1/8 inch thick. Not overcrowding pan place potato slices in oil until lightly browned. Using a large slotted spoon pick up potato chips and place on a baking sheet with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Continue to do this until all of the potatoes are deep fried. Place potato chips on another baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt and blue cheese over chips and bake for 10 minutes. Place on a platter and sprinkle scallions. Eat while they are warm.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "I don't like the blue cheese on the chips and or the blue cheese in the chicken wing dip." (He had a bag of popcorn instead of the apps I made. We all said "more for us!") He loved the turkey chili and had two bowls.

Tyler: "The chicken wing dip tastes just like Duff's spicy wings and blue cheese."

Zachary: "These potato chips are way better than eating them out of the bag. The cheese is so good on the chips. This is the best chicken wing dip I've ever had...and I made it." (He didn't eat any chili because he was too full from eating the apps!)

Dave: "Perfect food for game day."

Andrea (me): The chips were good but I thought I browned them too much. Blue cheese was good but sour cream would also be a nice touch.  The chicken wing dip was killer...I ate way too many but couldn't help myself because they were so addicting. I, like Zachary was too full to eat any chili. Glad it makes good leftovers and freezes well.

Chips deep frying

Zachary made this recipe all himself,
that's how easy it is to make!

My boys eating killer apps while watching the Superbowl!

Waking Up to a Spectacular Day!

This is what we woke up to this morning! It looked like a winter wonderland outside our window. What a splendid day here in Ellicottville.  As soon as I walked downstairs I smelled the coffee brewing and the bacon sizzling. Dave was in the kitchen whipping up his amazing farmhouse breakfast. Our good friends Christa, Tom and their children Stella and Yale spent the weekend with us skiing so they were able to enjoy the incredible amount of snow that had fallen. I would classify this a quintessential winter day....farmhouse breakfast, sledding, building igloos, roasting marshmallows and hotdogs, bonfires, snowball fights and even a little irish whiskey! Salute to waking up to a spectacular day!