Christmas Sangria

Isn't it beautiful?? Sorry I didn't get a better picture. If you are looking for the simplest and most delicious tasting sangria, this is it! I've served this for a brunch and a cookie swap and gotten rave reviews. It's so simple and so delicious! Once you make this, it will be your go to drink. And it's so cute served in my mason jars with an added ribbon and sprig of evergreen.  The adorable straws came from Target! Here's the super simple recipe:

1 bottle pinot grigio (or other white wine, not too dry)
1 bottle sparkling cranberry juice (25 oz)
apples ( I mixed red and green to be festive) - diced
cranberries - frozen

I cut up my red and green apples early in the day and poured one bottle of white wine over them to keep them from turning brown. When it was party time, I poured one bottle of sparking cranberry in with the wine, gave it a stir and it was ready to go. The container I used held 2 bottles of each, which I recommend starting with because it goes fast!  I used frozen cranberries in each glass to keep the drink cold.

As an added touch, I froze some regular (non bubbly) cranberry juice with cranberries in the trays to keep the pitcher cold. It looked cute floating in there.

Viola! Simple and delicious. Now you can mark one thing off your list!

Pumpkin Crisp

Remember last year when my awesome bat cookies didn’t win the Halloween dessert contest at work? Well, you may not but I do! They were awesome and I was very hurt.  I mean, it was a lot of work putting those tiny bat ears on those Nutter Butters. Whatever. Well THIS is the dessert that beat me. I will accept that defeat since this is one of the best desserts you’ll put in your mouth. I couldn’t share it last year because the wounds were too fresh but I’m ready to tell you about it this year. I’ve made this dessert about 4 times now and it just gets better every time. This will be perfect for your thanksgiving table, trust me! Now if you aren’t a pumpkin person, don’t discard this. I don’t like pumpkin pie, but I love this dessert. The cake mix and pecans on top make such a decadent crust that you’ll add this to your favorite recipes, hands down. Make it at least once so you can see what all the hype is! I believe this originally came from Southern Living, but today Dawn's Blogalicious has it for you! Start planning your Thanksgiving menu around this now!

 

Ingredients:

 

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 package (18.25 oz) butter flavored yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup melted butter

whipped cream (optional)

nutmeg (optional)

 

Directions:

 

Mix together first five ingredients

 

Pour into lightly greased 13x9 baking dish.

Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture, sprinkle evenly with pecans and drizzle butter over coating evenly (again). Yes, I used evenly quite a lot in that sentence but it seems to work.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or room temperature. Add a dollop of whipped cream if desired and sprinkle with nutmeg. Now just try to eat one serving....I dare you! Enjoy!

 

Mini Crescent Dogs

Okay, Okay, I can admit it…..I’m a terrible blogger! I'm sorry! My goal is to post at least once a month to keep you interested, but I’d like to post more often than that. As you can  see from my last post (in July!) that I’m not doing a very good job at keeping anyone interested! I won’t make anymore empty promises, I’ll just say that I’ll strive to get better. How’s that? I want to blog more, it’s just finding the time. Why can’t I just be a fulltime food blogger?? Now that’s a job I could really get my head (and stomach) around! Well since that isn’t happening anytime soon I’ll just continue with my blog and hope to keep you all interested and coming back for more!

Since we are approaching the holiday season, which I can’t even believe, we are all going to be invited to or having our own parties, I thought I’d try to post some fun and easy appetizers. Now I’m starting off with a very simple yet important appetizer. My husband would be happy if I made these every weekend for him to snack on. I mean who doesn’t love little smokies wrapped in a crescent roll?? You can use biscuit dough as well but I love the flakiness of the crescent roll. Here’s what you need to make these delectable little treats, you can’t get better than two ingredients:

2 cans crescent rolls

1 package little smoked sausages (you know the package where they are all crammed together? Yep, that’s it)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out crescent rolls and separate each triangle. Cut each triangle into thirds, lengthwise.

 

Roll up one sausage in each triangle third and place on ungreased cookie sheet. 

 

Everyone says to start rolling at the larger end but I prefer to roll this way.

 

Don't they just look yummy even before they go in??

Bake 12-15 minutes, rotating tray half way through baking. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

You could serve with a spicy mustard or BBQ sauce as well, but I like mine as they come!

 Not only a great holiday party treat, but keep this in mind for Superbowl Sunday!  Enjoy!

Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

One thing I love is a chocolate chip cookie warm out of the oven. I mean who doesn’t really? I also love an Oatmeal Raisin cookie. Who knew I could combine the two and have the best cookie ever made?? Well, thank goodness I listen to my friend Ina all the time. If you’re unsure who that is, I mean Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa….duh, right? She and I are close (in my head). I decided to browse through her new cook book that Eli and Henry gave me for Mother’s day and came across this delicious concoction. When I tell you these are the best chocolate chip cookies on earth, believe me! You should stop what you are doing and make these right now! Let me show you how….

Ingredients:

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1¼ cups old-fashioned oats (I used Quaker)
¾ pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped in chunks
¾ cup dried cranberries (optional and I chose to omit)
Fleur de sel (Ina says to use this, I didn’t have any so I used kosher salt and they were perfect)

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper. I use parchment paper when Ina tells me too, but I’m sure you’ll be fine spraying a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

 

Take your chocolate bar and just chop into chunks. This part was fun!

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, add the vanilla then the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl again. You want to be sure to keep all the goodness mixed well in the bowl.

Just try and stop me from sticking my finger in there!

Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Mix in the oats. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. If you're like me, stand back so the powder doesn't hit you in the face. Ina always says “don’t overbeat it”! With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate (and cranberries if you so choose) until the dough is well mixed. With a 1¾-inch ice cream scoop (or two spoons), scoop round balls of dough onto the sheet pans. Like so....

 

 

Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt or fleur de sel if you are fancy. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until nicely browned. Serve warm out of the oven for maximum pleasure!

Tip from Ina……If you prefer cookies thin and crisp, bake them straight from the mixing bowl. If you prefer them chewy in the middle and crisp outside, chill the balls of dough. She has great tips so I have to include them.  Let me know how you like these!  Makes about 2 dozen cookies sent from heaven.

Blackberry Cobbler

Let’s don’t even get into the fact that I’m a crappy blogger. Let’s focus on Blackberry cobbler! My husband went to Sprouts (a Farmer’s Market type chain) and bought the best fresh fruit today. That sounds like a great idea, but my husband’s motto is “more is better” (thanks to Bill Stewart) so we are overflowing with fruit that I’m afraid we can’t eat before it goes bad! So when you are faced with that situation.....make a cobbler! Sounds like a great solution to me. I love eating and making cobbler. Not only is it delicious, it’s so simple to make. Who doesn’t love a delicious, quick dessert? Most of my cobblers are made with frozen fruit but tonight I used fresh berries and this is the best cobbler I’ve ever eaten! I’m not even exaggerating. This is for realz! I had to beg my husband not to go back for THIRDS so we’d have some for tomorrow night! I can’t keep it from you any longer. Here’s the recipe my friend, The Pioneer Woman, shared with me....

Okay, this isn't a cobbler, but doesn't it look delicious?? Just a sample of our haul from Sprouts!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick Butter, melted
• 1-1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 heaping cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Instructions:

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. 

Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly.

Corn Bread

You might be thinking, why is she posting a recipe for cornbread. I can just pop open a box of Jiffy and have the best cornbread ever. Well, I was on the same page with you until I tasted THIS cornbread! This melts in your mouth like butter. It is seriously the best tasting cornbread you’ll ever put in your mouth. It probably helps that it all starts with a box of Jiffy and you enhance the Jiffy deliciousness. To quote a friend of mine, “this is crack cornbread!” Thanks Brian Beam! It really is so moist, it’s almost like a corn pudding. Just trust me, it is so delicious. Promise me you’ll make it at least once to find out what is so great about it. And I’ll promise you, that it won’t be the last time you make this cornbread!

 

I can't take credit for creating this gold mine, I got this recipe from my Hampton Park Women’s Club cookbook. Our old neighborhood in Virginia women’s club collected recipes from neighbors and we made a cookbook. I have found some great recipes in that cookbook. I miss those neighbors too. You know what helps me forget though?? Cornbread! ;-) Let’s get to it.

 

Ingredients:

3 eggs

½ cup corn oil (I've even used vegetable oil and it turned out fine)

1 can creamed corn

8 ounces sour cream

¼ teaspoon salt

2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

 

Directions:

It couldn’t get easier than this….Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 9x9 inch greased pan.

 

 

 

Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees and wait for it to turn into a golden delicious pan of heaven....isn't that beautiful? If you knew how yummy it was, you'd be running to the store now to stock up on the ingredients!



See, don't you want to just take a bite out of it right now? I needed to sample it before I took it to a party. I must say, I was quite pleased with how it turned out. You really need to try this recipe! Super easy, super moist, and soooooo delicious!


 

Note: These pictures are of the recipe doubled, which is why I used a bigger pan.

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love chicken enchiladas and I love soup! This recipe is the best of both worlds. A friend of mine recently sent me this recipe and I’ve been dying to try it. BTW, it’s a Paleo recipe if you are interested. I was mainly interested because it sounded delicious! I love nothing more than cooking in the crockpot. It’s the best feeling (and smell) to come home from work and finding your dinner already cooked and ready to eat. Crockpots make me happy. I’m easy to please. Cupcakes and Crockpots make me happy.  If they don’t already make you happy, cooking this soup in your crockpot will make you happy. My husband absolutely loved this soup. He went back for a hearty second bowl. It makes me happy when he loves a recipe that much. This is a keeper. I’ll be making this again very soon. Here’s how to bring a smile to your family’s face too:

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotelle tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (garnish)

Directions:

Add the chicken to the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic on top of the chicken. Pour the diced tomatoes and chicken stock over the top. Sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.

 

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Use a fork to shred the chicken before serving. 

Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. I added a little bit more of each. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

 

Look how hearty this soup is! It looks more like a stew than soup. That is a lot of chicken in one bowl. I didn’t have fresh cilantro on hand so I garnished with dried. I’ll have fresh next time I make it though.

Pan Fried Pork Chops

 

Who doesn’t love a fried pork chop?? Well, I guess those that don’t eat pork, but everyone else, are you with me?? I love, love pan fried pork chops but don’t really make them often. I’m not sure why, it just doesn’t happen. After making these tonight and remembering how delicious they are, I think things will change around here.  Maybe we will turn into weekly pork chop people. Of course we had to have mashed potatoes to go along with them. Don’t worry, I had a green vegetable to balance my plate like my high school Home Ec teacher taught me. Thanks Mrs. Maxwell. Unfortunately we didn’t have pork chops and applesauce. Hopefully there are some readers out there that got my Brady Bunch reference. Okay, I’ll stop with my 1980s references and get down to pan frying some pork chops!

 

Ingredients:

4 bone in pork chops, not too thick

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup canola or vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients in a pan large enough to dredge your pork chops.

 

Salt and pepper both sides of your pork chops. Sorry I didn't put them on a fanc plate for you. I just kept them on the plastic wrap they came out of the freezer in. One might call it lazy blogging, but I call it efficient!

 

Heat oil over medium heat, then add butter. Butter helps the chops to brown (my friend, Ree Drummond taught me that trick)

 

Dredge each pork chop through the flour mixture to ensure each side is evenly coated.

 

When oil is hot, place 2-3 pork chops in at a time and start the browning process. If your chops are the thickness of mine, you’ll need about 4-5 minutes per side. Just make sure no pink juices are oozing from the chop. Once the first batch is done, remove to a plate with paper towel and finish up the batch.

 

How beautiful do these pork chops look? I think they look delicious and am ready to dig in! The hubby was quite pleased with dinner tonight!

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Not the best picture. I'll try it on a different plate next time.

How could you resist this recipe by the name alone?? What’s better than something named Ooey Gooey?? Okay, maybe something chocolate, but this is a mighty fine cake in its own right. I have heard about Paula Deen’s Gooey Butter Cake and always made a mental note to try this one day. Well, lucky for all of us, this day finally arrived. See, I was watching her sons’ cooking show, Not My Mama’s Meals, and Paula was actually on it. They were each making a version of this cake, Bobby’s a lighter version. Hands down, Paula’s had to win that contest. I’m sure his cake was fine, but it couldn’t have even been close to this version. Sure there are two sticks of butter in it, but why is that a bad thing? Everything in moderation people. I will give you a recommendation now…..don’t eat the cake all at once. Cut a slice and enjoy one at a time….over a few days. See, now you’ve been warned so don’t judge me for the amount of butter and sugar in this cake. But do trust me on this, it is delicious! Make this for your family, make this for a party, or like I did, just make it for two. J I think you’ve learned by now that we are gluttons and love to eat. Let’s just all accept that and move on. Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty and make this Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Yes, I added an Ooey in there so now this makes my cake original!

 

Here’s what you’ll need to make this little gift from heaven:

·         1(18 1/4 oz) package yellow cake mix

·         1 egg

·         16 tablespoons butter, melted, divided (use separate bowls so you don’t melt together like I did….big mistake!)

·         1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

·         2 eggs

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

·         1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

 

Combine the cake mix, egg and 8 tablespoons butter and mix well with an electric mixer.

 

Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Excuse my finger indentions all of the crust.

 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and 8 tablespoons butter and beat together.

 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. 

Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey. I would actually check after 35 minutes, if the top has browned, take it out of the oven. I think I cooked mine about 5 minutes too  long. Next time I’ll make it a little gooeyer (yes, it’s a new word).

 


It might not look fancy, but that is heaven in a pan waiting for me to take a bite!

Now cut a piece and enjoy this ooey gooey goodness! Also, feel free to sprinkle on a little sifted powdered sugar before serving. That just makes it so purdy.