January - buh bye

Here it is, the last day of January. That can only mean that it is that much closer to Spring!
Hooray :-)
Today I woke up with a ginormous headache, ouch. I haven't had one this big for a long long time. I actually stayed in bed until after 10:30. I was up an down getting sinus medicine, water, crackers because I felt nauseous, telephone, etc.... but by noon I was starting to perk up. I am just so stinkin' tired and I have a cough that sounds like I smoke two packs a day. So many kids have been sick at school - a lot of strep throat and upper respiratory junk. As much as I tell them to cough in their sleeve, you can't imagine how many germs I get blown right in my face. Oh the joys of teaching.
Despite my demise, I managed to get a surge of energy around 5 ish that was quite fruitful. I made two little diddies that I'll share with you. I did wash thoroughly, used utensils not fingers, and tried to stay as sterile as possible - not breathing on any food. I wish I were more excited about the Super bowl tomorrow, don't really care about either team. It would be a great excuse to have a wonderful soiree, oh well. If your team is playing, by all means enjoy!

Asparagus Spears
(use as a salad - served cold)

1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed
1/4 cup rice wine or cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp chopped nuts toasted - pecans suggested

In a large skillet bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and boil for 3 min. Drain and immediately place in ice water. Drain and pat dry.
In a large plastic zippy bag combine vinegar, soy, sugar & Oil. Add the asparagus, seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate up to 3 hrs. Drain and discard marinade, sprinkle with pecans.

and now #2

Super Bowl Sweet Popcorn

1 package of vanilla almond bark
10 cups popcorn or 1-6 oz package of popcorn puffs (no hulls!)
3 cups pretzels
1 cup peanuts
1 cup M&M's
(I didn't have peanuts, so I used peanut M&M's instead)

Melt almond bark in microwave according to package directions and stir in remaining ingredients. Pour out onto a couple of long strips of wax paper to cool. Break into smaller pieces and store in an airtight container.

You have spinach in your teeth

Sunday was the chili cook off at our church, Nancy and I were the defending champs (I may have mentioned this already). We walked in with our tiara's proudly perched on our heads and an abundance of table bling to make us look great. The competition was talking smack from the getgo. Good grief, didn't I say this was a CHURCH cook off??? Our big challenger was Dave & Co. We knew that it was going to be tough, and we were right. The score bounced back and forth for two hours with one of us ahead by a point or two...then came the final count. The Two Hot Tamales were dethroned by ONE POINT!! I will tell you that those boys looked really cute in our tiara's!

To make myself feel less of a loser (just kidding), I made a new spinach dip last night, I think it was one of the best I've tried. It's one of those recipes that you can substitute other ingredients for and it still works.

Sunday Night Spinach Dip
1-14 oz can or artichoke hearts - drain
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/3 C Romano cheese (didn't have any so I put in 2 oz cream cheese)
2 cloves garlic - chopped
1-10oz frozen spinach - thaw and squeeze to drain well
1/3 C cream
1/2 C sour cream
1 C mozzarella (only had 1/4 C so I added cheddar/Monterrey jack)

In a food processor chop artichoke hearts with cream so it's nice and smooth. Then stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into a baking dish about the size of a pie plate and bake it at 350* until golden - about 20-25 min. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Like I said, I substituted a couple of things in this recipe and it was still great. Have fun with your cooking, try new things because you might just make it better!

HOT IS COOL

Sad to say, but it appears to be chili soup weather again. I made this soup as a possible entry for a chili cook off that my friend Nancy and I are in on Sunday. I thought it was good, but maybe a bit spicy for those who don't love hot wings. Because I was stretching it for a crowd I added some chicken broth and beans. You can certainly leave those ingredients out and see how you like it as written. I used just one pound of meat with the bean,s you would probably need 2 pounds of meat if you don't add the beans. Ground chicken was hard to find in my supermarkets, so I settled for turkey.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

FOUR TO SIX SERVINGS

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing 1 to 2 pounds ground chicken or turkey 2 garlic cloves, chopped 2 celery ribs, finely chopped 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 6 ounces beer (your favorite brew) 1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce (I like Franks) one 15 oz can tomato sauce

Heat a medium Dutch oven or large skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil,
and the butter and melt together. Add the chicken and cook, breaking up
the meat, for 6 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, onion, carrot and jalapeño.
Season with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the beer and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Concentrate the flavor of the beer by reducing the mixture over medium
heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the hot sauce and the tomato sauce. Reduce
the heat to low and simmer the chili for 15 minutes.

I added 1 can of chicken broth and 1 can of white kidney beans drained and rinsed.

Did I mention that Nancy and I are the defending champs from last year's chili cookoff? We will be making the same recipe called Chili Ole'. We'll see if it's still a winner! Stay warm people.

Lambie Doll Baby from Heaven

This is the name that my friend Shannon had called her unborn child, it kind of stuck with all of us. Today Lambiedollbabyfromheaven was baptized, today she became a child of God. We celebrated with her and cried a couple of tears because the joy was just to much to keep inside. She is a beautiful child and her real name is Hallie Ilene (sounds like Hallie Berry) some people want to call her Hailey, or Holly, silly people. LDBFH will be hard to shake, it kind of rolls off your tongue! This picture was taken when she was only 2 days old, look how alert she is!








I have been having fun reconnecting with old classmates on Facebook. People that I haven't thought about for years are popping up left and right. It's interesting to see where they are, what they are doing and how their lives have turned out - some better than others.

Today I made homemade Runza sandwiches after I got home from church. It sure made a large batch, about 8 of them are living in the freezer until another meal. I don't know if I've been very creative as of late as far as food goes, just repeating favorites. Friday night we did appetizers, yum! My favorite kind of meal. Bacon wrapped smokies, shrimp & cocktail sauce, blue cheese and pecan spread, I also wanted buffalo chicken but I thought 3 meats was pushing it for just the two of us. That will be another night I guess.

This recipe is from a friend names Traci. She brought it to school for the staff just before Christmas and we loved it, maybe you will as well.

Dried Beef Cheese Ball

1 8oz package cream cheese - softened
1/2 package of dried beef - chopped
3 or 4 green onions
1 T salad dressing
1 T milk
dash garlic salt
dash worcestershire sauce
Mix all together and form in a ball. Refrigerate.

E-V-O-O

I have become such a fan of olive oil, and am saddened by how expensive it is! I guess I should buy the larger sizes, but I just don't know how long it keeps without getting a funny flavor. I almost always saute with it by combining it with equal amounts of butter. It keeps the butter from burning and together...what great flavor! Tonight I tried those pizza crusts you can buy at the grocery store and top with whatever. Heather tried them and said they were good, she was right. We used Canadian bacon, onion, red pepper, mushrooms and sliced provolone cheese, yum. I also put together a cheese appetizer that I have eyed in the store that I thought was too expensive. It's cheese in olive oil with seasonings. I sampled this tonight but I know it will be better tomorrow after the spices have had time to marry with the olive oil. It's very pretty and would pair well with a glass of wine.

MARINATED CHEESE & OLIVES

8 oz mozzarella, cut into cubes
Olive oil - about 1/4 cup
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
Red pepper flakes to taste
Dash paprika (opt)
Mixed olives, to taste (remove pits if necessary or let guests know they contain pits)

Combine everything together. Marinade for about 6 hrs before serving. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.

I'll give you an update after I've tried it again tomorrow, but I'm telling you it's beautiful and tastes pretty good already.

By the way, have you seen my family Christmas photo? Check it out!!!!!

Are we a handsome bunch?

2009

I have truly been in "vacation" mode the last few days. With no company here and leftovers to live on I've gotten a little lazy. I've been sleeping in until 8:00 every morning, lingering over that first cup of coffee while watching TV, visiting the stores for the big 75% off sales, playing with friends, going to basketball games, etc...

I did manage to go to my classroom for a couple of hours yesterday. I took down my tree, and multiple decorations. Wrote my newsletters, changed my calendar, and got a running start for Monday. I still have some thank you's to write and need to get my assessments lined up for itty bitty report cards.

I have been waiting for an important phone call. My friend Shannon is having a baby, her due date was Dec. 26th. If she doesn't have the baby by Tuesday, they will induce labor. We saw them last night and she said she was feeling "funny" - but that was over 12 hours ago, and no word. Quite a few mutual friends have been calling me to find out what's happening so they don't bother Shannon and Miles. I think it's a girl, we'll see!

I found an artichoke dip that had a nutty twist. It is rich, and will feed a lot of people. I used crackers but tortilla chips would be great as well. I made it Christmas Eve along with all of the other yummies.

PECAN-CRUSTED ARTICHOKE DIP
1 T butter
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 - 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup mayo
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 dashes Tabasco
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans - save for later
Melt butter in saucepan over med heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 3 min. Add spinach, cook 3-5 min stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Transfer to un-greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Bake at 350* for 30 min. Top with pecans and bake 10 more minutes, serve with crackers.

Have a great weekend!