Recipes

I’m in New Jersey this week again for work, so when you add that to my Wonder Weekend of Windows (thanks for all your happy ladder wishes!), not much sewing or crafting has been going on in my neck of the woods.

So, what to post?  The other day I was looking on my recipe page, and I noticed an appalling lack of appetizers in my collection.  In fact, there are no appetizers in my collection.   The shame!  So, I decided to tell you about my boys’ favorite appetizer.  It’s a Tex Mex Dip that they ask for every time we have a family get-together.  Many of you probably already have this recipe — when I made the cookbook for our family a few years ago, one of my cousins submitted this recipe too — neither one of us knew that the other one had the recipe.  TheFirstChild loves this recipe so much he can eat it all himself — oink, oink.   When we had his high school graduation party, I made 10 of these dips and all those kids practically licked all the dip out of those pans!

Tex Mex Dip

3 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 package taco seasoning mix
2 cans (10 oz.) bean dip
1 bunch green onions and part of tops, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mash avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Or, if you’re lazy like me, just buy the pre-made avocado dip LOL!)
In separate bowl, mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning.

Layer in a 13 x 9 dish: 1) bean dip, 2) avocado mixture, 3) sour cream mixture, 4) tomato, 5) onions (Ok. Fine. Sharon and Quilty Peep Junie, you can just leave this layer off!) and 6) grated cheese.  Serve as a dip with tortilla chips.

1/2 of this recipe fits perfectly in a round quiche dish and, if you you’d like, you can freeze the 1st three layers.  (And please note Kim, there are no mashed potatoes in this dip.  Although, I’d like to apologize to those of you not in the US, as you might have a hard time finding some of the ingredients.)

TheManoftheHouse would like to offer you a bite.

Three more things:

• I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you, but check out the fantastic giveaway Jackie has going on.  She’ll quilt a quilt for you, up to a twin-size.  Wow!
• If you’re interested in vintage hankies, Rebecca has found some fun ones.  Check out the rest of her vintage goodies in her etsy shop while you’re there!
• So, what do you suppose is going on with bloglines?  Suddenly tonight, bloglines dumped posts for the last 5 or 6 days from about 10 of you into my account.  Sorry I missed you all weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Once again, it’s the first Thursday of the month so that means it’s time for another recipe box swap. Randi over at I Have to Say is hosting and this time there is no theme, so I can post any recipe that I want. Thanks for hosting again, Randi!

Since summer is in full swing around here (apparently we just skipped spring altogether) I thought I’d post one of our summer favorites: German Potato Salad. We love to throw some bratwurst on the grill, cook up some corn on the cob and make a batch of German potato salad. I found this recipe many years ago, shortly after we returned from living in Germany. One bite and I’m instantly reminded of evenings spent at a favorite gasthaus dining on fabulous German food. I hope you like it as much as we do!

German Potato Salad

12 medium potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
2 onions, chopped
12 slices bacon
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

Cook potatoes in skins. When tender, drain, peel and cube. Season with salt, pepper and onion. Set aside. Dice bacon and fry until crisp. Reserve 3 tablespoons drippings, pour off rest. Stir flour into reserved drippings, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes. Add water, vinegar and sugar. Cook until mixture bubbles. Pour over potatoes and toss gently. Serve immediately (while still warm). Serves 10.

Have a great weekend — if you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope you make it out to your grill!

XOXO,
Anna

Well, it’s the first Thursday of the month (and May, no less — we’re ripping along at warp speed) so that means it’s time for another recipe box swap. Randi over at I Have to Say is once again hosting and this time the theme is Bars and Cookies. {Oh, Swoon} I think cookies and cupcakes are my very favorite things ever to cook. I think it’s all that sugar — ah luvs me some sugar!*  Thanks Randi for another great idea!**

In honor of the first child’s launch into adult married life in just a few short weeks, I’ve picked his very favorite: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Or, as we call them Oakmeal Raisin Cookies, ’cause that’s how he pronounced them when he was little.

“Mom, can we have some oakmeal raisin cookies?”

“Sure you can sweetie, and I hope your little SweetiePie will take good care of you and make you LOTS of Oakmeal Raisin Cookies for many years into the future.”

(Oh … two disclaimers before we begin: 1) I always wonder about those of you in higher altitudes. Last year I tried to make my favorite Chocolate Chip cookies at my aunt’s and they were flat as pancakes. And by the same token, when this recipe first came to me from Utah, they were dry and I had to adjust them a bit. Other cookies don’t seem to be affected…so, this is just an fyi. And 2) These are good cookies, but they’re not the fabulous oakmeal cookies in THIS wonderful post!***)

Saucer Size Oakmeal Raisin Cookies

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
3 c. old fashioned oatmeal
2 large eggs
3/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla extract
14 T (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 T vegetable oil
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a medium bowl. Beat eggs, salt and vanilla in a small bowl. Mix butter, oil, and sugars in a large bowl. Stir in egg mixture until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, then stir in raisins.

Using a 2 – 3 T spring action ice cream scoop, scoop 6 balls onto each of the cookie sheets. (You might want to squish them down just a tad.) Bake until golden brown, 12 – 15 minutes. (Don’t let cookies get too brown — I like to remove mine when they still look a bit undercooked in the center.) Let cool on cookie sheets, 2 – 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

And while we’re on the subject of food, here’s a few recipes I’m drooling over this week:

• For Dinner. I HAVE to try these. This recipe sounds awesome!**** Thanks Kim!*****
• For anytime. Like maybe breakfast. Hot Fudge on my cereal. Yum, oh yum.
• Oh. My. Gosh. Have you seen these cupcake toppers by the fabulous Bakerella??? You must go look. SO many possibilities. I’m even thinking of finding a baseball team to make cupcakes for just so I could put an adorable baseball on them. I’m so excited about this idea and I really want to try it.

Yippee!****** I’m off work tomorrow. LOTS of yard work to do — probably two days worth. I’ll be back later with dirt on my hands. Have a great weekend!*******
XOXO,
Anna

* ** *** **** ***** ****** *******What the heck??? I know I have an exclamation point problem. (That last post was just ridiculous.) I really try to control it, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. That’s just the way I talk. And if I don’t use them, what I’m saying just doesn’t sound right. I’m hoping Isabelle will therapize me. !

Randi over at I Have to Say is once again hosting a recipe swap. This time she said we could pick the theme. I saw my first real sign of spring here today which means warmer weather is on its way, so my theme is going to be warm weather food. (My first real sign of spring happened this morning.   On the way to work, I noticed our duck couple waddling across the front yard. They come back every year. We never see any ducklings though — maybe they just used our yard for their courtship every year and then move on to somewhere else to raise some little ducklings.  I would have taken a picture of them tonight, but I couldn’t find them. They’re at the end of this post from last year, if you really want to see them.)

Anyway, back to my warm weather recipe: Spaghetti Salad. This is my boys’ hands down favorite pasta salad. I’ll bet your kids will love it — especially if you have one like TheSecondChild, who puts ranch dressing on almost everything. (TheFirstChild drowns everything in catsup — do you suppose it’s my cooking????)

Years ago, some work friends and I went to a local restaurant one day for lunch. This salad was on the salad bar. When we got back to work, we couldn’t stop talking about how much we loved this spaghetti salad. So, I thought, what the heck — I’ll just call and see if they’ll give me the recipe. They put the chef on the phone and he told me how to make it! Of course, he gave me proportions to feed an army, but I scaled them down. Please excuse the picture — there should be celery in this salad, but SOMEone (and I’m not naming names) forgot to get the celery that was clearly written on the shopping list. (The parsley is missing too, but it’s excused because I grow my own and it’s still too cold outside!)

Spaghetti Salad

Ranch Dressing**
1 t. parsley
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup celery
1 t. whole celery seed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Approximately 1 lb. spaghetti

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions and drain. Rinse with cold water and let cool for 10 – 15 minutes. Add all other ingredients and enough of the ranch dressing to coat the spaghetti.
You’ll probably want to adjust the ingredient proportions to suit your family’s tastes. To be honest, I really don’t follow the proportions very carefully — I just look at the list of ingredients and dump them all in until it tastes about right!

** If you can’t buy Ranch dressing where you live, you can find recipes all over the internet. Just google “homemade ranch dressing”.

I hope you’re all having a good week and finding some time to squeeze in what YOU want to do!

XOXO,
Anna

Randi over at I Have to Say is in need of some new recipes, so she’s hosting a recipe swap. What a fun idea — I’m in need of new recipes too, so the timing is perfect. Thanks for hosting Randi! (And, how cute is this recipe logo that Randi made?)

For my entry, I’m sharing my family’s favorite Chicken Hash recipe. I found this recipe a few years ago in a Food & Wine book and we love it. It’s a very versatile recipe, you can make it with freshly cooked or leftover chicken, turkey, beef or pork. If you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out. If you like green peppers, throw them in. You get the idea! The little bit of thyme in the recipe gives it a distinct flavor and we especially like the addition of an egg on top. If you leave the egg yolk a bit runny, it creates a wonderful gravy to coat your hash. (And look Kim, no mashed potatoes anywhere!!!)

Potato, Mushroom, and Chicken Hash

3 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan of salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.

In a large nonstick frying pan (I like to use a cast iron skillet for excellent browning), heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, about 6 minutes. Add the chicken (if you’re using leftovers, wait and toss them in at the end), 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, the pepper, and the thyme. Saute until the chicken is almost cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the mixture from the pan.

Wipe out the frying pan and then heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat. Add the drained potatoes and let cook, without stirring, for 6 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir the potatoes, and cook until well browned, about 4 minutes longer. Stir in the chicken and mushrooms, the cream, and the parsley. Cook until just heated through, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Fry an egg over-easy, and serve on top. Serves 4. YUMMY!

Before I go, I wanted to show you this awesome little necklace I recieved from Junie Moon. It’s a thank you gift for participating in Junie Moon’s Bandage Brigade. Is that the perfect little thank you gift from Junie MOON, or what? June — I just love it. I’m so touched by your thoughtfulness. Wow. I’m so pleased that I’ll have something to wear that will remind me of you and your kindness. Thank you from the bottom of my heart June, I’ll treasure it always.

XOXO,
Anna