Martini Madness!!

I'm not really a big hard liquor kind of girl, but the last few times I've gone out to dinner I've gotten a dessert martini...and so I decided let's have martini night!!!

First up, the critically acclaimed, Mandy-gram.

Take a chilled martini glass and wet the rim and coat the rim in graham cracker crumbs.  In a cocktail shaker, add all your ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Bailey's Irish Creme
1 1/2 oz vanilla vodka
1 1/2 oz Godiva Chocolate liquor
2 oz milk
3-4 ice cubes

Shake it like a polaroid picture...well not really...they are in the process of going bankrupt anyways... for about 20-30 seconds and pour your cold drink into your glass.  Sip and enjoy.

Next up, Godivalicious.  Once again, take a chilled martini glass, wet the rim, and coat with sweetened cocoa powder.  Grab your cocktail shaker, and add the following:

1 1/2 oz Godiva Chocolate liquor
1 1/2 oz creme de cacao
1 oz vanilla vodka
2 oz milk
3-4 ice cubes

Shake, shake, shake....shake, shake, shake...shake your booty.  (Don't act like you didn't see that coming).  Pour into your glass.  Grab a piece of chocolate, and a grater, and grate some chocolate on the top.  Delicious-ness!

You can have lots of fun with this.  Next up, I think I will coat the rim with chocolate syrup or maybe some oreo cookie crumbs.  I mean the options are endless!

Just remember....drink responsibly.

Happy martini madness to you all!

This Orzo Salad is the bomb, kids.

I make this orzo salad all the time in the Summer, and I have been meaning to blog about it, and finally here it is.  Just because it's a Summer favorite doesn't mean you can't make it in the Winter.  In fact, just made some this weekend, with a request to make it next weekend.  Plus, when you eat this orzo salad the Patriots win.  Just sayin'.

Boil water, and add a cup of orzo.  Cook for 9-10 minutes.

While the orzo is cooking, combine the following ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Once you have that mixed, put 1/4 cup of pine nuts in a skillet and cook on medium- low heat and shake often to brown the nuts evenly (about 5 minutes).  Or I throw them on a pan in the convection oven and cook at 350 degrees F, shaking often to brown evenly.

Once the orzo has cooked, drain and add to the olive oil mixture. .  Then add:

• 3 tablespoons of diced red onion
• the toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup of golden raisins (or craisins...or a little of both)
• 2 ounces of feta, add more as desired.  I don't tend to measure the feta, just add some stir it up, and repeat until you are satisfied with your feta to other ingredients ratio
• Add 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil (which you don't see pictured, because I went to two grocery stores and no one had basil!!)

You can make this dish ahead of time and refrigerate.  If you make it ahead of time, take it out and bring to room temperature before serving.  This salad won't disappoint!

Courtesy of the Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook

Hey Maaa!!!! The Meatloaf!

I can't say the word meatloaf without thinking of Will Farrell in Wedding Crashers.  You know the scene, and if you don't, well then you clearly haven't watched Wedding Crashers enough times....so um, get on that!

Meatloaf isn't one of my favorite foods, but every now and then, I don't mind a little loaf of meat.  It's comfort food and makes you feel warm inside when it's cold outside.  If meatloaf creeps you out, you can also use this as filling for stuffed peppers.

Get your ingredients ready!

• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1/4 milk
• 1 cup of wheat breadcrumbs
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 8 ounces of ground linguica or any other sausage you enjoy
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/4 teaspoons of Mrs. Dash seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

In a skillet, heat oil and cook the onion until tender, approximately 7 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk.  And in a third bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the ketchup and 2 teaspoons of the Worcestershire sauce.  

In the onion bowl, add the ground turkey, linguica, the rest of the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, the beaten egg, seasoning mix, garlic powder, and bread crumb mixture.  Take your rings off, and get your hands dirty!  Mix well together using your hands.  Once mixed well, form into a loaf, and put into your loaf pan.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and let some of fat run out...careful!...don't let the loaf fall out of the pan!  Then spread the ketchup mixture from the third bowl over the top (see right).  Place back into the oven and continue to bake for about 30-45 minutes more.  You can check to see if its done by inserting a meat thermometer into the center of the meat loaf.  The meat loaf should be 160 degrees F.

Serve with creamy dreamy mashed potatoes and some corn!  You can always take the leftovers and make a Sheppard's pie or as they say in Australia - a meat pie!  They like to peas versus corn, so whatever makes your belly happy!

Based on a recipe from the Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook

Stay warm with some Corn Chowdah

Baby, it's COLD outside.  I won't complain since it's been a fairly warm Winter with pretty much no snow.  I couldn't really ask for anything more, so I will deal with a few cold days.  It is Winter after all.

To stay warm, why not make some corn chowdah for you and your family to enjoy.  This recipe is courtesy of my friend Kelly.

• 6 ears of fresh corn or 3 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 1 tbs cooking oil
• 1 14oz. can chicken broth (go low sodium)
• 2 cup cubed, peeled potato
• 4 tsp all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 3 slices bacon, crumbled or 2 tbs bacon pcs
• 2 tbs snipped fresh parsley (optional)

If using fresh corn, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels of the cobs, you should have about 3 cups corn. Set corn aside.  In a large saucepan, cook onion and sweet pepper in hot oil until the onion is tender but not brown. 

Stir in the chicken broth and potato. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Stir in corn and cook for another 10 minutes or until potato and corn are tender, stirring occasionally.

In a bowl combine flour, salt and pepper. Stir milk into flour mixture.  Add to corn mixture in sauce pan. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for one minute more. Add crumbled bacon.  Serve in your favorite bowl, and if desired, garnish each serving with parsley. 


And if you like a little heat, as you know I do, sprinkle some red cayenne pepper on top.  You'll be sweating in no time ;-)

Spaghetti Squash and Meat-a-balls

It's the New Year, and weight loss may be on your mind.  Maybe you over indulged over the holidays, or maybe this is the year you really want to get in shape, or maybe you're planning to be on a beach some time in the near future and are wondering if last summer's swimsuit still fits.

Well, here is a healthy alternative to all that pasta you love to eat, and it takes about 25 minutes total to make.  So you can still eat well on little time.

• Spaghetti squash
• Turkey meatballs (I bought some frozen ones for the time save, but you can feel free to make them from scratch)
• Spaghetti sauce as desired
• Grated Parmesan cheese - if you know me, you know I re-cheese after almost every bite - good thing it's low in calories :-)

Place the meatballs and your desired sauce in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  You're cooking the meatballs and heating up your sauce at the same time.

Pierce the spaghetti squash in multiple places.  This will avoid having the spaghetti squash explode in the microwave.  Place the squash on a wet paper towel, and cook in the microwave for 12 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Then cut the squash lengthwise, and scoop out the gunky stuff in the middle including the seeds.  BE CAREFUL, the squash will be HOT HOT HOT.  Then, using a fork scrape the spaghetti like squash away from the skin.  Add your meatballs and sauce and you're good to go.  If there just two of you, you're in luck!  Add your meatballs and sauce right inside the squash rind for a cutesy dish!

You can also cook the squash in the oven, but you'll need to cook it for about an hour.  To do this, cut the squash lengthwise, place cut size down and bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes.  Then again, scoop out the yucky part and use a fork to remove the spaghetti squash from its skin.

Tia makes the best stuffing, but I think this one is a close second.

My great aunt Tia Nancy makes the best stuffing.  Every Thanksgiving and Christmas my family drools over it, and makes sure to take heaping amounts home with them for leftovers.  I have never been given the recipe, so I decided I would take a stuffing recipe out of my favorite cookbook and add some of my own twists.

What you'll need to make this almost better than Tia's stuffing:

• 1 14oz package of Pepperidge Farm seasoned bread crumbs
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 12 oz ground linguica
• 1 3/4 cups of water
• 1/4 cup roasted garlic (which I roasted myself!)  To do so, cut the tops of 2-3 pieces of garlic, drizzle olive oil over it, wrap in aluminium foil and cook at 350 for an hour
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Put the bread crumbs in a large bowl.  In a skillet pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is soft - about 8-10 minutes.  Pour this mixture over the bread crumbs.

Then in the same skillet add the linguica.  BJ's has a great deal on ground linguica, especially if you are making this recipe times 2 to feed your large family.  Cook for 5-7 minutes.  Transfer the linguica to the bowl using a spoon. 

Now, in the same skillet once again (think of all the dishes you don't have to wash by using one skillet all this time!), add the water, roasted garlic, sage, thyme, parsley, and the remaining butter.  Bring to a simmer and then pour into the bowl.  Combine all the ingredient WELL.  Then transfer to the baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and cook 30-40 minutes, then uncover and cook another 10 minutes.  It should get a nice crisp on top.

Before it went in the oven

Running short on time, prepare this the night before, store it in the fridge, bring to room temperature about 1/2 hour before cooking time!

Next time, I think I will do half linguica and half spicy sausage to give it more kick!  Watch out Tia I'm coming after the best stuffing award :-)

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with your families!


Source Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook

Crock Pot Roast with Creamy Dreamy Mashed Potatoes

Christmas Eve eve we had a small Christmas get together at my house.  Knowing I had to work this day, I tried to plan ahead, so I wouldn't be rushing around when I got home trying to get a meal on the table.  So, yes, I turned to the crock pot AGAIN.  This meal serves 4 with no leftovers!  Perfecto!

Ingredients:

• 1 3 lb roast
• 3 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces (cut using scissors)
• 3 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 -2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 cup of your favorite red wine

Get out your holiday stress by stabbing your roast multiple times.  8-10 good stabs should suffice.  Then stuff the areas you stabbed with bacon and 1 tablespoon of your garlic.  Then, in a bowl, combine the rest of your ingredients.  Now that you are no longer angry, massage your roast with the rub you just made in the bowl.  Cook on low for 7 hours, and toss in a 1/2 cup of wine....drink the other 1/2 cup, you deserve it.  Cook on low for another 30-60 minutes.  Serve with creamy dreamy  mashed potatoes (recipe below), beef gravy and your favorite vegetable, or my sister's favorite vegetable....corn.

 Source food.com

Creamy Dreamy Mashed Potatoes

You will seriously dream of these mashed potatoes.

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup heavy cream - it's the holidays so I went with the heavy cream, but any other day, you know I'm using light cream, and probably only 1/2 a cup
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese
• 2 Tablespoons grated onion
• Pepper to taste
• Salt for boiling

Boil the potatoes in cold salted water.  Simmer about 20 minutes.  While the potatoes are simmering, in a separate sauce pan combine the cream, milk, and butter and heat til warmed.  Once the potatoes are cooked and are easily pierced with a fork, drain and mash.  Return the mashed potatoes to the pot, or in a large bowl, and fold in the cream mixture.  Add the cheese and onion, stir well.  Add pepper to taste.  You will be in heaven with these potatoes.

Source: Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook

Crab Dip with Salt and Vinegar Chips

Everyone knows salt and vinegar chips are not only part of my hangover remedy, but are my *favorite* chips. I can eat an entire bag in one sitting, which is why I almost never buy them, because that would just be bad news. When I came across a dip that was made to eat with them though, I couldn't resist.  Plus, it was Sunday, which means football.  Patriots vs Denver at the Hudsons....brought me right back to the day I met my husband :-)...and this time...the Pats won!

For crab lovers, I recommend adding more crab and less cream cheese, but for those of you who are fair weather fans, you can follow my recipe - heavy on the cream cheese, light on the crab.

Grab your ingredients:

• 1 block of non-fat cream cheese
• 6 tablespoons of red onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of low-fat or olive oil based mayo
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 4 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped
• 4 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
• 1 can of crab meat, 6oz
• 1/2 cup of cucumber, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Leave your cream cheese out at room temperature for about a half hour before preparing.  Add all your ingredients in a bowl and mix well, then season with salt and pepper to taste.  Chill for a half hour before serving....and of course serve with salt and vinegar chips...or any other chips or veggies you enjoy!  Short on time?  Make it the night before and refrigerate over night.

Source: Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook