For The Second Day of Holiday Treats- Baking Fail.....

I had high hopes for my Second Day of Holiday Treats.....

I was inspired to bake, which is rare because honestly I'm not very good at it and tend to fail... a lot. It was a rainy Sunday so it was a perfect day to stay home and bake. I had a vision of making mini Mexican Hot Chocolate inspired cakes with a cream filling and covered in chocolate ganache. I reached out asking what was the secret to moist cakes, researched all kinds of cake recipes, and found a yummy whip cream filling recipe. I was determined not fail....

First, let me give you a brief history of my baking skills. It started when I was 17 and I wanted to bake a flourless chocolate cake for my friend's birthday. Being that this was long before the access we have to the internet and I could not find a cook book with a recipe. Sooooo I thought why not get a box of cake mix and not add flour. Needless to say I was not allowed to use the oven for awhile after my cake "exploded" in it.

From there on I stuck to box mixes and the occasional simple from scratch recipe. I find the challenge of not being able to "fix" a baking disaster intimidating.

With all the research for my creation I thought I found the perfect cake recipe and combined with the great tips I got I thought I was set. I double checked my measurements at least three times, but I had a feeling something was wrong when the batter was almost like dough. So instead of cake I ended up with a very dense bread like brick.....

I was sad, but I had hope that it would still taste good. I brushed it with Tuaca hoping it would give it some life. If all else fails add alcohol right? That of course did nothing but soak right into the brick. 

It actually tasted really good. Perfect combination of chocolate and cinnamon with a little heat from cayenne. I decided to not give up and made a whip cream frosting. The frosting recipe called for gelatin which also proved to be challenging for me. As I spread the frosting on the cake I kept finding snot like pieces of gelatin. But the frosting made it look much better:

I cut the cake into bite size pieces and dusted them with cinnamon:

As yummy as they tasted they still were a fail, I'm not sure how to describe the texture. I was not about to make chocolate ganache either. I figured two fails in one day was enough.

Now I'm not giving up, I will try again. I just may cheat and use a box mix.

The good news is that the kitchen was not a disaster and I am allowed to use it again.

For The First Day of Holiday Treats- Giving To The Troops

There is so much to love about the holidays....... family, decorating, eating, giving and of course a week off for Christmas just to name a few.

I have a list of things to do this Holiday Season and a lot of it involves food and giving, so I thought I would share it by writing about the

The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats

I know.... its cheestastic......

I began with December 1st by donating items for our troops overseas. The list they made was humbling. They asked for everyday items such as deodorant, tooth brushes, gum, cookies, pillows and snacks just to name a few. All items that we take for granted.

My Mom donated a lot of the non-food items and donated food items. I didn't want to just send whatever was on sale, I tried to pick things that I would want away from home.......

I think coffee was on the top of the list along with some favorite candies.

Always remember how easy it is to give back to others...... it could be something as simple as a pack of gum.

Now for the next Eleven Days of Holiday Treats I have a few ideas:

• Sharing various recipes
• A special Holiday Champagne Sunday
• Making edible gifts

The days will be sporadic, just like me, through out the month. It will end of course with our Christmas menu, which is coming together nicely....

Cant wait to share!

Still Going Through The Leftovers.....

I think like most people I have had nothing but leftovers for the past few days..... 

Don't get me wrong, I do love the leftovers. Its the only time of the year to enjoy such a great feast that keeps on giving and giving and giving. I think what I enjoy most is how it lends itself to creativity, although my favorite standby is just putting everything in a bowl and covering it with gravy.

The Thanksgiving Leftover Pie only lasted two days, so it was time for something new today. Ill be honest this could be the last day of leftovers because it is time to stop eating with abandonment and eat healthy, maybe salad or something.....

So with that in mind I went overboard with today's creation:

Pan Fried Stuffed Potato Pancakes:

As always it was simple. 

• I took two handful of mash potatoes and made them into separate "patties". 
• I placed a little turkey and stuffing on one half, placed the other half on top and sealed the edges. 
• In a small dish I combined bread crumbs, salt and pepper. I covered both sides of the pancake with the bread crumb mixture. 
• I heated about two tablespoons of olive oil and half a tablespoon of butter over high heat. Its important that the heat is high in order to sear the potato so it doesn't fall apart. 
• Cooked the first side on high then turned the heat down to ensure the middle was hot and did the same with the other side. 
• Be careful when flipping the pancakes because they are very soft and delicate.

I served it with gravy and cranberry sauce:

For me it is time to say farewell to the leftovers and I think I honored them well. 

Now time to start talking about the month of December and what to bring to parties and Christmas dinner.......

Turkey, Turkey and More Turkey... What to do With it???

Second day of turkey and all the fixing, now its time to get creative.

I realize the possibilities are endless....

Turkey sandwiches
Turkey potpie
Turkey casserole
Turkey soup
A great treat for the dogs
And so on....

So my sister and I decided to get creative and play with our leftovers.

Of course we had everything- turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, potato chips and of course pate brisee.

What doesn't everyone have leftover pate brisee??? What is it? Its a simple pie dough that can be made any time with basic ingredients. My sister always uses Martha Stewart's recipe, its a staple for her to always use.

With all of those ingredients we decided to make a Thanksgiving leftover pie. So simple and so good. We laid the dough in a pie pan, then added a layer of stuffing, then turkey, and then potatoes. And to give it added texture we finished with crunched up potato chips. Placed it in a 400 degree oven and baked it until the top was golden brown. The layers were beautiful:

We finished it with a gravy and a little cranberry sauce to make it a true leftover meal:

We made this last night and there is non left, thats how yummy it was. If you had leftover veggies you could serve it as a side with a slice of this easy pie.

How creative do you get with your leftovers???

Eeeek.....Brussel Sprouts!

We all have a food that is just down right gross to us not matter what. For my Mom and many others I know it is the brussel sprout. 

For me I love them! I think the flavor is deeeeelicious and there is so much to do with it. So I thought it would be a fun challenge to get my Mom to eat them and I did! 

Not only are they yummy, they are also so good for you. Each tiny little sprout contains three times the amount of vitamin C than an orange and a great source of vitamin D. 

Always up for a challenge and voila! 

Brussel sprouts my Mom will eat! She liked them so much that we are serving them for Christmas dinner and she doesn't care if anyone else likes them.

What made them so good? Simplicity and fresh ingredients of course.

I simply sliced the trimmed brussel sprouts, sauteed them in olive oil and butter with fresh garlic, thyme form the garden, and slivered almonds. I added a little white wine and butter at the end. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

I realize I did not invent this way of cooking brussel sprouts, but who ever did is onto something. The best part is that you can add whatever you have around. It makes a great side dish or salad.

So what food makes you cringe? 

Me? Mayonnaise.... it literately will make me gag.... cant even do aioli... 

Fortunately I like pretty much anything else.

Finally! Perfect Cold Fall Evening

There are just certain meals that wait for just the right time of the year, one of those being risotto.....

There are so many great things that make risotto so good:

• easy to make
• delicious
• comforting
• so versatile
• usually have all the basic ingredients on hand
• a great excuse to open a bottle of white wine

All you need is the following.......

• 2 tbls of butter or olive oil or a combination of both
• 2 shallots or one medium onion, minced
• Fresh or dry herbs to taste 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups of Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 32 oz of chicken or veggie stock
• Parmesan cheese
• But here is the best part, adding what ever fresh veggies or meats you have on hand. Last night I added 1 & cups of porcini mushrooms and shredded oven roasted chicken. As for the herbs I did a combination of dried and fresh-from-the-garden thyme. 

Heres how to make it.....
-Heat the butter and/or olive oil in a large sauce pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Once heated add the shallots or onions and mushrooms. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Then add the herbs, salt & pepper to your liking.

-Add the rice and stir until coated with the butter/olive oil. Add the wine, stir and let it bubble away.

-Now comes the patience part- add the stock 1/2 cup at a time. Stir each time it is added and every few minutes. When the stock is just about evaporated, add more. This can take up to 30 minutes. Be sure to stir often, but not constant. Try the rice after about 20 minutes, it needs to be tender with a little crunch.

-As for the constancy of the risotto, you don't want it to be soupy or dry. You'll understand what I mean when it happens....

-When finished add your cheese.

Now how you eat it or what you add to it is up to you. I love just serving it in a bowl, so comforting.

The only thing I was missing was truffle oil...... need to get a new bottle....

Craving Something Exotic and Spicy....

These items from Trader Joe's became this.....

It was easy, affordable and made with organic chicken. 

• I seasoned a 1.23 lbs of chicken with salt and pepper. 
• Then placed the chicken in a pan with olive oil heated over medium heat. Cooked both sides until chicken was cooked through. 
• Removed the chicken when done and cut into bite size pieces.
• Added chicken back to the pan, then added the whole jar of peanut sauce.
• To the chicken and sauce I added about 1/2 a cup of half and half & 1/4 cup water to thin the sauce.
• I like my peanut sauce spicy so I added chile flakes
• I let it all simmer over low heat for 10 minutes to infuse the flavor with the chicken.
• When done I served it over rice and finished with chopped green onion and chopped peanuts.

Now what I do need to warn you about this dish is that the sauce is very heavy, so start with a small serving. Because it is heavy, you end up with a lot of leftovers for one or two people. So you may need to freeze leftovers, which is not a bad thing of course!

And not surpiring this was all from what I had in the freezer (chicken), fridge (onion & cream) & pantry (seasoning, nuts & rice).

There are so many variations you can do with this dish based on what you have and preferences:

• tofu or veggies instead of chicken
• add veggies to the dish
• cook the chicken as skewers for a "fancier" presentation if you have guests
• If spicy, add a dollop yogurt
• Thin the sauce even more with added water, cream, and/or milk.
• Add garlic
• Leftovers for lunch? When putting away, place a single serving of rice and chicken in a Tupperware container.

I am going to make sure I always have these ingredients on hand for an easy meal or appetizer.

Do you always have on hand for a quick and yummy meal?

Home late, so what's for dinner????

I got home at about 9 after a great work meeting and couldn't decide if I should be content with a glass of wine for dinner or actually make something.....

After sipping on my liquid appetizer (wine) I decided that I could have a yummy meal in 15 minutes with what I had in the house. I opened the fridge and this is what I saw:

Raviolis (packaged)
Half and Half (cant have my morning coffee with out it)
Green Onion
Bacon crumbles (extra from an app I made the other night)
Shredded asiago
Chopped garlic

So I started the half and half immediately, takes time to cook down. Then started the water for the pasta. In a separate pan I sauteed the garlic, chopped green onion and bacon in olive oil then added to the cream. After the cream cooked for about ten minutes I added the asiago to thicken and add that yummy cheese flavor. The pasta only took 3 minutes. Drained the pasta then added it to the sauce. Seasoned it with sea salt and pepper and voila!

It was so good. And now I'm beginning to realize that some of my best meals are the ones I pull out of the fringe and pantry.

I guess my point is you can have a great meal no matter how late you get home and what you have in the kitchen.

So challenge yourself to creating a great meal with what cha got and tell us about it!

What time is it???? Snack Time!

Truffle Popcorn...... bowl full of heaven...

So Im sitting here snacking on one of my fave snacks, carrots and blue cheese dip, and started thinking of my other favorites.

To name a few:

Carrots and dip: any dip- hummus, ranch, blue cheese, peanut butter, etc.
Nuts: any, except cashews... yuck. Pistachios are my favorite.
Pickles: I can eat a jar of pickles in two days. I wonder how many I can eat if I am ever pregnant....
Celery and peanut butter: I pretty much can eat peanut butter with anything, chocolate, bread, veggies.
Beef jerky: usually an afternoon work snack or road trip snack.
An occasional chip attack or cheese or tortilla chips and cheese dip, love it...

And my ultimate snack...... truffle popcorn. It is the best thing ever.

And simple:
One Bag of microwave popcorn- full butter of course
Truffle Oil

Simply cook the popcorn and then toss with whatever amount of truffle oil you want.

I hope to open a restaurant just so I can serve truffle popcorn.

And now I am going to make some.

What is your favorite snack? Or even your most unusual?

Impromptu BBQ With Friends- Happy Monday!

Nice weather- check

Good friends- check

BBQ- check

Great food- check

Two knuckle head dogs- check, check

This all makes for a great impromptu get together. All we did was call our friends let them know when, where and what to bring. 

And this was the result......

Everyone brought something they had at home.

The menu:

Bread and dips

Doritos, thats right nacho cheese chips. What would a BBQ be with out them.

Mix greens with roasted beets, dried cranberries, pistachios, goat cheese and an aged balsamic vinaigrette

Oven roasted herb potatoes

Grilled ribeye 

Everyone brought a beverage which included homemade beer and mead.

The menu has a little of everything including the chips, because we brought what we had at home. 

The thought behind this blog post is that you can have a great affordable meal anytime. Just reach out to friends and family and share what you got!

Whats Cooking For Mother's Day?

Our family has a tradition of getting together and cooking for all holidays, Mother's Day is no exception. We all love to cook and it affords us an affordable gourmet meal because we can all cook! And we never ever have the same meal twice, except for Thanksgiving. We will always have the traditional turkey with all of the fixings’.


Our menu this weekend is:

Crudités and other appetizers
Green Salad
Rolls
Brown Rice
Gumbo- specifically the one that is served at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland. It is a favorite of my Mom’s and ours. It is also part of a tradition when my mom, sister and I go to Disneyland
Dessert

It is simple, but my family is always creative with what we make.
My aunt loves to find yummy recipes from Emril or Rachel Ray. My Mom will search recipes and the internet to find exactly what she is looking for. Kevin's Mom is an incredible baker. My sister and brother-in-law always create their own master piece. Myself and Kevin, we tend to combine our skills with a favorite dish. Our extended family, Youngs and Flemmings, always bring kid family fair. When Todd (Kevin's brother) and family join us, we are always in for a gourmet treat. As for Grandma, all we ask that she comes and enjoy everything we bring and to reserve the beautiful picnic ground at her housing community.

What plans do you have for Sunday? Are you making Mom’s favorite dish or maybe going to her favorite restaurant.

Sorry, its been awhile...

I cant believe its been so long since I've posted a blog. There has been sooooo much to write about; cooking with family, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, impromptu beach gathering, great recipes and good times with friends.

I am going to jump right in with an amazing mac & cheese Kevin and I made together last night. I'll admit that I am a "Mom's mac & cheese kinda girl". I don't like the fancy reincarnations of the classic comfort food. But I thought it was time to experiment.

To begin with I looooove my Mom's mac & cheese. It's simple but oh so good. All you do is butter a microwave safe dish, put in cooked elbow noodles, add a little milk, cover the top of the noodles with Velveeta, microwave until cheese is melted, mix and serve. It is the only dish my Mom will make enough of for my sister and I to take home.

Now the first time I made my Mom's mac & cheese I couldn't find the Velveeta because I did not know it was in an isle, not the cheese section. I was a little horrified at the time but got over it pretty quick. I think it is funny that now you find it in the cheese section.

As for my experiment, it was Mac & Cheese heaven......

• Cooked 12 ounces of penne noodles for 6 minutes so the noodles were still a little crunchy
• Sauteed about a table spoon of chopped garlic in 4 tbls of butter, then mixed in 1/4 cup flour
• To the flour we added two cups of half and half, sea salt and pepper to taste and nutmeg
• To that mixed in 1 pound of graded aged sharp white cheddar until melted, then stirred in the noodles.
• Placed the mixture in a buttered oven safe dish.
• Covered the top of the noodles with mixture of four pieces of toasted bread that has been pulsed in a food processor, parmesan cheese and dried rosemary.
• Bake in a 350 preheated oven for 40 minutes
• Let cool for 20 minutes.

Serve it with a drizzle of truffle oil and you have a bowl of deliciousness.......

What is your favorite Mac & Cheese? 

Another Successful Pantry Dinner

One of my favorite meals to create is using what I have in the pantry and fridge. I find it challenging and fun. Most of the best meals I have created have come from I find in my fridge and pantry. Unfortunately, while digging deep into the back of the fridge I sometimes find a science experiment gone wrong, very wrong....

This time was a little different because I was at my sisters for a weekend visit. I actually brought items from my fridge that I did not want to go to waste while we were away. One of the items was raw chicken tenders. I originally was going to put a breading coating on the chicken, but then I remembered my sister gave up bread for Lent. The first thing I saw in her cupboard was Ritz crackers. Perfect!

I simply finely crushed the crackers and mixed them with finely grated parmesan, pepper and garlic salt. I dipped the chicken in raw egg that I scrambled and then the coated it with the Ritz mixture. I placed the tenders on a wire rack that was on a backing sheet. I baked them 450 for 20 minutes. They were so good!

For another snack, I made a simple bacon and cheese quesadilla using the leftover cooked bacon from our breakfast.

In hindsight, although the quesadillas were delicious, I wish I had put the bacon in the Ritz mixture. Next time......

So I made a bunch of Corned Beef & Cabbage, now what?

I am proud to say I successfully made my first batch of corned beef and cabbage.

No I did not make green bread too, I bought it.

I never was a fan of boiled anything, let alone beef. But this was so good. Tender slice of beef that had been simmering in a mixture of spices, garlic, thyme and veggies for hours. It was incredible. I made it for my hardworking man (Kevin) who loves corned beef and cabbage. He said it was better than his and he's a chef! Wether he meant it or not, I'll take it.

But I found myself with a pot full of stock and veggies. Not to mention a big chunk of beef. Now what?

Before I went to bed last night I separated the beef, veggies and stock. I figured I would sleep on it.

The obvious thing to make first was a sandwich of corned beef, ground mustard with horseradish, cabbage and swiss cheese. What could make it better? Panini press of course. This was Kevin's lunch and he loved it.

But I still have a lot of veggies and stock. Not too much beef, Kevin had seconds the night before. By chance I found a coupon for Pillsbury Grand Biscuits, you know the kind that is in the tube that pops when you open it. Perfect! I am going to make mini hand pies with cabbage, beef, mustard and cheese. I can freeze them unbaked for a few months. I may have to bake at least one to make sure they taste good, its what I like to call "quality control.

However, I still have the veggies and stock. So I am thinking I might make soup with both or .......

What do you do with your leftovers from St. Patrick's Day?

Big Sur on a Budget, is it possible? Yes!

One of my most favorite places to getaway to is Big Sur. It always takes away my stress and worries. We have not been in awhile, so a trip there is long over due.

There are only two drawbacks to Big Sur:

1. Not very dog friendly
2. Not very cheap

So over the years we have found ways to make Big Sur affordable. As for the dogs, Ill get back to how we have over come that hurdle.

Fortunately we only live about 45 minutes from Big Sur, so a day trip is easy.

Our most favorite stop for food in Big Sur is the Big Sur Bakery. However with quiche at almost $9 a slice and other out of this world food, it can get expensive fast. So we simply share a few of our favorites- a slice of quiche, a jelly donut, frittata and whatever else looks amazing.

It is no exaggeration when it is said that that they have the World's Best Jelly Donut. It is a dense cake like dough filled with a homemade jelly of fresh fruit. We usually get two, it is that good.

As for the quiche, it makes my chef boyfriend angry with envy every time we have it. It drives him crazy that he cannot figure out how they make it so good. He truly appreciates the talent it has taken to make it so incredible.

Yes, it is that GOOD.

They also serve our favorite local coffee, ACME Coffee from Seaside.

Another stop we enjoy is Nepenthe. We enjoy stopping there for a great Bloody Mary or ice tea and a basket of fries while enjoying an amazing view.  Another great stop for good beer and a burger (big enough to split for a snack) is The Maiden Publik House. Its small with a great Pub atmosphere with affordable food. We always stop on our way out of town.

As for lodging, we usually camp. We love the outdoors and nothing beats sitting by the fire in the redwoods in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It also allows us to take the dogs. We try to stay at  State Parks when there is spots available. We never make reservations, we usually drive down when we need to getaway. We have always found a spot to camp at, wether it is at a State Park, Park Management Parks or private campgrounds.

Of course there are a places that are great for splurges- Ventana Inn and Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn. We have enjoyed an amazing dinner at Sierra Mar, but we had split the prix fix menu and it was still expensive, but worth every penny. We cant wait to be able to do it again. Both Ventana Inn and Sierra Mar have the views that Big Sur. is known for.

So with all of that said- Kevin (chef boyfriend) and I are taking my Mom to Big Sur tomorrow to share some of favorite stops in Big Sur:

• Big Sur Bakery- for quiche and jelly donuts
• Spirit Garden- always find interesting "stuff" there
• Julia Pfieffer Falls- the fall will be bursting into the ocean with all the rain
• Nepenthe- Bloody Mary & ice tea for us and Ramos Fizz for Mom
• Hiking
• Publik House- beer, burger and fish & chips

And whatever else we feel like.

As for the dogs, Dad has offered to "dog sit" them for the day. Thanks Dad!

Fun Foodie Weekend

A great, but busy, weekend in my foodie world. Catering, entertaining, yummy Valentine's breakfast and sitting in a studio audience for a friend's cooking demo.

I'll start with my catering gigs. Besides a supplement income I always get to try delicious dishes I don't make at home and learn new techniques. The yummiest of the two jobs I worked was my good friend Chef Todd's Valentine's Dinner on Friday. He created a menu intended to evoke a sensual mood. And it did with ingredients like pork belly, honey, truffle oil, beef loin and chocolate to name a few. He talked to the guests about foods that get you in the mood. He also wrote about it in his column. Check it out:

http://www.montereyherald.com/toddfisher/ci_14371879?nclick_check=1

I realize this was intended for V-Day, but I think it is important to always show love in your cooking.

Then there was my Valentine's Day Breakfast:

This was delicious pancakes drizzled with homemade chocolate ganache, fresh vanilla whip cream, chopped strawberries and toasted hazelnuts. With two pieces of crispy bacon it was perfect! But I think the best part about it was that I made it with the nieces and nephews, my man, and good friends. It made it so much fun and special. I loved how easy and affordable it was.

To end the weekend I headed to San Francisco to watch my friend Todd do a cooking demo on a local show. It was so much fun to sit in the studio audience and learn how to make a clam pizza. Check out the video: 

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=7274668

I had a great weekend of learning, cooking and love. It was affordable and fun! Tasted and learned about great food on the job, made an impressive breakfast for less than $2 a person and got a live demo for free!

My Breakfast Version of Chocolate Covered Strawberries

For actual Valentine's Day we will have guests over. I decided it would be great to make breakfast. I was talking with my Mom about what I should make. Chocolate covered strawberries came up which lead to the following creation:


Pancakes with chopped strawberries, drizzled with chocolate ganache and finished with fresh made vanilla bean whipped cream and chopped pecans. My take on chocolate covered strawberries.

I always need savory with my sweet, so I will be serving bacon too. With a pot of French Press coffee, I think it will be the perfect Valentines breakfast.

Cant wait to post a picture!

Love is in the air and it is in the redwoods: Valentine's Day Hike

I had to share this great hike for Valentine's Day: "READY, SET, GO: Big Basin"

It is a guided Romance in the Big Basin Redwoods hike. Who knew there was so much love going on in the beautiful redwoods of California? From banana slugs to ladybugs to woodpeckers. I personnaly find the redwoods alone romantic.

You can stop in Boulder Creek to pick up a picnic lunch or have lunch. I recommend stopping by the Boulder Creek Brewery for a yummy local brew.

Imagine surprising your Valentine with a hike in the Redwoods followed by a picnic lunch. The cost of the hike is free and parking for the day is $10. You can easliy put together a nice picnic lunch together for $20.

I think this would be an unforgettable Valentine's outing for under $40!

Love is in the air...... and it smells so good!

I have always enjoyed cooking at home for my Valentine. Why? Several reasons:

• Love to cook
• Excuse to indulge with cooking- truffle oil, lobster, filet mignon, favorite champagne etc.
• More affordable
• Intimate- fireplace, no strangers, bed in the next room. You get the idea.

Most important, I do not like eating at a restaurant on a holiday. I think it is due to having worked too many holidays in a crowded, overbooked restaurant. So it is the last place I want to be.

But over the years I have picked up great ideas and learned a few tricks on what makes for a memorable meal.

I have enjoyed great Valentines meals and they have been at home. Some have been a little complicated, but always affordable and delish!

Over the next few days Im going to share some creative and affordable Valentines meals that are great to share with your love, family or a group of friends.

What is a must for a romantic meal?

Never Can Get Enough of Bacon

After my bacon pancake fest on Sunday, I needed more bacon. I looked in my fridge and the following is what I created...

I started with cooking four pieces of bacon in my favorite heavy pan, then removed the bacon when it was nice and crispy. I added butter and olive oil to the yummy bacon fat, after the butter and oil was heated I added two seasoned chicken breast. I removed the chicken once it was cooked to succulent perfection on both sides and placed each one a plate.

I added veggie stock and yes, more butter to the pan. Scraped all of the chicken and bacon pits from the pan. I then added fresh garlic, basil and cream. Let that cook for about five minutes. I then added to the pan sauce mushrooms I sauteed in butter, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I poured the mushroom pan sauce over each chicken breast and finished it with the bacon crumbled. Served the chicken with pan sauteed potatoes for a side.

The result.......

The crispy bacon gave such a great texture to the dish and of course its yummy flavor!


I hope there is no such thing as to much bacon.... or butter.....

Mmmm...... bacon...

I have a love of bacon like I am sure most of you do. Bacon on salad, with eggs, on a burger, BLT, wrapped around meatloaf, by itself.... the possibilities are endless.

This morning we took it to another level with pancakes. Crumbled bacon in the pancake batter and then cooked the pancakes in the bacon grease! Topped with butter and maple syrup it was bacon heaven.

Crispy bacon mixed in a fluffy pancake finished with yummy butter and sweet sweet maple syrup. The perfect mix of sweet and savory.

What's your favorite way to eat bacon?

Foodie Disaster Kit... Is it possible?

I was thinking what I need to put in my home disaster kit. And then I wondered could I make it foodie acceptable. Is it possible to have a disaster kit that is practical but with food that would be enjoyable.

According to the American Red Cross website you should have "nonperishable, easytoprepare items (3 day supply for evacuation, 2 week supply for home)"

So I am challenging myself to have a disaster kit that I would be happy to cook from.

What would be the one must have food item in your disaster kit?

Potatoes, cheese and bacon. Oh my!

How can you go wrong with this combo?!?!

For the first time in my life I bought a bag of potatoes a few weeks ago. Needless to say I have been getting very creative with them.

My new favorite- backed potato skins with bacon and cheese.

So simple!! All I had to do was bake the potatoes at 350 for one hour, let them cool, cut into fourths and scoop out the middle. Then I based both sides of the potatoes with garlic butter, cooked until crispy, then topped with the cheese & bacon, let them bake a little longer until the cheese was melted.

Even better, I can make mashed potatoes with the insides.

What is your favorite way to prep potatoes?

Tonight's Fridge & Pantry Dinner

So I knew I had sausage that needed to be used in the fridge. Plus eggs, cheese and basil. So I thought frittata! I stopped at the store to pick up red potatoes.

I sliced one red potato and fried in heated olive oil with salt and pepper until crispy on both sides. Set cooked potatoes aside on a plate.

I chopped up the sausage and heated in OO in a small pan. Removed the sausage, layered the cooked potato in the same pan, layered with the sausage, then shredded cheese and topped with four eggs that I mixed well fresh basil and cream. Cooked over med-well heat as I used a rubber spatula to lift the sides of the mixture to get the raw egg under it.

I placed the oven proof pan in a preheated oven set to broil until egg was cooked through.

Remember, all of this was from what I already had....... except for the potato. Yummy!

Do you have a favorite pantry/fridge/freezer meal?

Welcome

This is the beginning of hopefully will turn into a place to share how to cook with a limited budget, what we have in the pantry/fridge/freezer/yard, Farmers market and possibly what friends have to offer. I cant wait to hear ideas of how we all can be amazing cooks in tough times.