Whipped Peppermint White Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Cream

Whipped Peppermint White Hot Chocolate

Happy Holidays Friends!  Hope you are enjoying this wonderful season!  I came up with this recipe for this delicious Whipped Peppermint White Hot Chocolate a few weeks ago and it has been a huge it at my cooking classes and and my friend's cookie exchange last week.  Everyone is asking for the recipe!  Sorry I have been so late in getting it up on the blog!  But I hope you all enjoy it!  You can serve it with or without the Whipped Chocolate Cream on top.  In the picture above I made these adorable snowmen marshmallows to go on top.

Whipped Peppermint White Hot Chocolate With Chocolate Cream

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Jayne Layne's Pepperoncini Beef with Provolone Hot Sandwiches

Pepperoncini Beef and Provolone Hot Sandwiches

 Jayne treated us to these amazing beef sandwiches the other night for Cooking Group.   This is a great slow cooker recipe...just place the browned beef, pepperocini and garlic in your slow cooker on high...six hours later you will have a wonderful juicy beef roast ready to shred and place on toasted buns.  Kelley and I loved dipping these sandwiches in the rich pan juices for a French Dip like sandwich.  These are scrumptious!   For those of us who weren't home when Jayne brought Cooking Group dinner over...she started it in our slow cooker for us!   Everyday I am reminded about how much I love Cooking Group!  I hope you have started one of your own and love it too!

3 lb. beef roast, seasoned with salt and pepper

13 ounce jar chopped pepperoncini plus liquid

5 large cloves garlic, minced

12 hard rolls, sliced in half

In hot skillet place a little oil.  Brown roast on all sides over medium high heat.  Place roast in crock pot with pepperoncini and juices and minced garlic.  Cook in slow cooker on high for 6 hours.   The simplest way to test when the beef is done is by inserting a fork into the beef.  If it goes in and out easily, it is done!  Shred beef using two forks and stir beef into sauce. 
Toast buns under broiler for 30 seconds until lightly browned.  Spread mayonnaise over inside of buns.  Top buns with shredded beef.  Lay piece of provolone cheese over beef.  Place beef and cheese sandwich under broiler for 30 seconds or until cheese melts.  Add the top bun and serve.  You will love dipping these delicious sandwiches in the pan juices!  Enjoy!

Dutch Oven Crusty Bread

Dutch Oven Crusty Bread

Our visit home to Salt Lake City over the 4th of July this summer was so much fun!   I always come home with some new favorite recipes and this Dutch Oven Crusty Bread is one of them!  My cute nephew Sam Owens, just started college, and I was so impressed to find out he has become a real bread maker!  He treated us to this family recipe of fresh bread every day!  Every night he would quickly stir together this bread dough and let it sit overnight on the counter.  In the morning, he would bake his bread and we would quickly eat it all up!  Sam's bread is so fantastic and so simple, I had to have him give me a demonstration and share his recipe with me!  Sam demonstrated just how quick you can throw this bread together, no kneading required!  It's just a quick stir and then let the dough stand and rise at room temperature for 12-24 hours before baking in a hot dutch oven.  How easy is that?!  How delicious?  Make it and you'll see!     

I made this batch of bread with some whole wheat flour.  The recipe calls for white flour, which is my favorite flour to use for this bread.


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Cooking Group~ Melanie Bunker's Pasta Milano

Pasta Milano

 Melanie Bunker brought us one of her family's favorites!  We loved it too!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper
16 ounces fettuccine pasta or other favorite pasta
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cups chicken broth divided
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
handful fresh basil, chopped

Bring a pot a water to boil.  Prepare pasta according to package directions, while you cook the chicken and make the sauce. In a large skillet, over medium heat heat oil and cook chicken until browned on both sides and cooked through.  While chicken is cooking make sauce.  In a large sauce pan over low heat, melt butter and add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth, increase to medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until tomatoes are tender.  Add the cream and bring to a boil, stirring. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.  When chicken is done cooking, remove it from pan and set aside. Cover to keep warm.  Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth to pan juices and simmer to reduce slightly.  Add this to the cream sauce and stir in the basil. Tear chicken into bite sized pieces and stir into cream sauce.   Serve sauce over pasta and garnish with fresh grated Parmesan.   Serve with plenty of crusty bread.

Here's all of the ingredients Melanie delivered today for Pasta Milano.

"Cooking Group"... Getting Started...Teriyaki Steak Stir Fry

I just started doing this really fun "Cooking Group" with some ADORABLE friends.  They had done this before in their old neighborhood, closer to D.C.  I totally lucked out when they all moved to my neck of the woods, in the countryside!  I had them explain to me what exactly a "cooking group" is, since I was not familiar with the term. They explained to me that it's basically a group of friends who trade off preparing one meal a week for everyone in the group.   That means you only have to think about meal planning for ONE meal during the school week and receive three or four (depending on how many people are in your group) meals delivered to you, so you can quickly cook and enjoy a delicious, hot meal, without all the shopping and menu planning!  I instantly LOVED the idea!  It's such a great way to try all your friends favorite recipes, learn how to make them, and incorporate them into your own repertoire. Plus, your family will love trying new favorite recipes that are already tried and true!  I will be featuring our "Cooking Group" recipes in this section of my blog, so you can enjoy them too!  Hope you enjoy this idea and start a "Cooking Group" of your own!

                           HOW TO GET STARTED...

Step One: Get a group of 4 or 5 friends together who want to join.  We have 4 people in our group and cook Monday through Thursday because Fridays are usually a date night.  We plan out a menu a month or two in advance.  This is to ensure everyone is not making chicken every night of the week!  The idea is to try have one vegetarian, one beef or pork, one seafood one chicken dish a week.

Step Two: Everyone is assigned a day out of the school or work week to cook (prep ingredients) for a main course of their choice for everyone in the group.  Everyone is on their own for side dishes.

Step Three: Everyone needs to purchase 4 or 5 (depending on how many people are in your group) 8x8 inch glass Pyrex storage dishes (oven proof and freezer proof) with lids. These are delivered with the meal every time. This way we all end up sharing the same dishes and everyone has 4 or 5 on hand every week. 

Step Four: On your cooking day you measure, prep and bag all of the ingredients for your entree for the entire group. Place some of the ingredients or the meat portion in the Pyrex dish, as well as in zip lock bags as needed. Place all needed ingredients for the meal in a strong "delivery" bag along with the instructions. 

Step Five: Deliver the bags to each member of the group in the afternoon, generally before the kids get home from school is best, so everyone can throw the meal together in time for dinner.  You don't always have to eat the meal on the day it is delivered.  You can save it for another day if needed, or even freeze it depending on what it is. Remember you don't bring the meal cooked and hot.  You just bring all of the prepped things they will need to make it quickly, or prepared (like lasagna) and ready to cook.

Note:  Kelley Miller makes a habit of making one extra dinner on her day to cook to take to a friend or neighbor in need.  I love that idea!  (Kelley is so awesome!)

   

Teriyaki Steak Stir Fry

Jayne Layne brought this amazing dinner over the first night of cooking group.  We all loved it, even all of the kids!  Jayne is so talented at everything she does...among many other things she is the co-owner (along with her sister Jennifer) of Buffalo Lane Jewelry...check out their awesome stuff at http://www.buffalolane.com/ ... AND then try her Teriyaki Steak Stir Fry, it's sooooo good!

Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup cornstarch

3 teaspoons of canola oil

1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger ( about a 1/2 inch piece)

2-3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

*

2 lbs. steak, thinly sliced

*

1 red or yellow pepper

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Make sure steak slices are dry, dry them with some paper towel if needed, and mix them with the cornstarch, until completely coated.  Shake off extra cornstarch.  To make the Stir Fry Sauce: heat a little oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and saute garlic and ginger for a minute.  Add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl.  The sauce may still be thin at this point.  Turn up the heat and add a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add beef and cook for a few minutes until until browned.  Pour the sauce back into the frying pan and let it cook with the meat. Saute peppers, mushrooms and green onions at high heat for a few minutes and stir into sauce and steak.  Serve over cooked rice.

This is how Jayne's meal came delivered...vegetables and steak cut, and liquid ingredients measured. So all I had to do was follow simple instructions for the stir fry and cook the rice.  Notice she sent the recipe with the ingredients as well.  However, we often text each other the recipe as well as any preparation hints.   

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Sorbet Frosting

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Sorbet Frosting

Happy Cookie Friday!   Summertime is finally here!  (Just saying that makes me want to get up and dance to High School Musical 2!)  I hope you all have a fun end of the school year!   Hope you enjoy these yummy summertime cupcakes!  Like I've said before...I LOVE LEMON!!!  We are off to Mexico on Monday so I won't be checking in for a bit...but I promise to bring back all kinds of great ideas, photos and foods from Mexico!  Hasta Luego!

Lemon Cupcakes

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Beet and Roma Salad

Beet and Roma Salad

This delicious salad is a perfect use for summer time tomatoes and fresh beets.  Roast the beets early in the day or even the day before to cut down on prep time. 

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Sweet Pulled Pork Fresh Mex

Sweet Pulled Pork Fresh Mex 

I love making these Pulled Pork Salads or Burritos on a regular basis.  It's the perfect thing for serving a big group of family or friends.  For best flavor you should make the pulled pork and black beans a day in advance.   (And I'm all over anything I can make a day in advance!)   The Cilantro Dressing and the Pico de Gallo can be made a day in advance as well to cut back on last minute preparations.  I love this as a salad, but you can wrap it all up burrito style if that is what you are craving.  Either way the flavors are fantastic!  Here are all the elements you'll need to make an amazing Fresh Mex dinner for your friends and family...  

Sweet Pulled Pork

Cilantro Rice

Black Beans

Incredibly flavorful and healthy these back beans are a hit.  Plan ahead to make this recipe as the beans need to soak overnight or all day then simmer for 1 ½ hours, unless you want to use the canned beans.  Make this a day ahead to cut down on prep work.  

Pico de Gallo 

Fresh Lime and Cilantro Dressing

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Honey White Oat Bread

Honey White Oat Bread

     My husband and I went to hear the Nora Struthers Band play the other night at this wonderful art deco era theater in Frederick Maryland, called The Weindberg Center. It's such a small theater that you really get to be up close to the performers.  It's such a fun place to attend concerts!  Since it's such a small theater and audience, the performing artists usually come out to the foyer after the performances to mingle with the crowd.  It was really fun to meet Nora, (ya, we're pretty much on a first name basis now.)  It's such fun change of ambiance from the Kennedy Center In downtown D.C!  The Nora Struthers Band was fantastic! Nora has an amazing voice and they have some talented banjo, mandolin, fiddle and drummers in the band.  If you ever get the chance to hear them in person I would highly recommend it!  Check out some of their great tunes here...https://myspace.com/norajanestruthers/music/songs.  My favorites are Jack of Diamonds, Travelin' On, Bike Ride.  You can check them out playing these awesome tunes live on youtube. 
     A special old friend and neighbor, Connie Robinson and I have a lot in common...we are both busy moms, play stringed instruments, love to cook and bake and have a knack for getting ourselves into larger than life home and garden projects.  Connie and I played in a string quartet together for many years.  We always dreamed of putting together a bluegrass band, with me on banjo and Connie on mandolin, but with family, church responsibilities and a reality check, a dream it remains!  With our growing families, one thing we did a lot of was cooking and baking. Connie comes from a long line of family bread makers, and always knew when I needed a loaf of her hot-out- of- the- oven, homemade bread, and a visit. Connie shared her family recipe for this delicious bread.  It's definitely one of our favorites.  My kids can enthusiastically eat an entire loaf, hot out of the oven, with butter and honey or jam when they get home from school.  Luckily the recipe makes two loaves so there is fresh bread for Dad when he gets home from work.  One day, Connie and I will get around to some banjo, mandolin and fiddle music together, after a good visit and a loaf of Connie's Honey White Oat Bread.   

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Spring Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Spring Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

In our backyard at the home where I grew up lies a rhubarb plant underneath a peach tree.  
Every spring it would burst forth with pink stalks of red rhubarb and wait to be harvested.  Rhubarb Crisp...Strawberry Rhubarb Pie...Rhubarb Jam... were annual delicious rhubarb creations.  This Strawberry Rhubarb Jam is no exception.  Super easy and fast too.  I love homemade jam, don't you?

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Live Easter Grass

Bring in the Spring!

Easter Grass Centerpiece

Hi friends!  This time every year I love growing Easter Grass for gorgeous centerpieces on Spring tables.  It is so easy to grow and so fun for kids too.  We have loved doing this every spring since my oldest child was a little tyke.  So when it's still cold outside and you are yearning for a little sunshine and green grass, bring Spring inside!  You and the kids will love watching the grass grow!  A fun idea is to place Easter eggs, figurines or chocolate rabbits (in wrappers or packaging) on the wheat grass just after if sprouts.  The grass will grow up around it, making it look like a secret garden has grown around the egg!  Or just let the grass grow wild. These make adorable center pieces and are perfect for Easter.  There are so many fun ways to display the Easter Grass depending on the container you use.  Be creative!

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Rocky Mountain Ranch Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

Rocky Mountain Ranch
 Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings

Upon returning from our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands, my husband and I were off to the Sawtooth Mountains, just outside Sun Valley, Idaho for summer jobs before school started in the fall.  My husband was working for the National Forest Service and I was working at The Rocky Mountain Ranch, a rustic hotel just outside the National Forest. Take a peek at the historic Western lodge, http://www.idahorocky.com/1_RanchStory/Overview.html 
One of the appetizer items on the menu at the Rocky Mountain Ranch were these amazing chicken wings.  I would bring them home (to our trailer in the forest) anytime I got the chance!  I soon asked the chef for the sauce recipe and started making them on my own.  These wings are inspired by the fantastic wings at The Rocky Mountain Ranch Restaurant.  My friends and family all love this sauce!  One friend loves serving this sauce over grilled salmon, others serve it with roasted or grilled chicken breasts.  Find out what your favorite way is!

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Creme Brulee Cheesecake

Creme Brulee Cheesecake 

There are many reasons why I love cheesecake.  It's one of my favorite desserts to serve at a party.  Cheesecake is one of those desserts that not only can but needs to be made ahead of time.  And since making foods ahead of time is key to entertaining...cheesecake is a perfect fit!  Cheesecake is also really simple to make and they taste fantastic.  My favorite cheesecake pan has a glass bottom.  If you are using a pan with a metal bottom, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper for best results.

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