Holiday Recipes

Every Christmas Eve morning and every Christmas morning for the past few years, there are two recipes that my family enjoys.  I've decided to share them with you today and I know you will thank me.  They are not hard to make at all so I don't know why I wait to fix them for special occasions.

Amish  Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. bacon (regular, not maple or pepper)
1 lb. sausage (regular old Jimmy Dean)
1 onion, finely diced (I only use about 1/3)
6 eggs, beaten
4 c. frozen hashbrowns (can be thawed or right out of the freezer, I've done both and it doesn't matter)
2 c. shredded cheddar (I've also used pepper jack)
1 1/4 c. shredded Swiss
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese

Cook bacon and sausage in separate pans.  Remove bacon from pan, reserve about 2T drippings and sauté onion.  In a huge bowl, mix together the eggs, hash browns, shredded cheeses and cottage cheese.  Add sausage, bacon and sautéed onion.  Mix well.  Put into a greased 9x13 dish.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  I've made this the night before and stuck in the fridge until ready to bake the next morning.


Queen's French Toast

1 stick butter
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. caro syrup
Melt these three ingredients in a sauce pan and then pout into a 9x13 metal pan.

1/2 loaf Texas Toast, cut in half triangles
Lay the bread on top of the brown sugar sauce in the 9x13

5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix these ingredients and pour over the bread.

Top generously with cinnamon.

Bake 350 for 30 minutes.

I always make this one the night before so the bread and soak up on the goodness.


I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do!

Neglect

I have neglected this blog for quite some time.  I will do better from now on.

 Tonight we had one of those fancy hams.  My Man gets it from our friend and insurance agent every year.  For most families, I'm sure it would last 4-5 days.  We'll have it polished off in 2 tops.

Ramsey Christmas

This weekend is our annual Ramsey Family Christmas.  It's when my dad's side of the family (his brothers and sister and everyone kids) come together, exchange gifts, eat, visit and just hang out.  I look forward to it each year because it's often the only time I see some of my cousins.  Thankfully Facebook has helped with maintaining contact and interaction!  This year, we'll be traveling to southern MO to my mom's hometown.  My aunt rents out a large reception-type hall.  There is a full kitchen and plenty of room for the kids.  I'm taking a couple of crafts for the kids to do and some footballs.  After we eat the cousins pile into one of the cars and head over to the gravesight of my beloved grandmother (dad's mom).  On the way there we usually talk about memories from years past and then put a grave blanket over her grave.  Last year the grave blanket was made from cedar branches and adorned with special ornaments and pictures that reminded us of Grandma.  This year, my sister found a lovely ornament that reminded us of all of Grandma's costume jewelry.  I can't wait to see my cousins and will miss the ones who can't make it this year.  I posted this in the food blog because I'm going to mention food.  I am taking a chocolate cherry cake and we are stopping in Jeff City to grab a pizza.  My aunt will have all the regular fixings of a down-home dinner like ham, potatoes, green beans, corn and bread.  The rest of us will each bring more food to add to that.  I can't wait!

Thanksgiving

I'm sorry to tell you that I forgot to take my camera to my in-law's house and therefore have no pictures to share with you.

But here's what we did (and I'm posting on Kohler Eats because the post will inclue food of one kind or another):

We woke up and went to iHop for breakfast.  We dropped little miss off at Gramma's so we could also enjoy a movie while we were out.  Thanks Gramma and Big Daddy!

I was afraid iHop would be crowded and while it was full, we didn't wait for a table and service was not bad at all.  Here's what we ordered:  Me (pumpkin pancakes with eggs and a side of ham), My Man (some kind of huge thing with eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and pancakes), #1 (Kid's meal with pancake, bacon, sausage, egg and he ate every bit of it and started begging for more), #2 (pancake with yogurt and strawberries), #3 (chocolate chip pancake), #4 (chocolate chip pancake).  Everyone ended up eating my ham.  There were no leftovers.  If we wouldn't have ordered drinks (water only), the bill would have only been about $30.  The soda and juice were $2 a glass.

After breakfast we went to see Puss in Boots.  Very cute movie.  A lot like Shrek in that there were a few parts that adults laughed at and the kids didn't get.  But the rest was funny and cute.  The Kitty Galore was a bit on the sexy side for an animated film but it was lost on my boys (thankfully). 

After the movie, we headed on over to Gramma and Big Daddys'.  They were in a whirl of getting things ready so we enouraged the boys to play downstairs until dinner.  They were starved and told us about it repeatedly.  When dinner was ready, they were ravenous.

Here's the menu:  turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade rolls, green beans, mixed veggie casserole, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, craberries and strawberry pretzel salad.  Dessert was: pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and chocolate chip pie.  We ate and ate and ate and ate.  Oh and we also had wassail with spiced rum. 

Then we cleaned up the kitchen and relaxed for a bit.  Because we ate later in the day, my boys tuckered out quicker and we ended up heading home before watching our traditional Christmas Vacation.  I was bummed about that.  But after getting kids ready for bed, I headed off too so I could catch some zzzzz's before shopping with my sis on Black Friday.

Mock Thanksgiving

Whenever I say the word "mock" I think of the Friends episode when Monica made the "mock-late."  Does anyone remember that?  Speaking of Friends...if I were to sit and re-watch every episode I think I would get it in a whole new light.  I absolutely loved that show when I was in college (sitting in the chapter room with all my besties every Thursday).  But now that I'm a more seasoned woman (what?), I think I would love it even more. 

But my post today isn't about Friends.  It's about Thanksgiving. 

Last Friday night, I decided to have a Mock Thanksgiving with my little crew.  I knew whatever I made would never hold a candle to my mother-in-law's great cooking so the dinner I made would have to come before the real deal.  I got a little boneless turkey breast (3lbs) and roasted it in the oven.  I made green bean casserole (the good way with canned soup, canned green beans and those little onion thingies), mashed potatoes, turkey gravy from a packet, hot rolls (Rhodes frozen), and the real star of the show...Stovetop Stuffing.  How Betty Crocker am I?  The kids loved the turkcy (it really was easy and delish considering it was no work at all).  They tolerated the stovetop stuffing and green bean casserole.  And they loved the rolls and mashed potatoes/gravy.  For dessert, I had Christmas themed ice cream sandwiches for everyone.  It was a good meal!

Later on we made our traditional "Thankful Tree." I'll post more on that later...and probably over on The Kohler Kids side.

This Week

This week we will be eat red meat 4 out of 7 nights.  Basketball starts this week, but thankfully, practices don't start until 8pm.  I know that's late considering bedtime, showers and all that but it sure frees up our family dinnertime.  I am thankful.

Monday - Kohler Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread
Tuesday - Round Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls
Wednesday - Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and rolls (my mock Thanksgiving dinner that I serve before we go to my mother-in-laws and eat her delish cooking!)
Thursday - Roast, carrots, noodles, rolls
Friday - Burgers, fries, mac-n-cheese
Saturday - OUT
Sunday - birthday party for my niece

Eyeball Pops

One of the treats I made for #1's class party was donut pops.

School rules don't let you take in anything "homemade" anymore so I used store-bought donuts, dipped in white chocolate and then decorated them.

The top picture here is what I did with the leftovers.

(a couple were done by #3)

Here are what I made for the kids.

EYEBALLS!

Haunted Brownie House

In years past, I've gotten one of those gingerbread houses for Halloween.

This year, I found a brownie house.

It looked just as fun and maybe even a bit more edible?

The boys were excited to help!

Yummy!

The older two tried very hard to replicate the box picture but with the two youngest around to "help", they soon gave in and just stuck stuff everywhere as well.

Next year, the request has been made to have two houses (one for the older two and on for the younger three).

Spider Cupcakes

I saw a cute example in a Halloween magazine where you took black icing in a tube and put circles on top of the white frosting and then took a toothpick to make web designs on top of the cupcakes.

I don't really like the taste of the black icing in a tube so I decided to make my own.

I used canned white frosting and royal black to make the webs.

It was more labor-intensive...and the kids probably wouldn't have minded the black icing in a tube.

But they were still fun!

The boys especially enjoyed the skulls and poison references for these cupcakes.

On a side note, when the boys were little and just starting to associate Halloween with scary stuff instead of cute little costumes (Buzz and Woody, for example), the only thing I let them do that was scary were skeletons.  My reasoning was that skeletons really aren't scary when you think about it, they are simply parts of our bodies.  Since then, the idea of skeletons (and skulls) has become a staple in our home.  If the boys see clothing with a skull, they are desperate for it.  Skulls = cool.

So my girl this year, got a sparkly skull shirt to wear during the day on Halloween.

I'll post more on it later!

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Because I'm an awesome mom...

(haven't said that in a while)

I made sugar cookies once again.

Aren't they so cute?

I used my Grandma's sugar cookie recipe.

And the royal icing recipe is the standard Wilton one.

I used skeleton, cat, ghost, pumpkin, moon and cat cookie cutters.

The skeleton one could also be used for Frankenstein but I ran out of time.

The kids loved them, and so did My Man and I.

The the funny thing I learned about using royal icing to ice your sugar cookies is that the icing acts of a kind of barrier making the cookies stale-proof.  I made them on a Thursday and by Monday, they were still just as perfect as the day I made them.  Who knew?

Pumpkin Cupcakes

A while back I said that we would be busy making Halloween goodies in the kitchen and that is no lie.

The pumpkin cake pops were only the beginning!

Today, I'm posting about the pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting.

Oh my goodness!

These were sooo good!

I got the recipe from a friend who made them at a sorority meeting and I knew I had to make them.

I'm not usually a fan of frosting with cream cheese in it (cream cheese and sweets should never mix in my book) but I was easily swayed with this frosting!

Pumpkin Cake Pops

#2 found my Bakerella Cake Pops book and poured through it the other day.

He found the recipe for Pumpkin Cake Pops and so sweetly asked if I would make them with him.

So I did.

You start out with melted white almond bark.

Add orange food coloring (I used Americolor gel).

I could have added more orange to make it darker but you get the drift.

We are a little out of order here

Here are the dipped ones (sorry the color is so off but they are orange).

My assistant decided to do a few himself.

Such concentration.

Here is what the goal was.

We made several as you can see.

Unfortunately, our edible marker was dreadful.

Please, don't buy this brand.

If I'd only checked amazon before buying, I would have learned how terrible these markers are.

The brand you really need is Americolor.

I used a spice cake and vanilla frosting.

These were a hit with my kids (even though the marker was frustrating).

*And the green stem was a minty tic-tac.  My boys don't like mint so we opted for stem-free pumpkins!

Garden?

Would you care to know that I just harvested yet another zucchini, several tomatoes and a boat-load of jalapenos?  I haven't even been tending the garden lately and just happened to go check on it.  I was amazed at what was there waiting for me!  I'm sure it's because of two things:  1) I'm awesome (as we all know) and 2) I babied the thing the whole summer, until the boys went back to school in mid-August.  And now, even though I've been neglectful, she's still producing.  I guess I got the green thumb from Granny Mabel.  Sorry Sister!

Halloween Goodies

I have several ideas in store for my kiddos in the next few days leading up to Halloween.  We're planning to make pumpkin cake pops, sugar cookies in the shapes of moons, skulls, cats, and pumpkins, mummy munch, haunted house brownies and pick your poisen spider web cupcakes.  I'm cool.

Mexican Steak

Oh how I wish I had a picture of that mexican steak.  It was delish and we're having it again this week!  I found the recipe out of Cook's Country magazine and then just adapted it a little.

Grill a steak.
Combine a topping of cilantro, sliced green onion, garlic and olive oil.
That's it.
When steak is done to your liking, top it with the mexican topping and let the meat rest.
Eat it.
No joke - it was restaurant worthy!

This Week's Menu 10/3

Monday:  Spiced beef and dumplins (Paula Deen)
               Cracked Black Pepper Jasmine Rice (Whitney Miller)
               Fruit

Tuesday:  Mexican Steak (Cook's Country)
               Crispy Potatoes
                Salad
                Fruit

Wednesday:  Meatloaf w/ Mushroom Gravy (Cook's Country)
                     P-Dub Creamy Mashed Potatoes
                    Green Beans
                    Rolls

Thursday:  Roast, carrots, noodles, rolls

Friday:  Chili and Grilled Cheese

Saturday: OUT TO EAT

Sunday:  Burgers on the grill
              Crab Cakes (Whitney Miller)
              Cheese Noodles (Paula Deen)
              Heavenly Pie (Cook's Country)

This Week's Menu 9/26

Monday:  Crispy Onion Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, corn on the cob

Tuesday:  Vegetable Beef Stew, fresh corn polenta, grilled cheese

Wednesday:  Roast, carrot souffle, noodles, rolls

Thursday:  Brisket, mashed potatoes, greens beans, rolls

Friday:  Burgers on the grill, mac and cheese, french fries

Saturday:  out

Sunday:  Chili, grilled cheese

That Last Entry

I have no idea why that last entry for the Best Ever Tomato Soup looks strange.  I do hope you try the recipe though because it really is the best tomato soup I've ever had.  Really, honestly and truly.

The Best Tomato Soup

You know I've been on a kick lately, trying to find the best homemade tomato soup.

I think I've done it.

Really and truly, this is devine!

It was super easy and quick to prepare too!

I took some pics (cause you know me, tryin to be like P-dub), and will post the recipe at the end.

Start out with butter and onion.

Add some flour.

Chicken broth.

Can of this (make sure you get the italian kind).

Little smidge of that.

Chopped fresh parsley.

Sugar.

Salt.

Black pepper.

Bay leaf.

.

Let is simmer and bubble for a bit.

Remove bay leaf and use an imulsion blender like this one, or transfer to a regular blender to get the soup nice and smooth.

Serve with garlic bagel chips.

I used Stacy's brand.

This soup was amazing.

And virtually fat-free (if that concerns you).

It was nice and thick.

The best part?

My boys loved it!

Tomato Soup with Herbed Croutons (I used Stacy's garlic bagel chips)

1/2 chopped onion

3T. butter, melted

3T, flour

1 c. Chicken Broth

1 (28-ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes, undrained

3T. Tomato Paste

1T. Fresh parsley, chopped

1T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 bay leaf

Saute onion in butter in dutch oven or big pot over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender.  Reduce heat to low; add flour, stirring until smooth.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Gradually add broth; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. 

Add tomatoes and next 7 ingredients; stir well.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.  Discard bay leaf.

Process half of tomato mixture in a blender until smooth (or use an emulsion blender).  Repeat with rest of mixture and return all to dutch oven. 

Serve with herbed croutons.

Blueberry Muffins

A few weeks ago I shared that I'd gotten Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook.

I actually checked it out from the library and just photocopied some of the recipes I wanted to try.

One of them was the recipe for her mother's homemade blueberry muffins.

They were super easy, used fresh blueberries (which I hade from a blueberry picking trip this summer) and totally yummy.

#5 was the first to give them a try and while she demolished them as she ate, she kept saying, "Good, Momma."

She's a gobble monster with those precious teeth!

YUMMY!

Blythe's Blueberry MuffinsGwyneth Paltrow, My Father's Daughter

Makes 12

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs (preferably organic)
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk butter, eggs and milk together in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups and sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

9/6 - 9/11 Menu

Monday - We ate leftovers
Tuesday - Vegetable Soup
Wednesday - Kohler Enchiladas (kids will eat chicken strips)  **Note:  on the Kohler Enchiladas please sub the evap. milk for cream of mush soup.  It really is best that way.
Thursday - Lemon Chicken
Friday - Burgers, Fries and Mac-n-cheese
Saturday - OUT
Sunday - Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese *I'm trying a new recipe here and will post all about it next week!

I'm going to publish our week's menu this weekend, I promise!  With football in the evenings and rush rush rush of school, homework and practices, it's been a bit nutty round these parts but I'm going to get a menu planned. 

Homemade Tomato Soup

Homemade tomato soup.

I recently checked out Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook.  It's full of healthy recipes and little bits and blurbs about her family growing up and current.  I fell in love with her when she filmed Emma and dated Brad Pitt.  Then she got kind of weird and named her kids Apple and Moses.  But the cookbook is fun to read and only a few of the recipes are weird or have ingredients that are non-existent in our neck of the woods.

Slow-Roasted Tomato Soup
adapted from My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or more, as desired)
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh, large basil leaves
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with juices
16 pieces slow-roasted tomatoes (8 whole tomatoes), roughly chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring so that it doesn’t burn. Add the basil leaves, tomatoes and juice, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low and simmer it uncovered for 40 minutes. As it simmer gently break part the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. After cooking stir in the slow-roasted tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste.

**I ended up adding quite a bit of salt as it was a bit bland.  But the addition of those little garlic bagel chips made it soooo good!