Buffalo Chicken Dip

I will be the first person to tell you that I'm not the kind of girl who goes out searching for really spicy foods.  I love Indian food, I love Mexican food and I love me some jambalaya every now and then, but for the most part - I'm proud of my Scandinavian heritage.  That means meat, potatoes and this very distinct addiction to any kind of carbohydrate.

So I will be the first one to admit that I was very surprised when I fell in love with this dip that was featured at one of the several potlucks that my office had around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  This dip is great with tortilla chips, but is AMAZING with celery sticks.  And if you eat it with celery sticks, it's better for you - right?  Right?

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 (10 oz.) cans of chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese
1 c. ranch dressing
3/4 c. pepper sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot, my friend Jon who originally made this dish used the mild sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings)
1 pkg. shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a large skillet over medium heat until heated through.  I used a knife and cubed up the cream cheese before placing it in the skillet and incorporating it in with the ranch dressing.  Stir until well blended and warm.  Mix in half of the shredded cheese and transfer the dip into a slow cooker.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cover and cook on Low until hot and bubbly. 

A couple of notes ... the next time I make this (because my husband hasn't quite forgiven me for bringing this dip to my coworkers and not making it for him yet), I will just add all the cheese at one time before putting it into my crock pot, because if you don't stir this dip while its cooking in the slow cooker, chances are that it's not going to get heated up in the middle and might get burned on the sides.  I'm just sayin' ...

Also - you can do all the steps prior to putting it in the crockpot in advance.  I made this the night before it was my treat day at work, so this dip refrigerated well and I transported it cold to work and then heated it up in the crockpot. 

Pickle Dip

This is one of my latest obsessions when it comes to something that's easy to make, but has one hell of an impact on the tastebuds.

This recipe came from my coworkers who like to call it "tickle dip."  Because they are slightly perverted, which makes me adore them.  Despite the dubious name and the nature of this recipe, do not stop, pass go or collect $200 until you make this recipe.

Pickle Dip

1 tall jar of baby dills, drained and chopped
1 pkg. of Hillshire Farms honey ham, chopped
1 pkg. of Hillshire Farms corned beef, chopped (I could not find this, so I ended up using 2 packages of the Carl Buddig stuff)
1 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. mayo

Take all of these ingredients.  Dump them into your food processor.  Blend until incorporated.  Serve with crackers.  Try not to eat the entire dish in one serving.

#GreatHallowTweet: Cauldron Crack Dip

You'll have to forgive me for lacking a photo on this particular dish.  I brought it to work last Friday and didn't feel like whipping out my camera in front of my co-workers to get a picture of what can only be described as "crack dip."  You know what I'm talking about ... the kind of dip that is really, really bad for you, but you can't get enough of.

So here's the deal ... over the past few months, I've really tried to eliminate processed food from my diet.  When Happy Meals can sit out for six months without getting moldy, there is truly something wrong with the make up of what we're feeding our children.  But while I can totally get up on my soapbox about that - I have a confession to make:  I have a secret love for Velveeta.  I don't eat it all the time, because I get slightly disgusted with myself, but if I have it every once in awhile, I feel like my life has achieved some sort of nirvana-ic balance.

Anyway - the story behind this dip is that my co-worker Melinda made it one night when she lured me to one of those jewelry parties.  I had toiled for an hour at a gym and had promised myself that I would be good at this party, but once I saw that she had a crockpot full of this cheesy goo, I could not help myself.  And the best part about this dip?  Have fun with it ... everything is approximate and if you don't like something - eliminate it.  Replace it with something that you do like. 

Melinda's Cauldron Crack Dip

1 small onion, diced
1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
1 small box of Mexican Velveeta, cubed
1/2 large box of Regular Velveeta, cubed
1 can chili beans
1 small can diced green chiles
1 package/can of Spanish rice (I ended up using that Uncle Ben's stuff that you're supposed to microwave for 90 seconds.  But I didn't microwave it.)
1 c. salsa

Dice up one small onion and brown with one pound of hamburger in a large skillet.  The next part is totally up to you ... you can either incorporate all of the ingredients into said skillet and get everything melted down and THEN dump into a large Crockpot (make sure to keep the heat on low, for risk of burning the cheesy, processed goodness) or you can throw all of the ingredients in the Crockpot and then heat on low until the cheese is melted and everything is well incorporated. 

P.S. - I only utilized my Crockpot because my cauldron is broken and they frown upon open fires at my office. 

Hummus with Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Hearts

This recipe is a tribute to a recent boozy night with one of my dearest friends from college and our significant others.  Not only did I help drain several bottles of wine, I also decimated a plate of my friend Nichole's hummus.  I hadn't ever had hummus like it and she placed the bowl right in front of me, so yeah - that was pretty much the end of that appetizer.

Here's my adaptation of her recipe ...

Hummus with Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Hearts

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
one head of garlic, roasted **
about 2 T. of lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Throw all of these ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blitz until it's as chunky as you'd like it to be or smoother than a baby's bottom.  Serve with veggies or pita chips.

My adaptation for this recipe is to roast the garlic.  Nichole minces up about five cloves of garlic (or as much as you can stand, as she put it) for her hummus.  I'm hoping that as the ingredients meld overnight in the fridge, that the roasted garlic taste is more pronounced.  Right now, it's just really awesomely mellow.

**Roasting garlic?  Here's what I do ... take a head of garlic, slice off the top, wrap in foil and place into a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until you can really smell garlic in your kitchen.  (That's how I figure out when most of my dishes are done ...)  Unwrap the garlic from the foil and let cool.  Then squeeze all the nummy roasted garlic out of the bulb and store in the fridge or use immediately for what you roasted it for.  Or, if all else fails, just spread some of that on a crusty piece of baguette and ward off evil vampires.

Crack Cheese Garlic Bread

Dear World, I would like to introduce you to these little bites of cheesy garlic bread.  Why do I call it crack cheese garlic bread?  Because I snarfed down half a loaf of this appetizer like a junkie seeking a fix!  These are incredible.  They are also incredibly addictive.  And I am relatively certain that they are not good for you whatsoever.

I got this recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis.  And even though the woman drives my husband mad with her massacre of the word "mozzarella," even he admits that these are pretty damn tasty.

Cheddar Garlic Bread
adapted from Giada's Cheddar and Scallion Bread

1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced lengthwise
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
6 oz. room temperature butter (I use unsalted, it's how I roll and what I put on my rolls.  Ha!  Um, lame ...)
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Take the cheese, the butter and the garlic and blitz them in a food processor until its a nice, combined and spreadable mixer.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spread cheesy goodness on the bread and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and bubbly.  Cut into slices (hint - it's easier if you use a pizza cutter ...)

A couple notes:

1) When I went about making this for the first time, I didn't have the recipe in front of me and ended up playing by ear - and making a ton.  Basically, I used two bags of grated sharp cheddar and then 2 sticks of butter. (Along with the two garlic cloves.)  As you can imagine, this made a ton of spread, but it's stored itself really nicely in the fridge and I've been pulling it out and softening it as needed.  So far, it's been in the fridge for three days.  I give it until the end of the week until I freak out and throw it out.

2) Please, please, PLEASE listen to Giada and use the ciabatta bread.  It has these crazy little holes that fill up with cheesy, buttery goodness when this is baked.  And my God ... if there are appetizers in the hereafter, methinks this will be served.

3) In terms of ciabatta - when I first made this, I bought a big loaf, but I also used some ciabatta rolls that I found - same thing, just smaller.  I really liked this because I didn't have to do as much cutting when it came time to serve my apps.

Bastardized Crab Rangoon

This is one of my favorite appetizers ever.  It's ridiculously easy, disgustingly in-authentic and gets people to stray out of their comfort zone and try something they probably would avoid in other culinary situations.  What is it that I am referring to?  Why, it's Kraft's bastardized recipe for crab rangoons. :)

I originally found this article in the back of Kraft's food magazine and had tore it out to try.  This was many years ago.  I finally got to sample this appetizer when my friend Erin made it for a party I attended and I was hooked.  I finally made it for a friend's birthday and was amazed how good and how easy it was to make.

Baked Crab Rangoons

adapted from Kraft

1 8 oz. pkg of Neufchatel cream cheese, softened

1 can of crab meat, drained and flaked

green onions

wonton wrappers (you can usually find these in the produce section of the grocery store)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tins and line with wonton wrappers.  Drain the crab meat (I actually rinsed the meat and then dumped it into a few layers of paper towels and squeezed it so it was dry ... you don't want runny rangoons) and combine with cream cheese and green onions.  (I used about four onions - much to my friend Anne's dismay.  Sorry buddy!)

Bake for 18 minutes.  Remove from tins and put on platter.  This is divine by itself, but we paired it with some sweet and sour sauce. 

Editor's Note:  The original recipe calls for light mayonnaise.  Since I couldn't locate my recipe and kept googling "Pillsbury Crab Rangoons" instead of "Kraft," I couldn't find the original recipe.  I think this was good without mayonnaise, but I'll leave that to your discretion.  Also - if I make these again, I'm so mincing some garlic and throwing it in there.  These were delightful, but I was missing something and I think that something was garlic.

... done, blurry & delicious

Holiday Hangover: Apple Pie Shots and Pesto Pinwheels

You know that you've thrown a successful New Years Eve party when the kids in attendance cry upon their parents telling them that it's time to go home.  Then again, that could have more to do with the fact that all kids in attendance at the Casa de Mahannah party were up way past their bedtimes and not anything to do with me being a great hostess. :) 

We had members of our Urban Family over to ring in the New Year this past holiday and I decided to keep it simple:  a  big pan of homemade macaroni and cheese and a bunch of snacks for our guests.

Here's the table before my awesome friends Paul and Anne brought their "Velvet Elvis" dip (Velveeta cheese and salsa melted together - one of our friends calls it "Velvet Elvis" - not sure where that comes from ...)

I had Ina Garten's Rosemary Roasted Cashews, leftover Christmas cookies, red velvet cupcakes, cocktail wieners, my friend Deb's Pesto Pinwheels and a big relish tray with green and black olives, baby dill pickles and baby carrots. Not pictured is the macaroni and cheese that was bubbling in the oven, getting ready for company to arrive.

For drinks, our friends brought some Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat (one of my favorite beers - I love you Wisconsin).  Ryan and I had some wine from a winery in South Dakota that I visited when I went on vacation with my nephews (nothing says "quality family time" like dragging three boys to a winery).  We drank Red Ass Rhubarb and Lawrence Elk (a black currant wine) from the Prairie Berry Winery in Hill City, South Dakota.  We also had some homemade pear wine, some homemade wine from my friend Paul and apple pie shots - which we drank in tumblers.

I think a good time was had by all.

Deb's Pesto Pinwheels

from my friend Deb, who got it from a Taste of Home magazine

 

1 tube (8oz) refrigerated crescent rolls (I used Pillsbury's Garlic Butter crescent rolls to ward away vampires.)

1/3 cup prepared pesto sauce
1/4 cup roasted sweet red peppers, drained and chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pizza sauce

Unroll crescent dough into two long rectangles; seal seams and perforations.  Spread each with pesto; sprinkle with red peppers and Parmesan cheese.  Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side.
With a sharp knife, cut each roll into 10 slices or so.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm with pizza sauce.

Editor's Note:  I actually prepared these the night before, put them in a container and threw them on my side porch step because I had run out of room in my refrigerator.  They got a little frozen, but baked up awesomely.  If you are freezing these, whether accidentally or on purpose, give them about five extra minutes for baking.


Apple Pie Shots

These were actually packaged for Christmas gifts this year

Pretty, festive and powerful ... be careful when consuming since Everclear is, like, 150 proof

adapted from DrinkNation.com

    * 750 ml Everclear
    * 1/2 gal. Apple Juice
    * 1/2 gal. Cider, apple
    * 3 sticks Cinnamon Stick
    * 1.5 cup Sugar

Instructions

Mix apple juice, apple cider, sugar, and cinnamon sticks together. Boil until cinnamon sticks lose flavor (I gave this about 1/2 hour and sucked on the cinnamon stick - then I rationalized that while the concoction was cooling, the cinnamon sticks would continue to steep.  And I was right.) Add Everclear. Refrigerate.

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

Oh, how do I love this recipe?  So much, I had made this to bring to a get-together with some friends and nearly punked out at the last minute so my hubby and I could keep this to ourselves.  But good sense and hospitality prevailed.  I will make this again - I have a feeling that this will be one that will make an appearance at many more get-togethers.  It's just that simple and it is just that good.

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts
from AllRecipes.com

    * 1/3 cup white sugar
    * 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
    * 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
    * 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
    * 2 tablespoons butter
    * 2 tablespoons honey
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1 pound skinless peanuts (I bought a jar of unsalted, roasted peanuts)
   
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Stir together the sugar, chipotle powder, chili powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Stir together the butter, honey, and kosher salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted, and the mixture is bubbly. Stir in the peanuts until well coated, then pour out into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until the nuts are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Stir the mixture 2 or 3 times to ensure even cooking. Once done, scrape the peanuts into a large metal bowl, and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Toss the peanuts to evenly coat with the spice mixture. Allow the peanuts to cool to room temperature, tossing every few minutes so the nuts do not stick together.

Paula Deen's Sausage Balls

This was one of the easiest recipes that I ever considered harming myself over.  Let me paint the picture ... I was home sick a few weeks ago and the Cat and I found ourselves snuggling in our favorite chair, watching some vintage Paula Deen.  While Paula is not my favorite Food Network icon (that place is held firmly by that goddess named Ina), I do appreciate her Southern sensibility and her penchant for using whole sticks of butter.  So when she made these Sausage Balls and I heard a subtle crunch as she bit into one of the finished products - I was intrigued.  And with only three ingredients, all of which are usually in my pantry - what a winning appetizer to whip up for my next get together with my buddies.

Well - it's a winner, but if you like to use your bare hands to form about five-dozen one-inch balls, be a martyr and make this recipe.  It's good, don't get me wrong - and I shouldn't complain because this recipe makes a ton, but this recipe only reminds me that I have a short attention span that is not conducive to making fussy appetizers and that I hate it when I get my hands dirty and Bisquick under my fingernails.  Paula made it look so easy on TV!

Sausage Balls
from Paula Deen

Ingredients

    * 1 (1-pound) package ground sausage
    * 3 cups baking mix (recommended: Bisquick)
    * 4 cups grated sharp Cheddar

Dip:

    * 1 cup mayonnaise
    * 1 tablespoon mustard

Directions


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl. Mix well with your fingers. The mixture will be very crumbly. Form into 1 inch balls, squeezing the mixture so it holds together, then rolling it between the palms of your hands to form balls.  Place the balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. To prevent sticking, move the balls with a spatula halfway through cooking. To make the dip, combine the mayonnaise and mustard. Serve with sausage balls.

Giada's White Bean Dip

Oh Giada - how do I love thee? Well, I adore you for creating such an easy recipe that made me look like a rock star at a recent party that I attended. And also - thank you for not being a snob about using canned beans. Oh yes, I know the joys of cooking my own garbanzos, pintos and black beans, but sometimes a girl just doesn't have the patience to cook beans or has forgot to let them soak overnight.

Blessed is your name, Giada. Even if you drive my husband up the wall.

White Bean Dip
by Giada DeLaurentiis

* 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons
* 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
* Salt
* Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl.

**Note - the original recipe calls to make toasted pita triangle to serve along with this dip. I said "screw making my own pita triangles" and served the dip with a mix of crackers - the ones shown are the bagel chips by Gardettos ... killer!

Another note - when I made this for the party, I ended up doubling the recipe. And lo and behold, I ran out of olive oil so I only made it with the 1/3 cup of olive oil and this was still fabulous. I'd recommend cutting the oil in half in this recipe.

Tuscan Dip

After the Lime Blackberry Babycakes fiasco of 2009, I was in a panic because that was the second dessert I was bringing to a very important party. The party started at 6, I got home from the cab company at 2, fretted until about 3:30 p.m., and finally decided to head to the grocery store to get the ingredients for the very simple but totally awesome dip.

This is from the folks at Kraft Foods. They'd like you to use their products, but it's not necessary.

Tuscan Dip
from KraftFoods.com

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped black olives
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions

Mix the cream cheese and the sour cream together first. Fold in the veg. Chill.

I served with red, green and yellow pepper strips. I meant to serve it with cherry tomatoes and crackers, but I forgot those at home. *sigh*

Cooking Italy: Basic Bruschetta

Like I explained earlier this week, I have joined a cooking group called "Cooking Italy." Our inaugural recipe was for a basic tomato bruschetta.

The recipe comes from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking." And I'll be honest - when I first looked at the recipe I didn't think that I would be wow'd. (Then again, I eat macaroni and cheese with hot dogs cut up in it ... I'm not exactly gourmet.) But wow'd I was ... this recipe combined two of my favorite things (tomatoes and olive oil) and the flavors of the basil (fresh from MY plant) just popped in my mouth.

Bruschetta with Tomato

from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking

**I ended up reducing this recipe because it was just for my hubby and me. Well, mostly me.

2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
4 slices good, thick crusted bread, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, 3-4″ wide
1 fresh, ripe tomatoes, cut in half, seeded, and chopped into 1/2″ cubes (**I didn't seed mine)
3-4 basil leaves , torn into small pieces - or oregano
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper

• Chop tomatoes right before you are going to grill bread.
• Grill or broil bread to golden brown.
• Smash garlic with a knife, rub on bread once it is toasted.
• Top with tomatoes, basil (or oregano), and drizzle olive oil.
• Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately

The idea for this fabulous cooking experience is from Angela at Spinach Tiger. The rest of the folks who are participating are listed at the right side of her blog.

Chile Pea Puffs

I ended up buying wonton wrappers before my "no-spend/clean out the pantry" month in total honor of this appetizer on Heidi Swanson's site 101 Cookbooks. One of the reasons why this recipe really appealed to me (other than the fact that peas are probably my favorite vegetable on earth) is that when I was in college and living in Malta, I became addicted to the native pea cakes that you can buy from any mom & pop grocery store, pizza shops and at the college's cafeteria. And the best part? Well, other than the fact that they were flaky and stuffed with mashed peas, they were probably 50 cents a pop and were substantial for a late breakfast and made for a bracing snack.

So readers - if any of you guys happen to have random Maltese recipes in your collections and happen to know how to make pea cakes, please tell me.

Anyway ... I made these Chile pea puffs using the wonton wrappers and what I had in my fridge. So instead of paneer, I was able to substitute some low-fat ricotta. And although this was one of those recipes where I tried the finished product and wasn't sure if I liked it or not, I damn near ate the whole cookie sheet while I was fixing another dish that I was making that night. And they were fabulous the next morning for breakfast.

Pea Puffs
adapted from 101Cookbooks.com who adapted this from Monica Bhide's book "Modern Spice: Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen"

1 cup cooked green peas, lightly mashed
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt to start
1/4 teaspoon red chile powder or red chile flakes (less to reduce heat)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
32 wonton wrappers

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray. In a bowl combine the peas, ricotta, salt, chile powder, and garlic. Mix well.

Place one teaspoon of the mixture into a center of a wonton wrapper. To make the package stick, I dipped my finger in a cup of water that I had drawn for the occasion and brushed it on the edges. I ended up shaping mine into little envelopes.

Place the puffs in a single layer on the baking sheet. Brush them with a bit of olive oil. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until they are crisp and the skin changes to a lovely golden brown.

Super Quick Blender Salsa

Man, I'm blurry

Here's the story of a recent taco salad that I cobbled together ... So I described to you the sheer amount of food that was leftover from our wedding. Well, I had to clean out a couple of items from my freezer to make room for other items and came across a couple of bags of corn tortillas that I had used portions of, but froze the rest.

Here's a look at my thought process: "We have some turkey that needs to be finished up, we have about six bags of romaine lettuce and I'm really craving salsa right about now." So I preheated my oven to 400 degrees, threw the tortillas in the oven to thaw and when they were soft enough, I took my pizza cutter and cut the rounds into triangular shapes. I arranged them in a single layer on a baking sheet, gave them a quick spray of cooking spray (I was too lazy to get out my brush and use olive oil ... sue me), sprinkled them with sea salt and a little cayenne and baked them until they were golden and crisp. (I didn't time it - 15 minutes? Don't let them go too long like I did in the unpictured final batch.)

The final product ... not blurry!

I had some smoky peach salsa that I bought at a recent excursion to Trader Joe's, but I was craving the kind of salsa that I get when I go to some of the Mexican restaurants in town. Lots of onion, lots of tomato, a bit of salt and just a hint of cilantro. (Note: Usually I hate cilantro, but I recognize that in this dish, its what gives this salsa authentic flavor. Darn you cilantro.)

I found this recipe over at Real Mom Kitchen. And wow ... it is really good. It is really fast and it's going to be a staple in my future cooking.

Super Fast Blender Salsa
adapated from Real Mom Kitchen

1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 white onion, chopped
2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, with some tender stems
juice of 1 lime (or lemon will work too) (**I didn't have ...)
salt, to taste

Combine ingredients in the blender or food processor. Give it a quick pulse. I added more crushed tomatoes after I had combined the salsa to give it a bit more chunk.

Spinach Pies

OK - so I'm so going to toot my own horn right now: I got married last Saturday, April 18, 2009, to my best friend and partner-in-crime. Friends and family members have gotten to know my beloved and can probably attest to his awesomeness - for those of you who haven't met Ryan, he's the person who tries all of the concoctions that I create and is one of the best critics a person can ask for. (Except when he called my almond cake "mushy." It was dense. Really.)

For me, a big part of our wedding celebration was the food aspect of it. My coworkers were coming in from out of town, along with a lot of my old friends and peers ... I think it's easy to take small-town cooking for granted unless you've been away from it for awhile, so I wanted the food to be simple, plentiful and good. Schulte's BBQ & Catering of Waukon, Iowa, roasted pork tenderloin and turkey breast for the meat; mixed up batches of their homemade cheesy potatoes and green beans with bacon for side dishes and had orange fluff salad (my favorite that I didn't eat because I was so all about the meat aspect of the meal) and a mandarin orange/strawberry spinach salad that's my mom's particular favorite. Mary Jo Liddiard - a cake goddess from my area - made vanilla, chocolate and carrot cupcakes and Lorraine Sweeney handled the appetizers and there were several but my city friends were in awe of the squeaky cheese curds because let's be honest - you can't find those in any store - at least not the ones that squeak because they are fresh.

Ryan and I had a big wedding. We also had a lot of leftovers. The pork and turkey were easily frozen, as were the potatoes and green beans. But Ryan and I have about three bags of spinach leaves and three bags of romaine mix. I really don't give a rip about romaine, but I do have a soft spot for spinach, so I've been trying different recipes to make sure it doesn't go to waste. When I was looking into whether or not I could just freeze the fresh spinach, I came across a bunch of suggestions on how to use spinach. One of them was for Spinach Pie. And man ... it is good.


Spinach Pie
adapted from Erin's Eats

1 tsp. olive oil
9 oz. bag fresh spinach
1/4 c diced onion
3 T. pine nuts, toasted
1 egg
4 oz. parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
one box (2 sheets) puff pastry

Preheat oven to 375. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add onions and saute until tender. Add spinach and allow it to wilt a bit. Remove from heat.

Toast pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Start rolling out the puff pastry (I actually used my hands and patted it down) and cut into nine squares.

Add the cheese, pine nuts and salt and pepper to the spinach mixture.

Spoon about 1-2 Tbsp. of the spinach mixture in each puff pastry square. Brush the sides of the square with a little water and then bring 2 opposite sides together to form a triangle. Press with your fingers to seal. Place on a baking sheet. Beat the egg and then brush the tops of the triangles with the egg. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden.

I wasn't too fond of these hot, but man they are BRILLIANT when they are room temperature. Love them, love them, love them!

All hail my aunt's cooking

Let me preface this post by saying: I will never cook as well as my Aunt Sue does. The women in my family are fabled for their culinary arts, but I must confess – I’m kind of scared of my Aunt Sue because I’ve never watched her crack open a cookbook or consult a recipe. It seems like 95% of what she does comes from off the top of her head or else she has a photographic memory that commits recipe details to her brain.

So when Ryan asked me to call her and ask for her pretzel recipe and the corresponding mustard dip that he had fallen in love with when we were home for my grandma’s funeral – I was kind of intimidated. This was like asking a celebrity for their autograph.

But of course, my aunt called me and gave me the recipes that I needed and reported that she had already improved the spicy pretzel recipe – you’re looking at the original one.

I made this for a going-away party that Ryan had at work. They loved my aunt’s cooking as much as I do. And now I share it with you. People like the matriarchs of my family are the reasons why I love simple cooking – a recipe doesn’t have to be mind bending to be damn good.

Sue’s Spicy Pretzels

3 bags pretzels
2 bottles Orville Reddenbacher butter flavored popping oil
2 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk dressing
1 T. black pepper
1 T. cayenne pepper
1 T. dill weed

Dump all of the ingredients together, stir. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 ½ hours, stirring every 20 minutes.

Sue’s Mustard Dip

8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. mayonnaise
8 oz. mustard
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk dressing
½ c. sugar

Mix together. Chill.

Black Bean Hummus

Have I ever mentioned that I have a vague addiction to chickpeas? I can eat them straight out of the can (my preferred method after they're rinsed a bit), I can eat them lightly cooked and I can eat them in hummus (oddly, one of my least favorite ways to eat it because I suck at making hummus). My love for chickpeas/garbanzo beans knows no bounds.

I have a similar love for black beans, so when I stumbled across this recipe on AllRecipes.com, I had to make it. And of course, I didn't have some of the main ingredients, so I improvised.

Black Bean Hummus

1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed & drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (uh ... yeah ... I had to use one of those squeezy things of LIME juice that expired in 2007. Still good)
2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt (hrm ... didn't have that either, so I took a couple tablespoons of the cream on top of my large curd cottage cheese. Done and done.)
2 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder **(I omitted.)
salt and pepper to taste

I threw all of these things in my handy dandy food processor and pulsed it until it looked like an icky paste of goodness.

This is what I've been eating my hummus with ... bastardized quesadillas on corn tortillas with a hint of cheese (I'm on a diet ... which DOESN'T have to be boring!); my new favorite Kashi TLC 7-grain crackers and sliced cucumbers.