Ammended Note added 12/31/09: This gift basket is open to US Residents only.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Kraft Foods Gift Basket Giveaway!
Ammended Note added 12/31/09: This gift basket is open to US Residents only.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Brown Sugar and Pecan Glazed Green Beans
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Three Cheese Pasta Bake
Friday, December 4, 2009
Cookie Exchange by Cooking Light's Virtual Supper Club
Monday, November 30, 2009
Ginger Cookies
I'm back from a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to South Carolina where we visited and spent time with some of my husband's family. Now that Christmas is around the corner, I have alot of cookie baking to do. My sister, Paula, made these cookies last year for a cookie exchange party. She passed on the recipe to me and I have made them several times. Everybody loves them and they are gone in a blink of the eye. They are called Big Soft Ginger Cookies. They have a great ginger and spice flavor and they do stay soft. The cookie dough comes together quickly and the recipe states it makes 24 cookies but I got closer to 30 cookies.Form dough in balls and roll in sugar. I use a small glass bowl to press down the cookie dough. You could use a drinking glass as well.
Take a tin of these cookies to your next cookie exchange party. They are also perfect to give to teachers, co-workers, neighbors, your hairdresser, or friends and family.
Enjoy!
Issaqueena Falls - Walhalla, South Carolina I'd like to give a shout out to my husband Mike. Today is our 18th wedding anniversary. It seems like yesterday (well, sometimes) that we just got married. You are truly my best friend Mike and I'm lucky to have you as my partner through this crazy but wonderful life. I love you!
Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Ok, enough of the mushy talk and back to the cookie recipe. This cookie dough is sticky so it is best to put the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour before forming and rolling in the sugar. With this batch, I made the cookie dough in the morning, put the bowl in the refrigerator, ran my errands for the day and made the cookies in the afternoon. No problems with stickiness.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Nestle Toll House Chocolate and White Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies
I wanted to share a cookie classic before leaving to visit family for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I grew up with Nestle Toll House Cookies. We would use the recipe on the back of the Nestle Chocolate Chip bag. I can't remember when the pan cookie variation came out but what a way to have your favorite chocolate chip cookie.....as a bar cookie. I haven't made these in so long. I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies but didn't feel like making all those cookies. Then I remembered the pan cookie variation. Spread all the dough in a baking pan, bake, cut in squares and your chocolate chip cookie craving is satisfied.
I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pear Crisp
I have been craving a fruit dessert, so when I saw this Pear Crisp on The Pioneer Woman's site, I knew I had to make it right away. In the food blogging world, I'm sure everyone has heard of The Pioneer Woman. But if you have never heard of her or checked out her blog, you must do so for wonderful recipes, photos and her funny life on the ranch.
A spoonful of Pear Crisp.....what do you think? Doesn't it look good.
My new favorite dessert
Enjoy!
Extra Side Note: Click here to read about November's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club on the Cooking Light Blog: Test Kitchen Secrets
Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: I served the pear crisp in small ramekins (about 4 inches across) that I had bought a few years ago at Target for $1.99. These are great for portion control. If I would have picked a bigger bowl, I know I would have filled it up. The ramekins kept things at a more reasonable amount. Now, if you go back for seconds, that's something I can't control. These are many great uses for these little bowls, so I would recommend them for your kitchen.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club Presents Appetizers, Small Plates/Tapas

Welcome to another month of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. I can't believe another month has gone by. Why does this time of year just pass by so quickly? Our November theme is Appetizers & Small Plates/Tapas. All these appetizers would be a great addition to your holiday party or family gathering. I hope we have given you some ideas to try this holiday season or anytime you are needing inspiration for small bites.
Click here for the Mini Crab Cakes recipe
This is the Brie that I used for my Warm Cranberry-Walnut Brie
There is just something special about the combination of cheese, fruit and nuts. This is extremely simple and quick to make. Cut off the top rind of the cheese. Place your toasted walnuts, dried cranberries and thyme on top. Pop in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes and out comes this..........
Melty, gooey, unbelievably delicious cheese!
I just had to show you one more picture. We served this with a variety of crackers. We loved it with Sea Salt Bagel Chips. That's my husband digging in. I will be making this Brie for our family gathering at Thanksgiving. It's going to be a good day.
My second appetizer are these fun mini crab cakes. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland so I grew up with Maryland style crab cakes. This recipe was a little different from my standard crab cakes I make but we loved the variation. I did add 2 teaspoons of Old Bay Seasoning. Being a former Maryland girl, you just have to use your Old Bay Seasoning. The seasoned mayonnaise (aioli) was perfect with the crab cakes.
Enjoy!!!
Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: A little history.....Appetizers are food items, usually small portions, served before the main course. Also known as Hors d'oeuvre and are served at many reception and cocktail parties. The equivalent of hors d'oeuvre in Spain is called Tapas. In Italian cuisine, it is referred to as Antipasto. In Russian cuisine, it is called Zakuski and usually consists of cured meats and fishes, pickled vegetables, prepared salads and breads. The term Zensai is a Japanese hors d'oeuvre. To me, appetizers are a great way to try different bites of food and a way to get people mingling, talking and just enjoying each other's company.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Black-Bottom Banana Bars
Ok, so I had a bowl filled with "past their prime" bananas. I could have made my go-to banana bread or some banana muffins. But I wanted to try something new so I took out a new cookbook my husband gave me for my birthday last month, Taste of Home Cookies, and searched for recipes using bananas. I came across these Black-Bottom Banana Bars in the Delectable Bars section.
Take a pan of these Black-Bottom Banana Bars to your next holiday gathering, a teacher's breakfast, to welcome a new neighbor, a potluck or an afternoon snack for your kids. These are great anytime and any season.
Enjoy!
Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This recipe calls for a 13x9 in pan. I used an 11x7 in pan because I wanted my bars thicker. I just added about 10 minutes more to the baking time.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Special Birthday Celebration
13! There will be no recipe today. This blog post will be to wish my daughters, Mariah and Marissa, a very Happy Birthday! So, this will be dedicated to them today. I can't believe your father and I are parents of teenagers. Where has the time gone? You are both growing up to be wonderful young ladies.
We are very proud of both of you. You are both dedicated and hard working girls and you should be proud of your sports accomplishments, band achievements and school work. I know 7th grade is hard and there is alot of pressure and expectations on you but you are handling it well.
I want to thank my family and friends for the positive influence you've had on the girls and for loving them so much.
We love you Mariah and Happy 13th Birthday! - always keep laughing and being silly
We love you Marissa and Happy 13th Birthday! - always be yourself and stay creative
Live, Love, Laugh!!!
Marissa really enjoying her birthday cupcake at her Halloween Birthday Bash!
Mariah REALLY enjoying her birthday cupcake!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Crockpot Sour Cream Pork Chops and Prize Pack Winner
"Do I really have to choose just one thing I like about their site? It's great. I really like the slow cooker ideas."
Congratulatons Mary! Please email me your contact information and MyBlogSpark will send out your Prize Pack to you.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Rich Peanut Butter Cookies from Tablespoon.com and a Prize Pack Giveaway
This blog post is to share a quick and wonderful peanut butter cookie, to intoduce a new website, Tablespoon.com and to offer a prize pack giveaway from MyBlogSpark & General Mills. Tablespoon.com is a new website by General Mills where you can find over 25,000 recipes, save and share recipes. When you join the website, you can add your own recipe creations, print coupons from a variety of brands as well as the ability to rate, comment & save recipes you try.
The ingredient listMom's Cooking Club Lesson: Keep your pantry well stocked with items to bake with such as sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, confectioners sugar, brown sugar, different flavors of chocolate chips/morsels, cocoa powder and several variety of nuts. That way, when the mood strikes, you'll be ready to make something home baked your family will appreciate.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Shepherd's Pie
Make this and your family will love you.....I promise! Seasoned ground beef with peas and carrots with a topping of Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. What more can I say. This is a one dish meal that pleases everyone.Now, back to my Shepherd's Pie.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club Cooks with Wine
Cooking with Wine. That is the theme for October's Virtual Supper Club gathering. Five food bloggers (3 from the United States & 2 from Canada) get together virtually to present a menu with recipes all from Cooking Light. Cooking with Wine was a great theme. There were so many Cooking Light recipes to choose from on Myrecipes.com, their online listing of recipes. When I saw this fish recipe, Salmon with White Wine Mustard Sauce, I knew this was the meal I wanted to "bring" to our supper club. If you follow my blog, you know I love seafood and we eat salmon several times a month. This dish was simple to prepare. The sauce was so velvety smooth and worked perfectly with the salmon. When my husband said, "This tastes like it came from a restaurant", I was so happy. I know I will make this again and again.Wow, what a menu!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Pecan Waffles
Here's a wonderful waffle recipe that is quick to prepare. The waffles turn out light and fluffy. The recipe is for plain waffles but my husband and I love to add pecans. I add them on the top of the batter after it's poured into the waffle maker. I have a Belgian waffle maker but any waffle maker will be fine.
I chopped up some pecans and sprinkled them on the batter before closing the waffle maker lid. If you've never tried pecans in your waffles, you need to. It is so YUMMY!
Enjoy!
Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Try these other add-ins to your waffle batter: blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips and how about some crumbled cooked bacon. Oh....bacon waffles! That might be on this weekend's breakfast table.


















