Cocktail Meatballs

Small baked meatballs in a thick sweet and savory sauce! Perfect as an appetizer or snack! Very easy to make with simple ingredients! I've made these many times! My guests loved them!

My McCormick Spice Video Debut!

 

I first mentioned my McCormick video in this blog post called "My 15 Minutes of Fame". 

Crabby Patties...or Crab Cakes, if you're not a Square Pants Fan!

I love to order crab cakes whenever I go to a really good seafood restaurant! And 90% of the time I end up being very disappointed! Most times the crab cakes are either too fishy, too pasty, too dry or they just don't taste anything like crab! You would think they could get it right if they're specializing in seafood!

 Then one day,

Reindeer Pops

When I saw these cute Reindeer Pops on the Internet I said, "I can do that!" And they were staring back at me saying, "Yes, you can do it!" How could I resist?

Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy!

I'm not sure why this recipe is called 'Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy'....maybe because it's made with chow mein noodles? This is a delicious chocolate candy, no matter what you call it! It's crunchy, salty and sweet. Everything I love, all wrapped up in one bite! And you can change it to suit your own taste. I added grated coconut on top to make it more festive for Christmas. This recipe is extremely easy to make and only uses 4 ingredients.


Chinese New Year Candy

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup crushed chow mein noodles
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts
1/4 cup coconut flakes or grated coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate according to package directions. I use the microwave method.
In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate with the crushed chow mein noodles and the nuts.
Mix until well coated.
Drop by the tablespoonful onto the lined cookie sheet.
You should get 15 pieces of candy from this recipe.
Dust the tops with the coconut flakes.
Allow the candy to firm up before placing on a serving platter.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
This post belongs to My Recipe Journey food blog.

 



Christmas Eve Dinner!

One of our family traditions is to have LOTS of different fish dishes to serve on Christmas Eve! This is a common tradition in many Italian households. It's called "Feast of the Seven Fishes". In my family we don't make all seven fish dishes...four or five is our limit! We usually make shrimp, scallops, sea bass, octopus, crab and/or calamari.

My Mom's Strufoli

This is an old fashioned Italian dessert that we make every year for Christmas! It's basically fried dough coated with honey and multicolored nonpareils. This recipe has been in my family for many generations!

Hot Buttered Cider!

This drink is perfect for those cold winter nights! It just makes you feel all warm and cozy inside...especially if you add a splash of whiskey! I've made this many times with and without the liquor. 

Gingerbread...My Favorite Christmas Dessert!

I've seen gingerbread in many different forms...cookies, cakes, brownies, puddings, pancakes, waffles and ice cream, to name a few! I love gingerbread in ANY form!

This next recipe is one I found on

Christmas Candy

At this time of the year I love to make all kinds of Christmas goodies for the holidays...cookies, cakes, drinks, food and CANDY!!! 

Irish Cream Liquor Made Easy!

I was given a gift of homemade Irish cream liquor one year for Christmas! I never thought to make my own, but after tasting the homemade version I knew this is the only way to drink it! It tastes so much smoother and creamier than the store bought! Plus it costs A LOT less to make than to buy...about half the price! This started my quest for the best and easiest Irish Cream recipe I could find!

A Holiday Treat!

Peppermint Balls

This is a recipe I created for Christmas a few years ago! I was trying to come up with a treat for the kids. I often make Rum Balls for the adults...so now I needed something that the kiddies could enjoy. This turned out to be a big hit with the kids AND the adults! A perfect little goodie for holiday platters!


A Neater Sloppy Joe!

Sloppy Joe Egg Rolls

I love Sloppy Joe's except for the sloppy part! So I decided to make them into egg rolls! It worked great! It's less sloppy when it's wrapped up!

Acorn Bites

I love this healthy, no bake, recipe! I made it last year for Thanksgiving and everyone loved them! I even made them many times AFTER Thanksgiving because they're such an addicting snack! I found the original recipe on the Internet and tweaked it slightly.

Banana Rum Fritters

I love fritters of all kinds! Sweet or savory!  I've tried onion fritters, corn fritters, and apple fritters, along with these banana rum fritters! Fruit fritters are even better when you pair them with ice cream! But adding rum just steps it up a notch! And don't worry, you can feed these to children because the alcohol burns off during the frying process.

Cheesy Thumbprint Cookies with Hot Pepper Jelly

Recently I blogged about an easy and perfectly delicious way to make stove top hot pepper jelly without having to use canning methods. You can see that post **Here**

Then I stumbled onto a unique way to serve the hot pepper jelly by adding them to these savory, cheesy, thumbprint cookies! The cookies are very tasty all by themselves. They remind me of big, soft, 'Cheez-It' crackers. So adding the hot pepper jelly just made it twice as tasty! The thumbprint cookies are so very easy to make! They're just 3 ingredients...sharp cheddar cheese, butter and flour. And they bake up in less than 20 minutes. This makes a great little appetizer!

Here is the link to the cheesy thumbprint cookies...**Link**

Easy Crockpot Thai Pork

Easy crockpot recipes just make life so much simpler! And I love these crockpot liners because they make crockpot cooking twice as easy! I know it says 'SlowCooker' on the box, but it's all the same to me. I never use my crockpot/slowcooker without them. If you can't find them in your local food store ask the store to order them. King Kullen grocery stores and Ace Hardware stores sell them. I always buy them from Ace in large quantities!

 Try this wonderful Thai dish in your crockpot or slowcooker. Easy to make and so delicious!

Microwave Teriyaki Potatoes

This is one of my favorite potato side dishes! It was posted on a cooking site called GroupRecipes by a cook known as Chefmeow. I first tried this recipe about 2 years ago and have made it many times since then. This microwave recipe takes only about 20 minutes to make from start to finish!

Party Popcorn!

I think I can eat popcorn all day everyday and never get tired of it as long as I have a variety of flavors to choose from! And I have tried MANY flavors in my lifetime! Blueberry is still my #1 favorite flavor but I don't like having a blue tongue, fingers and lips from eating it!

This one looked and sounded tasty...and who doesn't like anything with the word 'Party' in the title?

Eggs in Heaven

This is a recipe I created while trying to find new ways to prepare eggs! In my house we like to have breakfast for dinner once a week. It's fast, cheap and everyone likes eggs, so there's no whining!

Fried Stuffed Olives

I first saw this recipe on Pinterest.
There are actually lots of recipes on Pinterest for Fried Stuffed Olives.
So I decided to try this one from a food blog named Bell Allimento.

I didn't follow her recipe for the stuffing mixture because
 I didn't have some of the ingredients needed.

My filling ingredients were...

Vinegar Pie?

What the heck is a 'Vinegar Pie'? It doesn't sound very appetizing! That's exactly what ran through my head when I saw this recipe! But it sounded so unique that I had to find out! So I got brave and gave it a whirl!

Corn Flake Coconut Macaroons

I'm a macaroon fiend! I eat them like potato chips! Oh, I just got an idea...how about Potato Chip Coconut Macaroons? I bet those would be amazing! I'll try that next time!

But these are very cool too!

Fachamatta Potatoes

Don't they look so tasty! Look at all that thick tomato sauce! And under that tomato sauce is lots of melted mozzarella and pan fried potatoes and grated parmesan cheese! 

Cream Cheese Sweet Almond Wheat Bread

I'm always on the look out for new foods to have with my morning coffee. I get bored eating the same thing every morning. But I want something that's on the healthy side. I usually eat cereal and yogurt or granola with a cup of decaf coffee. It needs to be low fat but filling. 

Shot Glass Desserts

Lately the new fad in dining are these cute little shot glass desserts. I order them whenever I see them on the menu in restaurants because they're the perfect dessert amount for when you're just too full for a regular sized dessert!

Grilled Romaine Lettuce

I know this sounds like a strange way to prepare lettuce but it's delicious! The first time I tried this was at a BBQ at my sisters house. She asked me if I wanted to taste it and I said 'no way'...but my sister and I have similar taste in food and she LOVED this, so I decided to take a little taste. Well, I ended up eating LOTS of this!

I Love These Beverage Dispensers!!!

                                                   
I just received this one yesterday as a free gift in a giveaway from this blog site...Dine and Dish...you can read about it there! It's a fun blogsite written by a freelance writer and mother named Kristen! She's also a very talented photographer...her food photos always make me drool! Check out her blog for lots of great recipes and giveaways! 

This is a very nice dispenser because it's glass and holds 1.6 gallons! It's from OverStock.com and you can get it at a very reasonable price!

When my 2 girls were young, I would fill these kinds of dispensers with lemonade for their 'Lemonade Stand'! They would sit outside selling lemonade for HOURS!!! They made some pretty good money too! 

Now I think I'll be getting lots of use out of this for my new favorite drink...Smooth Sweet Tea! Check it out in this post I did recently...'Seis de Mayo'...or maybe I can fill it with my favorite homemade cocktail...'Red Apple Martinis'!

Thank you so much Kristen, from Dine and Dish!
I know I'll be getting lots of use out of my prize!

Thank You Allrecipes.com

We were greeted with this banner as we stepped out of the elevator!

I had such an amazing and fun filled 2 days at the Allrecipes.com 15th Anniversary Party in Seattle on July 26th and 27th! They were generous enough to send their 'Brand Ambassador's out to their headquarters for an all expense paid anniversary celebration! 70 of us were flown there from all parts of the country! It was epic!

We all had gorgeous rooms at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle.

The view from my room!

Most of us were meeting in person for the first time! We usually only know each from chatting on the Allrecipes website. So this was a dream come true to be able to talk face to face! And we talked...and talked...and talked! The time flew by way too quickly! But we all have great memories to last a lifetime! This is the kind of event that you never forget!

The food was first class all the way! Prepared by an on site chef in the Allrecipes kitchen. I just LOVE that kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

 And look at this custom designed ice fountain!

The drinks flowed freely the entire time!

I even had a little fun at Pike Place Market!

One of my favorite places in downtown Seattle!

It's a foodie paradise!

Thank you so very much to all the employees at Allrecipes.com who worked so hard to organize the enormous event!

Handy Dandy Giveaway!

I have a couple of helpful kitchen products to giveaway to one of my wonderful readers!

A Spontaneous and Perfect Outing!

Don't you just love it when you do something spontaneous and everything works out perfectly! Well that's what happened on this day! The stars were aligned and all was good with the world!

After dinner, my hubby asked me if I wanted to go see the sunset at our favorite beach. We do this often on nice days in the spring and summer. We didn't have much time though because it was 6 pm and we would have to leave the house by 7 pm if we wanted to get there in time to sit and relax as the sun went down! So now the rush was on!

Sauteed Radishes Taste Nothing Like Raw Radishes

I'm not a big fan of raw radishes because of their spiciness. Well, when I sliced them and sauteed them with butter and garlic, the radishes were transformed into these lovely mauve medallions of flavorful tenderness! It was like magic! They tasted nothing like raw radishes. The taste was very similar to sauteed cauliflower.

Saturday Morning Syrup

Saturday Morning Syrup


INGREDIENTS;
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup of your favorite liquor

DIRECTIONS;
Heat sugar and corn syrup til dissolved.
Add liquor. Allow to simmer at least 3 minutes.
For a thinner syrup add more liquor.
For a thicker syrup add more sugar or cook longer.
Cool mixture in fridge to thicken.

Recipe from GroupRecipes.com

You will wish every morning was Saturday morning with this syrup on the table!

 I never thought to make a breakfast syrup with liquor until I saw this recipe! Any liquor of your choice can be used. For my syrup I used cream sherry. And I served it over strawberry waffles...so VERY good! And so easy to make!

I found this recipe on the GroupRecipes cooking site, posted by a cook known as Reecespieces.

She's made this many different ways by using Irish Cream, Coffee Liquor, Amaretto or Hazelnut Liquor. 
This is not only used on breakfast foods, it's drizzled on dessert cakes as well.     

Cute and Delicious Cucumber Snacks

I love cucumbers! And I love finding new ways to serve them. They're crunchy, refreshing and a healthy snack.

I recently started using cucumbers to make my own pickles from leftover jarred pickle brine. I mentioned how easy it is to do that in this post...'Recycle Your Pickle Brine'

So now I was hungry for new cucumber recipes and came across these next two ideas.


Cucumber Cream Cheese Bites

Roasted Marshmallow Frosted Cupcakes

This is such a great way to frost cupcakes when you don't have regular frosting...plus it's so quick to do and tastes great!

Baked Parmesan Truffle Fries

These fries are something I've been craving and researching for a very long time! I first had to find the perfect truffle oil. And that was no easy task! There are so many varieties. I didn't want a low quality truffle oil, but I also didn't want to remortgage my house to buy a high grade version. Then I had to decide if I wanted white or black truffle oil. I decided on the white because it's a milder taste. Sometimes black truffle oil can taste like what burnt rubber tires smell like. Well, that's if you could taste a smell. But I guess you can taste smells because one of the ingredients in this white truffle oil is 'truffle aroma'. I wonder how they captured the aroma and put in the bottle? This oil was pretty good for the price...only $10 for 3.38 fl.oz

My next step was to find a great recipe. Again, no easy task. There are a ton of truffle fries (or is it 'fry') recipes out there. I know I wanted baked fries with parmesan cheese on top, so that narrowed it down a bit. But I also wanted a very 'easy to make' recipe. You would be so surprised at how so many cooks make this so difficult. I found this recipe **Click Here** and it seemed to be the easiest. I tried it and loved it...then I tried it a second time, but I made it even easier because I didn't soak the potato slices in water for 30-60 minutes. And since I didn't soak them, there was no need to pat them dry. So I saved 2 big steps. The fries turned out exactly the same as when I did those extra 2 steps. I also saved a cooking step because I didn't turn the fries over during baking. What a pain that is, turning each individual fry...or is it 'fries'? 
These fries were perfectly browned and crispy, as you can see in my photo above.

 Maybe the key to my success was that I used this round, black, non stick, pizza pan. And I baked them in my convection toaster oven at 425 degrees for only 35 minutes. Not 50 minutes as stated in the above recipe! They would have been totally burnt if I baked them for 50 minutes!  All I had to do was give the pan a 1/4 turn every 10 minutes so they would brown evenly.

So now I can EASILY have baked truffle fries whenever I crave them!

Which is a good thing because there aren't any restaurants near me that serve these...what's up with that, Long Island?

Easily Peel Hard Boiled Eggs!

I am so in love with this little trick! I've been making LOTS of hard boiled eggs lately because my daughter is on an egg salad sandwich binge. I was having such a hard time peeling the eggs. I even bought this contraption, that I blogged about recently, to avoid peeling eggs...**Click Here** Then I Googled 'How to easily peel hard boiled eggs' and found this video that shows a super easy method!

Smokey Tuna Casserole

My husband has been asking me to make a tuna casserole since we were newlyweds! I just didn't like the idea of eating warm, canned tuna fish with pasta...YUK! He said his mother made it all the time when he was young and it was delicious! Sorry, still not sold. I just gagged at the thought of  it!

Almond Joy Ice Cream

I love Almond Joy candy bars! I once tried a recipe called 'Almond Joy Cake Mix Cookies'...they were VERY good!

So it was only natural that I try to make Almond Joy Ice Cream! And I'm so glad I did because it was Almond Joy heaven! It tasted just like the candy bar! My family totally loved it! I took this ice cream recipe that I tried recently 'Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream' and tweaked it to make my Almond Joy ice cream.

Stovetop Hot Pepper Jelly



Hot Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese

I was so happy to find this recipe for 'Stovetop Hot Pepper Jelly' on the 'Averie Cooks' blog. I've never tried canning and I'm a little intimidated by the whole idea of boiling food in jars. But with this recipe you don't do any of that.

Addictive Blog Award

I was recently honoured to be chosen for 'The Addictive Blog Award' by a sweet and talented blogger named Didi from the 'Dishin with Didi' blog! I'm also addicted to her blog because she is an amazing cook...and so freakin adorable! Go check out her blog and you'll see what I mean!

My reason for blogging was to be able to share all the best recipes I've found and tried from various cooking sites and blogs. When I try a new recipe and it turns out to be delicious, it's like finding a gem! And I want to share all those gems with other cooks!

Now it's my turn to show you my 10 'addictive blogs'...I actually have much more than 10, that I'm currently addicted to, but I'll stick to the rules!

1. Chat 'n Dish

2. Road Trip Eats

3. Crunchy Creamy Sweet

4. Pearls, Handcuffs & Happy Hour

5. Plain Chicken

6. Vittles and Bits

7. Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

8. Skinny Taste

9. Rita's Recipes

10. Heather Likes Food

Thank you so much Didi! I'm so thrilled that I made your list of addictive blogs! You truly made my day! I hope you'll always be addicted to my blog.

(((HUGS)))