You can make stuffed mushrooms today, store them in your freezer and serve them for Christmas dinner! How cool is that? I love finding great recipes that I can make in advance. These stuffed mushrooms can be made up to 3 months in advance. They are the perfect dinner party appetizer because I can pop them in the oven just before my guests arrive and they fill the house with the enticing smell of warm roasted garlic and melting cheese. Stuffed Mushrooms 1 slice white bread 24 mushroom caps 6 Tablespoons oil 4 ounces cream cheese 6 cloves garlic 1 Tablespoon green onions
Roast 20 minutes. Turn mushrooms over and roast10 more minutes. Remove from oven and flip over again. Mix cream cheese, green onions and 1 t. oil. Spoon into ziploc bag and pipe into mushroom caps. Dip each cap upside down in bread crumbs and transfer to clean baking sheet. Cover dish and freeze for up to 8 weeks. (I like to use glass Pyrex dishes for freezer to oven convenience.) I always label the lid because even though I think I will remember exactly what's inside, I usually forget. I write the name of the food and heating instructions on a piece of tape so that I don't have to spend time looking up the recipe again when I'm ready to reheat. Remove mushrooms from freezer and bake frozen mushrooms for 10 minutes at 450. Serve warm. You will be surprised how easy these are to make and how many compliments you will get on them. These mushrooms never fail to impress. They aren't fancy or fussy - just simple and delicious.
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Yesterday it was about 65 degrees in Atlanta so I decided to take advantage of the mild weather, fire up my Big Green Egg and grill some Raspberry Chicken for dinner. I originally had something else planned for dinner but I changed my plans when I realized that it was perfect grilling weather. This recipe is super easy and really yummy! Raspberry Chicken 1 cup + 4 ½ teaspoons raspberry vinaigrette 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary 6 chicken breasts ½ cup raspberry preserves 1 ½ teaspoons lime juice ½ teaspoon soy sauce 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
I used half of the sauce for a glaze and I passed the remaining sauce at the table. I was afraid that the seeds in the sauce would scare my children away but they really loved it. They both spooned big helpings of sauce over the chicken on their plates and never even mentioned the seeds. (Yea - a small victory over my finicky eaters.) The Raspberry Chicken was really moist and flavorful. I love the rosemary and raspberry combination. When I first started writing my blog, I never dreamed that I would have so many readers within the first 6 months. Let's face it, last year at this time I didn't even understand the purpose of a blog. I am thrilled and honored that you have taken this journey with me and I am truly humbled by your faithful support. My blog has helped me to reconnect with old friends and faraway family members. It's also given me the opportunity to meet a lot of new people - mostly foodies. All of you help me to stay motivated to keep writing and publishing the blog. I am blessed to have an opportunity like this to share my recipes, my ideas and my life and I'm grateful for my faithful fans who take the time to read it. As blog followers, you not only serve as my inspiration but you also help to promote my food blogger status. Having a large number of followers gives me more opportunities in the Foodbuzz community. (Like more free food samples, products and opportunities blog about.)
For those of you that haven't officially become blog followers, you can become a follower by clicking on the blue "Join this site" box on the right side of my blog. You can also become a facebook follower and get facebook updates when new blogs are published. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you who have already passed along my blog to your friends and family members. You are the reason that I have the following that I have today. I appreciate all of your help and I couldn't do this without your support. Ciao! If you are a diehard fan of box mix brownies - I challenge you to give my homemade brownie recipe a try. They are so much better than box mix brownies and almost as easy as opening a package. Follow my simple step by step instructions and you will end up with a huge batch of the most delicious chocolate brownies you have ever tasted. This was a family recipe that I have been making for a long time. This recipe makes a lot of brownies but you can freeze the leftovers in ziploc bags. You can also cut the recipe in half and bake them in a 9x13 pan.
I cut my brownies into into Christmas trees with a cookie cutter. I also sprinkled them with powdered sugar to make them look a bit more wintery. I had the opportunity to go on a retreat this weekend with about 450 middle and high school kids. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. I took these brownies with me to camp and shared them with the girls in my cabin. They were almost all gone within the hour - I guess they liked them. Here are some highlights from my weekend retreat: Ciao!
I love homemade buttermilk pancakes. Don't get me wrong, I think pancakes made from packaged mixes are fine and super convenient. I've used the mixes myself for busy mornings when I need to get the kids on the school bus by 6:45. Lazy Saturday mornings are another story and I like to make a big breakfast that can be enjoyed slowly. When I found this recipe for a "make your own" mix in the Cook's Illustrated magazine last year, I decided to give it a try. I mixed up the ingredients and put them in ziploc bags in the freezer. (I also wrote the pancake directions on the front of of the bags.) Everyone loved these pancakes. They tasted better and were more cost effective than packaged pancake mixes. I make this mix regularly now and store it in my freezer to use even on school mornings. Several years ago it dawned on me that if I packaged my pancake mix a little differently, it would make a great gift for my children's teachers. I got my kids to help make and package the mix for each one of their teachers. We printed up small labels with cooking instructions and attached it to the mix with a pretty ribbon. I purchased a small bottle of maple syrup to accompany each package delivered the gifts to school. The teachers were thrilled with their breakfast treats. I've also passed this mix out to my neighbors as Christmas gifts. Homemade Pancake Mix 2 cups flour 2 Tablespoons baking powder 2 cups cake flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup nonfat dry milk 1 Tablespoon salt 3/4 cup malted milk powder 12 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces 1/3 cup sugar Process ingredients in a food processor. Store in ziploc bags or package in cellophane bags for gifts. I package the dry pancake mix in 2 cup portions. 2 cups of dry mix is perfect for my family of 4. I write the cooking instructions on each bag. Store the mix in the freezer. Cooking Instructions: To each bag add: 2 eggs and 1/2 cup buttermilk. Stir until just combined. Cook on griddle. My daughter mixed up a batch of pancakes from the frozen pancake mix by herself. Just in case this recipe isn't enough to inspire to you to get into the Christmas spirit, maybe these pictures of Mia will help. I bought this scrunchie for Mia a few days ago and she LOVES it! She doesn't ever want me to take it off. (I have the weirdest dog in the world.) Ciao!
I have a lemon tree and every spring when it comes to life and is covered in sweet smelling flowers I dream of the lemons that will one day be on its branches. Unfortunately, my little Charlie Brown lemon tree produces only 1 lemon per year. I nurture my lemon tree in anticipation that one day it will produce more delicious fruit but my poor little tree struggles to keep its leaves and seems to attract undesirable insects. Even though I would prefer that my tree would be a more plentiful fruit producer, I wait eagerly for the single lemon to ripen each year. I usually plan a special treat around my solitary lemon so that it can be celebrated and appreciated. This year's lemon treat - Lemon Twist Loaves. Lemon Twist Loaves 2 cups water Glaze 3 cups sugar 3 cups powdered sugar 1 cup butter 3 Tablespoons lemon zest 5 teaspoons yeast 3-4 Tablespoons milk ¾ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon lemon extract 1 egg yolk 1 cup sliced almonds 1 egg 7 cups flour 1 cup chopped almonds 3 Tablespoons lemon zest
Cut loaves in half lengthwise to within 1” of one end. Holding uncut end, twist strips together. Cover and let rise 2 hours. Bake 25 minutes at 350. Combine first 4 glaze ingredients and drizzle over warm bread. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. These lemon twist are the perfect way to spotlight the lemon that grew on my little tree this year. Last year I made mini versions of this recipe by dividing the dough into 8 pieces instead of 3 and I gave these delicious little loaves away as Christmas gifts.
I don't know about you but - I am officially starving now. Time for me to grab a snack. Ciao! |
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