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Tasty Tuesday: Asparagus & Bacon Bundles
There are some foods I love. Bacon happens to be at the top of the list. Bacon makes /anything/ taste better I’m pretty convinced. (Ice cream, also at the top of that favorite list, might be the exception while I think about it.) Another favorite … crispy, fresh asparagus. I LOVE asparagus but I’m picky about it. I don’t like cold asparagus it has to be fresh off the grill, the range or the broiler. I don’t like limp asparagus either. None of the frozen, boiled stuff for me, like Mom always served at Thanksgiving, ergo I was quite convinced till recently that I hated it. Now that fresh asparagus is…
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Chicken Breast in a Puff of Pastry
Pure deliciousness emanated out of my kitchen Saturday night. It smelled of pastry and cheese and a hint of bacon. It sounded like “mmmmm”, “This is good” and even “Can I have some more, please”. A home prepared meal that took about 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake. Before I share my newest recipe I’d like to introduce you to my kitchen help:He’s a keeper, even if he refuses to wear pantstodayChicken Breast in a Puff of PastryIngredients:3 or 4 chicken breasts2 frozen puff pastry sheets4 oz cream cheese3 or 4 slices of bacon, roughly cut1 green onion1 large egg, beaten1 Tb of McCormick’s Perfect Pinch for Rotisserie Chicken – It is my new…
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Valentine’s Day Cookies
MMMMM… cookies. Usually I only bake cookies during the Christmas Season. But the urge to bake over took me last week and I suddenly found myself in the Valentines Spirit. Here is a recipe for /delicious/ Pink-frosted Valentines Cookies (or really whatever holiday you want to make them for. Just change the shape of you cookie cutter and the food-dye color and viola you are “in season”.) Perfectly Valentines Cookies Cookie Ingredients1 cup granulated sugar1 cup powdered sugar2 cups vegetable shortening1 large egg, beaten3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (/or/ 4 1/3 cups of Cake Flour if you have it hand) 3/4 teaspoon baking soda3/4 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Using your…
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The Heritage of a Military Brat
*E*, 9 years old, came home very excited. “MOM! We have a big project at school and it has to be about our heritage, where we come from. I want to do the country of Iceland!” What is interesting is *E* is about 25% Hungarian, 12.5% Norwegian, a splash of Irish, Danish and French and the rest German. Icelandic? There is none in his blood. But it does run in his veins. I lived in the country of Iceland from 10th grade through 12th grade at the now closed Naval Base in Keflavik. My dad flew helicopters out of the 56th Rescue Squadron with the US Air Force. So when I talk about…
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Snowmen Hanging In There
Tuesday has to be the best day, my favorite day; it is Esther and Jacob day. For a few hours I have them in the center of my attention. Their voices, bursting energy, spontaneous laughter and curiosity are with me. This is a recipe for a successful day: mirth.Tissue falling everywhere! We cook, create with playdough, design with pastels and paper and we chatter. Songs that I love to sing fill the car on the way down to the house only to be interupted by counting buses, both school and rapid transport. Seseme Street’s Count vonCount would be oh so proud of my charges. Snipping corners for the perfect look.Each week we…
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Tasty Tuesday: Slow Cooking BBQ Chicken
A new baby, a sick family member, a recent (or upcoming) PCS, or ‘just because!’; there are many reasons a gift of dinner is so appropriate and heart-warming. If you are looking for a great dinner to deliver ahead of time this is a great one to try. (Bonus is that you will have two to give and one to keep!) Slow Cooking BBQ Chicken: 3 large unpeeled sweet potatoes4 large green peppers1 large red pepper2 medium onions3 tsps quick cooking tapioca3 – 4 pounds chicken thighs or breasts2 8-ounce cans of diced tomatoes3 tablespoons packed brown sugar3 tsps Worcestershire sauce3 tsps yellow mustard powder3 cloves garlic, minced3 teaspoons salt Chop, dice, cut … into your preferred bite size pieces. Dump everything evenly into three one-gallon…
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Tasty Tuesday: Slow Cooker Goulash – Make Ahead
I love Pinterest. Especially when I find something that looks doable and then I do it! I’ve been able to mark a few things completed. I cleaned out my sink-drains with baking soda and vinegar. We have turned an old dresser into storage shelves in our basement. Most recently I made Freezer-Ready Crock Pot Goulash, a great recipe for my family and also to give as a gift to a family with a new baby. This is a super easy recipe for goulash and I made three two-gallon freezer bags of it, each with 5 cups of prepared, but not cooked, goulash in it. I put it together this afternoon and then can cook it in…
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Stress and the Holidays
Stress and the Holidays. Somehow they go hand in hand. Overspending, too much food, lots of travel, work- and family-life balance; it is all a recipe for disaster. My own family of six knows first hand about all of these stresses. The 18 year old wants a laptop for Christmas (and other various $$$ gadgets), the 9 & 6 year old have had way too many cookies and are pinging off the wall, and the one-year old doesn’t like the car seat for more then 4 hour stretches at a time (making for a not so quiet trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s last weekend). And Mom and Dad can hardly…
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Grandma’s Thunder Cake
Tomorrow is Grandparent day in my 1st graders class. Can you tell we aren’t near a military base? Clearly, this isn’t something I grew up with when I was in 1st grade, stationed at Sheppard AFB thousands of miles from either of my grandparents. My first grader is fortunate. His Grandpa and Grandma Kocsis live close enough that they are going to join him in his class for the morning. I am filled with a sense of love. Then at the same time I have a sense of some sadness. My parents (his Grandpa and Grandma Kissinger) don’t live close. They don’t get to see each other often enough in my…
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Talking Turkey (leftovers) Tasty Tuesday
A crowd fills the house at Thanksgiving each year. Chairs are mixed and matched to heights of a child’s lap. Tables are added domino style… fitting this end, turning a corner with several tablecloths draped over them. My table is a center point of the Thanksgiving action for me. For me. Now, for more than half of us it is the Macy’s Day parade which spills into football. Hors d’oeuvres fill the gap from the yeasty breakfast rolls or bowls holding fruited steamy oatmeal to dinner. A steady aroma of turkey feeds an appetite that nothing else can satisfy. Our menu has turkey highlighting the table at 2 P.M. and…
