Carrot Prosciutto Wraps

This is my husband’s favorite appetizer and I love to make them this time of year. The hardest step is standing in line at the deli counter in Central Market.

Ingredients:

• Thinly Sliced Imported Prosciutto
• Carrots
• Balsamic Vinegar
  

Directions:

• Shred carrots.
• Mix carrots with vinegar until the carrots are well coated but not saturated.
• Place a stack of shredded carrots on the end of a slice of prosciutto and roll it up.

Happy Thanksgving to all my Foodie Friends!

Following in the footsteps of my son's first grade teacher --shout out Mrs. Fowler-- I'm going to list the first five blessing that come to my mind.

• My healthy, happy and loving children.
• My hardworking and supportive husband.
• My parents and extended family.
• My friends.
• My little spot on the internet.
  

Anthony's list (7-year-old)

• My house.
• My mom.
• My dad.
• My sister.
• My brother.

Bryson's list (5-year-old)

• My house.
• My brother.
• My sister.
• My mom.
• My dad.
  

Frankie's List (3-year-old)

• The dogs at the toys store.
• Four Kitty cats in little purses.

I would love to see your list. Want to share?
Happy cooking and Happy Thanksgiving!

Pioneer Woman's Lasagna

Our house is on the mend…I think. The concrete is cold and not very pretty to look at but with love from friends, family and each other we are winning the battle. I would say that our boys seem to like the adventure. Each step brings new equipment and people to explore.


Our kind and loving friends brought us lasagna for dinner one night while we were in the thick of it. Cindy, you will never know how much we appreciate your kindness. It was SO nice to have a homemade meal. And I didn’t have to jump over fans and woodpiles to prepare it.

Cindy shared that her recipe came from Pioneer Woman’s blog. If you have a friend in need or a hungry family, give it a try.

Pioneer Woman’s recipe

Ingredients

• 1-½ pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• ½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
• (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Creative jucies not flowing!, Pumpkin Cupcakes and Turkeys

My creative juices are not really flowing right now! You see we had a minor flood which has caused major damage to our home. I will do my best to cook, bake, post and to visit your sites, but as the jackhammers come in and the wood flooring and walls go out I'm not sure how consistent I'll be.



I did make some yummy mini cupcakes last week that I would like to share with you guys.



Pumpkin Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart.
Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (added a bit extra) 1 teaspoon ground ginger (didn't use) 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (didn't use) 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Not wanting to worry about refrigerating the cupcakes I made the following icing for the cupcakes. It didn't have the same exact taste as cream cheese icing but it was close. Ingredients Powdered Sugar 3/4 of a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 stick of Butter 1 tsp Vanilla extract Directions My measurements are not exact except for the butter. I really just dumped everything into my bowl and added ingredients until it was the taste and consistency I wanted. Thanksgiving Turkeys Here is how I used the left over Oreos and Halloween candy. they are cute and easy to make.

Butternut Squash Ravioli

As most of you know, I’m a bit of a ravioli nut. I love everything about ravioli. I love it so much that it’s the one and only food that I can eat and not think once about the number of calories in each bite. I love to see flour all over my kitchen, my 7-year-old turning the crank on the pasta press, the smell of the dough, the way they float to the top of my pot and the versatility of fillings. My blog dream is 30 days of ravioli. I could go on and on but I’ll spare you the bore and get to the recipe.

Pasta

• 1 ¼ C All purpose flour
• ¾ C Semolina
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 4 tbls Warm Water
• 2 Eggs

Directions:

• I dump all the ingredients into my food processor equipped with the dough hook and let it do its thing.
• Allow the dough to sit for 30 minutes before shaping.

Filling

• 1 peeled, diced and roasted Butternut squash
• 5 –6 Cloves Roasted Garlic
• 1C Ricotta Cheese
• Fresh Sage (didn’t measure, just dumped)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

• Dump and mix.

I served the ravioli with a bacon béchamel sauce, Roasted Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, spring salad and homemade wheat rolls. YUM! I love ravioli.

You guys thought I forgot didn't you?

Ingredients:

• Marshmallows
  
• Chocolate chips
• Oreo Cookies
• Icing pen

Directions:

• Melt the chocolate.
• Separate the Oreo. Don't toss the filling side, we'll make turkeys with those.
  
• Hold the marshmallow with a toothpick, dip and cover it with chocolate.
• Place the marshmallow on the cookie.
• Cool in the freezer.
• Draw the buckle on with the icing pen.
  

Rocky Road Shortbread Cookies

My husband and our sons have been busy collecting pecans from a local park. We now have several pound in our freeze. While looking for new ways to use them I found this recipe in the latest issue of Family Circle. All I can say is YUM!This cookie will go on my favorite cookie list. The only change that I will make in the future is to omit the marshmallow. Oh, I almost forgot the original recipe calls for walnuts not pecans.

Recipe adapted from “Family Circle, November 2009 issue”

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ C All-purpose Flour
• ½ C Pecans, finely chopped
• ¼ Salt
• ½ C Butter
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• ¾ C Mini Marshmallows
• ½ C Coarsely chopped Pecans
• ½ C Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a cookie sheet or use silt pads.
• Blend all ingredients until well combined.
• Roll by the tablespoon the dough into balls.
• Gently flatten each ball to ½ - inch thickness and smooth edges.
• Bake for 16 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
• Meanwhile melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring halfway.
• Remove cookies form the oven and spread the chocolate, then sprinkle with the marshmallows and pecans.
• Return the cookies to the oven and bake for TWO minutes more or until the marshmallow become soft.

Cornucopias

Easy to make, delicious and pretty on a plate, what more can you ask for?

Ingredients:

• Puff Pastry Dough
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Sugar
• Cocoa

Directions:

• Wrap thawed dough around aluminum foil in the shape of a cornucopia.
• Bake according to pastry direction.
• Allow the cornucopias to cool then carefully pull them away from the foil.
• Meanwhile whip the cream, sugar and cocoa until it becomes very thick.
• Pipe into the cornucopias and serve.