Creme Brulee French Toast

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 TBSP corn syrup
1 loaf Texas toast bread
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

In a small sauce pan, melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat until smooth - stirring occasionally. Pour mixture onto a lare greased jelly roll pan (18x13x1). Spread to cover surface. Place 12 slices of Texas toast bread in a single layer to cover pan. Mix together eggs, half & half, salt and vanilla. Spoon mixture over each piece of bread. Bake uncovered at 350* for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and serve with syrup butter.

*D: This is such a delicious, SWEET treat of a breakfast! It takes a little preparation, but it's so worth it.

The "jelly roll pan" is just a cookie sheet.

We used Texas toast, but we didn't get 12 pieces to fit. Just squish in what you can. Any sides that touch will stick together. It's no big deal because you can just cut them apart with a spatula.

When the toast is done, I flip it over so the sugary side is on top and custardy side is on the bottom. My husband didn't like that the two sides were different at first, but then I explained that's why it's called creme brulee. There is custard on the bottom and a burnt sugar layer on top.

Really, this is decadent and divine. So worth trying at least once. Pin It

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 2/3 cups water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 9 inch baked pastry shell (aka a pie crust)

Mix water, cornstarch and cocoa until smooth. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. Cook until think in saucepan or microwave. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter and vanilla. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally, and pour into a pie crust. Top with meringue (and brown at 400*) or top with whipped cream after pie is chilled.

*D: I can only take partial credit for this pie. My husband made it yesterday and I only helped. But let me tell you, it was delicious! Tyler was sheer genius and added a few dashes of cinnamon. It was like Aztec Chocolate. Mmmm. So good.

It only took about 10 minutes on the stove top to thicken the filling to pudding consistency. In my opinion, it could have maybe even cooked a few minutes longer to make it thicker.

Use a store bought crust or this recipe for a pie shell.

After pouring the filling into a pie crust, we covered the pie with plastic wrap. That prevented it from forming a skin, and really, the plastic did not stick as bad as you'd think.

We topped it with whipped cream and thoroughly enjoyed. Pin It

Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked

1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
2. Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut.  
3. Note: To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

(Toasting the coconut under Broil for about 3 minutes)

 (Before adding toasted coconut)

(After adding toasted coconut)

*D: I found this recipe here on Allrecipes.com. I asked my husband what he wanted for Christmas dinner and he requested coconut cream pie. I know his mom makes a coconut cream pie, but she was out of town. So I decided to just search for one. I was really lucky when I found this recipe. It was delicious! It was creamy and the coconut flavor was subtle.

Some of the reviews on the website suggest using coconut milk in connection with half and half (2 cups coconut milk, 1 cup half and half). My husband thinks the flavor would be too strong if we had done that, but I don't know.

I followed the recipe exactly. The only think I would caution you on is that my filling never boiled. But after being on the stove top for almost an hour, the consistency was nice and thick, so I decided it was probably done.

Don't forget your pie crust needs to be baked! I do not make my own pie crust, I buy from the store. Store bought crusts are not cooked. They are just dough. Instructions will be on the package, but basically you thaw the crust for 15 minutes, prick the sides and bottom with a fork, then bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. 

Seriously, this recipe is so good! It's creamy and delicious! The only thing that would make it better is a homemade crust and possibly home whipped cream instead of whipped topping from the store. But who knows. Pin It

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.
Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or this dressing.

Wanna make it a meal?

Serve with a side of Black Beans or Spanish Rice and a simple green salad with Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing.

*D: My corn tortillas were way to crumbly. I made about 5 and they turned out to be like tostadas! :) But I used flour tortillas for the rest of them and they came out pretty good too. Tyler preferred the flavor of the corn tortiallas. Also, I used canned chicken because I was in a hurry. It tasted fine, but I think freshed chicken will taste better.


These were so delicious! And I will definitely be making them again. Pin It

Garlic Balsamic Asparagus

1 lb. asparagus
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
1 tsp. minced or pressed garlic

If roasting in the oven, heat oven to 425. If grilling, prepare grill to medium heat. Wash asparagus and then remove the bottom couple of inches of each stalk. Just snap off the woody ends. It may seem wasteful, but you won't eat it, anyway--it's too tough and is one of the big reasons why lot of people don't like asparagus.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, and garlic. Drizzle over asparagus and toss to coat.

If roasting, place in a single layer on a broiling pan. If grilling, reduce heat to low, lightly oil grill, and place asparagus perpendicular to the grate of the grill. Drizzle any remaining oil/vinegar mix over the asparagus.


If using oven, roast for 10 minutes, turning once. If using grill, grill for 8-10 minutes or until asparagus is bright green and still slightly crisp, turning very frequently.
Serve immediately.

*D: Asparagus?! That's what I thought when I was faced with the dilemma of cooking this veggie. I don't love asparagus, but I remembered a time last year when my mom made me try bacon-wrapped asparagus while we were in Disneyland. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. But let's be honest for a moment...probably any vegetable wrapped in bacon and grilled to a crisp is going to be delicious. But I liked it then, so I thought I'd give it a try. And besides, don't you think of asparagus as kind of "high class?" I mean, it's not like you get served asparagus every day.


This recipe was delightfully easy and totally delicious! We did the oven method and it turned out great. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I probably didn't let them cook long enough, and the flavor was still very strong, perhaps a teensy bit bitter, but very robust.


The recipe calls for a pound of asparagus, I don't know how much I had vs how much I used. I just knew Tyler and I were not going to eat a pound of asparagus, so I used about 15 stalks. There did seem to be a little excess sauce, but too much dressing is never a bad thing. I probably could have done 5 more without breaking a sweat. Any more than that and I think you might need to double the sauce recipe.


Next time you want to impress company, try some asparagus and let me know how it goes. ;)


Enjoy! (I know I did.)


I found this recipe here: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/06/garlic-basalmic-asparagus.html Pin It

Extra Easy Lasagna

3/4 pound ground beef
3 cups spaghetti sauce
6 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup water

Brown the ground beef. Spoon off fat. Add spaghetti sauce; heat through stirring occasionally.

In 2-quart oblong baking dish, spread 1 1/2 cups meat mixture. top with three uncooked lasagna noodles, half the ricotta cheese, and half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat mixture. Slowly pour water around the inside edges of t baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 375* for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*D: This is so easy to make and tastes like lasagna. I know that's a silly thing to say, but sometimes "easy" recipes don't taste like the hard recipe. This one, however, does. I would caution you to make sure you layer your lasagna as follows:


1 1/2 cup meat
3 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta
1 cup mozzarella
1 1/2 cup meat
3 lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta
1 cup mozzarella
remaining meat


I did not read the instructions right and had a total lapse in judgement when I made this and ended up with my ricotta/mozzarella layers on top, so then I had to open another jar of spaghetti sauce to top it off.


I also like to put mozzarella on top. I use home-made spaghetti sauce, and that tends to be a little runnier anyway. If you are using home-made, you don't need to put in all the water. Maybe 1/8 cup or none at all. Ours ended up pretty runny because I added the full water as called for.


Possible sides: french bread and salad. Pin It

Pad Thai with Shrimp

4 cups water
1 package (6 - 8oz) linguine-style stir-fry rice noodles (rice stick noodles*)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup water
3 TBSP packed brown sugar
3 TBSP fish sauce or soy sauce
3TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP rice vinegar or white vinegar
3/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
3 TBSP vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped or 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
12 oz frozen cooked peeled deveined medium shrimp, thawed
1/4 cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
4 medium green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves


*Thin or thick rice stick noodles can be substituted for the linguine-style stir-fry rice noodles.



Tyler and I couldn't decide which one we wanted to try...so we got both. Pictured above, the ones on the right are the noodles the recipe is talking about. But on the left are also rice noodles that are delicious! Below you can see close ups to see the difference between the two.




Neither one is very expensive. They run just a few dollars a package at your local grocery store. I know that seems like a lot (especially since it'll only make one meal, maybe two), but this dish is relatively cheap if you mostly use what you have at home.


1. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat 4 cups water to boiling. Remove from heat; add noodles (push noodles into water with back of spoon to cover them with water if necessary). Soak noodles 3 to 5 minutes or until noodles are soft but firm. Drain noodles; rinse with cold water.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir lime juice, 1/3 cup water, the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper and 1 tablespoon of the oil until well mixed. Set aside.

3. In a nonstick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat.

Cook garlic and shallot in oil about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until starting to brown. Add eggs. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring gently and constantly, until scrambled but still moist.

4. Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high. Cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro (note from D: that includes shrimp, peanuts, bean sprouts and green onions). Cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing with 2 wooden spoons, until noodles are tender. Place on serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with additional chopped dry-roasted peanuts and green onions if desired.

PAD THAI WITH CHICKEN: Substitute 2 cups chopped cooked chicken for the shrimp.

I'll just give you a second to let your mouth water.

Doesn't that look amazing? It was. My friend, Melanie, made this the other night and we invited ourselves over for dinner. Literally. It was so good we left with full bellies and the recipe.


Melanie used the thin noodles, and it was divine. The thicker noodles soaked up the flavor more, but the thin noodles had a lighter flavor and feel. So they're both delicious and wonderful.


I used fish sauce, only because I had it in my fridge. Melanie did not use fish sauce, and her Pad Thai was less sweet than mine. In the future I'll use soy instead. We also used rice vinegar, but I think Mel used white. Use whatever you have. Don't go out and buy rice vinegar unless you use it on a regular basis. I use rice vinegar for sushi, so I usually have it on hand. But like I said, don't go out ant buy it. Just use white vinegar.


Tyler put in the red pepper and even asked me before he did it, "Are you sure you want this much red pepper?" I told him yes because I think Mel is a recipe-follower and hers wasn't too hot. Well, I don't know if she cut back or if our red pepper is more potent or if Tyler used 3/4 of a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon...but ours was burning hot! In the future I will cut back to probably half a teaspoon of red pepper.


You are always welcome to use jarred garlic rather than fresh. The flavor will be different (some say maybe not as good), but use what you have in your fridge. We always have both, so it doesn't matter to us.


We usually have shrimp in our freezer too (I love Shrimp Scampi!), but if you don't have shrimp, don't go buy it just for this dish. It's expensive! Use chicken. Melanie made hers with chicken and it was delicious! I don't know which one I prefer more, but the chicken will probably be what we make in the future because it's less expensive. If you use chicken, though, a little more preparation will have to go into making it because you'll have to do that before you even start on the noodles.


I did not use peanuts because I didn't have any. I always have cashews on hand because of we love Cashew Chicken. So I used those instead. I'm not sure it made a huge difference. We had peanuts at Melanie's house, but both were good.


I didn't know what bean sprouts were as apposed to alfalfa sprouts. Bean sprouts are bigger. Before you use them, be sure to was them carefully. Who knows where they've been?! I rinse them in cool water until they're no longer slimy. I did not measure them (what a nightmare!). I just took too handfuls and called it good.

And lastly, I thought the dish looked a little bland until I put on the cilantro. I did not sprinkle it on top before I served it because Tyler doesn't love cilantro, so I knew he'd ask me to leave it off if it wasn't mixed it. And I think it added to the flavor of the dish because I let it cook for another minute or so after adding the cilantro.


This is a great and EASY dish. I know all my instructions make it look hard, but it really isn't. It just takes a little effort because you have to chop cilantro and onions and garlic. But once you get all the ingredients together, it literally takes 5 minutes to cook.

Pin It

Sweet and Sour Chicken

chicken breasts, sliced into 2"strips
cornstarch
1 dash salt
oil
egg
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
3/8 cup vinegar
1 TBSP soy sauce

Dip chicken in beaten egg, then coat in cornstarch. Fry in oil until brown on edges. Place in pan. Combine remaining ingredients in a sauce pan to make sauce and bring to boil. Pour over the top of the chicken and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Baste while baking.

I won't lie, this recipe is deceiving in it's easiness. The first part is kind of hard and very messy. It uses a LOT of cornstarch, so to cut it back a little, try mixing in a bit of flour. The consistency will change just a bit, but not too much.


I usually double the sauce (as usual) and make plenty for leftovers. This is such an amazing dinner! I promise, you'll never go to Fong's again...or whatever cheapo Chinese food place you frequent. This is a hundred times better.


Serve with Fried Rice. Pin It

Fried Rice

1/4 cup oil
2 eggs, well beaten
1 - 2 cups chopped ham
3 cups cold, cooked rice
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
2 TBSP soy sauce

Scramble eggs in oil. Add meat, saute for 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook, occasionally stirring, until warm. Serve with your favorite main dish, like Sweet and Sour Chicken or Teriyaki Meatballs.

We generally follow this recipe as is. Why mess with perfection? We do not use real ham because that's too expensive. We use the fake ham ("meat" that's molded, dyed and flavored to look and taste like ham) and it's a lot cheaper.


Occasionally we won't have green onion and we'll use a yellow onion instead. The flavor isn't as good, but it still works just fine.


Usually we double this recipe so that we have plenty of leftovers. Pin It

New York Cheesecake

15 graham crackers (1/2 grahams, so 7 1/2 whole crackers)
2 TBSP butter, melted
4 packages of cream cheese, 8 oz each
1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c milk
4 eggs
1 c sour cream
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1/4 c flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" springform pan. This is a springform pan:



There's a glass, or metal, disc in the bottom or the pan and then the latch is released, the disc is removable.

Put the graham crackers in large plastic bag and crush them. I use a rolling pin and it works marvelously. In a medium bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs and butter together. The mixture will be that of moist crumbs. It will not be wet, and it won't even clump together.

Press the crumbs into the bottom of the greased pan. Press them slightly higher along the edges to create a very shallow lip.

In a large bowl mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Blend in milk and then mix in eggs one at a time; just enough to incorporate them. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust. As you can see, it's very near the top. Yes, it does rise. I have never had it over flow, but I'm not willing to risk it. I put a cookie sheet under the cheesecake just in case.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn oven off and let the cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 - 6 hours. This prevents cracking.

Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Here you can see the cake has risen out of the pan.

Once it cools, it will condense again. It is important to read the instructions. But it's even more important to follow them. Leave the door closed on the oven, otherwise this will happen:

I wasn't too worried because it all tastes the same. But your cake will not crack if you leave the oven door closed. I promise.

It still looks good anyway, if I do say so myself.

Next you just need to slice it up and "doctor" it (as my in-laws say) to perfection. My drug of choice? Cherry pie filling and chocolate sauce.

Mmmm.

Tell me your mouth isn't watering right now...

Aren't you impressed? If you make this for company or your spouse or your in-laws, they will be impressed too.

And trust me, it tasted as good as it looked.

Pin It

Coconut Rice

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Natalie Heath)
1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk
1/3 -1/2 cup sugar
¾ cup milk

First rinse the jasmine rice with cold water until your water is clear and not white. Put the rinsed rice in a medium pan and combine with sugar, milk, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Cover and cook for about 25-35 minutes. Stir rice and milk every 5-10 minutes. Rice is done when milk is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve warm. Serve with Island Pork Tenderloin.

It is important to use the jasmine rice and coconut milk. It won't taste the same if you just use regular rice and only regular milk. My mom and I love a dish that is this rice topped with mango. Mmmm!! SO good. We also loved it with the Island Pork. Pin It

Island Pork Tenderloin

I got this recipe from maresfoodandfun.blogspot.com (adapted from Epicurious.com)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 LB total)
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar I used light brown sugar
2 TBS finely chopped garlic
1 TBS Tabasco


Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 30 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)Serve warm or cold with coconut rice.

I followed these directions except that I used a pork roast rather than tenderloin and my meat took longer to cook. So I ended up having to cut the pork into slices and continue to cook it so that it would cook faster. It turned out pretty good though because then the sauce covered all the surfaces of the meat rather than just the edges.


Mmmmmmm!!!!!! Pin It

Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi

**Warning, this recipe is not cheap, and you must be 21 or older to make it...or at least buy the ingredients.**

1 cup white cooking wine
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, de-veined
3 tsp minced garlic.

Melt butter and mix with other ingredients. Cover shrimp with butter sauce and bake at 350* for 6-7 minutes. Be careful not to over cook the shrimp (or they will get rubbery). Shrimp is done when it has turned pink.

The last few times we have made this recipe, we have been disappointed that we can feel a burning in our throat as we eat the shrimp...aka not all the alcohol burned off. So we had to keep cooking it until it did burn off, and then the shrimp was over-cooked and it all went to pot.


So. Tonight I made this recipe again and I swore not to get my husband or myself drunk off our shrimp scampi. We value our temple recommends. What I did tonight was melt the butter, we used salted butter (I think it flavors better), and wine in a sauce pan. I cooked it to about boiling, and then I simmered for a few minutes. We also added the garlic while simmering to get the flavor in the sauce. Pour the butter sauce over the shrip and put it in the oven un-covered.


We've used the pre-cooked shrim a few times, so you just have to watch it to know when it's done (because it's already pink). We put the shrimp in the oven for about 8 minutes. We knew it was done when we could open the oven door and not feel like we were walking into a bar. Seriously, if all the alcohol isn't cooked off it smells like a drunk. A very garlicy drunk.


Enjoy! Pin It

Chocolate fondue in a CROCK POT!

I found this awesome recipe here. I knew I just HAD to try it out and I'm so glad I did. It's mondo easy and super good. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet, dark, milk, or white. Your choice.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
optional (*Note from Deborah: You know that I do not promote the use of alcohol, especially in recipes where the alcohol does not cook off. However, I told you I'd leave recipes in their original form, so I have. Furthermore, I think these may give you an idea of different ways you could flavor your fondue.)
you can doctor this up with:
1 T Grand Marnier
1 T rum1 T Peppermint Schnapps
1 T Bailey's Irish Cream
1 tsp peppermint, orange, coconut, etc. extract
pinch of espresso powder
The Directions.
The proportions here fit into a Little Dipper. Although the booklet that comes with the Little Dipper says that it only holds 1 cup of contents, I proved this wrong with my earth-shattering discovery that a whole can of Progesso Clam Chowder fits perfectly.

If you do not have a Little Dipper (psst. the holidays are coming...) you can put an oven-safe dish inside of a larger crock pot. Do not add water. There's no need to create a water bath for melting chocolate in the crock pot. It melts nice and slow. Or! you can quintuple the recipe and have a good ol' time.

Put chocolate chips in the crock pot. Add the heavy cream and teaspoon of vanilla. Cover. Plug in and cook on low (or the ON setting for the LD) for about an hour. Stir. Serve with apple chunks, banana slices, cubes of pound cake, strawberries, or marshmallows.

Isn't this the perfect recipe? It's easy, it's entertaining, it's delicious, it's impressive, and it is SO good! If I gave out gold stars, this would get five.

I tripled the recipe because we had company coming over. It was more than enough. But that's ok because guess what? It re-warms nice and easy and might almost be better the second day
.

Mmmmm, I love chocolate. Tyler prefers milk chocolate to semi-sweet, so that's what we used. But it might be a little too rich for the faint of heart.

I freeze my chocolate chips to make them last longer. I did put frozen chips in the recipe. It took a little longer for them to melt, but it was ok. It just meant that I had to stir every ten minutes or so to make sure the outside melted chocolate wasn't burning.

In goes the cream. Yes, we used heavy whipping cream like the recipe calls for. You'll only need a pint. Like I said, I tripled the recipe and had about a half cup left of cream.

The melted chocolate makes me think of Willy Wonka and the fat kid who gets sucked up into the tube because he fell in the chocolate river. If the river was made of this chocolate, let me just tell you that it'd be worth it!

And here:

We have Kadie, Kaleb, Ryan and Tyler. We just put the crock pot in the middle and made everyone swear on pain of death that they wouldn't double dip. We served marshmallows (strawberry and regular, but you honestly can't taste anything but fluffy chocolate), pineapple (canned, but you could use fresh if your ambitious), maraschino cherries, banana slices, and apple slices. They were all someone's favorite. We wanted to try strawberries, but they were outrageously expensive.

We're not fancy, we don't have fondue sticks. We just used forks (or hands as Tyler is demonstrating) and they worked swimmingly.

This is so good, you really should try it. It'd be a great dessert idea for company or for Valentine's Day.

Cheers!

Pin It

The World's Best Fish Recipe

If your house is like mine, your husband/father/brother/son likes to go out and bring home the bacon...or wild game of some sort. And then you're left scratching your head saying, "What do I do with a dead fish?" Or "how do I prepare elk meat?"

For years Tyler would bring home a fish and expect me to prepare it. And being the doting, loving, submissive wife I am (haha! *snort*), I always obliged. So for years we ate fish seasoned with butter, garlic and dill. Sounds good, right? No. Wrong. It's not good. Wild fish taste like what they eat. What do they eat in a lake or river? A lot of moss and bugs. Yeah. Ew. Butter and dill are great on a salmon or a halibut. But they don't go well with moss.

After that I dreaded Tyler going fishing because I didn't want to have to make whatever he caught. I think he dreaded it too because he didn't want to have to eat it. But then we found a couple of really good recipes, and now we LOVE when he brings home fresh fish!

This is his most recent spoil. Caught from Henry's Lake here in Idaho. Tyler was pretty proud of it. I always look at raw food suspiciously. If it still has scales and fins (or fur or feathers) it's not quite food yet. As soon as it's nicely packaged and sitting on the shelf at the grocery store, then I think of it as food. Anyway, here is the recipe that had no name, so I gave it one:)

The World's Best Fish Recipe

1 salmon fillet (we never catch salmon around here, so we use trout. I'm sure you could buy salmon and use this recipe. And when it says fillet, it's not talking a little chunk of fish, it's talking one half of the fish meat that has been cut away from the scales and bones to make a nice portion of fish.)
2 cups fresh lemon juice (we use concentrated lemon juice, so we only use about a fourth to a half of the called amount)
1 cube butter (yes, it pains me to say that Tyler uses real butter in this recipe. I didn't find this out until last night when he replied, "why do you think you like it so much?")
1 T Fish seasoning of choice (we use Old Bay, but you could use a designated fish seasoning, dill, garlic blend, thyme, a mixture of all kinds of seasonings...)
1/4 cup brown sugar (essential ingredient)
lemon zest (we do without)
black pepper

Preheat the over at 350*.
Make a tin foil bowl (on a cookie sheet) and place the fillet inside. Melt the butter and mix with lemon juice, seasoning, pepper, and brown sugar. Drizzle the butter mixture over the fish.
Once the oven is preheated, switch to broil. Put the fish on the upper rack. Check on the fish after 8 - 9 minutes. Pull the meat using a fork. If the meat is pink and flaky, the fish is done.
Once preheated, switch to broil.

Mmmmm. Look at all that butter! That's liquid gold in our house!


It really is very tasty. It's sweet and tangy and you can't even taste moss:) I hope you get to use this recipe sometime. Pin It

SUSHI!!

Look me in the eye and tell me you've never wanted to try/make sushi. We are a big sushi family, but it is SO expensive. Well, here is a "relatively" cheap way to make sushi. I say relatively because the ingredients are pricey, but you can make many rolls of sushi with the ingredients.

This is a basic recipe.

You will need:
sea weed paper (I am not a huge fan of the sea weed. It's fine, but I prefer a soy paper. It has less flavor and it's not as chewy.)
Rice
shrimp (precooked, de-veined, shelled)
imitation crab
avocado
cream cheese
other possible ingredients: cucumber, tuna, carrots, etc.

This is a cool little tool that has a name that I don't know. It's a sushi roller. It helps me keep my sushi together as I roll it. You could probably survive without it, but it sure is handy.

First step is to cook the rice. You can use regular rice. Tyler and I found sushi rice on sale for a dollar at the local grocery store. So we use that. When your rice is cooked, you can season it a little with rice vinegar or just leave it plain.

Rinse and thaw your shrimp and crab.

Lay a piece of nori (the seaweed paper or soy paper) on the sushi roller. Now you need a row of rice. Make sure it's evenly distributed including at the ends.

Now you just have fun with the other stuffings. We love shrimp and cream cheese,

crab and avocado.
We really pile it on. I promise it won't be too big. You'll see once you roll it up. Which is the next step.

Turn the sushi roller so the filling is closest to you. This part can be kind of tricky. You need to hold in the filling while rolling the sushi. Make sure you roll tightly or else everything will fall out when you cut it.

Now you get to slice and enjoy. Use a very sharp knife to slice so that you're not tearing. I didn't measure, but these slices are, I dunno, half an inch to an inch thick.

Voila. Yummy, "healthy" sushi.
Try it out and let me know what you think! Feel free to add or subtract to make your sushi delicious. Tyler and I ate four rolls between the four of us. But we were really hungry:) Pin It