Auntie’s Meatloaf

Growing up meatloaf meant lots of ketchup, lots.The only reason I liked meatloaf was that it meant there would be mashed potatos on the table. It wasn’t that it was terrible, I think I was just too young to appreciate flavored ground beef. Ground beef meant a bun, a pickle and ketchup!

One day I was trying to use up some ground beef and mentioned meatloaf to my husband. I figured he’d turned up his nose but instead he told me to call his mother up and get Auntie’s recipe. I was a little suspicious since it called for Cream of Celery soup, which I’ve never tasted before.

I’m so glad I gave this a try, it’s so good. The Cream of Celery soup ensures no dry, tasteless meat. The Ritz crackers create a buttery taste rather than dry breadcrumbs. The ingredients are simple, the recipe easy and the taste classic. It’s meatloaf, the way it should have always been! I never got to meet Aunty, but she made a mean meatloaf

(Can’t seem to get a picture of it finished because it’s either too dark or it’s all gone. Figured it was better to have the recipe then wait for a picture since it’s getting cold outside)

Auntie’s Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

1-2 eggs (depending on how it’s combining)

1/2 can Cream of Celery soup

1 packet of Lipton Onion soup (I use half)

 

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Form a football shaped loaf on a small broiler pan (let’s drippings go down rather than forming an iicky crust around the bottom). If you don’t have one a cookie sheet will work. Putting the beef into a loaf pan tends to dry meatloaf out though. Make sure when you form your beef that you don’t pack it down too much, you want little crevices to allow air and heat to go in and to allow the meat to expand.

Bake for 1 hour.

Pepperoni Pizza Roll

My husband loves his mother’s Stromboli, although I like it I’m not a big fan of the salami she puts in it. So, I decided to just make a pizza roll using the ingredients we both liked. I typically make this using my pizza dough recipe but while reading Amber’s blog she mentioned using refridgerated bread dough. I figured why not give it a try, and I actually did like the consistency more. Excuse the dim pictures, this was last winter but still wanted to include this recipe for others to try!

Pepperoni Pizza Roll

• 1 roll of refrigerated french bread dough
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Egg wash
• Sprinkle of favorite herbs, I used a tiny bit of basil and oregano

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Roll out bread dough and sprinkle cheese along surface. Then place pepperoni on top, I made rows and tried to keep them close together so each turn in the finished roll would have some pepperoni.

Carefully, roll up the bread dough and pinch ends together and tuck ends underneath. I make sure seams are always underneath the roll when cooking. Make a few diagonal slices on the top of the roll, and brush top and sides with egg wash. Place a few pepperoni slices on top and sprinkle herbs and some parmesan cheese over top.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Source: Amber’s Delectable Delights

Chocolate Cupcakes with Kahlua Buttercream Icing

I’ve been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while now but knew I had to wait till our anniversary to try them. These are very easy and VERY tasty but since they were a mini re-creation of our wedding cake they deserved a special occasion.

For the cupcake I used my go to chocolate cake recipe. Then I used my buttercream recipe (Note, I added 7 tsp. of Kahula in place of vanilla extract) and finally I used a bismark tip on my pastry bag and inserted either raspberry preserves (store bought, tisk tisk) or chocolate ganache(equal parts semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream). It’s always fun when you can make different creations from your key recipes. Because I was in such a rush the day of our anniversary I didn’t get any pictures of the filled cupcakes, but you get the idea!

 

 Source: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake, Cook’s Illustrated, Easy Vanilla Butter Cream, Cook’s Illustrated, April 2007

Baked Macoroni & Cheese

Growing up I used to love when my mom made baked macaroni and cheese. It was such a large casserole that we’d just have that and maybe a salad. I’ve tried others but there is just something about your mom’s recipe that just can’t be beat. You’ll find no flour here or ham; just creamy, cheesy goodness.  It’s so easy I definitely suggest giving it a try!

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

• 1 lb. box elbow macaroni
• 1 lb. sharp cheddar,grated (even if you don’t like sharp, use it, regular cheddar’s flavor gets lost in this)
• 8oz. evaporated milk
• Several tablespoons of margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Cook macaroni until tender

In a casserole dish layer:

1. margarine

2. elbow mac

3. cheese

Repeat the layers until your dish is full, sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top and pour evaporated milk over the entire surface.

Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes (or until breadcrumbs are toasted and you see cheese bubbling)

Fudge Brownies

I’m always after a tasty, simple brownie recipe.  There are some yummy, elaborate recipes out there but I needed something that I could whip up in a matter of a few minutes and a recipe I could pass on to friends and family so they would try it too rather than going to the trusty store bought kind

I found this recipe while going through King Arthur’s website and figured I’d give it a try. I’m so glad I did, these brownies will probably be my go to recipe when I want to whip up a quick batch up brownies. I didn’t follow the recipe completely but it didn’t take away from the fudge goodness. The only thing that disappointed me was that I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream on hand!

Fudge Brownies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa (I didn’t have any on hand so I used half regular cocoa and half dark chocolate cocoa)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

2 cups chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan.  (Make sure you don’t grease the sides otherwise the brownies can’t “climb” up the sides.)

 In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder (I didn’t have any on hand but I do encourage using coffee/espresso to enhance chocolate!), and vanilla till smooth.

Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chocolate chips, again stirring until smooth. (I only added half of the chips and let those melt.I let the mixture cool for about 20 minutes and then added the other half so that the chips would remain intact inside the finished brownie)

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased pan.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs on it. Cool on a rack before serving. To get nice, clean cut brownies you’ll need to let cool for 2 hours. Don’t worry they’ll still be nice and warm to eat though!

Source : King Arthur Flour, Fudge Brownies

Happy Anniversary!

 

Happy 2nd Anniversary!! I’m almost a month late posting this but better late then never huh? Things have been crazy here; selling our house, moving into a temp. apartment, building a house, surgeries, birthdays and anniversaries!

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary this year and since Alan planned our first I decided to plan the 2nd! We needed to stay home this year since we have so much going on but I wanted to incorporate the past with this year. So, I decided to recreate our wedding menu and go sailing here in Kennebunkport on the Schooner Eleanor. Not only is The Eleanor very similar to the Schooner Surprise that we sailed on last year up in Camden, but it’s also aptly named Eleanor

There are no pictures in this post since things were a bit rushed. Because of weather we had to move up our plans a day and I only had a few hours to make everything. With the help of my mom we got all the appetizers made from the reception, Alan and I went sailing and when we were finished we went and had dinner in our new dining room. That’s right, a romantic dinner in our newly framed dining room! Thanks mom for setting it up! I had linens, etc. from the reception all ready to go for her. I even was super corny and had a list of songs from the wedding on the iPhone It was a wonderful night and one we’ll always remember!

Since Alan doesn’t like seafood I just decided to not even bother with anything he wouldn’t eat also. Eventually, I’ll get on here with pictures and recipes but our menu consisted of :

Prosciutto wrapped melon for the sail

For “dinner” we had :

Sweet potato and coconut chicken

Terriyaki Beef

Bruschetta

Artichoke Fritters – stuffed with parmesan cheese

and for desert a little mini recreation of our wedding cake..

Chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache or raspberry preserves topped with Kahlua butter cream icing!

 

 Our church from the sailboat and from 2 yrs ago, wow time flies!

Kitchen Model

Building our new house has been very exciting, but for my husband it’s “been there done that.” For me, the kitchen possibilities are endless!! I’ve consulted many kitchen experts and I haven’t really fallen in love with anything. While I want this kitchen to be functional and great looking, it is not my “dream” kitchen. We’ll probably sell this house in 5 years and then build our dream house so for right now no Vikings or Sub-zeros for me!

We met with one custom cabinet builder and I had mentioned that seeing all of the renderings (even the 3D ones) weren’t much help for me. I needed to see pictures and tour kitchens for me to really get an understanding of the space. His solution? Build a mock version for me! It’s the first time he’s done this but I told him he really needs to do this for other clients! I got to take it home and move things, see it from every angle etc. Even the dogs got into the fun!

Now the real fun begins with choosing designs but I’m so excited to have his work in our home! This mock up is just a rough idea, but I thought it was just too cute.

Moving = No Blog Updates

When you are lucky enough to have this sign in front of your house…

 

Your pantry looks like this….

 

 

I’ve neglected my poor new blog. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, and making lots of ice cream, but haven’t had a chance to take pictures. This month has been a very busy month for us. My mother moved up from South Carolina, we are building a house, sold our current one and are moving into a temporary apartment. Oh, did I mentioned I had sinus surgery today and we’re moving tomorrow? Once we get settled into the apartment I’ll start blogging again, but first I have to figure out where I put everything!

BBQ Chicken Nachos

My husband and I love going out and just ordering appetizers. I think most of the time I prefer appetizers and deserts over entrees! We used to go to Bugaboo Creek all the time and order their BBQ Chicken Nachos. I had never thought of putting BBQ sauce on nachos but it was very tasty. One night at home I thought to myself, this is ridiculous, I can do it myself! Minus the red and blue nacho chips here is the quick and tasty appetizer. The picture isn’t pretty but it’s tasty! My husband decided to cook these on the grill one night but usually we toast them in the oven.

Ingredients:

Nachos

Mexican Cheese (or just cheddar)

BBQ Sauce

Chicken

Diced tomatos (we omit most of the time)

Jalapeno peppers (we omit most of the time)

Salt and pepper chicken and grill with some BBQ sauce. Once cooled, tear or dice chicken. In a heatproof dish (or a pizza stone) layer nachos, chicken , BBQ sauce and cheese. Repeat once more to your desired tastes. Heat until cheese is melted and enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream

 

I couldn’t last another day without using my new Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment. I had so many strawberries in my house still because of my husband’s birthday cake and I didn’t freeze them in time. I decided that I didn’t need some exotic flavor to break in the ice cream maker. Strawberry ice cream screams summer and since it was July 4th, strawberry ice cream it shall be!

I had this recipe from Annie’s Eats saved back when I made the strawberry ice cream cupcake brownies. I didn’t have an ice cream maker but knew the day would come. I wanted to try this recipe versus other strawberry ice cream recipes because this recipe omits the use of egg yolks. Figured I’d see what the difference was.

It’s been 8 hours and the ice cream has finally started to develop ice crystals. For the most part it’s still very creamy, but oh so delicious! Besides the end result I think the best part of making this was the aroma of slicing the strawberries and adding fresh lemon juice. I could have stopped right there and just eaten them as is! I hesitated getting an ice cream maker for so long because I figured I’d gain 10 pounds in the first week, although this may happen, I’m going to love every batch I make!

I’ve never used an ice cream maker before, but this attachment was easy to use and I’m happy my stand mixer finally has an attachment to play with

Strawberry Ice Cream
2 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of the sugar; stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours.

In another bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, the vanilla and any accumulated juices from the strawberries.

Turn on your ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the frozen bowl. Let mix until thickened, about 20-25 minutes.

Add the sliced strawberries during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Store ice cream in an air tight container for 6-8 hours for a harder consistency.

Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Sweet & Savory Eats