Chameleon Girls

Balsamic Pot Roast

2012-03-06T14:05:00.000-06:00

We had a good laugh a couple of months ago while watching a morning show. A chef was making a roast and "stuffed" the roast. The audience was in awe of "stuffing" a roast.

We looked at each other and shook our heads.

At the same time we asked how do they cook their roast?

As a little girl I remember pulling up a chair to the counter and watched Mama Jeanne cooking Sunday roast. She would make holes in the meat and stuff the hole with chopped onion and garlic.

I asked her why she did that?

Her answer was very simple.

To make sure every bite is tasty.

Balsamic Pot Roast with Onion & Carrot

3-4 pound boneless chuck roast

3 garlic clove minced
Cajun Seasoning

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder
1-2 T olive oil
1/4 cup water to deglaze pan
3 large onions thickly sliced

2 cup carrot sliced
1 cup beef stock, reduced to 1/2 cup

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Rub roast well with seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder and stuff with garlic. In a cast iron skillet or heavy pan heat olive oil and brown roast well on all sides.

This step will take a few minutes, but will give you a wonderful taste to your finished roast. Remove roast.

Deglaze skillet with 1/4 cup water.

Boil stock and cook until it is reduced to 1/2 cup, cook slightly. Mix together vinegar and tomato sauce in deglazed skillet and add to stock.

Place onion slices and carrots in crock pot. Place the roast on top of the veggies and pour stock mixture over roast.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until beef is tender.

You do not need to add more liquid. Gravy will form while cooking.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

The roast is so tender it will pull apart.

My family really likes this recipe as leftovers.

Serve on top of french fries and cover with shredded cheddar cheese.

"I am not a glutton -

I am an explorer of food"

~Erma Bombeck

Seasoning a Cast Iron Skillet

2012-03-02T08:32:00.000-06:00

I have to laugh because

a friend called and asked-

How do you season a

Cast Iron Skillet?

I have always taken it for granted

that everyone knew how to season their skillets.

He said he never heard of Cast Iron Skillets

until he moved to Louisiana.

The process is very easy.

And once your skillet has a good seasoning,

you are set.

In fact iron skillets are passed down

like the "good" china.

I got my set from my Nanny.

All that you need is your

Cast Iron Skillet

Lard/vegetable oil

Paper Towels

Stove & Oven

Step 1 (only if your skillet is new)

Wash in hot water and liquid soap.

This will remove the protective wax coating.

For re-seasoning rinse with hot water.

Wipe dry with paper towels, or dish cloth.

Step 2 Dry the skillet by heating it on the stove

and cool. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

Step 3 Place a dollop of lard into the skillet.

Rub the lard into the skillet, outside and handle.

Don't coat the bottom!

If you do when you cook with the skillet

the lard will burn and smoke up your kitchen.

Trust me!

You will not like the smell.

Step 4 Place the skillet into your pre-heated oven.

Cook for 3 hours.

Step 5 Cut off oven and allow to cool with door

closed 4-6 hours.

Step 6 Wipe down with a paper towel leaving

a thin layer. Repeat

Now you are ready to cook.

We recommend cooking something greasy like

Bacon!

I always recommend

BACON, BACON, BACON

The 1st couple of time cooking with

your skillet it may smoke.

Here are a couple of tips to keep your skillet seasoned.

Wash with hot water and very little soap.

Never, NEVER put into the dishwasher.

Wipe dry with paper towel/dish cloth.

After wiping place on hot stove to completely dry.

Store with lid off so moisture doesn't collect.

Place a paper towel inside to absorb moisture

(this will prevent rust)

Do not boil water in your skillet- this promotes rust

Did we mention NEVER place in the dishwasher?

Your skillet is now seasoned.

It will look and cook the same in 20 years.

BEFORE

AFTER

We like to cook cornbread in our skillet.

Everyone gets a cripy and buttery end.

Here is our special cornbread recipe.

CAST IRON CRAWFISH CORNBREAD

Joie de vivre = "joy of living"
– this saying and attitude is the way of life in south Louisiana.

Cast Iron Crawfish Cornbread

2012-02-27T13:09:00.001-06:00

Cast Iron Crawfish Cornbread

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 can cream-style corn

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 box Jiffy Cornbread mix

1 lb crawfish, drained

1 sm onion, chopped

1 sm bell pepper, chopped

1 stick butter + 1/4 stick

(optional to taste)

jalapeno pepper

liquid crab boil

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place skillet with 1/4 stick butter into oven

to melt butter.

Saute onion and bell pepper in stick of butter.

Beat together eggs and oil.

Add corn, cheese and cornbread mix to eggs and mix.

Add seasoning of choice (we like the Cajun seasoning)

Stir in crawfish.

Pour into preheated buttery cast iron skillet and bake

until brown 45 - 60 minutes.

Or bake in a 9x13 pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

Look at the big bites of crawfish.

YUM!

How to Season A Cast Iron Skillet

“Somewhere lives a bad Cajun cook, just as somewhere must live one last ivory-billed woodpecker. For me, I don't expect ever to encounter either one.”
William Least Heat Moon
(William Trogdon)
‘Blue Highways’

Praline Crescent Rolls

2012-02-07T06:17:00.020-06:00

Praline Crescent Rolls

1 can crescent rolls (refrigerated)

1/2 stick butter (softened)

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine, butter, sugar and cinnamon until smooth.

Separate crescents into triangles.

Spread 2 Tablespoons praline mixture over each triangle.

Roll up each crescent (start with widest side)
Pinch to seal.
Shape rolls into crescents and place onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or golden brown.
While rolls are cooling blend all glaze ingredients,
adding enough milk for a drizzling consistency.
Drizzle over rolls.
Makes 8 rolls.
This is an easy recipe to double if you have a hungry crowd.

I see the moon,

and the moon sees me

~Jim Brickman

Bacon Wrapped Lil Smokies

2012-02-06T11:39:00.000-06:00

Are you in need for a tasty snack?

Here is a treat for family and friends.

Ingredients:

1 pack Lil Smokies

1 pack of bacon

1 cup brown sugar

toothpicks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice bacon strips into 4 pieces.

Wrap bacon around smokie and secure with toothpick.

Dip each wrapped smokie into the brown sugar &

rub brown sugar into smokie.

Place into baking pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until bacon is cooked.

If you wish to be fancy place a small piece of

pineapple onto toothpick before cooking.

"I stay away from natural foods. At my age I need all the preservatives I can get."

- George Burns

Peanut Butter Chocolate Smooch Cookies

2012-01-26T21:06:00.000-06:00

We just have to share this

quick, simple and

cheapo depot

cookie recipe.

We were trying to come up with a way

to make our $0.75 roll of cookie dough

a little special.

Yep!

You did read that correct.

$0.75

And we are talking the HUGE roll.

We knew about placing a Hershey Kiss into the cookies,

but did not have any on hand.

Lo and behold hiding in the pantry was a bag of

Milk Chocolate Chips.

So our cookies became

Peanut Butter Chocolate Smooch Cookies.

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Cookie dough

Milk Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shape teaspoon size dough into balls.

(we like bite size cookies, so we use a little less per ball)

Place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-13 minutes until golden brown.

Remove to cooling rack and place chips into warm cookies.

Now for our special tip for the day.

Make sure the oven is at 350

NOT 500

or your 1st batch of cookies will look a little like this.

(can you see we are trying to get your eyes off the burnt cookie)

"You have no fortune.' I didn't need a cookie to tell me that.”

~Sex and the City

Wine Jelly

2011-12-31T09:44:00.000-06:00

Today we are making Wine Jelly

Any type of wine can be used.

Red, White, Rose, Champagne

Wine jelly is great for cooking sauces

and wonderful with cheese, crackers and wine,

or even with peanut butter.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups wine

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 package dry pectin

4 1/2 cup sugar

1 pat of butter (about 1 teaspoon)

Paraffin Wax

Directions:

Combine wine, lemon juice, and pectin in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring constantly until dissolved. Add pat of butter

Return to a rolling boil. Once at a rolling boil, boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam off top, if necessary. Ladle jelly into hot sterilized wine glasses leaving about 1/2" from top.

Once the jelly has cooled and set pour about 1/8" paraffin

wax and let harden. Pour another 1/8" to seal top.

Tie with a ribbon to make a great presentation.

Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it. ~ Anonymous

Cookie Exchange Idea

2011-12-27T10:17:00.001-06:00

Did someone say Party?

Chameleon Girls

Love a good Party.

Is there better time of year to get together

with family and friends and share your favorite

cookie recipe?

This is our recipe that we are sharing with our friends.

Cookie Burst

What goes better with cookies that a glass of cold milk?

NOTHING!

We are going to show you a special way to serve milk

at your Cookie Exchange Party.

Plastic Wine Glasses

White Frosting

Sprinkles

Pour the sprinkles onto a small plate or bowl.

Spread a think layer of frosting onto each glass.

Dip each glass into the sprinkles to cover frosting.

Now you have a fancy glass even the kiddos can enjoy.

Just think Santa might leave a extra goodie for

parents that put that much thought into his

cookies and milk.

At the end of each post we like to share a favorite quote

so this is our Christmas gift to you-

Cajun Night Before Christmas

Color Picture

2011-12-19T10:17:00.000-06:00

Each year parents are looking for ideas

for their children to make as

Holiday presents.

Is Mary the next Renoir?

Johnny- Degas?

Trent- Cezanne?

Piper is our next Monet.

For this project you will need:

COLORS

CANVAS

(3 for $5 at Hobby Lobby and 40% coupon)

IRON

WAX PAPER

PENCIL SHARPNER(for shavings)

For this project you are going to use

shavings of the colors.

We used 2 boxes of 64 colors.

Look how yummy the colors look!

Yes, it did take awhile to shave each color,

but well worth the time.

Plus it will keep your little ones

quite and still

for a little bit of time.

Have your child draw a design on the canvas.

This is their project but try and stress a

BIG picture is better.

Sprinkle the color shavings on the design.

Try to cover the canvas with colors without white showing.

Cover the canvas with wax paper

and iron until the colors melt.

Carefully check to see that the colors have melted

by lifting the wax paper.

If the color has not melted all of the way

lay the wax paper back down and re-iron.

To add a little extra pazzaz

wrap the edges with ribbon and tack down with

Glitter Finger Polish Tacks

Now your child has their very own master piece.

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”

~Claude Monet

Cookie Burst

2011-12-10T08:47:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a super easy cookie recipe?

Here it is!

And it only takes 4 ingredients!

And has a BURST of Flavor!

What more could you ask for?
What flavor will you use?
Lemon, Strawberry, Chocolate

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix
(we used lemon & strawberry)

8 oz cool whip

1 egg

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat together egg, cool whip and cake mix until well blended in medium bowl.

Dough will be thick.

Drop by teaspoons full into powdered sugar.

Roll in sugar to coat.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes.

“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand”

Tootsie Roll Fudge

2011-12-07T14:03:00.000-06:00

Do you have a childhood memory of a special candy?

Mine is Tootsie Rolls.

I always have a candy dish full of Tootsie Rolls.

Take a peek at how you can make your own
Cheery O Bowl

I found this wonderful recipe from Camie at

Home Cooking For Six

Ingredients:1 teaspoon plus 2 Tablespoons butter, divided

2 cups Tootsie Roll Midgees

2-3 Tablespoons peanut butter

3-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 Tablespoons milk (or to desired consistency)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (if desired)

Candy to decorate or mix within

(Heath bar, M&Ms, Peanut Butter cups, Reese's Pieces, etc)

Line an 8" square pan with foil. Grease the foil with 1 teaspoon butter, set aside.

In a heave saucepan, melt the butter, Tootsie Rolls, peanut butter and remaining butter

over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in the

confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla (mixture will be VERY thick).

Mix with hands on counter top.

Fold in nuts or candy (optional). Spread into prepared pan.

Top with candy, if desired, OR using a sharp knife, score the surface into 1" squares.

Press candy into the center of each square. Cool. Using foil, remove fudge from pan.

Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Glitter Finger Polish Tacks

2011-11-22T13:00:00.000-06:00

What girl doesn't like a little bit of GLAM in her life?

We do for sure!

So what a better way of using 2 of our favorite things...

GLITTER

FINGER POLISH

to make fancy thumb tacks.

This is such an easy project and if you look hard you

might have everything you need around your house.

Thumb Tacks

Glitter

Finger Nail Polish

Paint the thumb tack with finger nail polish.

Don't forget the sides.

Dip into the glitter while still wet.

Stick tack into a piece of card board to dry.

How will you use your

Glitter Finger Polish Tacks?

As a boarder for a picture canvas?

Holding your favorite piece of artwork on your

Cork Board

Or give as a present?

A great way to present the tacks is to

wrap a piece of card board with

scrapbook paper or wrapping paper

and stick in the

Glitter Finger Polish Tacks.

All that is gold does not glitter

Fried Mashed Potato Balls

2011-11-07T11:00:00.007-06:00

Round 3 of the Crazy Cooking Challenge

Mashed Potatoes

While searching around for the best bloggy

Mashed Potato recipe we knew we wanted

a recipe for left-overs.

Blissfully Delicious

had the perfect recipe.
And with a name like Blissfully Delicious,

can you make something bad?

We think not!

Our hot creamy mashed potatoes are full of, garlic, sour cream, butter, and seasoning.

But after sitting in the fridge they loose some of their yumm factor.

We did make a few additions to Blissfully Delicious' recipe by adding crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.

** ~~Little~~ BIG tip**

Make extra because this is one recipe that you will want

left-overs.

Ingredients

3 cups stiff seasoned mashed potatoes (preferably cold)

2 eggs

1/2 cup of sliced green onions

1/2 cup bacon

1 cup cheddar cheese

1-1/2 cups of panko

Oil for frying

Directions

1. Let cold mashed potatoes stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Stir in the eggs, onions, cheese and bacon.

Mix well

3. Shape into 1" balls using an ice cream scoop.

4. Roll balls in panco.

(to make clean up eaiser place foil under work area)

5. Heat oil in Fry Daddy to 375 degrees

(or shallow frying pan).

Fry potato balls in small batches until golden brown,

about 2-3 minutes.

If you need to turn make sure the crust is crispy and brown.

6. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

7. Serve warm with Garlic Mayonaisse

Don't they look like Hush Puppies?

We knew at once Blissfully Delicious was a girl after our own hearts when she
quoted Virginia Woolf ~
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

Crawfish Pie

2011-11-05T01:37:00.001-05:00

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie and File' Gumbo

Me oh My oh

How we love to listen to Pandora Radio while cooking.

Tonight is Hank Williams.

Love some oldies but goodies.

This recipe calls for a veggie mix of onions & celery.

This is what it looks like in the store.
It sure comes in handy
if you are short on time or don't like to cut your veggies.

It is even Cajun certified.

Crawfish Pie

Ingredients:

pie crust or 1 pack small pie shells

1 stick butter

3 cups mixed chopped onion & celery

1 can cream of mushroom soup

(we use cream of chicken)

1 can cream of celery soup

1 lb crawfish

2 cups cooked white rice
1 cup cheddar cheese

Season to taste

Place pie crust into pie pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over pie crust

Melt butter in large pan.

Cook veggies in butter until soft.

Combine soups with veggies and heat.

Add crawfish and cook for 5 minutes.

Mix rice and cheese with crawfish mixture.

Season to taste.

Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes,

or until the crust is brown.

Serve with a spinach salad.

Ca c'est bon!

Our favorite way to make these are in little pie shells.

I was going to take lots of pictures of the little pies,

but this is what they looked like when I got back.

The little pies were GONE!

So moral of story...

make EXTRAS!

They make a special neighbor gift.

Make a batch to give to your friends,

bring to a party,

or quick dinner.

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
'cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio.
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo,
Son of a gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou.

~Hank Williams

Spirit Wreath

2011-11-04T03:32:00.001-05:00

We can't tell you how excited we are

to be sharing our fall wreath ideas with you

from Chameleon Girls.

What do you think of when you think of Fall?

Camp Fires

Pumpkins

Leaves changing color

Cooler weather

Football

Tailgating

Okay we do think of all of these,

but we don't see a big

change in the color of leaves

here in Louisiana

And last Wednesday we had

Summer and Winter

all in the same DAY!

Started at 84 and ended at 39 degrees.

Yep, all in the same day.

So we picked two of our fall favorites.

Football and Tailgating to make our wreath.

Showing our team spirit we made a

GEAUX TIGERS

Laurel Wreath

with

SPOONS

This is such an quick, easy and ~~cheap~~ inexpensive project.

All you need are:

40 - 50 plastic spoons

Hot glue

Ribbon

Place a dab of hot glue at the neck of the spoon

and at the top.

While the glue is still hot place the next spoon

on top with the handle hanging over just a tad.

This is what the back will look like.

Keep putting dabs and spoons.

They will form a natural circle.

There are a couple of ways to hang your wreath.

Without ribbon on a nail.

With ribbon

If you are going to use ribbon you can

1. Sew the ribbon

2. Glue the ribbon

Either way once attached, flip the ribbon over.

Now you can show off your team spirit.

Here are a few tips-

Use White or Clear spoons and

spray paint color of choice

(much cheaper than colored spoons)

Blue or Pink to announce baby

Holiday colors

The ideas are endless.

Stop over for a visit at Chameleon Girls

and tell us how you are going to make your

Laural Wreath

While visiting check out our other projects like our

Halloween Cottage

(we are giving away a cottage. Find out how you can win.)

Glitter, so MUCH Glitter

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?
Vince Lombardi

Tiger Bites

2011-11-01T16:54:00.000-05:00

Tiger Bites

are simple, easy and quick goodies.

Yippee Skippy you are more than likley to have

the ingredients in your pantry.

Bugles, Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Directions:

Fill each Bugle with peanut butter.

Melt chocolate (follow directions on package).

Dip filled Bugles 1/2 way into chocolate.

Place on wax paper to harden.

We call them Tiger Bites when we are going Tailgating.

GEAUX TIGERS!!

But what if you make them for Halloween?

They would magically turn into

Witches Hats

Poof!

What about for Thanksgiving?

Cornucopia

Tell us how you would make your Tiger Bites.

Jennifer from Just Wedeminute

is the lucky winner of

The Candy Cottage

Please contact us.

Calvin: "I'm a genius, but I'm a misunderstood genius."
Hobbes: "What's misunderstood about you?"
Calvin: "Nobody thinks I'm a genius."

Fabric, Crafty Business Cards

2011-10-27T11:16:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have a need to hand out business cards?

Sure you do!

When you go to

The Market

Play Dates

Craft Stores

Bloggy Boot Camp

or other Blog Conferences

Someone is going to ask "what do you do"?

Now you will have a crafty business card to whip out

and proudly say I am a BLOGGER.

This will make you sound and look like a real business.

Melissa over at MOMCOMM has a wonderful post on

What to Put on a Blog Business Card

I wish we knew about Melissa before we made our cards.

(next go round we will have everything correct)

How did we make our Fabric Business Cards?

We designed our business cards to look like our blog.

Printed them out on our home printer.

Now comes the fun part.

Choosing fabric

We have a fabulous stash of fabric.

In our other life we make pillowcases for

ConKerr Cancer

These are the fabrics we chose for our cards.

Must say perfect color match!

Iron fabric

we used our handy dandy

TV Tray Ironing Board

Lay out the fabric right side down.

Spread glue onto the center back of a business card.

Make sure not to get the glue along the edges.

Sewing over glue is not a great idea.

Cut around business cards with pinking shears.

This will help fabric from ripping.

Now you get to show off you sewing skills.

You do not have to be a pro at sewing.

This would be a great project for a beginner.

Choose a thread with contrast.

Sew around the card making sure not to get too close to the edges.

Trim left over thread.

TA-DA you are now official,

so be proud to hand out your

Business Cards.

Every woman should have 4 pets in her life.

A mink in her closet,

A jaguar in her garage,

A tiger in her bed,

and A jackass who pays for everything.

~Paris Hilton

Trick or Treat!?

2011-10-19T19:59:00.000-05:00

How do you like our Halloween Cottage?

Trick?

Treat?

BOTH!

It is

The Candy Cottage

The trick is...

The Cottage is made of durable plastic!

No Baking

The treat is

The Cottage is

Ready to Decorate

Snaps together in seconds

Sturdy walls and roof will not collapse

Reusable

Wash it off and decorate

again and again...

Now for the fun job

Decorating!

It is so simple and easy.

Grab a can of frosting and candies.

That's right, no need for special frosting or candies.

We took a trip to the dollar store for all of our supplies.

(we had food colors on hand)

The only hard part was not tasting all of the goodies.

We added black food color to the frosting for the roof.

Top with candy corn, ju ju beads and grape Mike & Ike's.

BOO!

Don't be scared. He's a friendly ghost.

Made with Smarties and a dot of black frosting.

Our Stucco is frosting with orange food color.

How do you like our pumpkin garden?

Now for the real treat.

You can win your very own

Candy Cottage

There are 5 ways to win.

1 follow Memories Made Sweet blog

1 like Candy Cottage on Facebook

1 follow Chameleon Girls

1 like Chameleon Girls on Facebook

Leave a comment on how you would decorate your

Candy Cottage

That is a total of 5 ways.

Corny Muffins

2011-10-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

How many of us lead busy lives?

We do!

In fact we have been so busy we have not had a chance to blog!

Yikes!

Zonkers!

Woa!

But, we are BACK!

Today we are making a quick dinner for the family on the run.

A dinner that you can eat on the run.

Corny Muffins

Ingredients:

2 boxes of corn muffin mix

(Jiffy is always our choice.)

and ingredients to make muffins

1 can of corn drained

1 cup of cheddar cheese

1 pack of hot dogs sliced

1/2 cup butter melted

Mix corn muffin mix and add corn and cheese.

Fill half of muffin cup and top with sliced hot dogs.

Cover hot dogs with more corn muffin mix.

(we like to add a little extra cheese)

Bake according to directions on muffin mix.

Top with melted butter.

You can even add a little frosting

(ketchup)

Check out the cute little corny breads.

Serve with tater tots and enjoy.

Ask any carny — a corn dog isn’t just batter fried meat on a stick; it’s the filet mignon of the carnival world.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-10-07T11:00:00.013-05:00

Welcome to the 2nd month of the

Boy do we have a surprise for you!

BACON CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Yes, you did hear that right!

We were thinking-

What could make a Chocolate Chip Cookie better???

BACON- is our answer!

(okay to be totally honest bacon is always our answer)

Check out our

Bacon Caramel Brownies

Because the rules state our recipe must be found on another blog we started our search.

What wonderful blogs are out there, but our favorite recipe came from

Closet Cooking

Here are a few of his yummy recipes with bacon

BELT

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Medjool Dates

Caramelized Pear & Gorgonzola Omelette

And oh so many more...

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

**we did make a few changes - see below**

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (softened, feel free to replace some with bacon grease)

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/8 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

5 strips, chopped bacon (Candied Bacon)

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl.

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

3. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.

5. Mix in the chocolate and the bacon.

6. Place the dough onto a cookie sheet one table spoon at a time.

7. Bake in a 350 degree F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.

Look you can see the bacon in the cookie

Our changes-

**Browned Butter- Brown the butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-low heat. Pay close attention (it can be hard to see the browning because of the foam). About 3-5 minutes or until the butter has a nutty smell. Let cool.

**Milk Chocolate Chips, because that is what we had on hand.

**Before baking- chill dough for about 20 minutes, then shape into balls and place onto parchment-lined baking sheet. (Now is the time to freeze. Place balls into freezer. Once frozen store in Ziploc bags.)

**Extra melted Chocolate Chips for garnish- follow directions on package to melt.

**Dip fork into melted chocolate and drizzle over cookies while they are cooling.

**Extra Candied Bacon for garnish and nibbling while cooking.

**We do not recommend using a plastic sandwich bag to drizzle the chocolate. Our bag kept bursting and gave us big plops of chocolate. Not quite the look we were going for.

This is the look that we were going for

TA-DA

Stressed spelled backwards is DESSERTS. Coincidence?

I think not!

~Author Unknown

TV-Tray Ironing Board

2011-10-05T17:56:00.000-05:00

How many of you have these ugly

TV-Trays that you use for

this and that?

How about putting it to good use

by turning it into a

TV-Tray Ironing Board

This is such a quick and easy project.

Items needed:

Old TV tray (or new)

Therma Ironing Board Cover Fabric

Cotton Padding

Cotton Fabric

Staples/Gun (heavy duty)

Hammer

Place tray upside down on Padding

and trace around giving about 2"

on each side and cut out.

Staple to tray.
Hammer staples into tray.
Do the same with the
Ironing Board Fabric
and Cotton Fabric.

Tray covered with padding and iron fabric.

Stapling

You might need to hammer down (we did).
How do you like our hammer???
A girls gotta have Girly tools!

Make sure to get the fabric good and tight.

FINI!
Now you can have a cute Ironing Board that fits into small spaces too.

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot;
but make it hot by striking.
'William Butler Yeats'

Olive Penguins

2011-10-02T06:01:00.000-05:00

We were so excited to be asked to host a

Chef Boyardee House Party

We knew we wanted to go with an

Italian dinner, but we wanted to show that with the

same recipe you can have and

adult dinner party

and a fun family dinner.

What do we do for a kids appetizer?

Hummm...

We remember a while back seeing

Olive Penguins

at Once Upon A Plate

These little guys were so simple.

With a little help from you

your little guys can make this dish themselves.

It is never too early to teach a child it is fun to cook!

Ingredients:

**we did make a few changes**

Olives- Large & Medium (drain)

Mozzarella balls (small)

Italian Dressing

Carrots

Tooth Picks

1. Marinade the Mozzarella balls in the dressing for a couple of days.

2. Scrape the out side of carrots and cut into disks. (this is were you help out)

3. Cut small "V" out of the disks. This will make the feet and beak.

4. Make a small slice into Large olive and place 1 or 2 mozzarella balls into olive.

5. Place carrot "V" into hole in Medium olive. This will make the beak.

6. Attach Medium olive to Large olive with beak facing out with toothpick

make sure to catch cheese with toothpick.

7. Push toothpick through carrot disk.

Now you have tasty

Olive Penguins

It's practically impossible to look at a

penguin and feel angry.
Joe Moore

Easy Tiramisu

2011-10-01T04:16:00.000-05:00

For our Chef Boyardee Party we wanted a

quick, simple, easy, and tasty dessert.

So what comes to mind when you think dessert for an

Italian dinner?

Tiramisu

Not only is this recipe easy

it is perfect for entertaining

because it will be a big hit

and it can be made the night before.

(leaves you more time to enjoy yourself)

Ingredients:
16 oz mascarpone cheese
1 cup vanilla pudding
1 Pound Cake
3/4 cup espresso or STRONG coffee
1/2 oz Kahlua or Coffee Liqueur
cocoa powder
chocolate bar

Directions:

Bring the mascarpone cheese to room temperature.
Brew the espresso/coffee. Add the Kahlua to the coffee and let cool. While it is cooling sit down and enjoy a cup.
Cut cake into about 1" strips.
Put the mascarpone in a bowl and beat with a mixer just until it is light and fluffy. Fold the pudding into the mascarpone until well mixed.
Spread a little of the mascarpone mix into the bottom of the serving dish.
Dip the cake quickly into the espresso. Place cake strips on top of the mascarpone mix.
Top with another layer of mascarpone mix
Repeat layers. Last layer should be the mascarpone mix.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder and top with shaved chocolate
Place the tiramisu into the fridge and chill for a few hours.

Quick Tips

**Use a sifter or strainer to sprinkle the cocoa powder- this will help the cocoa come out fine and without clumps.
**To make chocolate curls use a potato peeler or cheese grader for a fine chocolate shaving.
**Don't soak cake or it will get soggy.

Buon appetito!

Sleepless in Seattle

[Jay is helping Sam get back into the dating scene]
Sam Baldwin: What is "tiramisu"?
Jay: You'll find out.
Sam Baldwin: Well, what is it?
Jay: You'll see!
Sam Baldwin: Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I'm not gonna know what it is!

2011-09-30T21:02:00.000-05:00

We am sure most of you have heard of our latest

Addictions

Infatuations

Compulsions

Habits

Needs

Call it what you will

is up there with

Coffee

Chocolate

Hugs

Giggles

Crafts

You get the picture?

Right?

Did you ask what is Pinterest?

Pinterest

lets you organize and share all the beautiful
things you find on the web.
People use pinboards to plan their weddings,
decorate their homes,
and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all,
you can browse pinboards created by other people.
Browsing pinboards is a fun way to
discover new things and
get inspiration from people
who share your interests.

Let us tell you a little secret.

We was playing around and
looking at all of the amazing

goodies that are on Pinterest

and be still our little hearts
what did we find?

Our

Fried Mac n Cheese Balls

Can we tell you how excited we were to

be doing our daily search to see our post?

We feel like

Super Stars

We want to share some of our

favorite pens from this week.

We think they are stars as well.

Most of our picks have us

SMH

Katie's "text" words for

Shake My Head

thinking why did I not think of that?

Wow- I had that same idea!

(great minds think alike)

I did that, but that sure does look better.

A soap box to carry your

camera in your bag!

Genius

Dried Strawberries

We made these last night

Yum!

Sorry, we do not have a tutorial on these

We ate them all up.

Amazing DIY rug

Yes! You can even find great tutorials like this

beautiful rug.

If you take a look at the top right of our blog

you can follow us.

Because Pinterest is so new it is currently invite-only.

But if you would like an invite

send us your e-mail address and

we would be happy for you to join in on the fun.

We will send you an invite to come play.

We always end our post with a quote of the day

so we will share one of our favorites found on

Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake

2011-09-30T06:00:00.003-05:00

Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake

This meal is so tasty and comes from a

CAN!

Yep, you did hear correct.

This recipe is from

Chef Boyardee.

We were luck to be choosen to host a

House Party for Chef Boyardee.

We did an Italian Theme.

Our 1st recipe was

Ravioli Lasagna

Today we are trying

Pepperoni Spaghetti Bake

This dish is AMAZING!

Not one single bit left over.

Ingredients

PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
1-1/4 cups original baking mix
1/2 cup reduced fat (2%) milk
2 can (14.5 oz each) Chef Boyardee® Spaghetti & Meatballs
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/3 cup sliced turkey pepperoni

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. Combine baking mix and milk in medium bowl; stir until soft dough forms.
Drop dough by spoonfuls on bottom of baking dish (will not completely cover bottom). Spoon 1 can spaghetti and meatballs over dough and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining can spaghetti and meatballs, remaining 1/4 cup cheese and pepperoni.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until dough is done in centers and browned.

Cook's Tips

Add your favorite pizza toppings, if desired.
Get the kids involved with preparation; they can prepare the dough, layer the ingredients, and top the dish with pepperoni.

Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray.

~Author Unknown

Biscoff Cake Push-Ups

2011-09-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a wonderful idea

to only see it fail?

We did!

Because we are not ones to

cry over spilled milk, or

MUSHED up cupcakes.

We made Cake Push-Ups

The process started because I (Honee) had a grand idea to make cupcakes in my special mini cake mold.

Well we greased and floured the mold-

just like you do with cakes.

Mixed up a butter box cake mix.

Filled each well.

(like this but with out the cupcake wrappers)

And dropped a teaspoon of Biscoff Spread and swirled

(it should have made a self-frosting)

but because the tin had a raised design

the swirl went too deep

and came out looking like this.

SAD SAD SAD

WAIT!

we could not just dump out such tasty yummies.

Scratching our heads we decided to use our

Push-Ups

We ordered them from Pick Your Plum,

but don't worry we found you a hook up at

Push Pop Containers

This is how we made our

Cake Push-Ups

Push the pop onto the mini cake.

You will have left over cake,

so squish it all together to use for another layer.

Spread a layer of Biscoff Spread.

Add another layer of "cake" mix.

Squirt frosting for another next layer.

Repeat, Repeat and Repeat

until you are finished.

Use your imagination!

Have FUN!

If you can see we stood ours up in a bowl filled with

CHOCOLATE CHIPS

We like to end each post with a quote and this is our motto-

Great words to live by!

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

~ Albert Einstein

Ravioli Lasagna

2011-09-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to be hosting a

"Be the Chef with Chef Boyardee House Party".

At the party we will show our guest how easy, quick and fun it is to serve a healthy delicious home cooked meal to your family and friends.

This meal will blow your mind

it will not look like a can cooked meal at all.

It will look like you slaved over dinner all afternoon.

(sprinkle flour onto your face)

Don't worry that you are going to miss the party because we are going to bring the party to you.

Each day this week we will show you how you can decorate your table for an exciting family meal that makes full happy tummies.

But we will also show you how you can host an elegant, inexpensive and appetizing dinner party

all from a "CAN".

Ravioli Lasagna

PAM Original No-Stick Cooking Spray

1 Cup frozen loose cut leaf spinach

2 Cans (15 oz each) Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli

1 (14.5 oz) Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, drained well

1-1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

1 Cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Cup shredded Italian blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 8x8" glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place spinach in microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic weap and microwave on HIGH 2 minutes; squeeze spinach dry.

2. Combine ravioli, drained tomatoes and italian seasoning in medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture is hot. Combine cottage cheese, spinach and black pepper in small bowl.

3. Place half of ravioli mixture in bottom of baking dish. Top with half of cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Repeat layers.

4. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

Now you have a healthy family meal that looks so good

you can serve it at your next dinner party.

Cook's Tips

Involve the kids with the preparation .

They can stir together the cottage cheese mixture and help layer the ingredients in the dish.

Trying to please a picky eater?

Subsitute the spinach with another vegetable the family enjoys.

You could also place all of the spinach mixture between the layers of ravioli or leave the spinach out completely.

**Next time we make this dish we will use raw Spinach.**

You have two choices for dinner

Take it

Leave it

or in our family.

Eat it

Starve

Pay it "Fashion" Forward

2011-09-09T12:43:00.001-05:00

Would you like to

Pay it "Fashion" forward?

Andrea Montgomery

is donating 100% of the proceeds from the

2011 Pink Ribbon Necklace

to the Pink Ribbons Project!

This year's necklace features a stylish letter charm and the gorgeous faceted teardrop pink topaz on a 16" chain necklace with a 2" extension and freshwater pearl accent at back- available in gold vermeil or sterling silver.

How are you going to personalize your necklace?

Your own initial?

In honor or in memory

of a friend, mom or sister

who has been touched by cancer?

Kindness is a language which the

deaf can hear and the blind can read.

~ Mark Twain

Fried Mac N Cheese Balls

2011-09-07T14:00:00.004-05:00

We are in a

Macaroni and Cheese

challenge.

Yes, your read correct.

How do you choose the best

Mac 'n Cheese?

Anything with cheese is a winner.

When we heard about this contest we knew right away what recipe we would use our

Fried Mac N Cheese Balls a la Cheesecake Factory

BUT- there was only 1 rule and we had to use a recipe found from a blog.

What were we going to do?

Hello- Mr. Google (he is such a good friend)

We did our search and found OUR recipe at

About A Mom

Okay to be honest we found this recipe years ago from Mr. Google, but this is the same recipe.

Fried Mac 'n Cheese Balls a la Cheesecake Factory

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk, warmed, plus 2 tablespoons for egg wash

1 pound grated smoked Gouda

1 pound grated White Sharp Cheddar

Salt and black pepper

2 large eggs

3 cups seasoned bread crumbs (we use Panko)

Vegetable oil, for frying

fresh marinara sauce

Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and stir it with a whisk. Cook for 2 minutes.

How do you like my special measuring spoon?

Whisk the warmed milk into the flour mixture, working out any lumps. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the cheeses, and stir until melted and smooth; season with salt and pepper.

yummmmm cheese!!!!

Fold the cheese sauce into macaroni.

Pour the mac and cheese into a shallow pan and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

Shape the cold mac and cheese into meatball-sized balls and place them onto a waxed paper-lined tray. Freeze the balls overnight.

Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons milk together to form an egg wash then into the bread crumbs. Put the balls back into the freezer until you are ready to fry.

Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the mac and cheese balls until they are golden brown and center is hot, about 5 minutes. Serve hot with our favorite Marinara or Alfredo sauce or combination of both for dipping.

How are you going to enjoy your Mac 'n Cheese Balls?

We enjoyed ours with

Chicky Nuggets a la Chick fil A

Would you like to see all of the other recipes that are in the contest? Please vote for us we are #9.

Crazy Cooking Challenge

“Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.”
Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)

Glitter, so much GLITTER

2011-09-06T19:32:00.002-05:00

How many of y'all remember your 1st day of school?

Butterflies in your tummy?

Excited to meet your new teacher.

Show off new shoes.

Get to use new school supplies.

It all gets better now!
How?

GLITTER SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

SO MUCH GLITTER!!!

Okay we have to admit our guilty pleasure is

Target commercials

Did I hear you ask how we get our notebooks so
GLITTERY?

All you need are compositions books

(Walgreen's special- large $.50 small $.15)

Mod Podge

Glitter

Paint (if you don't have color glitter)

Painters tape

Tape the black strip with painters tape.

Paint cover of notebook with your favorite color.

(you can skip this step if you are using color glitter)
Let dry.
Paint cover with Mod Podge and sprinkle with
GLITTER.
(We don't have pictures, but I am sure you get the picture.)
Let dry.

Pull off painters tape.
Oops our tape wanted to stay on.

So we painted over with black paint.

Don't you want your girls to go to school this
HAPPY?

Now you have school supplies that have
SO MUCH GLITTER!

Some girls are just born with glitter in their veins.
Paris Hilton

Tiger Bark

2011-09-05T06:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Labor Day

Today we are sharing our

Tiger Bark (Roar)

GEAUX Tigers

This is such an effortless treat.

It's tailgate time here in tiger-land and this is one of those quick and easy goodies.

You only need 3 ingredients and about 10 minutes.

1 pound white chocolate bark (or white chocolate chips)

1/2 cup peanut butter (your choice of crunchy or smooth)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt white bark in microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes mix well, if not all the way melted put back into microwave for 15 seconds stiring smooth (for up to 1 minute longer). Once all the way smooth add peanut butter and until well blended.

Pour onto a foil-lined baking sheet and spread thin.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for 30 seconds until chips are mixed smooth. If needed melt in 10 second intervals

(make sure not to over heat).

Drizzle chocolate over peanut butter mix.

Swirl with end of spoon or toothpick.

(who wants to like the bowl?)

Freeze for 5 minutes or until set

Crack into small pieces.

Hot boudin!

Cold coushe-coushe!

Allons, Tigers!

Push, push, push!!!

(pronounced "poosh,poosh,poosh"

to rhyme with coushe-coushe.)

Framed Chalkboard

2011-09-04T06:00:00.003-05:00

What do you get with an

Old Chalkboard

and

Frame

You get a beautiful piece of artwork for

Menus

(ours is an adult beverage menu)

Chore chart

To-Do List

Calendar

Art Board

The options are endless!

The only thing we needed to do was touch up the paint and put the chalkboard into the frame.

Before you can twinkle your nose you have

We will be showing off this project at

Stashbustin September

Visit to see all of the other projects made during the month of September. The only rule is- you can not shop through the entire month. All supplies must be in your stash.

A man is but the product of his thoughts.

What he thinks, he becomes

~ Mohandas K Gandhi

Chocolate Biscoff Ritz

2011-09-03T08:20:00.000-05:00

We have now found our favorite family treat.

Biscoff Spread

How many of you remember Biscoff Cookies?

It was the highlight of Delta flights.

Well the wonderful people of Biscoff has made the cookies into a spread.

CAT daddy asked what we could eat the spread with.

Hummm?

Bread & Peanut Butter

Ritz Crackers

Here is a recipe for

Chocolate Biscoff Ritz

Ingredients:

Ritz Crackers

Biscoff Spread

Chocolate Chips (we like milk chocolate)

Spread each cracker with spread.

Top with another cracker.

Melt chocolate acording to directions on bag.

Make sure not to get any water near chocolate.

Dip each cracker sandwich into chocolate.

Place on wax paper to harden.

Dip fork into chocolate and drizzle over top of each dipped sandwich.

This will make them look fancy enough to serve to "special" guest.

To us special guest are all of our loved ones.

“The worst thing you can do for love is deny it; so when you find that special someone, don't let anyone or anything to get in your way.”

HOME

2011-09-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to share this project with you this project.

We saw similar wall art on Anthropologie for around $500.

(the picture is not available any longer, so we are sorry we can't give the artist credit. she was an amazing artist from New Orleans)

We fell in love with how simple the design was, but $500??

Hummm, it got us thinking.

How could we replicate the design a little less expensive?

Simple!

All we needed was:

Sheet of Preserved Moss- $1.00 (Dollar Tree)

Canvas

Needle

Black Thread

Copy Paper

(all items with out a price we had on hand)

So the cost of this project was a whopping

$1.00

Print the letters you would like to use. Place the letters on top of moss and cut around each letter.

Arrange each letter how you would like them to look on the canvas.

(you can tack down with a little hot glue if you wish)

Thread needle with black thread. Make a large knot on end of thread. Starting from the back of canvas start sewing each letter. We spaced the stitches about 1/2", but you can do how ever close or faraway that you wish.

(it is hard to see, but the stitches are there)

Ta-Da you now have a $500 for

$100

What word will you use?

FAMILY

LOVE

FRIENDS

DREAM

Will you keep it white, or pop with color?

Blue

Yellow

Pink

Red

Oh-how the ideas are limitless.

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.

~Author Unknown

Biscoff Blonde Brownie

2011-09-02T06:15:00.001-05:00

We are so excited to share our
Biscoff Blond Brownie
recipe with you.

Here are a few quotes on how they came out.

Amazzzzzin'

Do we have any more brownies?

Can I share these with my friends?

So after you share these with your friends let me know what they say.

Ingredients:

10 Tbs butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup Biscoff spread

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 9"x13" with cooking spray.

Melt butter and sugar in a medium pan over medium heat until butter is melted and smooth. Remove from stove and cool. After 5 minutes stir in spread. Let mixture cool another 5 minutes.

Whisk eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture.

In another bowl mix salt, flour and baking powder. Slowly add dry ingredients to sugar mixture. Do not over stir, just stir into mixed.

Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

Pour into pan and spread.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Brownies are cooked when a toothpick comes out clean.

Take out of oven and let cool. I know it is hard but to get a clean cut the brownies must be all the way cooled.

"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.
~ Marilyn Monroe

Oreo Krispy Bars

2011-09-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

Who likes Oreo Cookies?
I do!

Who likes Marshmallows?
me me me

Who likes budddur?
Paula Deen (who doesn't)

What do you get when you combine the 3?

Let us introduce to you

Oreo Krispy Bars

So how do you make these bars?

Gather-

1 bag of Oreos

5 cups large Marshmallows (1 bag)

6 Tbs. butter

Rub 1 Tbs. butter all over sides and bottom of an 8”x8” pan

Finely Crush Oreos with a food chopper.

If you are having a bad this is a great way to take out your anger.

Or you can use your food processor.
We like to use crushed cookies. It gives just a little more crunch.

Place marshmallows and 4 Tbs. of butter in microwave safe bowl.

Melt for 1 ½ - 2 minutes in the microwave.

Do you want a little tip to tell if they are cooked enough?
"The marshmallows will start to grow."

Pour crushed Oreos into marshmallow mix and stir together.

We recommend using your hands covered with last Tbs. butter to mix. This way you are sure to mix everything.

Let sit a few minutes to harden.

Cut into 16 squares.

Grab a cup of milk and enjoy!

"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."

~Robert Redford

Chicky Nuggets

2011-08-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

If asked what my favorite fast food place would be I would have to say.

Chick-fil-A

I love their sweet nuggets and waffle fries.

You can only imagine when I came across this recipe for

Sweet Chicky Nuggets at

My Name is Snickerdoodle

This recipe is amazing-

we did adapt it a little.

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 1/4 cup flour

2 Tbs powdered sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

peanut oil or canola oil

Look how cute my measuring spoons are. I really like how they make me smile each time I drop a spoonful.

In a medium bowl whisk the egg and stir in milk. Trim any fat away from chicken. Cube chicken into bite size pieces (we like our pieces small). Place chicken in milk mixture, and cover. Let it marinate for 2-4 hours in the fridge. This will make the chicken very nice and tender. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar salt & pepper. Place 2" of oil into deep fryer or pot. Heat oil over medium high heat until 375 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer do the drop test. Drop a couple of drips of water into oil. It should sizzle and not pop too much. Adjust your heat if necessary. Using a fork remove a few pieces of chicken from milk mixture and place in flour mix. Make sure to fully coat chicken. Place about 6-8 pieces into hot oil letting them cook until golden brown, turning once the edges are turning white. About 1 minute on each side. Double check to see if chicken is cooked through. Cut a little slit to see if it's pink. Remove and drain on paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked. Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy!

We had a little of the flour mix left and thought about yummy

fish 'n chips, so why not chicken 'n chips.

We enjoyed our nuggets with

Mac 'n Cheese Balls (recipe will be out next week)

Marinara Sauce

World Lemonade

Brown Chicken

Brown Cow

~ Katie

Don't ask- this is just something she says???

Friday night dinner

2011-08-27T13:48:00.000-05:00

What are the 4 seasons?

I know that is a silly question and you are quick to say

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall

But here in Louisiana the Cajun 4 seasons are

Crawfish, Crab, Shrimp, and Oyster

We are smack in the middle of Crab season.

It's my favorite season of the year.

So last night we had crabs for dinner.

So a trip to Tony's Seafood was in order.

We did go in for crabs, but you just can't walk out the door with out Boudin Balls.

And I don't mean just 1 ball. You need 2 bags.

1 for dinner and 1 for the trip home.

Oh, I could not for get dessert.

Hubig's Fried Pies.

These pies are so good they tickle your tummy.

So what is a 3 course Cajun dinner looks like?

Crabs

(with corn & potatoes)

Boudin Balls

Fried Pie

Hummmmm.....I now have a puppy tummy.

A full stomach makes a happy heart.

~ Spanish Proverb

World Lemonade

2011-08-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

Why do we call this lemonade

World Lemonade?

Well the true name is

Brazilian Lemonade

In Brazil they call it

Swiss Lemonade

Why- because it is made with milk

Now the big question why is it called lemonade?

It's made with LIMES

Brazilian lemons are a lot like limes.

Ingredients

4 fresh limes- thin skin

6 cups cold water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Wash the limes thoroughly.

Slice each lime into 8 wedges.

Mix the sugar and water together.

Add 1/2 of the lime and 1/2 of sugar water into blender.

Blend for 20 seconds.

(if you blend longer it will cause the drink to be bitter)

Strain through a fine strainer. This will remove the rinds.

Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water.

Pour into pitcher and mix in the sweetened condensed milk

Serve in a glass full of crushed ice.

When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade.
Dale Carnegie