Monday, November 9, 2009

Orange Glazed Sweet Potatoes


Our neighbors had a little early Thanksgiving Dinner because they have a new baby coming and wanted to still be able to have Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun to have a big dinner all together and see what everyone brought. I saved this post until now since it's a little closer to Thanksgiving. This is a really yummy twist on sweet potatoes and I usually don't even like sweet potatoes if that tells you anything. I got the recipe from my girlfriend, Lisa and made an adaption.

Definitely keep them in a pan instead of moving to a bowl because the hot sweet potatoes begin to mush together. Also, if you desperately need the marshmallows on top you can totally do it.

Orange Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Recipe by Lisa and adapted by me

6 Yams
1 Cup Orange Juice
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup White Sugar
2 Tb Butter
2 Tb Corn Starch
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tb Orange Zest

Boil the yams until tender. Remove from water and carefully remove the skins and slice.

Slowly cook the ingredients together and then bake at 350 until hot and bubbly.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes


These are such a yummy alternative to a potato side dish. First of all, roasted anything is wonderful and second, that hint of sweet from the honey is soooo delicious. I have a hard time thinking up sides to go with dinner. I don't know why. You would think a side dish would be easier than a whole main dish, but that's just not true for me. These are easy and very lightly flavored so you could easily pair them with a plethera of dishes.

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes
Recipe By me

1 Pound Red potatoes
2-3 Tb Melted Butter
2 Tb Honey
1 Ts Ground Mustard
1/2 Ts Salt
1/4 Ts Pepper

Heat oven to 375 and spray a cookie sheet.

Cut potatoes in half or quarters depending on the size and line on the baking sheet.

Mix the butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper and drizzle over the potatoes.

Bake for 30-40 min until tender.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

BBQ Meatballs


 So, I'm not a very big plain ol' meatball fan, but I did want to try these Fall Meatballs because the BBq Sauce with the cloves and allspice interested me. They turned out really yummy and my hubby was a huge fan. Thanks, Jennifer for the recipe!

BBQ Sauce For Meatballs
2/3 C brown sugar
2 TBL flour
1/4 tsp ground gloves
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp dry mustard (or 2 TBL prepared mustard) (If using the dry mustard remember to let it bloom)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 C ketchup

 Meat Balls
1 lb hamburger
3/4 C. oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
dash of pepper
1/2 C milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp worcestershire

Mix all ingredients and form into balls (abt 1" diameter). Cover with desired sauce and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Did You Know That... Wednesday


Did you know that one of the easiest ways to peel ginger is use the inside of a spoon? Just scrape it along the ginger and you will soon have peeled ginger! For anything you don't use just place it in the frezzer and grate it up when you need it!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

New Winner


New WINNER!!! Congratulations, Cookie!!

Moms Fabulous Oven Stew by: Jennifer


Mom gave me this recipe when I was in college and I love it! It is a fast, easy stew with abundant flavor. I always use my crock pot, even though its an "oven stew," but it is also good in a dutch oven. If you don't have all day you can let it cook just long enough for the potatoes and carrots to get soft & it will still have a nice flavor.

Mom's Fabulous Oven Stew

1 lb stew meat, cubed
5 carrots, peeled & sliced (large slices)
2 potatoes, cubed
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 pkg onion soup mix
2 tsp basil
1 can water (tom sauce can or soup can depending on how thick you like it)

Combine all ingredients. Put in covered dish, crock pot, or dutch oven, in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours (low on crock pot). Delicious when served with corn bread.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Brownies



We still have not heard from  our winner, TristaSue02. Please comment with your email by this evening or we will draw a new winner tomorrow. Stay tuned just in case you may be the new winner!!








This picture is pretty bad. My little one is so curious and wants to help so much so I let her take the picture. She was so stinkin' proud. Also, these brownies did not cook up. I think part of it was that I cooked them for the very longest amount of time, but they were still gooey so I should have let them continue to cook, but I didn't. oh well.


I saw this recipe over on Dinner And Dessert awhile back and had to try it. I had searched for the Pumpkin Spice hershey kisses all last year, but never found a single bag. This year I found them in South Carolina and bought 4 bags!!
These brownies were rich. Really rich. My husband therefore loved them and I really liked them. Great flavor, but I just can't handle richness. I also thought that there was too much butter and they never really set up like they did on the other blog. This may have been my error, but I will still make a few changes next time.

I really do think these are worth making. They are different with that warm spice background taste.


Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownies
(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 92-93)


1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces, at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
45 Hershey’s Pumpkin Pie Spice Kisses, unwrapped

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk the flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon together.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring until it melts. It’s important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you’ve got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them-it’s better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated-you’ll have a thick, creamy batter.  Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds-the dry ingredients won’t be completely incorporated. Then finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula. Fold in the raisins, along with any liquid remaining in the pan. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Place the unwrapped kisses in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.  Stir until smooth, and then drop by spoonfuls into the brownie batter.  Using a knife, swirl the batter to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil