I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend.  It’s been very cool here. We did a little fall/winter clothes shopping yesterday with the kids.  Justice had a pretty good little sale on and Matthew managed to get some nice shirts on sale at Abercrombie.  Jamie doesn’t like clothes so he could care less if he has anything to wear or not.  We also picked up a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid:) My friend Amanda said she has one and she’s never bought ground beef from the store since. So that’s what Paul and I did this afternoon:) I don’t think it was cheaper but we know exactly what is going into it and it really came out nice. I’m making meatloaf with it right now.  I’m really hoping for a great result:)

Have any of you ever watched the new “Cooking Channel”?  I have found a new series I really enjoy called French Cooking at Home.  A while back they aired an episode (and then again yesterday) where she made these beautiful little cookie/cakes called Powder Puffs. This afternoon, I made them:) Oh I am so glad I did! Can I tell you?!?  Paul and I agreed that they reminded us so much of the cream scones we used to get when we lived in Abbey Wood (SE London). There was this bakery across the road from our flat and you had to get there super early to get them.  They were so so worth it though.  These are in no way a scone — they are more like round lady fingers with the fresh whipped cream and raspberry jam…. I’m going to dream about these tonight;) I hope yall give them a try. ENJOY!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup corn starch

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

3/4 cup caster sugar (I just used regular granulated)

1/2 cup raspberry jam

whipping cream for the filling –

**** 2 cups whipping cream

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 T. vanilla

HERE’S What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, and baking soda into a bowl. Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar to the egg whites in 3 stages, beating after each addition to make a stiff, glossy meringue. Whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time. Sift the dry ingredients together, then sift them over the egg mixture, and fold them in with the whisk, without beating or you’ll lose volume.

Pipe or drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving room between them so they can spread. Bake until lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the cakes to a rack to cool. They will harden slightly as they cool.

Sandwich the rounds together with raspberry jam and sweetened and vanilla-flavored whipped cream. Let the sweets sit an hour or so to soften before serving.

The cookies/cakes come out light as air. I put my raspberry jam into a bowl and stirred it up real good so it wouldn’t lump and be smooth enough to just spread on.  The show didn’t say how to do the whipped cream so I just threw it together and man it’s good:) Whisk your whipping cream, sugar and vanilla together til it’s good and fluffy:) Be liberal with your spreading it on. Top it off with another cookie and moosh it just a bit:) YUM!!

Welcome to Wednesday! Middle of the week.  How is everyone’s week going?  The kids got mid-term grades on Monday and I am pleased with my babies:) I just hope they keep it up.  Sarah started dance on Monday again. We pulled her out this past year due to a crazy amount of homework (6-8 pages a night… and this was 2nd grade!) Anyway, so I wanted to make sure all was well on the 3rd grade home front before we put her back in. Glad to report, this feels like it’s going to be a great year:) Busy, but great. Along with dance on Monday’s,  Jamie also has golf on Mondays. Matthew begins swimming again starting next Monday.  This season he will be swimming 5 days a week with extra swim practice on Wednesdays.  So, it’s nice to have Paul at home to help out with the running around. He uses his time to catch up on his reading.   I know I’m very lucky to have the luxury of his help.  I can’t imagine doing it all without him.

This morning, I was really busy.  I had tons of homework (still not finished). I knew I wouldn’t want  take out so I pulled out a package of really thin (1/8 inch) Sirloin Steaks and marinated them for lunch.  Lunch time came and I put this together in about 15 minutes. Delicious:)  The times before that I’ve made this, I used frozen onions, simply because I had them on hand. Today though, I sliced an onion up. You can do it either way, but I do think I prefer the big slices of onions to the diced up frozen ones for the sandwich. My friend, Lillie’, turned me on to them. Those and then the mixed frozen onions and peppers–pretty cool little short cuts, I have to say!  Anyway, if you are short on time and want a good meal, give this one a try:) Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

Sirloin Steak (1/8 inch thick)

Lawry’s Steak and Chop Marinade

Yellow onion (cut thin rings)

Button Mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

a bit of oil or pat of butter

Italian bread rolls – We love Nickels

HERE’S What You Do:

Start with Sirloin Tip Steaks (1/8 inch thick). You can either cut them up into strips or leave it whole.

Pick your marinade. We like this. The Asian one is good too.

In a Ziploc bag, in goes your steak and about a 1/4 - 1/3 of the bottle of marinade. Squoosh it around and place in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.

In the few minutes before you want to start your steaks, take them out of the fridge and put them on the counter. Wash/clean/slice your onions (I used about 1/4 of a large yellow onion) and mushrooms.

Fry your steaks in a little bit of oil or small amount of butter. It does not take long at all to cook these. I'm talking like 3 - 4 minutes TOPS for the whole steak.

Once your steaks are done (I did two), slide your mushrooms and onions into the skillet. Cook them down. Way down:)

Meanwhile, get your rolls ready to go under the broiler.

Once your bread is ready and the onions and mushrooms are cooked down. Way down.....

Put it all together with a little mayonnaise on the buns. Little side salad - Can't beat that!:)

Good morning!!! How is everyone? Hope everyone had a great weekend:)  I didn’t get to cook much this weekend. I could have cooked but my brain was resting.  I started school a few weeks ago and since then, it just seems to get crazier and crazier with each class. I am sure it doesn’t feel like that for regular college students but for this ‘older’ brain… it’s a bit much.  Today, I’m leaving with you a recipe for Hamburger Steak and Gravy. I base it on a recipe I found about a year ago from  Mommy’s Kitchen called No Peek Beef Tips. It’s good stuff;) I freeze the left overs and, I swear, it’s even better when you warm that up!:)  YuUuUuMmMmMMMMM:) Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

2 pounds ground round (You don’t need to season the meat – it’s all in the onion soup mix)

1 pkg Onion Soup Mix

1 pkg brown gravy mix

1 cup Sprite

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms  (I use fresh but you can use a small can if you like)

HERE’S What You Do:

Shape your patties and place them into your casserole dish. I make mine kinda like large meatballs. They are about 4ish bites.

In a bowl, mix your pkgs of gravy and onion mix.

Next, add your Sprite, mushrooms and Cream of Mushroom soup

Mix and pour OVER (do not mix) the hamburger patties.

Cover with foil and put into you 300 degree oven for 2 hours. Don't peak! It'll be fine:)

Serve and enjoy!!!

Autumn is my favorite season and it’s been getting chillier at night. I’m loving it!   So last night, I made a Steak and Guinness Pie! Can I tell you how good it was? It was warm and beefy and rich *YuMmmMMmmMMMmMM!!*  Paul really enjoyed it. I had enough left over that I froze the stew part and next time I heat it up, I think I’ll add potatoes to it and just have it as a stew:)  It really was lovely. It does take a bit of time, so start early but it’s really worth it. I made 3 crocks (like I use for our Shepard’s Pie) and the rest of the filling went into a freezer bag for later.  Also, I didn’t use the pie crust. I made the recipe but I just ended up throwing it out because I’m not sure it would have worked.  That’s something I have to really work on. Pastry.  Anyway, I took out some puff pastry and put that on top. It worked really nicely.  Yall give this one a try. It’s a definite keeper. Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large red onions, finely diced – it does look like a lot of onion but it’s correct;)
2 carrots peeled and finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1 -8 ounce package baby bella mushrooms, wiped cleaned and sliced
2 1/2 pounds beef brisket
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 – 12 ounce bottle Guinness Stout – I used a big 1 pt 6 oz worth
6 ounces grated cheddar cheese – I used 1/2 sharp and 1/2 mild (in England they use white cheddar that is creamier than what you find here in ordinary stores)

I pulled out my big Le Creuset 26 (5 1/2 quarts) pot for this one

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

HERE’S What You Do:

Dice up your (2 large) red onions and garlic pretty small.

Saute your onions and garlic in 2 T of butter for about 8 - 10 minutes. Until they are all wilted and smelling good:)

Meanwhile,while your onions and garlic are cooking, dice up your (2) carrots and (2) celery sticks.

Add the celery and carrots, herb sprigs and mushrooms and cook, stirring often until the mushrooms and browned.

Go ahead and get your meat ready. You need to cut it up into really small 1/2 inch chunks. Brisket is a tough meat so it'll help it cook faster/better. (This actually took quite a while so you may actually want to do this before you even get started) After I did this, I put the meat in a bowl and salt and peppered it really well. I also went ahead and added my 2 T. flour and mixed that into my meat.

***Add your meat to your pot and let it brown a bit – about 3 minutes on high***

Add enough Guinness to cover everything. As I said up top, I used quite a bit more than just 12 oz. Stir is good. Let it come to a boil then put a tight fitting lid on it and stick in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Don't peak. Even though the smell will drive you crazy!! Don't peak:)

***When your 1 1/2 hours is up, take the stew out of the oven. Taste and adjust your seasonings if you need too. I had to add a lot more salt and pepper, but that’s just me.  Stir in 3 oz of cheese. I PROOOOOBABLY used a bit more:)  But I did do about half and half. Like a fist full of each really.  Give it a good stir***

At this point, you put it into your choice of casserole dishes. My choice was my favorite little crocks I use for Shepard's Pie. I only did 3. Add the rest of your cheese to the top of your pies. As I said earlier, I didn't have pie crust so I just popped some squares of puff pastry on top and stuck them in the oven!!

Your pies are done and ready to come out of the oven when your crust is golden and your filling is all bubbly. I was absolutely giddy by this time:) It's not a quick recipe but I'm sure yall will love it just like we did:)

Are ya ready for some football!?!?:)

Welcome to football season folks:) Nothing like having good eats to go along with the big game. In fact, there is no possible way NOT to have snackies during the big game.  Seeing as yesterday was LSU’s first game of the season (LSU vs UNC —- GEAUX  TIGERS!!), I made several snacks for us.  One of them was my daughter’s favorite, Fried Cheese.  I can only eat a few of these, but the rest were gobbled up… mostly by my Sare-Bear:)  They really are best right out of the pan so it’s not really a make ahead type food.  Give it a try, they are soooo nice and gooey:) Enjoy!!

OK, HERE’S What You Need:

Cheese – I used Cheddar Cheese Curds and Muenster

Eggs

Milk

Flour

Panko Crumbs (Italian)

HERE’S What You Do:

I used cheese curds, so I didn't have to cut any up. I also used Muenster cheese. It came in a block. If you have to cut your cheese, make sure the chunks are pretty nice side (size of the curds). If your cheese chunks is to small, the cheese will disappear. Pour your Panko and flour into separate bags.

Whisk a couple of eggs.

Shake your cheese chunks in the flour bag.

Dip the flour covered cheese into the egg wash and then shake in the Panko crumbs.

Fry in veggie oil until golden brown:) Drain on paper towel. Mmmmmmmmm all that gooooey goodness!!!