Posts from — December 2016

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas…

… From our home …

… to yours.

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One of my favorite recipes on this site is courtesy of Chef Robert McGrath. Robert’s Green Chile Macaroni is the most delicious mac and cheese I’ve ever had.

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, car issues, computer issues, and life in general, the very last thing I want to do is cook dinner. After picking my car up from the shop yesterday, during rush hour, the only option to get back into traffic was to make a detour past Costco. I decided to go in and brave the insanity since I needed a couple of last-minute gift cards anyway.

I decided to pick up a package of the prepared macaroni and cheese. In general, I like Costco’s prepared food, but the mac and cheese aren’t all that special. The only reason I chose it was because I knew I had two poblano peppers and a partial bag of frozen corn at home.

From the moment it hit my cart and all the way home, all I could think about was jazzing up this prepackaged mac and cheese.

It was delicious! Not as delicious as Robert’s version, but pretty darn fabulous for a cheat!

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I found a version of this “dump, sauté & bake skillet dinner” on Pinterest and decided to make my own take on it using “everything Trader Joe’s.”

Of course, you can spin it any way you want whether you have a Trader Joe’s in your neighborhood or not.

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I made these pretty little gingerbread house bundt cakes for our family Christmas party last weekend. I found the Bundt cake pans at Home Goods and for once, the cakes came out clean as a whistle.

I did have an issue with the larger cake overflowing all over the bottom of my oven and my house smelling like a forest fire for a couple of days, but you can’t win them all!

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This is the cocktail that, Cay, the hostess of the gourmet group that I am now a member of, served for the December gathering at her gorgeous home. Co-host, Susie is on the left and Cay is on the right, as we toast ourselves for a job well done. To be honest, this selfie was taken before the party began, but once we had cocktails in hand, we knew it would be a success!

Pomegranate Moscow Mules

Candied Mint Leaves

• Water
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Mule

• Crushed ice
• 1 ½ cups ginger beer
• 2/3 cup pomegranate juice
• 4 ounces vodka
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Garnish

• Fresh pomegranate arils
• Candied Mint Leaves

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I was invited to the December gathering of a gourmet group that I had once been the cooking instructor for. When I initially received the call, I assumed I was going to be asked to lead the group in a cooking class again, but instead I was invited to be the group’s newest member. Fun!

The hostess had originally asked someone to lead the group in the making of holiday treats, but the woman backed out, so I became a co-hostess and we made the Oreo Truffles from yesterday’s post and this sweet treat.

We’ve all seen these pretty candied pretzel rods around during the holidays. They are a snap to make and serve at parties or give as gifts.

I will admit that having a group of nine fun and rowdy women making them at the same time was a bit of a mess, but a very fun mess. Especially because there were holiday Moscow Mules involved! You’ll find the recipe for those in tomorrow’s post.

These keep really well, so you can make them a week or so ahead for holiday gift-giving!

One important note – depending on the brand and flavor of melts, the coating may need to be set up some before heavier decorations and candies are sprinkled on. As you can see from the photo above, we learned the hard way.

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I was going to start this post with “Only ____ days till Christmas!” but I’m in denial and I’m afraid that if I say the number out loud, type the number or even think of the number – I might have a full-on panic attack, so how about I just get to my post about easy Christmas treats.

Oh, before I do that, I’d like to apologize for an error in my last post. I said that the segment featuring Steve’s Christmas Casserole would air on 12News yesterday (Dec 12) and it did not. I set up my TiVo and was disappointed to not see it. I asked Tram and she let me know that it is airing NEXT Monday, December 19th at the 6:00 a.m. hour. If you set your DVR or got up early yesterday, I’m sorry.

OK, back on track… I made these treats at a party last week. I’ll tell you all about the party in tomorrow’s post in which I’ll share “Easy Christmas Treats” Part 2. This is Part 1 and it is super easy and pretty darn yummy too.

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Tram used my kitchen to film another cooking segment, this time with the whole family. Steve & Tram’s new home will be finished in late December, so my kitchen is their surrogate TV kitchen until then.

The last time Tram filmed a cookie baking segment with Zak & Zoey, I had a hair appointment, so I wasn’t home for the filming.

This time, all four of them were here to make a Christmas casserole and it was so much fun to be a fly on the wall and watch it unfold. Look how adorably skeptical Zoey is of Zak’s cheese grating abilities.

Zak was going to town on that poor block of cheese the entire time … I was dying. Mom, Dad, and Zoey were all so focused on their own tasks that none of them noticed what Zak was up to. Late the next day I got a text from Tram saying that she just finished putting the piece together and couldn’t believe what Zak was doing to the cheese. I can’t wait to see how Tram edited it. It will air next Monday (Dec 12th) early morning (in the 6:00 hour) on (NBC) 12News.

My photos of the food aren’t all that great, since I was too focused on taking photos of the action, but trust me Steve’s family recipe is delicious.

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I first created this cocktail for the last class, a Comfort Food-themed menu, in my 3-week cooking series at Les Gourmettes. I served it again as my Signature Cocktail on Thanksgiving. If ever there was a Comfort Food Menu – it is Thanksgiving!

To me, it’s important to use one big ice cube for this cocktail, either a square cube or a round ice ball.

I have both types of ice molds, but my round ball mold only makes one at a time, whereas the square mold makes 6 cubes at once. Since I had 16 cocktails to make for the cooking class and 12 more for Thanksgiving, of course, I went with the square cubes.

I did find THIS cool multi-round ball mold on Amazon. I’m adding it to my Christmas list!

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I loved this Thanksgiving. It was such a joy to cook a big meal for more than just our immediate family.

For years it’s just been the five of us; Dave, Marissa, Connor, my dad and me. Every few years, Dave’s mom would join us, which made the six of us. Still, that’s not many people to eat a meal that you go to so much work for.

Happily, in 2014, Jeff and his parents, Dean and Amy, joined us for the first time. Since my mother-in-law was here too, that took us all the way up to nine people, the most ever at our table!

Fast forward to this year. Steve and Tram are in a rental while their new home is being built. Steve’s parents are in town.

Add in the twins, Zak and Zoey and there are fourteen of us.

For the first time in… ever… I am actually cooking for a respectable number of people, thus making the huge Thanksgiving feast worthy of being called a feast. I am in my element!

I mean, it’s the same number of dishes I make every year, but this year it made sense to go to all that work. Love it!!

And, of course, having 2 ½-year-old twins join in the day, makes everything more fun! Zak and Zoey are so adorable and well-behaved. I’m in love with them and so are Connor, Marissa, and Jeff.

I posted a few photos on Instagram and my friend, Sheila, called them Bigs and Littles.

So sweet!

OK, how about some tablescaping?

Since we were at fourteen and my dining room table seats only eight comfortably, we had to eat outside. Not a problem in Arizona, even in November. But just in case it did rain, I flip-flopped the furniture arrangements. Moving all the seating that is under the long covered “fireplace patio” to the open patio area and moving the oblong table that is usually out in the open, to the covered area.

I also brought over the rustic 60-inch wood round table from the other covered patio to create one long table. The photo above is of the two tables under the covered patio and the beginnings of my table arranging. This all took place early on Wednesday morning.

At the same time that I was setting this up, I was also cooking; smoking a turkey breast, making bread dough, cranberry-pomegranate sauce, butternut soup, and prepping the sweet potatoes and stuffing. So by the time this photo was taken of the finished tables, it was late afternoon.

The oblong table was covered with a tablecloth since it’s a patio table and not attractive enough for placemats. Not to mention that I don’t have 12 matching Thanksgiving placemats and napkins anyhow.

The two tables were joined by two large green Jarrahdale pumpkins along with a large white pumpkin. Jarrahdale is my favorite pumpkin. I drove all the way Chino Valley to buy some a few years ago when I couldn’t find them locally. Now that they are available in a few places, I’ll drive to half a dozen different stores to find them.

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