Joy in the Kitchen!

Dinner tonight is White Bean Chili!   What better side dish fora steaming bowl of chili than a nice big piece of cornbread!   I love the way cornbread is porous and lets the butter and honey soak right in.  Mmmm! Now, I realize that some of you don't recognize this type of cornbread as the REAL stuff since it is sweet and light, but, it's what folks in my neck of the woods are familiar with.  If you're looking for a light, sweet, moist cornbread, you'll enjoy this one.  This recipe makes a 9x13 pan full.  It is moist, and delicious.  If you can't use it up when you first serve it, it reheats in the microwave really well. Cornbread 1 C. melted margarine or butter 1 1/3 C. sugar 4 eggs, beaten 2 C. buttermilk 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 C. plain yogurt or sour cream 1 tsp. salt 2 C. all purpose flour 2 C. corn meal Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the sugar and melted butter together.  Add eggs and...

Need a dessert that will dress up any occasion? How about a light main dish for a special luncheon? Cream Puffs fit the description perfectly!  They look as delicious as they taste and are really, really, easy to make. We like to eat large ones filled with a creamy chocolate filling, or we've made small ones to serve at wedding receptions. They make a delightful main dish by filling with a fresh chicken or seafood salad.  Any way you fill them, they are YUMMY! Today is our "Engagement Anniversary"!  Just a mere 28 years ago my husband proposed over a lovely Japanese dinner he cooked for us.  The proposal was hidden in fortune cookies he served at the end of dinner.... no wonder he was so insistent when I didn't take one the first time he offered them. LOL  I'd never enjoyed fortune cookies before like I did that evening. :)  No time for a special celebration dinner tonight, so chocolate filled cream puffs will be what makes our celebration special. No...

Yummy Enchilada taste for a family without the fuss!  It seems that this casserole  fixes up a bit different each time because I often use up a few left over or lonely items that are nearing their life expectancy. ;)  It is ALWAYS good though and easy to do.    Tonight I am using hamburger and black beans.  I usually use the burger, but sometimes the beans are kidney beans or small red beans... whatever I have on hand and catches my fancy when I'm cooking.   Tonight I used shredded cheddar cheese, but if I had some jack cheese or whatnot, I'd make a blend.  Right now my only variety to blend would be mozzarella and I have plans for that later this week.   It's easy to add in a few chopped veggies as well...  use your best judgement.... in addition to the onion I've enjoyed finely diced potato, summer squash, corn, and spinach or chard finely shredded.  Not all of those at once though - the kids get suspicious when they notice too...

I've been wanting to make cupcakes for a while now.  Seems like I think I have to wait for a special occasion for some silly reason.  My special occasion for these are twofold....  two of the sisters I visit teach have birthday's this week (Happy Birthday SteviKay and Lorraine!) AND Valentines Day is coming up next week. I used a basic no egg cake recipe... it is more dense and holds up better with a load of frosting on top.  I used my Whacky Cake recipe .  For the frosting, I used the Creamy Chocolate Frosting recipe on my blog for the base under the yellow flower cupcakes, and a Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting for the Valentine cupcakes.  That's the recipe I'll post here.  I thought they turned out fairly tasty. :)  Wesley, who is 3, really loves them.  He only wants to eat half though..... the TOP half.  Funny boy. Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting 4 C. powdered sugar 1 C. softened butter 4 oz softened cream chee...

  Living in the middle of potato country, we eat a LOT of potatoes.  One of our favorite ways to eat them is mashed with gravy.  Once in a while we have leftover mashed potatoes.  I don't enjoy them reheated as much as fresh since they are often dry, but this recipe using leftover (or fresh) mashed potatoes is so tasty I purposely make extra mashed potatoes now so we can have this later in the week!  I love all the delicious toppings on a baked potato, and that is what I added to create this dish.  I think chives would be good on it as well - but we'll try that in the summer when my chives are growing and fresh. "Real" mashed potatoes are best.... but in a pinch you could use instant.  Here in Idaho it's just a shame to not use fresh potatoes though.  Loaded Mashed Potatoes 3 C. mashed potatoes (leftover or freshly mashed) 1/4 C. melted butter 1 C. sour cream 1 1/2 C. shredded cheese, reserving 1/2 C. 1/4 C. fried & crumbled bacon, more i...

My Dad grows leeks in his garden.  I am a happy recipient of a few of those leeks!  Now I have to be honest with you, I doubt I would have seen these in the produce section of the store and longed to buy some... at least not until Mom brought me some of her Cream of Leek Soup!  YUM!  Today the family enjoyed this soup so much they suggested we grow our own leeks this year so we could have this soup more often! In case you aren't already familiar with leeks, they are a member of the onion/garlic family.  They have a thick stalk and very little "bulb", unlike the large bulb and small top of a regular onion.  They have a very mild onion flavor.   Cream of Leek Soup is a wonderful first course soup, or with a side of crusty bread, would be a nice main dish soup. Cream of Leek Soup 4-6 medium leeks 6 T. margarine or butter 3 T. flour 2 tsp. chopped chives, optional 1/2 tsp. salt 6 C. milk or light cream 6 cubes or 6 tsp. of chicken bouillon  ...

We love Alfredo Sauce on noodles, however, right now I've got a bunch of potatoes stored that need to be used.  I figured we could do our usual alfredo sauce and some chicken tenders and settle that over some real mashed potatoes for a nice potato bowl.  It turned out terrific! You could use a bottled alfredo sauce, but it's really pretty easy to make your own if you have the ingredients on hand. Easy Alfredo Sauce 2 C. half & half or a mix of heavy cream and milk OR 2 C. of evaporated milk 1 C. milk 2 T. butter 3 T. flour 1 clove of garlic, minced 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated salt and pepper to taste Saute the garlic in the 2 T. of butter until it softens.  Mix in flour and make a roux.  Add milk and cream slowly, stirring constantly over medium heat until all milk is added and sauce starts to thicken.  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until it's melted and blended in.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The sauce thickens as it cools.  If it's thi...