penny's corn pie

 Okay call me lazy cuz' I took a photo of a recipe from 

FAVORITES.

It's late. Forgive.

But I love this corn pie.
I've had it a few times and made it again tonight for a shower. 

I don't like to waste my calories on pie crust, quite honestly.
So, the corn pie sans the crust is money!
Protein! Veggies! Cheese! 

And a little mexican flair...especially paired with avocado, sour cream, and salsa.

Yum-o for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Oh and the recipe says "Bake uncovered at 325 for 1.5 hours." Sorry I cut it off:)

zucchini & bacon quiche

I took some quiche to a shower tonight...

"cutie pie" was the theme.

Her idea. She's so creative with a cute blog.

We wanted sweet and savory pies.

She made an ice cream Oreo pie and little individual apple/lemon meringue pies. Adorable.

I did quiche and corn pie.

I'm pretty sure this quiche tasted great. 

I mean really...heavy cream, swiss cheese, whole milk, bacon....?

But husband called the second I got to the shower with an emergency at the hospital so I jetted.

Ah well.

from Keeping Up!

zucchini & bacon quiche

(from keeping up cookbook!)

4-5 slices bacon, uncooked or precooked, chopped

2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 eggs

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown uncooked bacon pieces until crispt. If using precooked bacon, cook bacon over medium heat for 1 minute, or until bacon releases some fat and crisps. Remove bacon to a paper towel to drain. Leave just enough fat to coat skillet, draining excess. Add zucchini to skillet with salt. Saute for 5 minutes or until zucchini begins to brown. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together cream, milk pepper and eggs. Stir in zucchini (along with any juices from the pan), bacon and cheese. Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, or until center is set. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

All Blake wanted for Christmas breakfast was Cinnamon Rolls.

I was frightened because I've never cooked with yeast.

Singapore humidity makes everything bake differently!

I decided to try making my friend Sarah's sweet rolls.

They are extra moist because of the vanilla Jello-pudding.

Luckily they turned out to be a success--Blake was happy.

We are eating the leftovers this morning!

Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

Ingredients:

  1/2 cup warm water (100-110°)

2 packages dry yeast (1-1/2 tbsp.)

      2 tbsp. sugar

         3-1/2 oz. pkg. vanilla pudding mix

       1/2 cup margarine -- melted

    2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

6 cups flour

1 cup butter

      2 cups brown sugar

 2 tbsp. cinnamon

       

Cream Cheese Frosting:

           8 oz cream cheese

            1/2 cup margarine

           1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups confectioner's sugar

     1 tbsp. milk

*I replaced all margarine with butter, yum!

Frosting Directions:

To make frosting, mix all ingredients until smooth.

Roll Directions:

In a bowl combine warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions (Use warm milk to aid in rising). Add ½ cup melted margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend.

Gradually add flour; knead until smooth (may take more, or less than 6 cups, keep dough as tacky as you can work with it). Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (~45 min).

Punch down dough and let rise again (~30 min).

Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 2 tbls cinnamon. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly.

With knife, put a notch every 2". Cut with thread or knife (dental floss works the best).

Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.

Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.

Cover and let rise until double again (~25-30 min). Bake at 350 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden.

Don't Over Bake.

Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Serving Size: Makes about 20 very large rolls

Nordstrom Artichoke Dip

Last night Blake made this dip for Christmas Eve dinner at Jonna's house.

We all hovered around fighting for the next bite.

It's real healthy ya know...Mayo, sour cream, parmesan cheese:)

But, definitely worth the cals.

Can you tell my hubby was proud of his creation?

Only happens about once a year:)

Baked Artichoke Dip

From the Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook

Serves 12 to 14

1 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup sour cream

2 cups (8 ounces) freshly grated parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

3 T cider vinegar

2 T chopped fresh basil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t kosher salt

1 t freshly ground black pepper

2 cans (13.5 ounces each) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 can (7 ounces) diced green chiles, drained

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream , 1 1/2 cups of the Parmesan cheese, the vinegar, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the artichokes, bell peppers, and chiles. Transfer to a decorative baking dish and, using the spatula, smooth the surface. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese evenly over the top.

Bake, uncovered, until lightly browned and gently bubbling around the edges, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving directly from the dish.

sugar cookies

a bunch of kids decorated these. i promise they tasted good. oh and i made gingerbread. gotta represent all kinds of cookies...:) don't plan on your kitchen being clean.

I know there are 4.2 million sugar cookie recipes.
And I'm not claiming this to be "the best". But, it was perfect tonight.
See, I had some kiddos over to frost and decorate cookies and these held up well!
They were thin, light, and flavorful. I love the addition of almond flavoring in anything.

Though the dough was a cinch to whip up, let's be honest and say that rolling out shapes is not so speedy.
I kept running into the problem of cutting out a couple shapes and then the rest of the dough would be too warm to roll out and properly keep its shape.
So, I'd toss the not-used-yet dough in the freezer between roll-outs. Does that make sense?

Go make these and if you don't have lots of time, just make flat little non-shape cookies.
Pair them with a little almond icing, and your family will love you.
Decorating cookies goes hand-in-hand with the holidays!

From Annie's Eats

Ella’s White Sugar Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup butter 1 cup powdered sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 ½ t. almond extract 1 t. vanilla 1 t. salt 2 ½ c. sifted flour Directions:Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~40 cookies.

delicious dinner rolls

Okay, sisters. If I had success with these rolls, you will for sure rock them.

If you have knock-your-socks-off rolls at any special dinner (for us, it was Thanksgiving), 

then all your other blunders go by the way-side.

My boys just ate these puppies up!

(I do remember Christmas dinners as a kid only wanting hot rolls!)

It's lame to not even post the recipe, but I'm making you visit this chica's site to get the full run-down.

See, I'm a visual learner and having her break down the steps with photos really helped.

I'm admitting what a terrible cook I am...just a good recipe follower!

Anywho, try these babies out! Light, delectable and uber-buttery!

I may even volunteer to be the roll maker over Christmas, Emily!

kale chips

hi, sisters. so it's quite evident i've been slacking in the cooking department with the lack o' blogging. 

i promise we're not starving here, but who really needs to blog about quesadillas, grilled cheeses, or spaghetti? my cooking rut doesn't want to budge.

plus, i keep making the same chocolate chip cookies that i already blogged about long long ago. 

however, amidst all the "KID FOOD" i plate 3x/day, if not more, i love to have myself some roasted veggies in the fridge to gnaw on. on these cold days, hot veggies fit the bill.

i throw a couple pieces on the boys' plates and pile my plate up, add whatever meat we're eating, etc. etc.

you get the drill.

any veggies you want cut up to be about the same size (brussel sprouts take a tad longer).
drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper, and roast at 350 for about 15-20 min.

anywho, today i bought some kale...a somewhat bitter tasting green, but uber good for you. 

at whole foods, they sell "kale chips" that are super yummy and healthy, but too expensive 

(like everything else in that darn store).

so i made some "kale chips". now don't even compare these to potato chips at all, but let's just say it's a guilt-free way of munching on something when you're craving salt. 

i dare ya to "try this".

baked kale

1 large bunch of kale

3 tablespoons olive oil (just make sure each leaf has oil on it to make it crunch)

kosher salt and/or parmesan to taste

heat oven to 300 degrees. pull kale leaves from the stem; discard stem. tear leaves into 3-inch pieces and place on rimmed sheet pan. toss with oil and rub to evenly coat each leaf. arrange in a single layer and bake until crisp, 20-25 minutes. let cool, then sprinkle with salt and parmesan to taste.

okay, now onto the rich and creamy and non-kale-ish thanksgiving recipes!!

Cafe Rio Chicken

Last month while Blake was in the US, 

I made him do a major stock up on corn tortillas.

They don't sell them here on the island!

So, on special occasions we get to make tacos.

 Today was one of those days...

I thank Pinterest for this easy-crock-pot recipe:

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 (8 oz) bottle of kraft zesty italian dressing

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

5 lbs chicken breasts

Cook all together in crock pot for 4 hours on low.

Shred chicken and ENJOY!

a'la mode tip

Simple and kinda lame, I know.

But when you have lots o' little people at a party waiting for a

 scoop of ice cream with their Birthday cake, 

you slyly pull out your (covered) cookie sheet from the freezer.

"Why, let me serve you, my dears..."

Cute, and it helps a (tad) with the clean-up!

Gracias pinterest.