Christmas Eve Salad

 We've hosted an annual Christmas Eve dinner for family for the past several years. One of my favorite things about this meal is that I don't have to even think about what to serve anymore. My parents started a tradition of having snow crab legs on Christmas Eve when I was in elementary school, and we've carried that for decades now. They moved 6 hours north of us about ten years ago, so my husband and I took over the hosting duties. While the guest list may change from year to year, we always make room for family. This year we will welcome my in-laws and our brothers.

The other menu items have been established throughout our hosting years. We will have twice-baked potatoes, steamed green beans, biscuits with cheddar and garlic, and my Christmas Eve salad recipe. I adapted this from some recipes I found online for Ensalada de Noche Buena. This is the only time I make this salad so we look forward to it each time!

Ingredients for the salad:

    1 head of romaine (we prefer the heart)

    1 bunch fresh spinach

    1/2 of a small red onion, sliced thin

    the arils from 1/2 of a large pomegranate

    1 small jicama, peeled and sliced thinly into strips

    about 4 mandarin oranges or clementines, peeled and segmented

Ingredients for the dressing:

    1/2 cup orange juice

    1/4 cup (to taste) red wine vinegar

    about 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

    1 tablespoon of honey

    1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

    1/2 to 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper 

Start by chopping your lettuce and spinach into bite size pieces. I make sure to remove most of the stems from the spinach as they can be awkward to eat. Rinse the greens very well and dry in a salad spinner. If you don't have a spinner, you can drain them on a cotton dish towel or several paper towels. 

Lay the greens in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Top with the orange segments, sliced red onion, jicama slices, and the pomegranate arils. The amounts used may vary depending on the size of the produce and personal taste (we like lots of jicama and oranges). Keep chilled until ready to serve. 

I like to use a shaker bottle for mixing the dressing as it will separate as it sits. Add the orange juice and red wine vinegar to the bottle, then add the dijon mustard and honey. Add the salt and pepper and then add the olive oil on top. Put the lid on and shake well to emulsify. I try to make this as close to the meal as possible since the olive oil and honey will harden if you refrigerate. If you do make this ahead, remove from the fridge at least 15 minutes before serving and shake very well. 

We don't dress the full salad when serving, but rather place the dressing on the table and allow people to use as much as they like.

If you've found this recipe, I hope that you try it out and enjoy with your favorite people. May you have a very Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Eve

 

15 Bean Soup Instant Pot

 A little bit cooler today! Hubs and I tracked down a bale of straw and some pumpkins to put on the front porch next to the werewolf. Most all of the Halloween decor got put out yesterday. We have a couple more things we may put out yet. 

After we found our straw and did a little grocery shopping, we came home and I started this soup in the Instant Pot. While it was cooking, we made some chocolate chip cookies and some dinner rolls. Soup turned out better then I expected! Used leftover ham from last Sunday’s supper that we froze for later use. Ham was slow cooked with brown mustard and ground cloves.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 large carrots, diced

5 stalks celery, sliced thick

1 pound dry 15 bean soup mix, rinsed and drained

6 cups water

2 cups ham juice (leftover from slow cooker) - use extra water if not available 

1 ham bone (some meat left on is fine)

1 bay leaf

3 cups diced ham (also leftover from slow cooker)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon dried parsley 

1 teaspoon dried thyme 

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika 

2 teaspoons chili powder 

1-2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 

Salt and pepper to taste

Set Instant Pot to “Sauté”. Add olive oil, onion, and carrots. Sauté 4-5 minutes. Add bean mix, celery, water, ham juice, bay leaf, and ham bone. Seal pot and set to high pressure for 35 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes, then remove lid. Stir in tomato sauce, ham, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. Add vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste. 

I totally eyeballed the measurements on this, and still turned out very good. Carrots were a little more done than we prefer, so next time I’ll probably add with the celery instead of sautéing.

Apple Butter

 Jotting this down so that I have it in case this turns out as good as I hope! I’ve got my big 7 quart slow cooker about half full of peeled, cored, and chunked up apples. Not sure of the variety, they’re from my in-laws property and it’s a tree that just grew up on the edge of the bluff. I poured over about a cup of apple cider (just grocery store brand, nothing fancy), added 3/4 cup light brown sugar. Then I put in about a quarter cup of Kraken spiced rum, 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla bean paste, about 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and nutmeg. I’m cooking it overnight (10 hours) on low, then tomorrow I’ll mash it up with the immersion blender and add some lemon juice for zing. Not sure if I’ll can it or just freeze it once it’s done. Depends on if I wanna share!

Chex Mix

 Every year around this time, I get a craving for Chex Mix and go searching for a recipe. But all of them nowadays are microwave and alterations on the one I loved growing up. So, I’ve come up with my version below.

2 sticks unsalted butter

6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoned salt

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

4 cups each

       Rice Chex

       Corn Chex

      Wheat Chex

      Crispix

3 cups pretzel sticks

3 cups Gardettos snack mix

2 cups deluxe mixed nuts

Place butter in large roaster pan, and put into cold oven. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. While oven is heating and butter is melting in pan, mix together seasoned salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Stir together cereals, pretzel sticks, snack mix, and nuts in very large bowl. Once oven is heated and butter has melted, sprinkle seasoning mix over butter and add the Worcestershire sauce, stir together until well mixed, then add cereal mixture and stir again. Bake for one hour, stirring well every 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

This makes a very large batch, but we go through it very quickly since we only make it around the holidays. I usually put a big jar of it in my father-in-law’s Christmas goodie basket as well. 

Day in the Life

 So, the last couple of weeks I’ve found myself watching a lot of YouTube vloggers and their “Day in the Life” videos. Which is fine, you know, get some ideas for organizing, some projects to try out. But they’re all in their 20s with little kids. My kids are in high school and middle school now! Why can’t I find someone neat to watch that’s more relatable? 

Adding a pic of the dog because he’s cute. 

Maple Bacon Ice Cream

 This stuff is so delicious. Sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy. Unanimous decision that it was the best dish at our bacon and beer festival this weekend. And my beer also won! Heretic Shallow Grave. Really smooth porter. But I excluded myself from the prizes since I bought them...lol. 

Here’s the recipe. But this makes like a gallon, so scale down appropriately if you're not feeding two dozen people. 

5 cups heavy cream

5 cups whole milk

8 egg yolks

1 cup maple syrup, grade A

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 170 degrees. Strain through fine mesh sieve into large pitcher and chill in fridge overnight. Next day, churn in 4 batches. When ice cream reaches soft serve consistency, add 1/4 of the chopped bacon (recipe follows). Churn until ice cream will stand on a spoon, then store in freezer overnight before serving. Let soften slightly before serving.

Maple Candied Bacon

2 pounds thick sliced double smoked bacon

1/4 cup maple syrup, grand A

1/2 cup brown sugar

Line baking sheets with aluminum foil. Lay out bacon across pan, barely touching each other. Drizzle half of the maple syrup over the bacon, then sprinkle half of the brown sugar over. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from oven, drain off the grease into a heat proof container. Flip the bacon over, drizzle with remaining syrup and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake an additional 10 - 15 minutes, or until desired crispness. Cool completely, then chop into small pieces. 

Sweet Heat Peanuts

Whipped up a batch of these this morning. They’re supposed to go into my father-in-law’s Christmas goodie basket, but my family has discovered them and they won’t last that long, I’m afraid.

Ingredients:

1 jar dry roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 250F. Put butter into a 9 x 13 pan and place pan into oven. Allow butter to melt, then remove. Add sugar, water, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir to combine. Once mixed, add peanuts and stir again. Place into oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Store in an air tight container.

New Puppy!

Hi,  I'm Finn. I'm a Yorkie Pom mix.
This morning,  I learned that spiders don't taste good. 

The Call

So, two weeks ago I had my first mammogram done by the mobile unit that came to work. I got the call today regarding my results. I will be going in for a follow up in two weeks. The follow up will be a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. The technician who called didn’t sound overly concerned, so I’m trying not to be either. Not saying anything to people for now. Don’t want their worrying stressing me out.

Survivor Guilt

Relief, grief, confusion, concern, distraction, depression, anxiety.....Today was tough. Was asked to come in early this morning under the pretense of an early conference call. Found out instead that our location lost its largest client and that we were laying off over 500 people today. I am fortunately not one of those, but instead am one who remains. And the rest of my team was not so fortunate. Many tears are shed today, and I’m sure there will be more throughout the coming days as we struggle to find our new normal.

6 Can Soup

A few years back, my friend Gretchen told me how to make 6 can soup. Really simple. Tastes great.

• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can corn
• 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 can Ranch style beans
• 1 can chicken breast
• 1 can chicken with rice soup

Mix all ingredients and heat through. We've made it in the crock pot, and on the stove top. Tonight I made a variation of it that was delicious! 

We like to make salsa chicken for burritos (another easy one - chicken breasts, packet of taco seasoning, jar of salsa. Crockpot on low 4-6 hours, shred chicken and stir together). I had chicken left over from earlier this week, so I used about a cup and half of that in place of the canned chicken breast. I also had made a big pot of black beans yesterday for a Christmas party we went to last night so I put about a cup or so of those in with the soup. We fried some corn tortillas, crumbled them on the top of soup, and shredded some cheddar to finish it off. Dinner in less than ten minutes. Yum!

New recipe!

Beef and Barley Soup

Putting down the recipe for the soup I made tonight, so that I can make it again later!

2 lbs stew meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion
4 celery stalks
3 large carrots
1 cup frozen southern style hash browns
1 cup pearl barley
1 bottle Guinness
3 cans beef broth
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon beef base
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 bay leaves
2 springs rosemary
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil (garnish)

Cut stew meat into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown meat in batches, removing cooked meat to plate between batches. Deglaze pan with Guinness, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom. Add 2 cans of beef broth. Add the meat back in (I used an arm roast from my mom's beef, so I had a bone after cutting all the meat off. I put the bone in the pot while I simmered the meat.) and any juices on the plate. Add the rosemary and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half on low. While meat simmers, finely dice onion, celery, and carrots. In large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add veggies and saute for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add thyme. Add can of tomato paste to veggies and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Add veggies to meat (remove bone) and add frozen potatoes. Also add barley, 2 cups water, and beef base. Simmer 45-50 minutes on low until barley is cooked al dente. Add additional can of beef broth if needed to ensure enough broth. Garnish with freshly chopped basil for serving. 

We also had freshly baked Texas dinner rolls for dunking in the broth. Was a great dinner for a chilly day!

Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Fettuccine

One of our favorite things to get for lunch in the office comes from a restaurant a few miles away. Probably a fantastic thing that they do not deliver, or we would have it 2 or 3 times a week!  I haven't ever seen it anywhere else, and recipes online are very few. So, tonight I made it for dinner. And figured I would get the recipe put down where I could find it again easily. Enjoy!!

Creamy Teriyaki Chicken Fettuccine (Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill copycat)

 - makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

Fettuccine, 1 pound
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 1/2 pounds
Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
Kosher salt, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon, divided
Black pepper, 1 teaspoon
Garlic powder, 2 teaspoons, divided
Zucchini, 1 small, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Crook neck squash, 1 medium, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Red bell pepper, 1 large, sliced into strips
White mushrooms, 1 cup, sliced
Broccoli florets, 2 cups
Butter, 4 tablespoons
Cream cheese, 4 ounces
Milk, 1 cup
Parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup shredded
Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce, 1/2 cup

Bring large pot of water to a boil. When water has come to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta. Cook according to package directions for al dente and drain, setting aside when done. Meanwhile, heat large skillet (12 inches or bigger) over medium high heat. Season chicken breasts with 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet and add chicken breasts. Cook 5-7 minutes per side (adjusting as needed for thickness of breasts) until golden brown and cooked through. Remove to cutting board to rest. Add remaining olive oil to skillet, then add zucchini, squash, and bell pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes, then add broccoli florets. Cook additional 3 minutes and add mushrooms. Cook 2 more minutes and then remove vegetables from pan (put in a bowl and set aside). Reduce heat to medium and add butter and cream cheese to skillet. Butter will melt and cream cheese will start to soften. Stir with wire whisk to incorporate (will look curdled but will come together). Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder and milk. Continue to whisk until sauce smooths out. Add shredded Parmesan and continue to whisk. Sauce will thicken quickly. Once sauce has thickened, add teriyaki sauce to thin out. Add cooked fettuccine to sauce and cook for a minute to allow pasta to absorb some of the sauce. Slice chicken into bite size pieces and add to pasta (and any juices that may have come out while it rested). Add cooked vegetables and toss with tongs to combine. A small amount of milk may be needed to thin sauce to coat everything well.
Serve with garlic bread.

 - I add crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce when adding the garlic powder, but this may make it too spicy for some people. Start with 1/4 teaspoon and work up if you'd like it with more heat.

Mortality

That subject hits home a little bit today. Yesterday, we lost one of the greatest country music artists that will ever be. Rest in peace, Merle.


We've lost a lot of people this year already, and we've only finished 3 months of it. And what hurts most about this one is how I associated him. I hear Merle, and I think of Pancho and Lefty. Willie is my dad's favorite, and if my dad's artists are starting to fade away, how much longer will I get with my dad?

Prayers please

I know, I know. Not something you would normally expect from me. But here's the thing. My best friend from 5th grade all the way through high school has an older sister. And she was friends with my older sister. And even though we all live hundreds of miles apart now - Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, Idaho - there are still threads that tie us together. Those can never be cut. So, because of those threads, I'm asking a favor. Whether you pray to God, Allah, Buddha, The Great Spirit, the car gods, Zeus, or the faeries dancing in the trees - would you please remember Liz in your next request? Thanks.

First day of school!

Today is my kiddos' first day of a new school year. They were super excited this morning. So was I, because I had the day off of work. So, we got up, Mom (me) got some coffee, and got ready to roll. Kids in new clothes and shoes, backpacks grabbed, lunches packed, photos taken. We did drive to school instead of taking the bus because we had all the supplies to take. We missed Meet & Greet on Friday so all the stuff had to get toted along with us. Got the kids to their classrooms, teachers met, and off I went. Ran a couple errands - had to get some coffee syrup, something to make for dinner, and some paint samples. We are getting the outside of the house painted in a few weeks, so we were finalizing color choices today. Got home, put a pot roast in the crock pot. Made a loaf of bread that was pretty good. Calling it "tablespoon bread". Yay for no kneading and easy remembering!

6 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

3 cups lukewarm water

Mix together flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in large mixing bowl. Add water and stir until well combined. Dough will be soft. Cover bowl with cling wrap and a tea towel. Place in a warm spot and let rise for an hour. After rising, use a plastic scraper to punch down the dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and shape into round loaf. Place an heat safe  Dutch oven into the oven and preheat to 425. Once oven is hot, take out the Dutch oven. The dough will have risen again at this point. Turn dough into the hot! pot and cover with the lid. Put back into the oven and bake for 40 minutes. After time is up, remove lid and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn loaf out onto cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing. 

We had pot roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, and bread. Was pretty darn good dinner. Got lunch stuff prepped for tomorrow, dishes all done up. Watched a little TV and now I'm heading for bed. Goodnight! 

Hi all -

Yesterday was J and my wedding anniversary, and this weekend is B's birthday. Next week is my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary and my birthday. And the week after is my nephew's birthday and two of our close friends have a birthday that week as well. Funny how much stuff is crammed into this month now. And we are less than 3 weeks away from the first day of school. D is currently attending Huntington Learning Center, getting some one on one time to ensure that she is ready for first grade. She slid through kindergarten but didn't really enjoy it and I think that she was not quite ready for it. She's been going to tutoring for a few weeks now, and she loves it. And she is learning, and listening, and even she can see results from it. She amazed herself the other day reading billboards. "Mom, I can read that!" Tonight, one of her extra credit activities was to read in a funny place. I found her in my bathtub with her blanket, pillow, and three books. I just laughed and went the other direction, so I wouldn't interrupt her. I hope that she learns to love reading as much as I do.

Speaking of which, I recently climbed aboard the Game of Thrones ride. By that I mean reading the books. I haven't watched the HBO series yet, but it may not be far off. Although, due to my Facebook feed, I already know a lot of the "spoilers" just reading the books. I may start on the show later. There are 135 holds on Season 1 discs at the library. Guess I should start searching out other ways to watch it......anyone have HBO Go? :) Hmmm....go.....ing to bed now. Good night all!

Hi

Well, this morning we zipped out to see Grandpa J for a few minutes and to take care of something very important.....applying for our passports! That's right, we get to go out of the country! We are going to Cabo San Lucas at the end of September, traveling with J's parents and brother & fiancée. We were blessed to get to go with them to Hawaii about 4 years ago, and we had so much fun that we decided we would vacation together again. Looking forward to this!

Time flies!

That it does, my friends. That it does. So, I'm trying to be better about posting on here. Today I made cranberry bliss bars, ham and bean soup, and pot roast. Yesterday, I baked the ham that I used the ham bone out of for the soup, and made real mac and cheese (as J calls it). And did I get a single picture taken? Oops. 
In regards to the title of this post, it has been over 3 weeks since my last update. But that's not actually the reason. I changed my profile picture today. To one we just had taken last month even. Look how big those girls have gotten! This weekend is actually the anniversary of when I first met J. Lots of things have changed over the years. Houses, cars, hairstyles (I'm blonde now!?!). We've made new friends, and lost some others along the way. We've had good days and bad, but still sticking it out. Love you ten forevers, J.