Chocolate Fondue

I love fondue, I love chocolate, I love dipping things into other yummy things! This is the best of all three!!! Some of our favorite dippers are: marshmallows, pound cake, brownie chunks, apples, strawberries, bananas.

A candle fondue pot works best for this. Just pre-heat the pot a bit before adding the chocolate.

3/4 cup half & half

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup liquor or strong coffee

Heat creams in double boiler until they bubble. Reduce heat and slowly add chocolate chips, stirring each addition until melted and smooth. When chocolate is all melted, add liquor or coffee. Stir well. Pour into fondue pot. Use for dipping your favorite treats and enjoy!

Honey Cranberry Chicken

I have made this for about 15 years now. I don’t even know where the original recipe is anymore. In fact, I just kind of know how to make it. I am going to have to really think about it in order to post this recipe….
But it is worth the effort on my part so that you, too, may enjoy this moist and tasty chicken. Simple enough for every day but elegant enough for a special occasion.

1/2 – 3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup butter
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup chopped green onion
3 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup
Place 1/2-3/4 cup dried cranberries in a glass bowl. Cover with boiling water and let sit.

Meanwhile, melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Salt and pepper 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Brown the chicken in the skillet until golden brown on both sides.
Add 1/4 cup of green onion and sauté for about 30 seconds. Stir them to keep the onions from burning or sticking.
Pour in the cranberries and the water they have been soaking in.

Cover the skillet and turn heat to low. Simmer the chicken until it is done and no longer pink, 165 degrees.
Remove lid and return heat to medium-high, let most of the liquid boil away. Stir in honey or syrup.
Serve topped with cranberry mixture.

Crock Pot Cracked Wheat

I really don’t like making breakfast, which is kinda strange since I’ve done it every day for about 17+ years now. Breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day but it is my guys’ FAVORITE meal of the day! So I have made LOTS of breakfasts! That is until this year…

My two oldest started attending college and it is just too hard to coordinate everyone’s morning work and school schedules for a sit-down breakfast. So now it’s an everyone-on-your-own affair. I LOVE it! I feel like I have just gained my freedom from slaving over my griddle/waffle iron/skillet every morning! Wait, I did! :o)

On the other hand, I really miss starting out our day with a sit-down breakfast. We would pray for our day, read and discuss the daily newspaper… It was a great way to start the day! But I don’t miss cooking breakfast…

All this is a round about way to say that I have found a way to have a hot breakfast ready to go whenever it’s needed without cooking in the morning! And it’s all thanks to my crock pot!

You can make cracked wheat in the crock pot the night before and it is all ready to go in the morning! And if you’ve made too much, you can freeze the leftovers in microwave safe containers. Just thaw them in the fridge the night before, add a bit of milk or water, and zap it for about 1 minute or so! Hot breakfast without cooking yet again!

Here’s how you do it:

Pour 1 cup of cracked wheat cereal into your crock pot. Pour in 3 cups of cold water. Give it a quick stir. Turn the crock pot on low and go to sleep for 7-9 hours.

Wake up. Go check your cracked wheat. Give it a stir.

Plop some into a bowl. (Yeah, it really does kinda plop, but it’s hot cereal.) Dress it up with milk, brown sugar, butter, dried fruits, nuts… whatever suits your fancy.

Turn the crock pot on warm if you need it to wait for more eaters.

Browned Butter & Mizithra Pasta

We love the Pasta a’la Homer at the Spaghetti Factory! It is our favorite dish there by far! So simple and yet so perfect! I’ve made it several times at home…

Here’s how ya do it:

Grate mizithra cheese with a fine grater.

Cook your desired amount of angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta. You don’t want anything chunky or heavy for this. Drain and keep hot.

Melt 1 cube of butter in a saucepan over med to med-high heat. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM BROWNING BUTTER!!! Whisk constantly until butter just starts to turn a golden brown and gets this lovely nutty smell! You’ll know when it’s at that point because it will smell heavenly, not burnt!

Pour browned butter over pasta and toss to combine.

Some like to toss the cheese in with the pasta and butter. But we just each sprinkle our own cheese on top.

We also discovered that browned butter and mizithra cheese are delightful on fresh steamed green beans!!! They are the BOMB!

So, then I thought… Why not combine them??? So, I did it. I just chucked some of my frozen green beans from the garden into the water with the pasta.

Then I thought… What’s good with green beans? Bacon! Actually, bacon is good with EVERYTHING so I gave it a shot.

It was a bit salty with the butter, the cheese and the bacon but hey, salt isn’t bad, right???

Whether you choose to eat it au natural or dressed up a bit, you’re sure to enjoy this simple yet elegant dish!

Cuban-Style Pork and Black Beans

I had no idea I liked Cuban food. Not that I was surprised, but I hadn’t ever had it before. Now I don’t know how authentic my improvised and make-due-with-what-I-have Cuban food is, but it sure was delicious! Served with white rice and mix all three together… Awesome!  All it needed was a mojito…

Pork Roast

1-2 pounds of pork roast

5 limes, juiced

1 orange, juiced

3 heads (not cloves, whole heads) garlic, peeled and chopped

1 onion, rough chopped

salt

ground black pepper

Place roast, juices, garlic, and onion in your crock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Turn on high and cook for 4-7 hours, or until roast shreds easily with fork.

Shred the pork with a fork and stir into the liquid it cooked in.

Black Beans

1 can black beans, undrained

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1-2 Tablespoons ketchup

cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté garlic, onion and green pepper until tender.

Place beans, ketchup and seasonings in a saucepan. Stir in sautéed veggies. Heat, over med-high heat until they are thoroughly heated.

Serve the pork and beans with white rice.

Breakfast Ring

This is the perfect dish for a potluck brunch or a Christmas breakfast. You can fill it with whatever you like and make it your very own!

2 tubes of crescent rolls

scrambled eggs

bacon strips, slightly cooked

grated cheese

sautéed veggies of your choice

First lay out the separated crescent rolls on a round or square baking sheet. Overlap the flat ends in the center, points facing the edge of the pan. Lay a strip of bacon on top of each triangle.

I forgot about the bacon, don’t cook it too much!

Top with eggs, veggies and cheese.

I topped our ring with mushrooms, peppers, and onion.

   

Carefully bring the points to the center of the ring and press slightly to seal.

Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cut into pieces and serve hot. If you like, you can top it with a dollop of salsa and sour cream or a scoop of country gravy.

Wassail

Although we didn’t go wassailing or have any wassailers visit, I did make a batch of this lovely fruity & spicy drink for Christmas Eve. A large tea ball strainer works great for your spices! Be sure to toast, “Be in good health” when you drink.

2 cups sugar

4 1/4 cups water

2 cinnamon sticks

1 Tablespoons whole cloves

1 slice fresh peeled ginger

4 1/4 cups orange juice

2 cups lemon juice

1/2 gallon apple cider

Place sugar and water in large saucepan. Heat to boiling over high heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add spices. Cover and let sit on back of stove for 1 hour.

Strain, or remove tea ball strainer. Add juices and quickly bring it to a boil. Remove and serve. Keep hot in a crock pot.