Say Cheese!

I spent my second day of my "vacation" at work.  I think it's funny.  I mean, it's not the idea of vacation but I got in the zone and got some stuff done.  And I promised I would come in for a meeting.  I just stayed the whole day.   I did sleep in and I wore a ponytail and gym shorts to my office, so that made it feel less official. 

Anyway, I had planned to make a pan of macaroni and cheese for my friends, Sara & Josh.  They are going to Europe on Thursday so I wanted to give them a meal to freeze so that they have dinner on the night they get back.  So that they can come home and just unpack and relax.  I read this in a travel guide and thought it was a great idea.   Plus, this mac & cheese is so good that I love to share it with others.  I never really make it for myself because I worry about how bad it is for me, and I could probably eat the ENTIRE pan myself.  So I only make it for others or for events. 

Now, I need to let you know that this is called "Grandma Green's Mac & Cheese".  At least in my world.   Traditionally I don't care for mac and cheese out of the box (absolutely grosses me out) and I am picky about the homemade varieties I've had.   But when my Grandma makes it, I can't get enough.  So a few years ago, I asked her for the recipe.  She happily gave it to me.  I worried that it wouldn't come out as delicious as when she makes it, and that's true but I think it comes close enough. 

So today I'll give you my tutorial about it.  (it's kind of like doing a cooking show while I'm taking pictures of the process...)

Ingredients:
1 package macaroni (8 to 9 ounces)
3 cups Thin White sauce (see below for instructions)
1/4 to 1/2 pound grated cheese (about 1 package)
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup butter crumbs (optional--I don't do this part)

Thin White Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk

Directions:

1.  Cook macaroni, drain and rinse

2.  While macaroni is cooking, shred a block of cheddar cheese (you can use shredded but I like to shred it myself)

This is my very favorite brand of sharp cheddar cheese.  Yum!

 

 3.  Start the white sauce.  Melt the butter over low heat.  Add flour, salt and pepper.  (I pre-measure the ingredients to make this easier)

4.  Stir until well blended.  Remove from heat.

 5.  Gradually stir in milk and return to heat.  Cook stir constantly until thick and smooth.  It take a few minutes, don't worry.

 6.  Combine hot white sauce, grated cheese, onion, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, reserving a little of the grated cheese for topping. 

 7.  Add mixture to the macaroni and place in a greased casserole dish.  Top with cheese and buttered crumbs (optional). 

 8.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until browned. 

Right out of the oven.  

So that's how the magic behind my Grandma's recipe.  It's so good.  I wanted to eat some but I refrained.  I even made a second pan of it for my friend Angie and her family.  I hope that they all enjoy this deliciousness.  It doesn't have the Grandma magic that I love, but it'll have to do.

And thanks to my Grandma for sharing this recipe with me!  xoxo

And if you happen to try it out, let me know how you like it.  I bet Grandma would like to know too.  ;)

Watermelon Wonders

Back in February I had found a recipe for watermelon cookies (really they are sugar cookies)  in a magazine (People Country September 2010)  Of course, I saved it and filed it away for this summer.  Thanks to my handy binder of ideas.

Aren't they cute in the picture? Love. love. love.

So I busted out the recipe for the party this week. 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Red food coloring

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate mini morsels

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 1/2 to 2 tbsp water

Green food coloring

Directions:

1.  Beat butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add egg, milk and vanilla, mixing until blended.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture.  Add a small amount of red food coloring to dough to color as desired.  Beat on low speed until blended. 

3.  Shape dough into a ball; cover and chill at least 3 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I added a lot of red food coloring because I wanted them to be true watermelon color. 

5.  Divide dough in half; store one portion in refrigerator.  Roll out remaining portion to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Cut dough with a 3 inch round cookie cutter; cut each circle in half and place on parchment lined baking sheets. 

6.  Press several chocolate mini morsels into each cookie.  Repeat with remaining dough.

7.  Bake for 8-10 minutes (do not brown)

(I didn't have mini morsels so I had to cut the big chocolate chips-so not as cute)

8.  In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and enough water to form a glaze; add a small amount of green food coloring. 

9. Dip round edge of each cookie in green glaze and place on a wire rack until frosting is firm.

Okay, they aren't nearly as adorable as the picture in the magazine, but it was my first time making them so I'll forgive myself this time.  I will definitely do these again.  And next time, I think they will come out way better.   But looks aside, they tasted pretty good.  Can't go wrong with sugar cookies!

Have a great Thursday!

A Fruity Treat

This is the first time I've sat down all day.  It's been a busy day.  I will talk more about that it tomorrow but I wanted to share this recipe that I made tonight for the Thirty-One party.   A few people asked me for the recipe for Fruit Salsa and instead of e-mailing it out, I'll share it here.  And because it was that good. 

Now, I want to be sure to tell you that I got this from a blog somewhere out there this last week.  I honestly have no idea where I found it.  I'm guilty of looking at about a million blogs  and clicking out of them so quickly.  I did copy the recipe before I clicked out of this particular blog.  So if this is your recipe, thank you.  Let's consider it paying it forward.  Sharing is caring, right?

Okay, back to business.  This Fruit Salsa is pretty amazing.  I read the recipe and was kind of lukewarm about it.  But after my first taste tonight, I thought it was delicious.  Really truly, guilt free, delicious.

Ingredients:

1 carton strawberries (pulsed to chunky in a blender)

3 kiwis peeled and diced

1 pint blueberries (quartered)

2 apples peeled and diced.

Mix all together and chill until serving.  It's a good idea to let it sit for several hours before serving just so it marinates.

Now you'll need something to dip into this fruity delightful-ness.

How about some Cinnamon & Sugar Tortilla Chips?

Spray a 10 pack of flour tortillas with spray butter and then sprinkle with a cinnamon/sugar mix.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes.  Store in an airtight container or baggie if you aren't serving right away so that they stay crisp.

Here's a look at what was leftover after the guests left.  I will be eating this at work tomorrow.

Please try this out.  I promise you'll love it.  I will be making this for any event I possibly can this summer.

What can I make it for next?

Happy Tuesday!

Feta is Betta

This week, my friend Sabrina (poppies and pinwheels) had a 31 party.  I have never been to one of those so I was excited to go check it out.   The stuff is cute.  I'll share my treasures when they come in. 

 Anyway, I decided to try out a new recipe and bring it over to the party.   I found this recipe on a blog but I can not find it now to give the proper credit.  So if this is a recipe from your blog and you happen to read this, I'm giving you full credit.  I love feta cheese so when I saw this, I really needed to try it.  

Feta Dip--What You Need:

• olive oil
• 1 block of feta cheese
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 bunch green onions
• 3 tsp. Greek seasoning
• 1 baguette

 

What To Do:

1.  Wet large platter generously with olive oil

2.  Dice green onions and tomatoes

3.  Throw them on the olive oil

4.  Crumble feta cheese and throw them on the platter too

5.  Sprinkle the Greek seasoning on top (yes, there is actually Greek seasoning--I never knew)

6.  Mix it all together gently on the platter

7.  Slice baguette thinly for dipping.

8.  Enjoy!

And that's it.  Easy.  My critique--I think I was too generous with the oil.  Next time I'll use less.  Otherwise, I really liked it and will make it again for the next party.   And it's perfect for snacking with a glass of wine in hand.   Thanks to the blogger that shared it first and thanks to Sabrina for having a party that allowed me to try it out!! 

Happy Friday!  What are your weekend plans?

Treats & Tags

This morning I got up early to make some dog treats for Jill's dog, Cedar's 5th birthday party.  Yes, I did say a doggie party.  It was fun...but more on that later.

The treats are wildly popular with all dogs.  It's kind of a project to do but apparently they are delicious to doggies.  I'm going to give you the recipe because if you have a dog in your life, you should make these.  They will love them.

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup non fat dry milk

3T (1 pkg.) dry chicken or turkey gravy mix

3T brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup warm water

Mix all together (the dough is VERY sticky so I let it sit before I roll it out)

Roll

Cut with Cookie Cutter (I use a Bone shape)

Bake until golden brown and firm 350 degree oven

After the baking was complete.  This recipe makes about 60 treats.

 I bagged them up so that the other  dogs could get a treat at the party. 

And I used these tags I had made a few years ago.  I love these grubby tags and wasn't blogging at the time I made them (one of Angie and my craft nights). So I figured I'd show how to do this too.  The day started out very productive as you can tell.  It went downhill as soon as I left the house, however.

Start out with some shipping tags from any office supply store.

2 cups hot water

1/4 cup instant coffee (dry)

1/4 instant tea

3 tablespoon imitation vanilla

Mix well in a bowl. Place tags in the bowl careful that they don't stick together. Let soak for 15 minutes

Lay on a cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with cinamon. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Bake the tags for 15 minutes or until dry

I took the basket of treats to Cedar's birthday party.  Jill is a live on staff member at the college so she invited her buildings and it was very impressive to see how many students came to this event.  And there were several of our staff friends there too.  Not to mention some other puppies.  Our campus works with the guiding eyes program so there are lots of puppies on campus every year.  It's nice to see them walking around campus and watching them play in the residence halls.  And Cedar makes friends with all of them.  He's a popular dog around here.  So it was only to be expected that his birthday celebration would be too.  

He's looking at the candle while people sang to him.

 And he loved his treats too!

Happy Birthday Cedar!! 

I love that I live in a place that a dog's birthday party is an event. 

Exactly how it should be...