Ravioli Fun

Jim and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary on Saturday. We (Jim, Joshua and I) went to Sarasota for the day to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. When we got married, one of the things we did in San Fran for our honeymoon was visit the Botanical Gardens there, and we have since visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and it would be safe to assume that if we ever get to travel again, we will probably choose destinations with Botanical Gardens as well. We both absolutely love it! (and I will post a video of the pictures later).

On Sunday, after church, we continued with our Anniversary celebration (as well as my Mother's Day celebration) with a cooking date! Several years ago we purchase a couple of ravioli making forms (pictured below). We had actually purchased them for a cooking project not related to ravioli (and BTW- it didn't work). But I came across the forms when I was SPRING CLEANING (yuck) and said a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to try to make home made raviolis



We had such a great time, Joshua even got a little dough to play/eat/throw on the floor. Jim did the majority of the work (that dough is hard to roll out) and plus he is the real Italian (and I am just the wanna-be). After working with that dough for so long, Jim decided to take a short cut with the left over dough and make one big ravioli calzone (you will see it pictured in the video below) It turned out to be a YUMMY short cut too! All in all, it was the most delicious dinner I have had (but then again, I say that about every meal now a days) :)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Recipe Blog Follow-Up

Back when we were posting recipes, I had very good intentions of preparing all the recipes and getting pictures of each dish...unfortunately time has flown by and it wasn't until last night that I was able to prepare one of the recipes. I made Liz's recipe of Santa Fe Quesadilla's, and boy was it

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!!

Here Jim is enjoying his first bite (I of course made him the guinea pig for the first bite) :)

If you have not already tried this recipe, I would highly recommend it. It was simple, and I think Liz said it is a weight wathcer's recipe too! I will say the recipe calls for a cup of cooked chicken and I used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts and diced it up and cooked it with a southwest seasoning and it was just excellent!

Recipe~ Day 5

I have enjoyed so much collecting all the wonderful recipes that everyone has been posting! Michelle, thank you so much for the suggestion and thank you to everyone for participating! I will try to post all of you when I make any of your recipes!

As many of you know, my wonderful hubby, Jim, is an authentic NY Italian. The few times that we have been to NY, I have come to the realization that the food here (in FL) doesn't even compare... Food really is better in NY! Anyways, one of Jim's childhood memories is of eating his favorite Rainbow Cookies. They are a tri-colored cookie with rasberry jam between each color layer. And they really are the best thing I have ever had!

Jim's mom and I made these cookies for Christmas two years ago, and we'll be making them again soon to send to my sister-in-law over in Germany. It is a time consuming recipe, but well worth the effort!

Rainbow Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients: (*see tip at bottom)
1 (8oz) can almond paste
1/2 c (3 sticks) butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp almond extract
2 c sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
10 drops green food coloring
8 drops red food coloring
1 (12 oz) jar jam(apricot or red raspberry)
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Preparation:
Grease 3 (13”x 9”x 2”) baking pans (cooking spray can be used); Line with wax paper; grease again (cooking spray can be used again).
In a large mixing bowl, break up almond paste with a fork. Add butter, sugar, egg yolks and almond extract. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).
Gradually beat in flour and salt.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. With a wooden spoon, stir into almond mixture using a turning motion similar to folding.
Spread 1 1/2 cups of batter evenly into a prepared pan. Remove another 1 1/2 cups of batter and add green food coloring; spread evenly into second prepared pan. Add red food coloring to remaining 1 1/2 cups batter and spread evenly into the third prepared pan.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°) for 15 minutes or just until edges are golden brown. Cakes will be 1/4” thick.
Remove cakes from pans immediately onto large wire racks. Cool thoroughly.
Place green layer on jellyroll pan. Heat preserves, strain. Spread 1/2 of the warmed preserves over the green layer to edges; slide yellow layer on top. Spread with remaining preserves. Slide pink layer, right side up, onto yellow layer.
Cover with plastic wrap; weight down with a large wooden cutting board or heavy plate. Place in refrigerator overnight.
Day Two: Melt chocolate over hot water in a double boiler (or in the microwave). Spread to edges of cake, before the chocolate hardens, trim the edges of the cake and slice into 1 inch square pieces. Allow to dry at least 30 minutes.

(Tip: We usually make 3 batches of the recipe since we give away so many, and when you do that you can make the first batch all plain, the second batch all green, and the last batch all red)

Recipe~ Day 3

As some of you might know from reading Danielle's previous blogs, a few of us girls belong to the Tuesday Lunch Club (TLC). My mom and I love entertaining, and came up with this idea that once a month, a different person in the club would host a luncheon at their house. The twist to it though, is that each person is assigned to a recipe (chosen by the hostess) and gets to prepare that portion of the luncheon (it usually ends up two or three people per recipe). All that to say, this appetizer recipe comes from the very first TLC luncheon which was hosted by my mom. I have made it for couple of wedding showers and our New Year's Eve get together. and have adopted it as my favorite appetizer recipe:

Ham ‘N Cheese Biscuit Stacks


2 tubes (12 oz each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
(I used the golden flakey biscuits last time and it really helped in the splitting in
half process later on, I didn't even have to use a knife)
3/4 c. stone ground mustard divided
1/2 c. butter softened
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. honey
10 thick slices deli ham
10 slices Swiss cheese
2 ½ c. shredded romaine

Cut each biscuit in half, forming half circles. Place biscuit halves two inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet. Spread each with ½ tsp mustard. (I don't measure this part, I merely spread the mustard with a knife)

Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the butter and onions. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, honey, and remaining mustard. Cut each slice of cheese into four triangles;
Cut each slice of ham into four rectangles.

Split each biscuit in half; spread bottom halves with butter mixture. Layer one ham piece, one cheese piece and 1 Tbsp romaine on each biscuit bottom. Spread mustard mixture over biscuit tops; place over romaine. (I secure with a toothpick in each just so they don't toppel over)

Serve on a platter with remaining romaine lettuce lining the platter.

Recipe ~ Day 1

The "experts" say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am not one that eats a big breakfast every morning, but there are special occaisions where breakfast jump starts the day. I remember as a young girl that my mom would make "homemade donuts" for us on the first day of school, and sometimes on Christmas morning... I don't know if it is the nice memory that makes it my favorite, or if it's the melt-in-your-mouth flavor but one thing is for sure, this is not the breakfast the experts were talking about... this is a special occaison, no cares about calories breakfast!

Homemade Donuts (it's simple, but soooooo good!)

1 or 2 cans of buttermilk biscuits (depending on the number of people)
deep fryer or electric frying pan
vegetabl or canola oil for frying
small brown paper bag
1-2 cups sugar


Using a small cap (I use the cap off my vanilla extract) gently cut a hole in the middle of each biscuit (just like using a cookie cutter). Reserve the cut holes for donut holes. Heat oil to 325°F. Carefully drop in several donuts at a time. Cook until golden brown on each side (donuts will have to be flipped during the cooking process for even cooking). Once first batch of donuts are cooked, remove from hot oil and place immediately in brown paper bag filled with *2 cups of sugar. Shake bag to coat donuts, remove and place on platter. Continue with remaining donuts and eventually with the donut holes as well. Serve warm with a steaming cup of hot cocoa or coffee and enjoy~



*You can use confectioners sugar as well, but it tends not to coat as well as regular sugar!

5 Days of Recipes

As most of you know, I love to cook (almost as much as I love to eat)- so it was very difficult to choose what recipes I would be posting this week. After much contemplating I decided on the following:

Monday- Favorite breakfast recipe
Tuesday- Favorite lunch recipe
Wednesday-Favorite appetizer recipe
Thursday- Favorite dinner recipe
Friday-Favorite dessert recipe

I am really looking forward to reading everyone's recipes and hope you enjoy mine as well!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ok, I know this blog may seem cheesey (PUN INTENDED)... but I had lunch plans with my siblings and grandmother today and I volunteered to bring my grandmothers favorite... Broccoli Cheese Soup. I looked on line last week for a recipe. As most of you know, I love to cook, and am always willing to take on the challenge of a new recipe. However, after reading several recipes that called for a blender, and having just given my blender to good will this past month... I was on a quest for a little "easier" recipe. I thought I would look for a crockpot recipe. Well, I found one. It sounded too easy, and too good to be true... so I tossed the idea back and forth all week and decided, I was just going to do it. It seemed inexpensive enough that if I did have to throw it out that it wouldn't be too much of a waste...
So, I did it! I made the easy cheesey soup... It was the BEST broccoli cheese soup I have ever had... (not bragging on me, because it literally took ZERO effort). So here's the recipe... You just have to try it!

1 (8oz) jar of Cheez Whiz
1 (10oz) can Cream of Celery Soup
16 oz pkg frozen broccoli cutlets
16 oz half and half

Combine the cheez whiz, celery soup and half and half with a whisk in your crockpot add the broccoli and cook on low for 2 to 2.5 hours....

I didn't realize at the time, but one of my sisters and my brother are not big fans of broccoli cheese soup. My brother had two bowls and said it was better than Panera's (a chain soup/salad/bread restaurant) and my sister said, "I will try a bite", and ended up having a whole bowl! It makes about 6 servings, so if you double the recipe, it would be great to take for church potluck (Be on the lookout at Little Union)!

Do you have a favorite recipe or an easy recipe that people just rave over?