pumped up poppers

If you're ever at a loss for a party snack, you should definitely make our jalapeno poppers. (Actually, we got the recipe from my sister Sara.) They're delicious, and because they're made with turkey bacon and fat-free cream cheese, they're pretty good for you.

We, of course, have a hard time leaving well enough alone, so Kaytie went looking for a new recipe, which I tweaked when I couldn't find chorizo at the grocery store.

Anyway, this recipe is great. It was a hit at our neighborhood Halloween party, and I'm sure it would be a hit at yours. If you have a little extra time, you should try out these beefed-up (well, sausaged-up) poppers.

Pumped Up Poppers

24 jalapeno peppers
1 lb ground pork sausage
8 oz smoked gouda, grated
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 block cream cheese at room temp
1 egg
3 Tbs sour cream
salt and pepper
1 pkg turkey bacon, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut the tops off the jalapenos and split them lengthwise. Scrape the seeds and ribs out. This ensures that your poppers will be delicious without being too hot.

Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the fat, and put the sausage in a large mixing bowl.

Add the cheese, onion, egg, sour cream, and cream cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Fill the pepper halves with the cheese mixture. Wrap half a slice of bacon around each pepper and secure with a toothpick.

Put the poppers on a rack (like a rack used for cooling cookies) placed on a cookie sheet. (Line the cookie sheet with foil for easy clean-up.)

Bake for about 15 minutes, and then broil for 3-5 minutes to make the bacon crispy. Keep an eye on them while broiling, though, so you don't burn them.

**You're going to have extra filling. You can just buy more jalapenos, or you can experiment with other things, like mushrooms, tomatoes, or bell peppers. These other things could probably be baked for about 15 minutes at 375.

boo!

We come from crafty stock, which means that we carve pumpkins at Halloween. And when one carves a pumpkin, one is left with a whole mess of pumpkin flesh, goop, and seeds.

Kaytie used the flesh to make some Thai-influenced pumpkin soup. I'm not sure if she'll post about it, as it was a tad on the bland side. (I thought it could do with some bacon...)

And as far as I can tell, the goop is useless and only exists to make eating the pumpkin seeds more difficult.

But the seeds are tasty.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

pumpkin seeds
salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.

Separate the seeds from the goop. (I couldn’t find an easy way to do this. I tried rinsing them in a colander and floating them in a bowl of water, but it pretty much boiled down to me squeezing them out of the goop and then rinsing them off.)

Boil the seeds. Use about 2 cups of water for every ½ cup of seeds. Add up to 1 Tbs salt for each cup of water used, depending on how salty you like your seeds. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds.

Spread olive oil on a cookie sheet. Spread the seeds out on the sheet in a single layer.

Bake on the top oven rack for 10-20 minutes until the seeds are browned to your satisfaction. Let the pan cool on a rack.

**These are good, but I think I may spice them up a little bit next time. I think I could sprinkle some Greek seasoning or some other seasoned salt on the seeds before baking them.

milk, please

When I was teaching, I tried to elicit good behavior through a system of awards. Kids could earn tickets, stickers, or points (depending on which year I was teaching) that they could then trade in for privileges or prizes. Basically, I bribed them.

By far, the most coveted prize was a batch of chocolate chip cookies. (I handed them out at the end of my class - let the next teacher deal with the sugar high!) I stumbled onto the recipe on the back of a Butter Flavor Crisco can and made just a couple tweaks. It's the best chocolate chip cookie I've had. Seriously.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

(makes about 4-5 dozen)

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine brown sugar, Crisco, milk, and vanilla, and mix well. Add the egg, and mix well again.

Add flour, salt, and baking soda, and (guess what?!) mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips. (In the above picture, I used both semi-sweet and white chocolate chips, but normally, I use only semi-sweet chips.)

Use a spoon to scoop out portions of the cookie dough that are roughly 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and drop them on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 minutes. (This is the perfect time for my oven to produce soft cookies - you may need to adjust the time by a minute or two.)

Remove cookies from the pan immediately, and cool on a cooling rack.

**If you don't want to make the entire batch, the cookie dough can be kept in the freezer. You can scoop right onto the cookie sheet and put the cold dough right into the oven.

brunch

Everyone loves brunch. (That's why I submitted a recipe for Cornbread Cakes Benedict to the Mississippi Magazine contest.)

Though I admit the above picture is not the prettiest, this recipe is a nice alternative to standard brunch egg dishes. We usually eat it as a scramble. Tott had a good idea, though. She made it finger food friendly by making the scramble and then putting it in Fillo cups and melting the cheese on top.

Sausage, Onion, & Apple Scramble

1 package of andouille sausage, sliced
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 or 2 green apples, diced
shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Saute sausage until it begins to brown. Add onions and apples. Sprinkle with spices. Saute until the onions and apples are soft. Drain fat. Serve topped with shredded cheese.

untimely but tasty

This recipe should have been posted in June. That way, you could enjoy your gin fizz all summer long.

As it is, Kaytie wanted a glass of wine last night. We had none. She would settle for bourbon. Again, we had none. A gin drink, perhaps? Is there tonic in the fridge? Alas, no. Luckily, she's married to a bartender (me). I whipped up a gin fizz.

These drinks should be light and easy to drink, so you can guzzle them by the pool. (I like gin, so I tend to make them on the strong side.)

Gin Fizz

1 - 1.5 oz gin
3 - 4 oz club soda
1/2 tsp Splenda
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Mix over ice.

tired of potato salad

I know summer officially ended a couple days ago, but I think we have a couple more weeks of barbecue weather. Traditionally, we have sides like potato salad and cole slaw with burgers and other grilled meats, but sometimes a new dish is pleasant.

We got this recipe from Kaytie's grandmother, and we've enjoyed it for several years now.

Radish Salad

1 bag or bunch of radishes
lots of salt
3 green onions
about 1/4 cup vinaigrette

Cut the green tops off of the radishes and rinse the radishes well. Scrub the dirt off.

Slice the radishes so thin that they are transparent. (Though I have done this with a knife, a mandoline makes this job much easier and faster.)

Place the sliced radishes in a bowl in very thin layers, salting generously between each layer. The salt gets the heat out of the radishes. (I'm not sure what that means, but that's what Kaytie's grandmother says, and I know that the radishes are much more palatable once they've been salted.) Cover the bowl and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours.

Dump the radish slices in a colander and rinse well. The salt has done its job and must be washed away.

Slice the green onions and put them in a bowl with the radishes and enough vinaigrette to cover. We use a balsamic vinaigrette from the grocery store, but you can certainly make your own.

Mix and serve.

NOTE: Once the dressing is added, the radishes will begin to turn pink. I'd wait to dress the radishes until right before you serve it. Alternatively, you can let the dressed salad sit overnight and serve a bright pink salad the next day.

P. S. I know there are too many pictures in this post. I don't care.

i'm a believer

I've never been impressed by asparagus. (Except in Veggie Tales...) I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, when I tasted some asparagus at a potluck thrown by Kaytie's coworkers. It was lemony and crisp. I loved it.

I wanted to give it a try as a side next to some roasted pork tenderloin. It was great - had a nice acidity that set off the pork's sweet balsamic reduction.

Blanched Asparagus with Toasted Almonds

1 bunch of asparagus

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 Tbs butter

slivered almonds

Toast the almonds. I spread them on a small baking sheet and heated them in the toaster oven. Kaytie prefers to toast nuts in a skillet on the stove. Either way, KEEP AN EYE ON THEM. As soon as they start to brown, remove from heat.

Slice the tough bottom ends off the asparagus stalks.

Fill a large skillet with salted water. Bring to a boil.

Drop in all of the asparagus. Simmer until just fork tender (about 3 minutes).

Drain. Return the asparagus to the hot skillet and toss with the butter and lemon juice.

Top with toasted almonds and serve ASAP.