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Archive for November, 2012

Baked S’mores

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , on November 24, 2012| 13 Comments »

I really like s’mores, but we are not really into campfires too much so I was delighted to find this baked version. The recipe originates from Baked Perfection, but I, of course, found it on Pinterest and saved it for later.  Later finally came and these bars are so ooey, gooey good!  Hurry to the store and pick up the ingredients because these are awesome.

BakedSmoresPinterest

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)(I didn’t check my bar size so I ended up with HUGE chocolate bars, but don’t worry because the extra didn’t go to waste.)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow crème/fluff (not melted marshmallows

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 8×8 inch baking pan. 

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

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Whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.

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Then layer the chocolate over the cookie dough…

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THEN layer the marshmallow crème over the chocolate and top that off with the remaining cookie dough.  You will probably have to carefully work the dough over the crème to have complete coverage.

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Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Let cool completely and then try to keep from eating the whole pan by yourself.  It will be hard to do, I promise.  As you can tell by the photo below, I didn’t let mine cool quite enough before cutting into it. Oh, well…

BakedSmoresPinterest

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Book Beginnings

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , on November 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

Please join me and other bloggers over at Rose City Reader for today’s edition of Book Beginnings.  Today’s book is “The Flight of Gemma Hardy” by Margot Livesey and I just happened upon this while browsing in my local library one day. The title and book cover caught my attention so I decided to give it a chance.  I find that I pick a lot of books that way.  For some reason, if it has a good attention-getting title and book cover, I automatically think it might be good and it usually is.

Here are the first lines:

“We did not go for a walk on the first day of the year.  The Christmas snow had melted, and rain had been falling since dawn, darkening the shrubbery and muddying the grass, but that would not have stopped my aunt from dispatching us.”

This paints a bleak picture, doesn’t it?  Well, the main character’s life so far has had quite a bit of loss and bleakness to it.  Hopefully, it can only get better!

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Slow Cooker Meatball Sandwiches

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on November 17, 2012| 2 Comments »

Guess where I found this recipe?  I know what you’re thinking…Pinterest, right?  Wrong!  This one was in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and it is also published on their website here.  I did “pin” it to save it and that was a good thing because these sandwiches are so good.  This recipe makes enough for several servings and the flavor is awesome! 

sandwich

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 small)

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 hoagie buns, split and toasted

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)

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In a large bowl, stir together egg, bread crumbs, 1/3 cup onion, the salt, Italian seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add ground beef; mix well. Shape meat mixture into 32 balls. Arrange meatballs in a single layer in an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Drain off fat.

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Stir together tomato sauce, the remaining 1/3 cup onion, the sweet pepper, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, garlic salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Pour the sauce into your slow cooker.  Add cooked meatballs, stirring gently to coat with sauce.

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Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or on high for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

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Place four meatballs on the bottom of each bun. Top with some of the sauce and some of the cheese. Add bun tops. Makes 8 servings.  I wrapped my sandwiches in foil and put them in a warm oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

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Honey BBQ Meatloaf

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on November 10, 2012| 5 Comments »

I have a basic meatloaf recipe that a co-worker gave me and it has been my favorite for quite a while.  In fact, it is the only meatloaf recipe I used until I spotted this little number at Mommy’s Kitchen.   Honey barbecue is my favorite kind of barbecue flavor and since my father-in-law and his cousin actually have bee hives and I have honey that produced by bees buzzing around in my backyard and the fields next door, I just have to try it. 

Wow, it turned out so good.  You get a little sweetness from the honey, but still have the kick of the barbecue sauce and mustard.  Yummy!  If you live in the South Central Kentucky area and would like some local honey, just e-mail me and I will hook you up.

honey meatloaf

 

For the meatloaf:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp. yellow mustard

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. seasoning salt

pepper to taste

For the glaze:

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp. Worcestshire sauce

1 tbsp. honey

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the ground beef, cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, mustard, 1 tbsp. honey, seasoning salt and pepper.  Mix well and shape into a loaf.  Bake for 45 minutes then prepare the glaze.

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Mix together all of the glaze ingredients.  When the 45 minutes have passed, spread the glaze onto the meatloaf and bake for another 10 minutes.

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Book Beginnings

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , on November 9, 2012| 6 Comments »

Please join me over at Rose City Reader for today’s edition of Book Beginnings.  The book that my first line comes from is “The House I Loved” by Tatiana De Rosnay:

"My beloved,

I can hear them coming up our street.  It is a strange, ominous rumble."

Our local library had just gotten this book and it is the first of this author’s that I have read.  The cover is beautiful and really caught my eye.  The story is unlike anything I have read before since it is told in first person perspective with the main character writing letters to her deceased husband before their Paris neighborhood is destroyed to make way for a more modern city.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I was stunned at the way the author chose to end the story.  It wasn’t bad, but it definitely could have been more upbeat. 

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Pizza Puffs

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on November 3, 2012| 6 Comments »

Since discovering Plain Chicken on Pinterest a few months ago, I have been finding more and more of their recipes that I would like to try.  This is one of them…I made these for supper one night with pizza sauce for dipping and a fresh salad on the side.  Mm, mmmm, yummy!

There was enough left over for lunch the next day and they were even great reheated.  Plain Chicken makes hers in a mini muffin pan and I used a regular one.  If you use a regular one also, add about 3-4 minutes of extra baking time.

pizza puffs

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 pound Italian sausage

1/2 cup diced green peppers

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

pizza sauce

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Cook the sausage, green pepper, and onion in a skillet over medium heat until the sausage is completely cooked.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate and cool completely.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and garlic powder.

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Whisk in the milk and egg.  Stir in the cheese and sausage mixture.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

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Stir the batter and divide it among the muffin cups.  I was able to get 10 regular sized puffs.  Bake until puffed and golden about 20-25 minutes.  Warm the pizza sauce in the microwave for dipping.

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Thoughtful Thursday: Travel Edition

Posted in Family, Fun, My Thoughts, Photography, Travel, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2012|

My grandmother, “Nanny”, and my Aunt M are usually not big travellers, but when Nanny saw a commercial for Huber’s Orchard and Winery in Starlight, Indiana, she was hooked and really wanted to visit.  I had a Thursday off from work in early October so we went to see it.  When I went online to find directions, I discovered that there is actually two different businesses, Huber’s Orchard and Winery along with Joe Huber’s Family Farm and Restaurant.  They are just a mile apart so it makes it easy to visit both in the same day.

We took I-65 up to Louisville and then took I-64 over to New Albany, Indiana and followed the directions from there.  The drive was very pretty and we were all surprised at the long and winding road you take to get there.  Thankfully, there are plenty of signs along the way so you know you are still on the right path.  We arrived at the Huber’s Orchard and Winery first and the views there are gorgeous.

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Huber’s raises all sorts of crops to try to have year ‘round interest so we passed Christmas trees…

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and vineyards…

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before getting to the actual location, which was spectacular!  Here are several photos of the different ponds, animals and decorations along their drive to the store.

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When we parked and walked up to the store, there is a talking tree that lets you know about the day’s specials and what is available.

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There were pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn galore.  I could have spent a fortune, but I just had to pick a few and make myself walk away.  I loved the way they used the old vehicles to display the pumpkins.

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While we were walking around admiring the outdoor scenery, there was this delicious smell wafting through the air.  After entering their store, we knew why…there is a full bakery loaded with cookies and candy and breads and dumplings.  Oh, my, I wish I could bottle that smell.  It was heavenly!  We all purchased a few things here.  I bought a few cookies and gala apples while Nanny chose a couple of sweet bread loaves and fudge.

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Next, we drove up the road to Joe Huber’s Family Farm and Restaurant.  This was a really neat place, too, and kids would love it!  They have lots of activities like a corn maze and tractor rides along the farm.

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There is a store located here as well and I purchased some Cherry BBQ sauce that was really good.  I had been told that the food at the restaurant is delicious, but we didn’t take the time to eat here.  Their fall decorations were beautiful and they had a few small gardens to tour as well.

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Sorry, I know this a long post, but there was so much to see at these two locations!  Finally, here is a self-portrait of the three of us at Huber’s Orchard and Winery and, FINALLY, my little display using the pumpkins I bought there.  If you have a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

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