RECIPE:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 green onions, thinly sliced
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Wet ingredients:
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup milk

1)  Preheat oven to 350’.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2)  In a medium mixing bowl, mix cornmeal through shredded cheese, make a well in center.

3)  Add all wet ingredients into dry all at once, mix until just combined.  Drop by about ¼ cup spoonfuls onto parchment paper.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Allow to cool on wire rack and serve

Good Monday morning to you all.  Ryan, my four year old is over the moon about waking up to see snow on the ground!  I have to say, I love it too.  I really love the change of seasons and when there is snow, it’s holiday time.  It’s time to cozy up in our kitchens and fill our homes with aromas like cinnamon and the smell of absolutely any cookie…..good times.  Anytime it is raining or snowing I feel the need to nest inside, it’s really quite wonderful.  Ok, time to snap out of it and tell you about how I should follow my own advice. 

On Saturday, I shopped, cooked, styled & photographed (Scot did the pic’s) all the recipes that will be posted this week…..what was I thinking?  The whole idea is to plan and cook ahead, the whole process took me about 7 hours…..geeze!   Anyway, I did not have to cook the Bruswick Chicken Stew, that is a delictable recipe from my sweet friend, Deb Grigg.  She was kind enough to share her recipe as well as make a serving for Scot and I to photograph.  Note to self, anyone who makes anything delicious for us to photograph must be required to supply us with many, many servings.  For creative purposes, of course.  You MUST try this recipe, she uses smoked paprika, key ingredient, your house will smell like heaven!

Expect SEVERAL recipes very shortly.  They are wonderful recipes to delight your friends and family without overdoing it in the kitchen while you are entertaining.

Happy Snow Day!!!

Angie

I grew up in a very small town in Michigan.  We didn’t live on a farm, as much as my husband likes to tease me about it, but we had a substantial garden and several amazing fruit trees.  The fruits of our labor included:  green beans, yellow (wax) beans, huge beautiful tomatoes, sweet corn, radishes, a couple varieties of lettuce, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelon, green apples, several different squashes, red apples, cherries, & a walnut tree, which served as home plate, didn’t ever bare any fruit, I wonder why?  To this day we are very displeased with our Mom for picking that spot for a tree!  One other downside was that we had to “weed” the garden…..for 25 cents per row…..imagine how long that took to earn enough money to buy Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans, geeze!

My Dad was a carpenter, he actually built our house (with a pretty awsome kitchen!) and my Mom, pictured above, stayed at home with us until my youngest sister Cherie was in first grade.  I also have three brothers, Rich, Steve, & Rod.  We had the most amazing childhood, we simply played.  No summer camp or play dates…simple, unorganized FUN!  We played baseball, kickball, 500, you name it.  We were outside from dawn till dusk, it was fabulous!  My Mom would ring a large cast iron bell, it could be heard from anywhere in our neighborhood, much to our chagrin, it was our signal to return to base camp.

My Mom was a “canning” machine.  Do you know what canning is?  I am not so sure that many people do it anymore, it is somewhat of a lost art.  She would purchase large amounts of fruit and vegetables, and then process them into beautiful, shiny jars filled with delictable foods that could be enjoyed throughout the winter.   We weren’t fond of canning, not because we didn’t enjoy the food, but we had to “assist” in the process.  I remember once we had to snap two bushels of green beans before we could go on vacation…..to say it was a daunting task would be an understatement!  Can you even imagine the complaining?!   Eventually we finished and we went on vacation, to this day that is discussed at huge family gatherings and laughed about!  Like most people, I have many, many memories surrounding food.

I remember the very first thing I made, on my own.  Into a cast iron skillet went about 1/2 cup of oil, sliced potatoes,  and onions.   Yes, I did burn myself.  Lesson number one, dang, hot oil smarts when it spatters on your skin!  Even though I suffered a pencil eraser sized 3rd degree burn, I was not discouraged.  I was so proud of my fried potatoes & onions!  With no food network or internet, I began to read cookbooks, a true love was born.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little snippet, I just realized that I have so much more to write about, more about me another time……wow, about me….what a foreign concept.

Thanks for reading.

Angie

Hi Everyone!

If you’re thinking about entertaining for the holidays, it’s time to pick a date and invite your guests.  I don’t know about you, but the last place I want to be is in the kitchen sweating over pots and pans while my guests are enjoying appetizers, cocktails, and titilating conversation!   I don’t mind warming up a dish or two, but come on!  I love to serve appetizers, maybe alternate between cold & hot offerings.  When guests start to arrive, put out a cold appetizer, serve cocktails, (don’t forget yourself!), you can then throw the next appetizer into the oven, don’t forget the timer.  If anyone asks to help, for God sakes, accept!  You don’t have to prove to anyone that you’re Wonder Woman, even though you are!

Everything I serve is made ahead, and I love to serve buffet style.   I’ll do something delicious that can be held in a crock pot, that way if guests arrive at different times, you’ll have something nice and hot to offer.  Keep in mind that you may have to borrow a crock pot or two from friends, depending on how many you’ll need for warming. 

Serving dishes, platters, & glassware.   I like to put a post it note on each platter with the name of the dish I’ll be serving on it, that way you won’t be searching for platters after your guests have arrived.  Think about serving desserts in glassware that you hardly ever use.   For example, I have some beautiful martini glasses.  I enjoy a martini when I go out for dinner on occasion, however, I do not feel it necessary to be serving up martinis to myself on a Tuesday evening……you get my drift.  Anyway, why not use that pretty glassware to serve an amazing dessert!  It’s made ahead & easy to serve.

Now, with all that information in mind, let’s plan a party!  Keep an eye out for next weeks “make ahead” recipes & serving ideas, I can’t wait! 

Angie

I will be posting one of my favorite soup recipes next week (you can use the stock from your turkey)   as well as yet another, knee buckling chocolate dessert….this is serious, will surely become one of your favorites!  Stay tuned….