September's YBR Submission

It's that time again- I am submitting my Sausage and Peppers recipe for September's YBR event. Nancy at Spicie Foodie holds the "Your Best Recipe" list monthly and anyone with a food blog can submit their best recipe for the month.  This list is not a contest, but a great way to share favorite recipes from across the globe.  All you have to do to submit your favorite recipe from your food blog is to follow a few small rules that you will find by clicking on the YBR button above.  Happy Fall everyone!



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Vacation Time!

Weather Report at Home:

Weather Report on Vacation:

Any Questions?

I will be back posting again soon.  Until then, it's beach weather my friends! Adieu!

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Snausages!

This recipe for Sausage and Peppers came from my Mother-in-Law.  For years, only my husband could replicate the delicious meal in our home, but I have now mastered the art of this amazing dish.  Here is the recipe:

Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:

·      6 Premio brand sweet sausages

·         6 Premio brand hot sausages

·         

·      2 Tbsp and 2 tsp olive oil

·         2 jars Victoria Fra Diavlo sauce

·     

·       1 box Ronzoni thin spaghetti

·         1 large yellow onion- chopped (1 inch pieces)

·         2 large green peppers- chopped (1 inch pieces)

·         Grated Parmesan cheese to garnish (Most times I don’t use it, dish doesn’t need it)

Tools:

·         Large sauté pan with cover

·         Stock pot and strainer for pasta

·         Large Tongs

·         Paring knife

·         Cutting board

·         Large baking dish (9 x13 Pyrex dish or I love my Dansk 13.25” Paella Pan)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425° F

2.  Cook pasta for 1 minute less than the minimum time on the box’s cooking directions.  

3.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large sauté pan to medium high (electric stove is between 7 and 8).

4.  Right before smoking temp is reached, place sausages in the pan. Brown the sausages on three sides for about 2 minutes or so per side or until slightly darker than golden brown.  They brown fast so keep an eye on them.

5.  When browning the fourth side, add the slices of onion and green pepper, so they are on top of the sausages, and turn the heat down to medium, (electric stove between 5 and 6).

6.  Cover and let the onions and peppers soften, approximately 10 minutes.  (I usually go by the color of the green pepper.  When it turns a soft green, it’s done.)

7.  Pour 1 full jar of the Victoria’s Fra Diavlo sauce into the baking dish.

8.  When pasta is fully cooked, strain and add the pasta to baking dish and mix with the uncooked sauce in the pan.

9.  Once the sausages, peppers and onions are done, place the sausages on top of the pasta, nestling the sausages just slightly into the pasta as you place them.

10.  Top with peppers and onions, making sure to keep as much of the fat in the pan out of the baking dish.

11.  Top with remaining jar of Fra Diavlo sauce.

12.  Bake in middle of oven at 425 ° F for 35 minutes.  (The temp seems high, but it is vital to make the most flavorful dish, where the flavors are blended all the way through, and some pasta crisps along the edge which is a treat if you are lucky enough to get some on your plate.  I have tested many different temps and 425 degrees Fahrenheit is the best choice by far.)

This is the finished product:

You can add some grated Parmesan cheese to the plated meal if you prefer, but it really doesn't need it.  This dish is so easy I make it during weeknights with no problems whatsoever.  It also makes a ton, so you can eat it for lunches or for dinner again the next night.  Mangia!
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Caketastic

Here is a cupcake cake I made for a colleague's son's first birthday party:

The Elmo cupcake is for the birthday boy who is turning 1.  The other cake is a jungle themed cake and I had to make four of them.  The animals are made purely of fondant and the palm trees are piped royal icing on top of pretzel rods.

The four cakes took me three entire nights after work, but after it was all said and done, I think it was worth the work. 

For those of you in need of a laugh, check out Cakewrecks, a funny blog that makes pithy comments about professional cake disasters that blog readers submit pictures of.  They also sometimes show awesome cakes that are so impressive it's hard to pass up the opportunity to share the pictures.
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Hurricane Irene

Here in Northern New Jersey we were inundated with flood waters from the great Hurricane Irene.  I was able to escape to Florida luckily, so I am safe and sound in my comfy hotel on the beach.  I wish I took pictures from the plane of Irene from above.  She was a massive Hurricane stretching over 450 miles wide.  Seeing a hurricane from above was amazing, and to be lucky enough to see such a massive storm from above for such a weather geek as I was a special treat.

Unfortunately, back at the ranch, here is some of the flooding we will be dealing with for the next few days:



I will be posting food blogs as soon as I get back to NJ.  I would love to make Spicie Foodie's refrigerator pickles, they look amazingly good!  'Til next time!
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August YBR Roundup- Updated below

I have submitted my first YBR Recipe!  I have chosen the Chicken Poppers dish to represent my blog for the month of August.  Anyone can join as long as you have a blog and are willing to follow the few small requests from Spice Foodie.  This is a nice way for the food loving community to share their favorite recipes from all over the world with each other.  Click the image below and see what all the fuss is about!

Update: August's YBR has been cancelled due to the tragic loss of Panchito, the third furry, four-legged member of Nancy's (Spicy Foodie) family. My thoughts go out to Nancy and family at this trying time. I love the poem she posted at the end of her tribute to sweet Panchito. For those of you suffering from the loss of a loved one, please read and feel the presence of your loved one surrounding you wherever you are.

A POEM FOR THE GRIEVING…
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die…
-Mary Frye- http://www.pet-loss.net/
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Pop goes the chicken, and the chicken goes...

Well I'm starting to eat normally again, so I attempted a home cooked meal for once.  Last night's dinner was the coined "Chicken Poppers" which is a stuffed chicken breast wrapped with bacon, but with a kick of heat.

Ingredients:

4- 8oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded
1- 8oz container of whipped cream cheese of your choice (I use Breakstone's Temp Tee)
1- Jar diced jalapenos (if you can't find diced, just buy the slices and dice yourself)
12 slices low sodium bacon- NOT thick cut!  The bacon doesn't crisp if it is cut too thick
4 Tablespoons chipotle seasoning of your choice (I use Konriko brand- bottle shown below)


Directions:

1.  Butterfly each breast and pound (but try not to tear the chicken).  I have learned that when you pound any kind of meat, you need to guard against splashing the juices around as you hit the meat.  (Please ignore all double entendres tyvm)  A perfect way to protect yourself from splashing Salmonella into your mouth is to first lay one sheet of wax paper and tape it down to the counter.  Then put your protein on top, then a layer of saran wrap goes on top.  Now you are ready to pound your meat!  (That one was intentional.)


2.  Put even amounts cream cheese in the middle of each fillet.  Try to keep the cheese towards the middle, leaving all four sides bare (makes rolling and tucking easier).

3.  Add a heaping teaspoonful of diced jalapenos on top of the cream cheese, and spoon a little juice on top from the jar.

4.  Roll it up like you would a burrito, tucking in the sides as you roll.


5.  Wrap with 2 to 3 slices of bacon each, depending on the size of the fillets, and place in a pyrex baking dish, and sprinkle a teaspoon of chipotle seasoning on each wrap.







6.  Bake at 350 Degrees F for approximately 40 minutes or until bacon is crispy and the chicken juices run clear.



I usually plate one chicken wrap (with some of those juices spooned on top) with a some broccolini and some Knorr Herb Butter rice sides.

I had mentioned the lemon blueberry crumb bars in my last post, and I didn't want those waiting for the outcome to feel left in the dark.  I did make them this past weekend, and I substituted the sugar with baking splenda for health reasons.  I have to say it came out pretty good!  Not as tasty as I had hoped, but I bet if I had used brown sugar in the crumbs, it would have been a knock out.


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