Ciao for Now

Confession time...

I've been blogging somewhere else lately.  Why didn't I tell you, you ask?  Well, I wasn't keeping a secret, per se...I just didn't know what my new blog was going to become yet.  And now I {sort of} do!

click the picture to visit the new blog

Honestly, I was tired of the limits.  I wanted a place where I could write about whatever I wanted!  A lot of that time is still sharing food photos & recipes, but it's also random reviews on books or movies, trips I take and oh, so much more.

I'd love to have you join me over there!  You'll still see many more new recipes to try, hopefully for many years to come.  You can follow by "joining the site," which of course boosts my self-confidence haha, and you can also scroll a bit down to "follow by email."

The DK will still stay live and, who knows, I might be back on here one day.  For now, I'm liking the simplicity of one blog. :)

See you over there and have a good weekend!

Creamy Corn & Roasted Red Peppers

One of the new dishes I tried for Thanksgiving this year was surprisingly a success.  I actually was hesitant about making it, but either people were just being nice or it really hit the spot!  The hesitation mostly came because I was making something (actually everything I made this year was) new to me and that's daring when it comes to a big group of people!

If you need a quick [to prepare], easy side dish and have an accessible slow cooker, this is your dish.  Print the recipe here!

Pumpkin Butter

...or as Mike insists on incorrectly calling it...apple butter.  :)

on a bite of baguette

No, it's actually pumpkin butter and was surprisingly (to me) quite good.  I think the best part of all was the rich scent that filled my tiny little house.  There aren't too many better smells than sweet pumpkin!

on an english muffin for breakfast!

This can be used on an abundance of different items...

*Anything you would use jam on

*A dollop with pork chops

*Oatmeal

*Grilled turkey or ham

*Scrambled eggs

*Cornbread

*Toast

*Vanilla ice cream

*With yogurt & granola

*Roast turkey or chicken sandwich

*Biscuits

*Maybe mix with cheese and dip pretzels/crackers into?

I mean, how diverse is that?  I'm more of a toast kind of girl, but several of these sound pretty good, too.

this is the extent of my creativity or lack of materials...one of the two

The recipe calls for a small slow cooker but I only have a big one - didn't seem to affect it any!  Definitely enjoyed making this - thank you, Cooking With the Big Dogs!

Print the recipe here.

Whole Wheat Goldfish Crackers

A couple months ago, I had a stinking major computer crash and lost mucho.  Among the forever-lost data, I thought I had lost these pictures!!  Guess not.  :)  Now you can enjoy one of my favorite snack recipes I've ever tasted...

Back in March, my friend Courtney and I were chatting about one of our favorite food bloggers and, in particular, about one of her posts - whole wheat goldfish crackers.  We had identical initial reactions..."Who in the world has tiny fish cookie cutters?!"

A few weeks later I had to buy some ingredients online for a "hired cake pop job" and decided to get them from the same website as SK's goldfish cookie cutter!  I ordered my sprinkles and my fishie and couldn't wait to show Courtney what I had done. haha.

Well, us being us, our schedules clashed until the very end of the summer.  Alas, we were able to meet and make cute little fishies!  She bought another cutter of a slightly different shape so we had two breeds.

I won't tell you what's so funny about this picture, but I had to put it
on here to give Courtney a laugh...plus she's cute!

Seriously, you have to make these.  They really taste like goldfish crackers!

apparently my wedding ring was still safely tucked away in my
pocket from messy dough rolling...

Here is the recipe.  Better print it now just in case.

Zucchini Relish

Are you a canner?  Are you starting to dip into all those fresh summer veggies you canned a few months ago?

Well, me...I'm just dipping into other peoples' veggies.  :)

My mother-in-law makes great zucchini relish and we've gone through a couple jars already!  You can print the recipe here and let me know what you use it on.  Here are a couple of our favorites...

on crackers (low-sodium triscuits to be exact!) ...

and on brats!

Happy November!

I have to admit I am totally excited it's November.  Not a huge fan of Halloween...BUT we did dress up a little for an event we went to.  Chicha went as a bee (I'm holding her antennas) and Mike and I made a last minute decision - Charlie Brown and the Little Redheaded Girl.  Haha!  I know, super lame.  But I drew a couple curly hairs on his forehead and extra blushed my face and then we had to leave the house.

Fun!  So anyway, I mostly wanted to tell you that I'm on pinterest now.  It is...well, I don't know yet.  Cute, sometimes hilarious, slightly addictive, has given me a few good ideas for random things, and well, it's just fun to be part of a new community.  If any of you are on it, feel free to follow - I put a button on here down the left side...

Okay, I can't resist one more cute doggie picture...a friend showed up with her Shih Tzu, too, and he was dressed up in the same costume - unplanned!  Love it.

Happy November and the beginnings of Holiday cooking!

Non-Vegan Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Although I'm often attracted to healthier recipes, cookbooks and blogs, the word "vegan" always sounds like I'm-so-healthy-I-don't-taste-good food.  I know, that's probably wholly inaccurate and enraging some of you...and I'll be the first to admit I was wrong!

So, in search for some new and different pumpkin recipes, I came across one (okay, tons) that caught my eye. I ended up changing the recipe just slightly because I didn't have "vegan chocolate chips" and stuff like that, so maybe the flavor was altered a bit, but it was very pleasing to all my taste-testers... aka the husband's football buddies who came over for the Duck game.

Okay, totally off subject, but I sometimes wish football played every day.  Not because I understand a single part of it, but because it means PEOPLE to COOK for.  That is my favorite.

The time I spend in the kitchen is sporadic and entirely depends on a) our travel schedule for work and b) when we have people over.  It's not much fun cooking for just the two of us.  I do it occasionally of course, but it's way more fun to cook for groups, right??

I really enjoyed this recipe and would definitely double it in the future.  All that work for 12 muffins is sad!  But definitely a keeper.

Print it here.

Whole Wheat Bread

Don't let the "whole wheat" words fool you.  This tasted like no other store-bought, from-a-bag whole wheat bread that I'd ever tried.

I think the secret was the brown sugar.

If you thought consciously about it, you could detect the tiny bit of sweet the bread had to offer in each bite.  It was hardly noticeable and I think made all the difference.

I keep wanting to make this again but don't ever think about it in time.  When you print the recipe, notice that you need quite a bit of rising time, but it doesn't take too long to bake!

Enjoy!

Ginger Cookies

I often forget about these cookies, but my mom has made them my whole life.  They smell unbelievable and HAVE to be eaten right out of the oven.  Okay, they're still good later, too, but that's my favorite time to gobble them up.  Make sure you are hungry when you start baking them to save room!  :)

My mom's entire recipe card says something like "roll into balls, then sugar. bake at 375 for 9 min."  I mean, that's how simple these suckers are. 

You might not have molasses lying around, but you probably have all the rest of the ingredients.  Therefore, they're inexpensive, too!  You only need to buy molasses. :)

Find the recipe here.

Chocolate Oat Squares

You may not want to turn on your oven just yet in this final Summer heat, but read on.  You might just be convinced to get up 30 minutes early in the cool morning to be able to try these... :)

This is one of my favorite desserts.  It's easy to make...which I have done on several occasions when needing a dessert for a crowd.  Besides those with nut allergies of course, I've never run into a person who didn't love the soft, slightly-gooey combination of chocolate and oats.

Plus, it was the first time I was able to use my cool new gadget from my sister - a spoon holder!  I love it and use it often. :)

Click here for the recipe.

Grilled Stuffed Jalapeños

I could not really remember the first time I made these, but it all came back to me when they were special requested a few weeks ago! 

After even doubling the recipe, they were still gone before I could whip out my camera of the final grilled product...

But that's the best part - making something people like to eat. :)

 Here's the recipe.

Pie for Dinner

What do you do when you are a first-time gardener and it's too much of a success?

Make pie!

There are some steps to it, but it's really quite simple and surprisingly delicious - as TOH already dubbed it...

Start out by baking your pastry shell.  Let it cool.  Put an even first layer of tomatoes down.  I used cherry tomatoes because I have an abundance of them in my garden.  It calls for plum tomatoes, but personally I love the bite-sizes....

Evenly sprinkle the green onions next.

Next, layer the rest of the tomatoes on top.

Sprinkle with the basil, salt and pepper.  Spread the mayo/cheese mixture next.

Lastly, sprinkle the bacon and Parmesan.

Even though it says it serves 8, if you're serving it as an entree, it's closer to 4 or 5...  However, it'd be a great side to something and THEN, yes, it would serve closer to 8 people!

Print the recipe here.

Happy Summer Cooking!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ever since I received this amazing cookbook for our wedding [and then actually unpacked it and started using it], I wanted to make these granola bars.  I also heard from a friend that she'd made them and they were terrific!

As I almost always do, when I use a recipe for the first time, I try not to alter it at all - then I find out what I want to change for the next time.  [As perfectly exemplified in my very-cashewy Spicy Stir-Fried Cashew Chicken I made tonight, about which I may or may not blog - it was cashew-iculous!]  These granola bars were a bit sticky.  Okay, a LOT sticky.

I'll definitely make them again (because they were seriously so good), but I'll certainly need to change some quantities.  And when I DO and find some better solutions, I will blog about it.  In the meantime, please let me know if you have any ideas, as well!  This time I tried almond pieces, coconut and sunflower seeds.  Next time, I might try peanuts and raisins or something else!  There are truly endless possibilities.

Print the recipe here.

Or here.  :)

Some More Colombian Food Pics

If you guessed dragon fruit on my last post, or Pitaya, your were correct!  And because I didn't KNOW the answer before I wrote the question, I'm glad to have learned something!

Every South American country I have visited so far seems to have its own local soda.  Most remind me of Cream Soda, and this one was no different.  It's been years since I even tried Cream Soda but I don't remember liking it.  However, I did like this pop?  My taste buds might have changed OR it could have just been another hot sweaty day in Cali, Colombia.  Heh.

You can find drinkable yogurt in the States and it's ALL you could find in Peru, but the yogurt in Colombia was even more liquidy - it is like flavored colored milk.  They even sell these little plastic things you snuggle the bag of yogurt into for pouring purposes.  It's still pretty tasty!  Just funny to me.

Walking around the streets of Cali, you'd see these things being sold everywhere.  I never caught the name (it was a whirlwind of a trip, let me tell you) but they give you a couple in a plastic bag and pour honey over them.  To me, they tasted like very strange sweet potatoes with honey poured over them. :)

On my last night, we ate true Colombian food - Arepa Maizao.  I'm not sure if these kinds were made of cornmeal or flour or what, but they were stuffed with all sorts of goodies.  We ordered the "con todo" and it had 3 different kinds of meat (chicken, pork, and mystery), cabbage, and I can't remember what else.  They were quite good and I'd definitely try one again!