This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks called BBQ Food by Kay Scarlett. The marinade for this chicken is excellent and kept the chicken very juicy. The mashed potatoes were great too!

For the chicken –

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Put the honey, mustard, oil, white wine vinegar, garlic parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a large nonmetallic bowl. Mix it all together well and put aside 1/4 cup of the marinade to baste the chicken during cooking. Add the chicken breasts to the rest of the marinade and turn them so that they are thoroughly coated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Cook the chicken on the grill. Baste the chicken with the reserved marinade during the last 5-8 minutes of cooking.

For the potatoes –

• 2 lb. 4 oz. (about 6 medium) potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cream
• 3 scallions, finely sliced

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. Steam or boil the pieces for 12 minutes or until they are tender, then drain the water away and briefly return the potatoes to the heat , shaking the pan to remove any excess moisture.

Add the butter, milk, and cream and mash the potatoes until they are smooth. Stir in scallions, season to taste, and serve warm.

I got this recipe off of a blog called Prudence Pennywise. This soup was AMAZING! Rob declared that it is his favorite soup. Although, I think he says that every time. hee hee Anyways, the flavors in this soup are incredible! Try it out – it’s worth it.

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 large onion, minced

generous pinch of cayenne

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme

8 cups corn kernels, cut from the cob

2 and 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

1/4 cup chopped scallions

In a large pot, cook bacon over medium high heat until crispy. Remove to paper towel and reserve for garnish. To same pot with bacon grease add onions and saute until softened, about 8 minutes. Add cayenne, garlic and thyme and cook for thirty seconds. Meanwhile, combine 4 cups corn kernels and 2 cups broth in blender. Puree until almost smooth. Add blended corn, remaining corn, and remaining broth to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until corn is tender, about 10 minutes. Add cream and season to taste with salt, pepper, and more cayenne. Garnish with crispy bacon and scallions.

Can you believe that little Berkley is one year old? Look how much she grew!

1 week old

1 year old

 

 

I made these delicious bites for Tiffany and Mike’s Penguins Party on Saturday. GO PENS!!! Of course since it is basically buffalo chicken dip deep fried it is amazingly good. Everyone lovveedd them – how could you not? I got the recipe from a great blog called Made by Melissa – which I will be using some more of her recipes soon.

• 1 store-bought rotesserie chicken
• 1/4 cup Franks Red Hot
• 2 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• 1 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 freshly sliced scallions , plus additional for garnish
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• vegetable oil, for frying

Have oil heated at 350 degrees.

Pick the meat from the chicken and discard the skin. Place the chicken in a large bowl and add the hot sauce, cream cheese, shredded cheese, and scallions, and toss to combine. Make little balls out of the mixture.

Place the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in 3 separate bowls. Roll each ball in the flour, the egg and then the bread crumbs. Set aside.

When the oil is hot, fry the chicken balls in batches. Cook for about 2 minutes per batch. Remove the chicken to paper towel to soak up excess oil.

We needed a dessert for Easter and I wanted something tasty and Easter related. I searched online and found these cute little easter baskets from Kraft Foods made out of cheesecake.

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup  sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2   eggs

12 NILLA Wafers

1-1/2 cups  BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, tinted green

36 small jelly beans

12 pieces  shoestring licorice (4 inch each)

 

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.

PLACE wafer on bottom of each of 12 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.

BAKE 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and jelly beans just before serving. Bend each licorice piece, then insert both ends into each cheesecake to resemble the handle of a basket. Store leftover cheesecakes in refrigerator.

This is such an easy appetizer and it is so good.

• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9×13 inch baking sheet, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust.
3. Bake crust for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dry Ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange broccoli, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and Cheddar cheese over the cream cheese layer. Chill for one hour, slice and serve.

When we go to Ocean City, New Jersey every year it is guaranteed that we eat at Mike’s Seafood at least 3 or 4 times for lunch or dinner. We always get an order of their crab balls to go with any meal. When Tiffany showed me a recipe for crab balls that she found in Cuisine At Home Magazine I knew it was a winner. The balls were easy to make and taste like Mike’s! I am sure I will be getting requests to make them at every party.

For the crab mixture –

• 2 cans pasteurized lump crab meat, drained ( I used Great Blue Crab Meat from Giant Eagle)
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. minced scallions
• 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest
• 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

For the Batter –

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chilled beer
• 1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• Vegetable Oil

Combine crab meat, panko, scallions, and zest in a bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together mayonnaise, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and cayenne pepper. Gently fold mayonnaise mixture into crab mixture until the two are thoroughly combined. Try to avoid breaking up crab meat.

Stir together egg yolks, milk, beer, and 1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning for the batter in a large bowl. Sift in flour and baking powder. Stir mixture with a fork until batter is just combined. Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a medium sized pot over med-high heat to 360 degrees.

Form crab mixture into balls the size of large gum balls.Working in batches, coat crab balls with batter, then use a slotted spoon to carefully lay them into hot oil. Turn balls frequently until they are evenly browned. Remove balls to a paper towel lined tray.

Rob’s grandma always makes Easter cheese for Easter. This Easter my brother-in-law and Rob kept begging for Easter cheese so I decided to give it a try. I don’t eat it so I can not tell you how it turned out but as for Rob, Mike, and my friend Emily…they loved it! Rob even said it tasted just like his grams! I was proud of myself. 🙂

• 12 eggs
• 1 quart of milk
• 2 teaspoons of salt

Put milk into double boiler over low heat and break eggs into milk, making sure each yolk is broken and add salt. Stir frequently and cook slowly until mixture looks like scrambled effs. Pour mixture into cheesecloth and tie tightly. Gently squeeze cheesecloth to remove any excess liquid and hang over pot for about 3 hours. Remove cheese from bag and put in foil.

Last week we went to the New Kids concert for the 4th time this reunion tour! We were at State College and did the 5 * and we got to meet them! It was awesome!

 I know that it has been forever since I have posted and yes,this is not a recipe but this was just too good not to post! This steamer is courtesy of John Pausic and I love it! It was sooo awesome! Check it out…