Labor Day 2013 Recap

I realize summer is over and everyone has moved on to pumpkin spice lattes and apple picking, but I have a couple posts still to go covering summery things, so please bear with me. Plus, it is supposed to by 90 degrees in NJ today so it definitely still feels like summer here! 

The week before Labor Day Joe and I decided to throw a last minute, impromptu BBQ. We knew a lot of people would probably already have plans, but we wound up with a decent crowd. I decided to give a couple new recipes a spin.

First up was this Loaded Baked Potato Salad I have had pinned for over year:

Source: Dishing With Leslie

I attempted to double Leslie's recipe, but probably did a little more than double with the potatoes. As a result, I am not sure I had the right ratio of potato versus dressing.

Clearly Leslie is also a much better food photographer than me.

The Verdict: It was ok. I think I threw off the ratio since I only doubled the wet ingredients. I also undercooked the potatoes a little bit. I am just not that good at making a good potato salad. I would say I would try it again because I think its a great recipe, but I would probably be better off just buying it next time.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad
recipe by Dishing With Leslie
Ingredients:
4 large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup freshly chopped chives, divided
8 strips of bacon (6 for the salad and 2 for topping) cooked and crumbled
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
Serves 4 - 6 (Simply double list of ingredients if you need a larger serving)

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together your mayonnaise, and sour cream. Make sure the two are completely combined and then add half of the chives, cheese, and pepper. Taste mixture to see if you prefer some salt. (I usually add a dash or two.) Let chill in fridge for a bit. Meanwhile, peel and cube your potatoes in to bite size pieces. Put in a large pot, cover with water, and boil until fork tender. About 20 minutes. *You need to keep an eye on them. If they cook too long you'll end up with more of a mashed potato consistency when you mix them with the sauce.


When potatoes are ready, drain and let cool just a bit. *Let them cool a lot if you plan to serve chilled. Put potatoes in a large bowl or dish and combine with sour cream mixture. Fold in most of your crumbled bacon. Top with remaining half of chives and remaining crumbled bacon.
*See Leslie's post for some helpful notes.



Next up was this delicious looking Caprese Pasta Salad:

Source: Simple Scratch

Laurie grows her own basil, but I just picked some up from the foodstore. I can barely keep my flowers alive - I would hate to see what I could do to herbs! I couldn't find orecchiette pasta, so I settled on small shells.

Again, my food photos are crap, but it was night so it was dark and this is the best I could do.

The Verdict: I thought it was delicious. I am a sucker for anything with balsamic vinegar though so I may be biased.

Things to Consider: I used a whole pound of pasta and just tried to balance out the right amount of everything else. I probably could have used a little more dressing, cut the mozzarella a little smaller and added more tomatoes (I used only one package). Next time I would try just using less pasta as we had more than enough. I will definitely be making this again though - it was so easy and delicious! 

Caprese Pasta Salad
recipe by Simply Scratch

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups dried Orecchiette Pasta, cooked as directed on the package
1 pint Grape Tomatoes, quartered
1 container Fresh Mozzarella Pearls {or 1 ball fresh mozzarella, cubed small}
1 cup Fresh Basil, sliced into ribbons
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
FOR THE BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE:
2 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, squeezed through a garlic press
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl squeeze two cloves of garlic through a garlic press. Pour in balsamic vinegar and whisk. Continue to whisk while slowly, pouring in the three tablespoons of olive oil in steady stream.

Cook orecchiette pasta according to package directions. Drain and then rinse with cold water. Add the cold pasta to a bowl along with the quartered tomatoes, fresh mozzarella pearls and basil ribbons.


Season with kosher salt and black pepper and drizzle with desired amount of the balsamic vinaigrette. Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste preference before serving!


I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend and is settling into their fall routines. JJ had his first day of "school" (which is really just mom's day out type program my aunt is taking him to twice a week) this week. He loved it and I am so excited for him to meet some new little friends and work on his social skills.
I promise I will get to some pumpkin recipes soon! 

Father's Day 2013

Happy Belated Father's Day to any dad-readers out there! I hope you had a wonderful day full of time with your kids, barbecue, and beer (isn't that what all Dads want?). We spent the afternoon at my brother and sister-in-law's house enjoying family, food, and some gorgeous weather. 

One night last week before Joe got home from work I took some updated pics for his "DAD" frame. Look how big my baby has gotten!

7 Months in 2012 and 19 months in 2013

Not my best photography work but I was on borrowed time and it is much harder getting decent shots of a very active 19 month old than it was with a not-yet-crawling 7 month old. 

I also put together a little beer-themed gift to give to the boys at my brothers. I found "Beer Cheese Dip Mix" from the Beer Bread Company at a local store and ran with the idea. While picking up the ingredients for the dip I brought (see below), I also found "Backyard Brew" marinade mix from McCormick Grill Mates and "Cheddar and Ale" pretzel nuggets by Pretzel Pete. 

I packaged them together and gifted them with a 6-pack of some seasonal summer beer. I have no pic with the actual beer because (as usual) I neglected to be prepared and pick the beer up ahead of time, but you get the idea.

Anyway, on to the food...back in December I had the opportunity to snack on a delicious Loaded Baked Potato Dip at a Christmas party my friend Michelle hosted. It was delicious and I have been thinking about it ever since. I knew this would be the perfect chance to attempt it. I googled around, found one that seemed simple, and pinned it last week:

Source: Comfy in the Kitchen, credited to Hormel

It was super easy to make - just gather your ingredients, mix, and bake!

I saved a little bit of the cheese, bacon, and onions to garnish the top. 

The Verdict: Delicious! I don't think it was quite the same version as what I had last year, but still tasty. It can definitely be addicting (especially when paired with salty chips) and its not healthy so you might want to avoid this if you are trying to watch what you eat.

Things to Consider: Not much to say - just that it takes about 45 minutes in the oven so give yourself time for that. And its best served a couple minutes out of the oven.

Loaded Baked Potato Chip Dip

Source: Comfy in the Kitchen

Author: Hormel 

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  50 mins

Serves: 8

 

Ingredients

• 1 (16 oz) container sour cream
• 1 (3 oz) jar Hormel REAL Bacon bits
• 2 cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 (8 oz) cream cheese
• 1 cup chopped green onions

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix all ingredients well with mixer.
3. Place in an oven safe casserole dish.
4. Bake for 30 mins covered, then an additional 15 mins uncovered.
5. Serve with potato chips!

Notes

Make sure to use REAL bacon bits/crumbles, or you may also make your own bacon bits. Do not use imitation.

Mother's Day - Brunch

This one is going to fall under the category Shannon set up last week: a great recipe but I have horrible pictures for it. Like I said on Friday, since this was our 5th time hosting Mother's Day Brunch, we have a good handle on the menu. We served baked ham, mac and cheese, baked beans, baked french toast, mini quiches, and hash browns. I also had some fruit salad out and my mom brought over bagels and danishes. I have made this baked french toast

Source: All Recipes

every year and its always a hit. I have made it for a couple other occasions as well. I have seen other (overnight prepped) baked french toasts that take less prep time the day of, but the delicious topping with this one is totally worth the effort (and calories!). 

These pics actually span a year. I started taking pics last year during the prep so I could post about it then, but didn't get any finished product shots. This year I only remembered to take some when I was reheating a piece for dinner so please forgive me if it doesn't look that appetizing.

Its actually really simple - just slice up some french bread (I used challah last year) and line up the slices in a buttered baking dish. Mix up the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon and cover the bread with the mixture and refrigerate overnight.

To make things easier on myself for Sunday morning, I measured out the ingredients for the topping (minus the corn syrup) and threw it all in a ziplock bag so I wouldn't have to do that while I was managing all the other food. 

The next morning, just bring the topping ingredients to a bubbling boil, pour over the bread that has soaked up most of the egg mixture, and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. 

I really wish I remembered to take a picture of it right out of the oven. The bread puffs up and gets really high. These photos are from later on in the day after the leftovers had been in the fridge and then reheated. Still tasted great, it was just a bit deflated.

The Verdict: Clearly I love this recipe if I have been repeating it every year. Its always a big hit and I actually double the recipe to make sure we have enough. It was a light year this year so I probably could have gotten away with one batch, but I didn't mind the leftovers :) It's light and fluffy and sweet - the topping almost caramelizes in the oven. 

Things to Consider: There is lots of sugar and butter in this recipe. It is in no way healthy or diabetes friendly. That being said - I make it once or twice a year and if a mother can't eat bad on Mother's Day - what's the point? I do have to juggle a bunch of things in the oven so I usually have it in longer than 40 minutes with the oven set at 325. I just leave it in until its all puffed up and I can see the juices bubbling. 

Maybe next year I will remember to take a decent out-of-the-oven shot! I have one more Mother's Day roundup post on the gift JJ gave to all the moms. Hopefully I get a chance to type it up this week. Have a great Monday! 


Baked French Toast
from ANTLALA on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 lb of French Bread, cut into 1" slices
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions:
1. Butter a 9"x13" baking dish. Arrange slices of bread in bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over egg and bread mixture. 
3. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered for 40 minutes.

Cannoli Dip

Grace & I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Grace hosted her annual Mother’s Day brunch for our family. I’m sure she’ll have plenty to post about in the coming days.

For me, this is the first in a series of short little posts about pins I tried months ago but never shared –mostly because I didn't take any pictures or because they were complete failures (and I was too annoyed at the time to rehash them by typing up a post). This post is in the former category.

A few months ago, I hosted “book club” (we stopped the charade of actually picking book a long time ago). One of the items I made was Cannoli Dip from grouprecipe.com (we all know how much I love cannolis). This is one of the easiest, most delicious pins I've ever attempted.

Unfortunately, I was preparing the dip in a rush and only took one or two blurry pictures with my cell phone.

I basically followed the directions exactly -except I omitted the pistachios. Unlike PSY, I am not a fan.

I served the dip with broken pieces of ice cream sugar cones. 

The Verdict: This dip was delicious – very light. This is a great alternative if you want something different and lighter then cake batter dip. I honestly think this is my favorite dip that I've ever made. Mental Note- I need to make this again!

Things to Note/Consider: I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe. To switch it up, you may want to consider other items to serve the dip with – fresh fruit, vanilla wafers, or graham crackers.

Cannoli Dip

adapted from GroupRecipes.com

¼ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels, plus some more for garnish

1-15 ounce container of ricotta cheese

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup powdered sugar

1-8 ounce container Cool Whip

• In a bowl, add sugar, ricotta cheese, vanilla and chocolate.
• Stir until well blended
• Fold in Cool Whip
• Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips
• Chill for 30 minutes before serving

Baked Spinach Dip Cups in Mini Breadbowls

Remember the caprese dip I made for the Book Club I held in January? Well I promised in that post to review the other appetizer I made - spinach dip cups. I  pinned this awhile ago, and this was actually the second time I made them (the first was for Christmas Eve, but in all the holiday craziness, I didn't document the process).


Source: Picky Palate

I am pretty sure Shannon or I have reviewed one of Jenny's recipes before, but I can't think of one to point out. Don't these look delicious though? And they were pretty simple to make.

I prepped the filling earlier in the day so that all I had to do before the book clubbers arrived was cut up the dough, top will the filling, and pop in the oven.

I started by wilting the spinach in some olive oil and then add in the chopped garlic:

Then I dumped it into a mixing bowl with the sour cream, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spices and mixed it all up. I threw a top on the bowl and popped it in the fridge.

About 20 minutes before everyone arrived, I preheated the oven and took out my filling and a tube of french bread dough. I cut up the dough into 12 even little disks and pressed them into the bottom of my muffin tin:

I dished out the filling evenly among the bread dough and topped with the shredded mozzarella:

And into the oven they went for about 20 minutes (until they started browning along the edges of the bread)

I don't really remember waiting 5 minutes before pulling them out, but I don't think it made a difference. Here they are all finished and ready to be consumed:

 

 

 

The Verdict: Clearly I enjoyed them if I made them twice. They are pretty easy and fulfill my love of spinach dip. The first time I made them they were a little bland so I jazzed up the spice ratio a bit the second time. They are definitely a great option for entertaining in small groups - it might be a pain to have to make a ton of them for a large party.

Things to Consider: First, I added more spinach than the recipe calls for. I probably used close to 3 cups. Also, I can never find Ancho Chile Pepper so I use regular Chile pepper (but sparingly, it sort of freaks me out that its used in spinach dip at all). Lastly, the original recipe says to cut the dough in 10 equal pieces but it seems silly to me to leave to spots open in the muffin tin, so I cut it into 12. I think the bread to filling ratio works out better this way too.

I have book club again tonight - stay tuned to see what app I decided to try out!


Baked Spinach Dip Cups in Mini Breadbowls:
recipe by Picky Palate, my edits in red.

Ingredients:

• 13.3 oz roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 3 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup light sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper (I used regular Chile pepper)
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Garlic Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Sicilian Sea Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 10 muffin cups with non stick cooking spray. Unroll package of french bread loaf and slice into 10 (12) equal size slices, about 1 inch thick. Press each slice into about a 3 inch round, I did this by pressing in between my hands. Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir spinach until wilted, about 3 minutes then add garlic, cook and stir for another minute then turn heat off.
3. Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Ancho Chili Powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a medium bowl. Mix until well combined. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls. Top evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 15-17 (20) minutes until just turning brown on edges. Remove and let cool for 3-5 minutes (oops, I forgot) before removing from oven.
(10 (12) mini spinach dip bread bowls)

Caprese Dip

Back in November, I was scheduled to host Book Club. And then Superstorm Sandy hit and we lost power for 8 days. The power loss also forced us to postpone JJ's first birthday party (I swear one day I will share pics of that as well) and before I knew it, it was Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season had begun. As a result of all that, Book Club got pushed back to the end of January. We had to remind each other a bit about the book since it had been so long, but we made it work. If anyone is interested, we read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The general consensus was that it was really hard to put down and super engaging, but the end didn't quite feel right with everyone.

Anyway, my friend MC made this delicious Caprese Dip at her Christmas party a couple weeks before (when I made the Dough Dips) and I thought it would be perfect for Book Club. I did a quick search on Pinterest for a recipe and found tons. I picked this one because it seemed to have the most direction:

From the Foodie Couple

It really is so simple to do. I just cut up my cheese, tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes) and basil ahead of time and threw it in the fridge.

About 15 minutes before everyone was supposed to arrive I put it in the oven. It took more like 20 minutes and then 10 minutes in the broiler, but that could be because I refrigerated it first.

Once out of the over I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on it, but I think I did it a little early because it sort of just mixed with the melted cheese and oil that was on top - not my prettiest presentation. I served it with some pita chips and french bread.

The Verdict: Apparently this dip was nothing new to the club. It was served at a meeting I missed last year. Oh well, I think we still enjoyed it. It tastes really good especially right out of the oven. And it is really one of the easier apps you could ever make.

Things to Consider: While it is tasty, it is really hard to eat. Its hard to scoop out and get on your bread without the cheese "stringing up" all over the place. And it cools off so fast that it starts to sort of gel together. It was suggested that it might be easier to use a mini crock pot or something else that would keep it warm and easier to eat. Cleaning the dish after was also not very fun. Overall, though, I would probably make it again if I needed something quick and fresh for a small group.

I also made these spinach dip cups for this book club meeting and will have another post reviewing them soon.

Has anyone else tried this dip? Any tips on making it easier to serve?

Egg Free Dough Dips

Shannon's Funfetti Cake Batter Dip is one of our post popular posts ever (her coconut oil hair treatment is getting pretty popular now too) - its not surprising, who wouldn't want to eat cake batter as a treat? Since we live a couple states apart, I never got to try it. I came across this pin from Willow Bird Baking awhile back and figured I would get to try a cake batter dip and a couple others as well.

They are all egg free so they are intended to be consumed raw.*

The annual Wine and Cheese Christmas Party I have with my girlfriends every January seemed like the perfect time to try them out. You may remember last year I made these chocolate gooey butter cookies for the same party.

I started with the chocolate chip cookie dough dip.

 

After I creamed the butter and sugar together, I added the dry ingredients. It was super powdery and I was afraid I was off to a bad start.

 

 

But after what I think was 4 tablespoons of water (added one at a time), I got a nice consistency. I made it a littler runnier than what cookie dough should be in hopes that it would be easier to dip.

 

Here it is all pretty and on my serving dish:

The other two dips went pretty much the same. Here's a pic of the powdery stage of the sugar cookie dip:

 

That powdery mess turned into this delicious looking dip:

I definitely used a little more than the 2 tablespoons from Julie's recipe. Lastly was the cake batter dough:

It looks almost the same as the sugar cookie dough but you can see the sprinkles in there. This one used more water than called for as well. Here is the final cake batter product:

Here they are all together. I had the perfect three-slot dish I use for my Christmas dinner mashed potato and sweet potato bar fixings. Don't they look delicious??

When I was at the store grabbing the funfetti cake mix, I picked up some chocolate teddy grahams, pretzels, and vanilla wafers as dippers.

The Verdict: They were absolutely delicious and possibly addicting. I heard a lot of "they remind me of dunkaroos" which just brought me back to middle school. I am not the only one who would take the tiniest amount of frosting with each cracker and then on the last one take the entire scoop of the frosting that was left, am I?

Things to consider: They were a little more work than Shannon's first post, but still pretty easy. With the exception of the cake batter dip, I had everything else I needed in my pantry. They were a bit on the hard side for dipping (I had them in the fridge after I made them but thought they would thaw out a bit on my drive to Hoboken). I was afraid the sugar cookie and funfetti doughs would taste too similar, but they had two distinct tastes. Also, each batch made a little less than double what you see here. What I couldn't fit got sent to my cousin Claire's new house on her move in day (remember her Now-and-Later Cookies housewarming gift?) for her and her helpers. All in all, I will definitely be making these again, maybe for a future book club.

As always, the party was a fun time. Thanks for hosting Mary Claire! I thought I was slick by "stealing" a gift this year but joke was on me, it was stolen from me too. I had a brand new silpat mat (side note: anyone have any experience with those? should I invest in one?) and cupcake carrier in my hands before it was taken. I wound up with a great gift in the end: a bottle of prosecco, a gift certificate for a great restaurant, and an excuse to go back to Hoboken for brunch!

Egg Free* Dough Dips
from Julie at Willow Bird Baking

Chocolate Chip:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (a few people have found this to be too much; if you want, just add a pinch and increase to taste. I add the full 1/2 teaspoon and enjoy it!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (again, you might want to add this a teaspoon at a time to taste. I add the full tablespoon and enjoy it!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
water
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Add water one tablespoon at a time (stirring between each) until the dough reaches cookie dough consistency.


Sugar Cookie:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1-2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.


Cake Batter:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sprinkles
4-8 tablespoons water
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in salt, flour, cake mix, sprinkles, and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

*Julie does use the following disclaimer which I guess I should repeat. Clearly, though, I was not concerned: "Note: Since posting this recipe, scientisty types have also found that raw flour — just like produce — can carry E.coli if it’s been contaminated with it. This article suggests that the risk is even smaller than the tiny risk of getting Salmonella from eating cookie dough with raw eggs, but it’s still there and I wanted you to know about it. "