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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Beef Stroganoff

Posted in Comfort Food, Entertaining at Home, Main Dish, Recipes, tagged , , on January 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The other day I had a package of stew meat languishing in the fridge and decided to put it to good use as stroganoff.

You might find the ingredients and methods of this recipe a little different, but the results were quite tasty!

Ingredients - and I forget to put sour cream and Dr. Pepper in the photo.

Spice up the meat and then put in a baker. I use my terra cotta wonder, but you could use a dutch oven.

Pour in the Dr. Pepper and bake at 350 until meat is fork tender.

The beef is cooked and has some great juice in the bottom pan.

Add in sour cream right in the pan. If you're lazy like me, one less dish to clean is a good thing. Stir in mushroom soup.

Fill a plate with piping hot egg noodles.

Top with beef and enjoy!

 

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds lean stew meat

1 can mushroom soup

1 tsp. onion flakes

1/2 tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. all-purpose seasoning

1 cup Dr. Pepper

2/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. salt

1 package of cooked egg noodles (or make your own with this easy recipe)

Season meat with onion flakes, seasoning, parsley and salt. Put in a terra cotta baker (or Dutch oven). Pour in Dr. Pepper and bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is fork tender.

When done, mix in sour cream and mushroom soup. Serve over hot egg noodles and stand back to enjoy the looks on the faces of those enjoying this great comfort food meal.

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Pomegranate Punch

Posted in Beverages, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , , on December 31, 2010| 1 Comment »

If you are looking for a delicious and easy punch to serve to a festive crowd of revelers this weekend, this one will fit the bill.

Not only is it beautiful, it is really, really tasty!

Punch Ingredients

Moisten the rim of your glass

Pour your rimmer crystals onto a flat plate. If you can't find rimmer, you could use large sugar crystals for the same look (although the taste will be decidedly different).

Place the rim of your glass in the crystals until coated, set aside.

Cut the top off your pomegranate.

Then cut down through the sections to get at the lovely red seeds. Scatter a few in the bottom of each glass.

Put ice into the punch bowl then add pop, juice and syrup. Stir briefly to mix.

Enjoy!

Pomegranate Punch

1 bottle Cranberry-Pomegranate Juice

1/2 cup Grenadine Syrup

1 bottle Raspberry Pop

Pomegranate Rimmer Crystals (I find mine at Cost Plus World Market)

1 Pomegranate

To keep the punch from being watered down, I froze the soda pop in silicone pans and added instead of ice. You could use ice cube trays to achieve the same thing. I thought the snowflake and tree shapes were just fun! Just do this a day or two before your party (or drop everything and do it now if you are hosting a gathering for New Year’s Eve).

Just before you are ready to serve, pour the Pomegranate Rimmer Crystals onto a very flat dish. Wet the rims of your glasses. You can do this with a lemon or lime wedge or plain ol’ water. I just dampened a paper towel and ran it around the rim. Dip the rims of the glasses into the crystals and set aside.

Cut the top off your pomegranate and then slice down through the sections. This is the easiest way to get the seeds and all the sweet-tart goodness out. Drop a scattering of seeds in each glass.

Place the ice in your punch bowl, pour in the pop, juice and grenadine syrup. Stir lightly to mix. Ladle into glasses and watch your guests turn into glass-licking crazies as they try to get every last little speck of the rimmer off their glasses and dig the last little seed out of their glass. (Besides being tasty, the punch will provide you with unlimited entertainment!).

Enjoy!

However you celebrate this New Year’s Eve, please be safe!

Wishing you a wonderous New Year!

Shanna

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New Year’s Brunch

Posted in Breakfast, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, Party Theme, tagged , , , on December 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If you and your friends aren’t into the stay up late party scene of New Year’s Eve but you would still like to entertain for the holiday, think about hosting a New Year’s Day brunch. Plan to start around 11 a.m., giving those night-owls plenty of time to get up and moving before your party starts.

Keep things simple and uncluttered (a great way to start the new year, huh?). Don’t go over board with decorations or food. You want to have things looking clean and elegant.

Have guest share a New Year’s memory or tell about a resolution they kept.  If you want to do something really fun, have everyone right down one goal or resolution, place them all in a sealed envelope and stash it away until next December. Pull them out when you do your Christmas cards and send to your friends. They will appreciate that you did keep the info and will probably get a chuckle over what they wrote down. Or host another New Year’s Brunch in 2012 with the same crowd and open the envelope there.

Tell guests the dress is relaxed and keep the atmosphere casual. Offer a buffet selection of sliced fruits and some make ahead or easy to prepare food.

Quiche is a great option. It is warm, delicious and easy to make. Try my bacon quiche or spinach mushroom.

 

Easy Pumpkin Bread

 

 

Quick breads are also a fabulous choice. They can be made ahead and are tasty plain or slathered with butter. You can make a variety of these (or cheat and pick up a three-pack at Costco!). Here are recipes for banana bread or pumpkin bread.

 

 

Ham and Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

 

 

Breakfast casseroles are another great way to get something hot and comforting on the table with minimum effort. One of my favorites is this ham and hashbrown casserole.

 

 

Yummy and Beautiful!

 

 

Make sure you serve this Grenadine Sunrise as a beautiful start to a beautiful new year!

Happy New Year Entertaining!

Shanna

 

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Christmas Breakfast ideas

Posted in Breakfast, Christmas, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , on December 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Christmas morning the last thing you want to do is be tied down to the kitchen making breakfast. Plan ahead now and you can have a fabulous breakfast on the table with a minimal amount of effort!

So here are a few ideas…

Quick Breads

You can purchase these pre-made at stores like Costco (their apple or pumpkin bread is sooooo good), you can buy packaged mixes that are easy to whip together or make them from scratch. If you are planning to make them either from a mix of scratch, make these now so you don’t have to mess with them in the morning. If you want to be Betty Baker and go from scratch, here is a recipe for yummy banana bread.

Sweet Rolls

You can purchase pre-made sweet rolls or cinnamon rolls or whip together a batch. Just pop in the oven for a few minutes to warm and you’ve got a breakfast that everyone will enjoy. Here is a recipe for super easy cinnamon rolls that make my mouth water just thinking about them.

Casseroles

A breakfast casserole you can assemble the night before then pop in the oven to bake the next morning is ideal. They are warm and filling and will hopefully carry your starving crew through gift opening and morning festivities. Serve with a fresh fruit and it is a wonderful meal.

My favorite breakfast casserole involves ham and hashbrowns. It is so easy to make and so tasty good. Assemble the night before, set out for about 30 minutes and then bake.

Here is another recipe that is quite filling. You can use any type of meat you like, just make sure it is pre-cooked.

Ingredients

Beat eggs, then add milk and combine.

Dice up some ham (or crumble cooked bacon or sausage).

Add ham, breadcrumbs and salt to mixture.

Blend in some cheese.

Pour into greased pan, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake the next morning!

and enjoy!

Breakfast Bake

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced cooked ham (or bacon or crumbled cooked sausage)

1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

3 cups croutons

Beat eggs and milk, add in remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge and let set for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until eggs are set.

Enjoy!

Happy Holiday Entertaining and Merry Christmas!

Shanna

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