Baked Potato Soup

Baby, it's COLD outside!

We here in coastal Georgia have been experiencing unprecedented cold weather lately. Global warming - what's that?!? Seriously, it has been ridiculously cold here the past few weeks, at least for me. I've had to bust out my cashmere gloves and wool coat, neither of which I have worn since I lived in Nashville! And you should see our electric bill. We just got it today, and man, I am dreaming of warmer weather. (Of course, when we get our electric bills in July and August I may be singing a different tune!)

A cold day makes me want to eat something warm, so at least I can be thankful that I have a reason and opportunity to make this delicious and hearty soup.

Baked Potato Soup
Recipe courtesy of my mom
4 large or 6 medium potatoes, baked with skin on
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
Bacon pieces (cooked & crumbled) - I use the packaged Hormel or Oscar Meyer pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream, to taste

Thoroughly wash and dry potatoes. When dry, wrap in foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours. While potatoes are still warm, cut into cubes and crumble/mash. If you like your soup chunkier (like my mom), only crumble/mash half of the potatoes, leaving the others cubed. I just like my soup less chunky.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan/dutch oven over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Add potatoes, salt, pepper, green onion, crumbled bacon, and cheese. Cook until heated.

Stir in sour cream. (I usually add sour cream in each bowl when serving rather than into soup pot. If you want to add it to the soup itself, use an 8 ounce container.)

Serve with cheese, bacon and onions sprinkled on top.

Note: If you reheat leftovers, you can add a tablespoon or two of milk to the soup to make it a little creamier.

Peanut Butter Treasures

I totally made up the name of these cookies. I really have no idea what their name is, if they even have a name at all. I almost called them "Peanut Butter Blossoms," but aren't those the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kiss on top?

Similar cookie, but different. And different in a way that matters.

Instead of a boring Hershey Kiss (sorry to all you Hershey's Kiss fans out there; I've just never developed a taste for them), I use mini Reese's peanut butter cups. Now those I have developed a taste for!!

Patrick loves these cookies. With the combo of peanut butter cookie and peanut butter/chocolate candy, what's not to love?

And -- dare I say -- these are EASY. And fast. And, really, my "recipe" is more a "how to assemble" list than a recipe, but still.

Take 10 minutes out of your day and try these little gems.


Peanut Butter Treasures
1 recipe peanut butter cookie dough (or, if you are like me, you take the very easy way out and buy peanut butter cookie dough from the store. I'm not too ashamed to admit that I do that ...)
1 bag of Reese's mini peanut butter cups
Sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan, or use mini cupcake liners. I used mini cupcake liners for the first time a few weeks ago and will always use them from now on. They make removal of the cookies and the subsequent cleanup so much easier. I found them at Wal-Mart, of all places (oddly, though, not with the regular size cupcake liners. I found them in the party supply area, where they had some Wilton items). I think Michael's carries them, too.

After your mini cupcake pan is all ready to go, roll your cookie dough into small balls (1-inch balls or so). Have a bowl of sugar nearby, and roll your cookie dough ball into the sugar. Place in one compartment of the muffin tin. Repeat until cookie dough is gone or all compartments are filled.

Bake for 10 minutes.

While the cookies are baking, unwrap the mini Reese's cups. They need to be unwrapped and ready as soon as the cookies are done baking.

When the cookies are done, take them out of the oven and immediately place one mini Reese's cup in the center of each cookie. Place back in the 350-degree oven for two minutes.

Remove the cookies and let cool in pan.

Enjoy!

Monkey bread

I'm back!!

Well, sort of. Patrick might dispute that statement, seeing as how he has yet to reap many benefits of my culinary adventures of late, but I have been using the kitchen for more than a workspace these days.

I made a chicken pot pie and cookies yesterday for some friends who just had a baby, (I made a double batch of cookies for Patrick, too, so don't feel too sorry for him), I made fruit dip (recipe coming soon) and monkey bread for a baby shower last weekend, and I also whipped up some cranberry "stuff" for Thanksgiving (that recipe is coming soon, too).

See, I've been cooking! But, did you happen to notice the glaring absence of dinners? Hmm... perhaps I should get back on that track?

But first -- MONKEY BREAD!!

This is one of my absolute favorite holiday season recipes. It just takes me back to my childhood. Plus, who can resist biscuits, butter, cinnamon and sugar? What a winning combo! I know that everyone and their mama has a monkey bread recipe, but I needed a recipe for the blog, so here's mine (actually, it's my mom's). It's the recipe I grew up on, and it never fails. In fact, I'm making it again tomorrow morning for our breakfast (I can get away with that because Patrick and I only got to enjoy a bite or two from the baby shower leftovers).

Monkey Bread
Courtesy of Mauri Norman, a.k.a. Mom
3 cans buttermilk biscuits (I actually use the handy four-pack that comes bundled together because it's easier to just grab it than three individual cans, and it works out perfectly.)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cut biscuits into quarters. Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 T. cinnamon and nutmeg in a large Ziploc bag. Drop biscuits into bag and shake till coated (I do them in six-piece increments to ensure that they all get coated well, but you could also save time and drop them in all at once). Stack into a well-greased bundt pan (I like to sprinkle some of the sugar/cinnamon mixture in between each layer).

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and 2 t. cinnamon. Heat until sugar dissolves. Pour over biscuits.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate and enjoy!

I've got a bun in the oven!

I have a little explaining to do here, what with my lack of posts and recipes lately and all. It's just that I haven't been doing much cooking, period, let alone trying out new recipes.

And it's all due to the fact that I'm DUE!

Yup, I'm cooking, all right, just not in the kitchen! I've got a bun in the oven, and we're due to have our first little one on May 20.

I won't turn this into a baby blog, but since this is a food blog, I do have to share with you that Baby W is the size of a lime this week (I'm 12 weeks pregnant).



Hopefully in the next few weeks the nausea and food aversions will subside and I'll get back to cooking in the kitchen. Until then, I'll just try to live on 5 Guys burgers -- Baby W's current fave food.

Cheese Manicotti

Sorry - again - for my lack of posts/recipes lately. I've been in town ... just not cooking as much as I'd like! Please stick with me though; I promise it will get better soon!

This recipe is one I grew up eating, and it's sort of a comfort food to me. And, it's an Italian meal, which I adore. I tend to gravitate towards the delicious combo of pasta and cheese!

Again, I don't have a photo because (let's all say it together) we ate it too fast and by the time I remembered all I had left on my plate were a few blobs of marinara sauce. But y'all know what manicotti looks like, right? I paired this with garlic bread and a salad (with my favorite Italian dressing - Good Seasons - the mix that you combine with oil, red wine vinegar and water).

Delizioso!

Cheese Manicotti
Recipe passed down to my mom from a dear family friend, Mamie Coffey
8 oz. (2 cups) diced or shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Marinara sauce (I use a whole jar store-bought sauce for this recipe)
Approximately 8-10 uncooked manicotti noodles

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Mix the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour a small amount of marinara sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking dish. Fill uncooked manicotti noodles with cheese mixture and place in dish on top of marinara sauce. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the cheese-filled noodles. Top with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cover dish with foil and bake, covered, for approximately 45 minutes (at 350 degrees).

Penne with Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage

Also known as one of my very favorite fall meals.

This recipe is delicious. The combination of sweet and tender butternut squash, sage, sweet Italian sausage and garlic is sublime. Patrick made me smile last week when he saw the recipe card laying on the kitchen counter and said, with a sigh, "I miss that meal..."

He was in for a treat last week because it was on the menu. I made it for our weekly Thursday night dinner with the Akins family and all of us - including the two kiddos - liked it (although, I do think the kids liked the penne and sausage part of the meal a little more than the squash part).

All this coming from someone who rarely eats squash. I LOVE this meal, and it's perfect to help usher in the fall season. Hope you enjoy!

Sorry for the lack of photo. I was so looking forward to eating that I forgot to snap a picture until my plate was clean.

Penne with Butternut Squash & Italian Sausage
Recipe courtesy of a dear family friend, Joan Coffey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage, crumbled (remove casings first)*
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Pinch of crushed red pepper - optional
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
8 ounces penne pasta
2 ounces (1/2 cup) shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat; add olive oil and swirl to coat pan. Add squash and cook until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Cook sausage until well browned and drain. Stir in garlic and red pepper and cook 1 minute. Add wine and simmer 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Return squash to pan; add chicken broth and sage. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer until squash is very tender, 10-12 minutes (stir occasionally). Cook pasta al dente. Gently combine pasta and squash/sausage mixture. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serves 6.

*At first, I had the hardest time finding sweet Italian sausage. I once broke down and bought it at this fancy-schmancy gourmet grocery store on the Island and paid something like $20 for it. Never again! (By the way, with prices like that, the store is now out of business.) I have found, thankfully, Johnsonville's sweet Italian sausage in the freezer case at Publix. It's nowhere near $20.

Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Potatoes

Sorry for the lack of recipes lately. Patrick and I were out of town for a while (as in 10 days) to welcome my brother home from Afghanistan. Good excuse, eh? We drove to Illinois with my parents (and their lab) and stayed with family there. We had a great time. And, I only cooked once. The other nights we were treated to delicious meals by my aunt Susan, and we also went out to eat a few times (Italian Village pizza ... heavenly).

The one night I did make dinner -- for 17 family members -- I made two pans of baked spaghetti. I think it was a hit.

But now we're back to the real world where I cook.

Today I branched out of my comfort zone and pulled the never-been-used-in-two-years-0f-marriage Crock Pot down from the pantry. As I was flipping through the latest issue of Southern Living the other day I came across a tasty looking slow cooker recipe and decided that I'd give it a whirl. Now, the reason I have never used a Crock Pot before is that frankly, none of the recipes I've seen look too tempting. I'm not a huge fan of stew, and why would I want to brown meat before putting it in the slow cooker? Isn't the entire point of the appliance so that I don't have to do that?

This recipe, however, looked easy (no browning meat!) and had two of my favorite cooked veggies in it - potatoes and carrots. And, I didn't even let the fact that it called for chicken thighs (dark meat, never cooked/eaten before) deter me. So, today I gave it a try and folks, we have a winner.

The prep took all of 20 minutes, and six hours later we had a tasty, fall-ish meal in front of us. We declared it a keeper.


Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Potatoes
Courtesy of Southern Living
1 medium onion
4 medium-size new potatoes (about 1 lb.)
2 cups baby carrots
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 teaspoon paprika
6 skinned, bone-in chicken thighs*

Halve onion lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place onion in a lightly greased 6-quart slow cooker; top with potatoes and carrots.

Combine broth, next three ingredients, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour over vegetables.

Combine paprika and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub over chicken. Arrange chicken on top of vegetables.

Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.

*I apparently have a poor memory because I came home from Publix with skinless, boneless chicken thighs, not the bone-in kind. I don't think it affected the taste at all, and was probably easier to eat.