Snickerdoodle Cookies

 

 

When this rainy fall weather arrives I like to bake, I love the smells of fall cooking and baking to fill the kitchen. I ran across this recipe on Allrecipes and it looked like a must do. So before I started some fall cleaning ( Yuck)  I whipped up a batch of Snickerdoodle cookies and stuck them in the oven... What a great way to clean the house with the smell of cookies baking!!  I have a confession to make, ever since I was a little girl I thought Snickerdoodle cookies had snickers in them....Probably because someone told me that so they could have more!! 

How wrong was I !!!! 

Now that I know that they are a cinnamon and sugar delight  they will  become a staple around our house!!

 

SnickerDoodle Cookies

Items Needed:

2 Parchment lined cookie sheets

Cooling racks

Hand Mixer ( or your hands and a good stiff spoon  if you do not have one)

Preheat oven:

400 degrees 

*****The original recipes makes 48 I halved the recipe to make 24 so If you click on the link to the original just keep that in mind!!

• 1/4 c butter, softened
  
• 1/4 c shortening
  
• 3/4 c white sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 1/3 c plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/8 tsp salt
  
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
  
• 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

• Cream together butter, shortening, sugar , the egg and the vanilla
  
• Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt
  
• Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls in balls
  
• Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and roll the balls in sugar mixture
  
• Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes
  
• Remove from sheet onto a cooling rack

                  

  Eat and Enjoy!!!!

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

I love Hot Sauce! There is said it, I can add it to just about anything, except dessert that is! So when wondering what to make for dinner the other night I thought Buffalo Chicken….but with all this rainy,windy weather we have had I wanted something a little more…. comforting. So Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese it is. I knew that most recipes that I found would be quite fattening so I tried to slim it down a little… Just a little don’t worry! We always drink 1% Milk so that was one way to cut out some fat, and I subbed in Reduced Fat cheese instead of the full fat. And that's about it haha, so just a “little” healthy.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Items Needed:

Baking dish

Skillet

Big Pot

• 3 Chicken breast, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 box of elbow pasta
• 1/2 c blue cheese dressing
• 2 cups shredded cheddar
• 1 c milk
• panko bread crumbs
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2- 1 c Franks Red hot sauce

• Bring large pot of water to a boil, once boiling add pasta and cook following box directions, cooking just under al dente because we are going to bake later
• Heat skillet to medium high heat and add chicken in batches, salt and pepper chicken and brown for 4-5 minutes, remove each batch to a plate, when all chicken is done return to skillet and add 1/2 c hot sauce and cook until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside
• Drain pasta and add pasta to baking dish by layering some pasta then some chicken ( makes it easier to mix together ) stir in the blue cheese dressing and mix well
• Wipe the chicken skillet clean and add the milk, bring to a slow boil adding shredded cheese in batches, once all melted add the cheese sauce to the pasta and chicken and carefully stir to combine all ingredients.
• Sprinkle top with enough panko breadcrumbs to cover dish and sprinkle a small handful of cheese, bake for about 25 minutes, tasting to make sure it is hot enough, and cheese and breadcrumbs are slightly browned

Eat and Enjoy!!!!!

What is your favorite add in to Mac and Cheese?

Stuffed Peppers

One of our favorite comfort meals in our house is Sloppy Joes, and one that my hubby loves to make. So last week he made a big ole batch of it for us. We kicked of Sunday football with Sloppy Joe sandwiches.. 

But why is this post titled Stuffed Peppers than, because I have already blogged about Sloppy Joes and this is a great way to use up the leftovers. I have said many a time, that I am a big fan of using leftovers to create a different meal. 

This one was a big hit in our house, I have made stuffed peppers before, just not this way but with the Sloppy Joes it was fab!!! 

Stuffed Peppers

Items Needed:

Baking Dish

Small sauce pot

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• 3 Peppers top cut off and deseeded
• Sloppy Joe Mixture
• Spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
• Shredded cheese

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, toss in spaghetti and cook until just under al dente
• Mix the spaghetti with the sloppy joe, and stuff the pepper and place in a shallow baking dish
• Some people boil pepper shell before baking, I do not, I pour water around the pepper in the baking dish about half way up the side of the peppers, this softens them just enough
• Bake for 25 minutes than sprinkle with some cheese and bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned

Eat and Enjoy!!!! 

** Took picture before water and cheese.. use your wonderful imagination... ; ) 

The Big E.. New Englands Great State Fair.. And a Show by Terry Fator

I have never been to a state fair... mainly because I always thought Massachusetts didn't have one... Boy was I wrong... Not only do we have a state fair, we are joined by Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine for a whopping six state fair called The Big E in Western Mass. We first heard about the fair last year and even though it lasts for 3 weeks, we of course never made it. So this year we said that's it we're going, and when my hubby found out Terry Fator winner of America's Got Talent a few years ago, was preforming he got us tickets for my birthday. 

The fair is absolutely huge!! With food vendors everywhere it is dizzying trying to decide what to eat, everywhere you look there is sausage and peppers, fried everything, and I mean everything, from pickles,    (we tried them yum!!) to Oreos'. We decided to bypass all the vendors and go straight to the Avenue of States, which houses you guessed it the six states, each with there own building. Inside these buildings were various things indigenous to that state. We headed straight for Maine to get a Lobster Roll, and boy were they yummy, but of course we needed more food so we headed to Connecticut which claims to be the place where Chocolate Covered Bacon was born. A must try for any bacon and chocolate lover, and it tasted as expected delicious!! Sorry we ate it so fast I couldn't get a picture...

But lets get down to business the two reasons some people come to The Big E... The Big E Cream Puff and The Big E Crazy Burger... 

Lets start with the Cream Puff a fluffy cloud of heaven... 

The Outrageous Craz-E Burger...

 Ok so that my friends is a Bacon Cheeseburger sandwiched between two glazed donuts .... yes it may be a heart attack waiting to happen but worth the try...

And of course the Terry Fator concert was unbelievable, he is so talented and I love Winston the Turtle he is my favorite!! All in all it was a great birthday celebration and we will definitely be going back to the Big E next year!! 

P.S Yes my blog looks different... while trying to change some things up I deleted my template.. Which is why I have been MIA for a while.. UGHHH and now I'm stuck with this while I try to fix it...

Simple Scambled Eggs with Green and Yellow Zucchini

I am lucky enough to live in an area with a lot of farmers markets and vegetable stands. My next store neighbor even grows fresh blueberries all summer long, very convenient for me. So on an unexpected day off for both me and the hubby we decided to take a drive and get some fried clams down in Newport, Rhode Island.  Along the way we stopped at one of my favorite vegetable stands in Little Compton, RI that has the freshest and prettiest veggies around. I wish I had some pictures of the fabulous stuff they had on display, heirloom tomatoes of all different colors, red, orange, green, yellow, purple but I didn't bring my camera... *sigh*. 

I did however take a picture of what I brought home... and decided to whip up some scrambled eggs with the zucchini I picked up.

Not much of a recipe but here it goes:

Scrambled Eggs with Zucchini

Serves 2 

Items Needed:

Skillet

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 green zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1/2 yellow zucchini, thinly sliced
• 3 slices American Cheese
• salt
• pepper

• Scramble the eggs and set aside
• Heat skillet to medium high and add the zucchini, salt and pepper to taste,then saute until slightly browned, add eggs and cheese and scramble away.. told ya not much of a recipe... Cook until preferred doneness

Eat and Enjoy!!!!!!!!!

Gotham Steak, Miami

I just got back from a whirlwind filled weekend getaway in South Beach Miami. We went down for a Bachlorette  celebration, for my best friend Karen. We stayed at the lovely  Eden Roc, right on the beach and had an amazing time!! Our hotel happened to be next to the famed Fountainbleau Hotel, and lucky for us they have fabulous restaurants in the Fountainbleau one of which was Gotham Steak, owned by Alfred Portale of the famed Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City. 

Gotham Steak, Fountainbleau 

Let me tell you this place did not disappoint!! You walk into the restaurant and are greeted by a great lounge and extremely friendly staff and then you look over to a gorgeous two story glass enclosed wine tower. We were seated on the lower level with a great big table right in front of the open kitchen. How lucky are we that Miami was offering a pre fix menu for most restaurants during what they were calling Miami Spice, or restaurant month  from Aug 1st until Sept 1st**. So for $35 we were able to order one of each of a choice of three appetizers, entrees and desserts. 

For the first course I had the Summer Corn and Jumbo Lump Crab Risotto, which was so fresh and delicious that I could have had two servings. 

For the entree I ordered the Grilled Prime Hanger Steak, with caramelized onions and Bearnaise Sauce. I enjoyed this very much but Liz ordered the Miso Marinated Black Cod which was to die for I should have ordered that.

For dessert there was a choice of Tiramisu Brownie with Espresso Gelato or Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, with Salted Caramel Sorbet, both were delicious and so worth the extra calories!!! 

Everything was so great from the atmosphere to the waitstaff, we really enjoyed this meal, even more so that we were able eat at very expensive place for a great deal. **As I finish writing this I just found that out that is has been so popular that they extended Miami Spice until September 30th. Lucky them!!!!!