Appetizers
This Cranberry Brie pull apart bread is simply amazing! The first time I made this we were camping with friends, Since then I have made it a couple more times as it’s always a huge hit with everyone that tries it. The first time I made this I made it on the grill, most recently when we had some friends and neighbors over for Halloween I baked it in the oven.
This pull apart bread is perfect for the upcoming Holidays, your friends and family will love this cheesy, tart bite!
INGREDIENTS
1 Large round sourdough bread
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 (16 ounce) wheel of Brie, cubed
1 1/2 cups whole berry cranberry sauce
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice bread horizontally and vertically without cutting all the way through. You are creating one inch cubes.
Melt the butter and herbs. Place the bread on a tin foil lined baking sheet and butter the inside of the bread squares.
Put a piece of Brie cheese inside each space you created in the bread. Add the cranberry sauce into the squares as well.
Cover the bread with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Say Hello to Samantha everyone! Samantha is the beautiful daughter of our dear friends Rick and Ann Marie. You may remember Rick and Ann Marie from an earlier post I wrote about Brunch at the Bedford Village Inn.
Rick and Ann Marie along with all three of their kids, Samantha, Nick and Shaun rented a beach home in Wells, Maine a couple weeks ago. Jim and I crashed their vacation for a couple of days as we were staying about a mile away in our motorhome.
While spending a little bit of time with Samantha last summer, I learned that she loves being in the kitchen and learning new recipes. She was telling me that she had been learning to make spring rolls and crab Rangoon’s from one of her friends Mom. When I said I love crab Rangoon’s but have never made them, That’s when we started planning a day and Sam would be teaching me how to make some of the things she had been learning! Needless to say I was thrilled to be in the kitchen with Samantha and another one of her friends Ashley!
Samantha and Ashley were terrific in the kitchen together, they worked tirelessly chopping, rolling and pinching making these delicious dishes together! I was right there next to them learning, watching and laughing with them in the kitchen! The first dish the girls made were the spring rolls. They used cucumbers, carrots, Asian slaw mix, cooked shrimp, cooked shredded pork (found in Asian markets) and some of them had cooked teriyaki noodles in them for a fun twist. They mixed and matched the filling ingredients and rolled them in rice paper wrappers that were softened in warm water.
The girls were free spirits in the kitchen, adding whatever they wanted using however much they wanted, no measurements were used! The spring rolls were terrific and having each one made a little different made an exciting bite!
One of the things Samantha did that I thought was brilliant was to buy a ring of shrimp cocktail and use how ever many of the shrimp she needed and her family could still enjoy the shrimp ring and cocktail sauce at another meal! All of the work was done for her by doing this, no peeling ,deveining or cooking the shrimp it was all done!
Next up we made the Crab Rangoon’s! This dish just like the last there was no measuring involved but I’ll give an approximate amounts! We made easily 4 dozen Rangoon’s, you can half the recipe but feeding this group we definitely needed that many! Samantha used wonton wrappers, 2 blocks of softened cream cheese and about 3/4 to a cup of onion, celery and imitation crab meat(diced).
One of the biggest tips I took away from Samantha was after she diced the celery she put it in a dish towel and squeezed as much of the liquid out of it she could, I was amazed at how much really came out! I think that may have been Sam’s workout for the day as she get every last drop out of the celery she could! Once the diced, onion, celery and imitation crab were well incorporated into the softened cream cheese it was time to make the Rangoon’s! This is where many hands come in handy! Sam showed each of us how to pinch the filled wontons together just right but she also joked that when her brothers help they make them in all kinds of weird shapes!
While Samantha, Ashley , myself and even Jim made the Rangoon’s Sam’s Mother Ann Marie heated about 3-4 inches of oil (peanut oil or vegetable oil work well) in a large pot, the oil should be heated to just under 350 degrees. These can also be baked or air fried!
As we made them Ann Marie fried them in Batches just until the crab Rangoon’s turned golden brown on the edges.
While the Rangoon’s were frying up Samantha and Ashley made the dipping sauce. Again no measurements, Sam did this all by sight and taste! Hoisin sauce and about 2 dollops of Peanut butter mixed well!
Everything that Samantha and Ashley made was phenomenal! Everyone was quick to get to the table and just like that dinner was devoured and loved by all!
A HUGE Thank You to Samantha , Rick, Ann Marie, Shaun, Nick and Ashley for letting us crash your vacation and make some delicious food!
I have been buying Ken’s Apple Cider Vinaigrette for a couple years now, it’s one of my favorite salad dressing to have on salads or with vegetables but I recently went on their website to see if the dressing was gluten free and found it is gluten free and they had a recipe for these meatballs so I knew I wanted to try them. These meatballs are sweet from the vinaigrette and spicy from the sriracha and cayenne. Jim and I both really liked these meatballs. They are simple to make and can be made into smaller meatballs for an appetizer or larger for dinner. These would also be easy to make and put in the crockpot for entertaining.
INGREDIENTS
For the meatballs-
2 pounds ground Turkey
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup breadcrumbs (I used crushed corn chips to keep it gluten free)
1 small onion finely diced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup Ken’s Apple cider Vinaigrette
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
To make the glaze-
1 cup Ken’s Apple Cider Vinaigrette
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 teaspoons grated ginger
6 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons sriracha
3 teaspoons cornstarch
DIRECTIONS
Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and set aside. Add all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and mix well to combine. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place the balls on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Mix the apple cider glaze ingredients except for the cornstarch into a large skillet and mix well to combine and bring to a boil. Once to a boil mix the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water then add to the sauce mixture. Stir until slightly thickened then turn the heat down to medium. When the meatballs are ready take them out from the oven and add them to the sauce to finish cooking. Once cooked through remove from heat and serve warm.
Enjoy!
Easter was just a couple weeks ago and I realized when I was making deviled eggs I did not have that recipe on the blog and did not take a picture of just the eggs! You can spot that deviled egg on the plate next to the fruit salad and mashed potatoes! This recipe comes from food network. It’s simple with all the flavors you would expect. I always add a little extra pepper to my deviled eggs just because we like that little bite.
INGREDIENTS
12 large eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 or 2 dashes of hot sauce
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Chives for garnish if desired
Smoked paprika for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
Hard boil your eggs, I use an egg steamer but you can simply place the eggs in a single layer in a wide sauce pan, cover with one inch of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer ten minutes. Transfer the eggs to a boil of ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool carefully peel them.
Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks to a medium bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork and add the mayonnaise, mustard, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well. Transfer to a large resealable bag or pastry bag. Snip the end off of the bag. Place your egg whites on a platter and pipe the filling into the whites. Dust with smoked paprika. Refrigerate until serving.
Enjoy!
I mentioned I have been doing some behind the scene’s work on the blog, part of the reason I am reviewing and updating is that later this year I would like to have a book printed with some family recipes from my family, some from Jim’s family and all of our long time favorite recipes. This recipe is one that I have made for MANY years, it always has a spot at our parties. I hate to even call it a recipe as it’s two ingredients that are tossed in the slow cooker, that’s it! It’s a tiny bit sweet with some heat from the jalapenos. I have not made them for a while and decided to make them for an afternoon football game, so good! I like to buy the small frozen meatballs and keep this as an appetizer. So easy for a party and can be kept warm in your slow cooker during the party.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound small frozen meatballs (fully cooked meatballs) meatballs
12.5 ounce jar of Apple Jalapeño Jelly
INGREDIENTS
Simply add all of the meatballs into the slow cooker and add all of the jelly on top of the meatballs and stir. I like to start this on high for one hour then stir and reduce temperature to low until warmed through at least one more hour. Can be left on warm stirring a couple times.
Enjoy!
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