GERMAN PASTRIES

 

Are there places around you that you wonder what they are? what they have? but have never been? there’s a little bakery/coffee shop  just a few doors down from one of our favorite steak houses , why have we never been here? lol!

 

 

we had to be out & about early yesterday morning so we decided to try something new to us & this was it! I loved this little place & looking forward to going back to try something off their lunch menu, I had the chocolate kiss & he had a cherry Danish, they both were delicious, not too sweet but just right  surprisingly filling perhaps because there isn’t a high content of sugar like our sweets contain

 

 

definitely worth going back,  the lady that owns it is from Germany & is  sweet as can be! I don’t think I’ve had asthenic  German food so trying something from the lunch menu could be interesting as well as delicious

other than stepping outside our  food comfort zone there’s been more canning going on! 9 jars of blackberry yumminess!

 

FEELING PEACHY?

with the move to the house on the lake there hasn’t been much fancy exciting cooking going on, we took the smaller grands to pick peaches, oh what a time they had!

you know you’re getting close when the see the big peach in the air!

boy was it hot! but that didn’t stop the fun!

H

 

 

funny how they disappear when there’s work to be done lol! peach jam & canned peaches done!

when it comes to peaches I don’t drain  mine like the sure box suggest I like to know I’m eating peach jam, I cut them as small as I can  then mash well with my masher, sometimes in  a blender but I took them to the new house & had to work with what I had

the  canned peaches are  in light syrup made by  mixing 3 parts water to one part sugar, I usually make 2-3 batches  at a time depending on how many peaches I have

LIGHT SYRUP

3c. water

1c. sugar

mix & heat, pour over peaches in jars, slide a knife  down the sides to remove any air bubbles

water bath for 25 min.

 

now to go looking for blackberries! there’s  a place that we go to every year for wild blackberries & wild plums

 

NATIONAL DONUT DAY

did you know that today was National Donut day? did you get your free donut? how many? lol! after a Dr visit we hit our Krispy Kreme

 

then we hit our Dunkin Donuts, yes we were called shameless lol!

 

  

do you know why we celebrate National Donut Day? I didn’t know this till I came across it on the Krispy Kreme website

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/doughnut.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEMON CHICKEN & BRUSSELS

no longer do I buy the chicken breast in the frozen bags, the price has went up unreasonable especially as much as they shrink after cooking, so I’ve started buying the fresh chicken breast on the meat department, they are so big I can cut them in half flay style & they’re still too much meat , yes these six pieces of chicken are actually three cut in half

brown the chicken on both sides for about 2 min

 

remove chicken & add Brussels & statute, add onions ( I only had onion flakes on hand) garlic ( I used minced) lemon juice, chicken stock, the recipe calls to put chicken back into the skillet but I opted to place mine in a baking dish

 

 

a side dish of rice makes this dish complete

 

 

FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE VISIT

http://bootsupyall.blogspot.com/2014/01/baked-lemon-chicken-brussels-south.html

 

THEIRS ………………………………………………..MINE

 

…………..             

 

Baked Lemon Chicken & Brussels
1 lb. chicken breasts
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 cup chicken stock
1 lemon
1 lb. brussel sprouts
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large cast iron skillet (or oven proof skillet) heat 2 tbsp. olive oil on medium-high. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts and add to the skillet. Once you add them, don't touch them. Let them brown 3 to 4 minutes per side. Then flip once and let them brown the same amount of time on the other side. Then remove from skillet. You will continue cooking them in the oven.
Turn the heat down to medium, and add chopped onions to the skillet. Let saute a few minutes then add the garlic. Add brussel sprouts (I like to chop them in half) and let saute and begin to get nice color on them. Add 1 cup chicken stock and zest and juice of one lemon. Stir to combine.
Add chicken breast back to the pan moving them around until they are sunk into the bottom of the pan.
Place entire skillet in oven and bake 12-15 minutes depending on how large of a chicken breast. Once the juices run clear the chicken is done.

 

*NOTE *

I only had one lemon so I opted to use real lemon juice so I could use the lemon for a  prettier presentation, I used Jared minced garlic about 1 TBS,I didn't return everything back to the skillet but placed in a baking dish as I had too much to fit after cutting the chicken breast in half, over all this was a good recipe & I will be making it again in the future, I’m sure the real lemon juice made it more tart than normal so I’m looking forward to making it again with  enough lemons

 

A NEW TWIST ON TUNA SALAD

A new twist on tuna salad, tuna, yellow bell peppers, kamala olives, eggs, Dijon & mayo mixture topped with tomatoes on Romaine lettuce leaves

 

the recipe called for scallions, I didn’t have any so I used yellow bell peppers, it called for capers, I didn’t have any of those either so I used kamala olives, you see I’d already opened the tuna, boiled the eggs, chopped the tomatoes before I realized it called  for these unusual items & it just wasn’t worth going all the way to the store lol! all in all the taste was pleasant & turned out pretty good & pretty’s what it's all about right? lol!

 

my inspiration for this recipe can be seen here

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/01/recipe-for-tuna-salad-lettuce-wraps.html

 

THEIRS

 

MINE

 

I would like to try it again with the scallions & the capers to see the difference in taste, have you tried putting  a new twist on a recipe lately?

 

IT’S FIJITA TIME!

 

I finally had time to try out one of the lettuce wrap recipes I’d came across on the internet, Chicken Fajita lettuce Wraps with a little tweaking

the recipe calls for Italian dressing , which I did not have so I used Kraft's Sun Dried Tomato Vinegarret dressing, taste wise, I think this would be the better choice anyway seeing Italian has more of a tart taste which I’m sure is a matter of taste but tonight it  was a matter of what I had lol!

I butterflied  two chicken breast & cut into strips, prepped  my peppers & onion, the chicken marinates for 30 minutes in 1/4 c. of the dressing & 1/4 tbsp. cumin, I didn’t measure either of these, I just eyeballed it, meanwhile  you will take  about 2=3 TBSP. of the dressing & cook the peppers & onions till  tender to your liking, remove  them from the skillet & add chicken with the marinade & cook till done, return peppers & onions, layer onto Romaine lettuce leaves , the recipe calls to wrap in lettuce, I chose to do the Romaine

I was surprised at how well the flavors of this was so good, a  recipe keeper for sure! I’m sure it was the sun dried tomato vinegarret that done it lol!, will defiantly be trying this with tortillas, sour cram ,cheese , you know! the works! lol! but for now this is fine the way it is, for it turned out good enough to be a keeper!

I found this recipe on the Kraft Recipe site, you can print out the recipe  here  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chicken-fajita-lettuce-wraps-63385.aspx

 

 

 

SHRIMP SCAMPI TAKE TWO!

 

Today I had a hankering for shrimp scampi, I looked through my recipes I have pinned on Pinterest & the butter garlic shrimp is almost to the tee the same as shrimp scampi with the exception of one ingredient which I didn’t have on hand anyway but I knew I liked the buttered shrimp as I’ve made it before & it’s basically the same only adding spaghetti noodles, it’s very easy & quick to pull together, 15 min tops!

I cooked & drained a small bag of spaghetti noodles, adding a touch of salt & pepper

ingredients used:

a bag of cooked shrimp found in the freezer section

1 TBS minced garlic

1 TBS dried parsley

1 stick  butter (halved)

1/4 cup vegetable broth

juice of 1/2 lemon

add 1/2 of the stick of butter to skillet, add garlic & shrimp, lemon juice, vegetable broth, bring to a boil

reduce heat & add remaining half of butter one tbsp. at a time , add parsley,spaghetti noodles & blend

and you have shrimp scampi made at home!