Beet Pickled eggs

Beet pickled eggs  • 1can of  beets sliced 1 cup beet juice, I just use the whole can• 1 cup cider or white vinegar whatever you have on hand.• 1/2 onion, sliced • 3/4
Cup granulated sugar • 2 garlic cloves smashed and cut in half • 1 bay leaf • 6 hard cooked eggs, peeled.
Put peeled eggs into a clean glass jar.
Bring all other ingredients to a boil, till sugar melts.
Let cool slightly then pour into eggs, cover and refrigerate.  Will keep for months, but ours never last that long.  The longer they sit the more flavor they develop,  but we've eaten them the next day , sometimes you just can't wait lol
Enjoy!
Allison

Polish Potato Dumplings (Kopytka) Recipe

Polish Potato Dumplings (Kopytka) made with mashed potatoes, flour and egg. These dumplings are perfect served with garlic, onion, mushrooms and bacon.

Or just some melted butter and sauteed onion.  Or like I made today sauteed with butter and added to a big pot of sauteed cabbage,onions,garlic, and apple. Which becomes my version of Haluski(Fried cabbage and noodles).

The ultimate comfort food 

Kopytka are popular in the southern part of Poland. They are made with mashed potatoes, egg and flour. 

They are cooked in salted water, I add chicken  broth. when they float they are done. and can be served right away or sauteed in pan for a crispy exterior. 

• 2 cups mashed potatoes cold
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour 

Place mashed potatoes in a mixing bowl. They should be cold, so this is a great way to use up leftover potatoes.

Add egg and flour and mix until the dough comes together. 

In a large saucepan or pot, boil water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. I add chicken base to my water, that's why it's yellow!

Now make your dumplings by taking a teaspoon full of dough and sliding it off into your chicken stock

Add about 8 dumplings at a time to the boiling stock and cook until they start to float to the top. This does not take long.

And poof little magical potato pillows of awesomeness. 

Remove and place on a plate. Repeat with remaining dumplings. There were more, but I had to sample a few, lol

You can serve the dumplings right away as a side dish. Or do as I did and saute with butter and add to cabbage. 

Enjoy!

Allison

Yule Brew🥃A Christmas Eve Tradition 🎄

Every year for Christmas  eve🎄 my family would have a meatless meal, a extra place setting would be set at the dining room table, for our family members who had passed on, and a bottle of whiskey and one shot glass would be passed around the table till it was gone, lol it was a big family 😍

Every one had a garlic clove dipped into salt and sometimes honey for good health for the year.  I remember my husband's first time with this tradition he ate the whole clove at once! Lol😳 instead of little nibbles throughout the meal. Oh well lesson learned. So we have continued this tradition throughout the years and now our son continues as well.

I hope you enjoy the recipe for what I now call our Yule Brew🥃🎄A smooth apple and cinnamon infused bourbon. 

Enjoy

Allison 

Yule Brew

One golden delicious Apple chopped 

2 or 3 -3" cinnamon sticks

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

3 cups of bourbon

 A 1/4 cup of simple syrup.

 Place 1st 3 ingredients in a large ball jar or container

 Add bourbon Stir cover let stand at Room temperature at least 4 days I do 7

 Stir once A-day.

Stir to distribute flavors 

Pour bourbon mixture through a fine wire mesh strainer.

 Discard solids.

 Stir in simple syrup and pour into a clean canning jar or fancy bottle cover and store in fridge.🎄

Simple syrup is equal amounts of sugar and water, heating till sugar melts.

Cranberry and Rosemary White Christmas Sangria

Cranberry & Rosemary White Christmas Sangria

1 Granny Smith apple

1 Braeburn apple

1 heaping Cup Fresh cranberries

1 large Sprig rosemary

1 Bottle Pinot grigio

½ cup white grape juice

¼ cup sugar (more, for garnish)

1 Can club soda

You need to chop up the apples, I prefer them in small cubes so you can easily snack on them while enjoying your sangria, or as I like to call it…dinner. I mean, it has food in it so that counts, right?

I try to use good wine for my sangria. I am sure many winemakers would scoff at the suggestion but good wine makes good sangria. Crappy wine makes good sangria too, you just have to add a lot more too it. I prefer to let the wine shine through too. Oh, a little secret…the advantage to using good wine is that you can pour yourself a glass of it while assembling this recipe and it won’t suck.

In a large pitcher, combine all of the ingredients.

Mix it well, so that the sugar fully dissolves.

Place the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill. During this time the sugar will fully dissolve and the rosemary, it will infuse your sangria. If you are wondering why I chose rosemary for this, well, it’s because I like my sangria’s sweet. But I really dislike the sweetness to linger. So by adding rosemary, it kind of cuts the sweetness down on the finish making it much more enjoyable.

While that chills, let’s make the garnish for this drink. I am not really into fancy garnish, personally. And this is far from one. But it is a Christmas drink and I figured if the rosemary could look like it was covered in snow, how effing Martha Stewart is that? To do this, simple place about 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Lightly wet the rosemary and then give it a good shake to remove any excess water. Then roll the sprigs in the sugar until they are coated as you please. Gorgeous, right?

Once the pitcher has chilled for about an hour, it should be ready to serve. How amazing does this look?

Courtesy of:

http://cookingstoned.tv/recipe/cranberry-rosemary-white-christmas-sangria/

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

This recipe for shrimp cocktail is one of our favorites,  and so easy for the Holidays 🎄

Toss peeled and deveined shrimp with a little olive oil, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper Sometimes I add a little garlic powder and old bay.

Spread single layer on a  cookie sheet, 

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 8 min.

Serve at room temperature with cocktail sauce.

Happy Holidays 

Allison 

HONEY, MANDRIN ORANGE AND MANGO GLAZED HAM

This Ham is very easy and makes a beautiful presentation! It does take some of your time because you have to baste it every 15 minutes while it bakes, but trust me it is well worth it!

The ingredients are very simple
Ham ( I used a 7 pound)
Honey ( about 1/3 cup)
2 T of Dijon Mustard
1- 11oz can of Mandarin Orange in light syrup
1/2 a cup of Wellsley Farms Caribbean Mango sauce ( This can be found at BJ's) or if you can't find this and mango sauce or orange marmalade will work nice.
ONE (1) DROP of CLOVE OIL ( I AM SERIOUS ABOUT THIS 1 DROP) or 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove.

Now line a roasting pan with foil ( trust me again on this one folks, I've learned from experience)
Place your Ham cut side down on the foil,
Now take a sharp knife and score your ham in a diamond pattern mix the honey,mustard and mango sauce and pour over the ham using a pastry brush get it all over. It will look like this.
Now pour the juice from the oranges over the ham. and save the orange segments for later.

Now bake in a pre heated 325 degree oven for about 2 hours. If you have a smaller Ham use the 15 min per lb. rule.
Now this is where you just cant set it and forget it YOU MUST baste the ham with the drippings every 15 min. The last 15 min add the orange segments. and now it will look like this

Now comes the real hard part, you must let it rest for another 15 min before you slice it!

Enjoy!

Allison

BONEFISH GRILL SAUCY SHRIMP AND SCALLOPS

My husband and I went to the Bonefish grill yesterday, he has been wanting the saucy shrimp for weeks now.

he was so upset to find out they have removed it from the menu, we had other wonderful food, but he really missed the Saucy Shrimp.  After talking to one of the staff we found out that they will still make it for you upon request ( wish they would have said that BEFORE we ordered Lol)  and our son used to work there so we also got the recipe.

 

 

Bonefish Grill Saucy Shrimp & Scallops

2 oz. Butter
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 ea. green onion
10 ea. Kalamata olives, ½ pieces
2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes, julienne
3 oz. shrimp (small count)
3 oz. bay scallops
2 tbsp. lemon juice
¼ cup clam broth
3 tbsp. Feta cheese, crumbles
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
For service: crusty bread, as needed
   
Heat butter in a sauté pan. Add garlic and green onions and sauté
until the aroma fills the air.
   
Add Kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes - cook for 30 seconds.
   
Add shrimp and scallops, salt & pepper and sauté until firm - do
not overcook.
   
Add lemon juice, clam juice and feta cheese - bring to a simmer.
   
Pour into heated serving dish.
   
Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
   
Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 1
 Enjoy!
Allison