Come Visit!

I have decided that trying to keep up with three different blogs was just too much! So I have decided to cut it down to one. I will still share recipes, but there will be other things as well.

http://beautifulirish-myworld.blogspot.com/ Here is the link, come follow!!!

A Cute Fall Snack

I came across this really cute snack idea online. It was great because Cameron could put it together himself! All it took was Hershey Kisses, mini Nilla wafers, peanut butter and a peanut butter chip!

Before......

After!!!!

The Long Awaited Mac n Cheese Recipe

While my husband was in basic training I lived with my in laws. My father in law is a pretty good cook, and I took advantage of the time to learn some basics from him. The thing I have used the most is his cream sauce, which I have added some wonderfulness and turned into a mac n cheese that is loved by many!

Ingredients:
1 box macaroni noodles
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 lb grated cheese ( I like a mix of colby and sharp chedder)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt/pepper
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 sleeve crushed ritz crackers

Cook pasta according to package and set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour and cook on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Add cream and milk. Add nutmeg, salt, pepper, pepper flakes and paprika to the sauce. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally on medium heat. Turn off heat and add cheese and stir until melted.
Combine sauce and pasta. Sprinkle crushed ritz on top. Bake in a 350 oven, covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly! Enjoy!

Sales are Mothers of Invention

Today when I went to Safeway they had a sale on raspberries, buy one get one free. I love sales like that. However, that ment that I had to find something to do with all those raspberries...I know....such a tough life.
This evening I have book club, it is one of my favorite nights of the month. So I decided I would do something with the raspberries to bring to the girls.
I came up with a chocolate raspberry cheesecake cupcake. I combined my favorite chocolate cake recipe, with a cheesecake concoction and ended up with a very tasty morsel!

Beatty's Chocolate Cake (this is an Ina Garten recipe that I LOVE!!!!)
Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee ( I used French Vanilla coffee for the cupcakes.)

Cheesecake Filling

1 pkg cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 egg


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins with either papers or grease and flour them.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

For the filling: cream together the cream cheese and egg, add raspberries and sugar and beat until smooth.

To fill the tins: Put about a Tbsp of the batter in the cup. Add 1 tsp of the cheesecake filling, then add another Tbsp of the batter on top.

Bake at 350 for between 20 and 25 min. Take them out and let them cool. I frosted them with store bought dark chocolate icing. ( I didn't have all the ingredients for my favorite frosting)

Welcome Fall!!!

I welcome the fall season with open arms! I love everything about fall....the food, the weather, the clothes and the smells.
While it isn't "officially" fall yet, I decided to start the season right with some lovely pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I like muffins because I have better success with them then with loaves of quick breads. The middle is never quite right with the loaves, so muffins are my friends.
I found the recipe on all recipes.com. It isn't bad at all, they are quite yummy! However, next time I think I am going to use brown sugar instead of white and maybe add a bit more pumpkin. I am also going to bake them at 375 instead of 400 degrees. The tops got a little brown.

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Over all it was a great way to start off the fall season!!

Creative Leftovers

The other day I made a large pot of sausage spaghetti sauce. We had alot leftover and I had to come up with a way to use it. I was out of spaghetti noodles and with Hurricane Irene quickly approaching I wasn't about to brave the commissary just for spaghetti noodles! So I got creative and turned it into a wonderful soup! It was a cross between pasta fagoli and minestrone. It was filling and delicious and a great way to use leftovers.

Slowcooker Sausage Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb Italian Sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 cup sliced mushroom
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 zuchinni chopped
1 cup red wine (optional)
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 can tomato sauce
3 Tblsp tomato paste
2 Tblsp balsamic vinegar
3 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in a pan. Add it to the slowcooker and then add all the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 6 hours on low.
Serve over your favorite pasta.

Turning the Sauce into soup!

Put leftover sauce into the slowcooker. Add two cans of beef broth and one can kidney beans. Cook on low for four hours. About 45 minutes before you want to eat switch for high and add 1/2 a box of macaroni.

Enjoy!!

It's Time Again....

....for another restaurant review!
From August 7th - 14th I had the privilege of spending the week with a bunch of my girlfriends in beautiful Emerald Isle, NC. It was a relaxing week full of laughs, sun, fun, and a little bit of wine every now and then!
Each night we cooked dinner, split into pairs it was kinda fun to see different people's taste's and cooking techniques and I picked up a few tips!
On Friday night we headed into Beaufort, NC for a night out. Our fearless leader led us to "The Spouter Inn Restaurant". Located right on the water, you couldn't ask for a better view for dinner.
We started out with a wonderful crab dip, paired with grilled pita bread. Being from Maryland, I was used to a baguette to enjoy my crab dip, but the pita had a wonderful smokiness from being grilled that enhanced the cream flavor and texture of the crab.
After the crab dip, I started my dinner with their house salad, which instead of the normal iceberg, was comprised of lovely dark leafy greens. I chose their citrus cilantro dressing. It was so refreshing! I am determined to figure out the ingredients and make it myself. Not only was it good on the salad, but it was wonderful to dip the homemade bread in. I contemplated buying a pint, but was afraid it wouldn't last the trip home.
I chose to have one of their appetizers for my entree. I chose to do that because they have a bakery attached, and I wanted to make sure I had room for dessert!
I chose their sesame seared tuna, with a soy glaze and wasabi aioli. The pickled ginger that accompanied it was artfully crafted into a rose.
It tasted as good as it looked. The wasabi was not overpowering at all. I could still taste the delicate flavor of the tuna. The sesame sear provided a lovely crunch before the tuna melted in your mouth.

Then came the desserts.....you can tell that they were baked fresh. I think between all of us at the table we ordered the entire dessert menu! I split the carrot cake and the chocolate silk pie with my friend. The carrot cake was the best I have ever tasted. The carrot cake was moist and delicious. The cream cheese frosting brought the sweet flavor of the carrot and the spices together seamlessly. The pie's crust was flakey and light. The chocolate was the proper mixture of bitter and sweet. The whipped cream on top was light, sweet and fluffy.
The whole dinner was made even more wonderful by the service. We were treated like we were the only guests there, and we were there on a busy Friday night. The servers were attentive, but not overbearing. Our glasses were never empty, and the servers were very knowlegeable about the menu, and even took the time to find out the answers to certain questions about the ingredients.
To further endear the restaurant to us, as we were leaving we saw a fisherman bring his catch, fresh off his boat into the restaurant to be used that evening. Can you
say fresh?!?!?!?
The dinner at Spouter Inn was a wonderful addition to a fun girls week!

All dressed up for girls night out!