Stuffed Green Peppers

A great and mildly healthy snack.

The Good: Makes a tasty appetizer or goes fairly as a meal.

The Bad: Takes a bit of time and can be somewhat tricky to cook everything just right.

The Ugly: If we timed it out right, we would have made this recipe from our own grown peppers...

Suggestions Before Starting: 

Basically, we like to have everything as ready as can be before starting anything. That means dicing the tomatoes, cutting the peppers, etc so it's all ready to go. 

Mozzarella Chicken

Succulent and Flavorful

The Good: Easy to prepare, absolutely juicy and fairly cheap.

The Bad: The recipe takes a bit of time to cook up.

The Ugly: I always make a huge mess when breading foods!

Suggestions Before Starting: 
As always, leave items like butter and eggs out for a bit before starting the recipe so it is easier to work with and so it will blend better.  I usually set them out when I start thinking about making dinner (30-40 minutes early).  Please don't forget you set it out and let it spoil after a change of plans!
If you do not have dried bread crumbs, feel free to crush crackers (saltines, cheese Its, butter crackers.. you pick!) and add your favorite spices.  I like to use oregano, basil... and whatever else inspires me that day.
Don't forget to get wax paper if you do not have any!

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

The Perfect Taste for Fall

The Good:  I made these for my co-workers when I worked at the hospital and they were gone quickly.

The Bad: Fall only comes once a year!

The Ugly:  Crystallized ginger is extremely expensive unless you find the right store.

Suggestions before starting:
I like to "seal" cakes and cupcakes with a thin layer of icing while it is still warm to keep in the moisture.  As you can see in the picture, I was a little impatient when I went back to finish icing them so the icing became a bit runny and not so pretty.

If you don't already have ginger, cinnamon or ground cloves and are wondering if this recipe would be worth buying those spices, check out our Chai Tea recipe.  All three of this spices are in both recipes and are delicious!

Honey Cookies In Memory of Annie

In our lives we come across a million different personalities.  Some are incredible enough we carry the memory of their presence forever.  Today I would like to honor an incredible woman, Anna M. Hufford.  Anna is the grandmother of Wicked Chef #2 (Dave) and one of the most distinguished and incredible people I have met.  On Sunday, April 17th, 2011 Annie lost her short battle to a brain tumor but quickly gained her wings.

The first time I ever met Annie she told me the story of her and her husband, Walt, making honey cookies.  As she told the story, I knew this is a family I want to be part of someday.  I wish to have similar passion as her and Walt share.  She told us how she had Walt mix her cookies the day before and how exhausting the project was.  I had never heard of honey cookies before so I pictured the older couple mixing typical cookies and sitting down for a rest afterward.  Little did I know they were a very vibrant couple and the cookies were very difficult to mix.  I had never heard of 2 day cookies before!  In the brief time I knew Annie, I saw my original impression was not entirely wrong, her and Walt were incredible together and recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.  Annie is truly loved by many; even her mere acquaintances were made to feel like close family.

Suggestions before starting:
Annie would make the cookies around Thanksgiving and hide them in the pressure cooker until Christmas.  Unfortunately, her kids were a little sneakier and she would only ever see half of the original cookies at Christmas.  The longer the cookies sit the softer they become.
Annie would usually use walnuts instead of almonds and currants are a necessity.
The dough is very thick due to the honey and is quite difficult to mix. When Walt was unavailable, Annie would recruit her grandchildren or strong neighbor kids to mix for her.

Honey Cookies courtesy of Anna M. Hufford


Ingredients
1 qt. honey
3 c brown sugar
1 lb raisins
1 lb currants
1/2 lb chopped almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 qt sour cream
4 tsp soda
flour, enough for soft dough

Directions

1. Boil honey and brown sugar together for a few minutes and cool.
2. Separately, mix the rest of the rest ingredients into a soft dough.
3. Add honey/sugar mixture and mix well.  Let stand overnight in fridge.  Roll to 1/2 inch, cut and bake in oven at 350.

Lets toast to Annie!

Smothered Green Beans- Follow up Recipe!

Flavorful and succulent, these green beans perfectly compliment the Stuffed Pork Tenderloin,

as well as uses some of the extra ingredients!

The Good:  This is a simple recipe that goes perfect as a side dish (especially with the Stuffed Pork from yesterday!)
The Bad: The recipe says you may need a little extra water, we used at least 4x's the amount!
The Ugly: Watch your water level closely. If it gets too low your onions and garlic will burn.

Suggestions before starting:
Keep a large sum of water nearby and ready to add.
To render just means to melt the fat.
If you are not sure if the beans are done... well try one.  You are the best judge for what you like!

Stuffed pork Tenderloin

Flavorful, hearty, juicy and tender... this dish is enough to make any one's mouth water.

Stuffed Pork, Smothered Green Beans & Sauteed Mushrooms

The Good: This recipe is absolutely delicious and the fresh herbs are to die for!

The Bad: There was so much stuffing left over when we followed the recipe.  Friday expect to see what we did with the extra filling.

The Ugly: Only 2 servings!  This is a lot of work for only 2 SERVINGS!

Suggestions before starting:

When making this we did not having any kitchen string so we used toothpicks instead.

This dish is extremely fragrant and will leave the smell in your clothes, purse and other items.  If this is something that bothers you, be sure to put those items in another room before starting.  Sage is a very fragrant spice when baked.

We made the green beans to go with the pork because I don't use bacon often and wanted to use it up.  Tomorrow expect to see the recipe for that and Friday watch for a recipe that uses the extra stuffing!

Tomato Artichoke Chicken

Delicious... scrumptious... succulent...

The Good: This is definitely one of our new favorite recipes! Absolutely tasteful!

The Bad:  If you are someone who likes every recipe to measure out according to plan, it won't.

The Ugly: If you are also using a Casseround... it is incredible difficult to wash the cheese off.

Suggestions before starting:

Although this recipe says to stuff the chicken, we used some of the extra stuffing to layer the chicken almost like a lasagna.

I think it is crucial to use fresh spices to get the full flavor from this recipe.  Depending on the size of your cloves of garlic, you may want to add extra cloves.

When dishing out, we used a slotted spoon so it was not too juicy and served with pasta covered with the extra juice.

We had a large portion of the stuffing left over, we saved it to use as a marinara.  It could also be used for lasagna, meatloaf or stuffing any other type of meat.  It is very versatile and tasty.

Chai Tea

This delectable drink will have you begging for more cool evenings.

Photography and kitchen assistance by Lauren Farello

The Good: Finally! A positive to those frigid winter nights and this recipe makes plenty to share.
The Bad: There are so many spices in this recipe and some of them are not very common.
The Ugly: Cardmom runs approximately $10-$13 dollars per small container!

Suggestions before starting:
The measurements do not need to be overly precise.  If there is a particular ingredient you like a lot, you can add a little bit more.  This recipe is not rocket science and can be altered to your liking easily.
This recipe makes for a great gift!

Pumpkin Dutch Apple Pie

A common holiday favorite with a not-so-common twist!

The Good: If you are tired of the same old pumpkin pie, this is a delicious twist that is easy and quick to prepare.
The Bad: Although it is quick to prepare, this is not good for time constraints because it has to bake for 50 minutes.
The Ugly:  Typical pumpkin pies will turn green with envy when this is the new holiday favorite!

Suggestions before starting:
Be careful not to cut the apples too early in advance because they will begin to brown up.  If it is necessary, cover with the lemon juice the recipe calls for to keep from browning.
Set ingredients from the fridge on the counter before starting the recipe so they will be approximately room temperature when you make the recipe.  This will help the ingredients mix more easily.
If you are like me, you do not like nuts in your pies. Do not worry, just leave them out!  This is true for most pie recipes (with the exception of pecan pie).