Honey Glazed Carrots

Here is one of my favorite side dishes.


You need:

1 1/2 cups baby carrots
3 Tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Bring the carrots to a boil for 10 minutes, until tender and crisp. Drain carrots and in another pan sauteed the honey, sugar and lemon juice. Place the carrots into the saucepan with the honey mixture and coat well. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Carrot Cake

In honor of my Beautiful Sister Tami's Birthday I am going to post this cake recipe! Happy Birthday Tami!!!! I love you!
This dessert is becoming one of my favorites, especially after trying this wonderful version that Mrs. Darlene kindly passed me! Thank you Darlene! This recipe was wonderful!

Ingredients for cake: 

2 1/2 cup self-rising flour          1 1/2 cup oil

2 cups sugar                                 4 eggs, beaten

3 tsp cinnamon                            3 cups grated carrots

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients.  Pour into 2 or 3 greased and floured cake pans.

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.

Ingredients for Frosting: 

  8 oz. cream cheese, softened            2 tsp flour

  1 box powdered sugar                       1 cup pecan pieces

  1 stick butter

Mix butter and sugar.  Add powdered sugar and flour a little at a time. Add pecans last.  Frost cake. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Chocolate Chip Yum Squares

Hey Y'all! This year I spent my Christmas Vacation in Birmingham, Alabama, and I had many occasions to try some very delicious southern food! The best! Among all of the delicious things I have tried there was one in particular that won my heart. I have to thank Mrs. Darlene for being so nice to pass me this great recipe that I am sure you will all love!

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten                                        6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter, softened                    1 cup pecan pieces

8 oz. cream cheese, softened            1 cup coconut

1 yellow cake mix(Duncan Hines)   3 eggs, separated

1 box confectioners sugar

With a fork, stir 1 egg, butter, and cake mix.  Press into a 9x13 greased dish.  Using mixer, combine cream cheese, 2 eggs, and confectioners sugar.  Pour over crust.  Mix chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut together.  Sprinkle on top.  Bake at 325 for 55 to 60 minutes.  Cool before cutting. It's so good! You'll know what I mean when you bite into it! Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Peanut Brittle

I made this recipe the other day! I am impressed on how long this candy can last in a tapper ware container outside of the fridge! :)


Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup raw peanuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:

Combine first 4 ingredients in 2-quart microwave mixing bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes, stirring after 4 minutes. Add butter. Microwave on HIGH 2 minutes. Brittle should not get too brown. Stir in vanilla and soda until light and foamy. Spread on buttered baking sheet as thinly as possible. Cool. Break into pieces. Soak mixing bowl in warm  water immediately for easier clean-up. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Chicken & Pasta Casserole

A great dish for a winter day is this chicken and pasta casserole.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast
Spinach
Pasta
1 can of cream of mushrooms
Parmesan Cheese
Bread crumbs
Onions

Sautee the chicken with onions, olive oil, spinach and cream of mushrooms. In another pan boil the pasta. Add the cooked pasta to the chicken and spinach mixture. Pour everything in a greased pan, top with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake in the oven  at 350 F for around 20 minutes. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Slow cooked Cranberry Turkey

This year for thanksgiving I wanted to try cooking my turkey in the slow cooker, and I have to say that the result was great! The sweetness of the cranberry and the flavor of the orange was a wonderful match!


What you need:

A small butterball turkey breast
1 can cranberry sauce
1 pack onion soup mix
1/2 cup orange juice

In a bowl mix the cranberry sauce, orange juice and onion soup mix. Pour a little bit of extravirgin olive oil at the bottom of the crock pot. Place your turkey inside the slow cooker and pour the cranberry mixture on top. Cook on low for 7 hours. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Biscuit Sandwiches

Turn your biscuits into little sandwiches! This can be a nice snack idea, as well as a nice appetizer!Bake your biscuits following the instructions on your box (or you can even make them from scratch if you have enough time available!). I also sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on top of them before baking!

Cut them in 1/2 and spread some butter inside each one. Use your favorite sandwich meat and cheese to stuff them. This time I used Italian Salami, Honey Ham, and sharp Cheddar cheese. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Fried Pickles

Here is a southern North American recipe. Fried Pickles!


First you need to slice your pickles (I used the ones pre-sliced in the jar). Beat an egg with some milk, paprika, salt, pepper, and hot pepper. Dip the pickles in the egg batter and then coat them with some breadcrumbs. Fried them until golden brown. Place them on a paper towel sheet to drain the excess oil, sprinkle some salt on top when they are warm. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Club Sandwich

This was my first attempt making a club sandwich and I have to say it turned out pretty darn good!












You will need 3 slices of bread. Start by toasting them and spreading a thin layer of mayo on top of the first one. Next place some lettuce, ham and cheese on top of it. Now it's time for the second piece of bread to be places on top , and spread both sides of it with mayo. Put some more lettuce, Salami, cheese and pickles. Finish by placing the third piece of bread on top. Insert 4 toothpicks along the center of each side and cut the sandwich diagonally, forming 4 little triangles. There you have it! A wonderful and yummy club sandwich! Of course you can make many variations to it with your favorite spreads, cheeses and meats! Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Zucchini Nut Bread

I love this recipe and this year I tried to make it myself and I was very pleased on how it turned out! :)












You will need:

2 cups Flour
cinnamon
1 Tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 Tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
Vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded apple
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup coconut flakes

Mix everything in a large bowl, incorporating the zucchini, apple, walnuts and coconut for last.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for about 1 hour. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Delicious Cupcakes from Crumbs, NYC

During last year trip to New York City, Rachel took us to the best cupcake place ever!

Crumbs is a little place situated on one side of Bryant Park. The presentation of each cupcake was just amazing... for all tastes! The flavor of each one we had was incredible! Soooo yummy! If you happen to be in that area of NY you might want to stop by! Enjoy! :)

Pecan Pie

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Today to celebrate this holiday I wanted to show you one of the many delicious things that are going to be part of our thanksgiving super dinner... Pecan Pie! I always bought this delish desserts, but this year I wanted to make it myself and I am very proud of the result!


All you need is:

Pie Crust
1-1/3 cups of Pecans
3/4 cup corn syrup (Light or dark)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tsp Vanilla extract
3 eggs
Preheat the oven at 425 F and cook the pie crust for 15 minutes, until golden. (Remember to make some holes in the pie crust with the fork, so it wont rise... or if you prefer put some aluminum foil with dry beans)
In the mean time, just mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, adding the chopped pecans for last. Pour the mixture in the pie crust and bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Warm Spinach Dip

I am so happy to share with you this great and super easy recipe for a yummy warm spinach dip!
All you need is:

1 pack cream cheese ( 8 Oz)
1/2 cup Mayo
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 pack spinach

In a bowl beat the cream cheese and the mayo. Add Parmesan, spinach and mozzarella.
Put in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Serve with pita chips, bread, or anything you like. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Fritters

This is a very fun way to make your usual Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich. You will need some white or whole wheat sandwich bread, Peanut butter, jelly and vegetable oil to fry. Just make some rounds out of the sliced bread. Spread some Peanut butter and jelly on top, leaving some space from the edges. Place another slice of bread on top and pinch firmly with your fingers, sealing the 2 bread slices. Now fry the until golden brown. Drain them on some paper towel sheets and sprinkle with some powder sugar on top. Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Slow cooked BBQ Pulled Pork

Last night I was very excited of trying my new Crock pot for the first time! I wanted to try the recipe for the BBQ Pulled pork I fell in love with during my trip to Birmingham (Alabama).


What I used was:

Pork tenderloin, Salt, pepper, onions, a little bit of extra vergin olive oil and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

Just place a little bit of olive oil in the crock pot and some onions. Rub your pork with salt pepper and BBQ sauce. Place the pork in the Crock pot and top it with some more onions and BBQ Sauce. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.



I came back home from class and smelled this wonderful aroma of BBQ Pork! I love my crock pot! It's like somebody is cooking for me while I am away! I made some potato rolls sandwiches with it, and also some lettuce wraps topped with mozzarella cheese... delicious! Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Garlic & Cheese Biscuit-Burgers

When I don't know what to cook for dinner, I start to open my pantry and look around, hoping to find some inspiration. That is how I came up with this delicious recipe! I had a bag of Betty Crocker Garlic and cheese biscuits mix, some ground beef, lettuce, and bacon. So I started by baking the biscuits. While they were cooling down for a couple of minutes, I cooked the seasoned mini beef patties with chili powder, salt, pepper, and oregano. Then I grilled the bacon too. After preparing my stuffing on the side, I cut the biscuits in half and started layering them inside. First a layer of mayo, a piece of lettuce, the burger, a piece of cheese, 1 pickle, the bacon, mustard, and ketchup. They were so yummy! Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Halloween Cake Pops

Since we are in this spooky period of the year I decided to make a Halloween treats. Pumpkin cake pops.













All you need is: Some candy sticks, a cake mix ( I picked the yellow cake mix), a can of frosting, some candy melts.

Just bake your cake according to the directions in the back of the cake mix box (or if you have time you can make it from scratch). Once the cake has cooled down, crumble it and mix it with the frosting, until it becomes a ball. Form you little balls and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Melt you candy melt and dip the tip of each stick before inserting it in the cake ball. Let it harden. The next step is dipping the cake pops and place a jelly bean on top, so that it will look like a stem. Place the in a Styrofoam to dry. If you have some markers you can even draw some faces on them. I suggest to have a cup of this delicious Pumpkin tea along with these cake pops... this tea is so good, when I made it, it smelled like I just made a pumpkin pie! Yummy! Enjoy! Buon Appetito!

Peach Strawberry Cobbler

Here is a very quick and easy recipe for a cobbler that is out of this world! I made it with peaches and strawberries, but you can go crazy with your imagination and use blueberry, blackberry, apple, bananas... anything you like! (Thanks to my friend Vicky that gave me this wonderful recipe!)

1/2 stick of butter

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup, plus 1 tblsp sugar(to sprinkle on top of mixture before baking)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

2 heaping cups fruit (peaches, cherries, blueberries, blackberries,

raspberries, strawberries or combination of berries)

Adjust oven to 350 degrees and melt butter in 9x9in glass baking dish.

While butter melts whisk all dry ingredients in mixing bowl, then

whisk in milk. Let stand approximately 3 minutes, or until butter is

melted.

Once butter is melted, pour batter into baking dish, then place fruit

evenly into dish. Sprinkle 1 tblsp sugar on top of mixture. Bake at

350 for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with Ice Cream and a smile :) ... and share with good friends!