It's Easy gettin' Cheesey

I love bread. Like, A LOT. I am the first one in the bread basket when it arrives at the table. Bread, butter.....a match made in heaven.

I get email updates from Kraft, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury and I click and look and will say "Hmm, that might be good" or "my family would bolt from the table if I ever served that". One day I got the email and it was a round Sourdough loaf that was cut, drizzled with butter, stuffed with cheese and then baked.

I'm really not a Sourdough fan. Please do not send the hate mail (like the ones I received when I admitted to not liking ice cream, strawberries or any pie other than pecan and chocolate). I know lots of people enjoy the taste of Sourdough, but not in this house. I kept looking for a round loaf I could use and finally found this in the bakery section of our local grocery store.

mmmmmm, bread

The recipe, if you can even call it that, is pretty much 3 ingredients-bread, butter and cheese. I, however, wanted to bump up the flavor, so I added a fourth element. Garlic powder. I mean, c'mon-who doesn't like garlic bread?

Cheesey Party Loaf

(adapted from on-line recipe**)

1 loaf round bread

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice across the loaf in 1-inch increments, not cutting through the bottom of the bread. Turn the loaf 90 degrees and cut across the loaf again in 1-inch increments. The bread will have 1-inch 'fingers' now. Fan the bread a little to open it up. Stir the garlic powder into melted butter. Pour the melted butter down the rows of the cut bread, making sure to cover horizontal and vertical rows. Take pinchfuls of the shredded cheese and stuff down each row, again making sure to go across all rows, tucking the cheese down into the crevices.

Wrap the loaf in heavy duty tin foil, or a double layer of regular tin foil. Place wrapped loaf on your oven rack that is placed in the middle of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is all melty and gooey.

The second time I made this, I melted a little extra butter and just sprinkled a little more garlic powder in then brushed it over the top of the loaf.

It is so simple but oh so good. My family devoured it at our family Christmas a couple of weeks ago. You just break off a hunk and go. I also made it last weekend for our Girl's Night and brought the half loaf home and we re-warmed it to go with our leftover Prime Rib.

Your tummy-and your family-will thank you.

On to other business.

Twenty years ago at about 5:25 AM, we were blessed with our first daughter Ally. Happy Birthday Baby! I love you even more now than I did when they placed you in my arms all those years ago. I'm sad that I don't get to make you a special dinner or a cake, but I know you have fun plans tonight with your high school BFF and your sister who are driving up North as we speak. Be good, be careful, have fun!



** I checked all of my on-line recipe e-mail sites and can't find the original recipe, so I'm not sure who gets proper credit. UPDATE: it is from Taste of Home, just got an update and checked their site :)

Casey's Guac

Here is Casey's recipe. Well, she says it is a guideline basically. Depending on how big the avocados are, etc. It turned out very well. I ate a couple tablespoonfuls with some chips. I then decided that I should eat something substantial. I steamed some potatoes and made a loaf of bread in the bread machine. I love bread, especially bread baking. Yum-I ate three thin slices along with the spuds. I had batch cooked some chicken earlier in the night and made some rice to go with the rice for the kids. I wasn't in the mood, so it was spuds and bread for me-a nice carb overload. And dealing with teenage drama. I am sooo tired of teenage drama. It involves my youngest, her BFF, some stupid videos they made in my daughter's room and other people talking about the videos, but basically lying about what is in them. My question? Watch the videos and see that they are teenage girls making up stupid stuff and laughing at themselves and that it isn't about your daughter. Ugh. How them dressing up in old prom dresses and talking about their favorite bands turned into 'they are picking on my daughter', I don't understand. Remember when I said we live in a small town and still are treated as outsiders? This is prime example. Apparently if your apple doesn't marry the apple from the next tree, you are non-essential in this town. I digress.

Guacamole-people love it or hate it. I happen to love it. Casey's version is very fresh and flavorful. It reminds me of the resort we stay at in Mazatlan, where they make it fresh all day long at the pool. Ahhh, after days of 60 we dipped back to about 35 today with a wintry mix. I could so use a Mai Tai, a ham and cheese and some guac!

Casey's Guac

2 avocados
half a lime
1 tsp minced garlic (Casey used jarred, so I used jarred)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
half a teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper
about half a tablespoon of cilantro, minced

Cut open avocados and scoop out flesh. I used my handy-dandy slicer the Dude gave me for Christmas.

Slightly mash in bowl.

Roll lime on counter to get juice flowing. Cut in half and squeeze half over the mashed flesh.


Finely chop the red onion and drop in bowl.



Dump in the garlic,



the cumin and a good pinch of salt and a couple twists of fresh ground pepper.



Top with the cilantro and use fork to stir together.



Take some plastic wrap and set right on top of the dip. Squish down so it covers the entire dip. This will help delay browning. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle.




Serve with chips.



Use the other half of the lime to jazz up your rum and cola or float one in your Mexican beer!







I loved this bag of chips as it reminds me of Mazatlan. During happy hour, it is 2 for 1, but down there, they say it opposite of us-it is 'one for two?'. We always opt for '4 for 8' but that is just how we roll. It just made me laugh that it says "$2only" (all one word). It is the small things.

Man, I hope I don't have to go to the principals office tomorrow. Plus, she takes her Driver's Ed test and has been studying all night. Pass that wine......



Pss-look at this pheasant that was sprinting around my yard today. He was darting all over the place. I never got to get my zoom lens on the couple times I saw him (I was using my camera for other stuff too) so these are the best ones I got. He was big.

Poppin' Bacon Bread

I had mentioned the other day that I made an appetizer along with dessert for our girls movie night at my friend Casey's. Cathy at Noble Pig had a recipe from her contest for bacon pull apart bread, but it had peppers in it I think. I love the flavor of peppers, but not so much like to eat chunks of them. I found an old recipe that I had cut out of a Taste of Home magazine many years ago, and it made bacon bread with bread dough and ranch dressing. I pulled some parts out of each and came up with Poppin' Bacon Bread.


Poppin' Bacon Bread

1/2 pound bacon, cooked, cooled and chopped

2 cans Grands biscuits (I had the store brand on hand)

1/2 stick of butter, melted

2 TBSP dry ranch dressing mix

1 cup shredded cheddar (not shown)

mmmmm, bacon

Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Open both cans of biscuits. Cut each biscuit into four pieces. Layer the biscuit pieces in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with bacon pieces. Mix the dressing mix into the butter and stir well. Pour a little of the butter over the bread, then toss about a third of a cup of cheese over the top. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used. Cover top of dish with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, removing foil the last 10.

My friends loved it and so did the Dude. My first attempt was good, however I did learn a few things. I only cooked my dish for 30 minutes uncovered. It got all golden and crispy on top, but once we ate the top layer, it was doughy in the middle. We popped it back in the oven and all was fine, but I would definitely do the foil and bake it longer. It may be that my dish was small in circumference, but pretty deep.

Oh, how do you know that you drive an old person kind of car? When the 80 year old 'cart boy' at the grocery store says "sweet ride!"

A) How does the 80 year old man even know "sweet ride"

B) Why does the 80 year old man have to push carts at his age, for goodness sake?

Thanks for flirting dude, but I'm married and I'm not giving up the Caddy~

Tangy Deviled Eggs

I love deviled eggs. I was (ahem, still am) a picky eater as a child, but I loved deviled eggs. I love my eggs tangy. I experimented until I found the right combination. Do you ever go somewhere and get SO excited because one of your favorites in on the buffet table. With anticipation you take a bite and wait for the flavors to hit the tongue-and........nothing. Flat, dull, boring. What do you do? Spit it out? Swallow and pray you get it all the way down without gagging? Swill that glass of wine to drown the taste out? We had gone to a function (I won't mention details in case that person would read this-probably not, but covering my arss), and we had a huge spread. I spied those eggs and immediately popped one in my mouth. Holy squishy, disgusting moly. This person was a trained chef. Those were the worst eggs ever. It sounds terrible, but if we go anywhere that there are deviled eggs out, I won't try them anymore. Got my heart broke. I usually bring the eggs now.

Tangy Deviled Eggs

10 eggs, closer to expiration date (they are easier to peel)

mayonnaise

Dijon mustard

yellow mustard

vinegar

sweet paprika

Place eggs in a pot large enough to have eggs lay in a single layer. Cover with cold water until eggs are just covered. Place over high heat until water comes to a boil. When water starts a rapid boil, shut off heat and cover pan with lid.

Set timer for 15 minutes. When time is up, drain eggs carefully so as not to burn yourself with steam. Cover with cold water and let sit a minute. Drain and repeat. Shake pan so eggs rattle in pan into each other and sides to gently crack each egg. Cover with cold water again and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. I usually add a few ice cubes to make sure the water is cold. After letting eggs cool, peel eggs.

Slice eggs in half horizontally. Scoop cooked egg yolk into bowl and place egg halves on plate or deviled egg holder. This one has two yolks-I've never seen that before!

Mash yolks with potato masher.

The rest of the ingredients I kind of wing, but this is what I start with:

1/2 cup mayo

2 TBSP Dijon mustard

2 TBSP yellow mustard

2 TBSP vinegar *you might want to start with 1 as I like mine tangy

Beat this together and taste. You may need to add more mayo, a spoonful at a time. Or you might want it a little more yellow, so add another squirt of mustard. After getting the taste you want, spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a larger tip. If you don't have a pastry bag, scoop into a quart size plastic food storage bag and snip off the corner. Squeeze egg mixture into each egg. Sprinkle with the sweet paprika.

Thank the chickens for the gift of eggs

Holy Guacamole, Batman!

This is what happens when you work overtime. The kitchen is a complete disaster area. Does anyone know how to actually clean up after themselves? Apparently not.









I cannot cook like this~









Ahh, much better.



Tonight we are going out to dinner with some dear friends that we haven't seen in quite awhile. They found a place they really like to eat called El Patio. It is a Mexican restaurant and I think there is a margarita in my immediate future! In honor of tonight's dinner, I am making guacamole. Two things to note: I usually add two more ingredients, but I had neither on hand and I had to use my avocados before they went bad. I didn't have a roma tomato nor any cilantro. It has much more flavor with both additions, but I had to work with what I had.



Guacamole


2 ripe avocados
sour cream
lemon juice
garlic
salt and pepper (pepper not pictured)






Slice the avocados in half; remove pit. Scoop out with spoon into bowl. Zest garlic into bowl.







Squeeze lemon juice on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mash with a fork until pretty smooth.










Stir in a couple TBSP of sour cream. At this point, this is where I would also stir in the tomatoes and the cilantro, if I had some.










Place plastic wrap over top; squish down on top of the dip to prevent browning. Refrigerate at least an hour so flavors meld. Add chips of your choice and enjoy!