As for this weekend, we ventured  into our flower gardens for the first time and it was wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. David posted a new picture on the home page of some early purple daisies that are so pretty. I mostly planted my pots on the front and back porches which will allow me to run an emergency rescue mission should the temperatures decide to dip below freezing again this spring. I’ve lugged them inside to the garage for protection before and I can do it again. But I’d rather not and say I did so fingers crossed that we stay above 32 degrees!

I made a few things for your consideration over the weekend and I also posted a family pasta favorite from my brother Rick, a pepperoni rigatonni masterpiece.

From my kitchen there’s my favorite banana cake recipe. Check it out, it’s the bomb and I’m not kidding. I have a tendency to make at least one retro recipe per weekend. I simply can’t help myself.

Secondly, Sandy’s Ultimate Crab Dip. It’s TDF (to die for). I should have posted it before Super Bowl Weekend but I blew it. But let me just say that it tasted perfectly fine as an appetizer Saturday night with a platter of fresh veggies and ice cold beer!

I also whipped up a batch of stuffed jalapeno’s to go with our grilled burgers Saturday night. I went ahead and posted them even though there’s nothing fancy about them and you most likely know how to make them yourself. They’re just so darned good that I had to say something about them.

And while I’m at it, can I just say that I made some chipotle mayonnaise to go on top of our burgers and I thought I had died and gone straight to heaven? The next time you grill some burgers on the charcoal grill, pop open a can of chipotle peppers, throw a couple of those babies in your food processor, add a dollop or two of mayo and give it a whirl. It’s nirvana.

I also roasted some amazing roasted veggies courtesy of my buddy Brigitte who is always on the look out for new and improved ways to cook up organic produce. This recipe for broccoli, cauliflower and sun dried tomatoes was yummy so be sure to check it out. I hope to get more healthy recipes and tips out of Brigitte over the summer so stay tuned.

And now it’s time to get the engines running, have a good week and happy cooking everyone!

MMD

My friend Brigitte is a young mom who has been tirelessly searching for ways to feed her children healthier and more natural foods.  She and a group of other moms have joined forces to puchase a large variety of organic fruits and vegetables in bulk.  It’s smart and economical but it presents it’s own set of challenges as she looks for ways to create new and interesting ways to prepare the produce for her kids. I’ve asked her to pass along her success stories because I’m also trying striving to go organic, particularly as we head into spring and summer. She sent this one to me over the weekend and I tried it tonight. Yowza. This is truly amazing.

Ingredients:

1 head organic broccoli
1 head organic cauliflower
1 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked pepper

Instructions:

Chop the broccoli and cauliflower into florets, rinse and pat dry. Put into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss with a little salt and pepper and then spread out on a baking sheet that has either been sprayed with Pam or lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting prepare your sun dried tomatoes. If you’ve purchased them packed in olive oil you will need to drain them of excess oil and set aside. I bought plain sun dried tomatoes so I put them in a bowl and drizzled them with just enough olive oil to soften them and make them moist.

Lightly toast the pine nuts just until fragrant.

When veggies are done remove from oven and toss in a large bowl with the sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and a little more salt and pepper to taste.

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From my brother Rick:

This is true ‘common-people’ Italian food. Its not fancy, inexpensive to make, quick and is a common lunch/dinner dish in many eateries frequented by local workers in Italy. If you like pepperoni on your pizza….your going to love this pasta dish.

When our mother first came to visit us for Thanksgiving, in Maryland, we had just bought our first house and didn’t have two pennies to rub together. This is a dish inspired by Jeff Smith (Frugal Gourmet), in his book ‘…cooks with wine’, and was a perfect dish to serve for a large number of guests without breaking the bank. The funny thing is….this has become a favorite with my family. I would suspect, much like the Italian families, an idea born out of frugality grew up into one of the top requested dinners in our home. It’s a dish that gets repeated every 6 weeks or I hear about it. Over the years…I have learned that I always, always, always double this recipe. It is a great lunch and travels well to work on Monday.

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 tbs olive oil
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb peperroni, sliced thin
1/4 cup whipping cream
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 lb rigatoni, cooked al dente
parmesan or romano cheese, freshly grated for toppingE

Instructions:

Heat a frying pan and saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil, just until clear

Add the tomatoes and pepperoni. saute until the tomatoes cook down a bit, about 3 minutes.

Add the cream, salt and pepper

Toss with the rigatoni and top with cheese.

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Nothing new here folks but it bares repeating if these haven’t crossed your mind lately and you’re firing up the grill now that spring is in the air. I made them last night in the oven on a baking sheet with a wire rack but I love them on the grill as well.

Ingredients:

12 jalapeno’s halved and scooped clean of seeds
1 8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
12 slices center cut bacon

Instructions:

Prepare the peppers using latex gloves to protect your hands from the hot juice! Blend the cheese and spread inside the hollow peppers. Wrap each pepper with 1/2 slice of bacon and place on a baking sheet on top of wire rack.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until brown and bubbly.

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 My friend Sandy made this on Christmas Eve and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make it and take a photo. This would have made a perfect Super Bowl appetizer. Just remember that this is a crock pot recipe and probably the only one on my website since my husband is not a fan of slow cooker dishes (it’s a personal issue of his and one that I don’t claim responsibility for).  He makes an exception for this one because it’s so GOOD!

Ingredients:

2 tsp butter
6 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C heavy whipping cream (i used 1/2 & 1/2 – forgot this part @ grocery)
1 (14 oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, diced and drained
3/4 C ham (forgot this on my list too – I used bacon)
1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp minced pickled jalapenos slices or 1 fresh jalapeno, minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb fresh lump crab meat, drained ( I used 8 oz – don’t like too fishy!)
1 C (4 oz) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over med heat. Add green onions and garlic; saute 4 minutes until tender. Add cream and artichokes. Bring to boil; reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups

Beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir in water chestnuts and next 5 ingredients. Add artichoke cream sauce; stir well until combined. Gently fold in crab meat.

Spoon dip into a lightly greased 3 or 4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Cook covered on low 2 1/2 hrs until thoroughly heated and cheese melts. Serve with sugar snap peas, carrots, cucumber slices & radishes.

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This one is odd because although it was inspired by my Mother, it was not originally a homemade recipe. Some of you who are lucky enough to be middle aged (you lucky devils you) may remember the Sara Lee Banana Cake of the 60′s. Man, was it the bomb or what? This was one of the few store bought desserts that my mom would indulge us in and we loved it.Then they took it off the market in the 70′s  and when it suddenly came back a few years ago it was a huge disappointment. In total desperation, I found this recipe somewhere online and I don’t know who deserves credit because I scribbled it on a piece of scratch paper. This is as close as I could get to recreating the memory of the banana cake of my childhood. It is moist, it is decadent and it is DELICIOUS!!!  And don’t let the white cake mix turn you off, there are so many other wonderful ingredients going on that you won’t even notice that the base came out of a box.

Ingredients for cake:

1 box WHITE cake mix
3 egg whites
3 very ripe bananas mashed
4 heaping tbsp. sour cream
1 1/3 cups milk
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients well with mixer.  Spray one 9 x 13 OR three 8 inch cake pans generously with Pam. If I’m using 8″ pans I like to place a round disc of parchment paper in the bottom after spraying with Pam so the cakes come out easily without breaking. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The cake will not brown very much at all, it stays white in color so don’t let this trick you into allowing it to over cook.

Ingredients for frosting:

1 8oz. cream cheese softened (I leave mine out for at least 4 hours)
1 stick of butter softened (leave it for 4 hours as well)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/c chopped pecans for garnish

Instructions:

Beat well with your mixer. I think the longer you leave the cream cheese and butter out to soften, the creamier your frosting will be. It really and truly makes a difference so try to remember to pull them out and even leave them out overnight if you can. You’ll be glad you did.

P.S. I forgot to buy pecans for my photo, so be better prepared than I was when you make your banana cake!

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