Lunching with Paul...well sort of!

My Girlfriend Meredith, you know the one...(refresh your memory HERE) had some ladies over for lunch the other day! She thought we needed a "Back to school, welcome to getting on top of the housework, have fun trying to help your middle schooler with that math, what do I pack for my kids lunch day after day" lunch. Wasn't that nice of her? When we got there, she had a beautiful table set and the salad was fantastic! She calls it her "Paul Newman Chicken Salad".




Paul Newman Salad

1 bag assorted greens
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 pkg slivered almonds
1 med. Onion chopped
1/2 pkg fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 box of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice
1 bottle of Paul Newman's Olive Oil salad dressing


Chop chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Brown in a skillet with a small amount of butter or oil. Place in a mixing bowl. Cook rice according to directions. Mix chicken, rice, ¾ of almond pkg, onion, mushrooms and ½ bottle of salad dressing together. Chill. Spoon mixture over greens and top with remainder of almonds. Serve remaining dressing on the side to taste.

Thanks Meredith for a wonderful afternoon!

Michelle's Mac-n-Cheese

Just when you thought it was safe to put that crock pot away - DON'T! This is a great summer BBQ dish that the kids will be sure to enjoy. You can fix it - forget it - and get on with the grilling! This is another wonderful dish from my dear friend Michelle - she is certainly helping me out here while I get over my "Summer Blogging Blues". It is hard to get motivated to blog when the sky is sunny, the children want to play, and I do too!

Michelle's Crock pot Mac and cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk 12 oz size
1 stick of butter


Cook macaroni in salted boiling water on stove until slightly al dente, drain DO NOT RINSE, and pour into crock pot with stick of butter. Stir to coat. Pour in milk and evaporated milk. Stir in cheese. Turn crock pot to high for 30 minutes, mixing once. Turn crock pot to low and cook for 1-2 hours mixing 1-2 times. Mix before serving.

Feeds 10. OR in my house feeds 5!!!!

GG's Summer Sauce

Where has the time gone? Between the last week of school, and recovering from the last week of school - my little blog has been sorely neglected. I hope this will make it up to you. My good friend Michelle brought my family dinner last week. How lucky was I? I picked her daughter up twice a week from school this year and she wanted to thank us by providing dinner - with all the works! Boy were we lucky when she decided to share her mother's sauce recipe with us. GG (as we all call her) certainly knows what she is doing when it comes to sauce. Thank you Michelle and GG for sharing your family's sauce recipe with Kitchen Klique!

GG'S Sauce Recipe


3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions - finely chopped
2 celery stalks - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
2 peeled carrots - finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
64 ounces crushed tomatoes canned
1 bay leaf


In a large pot, heat oil, onion, and garlic over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add carrots and celery and heat for another 10 minutes. Stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper. Cook another 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaf and simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour. Discard bay leaf and enjoy. Makes 8 cups.

Michelle ALWAYS make at least a double batch and freezes the sauce in containers!!!!

Michelle said it tastes like her childhood - to me it tastes like a big bowl of friendship and sunshine....You be the judge!

When the host tells you not to bring a thing!

With the party season behind us, it might be a little late for this tip but I thought it was worth the mention. I am the proud owner of these two carafes you see in the picture above. If you entertain at all you know how helpful these can be. I can boil my water for tea and make my coffee well ahead of when my guests arrive. I lend these out throughout the year for teachers functions, dinner parties and for anything else where they might be helpful. Lately, I have even been bringing these to dinner parties. Let me explain. You know, when you get that invitation and the host tells you not to bring a thing? I sometimes offer "The Coffee Bar". Usually the answer is an excited YES! It is always such an afterthought when I entertain - sometimes I even forget to make the coffee until I'm in a rush while another guest is serving the dessert.
When I bring these to a get-together I fill one with boiling water for tea and the other with a coffee selection. Do you like my little "Tea Tote"? I picked that clear tea case up at the Container Store for 14 dollars. It's a great way to transport a nice selection.



My mom finds many occasions to use her carafe as well. Something neat she does with hers is to convert those magnets you get in the mail to coffee labels. She just puts a name tag sticker over the magnet and it instantly becomes your carafe "Name tag". Wouldn't it be cute to put "Hello - my name is Joe" on this tall dark and handsome "Man".



Don't forget to bring some fun creamers and cute little sugar cubes. The host is always thankful and it adds a little panache to an often overlooked item.

What is the strangest thing you have ever offered to bring to a party?

The Cookie Exchange Nut Cups!

One of the new items I had at this cookie exchange was my nut cup holders (That sounds so wrong on so many levels).
I saw this on someone's blog and for the life of me I cannot find it again. If you are reading this and know the other blog you saw this on - please let me know - I'm all about giving credit where credit is due!



I saw this - and knew it would be the perfect way to showcase my Grandma Kortright's Candied Nuts. One call to my dad in FL - he was all over it. He even took my verbal description one step further - He made them stacking for storing purposes. Dad's ROCK!



I went to our local craft store and purchased a Christmas "Mat Stack" - found in the scrapbooking aisle. This was a book of paper already cut in a 5 by 8 size. I just rolled each cone and stapled the seams. Since the nuts are slightly greasy, I also purchased disposable icing bags and put them into each cone as a liner.



I only used 2 tiers at the party - but it is nice to know that I have the third tier should I ever entertain a larger crowd!



This is my dad and some of his favorite little ladies! Thanks dad! You make me feel like I'm still your favorite - (Even though I know better!) I love you!



Can you think of anything else I can use these neat holders for?

The Cookie Exchange 2008!

This was the final result of weeks of prep, days of cooking and hours of sweating! Looking at it now - it was all worth it, but during the frenzy - one had to wonder!
Our menu was split between 2 tables: The savory table and the sweet table!
The above picture was our savory table. It consisted of:
Mini crab cakes on a roll
Mini Rueben's
Baked, peppered shrimp
Cream cheese carmelized onion tartlets
Spinach and feta tartlets
Tiny Brie Bites (Thanks to Big Red Kitchen)
Hearts of Palms salad with pomegranates on Endive
Green pepper jelly over cream cheese and crackers
Crab Rangoon

Note to self: Too many hot things. Not enough oven space to bake it all before guests came. We got it done - but we were literally shoving pans in my garage as we were opening the door for the first guest!



This was our sweet table. The back of the table has the candy "cups" - I'll talk more about those in another blog.
Our desserts were as follows:
Homemade peanut butter and chocolate pudding cups
Pastel Mint Refrigerator dessert in tiny cups
Variety of cookies from the exchange
German chocolate tartlets
Dark chocolate covered almonds
assorted chocolate truffles

This assortment worked great since it all could be done ahead of time!



This was my dining room the night of the exchange. One idea we had this year that worked perfectly was the charger plates. Last year, after our exchange, I was left to return 30 different platters. Since everyone leaves the party at different times - everyone just left their plate and told me they would get it later. This year we did a preemptive strike! With each invitation we delivered a gold charger plate. We asked each invitee to bring their cookies on this platter for the party. After the party I was left with 30 plates - but I just had to walk them to my basement (Not carry them in my car for over a month)!



My sweet little friends - Sarah (who hosted the party with me), Jennifer and Melody!



L to R - Michelle, Cary, Andrea, and Denise!



Big Red Kitchen's Robin, Myself, and Sabrina from Bristikibar!

More to come about the night - check back Friday for some recipes!

Funnel Cakes - Pancake Style!

This creation was the aftermath of our end of year Volleyball party at my house.



I was the assistant (and I say that very liberally) coach this year to my oldest daughter's Volleyball team. I had a blast and I am sure I learned more then any girl out there! I used to love volleyball in high school (I'm 6 foot tall - I think it is mandated somewhere that every female over 5'10 has to at least ACT like they like it). The sport has changed so much. If your a freshmen in high school and play volleyball, you have to be able to take out small planes with the force of your overhand serve. It was not like that when I was growing up. Thank goodness my daughter is only 10 - and they just want the girls serves to go over the net. The overhand serves come next year - and I for one need to practice before Logan gets there!



I hosted the end of the year party at my home and I knew exactly what we would do. I would call Dominoes for the pizza and get out my two deep fat fryers for a funnel cake bonanza!



My parents always had donut parties when I was growing up - I can't quite get the hang of making the donuts - but I have found I make a mean funnel cake - Thanks in large part to Emeril Laggassi's Funnel Cake Recipe. I make the batter before the guests arrive and put it in these condiment containers I found at Walmart. I cut the tops off and they make perfect funnel cake "pourers"!

Emeril's Funnel Cakes
3 large eggs
2 1/4 cups milk (I add about 1/4 cup more milk to mine)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Oil for frying
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oil to 375 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla. Whisk well. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Stir until smooth. Hold your finger over the funnel opening. Place your hand over the oil (not too close) and carefully remove your finger. Scribble and crisscross the filling into the hot oil. Fry until golden on both sides. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Dust with the powdered sugar. Repeat till all the batter is used.

I had about 50 people to my home that night and made 4 batches of batter. I ended up with one batch remaining at the end of the night. (The picture above shows the 4 bottles I had in my fridge the morning after). Rather then throwing it away - I decided to try making pancakes with the batter. It was delicious and fun and my girls felt like the party hadn't ended, and that is always a good thing. These pancakes were sweet, yummy goodness, that they had fun dipping!

Halloween is over...or is it?

This is the time to run right out and buy the left over Halloween decorations at a great price. If you are having guests for Thanksgiving many of the orange decorations will fit right into your theme. Plus the candies that are wrapped in fall colors are perfect for the dishes you set on your end tables during the Thanksgiving Holiday. My mom took advantage of the sales. She has a November Birthday party coming up for a neighbor and those cute little orange, silver, and black pails found in the dollar section of Target were reduced to a quarter a piece and they make perfect nut cups or candy favors. As you check out the Halloween items you will find lots of goodies that will enhance your Thanksgiving table so make haste.

Turning 6 - Sushi Style!

Each year my girls and I have so much fun planning their birthday parties. It starts - oh about the day after their last birthday party - and lasts up until the guests arrive for their special day. When my youngest turned 6 she was insistant on have a "Sushi Party". She loves California rolls, wonton soup, edamames, and that lovely salad they always serve with the meal.
Quick story about my youngest Jensen - She was born without the fear gene! Recently, when we were out having sushi, I was rooting in my purse to find a kleenex and stumbled upon the shower cap from a hotel stay. I started to laugh and told my kids I would give either one of them a dollar if they put it on in the restaurant - eat the rest of dinner and walk out like nothing was the matter. My oldest, Logan, died right there on the spot, and was just as mortified when Jensen said "easy money - hand it over"! She did it alright. She put that shower cap on, wore it proudly, and even stopped up at the register and got us all dinner mints. No fear! (I completely envy her)!



My mother, who is always helping me put these special events together, made these adorable oversized oragami dolls to welcome guests as they arrived at Jensen's Sushi house.



With my hubby's help, I took the legs off our dining room table, which really set the mood. My mom found the sweet little centerpiece dress at Marshall's.



My hubby, my folks, and I all wore authentic Japanese robes and welcomed guests with a bow and "Ohayo Gozaimasu".
For the craft, each little girl was given a canvas. My mother is holding up a Japanese card with different sayings on it.
We made photo copies for each girl of different symbols they could put on their canvas. Some drew the symbol for love, others' happiness, but they all had "This is fun" written all over their face!



Since her birthday is February 11th - we always try to incorporate a little valentines action into each party. This one was no different. For the game, we had two huge bowls of conversation hearts. Each girl was given child friendly chop sticks. When the timer started each girl tried to grab as many hearts as possible with her chopsticks and put them in the cup in front of them - Everyone was screaming! They had a blast and all agreed it was harder than they thought.



When it was time to eat they came up and found their goody "Bento Boxes" at their places. I found little sushi magnets, sushi erasers and fun little Japaneese candy and toys. Lunch consisted of sweet sticky rice, california rolls, edamames, little PB&J's that I cut to look like sushi and fruit. Of course they all had to eat with chop sticks. I think they had as much fun eating as they did playing the games. I had her cake made at a local grocery store. I gave the saying "Happy Birthday Jensen" in Japanese to the bakery. They did a beautiful job putting the same expression on the cake.

When the day was all done they both agreed that they...

French Dip - Man Size!

With Football season upon us - I knew it was time to get the crock pot out and make my man his favorite sandwich. He has no idea what goes into this dish, the time it takes and the overall effort on my part to make him HIS sandwich - and I like it like that. If he knew it took 2 minutes when I woke up in the morning and 2 minutes to put it in the bread - I might not receive all the accolades he gives me (so lets keep this blog between you and me- wink)



French Dip
1 (3lb) beef roast shoulder cut
2 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
3 to 4 peppercorns
French rolls
Provolone or cheddar cheese

Place roast in slow cooker. Add water, soy sauce, and seasonings. Cover and cook on high for at least 6 hours. Remove meat from broth, shred with fork and keep warm. Strain broth, skim off fat. Pour broth into small cups for dipping. Serve beef on rolls. I slit rolls, place 2 pieces of cheese on one side, wrap in foil and bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Now a little bit about the man I cook for....

Jamie (He wants to be called James - but he is Jamie to me) has been my rock for 14 years now. These past two years, my rock, has turned into a pillar. He is VERY Scandinavian, and thus keeps his emotions tucked way down deep - which is great for our relationship because I wear mine on my sleeve, my shirt, my cuffs, my pants, shoes, and sox. I can fall to pieces watching a fast food commercial! He is the yin to my yang, the PB to my jelly, and the cinnamon and sugar to my leftsa!

When my hubby and I were in NY this summer he was running to get cash so we could buy cheap Broadway tickets. On his way to the ATM someone shouted out "Hey, there's Cal Ripken". My husband not only came back with the money for the tickets - he brought with him a head so big it didn't fit in the theatre that night. You be the judge...Am I married to a Cal Ripken look alike?

Log your vote at the top of my blog!

Brown Sugar & Walnut Brie Wheel

This is one of my go-to Appetizers. If we are having a large group of people over, and I am going to serve mostly appetizers - this is always on the list! It takes 2 minutes to prepare - and 2 minutes to DISAPPEAR!



Buy the big "Wheel-o-Brie" at your local Costco or Sam's club. I find they have the most reasonable price.
Cut off top rind of Brie.



Add 1/2 cup Brown sugar to top of Brie.



Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Enjoy - and try not to let your guests see you devour the entire thing!

Hot and Sweet Pork

Recently, both my next door neighbors (one on either side of me) had babies. Needless to say, I have not been drinking the water.
I always like to bring the new mom and dad a nice meal after all the grandparents leave and "Real Life" sets in. I kid myself every time I do this. I scour through cookbooks, leaf through cooking magazines and say to myself "I am not going to take my Hot and Sweet Pork" - and then I always come back to my Hot and Sweet Pork recipe! (I say "MY" very loosely- my friend Mary prepared this recipe for my family about 2 years ago - it was amazing, and I quickly put it in my meal rotation - and morphed it into "MY" pork - If you really look at it - I just removed the A and the R - tee hee) It is one of those recipes that is perfect EVERY time, and that everyone loves and wants the recipe as well! Heck - after the new mommy ate this pork - even the baby thanked me - that's how good it is!

Hot & Sweet Pork Tenderloin
For Pork:
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs. total)
2 Tablespoons olive oil

For Glaze:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 Tablespoon Tabasco

Prepare Pork:
Preheat oven to 350
Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.
Heat oil in an oven proof 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Make Glaze and roast pork:
Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140 ( About 20 minutes). Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155 while standing)

Makes 6 to 8 main course servings.

Because they were new mommies - I went very light on the Tabasco. For my family - I usually do one "Adult" tenderloin with the Tabasco on it and one "Kid" tenderloin with no hot sauce - EVERYONE is happy that way!
Enjoy!

A Prescription for a Great Teacher Luncheon!

What's good for your heart?
What's good for your soul?
A Back to School Lunch -
Or so I have been told

Your Prescription is written
And the dose is clear
All this good medicine
Makes a good year

The Doctor will see you:



It's that time of year again - when dutiful PTO parents start scouring websites to come up with fresh ideas on an old luncheon tradition. For two years my good friend Jennifer and I were in charge of all the teacher luncheons. We had so much fun letting our creative juices run wild. We laughed at where our inspiration would come from. This particular luncheon was inspired by the "Operation" notebooks. I found about 30 of them at a hardware store tent sale for 1 dollar each, and knew we had to have a theme that incorporated them into the decor. If you look closely - you can see just to the left of the notebook - we stuck the napkins and silverware in a surgical glove. The teacher favors - which were at each place setting - were plastic jugs we got at the dollar store and filled with granola bars, candy, paper clips, stamps, stickers and some other Misc. things each teacher could use getting the classroom ready for the kids. I whipped up the "Prescription" labels using some clip art and self adhesive computer paper.




As the teachers entered the room - there was a sign that stated "Just what the doctor ordered". The beverage stand also had laminated signs stating where to get their "Liquid Nutrition" and "The X-rays are in...Dominion Teachers get two thumbs up".




Very simple white table cloths were adorned with large red crosses and I made foam nurses hats to sit in the center. Our Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers took all the hats and play doctor sets to their classroom to use for indoor recess. It was a huge hit and most of all it let our teachers know what "Good Medicine" we think they are!



I almost forgot - Jennifer and I served them lunch in scrubs!

"Toothpick" Dinner

When my girls have friends over, many times they will request a "Toothpick" dinner. Ok - even when they don't have a friend over they request this meal. Most of the time it consists of their favorite "Chicken Apple Sausages" from Trader Joes, green beans or broccoli, and any fruit I have in the house. The concept is that the entire meal can be eaten with a fun toothpick.




The middle section of our glass T.V. tray is a cheese sauce for dipping their broccoli and sausage! Sometimes I put cheese cubes in this spot. The crescent rolls are smaller then usual. I divide each canned roll in half to make a smaller bite.


What would you serve for a toothpick dinner?