Greek Burgers

We tried these for dinner tonight and they were so good!

8 ct pkg hamburger buns
¼ c mayo, 1 t curry powder, - Mixed
1-2 lbs ground beef
*For each lb of ground beef add:
2 tsp, Mayo/Curry mixture
¼ t salt
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
Small red onion, sliced thin
Lettuce leaves
Remaining feta cheese crumbles

Fire up grill. Stir together mayo, and curry; set aside. Combine
beef, 2 t mayo/curry mixture, feta cheese and ¼ t salt. Shape
into ½-inch thick patties; cook on grill. Spread remaining
mayo/curry mixture on buns; layer patties, onion, lettuce and feta
to serve!

I served them with fresh pineapple and coleslaw.

Easy Bread Sticks

I've been married for almost 10 years(wow that seems long) and have had these bread sticks at more family dinners then I can count. My children have even made these with there Grandma. So since I finally made these, I thought I would share the recipe because WOW was it easy! I copied this right from my sister in laws email. I tried them both ways today and they were great. 

Easy Breadsticks

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cube margarine/butter

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let sit for a few minutes to bubble
up. Add remaining ingredients. Knead lightly. Dough will be sticky - add
more flour if needed. Allow to rest on floured surface for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the cube of butter in a 9x13 pan in the oven (I do this
while the oven is preheating). Divide the dough into 16-18 breadsticks. Roll
into 9" "snakes" and roll in the warm butter and put side by side in the
9x13 pan.

Raise for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, etc. if
you want. Bake for 20 minutes at 375.

We really like to do a cinnamon sugar version - roll the breadsticks in the
melted butter, then roll them in a cinnamon sugar mixture, and then put back
in the pan. We sometimes frost them with vanilla frosting, or a glaze, etc
when they are out of the oven. Yummy!

Shredded Chicken Taco's

2lbs Chicken
2 cans black beans
1 can of corn
About 2-3 cups Salsa

Place all in crockpot and cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 2-4 hours


Once chicken is cooked take out and shred. Add back to beans and corn. At this point you can stir in a pkg. of Taco seasoning or leave as is. We like it kicked up a bit so I add the taco seasoning. My boys eat this in tortillas, David and I eat this on top of lettuce, more like a taco salad. If I am being healthy I eat it as is, if not then a spoonful of sour cream and some cheese makes it all the better.

Apple and Onion Stuffed salmon/Kokenee

 

These fish turn into this for dinner in our house.

 3-4 kokenee, gutted,scaled and heads cut off

1/2 Cup Mayo

1/2 cup chopped granny smith apple

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

1 tsp dill

Mix all together and stuff in the middle of fish. This mixture fills about 3-4 small kokenee or one small salmon. Wrap in foil and BBQ for about 15 minutes. The skin just falls right off and the bones lift right out. You may still have some small bones so be careful if feeding to small children. You can also use this mixture on a fillet Works just as well. I usually server this with a long grain and wild rice side dish and Ceaser Salad.

Banana Maple Bread

• 3 whole Ripe Bananas, Well Mashed
• 1 whole Egg Well Beaten
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Mapleline flavoring or pure maple syrup ( I would use more if your using syrup)
• ½ cups Chocolate Chips (or Nuts Or Other Morsels) optional. I didn't add these.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease or spray loaf pan.

Mix bananas,egg, and maple syrup together in a large bowl. Stir in flour, sugar, salt,cinnamon and baking soda. Add chips and mix by hand.
Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

*While it was good warm the maple flavor mellowed out to non existent once completely cooled. I think next time I will be adding a teaspoon or more of the flavoring or at least a tablespoon if I use syrup.

Creme Brulee

This recipe originally came from Alton Brown on the food network. However I changed up things a bit. As it is was great. I shorted some steps and just added pure vanilla instead of the vanilla bean. I also just used Raw sugar instead of vanilla sugar on the top. 

Ingredients

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 quarts hot water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a cake or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

After I torched the raw sugar on the top
This recipe also allowed me to buy the coolest kitchen gadget ever for 19.99 at Target I bought this...

It is by far the coolest and most fun thing to use in my kitchen. Just wait till you see what I did to cupcakes with this little baby!

Fruit Pizza

 

Fruit pizza is by far one of my very favorite things to make. I had never had fruit pizza till I married David, its one of his Dads favorite desserts. Since getting the original recipe from my mother in law I have added my own twists and turns on things. As complicated as this looks it's really rather simple.

The crust is a basic sugar cookie recipe. I use my friend Kyms...

However, I cut it in half and still have plenty to make cookies with as well as the crust for the pizza.

Sugar Cookies  (by Lisa Yockelson, printed in the Washington Post in 1999)
(About 6 dozen cookies, using a 3-inch cookie cutter)
This big-batch recipe will provide you with plenty of tender, buttery rolled cookies for cutting into fanciful shapes to bake and decorate.
6 cups bleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling the dough
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar, plus additional for the surface
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup light (table) cream
Nonstick spray oil
4 large egg whites, lightly beaten, for brushing on the unbaked cookies, or substitute about 1/3 cup light (table) cream,
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter for 3 minutes. Add the sugar in 3 additions, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Add the 2 eggs and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Blend in the cream. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until the flour is completely incorporated after each addition. The dough will be soft.
Divide the dough evenly into 5 portions. Place each portion between 2 sheets of wax paper and roll to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Stack the sheets of dough on a large baking sheet, making sure that the sheets don't wrinkle. Refrigerate the dough on the sheet overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
Carefully remove the top sheet of wax paper from 1 sheet of rolled- out dough on a lightly floured surface. Carefully flip it over so that the exposed dough is on the floured surface. Remove the top sheet of wax paper. Using cookie cutters lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray, cut out as many cookies as possible. Lightly press together the scraps, reroll and chill again. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough. (If the dough softens at any time, freeze the dough on a baking sheet for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the dough firms up.) Place the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the egg white or cream. If you are not planning on decorating the cookies, sprinkle with sugar.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 11 to 12 minutes, or until set and golden. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Store the cookies in airtight tins.
Per cookie: 122 calories, 2 gm protein, 16 gm carbohydrates, 6 gm fat, 32 mg cholesterol, 3 gm saturated fat, 52 mg sodium, trace dietary fiber

Roll out a good size ball to cover what ever size pizza pan you are using. I always use my Pampered Chef Large Pizza Stone. 

Next I mix a pkg of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of butter, 1-2 tsp vanilla and about 2 cups of powdered sugar to make a fairly thin frosting. Frost the cooled crust. 

Next is the fun part...

arrange which ever fruit is in season. My favorites are in the picture above. However I have done peaches,nectarines,strawberries and blueberries and that was good too. I tend to stay away from anything like bananas that will brown because well, they just don't look as good.