Chicken Fettuccini with Broccoli

I decided this was a good day for a quick supper and also a good day to use up some items in the fridge, so made my fast and good chicken fettuccini with broccoli and a tossed salad.  This is truly a 30 minute meal that feels like it was much more time consuming.  You can substitute shrimp too and really make it feel special.  It makes a lot so can easily feed 4-6, especially if you make a salad or even add some garlic bread..

CHICKEN OR SHRIMP FETTUCCINI WITH BROCCOLI:

Before preparing the chicken and sauce,  prepare the salted water to cook the linguine or fettuccini according to directions on the box to the a dente stage.  (add about 1 cup of bite size frozen broccoli to the fettuccini while it is cooking-save a pan) Drain. 

Prepare 2 large or 3 smaller chicken breasts with salt and pepper, by either grilling them, cutting them in chunks and browning them in a little butter or using a George Forman grill and cooking them-that's what I did tonight because I like the grilled flavor..cut in chunks or thin slices if you grilled it.  set aside.

In a large fry pan with deep sides, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter on low heat.  Add 4 minced green onions and 1 mashed garlic clove; when softened add 1-1/2 cups cream and 1 cup parmesan cheese (I use fresh, grated), pepper and a little salt.  Add your prepared chicken and broccoli, toss with the pasta and serve.

Doctored up Angel Food Cake for Joe's 38th Birthday Celebration (a little early)

My son, Joe, likes angel food (or Dairy Queen ice cream cake) for his birthday every year, so since we are celebrating his birthday a few days early today, I made him his angel food cake with a twist.  I added some little ball shaped cake decorations inside the batter..it turned out so pretty that I had to post a picture for you.  I just use a store bought angel food cake mix and they always turn out food, lighter and fresher to me than the store made ones.

Soft Sandwich Buns, or cinnamon rolls

I make this recipe a lot with my bread machine..either into dinner rolls, sometimes cinnamon rolls etc, or you can even make it into hamburger buns.  My grandkids LOVE these buns..they call them Big Buns because I make sure they are fluffy and big when I make them.  I swear they could just eat the whole pan with butter and call it a meal, and sometimes have, ignoring the rest of the food on their plates!  Every time I make them I hear their voices asking for another one, and another one, and have been known to ask for any leftovers of them for breakfast many a time.  One of the ladies from my work made the honey wheat machine bread recipe, loved it, and I was telling her about these also, so am posting it for her..really easy recipe and very versatile..you know, I think I'll make some cinnamon rolls with it today!  I actually did make the cinnamon rolls today and posted a picture at the end of this section..I used butter, cinnamon, brown and white sugar for the center (just roll the dough in a large rectangle, smear with melted butter and add the rest)  then rolled it up pinching the ends and slice them into rolls..put on greased pan ( I made 10 because we like huge cinnamon rolls, but easily could make 12)..covered them with plastic wrap, let them raise until doubled, baked at 350 for 20 minutes..when done I iced them with caramel icing and pecans-recipe to follow.

SOFT SANDWICH BUNS:
Put in bread machine in this order:

1-1/4 cups warm milk (not hot)
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine softened (I use butter)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt
3-3/4 cups white flour
1-1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (I use bread machine yeast)

Use your dough cycle.  When done shape into whatever roll you want to make, spray tops with cooking spray such as Pam, lightly.  cover (not too tightly) with plastic wrap.  put in warm place and let rise until about double in size.  Bake at 350 degrees until nicely browned on top, about 15-20 minutes.. remove from pans onto cooling rack to cool.  I cover with a light dishtowel..

Caramel glaze:

in a small saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar, bring to a low boil and cook 2 minutes being careful not to burn it.  add 1/4 cup milk and bring it back up to a boil.  remove from heat and when just warm add 1 cup powdered sugar beating until smooth.  smear on warm buns.. I then added chopped pecans, but that's optional.  sooo good.  You can double this for a cake also, excellent on spice cake, apple cake or pumpkin bars.

Sam's quilt all quilted!

We got Sam's quilt back from the quilter today.  I think she did a fabulous job on it!  Now Sam just needs to do her binding and sew on her label and it's done..

Black Forest Cake Dessert

This is yet another of my mom's go to desserts.  She makes it in a jelly roll pan so the cake is thinner and double the filling, use 2 cans of cherry pie filling and covers it with cool whip, but I seldom need that much dessert, so make my version in a 9 x 13 cake pan instead.  if you like cherries, you will love this combination.  It's rich and yet light and we all love it.  I had to bring dessert this month for the birthday for a coworker and she likes chocolate, I was tired, and this actually is a fast dessert, so..

BLACK FOREST CAKE DESSERT:

Make your favorite chocolate cake mix as directed in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  I chose devil's food, but my mom always uses German Chocolate..I like both.  I actually use the generic cake mixes (this one was from Aldi, because it's a smaller cake generally and there is more room for your toppings in the pan the way I make it..with my mom's method in the jelly roll pan I don't think it matters..)  cool completely.

2nd layer:
1-8 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature (I used the light cream cheese, works fine)
1- 8 oz tub cool whip
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding (not prepared, just dry)
mix together with a mixer until smooth and spread onto cooled cake.

3rd layer:
add 1-1/2 cans of cherry pie filling (if you like lighter cherry use one can). spread evenly over 2nd layer. 

I drizzled some fudge ice cream topping on mine and will serve cool whip with it for the top glob..refrigerate.  You can also freeze this..freezes well.

Orange Chicken

I tried a new recipe tonight for orange chicken.  We liked it.  Joe said it was the best he's had, not so strong orangy flavor as most.  I would make it again.  Here is the link to the recipe if you are interested in making it..

http://12tomatoes.com/2014/01/recipe-simple-orange-chicken.html

Jan's birthday scarf and other colors for craft show

One of the ladies from work has a birthday this weekend, so it's party time on Friday for her. She has done tons of embroidery for me on her machine, so I thought I'd make her a little something for her birthday to keep her warm. She drives a long ways like me and also likes to walk her dog, so hopefully she can get some use out if..also she doesn't knit or crochet. I have recently started to like the old fashioned look of yarn again..I think they look kind of old English so used a tweedy yarn with a blackish background and specs of different colors..it's a Lion Brand yarn called Hometown USA and the color is called Cambridge Tweed.  It took two balls of it.  It's a super soft yarn also, so would feel cozy on her neck.. hope she likes it!  In case you like it, the pattern is a Lion Brand free pattern called Crochet Rib Scarf and it's a super simple, quick pattern to throw together.  Maybe took 1-1-/2 hours to make.  

I decided to make up some more of these because they are a fun, fast project I can do in an evening, and put them away for our work craft show in November.  hopefully I can earn some Christmas money if I make enough projects over these next months to sell there!  Anyway, here is scarf #2..

Scarf 3, love this red.

Scarf 4: Gray

Scarf 5: pink/gray/black

tweedy dark gray

Mom's Blueberry Cheesecake Dessert

My mom used to make this for special occasions a lot and I have been craving it since Thanksgiving.  I have had the ingredients around for a while and finally dug in and made it today.  Can't wait to sink my teeth into a piece once it's cooled and ready to chomp into.  You can use any flavor fruit topping you want with it and probably could even put some pudding on top, like lemon pie filling etc for variations.   I just usually use the blueberry because that's how she made it and to me that's how it should taste..it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks..

MOM'S BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE DESSERT:

CRUST LAYER:
6 whole graham cracker rectangles or 12 squares, crushed finely
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
Mix altogether and pat into the bottom of a 9 x 9 square baking pan..add next layer:

FILLING LAYER:
1-8 oz pkg cream cheese, light works fine, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat well with hand mixer until creamy, pour on top of crust and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
COOL.

Once cooled add 1 can of blueberry pie filling.  Refrigerate overnight if you can wait that long.  Top with whipped cream when serving or cool whip..

Wizard of Oz Baby Tote

One of my daughter, Kim's, friends Mandy is going to be a grandma for the first time.  Her daughter, Kourtney, is having a baby in February and is a big time fan of Wizard of Oz.  She was saying how cool it would be to have a baby bag with the theme of Wizard of Oz, so her mom gathered up all the supplies/pattern and asked me to sew one for her.  I finished it last night.  The pattern is called Professional Tote by The Creative Thimble and it has tons of pockets front and back, sides and inside so a perfect pattern for this.  I felt a little intimated looking at the pattern, but after the hours of cutting out all the pieces and interfacing it actually wasn't a hard pattern.  She has lots of detailed steps and drawings that really helped along the way. I wanted to add that she doesn't include the actual interfacing to use, so including that the one I used is called Pellon 809 Decor Bond interfacting and it works really well-suggested by a quilt store).  I am pretty sure she is going to love it and be really surprised.  I am going to make one for myself next!

Christmas 2014

I haven't posted much lately due to the holiday cheer, so thought I'd post some pictures of our 2014 Christmas and New Year's celebration.  The kids and grandkids were over on Christmas eve and we had a lot of fun.  After that they were here and there on vacations and seeing the in-laws so it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of my time off from work catching up on stuff that needed to be done/cleaned up.  I'm actually kind of glad to be getting back to a regular schedule again..age must be creeping up on me, because I have grown to like routine more and more!